9. A Reply to the Lady Kujō²²³

WITH GREAT RESPECT to my lady, I am elated to learn that you are reciting nembutsu. Indeed, the recitation of nembutsu is a wondrous practice for the attainment of birth in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This is because nembutsu is the practice taught in the essential vow made by Amida Buddha. Practices other than nembutsu, such as Shingon and Shikan, are honorable practices, but they are not in accord with the essential vow of Amida Buddha.

Nembutsu is also the practice entrusted to Ānanda by Buddha Śākyamuni. Practices other than nembutsu are included in the meditative practices for a focused mind and for a distracted mind, both eminently worthy practices, but these are not the teachings entrusted to him by Buddha Śākyamuni.

In addition, nembutsu is the practice that has been attested by all the buddhas in the six directions. Practices other than nembutsu also exist, such as noble exoteric and esoteric teachings, and meditation on the phenomenal aspect of reality and on the noumenal principle, but they have not been validated by the various buddhas. For this reason, although there are numerous Buddhist practices, nembutsu is the single most valid practice for birth in the Pure Land.

Those who are ignorant of the path to birth in the Pure Land claim that nembutsu, which is an easy path to birth in the Pure Land, is designed for those who are unable to endure the practices of the Shingon and Shikan. This view is absolutely wrong.

I maintain that one should abandon practices other than nembutsu because such practices are not in accordance with the essential vow of Amida Buddha. Refrain from choosing them because they were not selected by Buddha Śākyamuni and were not validated by the manifold buddhas.

I instead encourage one to rely upon the essential vow, to accept the teaching chosen by Buddha Śākyamuni, to submit to the teaching of the buddhas, to rid oneself of ignorant thoughts, and to recite wondrous nembutsu while aspiring for birth in the Pure Land. This is what is meant by the passage, “The recitation of nembutsu is essential among karmic practices for birth in the Pure Land,” found in the Collection of Essentials on Attaining Birth in the Pure Land ²²⁴ by Eshin-sōzu.

In the present age, one must cease other practices and recite nembutsu with all one’s heart. Within the practice of nembutsu, the most worthy is the single-hearted and exclusive recitation of nembutsu. This is explained in the Commentary on the Meditation Sutra by Master Shan-tao, who truly realized the state of samādhi through reciting nembutsu.

Besides the Commentary on the Meditation Sutra, the Two-Fascicle Sutra (Larger Sutra) teaches, “Meditate single-heartedly and exclusively on the Buddha of Immeasurable Light.”²²⁵ Here “single-heartedly” is in contrast with twofold or threefold practices. That is, one should distinguish the practice of nembutsu from other practices and abandon all practices other than nembutsu.

Practicing nembutsu when it is time for your prayers is a marvelous act; therefore, the Collection of Essentials on Attaining Birth in the Pure Land has explained the reason for the superiority of nembutsu over other practices. Furthermore, Dengyō-daishi’s²²⁶ Instructions of Destroying the Seven Disasters²²⁷ also prevails upon the reader to vocalize nembutsu.

Nembutsu is a real practice blessed and protected by the celestial beings of the delusive triple realms as well as numerous buddhas in the ten directions. In this life and the next, no practice surpasses nembutsu. At this time, please strive to become a single-hearted and exclusive practitioner of nembutsu for attaining birth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha.