The Primal Vow – Hongwan
by Rev. Ryuta Furumoto, Senshin Buddhist Temple
Number Eighteen is the Best Number
If you are an athlete, what number would you like on your uniform? 23, 24, 32, or 10? You would probably want the same number as your favorite star athlete’s, wishing to be like him or her. But for Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, Number 18 is the best number to put on the uniform. The number eighteen is the number of the most important vow of Amida Buddha, which is called the Primal Vow, or Hongwan, in Japanese.
Shinran Shōnin’s teacher, Hōnen Shonin, call the Primal Vow the “King Primal Vow,” or “the Selected Primal Vow.” This special vow assures your birth in the Pure Land. Shinran Shonin also stated, “once you are grasped by Amida, you will never be abandoned.” In sports, if you make a terrible mistake, coaches, teammates and fans abandoned you. It is often said “Yesterday’s winner is today’s loser,” but in Jodo Shinshu no matter what you do you will never be abandoned by Amida Buddha. Star players, normal players, bench players, retired players, and quitters are always accepted without any distinction.
Anyone Can Be Accepted By Amida Buddha
The Primal Vow does not discriminate. Regardless of differences in ability, skin color, nationality, gender, age, language, culture, social status, wealth, etc., anyone can attain Buddhahood by the power of the Eighteenth Vow. Since that vow suggests the realization of the equality of all beings, it is sometimes interpreted as the true and primal wish that all beings share in the deepest part of the heart and mind.
The 43 Vows of Amida Buddha
in the traditional understanding, the Eighteenth Vow is expressed as Amida Buddha’s (or Dharmakara Bodhisattva’s) Primal Vow that promises that all beings be born in the Pure Land. In “The Sutra on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life,” it is taught that when Amida Buddha was in the stage of bodhisattvahood and was called Dharmakaya, he established 48 vows in order to liberate all beings from the state of suffering. After taking myriads of ages to complete practices to fulfill the vows, Dharmakaya Bodhisattva became Amida Buddha and created the Pure Land, were all beings could be liberated.
The 18th Vow
Among the 48 vows, most of the vows mention characteristics of the Pure Land, such as divine abilities of bodhisattvas, devas, and people in the Pure Land. But the 18th
Vow states the method by which people can attain birth in The Pure Land. This is the reason eminent Pure Land masters and Shinran Shonin focused on the 18th
vow. It reads:
“If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten quarters, with sincere mind and entrusting themselves, aspiring to be born in my land, and saying my Name perhaps even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain the supreme enlightenment. Excluded are those who commit the five great offenses and those who slander the Dharma. (CWS vol. 1, p. 80)
In summary, this vow refers to the recitation of Namoamidabutsu and the threefold mind (sincere, mind, and entrusting, and aspiration to be born in the Pure Land), which is expressed as Shinjin, awakening, and entrusting or faith. This is an easy practice for anyone. Rich or poor, foolish or wise, monk or lay, good or bad, young or old, anyone can recite Namoamidabutsu and equally be born in the Pure Land. The trust of the sentient being is changeable; hence Amida Buddha transfers Shinjin to practitioner, thus assuring birth in the Pure Land.
The Primal Vow is the core of the teaching of Jodo Shinshu; therefore the main temple of our denomination in Kyoto is named the Hongwanji, the Temple of the Primal Vow. As Jodo Shinshu Buddhists, listening to the meaning of the Hongwan is crucial.… And even if you cannot have number 18 as your uniform number, don’t worry about it. From the Buddha’s side, the 18th Vow power is always reaching to you. You are grasped and never abandoned.
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