Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Association of Romania
Contact Person:
Rev. Josho Adrian Cirlea
O.P. 6, C.P. 615
CRAIOVA, JUDET DOLJ
ROMANIA
Tel: (40) 0721766834/0768575382
Mail: office(at)shinbuddhism.ro, josho_adrian(at)yahoo.com
Website: www.shinbuddhism.ro
Remarks:
Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Association of Romania was founded in October 2002 and belongs to Jodo Shinshu (Hongwanji-ha branch) Buddhist tradition, founded in Japan by Shinran Shonin (1173-1262). It is represented in Romania by Tariki Dojo-Craiova and Amida-ji retreat temple (still under construction).
Jodo Shinshu Buddhist school teaches the simple entrusting to the Compassion of Amida (Amitabha) Buddha, expressed in His Primal Vow who promises that those who entrust themselves in Him, saying His Name and aspiring to be born in His Pure Land, will be born there and immediatelly attain the Perfect Enlightement.
The Awakening of the Bodhi Mind - the aspiration to attain Budhahood for oneself and all beings - is fulfilled in the Awakening of Faith in the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha. Shan-tao, one of the Jodo Shinshu Seven Masters, said: "Awake your Bodhi Mind to Amida&apostrophe;s Compasion", that is, aspire to your and other beings Liberation by relying on the Compassion of Amida (his Primal Vow). So, the Awakening of the Bodhi Mind, the obligatory condition in Mahayana of attaining the supreme Enlightenment, appears in Jodo Shinshu in the form of the entrusting heart (shinjin).
This shinjin has two aspects called "The Twofold Profound Convictions":
- Profound understanding of the fact that we are merely mortals influenced by our negative tendencies and with no hope of attaining Buddhahood through our own personal powers. This represents the deep mindfulness of the human nature just as it is.
- Profound understanding of the fact that Amida's Primal Vow will save us with no exceptions of our good or bad karma, and that it is regarding precisely beings like us.
The saying of the Name of Amida Buddha (Namo Amida Butsu) appears spontaneous in the same time with the Awakening of Faith, as an expression of it and of gratitude towards Amida Buddha who saves us exactly as we are - beings full of many karmic evils.
From the moment this shinjin (faith or entrusting heart) awakenes in the practitioner and until his death, he is in what is called "the state of those assured of Nirvana" or "the state of non-retrogression|" because from now on he will not be reborn in the forms of existence destined for those still living under the influence of their negative karma, but is assured of attaining Enlightenment in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha at the moment of his death.
Contrary to some people&apostrophe;s misunderstandings, Jodo Shinshu teaching is not an otherworldly teaching, but a teaching related to this very life. The salvation of the person that entrusts himself to the Compassion of Amida Buddha takes place in this life through the entering into "the state of those assured of Nirvana" or "the state of non-retrogression". The moment of death and the state in which one dies is not important at all, because the cause of his Enlightenment (birth in the Pure Land of Amida) is established in the moment he receives shinjin. This is said in Jodo Shinshu as being the world of "All right if I live, and all right if I die."
The salvation offered by Amida Buddha is not a selfish one but it also implies the salvation of others. To be born in the Pure Land doesn&apostrophe;t represent a destination, but a permanent return. The Jodo Shinshu follower reaches supreme Enlightement in the moment of his death and returns repeatedly in this world, as a Buddha, under various forms, in order to save others. So, he fulfills the Bodhisattva ideal and he is in full harmony with the doctrine of interdependence and of cosmic filial piety towards all beings.
Master Shinran Shonin (1173-1262), the founder of Jodo Shinshu school in Japan said:
"Compassion in the Pure Land path should be understood as first attaining Buddhahood quickly through saying the nembutsu and, with the mind of great love and great compassion, freely benefiting sentient beings as one wishes. However much love and pity we may feel in our present lives, it&apostrophe;s hard to save others as we wish; hence, such compassion remains unfulfilled. Only the saying of the nembutsu, then, is the mind of great compassion that is throughgoing."
JODO SHINSHU BOOKS IN ENGLISH from Dharma Lion Publications - the first Buddhist publishing house in Romania.
www.dharmalionpub.com/NEWBOOKS.html
Prima editura buddhista din Romania - www.dharmalionpub.com
Buddhism Jodo Shinshu in Romania - www.shinbuddhism.ro
AMIDA-JI RETREAT TEMPLE IN ROMANIA - amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com
Grup de discutii bazat exclusiv pe invatatura si practica buddhismului Jodo Shinshu. groups.yahoo.com/group/shinbuddhism-romania
Forum Buddhism-Romania www.5wwwww5.com/forum/?mforum=josho
