Sangha

I take refuge in the Sangha. Truly it is my vow that together with multitudinous beings, I will unify and give meaning to the great assemblage making it unobstructable to all.

Hearing the Dharma difficult to hear

Life is something that needs to be lived. Because of this, helping others to live their lives fully is how the Buddha expressed his perfected wisdom and compassion. It is also the reason why the Buddha established the Sangha. The Sangha was the community dedicated to achieving the same wisdom and compassion as the Buddha for all of its members. Although the Sangha focused on developing the members who joined the community, in its very establishment it also helped the larger community overcome the prejudices that they learned. At the time the Sangha was established the society that Sakyamuni Buddha lived in supported a rigid caste system that defined a person’s value by the status of the family they were born into. At the top of this caste system was the Brahmin, or the priestly caste. All the other castes—the Kshatriya or warrior caste, the Vaisya or merchant caste, and the Sudra or peasant caste—were seen as inferior and subservient to the Brahmins.[1] Membership into these four castes was, according to this system, determined by birth. In contrast to this, the Buddha when asked how one becomes a Brahmin answered in the following way:

By birth a brahmin is not born, by birth a non-brahmin is not born,

By actions a brahmin is born, by actions a non-brahmin is born.[2]

The Buddha also discussed what type of action he regarded as important in determining one’s status. For example, he is quoted as saying, “Not because of matted hair, nor because of family lineage or birth, is one a Brahmin; with truth and righteousness is one a true Brahmin.”[3] In talking about the other castes and in particular the lower two castes the Buddha is recorded as saying, “Men are not born vile. They become vile through their actions. Do not ask about their birth. Only ask about their actions.”[4] In establishing a new community, one based entirely on actions, the Buddha helped everyone to see that a society whose social structures were based entirely on birth was not the only viable system available. Equality was not some possible future recompense but was something that could be established in the present, for everyone shares in the truth.

The Buddha did not just speak of a society that was founded on a search for Enlightenment, but demonstrated that such a community was viable. Society, he showed, did not have to be founded on the search for wealth, fame or power. It did not require somebody to fail in order for somebody else to succeed. The community of the Sangha was established to help its members to understand and live the Dharma or the truth that a Buddha becomes Enlightened to. In establishing the Sangha and helping others to understand the truth of the Dharma, the Buddha teaches not just through words but also serves as the living example of a life lived fully awakened to that Dharma: life has to be lived. It is through the fulfillment of the unsurpassed heart, or wisdom, and the sharing of the Buddha’s entire being, or compassion, that allows the Buddha to motivate us, the Sangha, to seek and take the path.

Not by birth, but by action: the importance of actions and deeds

In the preceding section, Sakyamuni Buddha emphasized the importance of action. In describing our actions he would discuss three different modes of action. These three modalities were (1) the action of the body, (2) the action of the mouth, and (3) the action of the mind. Taken together these three types of action were called the Three Karmic Acts.[5] The actions of the body are what we would typically consider as action. This behavior has a definite physical component, and the result of these actions would be something that we could point at and claim, “I did that.” The actions of the mouth involve all those activities we would identify as vocalized speech. The motives found behind that speech are also included in this mode of action. Motives would include but are not limited to the attempt to clarify, console, excite, mislead, confuse or dominate those we address in our speech. Finally, the actions of the mind include all mental actions not covered above.

Because of this emphasis, actions or practice took a primary role in the understanding of the Buddhist path. It was through practice that one was able to remove the fetters that kept one bound to the world of birth-and-death, the world of samsara, or the world of suffering. In this way, Buddhism was described through the three pillars of Teaching, Practice and Enlightenment.[6] One first studied the teachings and based on those studies performed different practices. Through perfecting the practices associated with one’s learning one achieved Enlightenment and became a Buddha. Even now, in distinguishing between the different schools of Buddhism one is often asked, “What is your practice?”

Prefacing Practice with Teaching, however, also emphasized that actions were founded on the wisdom of a Buddha. We are, for example, constantly performing actions and because of this are practicing certain behaviors. Unfortunately, the behaviors we tend to practice do not lend themselves towards achieving Enlightenment. Instead of being based on a Buddha’s wisdom our actions tend to be motivated by the three poisons of Greed, Anger and Stupidity.

In helping us to understand the importance of our actions or Karma, Vasubandhu a Buddhist monk of the early 5^th Century helped to develop the Yogacara school of Buddhism. Although the following description is an oversimplification of what the school teaches, our karmic acts—our actions—help to define who we are in the following way: the more we do something, the better we get at doing it and the easier it gets to do. In our everyday lives we discover that we tend to practice how to be greedy, how to be angry, and how to be stupid. We tend to hoard, we lash out and abuse people and we hurt ourselves and others. We tell people how wonderful it would be to posses something, we shout at people in our complaints, and we say how everything is okay even when we might be feeling that things are getting out of control. We tell ourselves that all we have to do is possess one more object and we will be happy, we make a mental note of how unfair a person is and vow never to deal with them again, and we tell ourselves that if we are unhappy, it is the other person’s fault. None of these actions have the wisdom of a Buddha. Instead, we are encouraged to do like a Buddha does, speak as a Buddha does, and think like a Buddha. Unfortunately, it is very difficult for us to give up the world we have created for a world that none of us have really seen. Shinran Shonin, the founder of Jodo Shinshu, is quoted in the Tannisho as saying,

It is hard for us to abandon this old home of pain, where we have been transmigrating for innumerable kalpas down to the present, and we feel no longing for the Pure Land of peace, where we have yet to be born. Truly, how powerful our blind passions are![7]

Seeking the Path

Motivating others to take the path is not an easy endeavor. Shinran Shonin, for example, talks about how fully entrenched we are in the world of our creation, or the world filled with the three poisons. It is especially difficult for us to consider a different way of living life when there is no living example of how life could be lived differently readily available to us. Instead, we worry that if we don’t keep trying we will just get further behind.

Although given how busy we have made our lives in our always connected 24 hours-7 days a week world, it may seem that there is no time to worry about how life can be lived differently. This difficulty is something that has also existed during Sakyamuni Buddha’s time as well. This difficulty is related to us in the story of Sakyamuni Buddha’s hesitation for 49 days before getting up from his meditation to expound the Dharma. It is a story that helps to explain to us the difficulty of transmitting the Dharma. It is also a story that helps to explain that while doctrine is the systematized understanding of the Truth claims of a particular tradition, Truth, frequently, lays beyond description. It is part of the reason why the Buddha hesitated to teach. From the side of the person who receives the truth, Shinran Shonin employed terms like “inexpressible, inexplicable, and inconceivable” to describe the Dharma. He also uses these terms to describe the heart through which that Dharma is transmitted. Despite these limitations, we discover that the Dharma, the truth can still be transmitted. It is, however, very difficult. The following story is an example of this difficulty. It is a story found in the Vinaya or the rules of conduct for monks and nuns.

…the World-Honored One met Upaka, a follower of a false path that espoused an evil way of life. Upaka was struck by the serenity of the World-Honored One’s appearance and said, “Your appearance is truly serene, pure, and lucid. As a mendicant[ 1] , whom did you take as your teacher and what kind of teaching did he impart?

The World-Honored One answered this question in verse: “I am victorious in battle; my wisdom is superior; I am unstained by all things; I am free of all sufferings; the thirst of lust has been emptied in me; I am perfectly enlightened. This is entirely due to my wisdom; whom shall I regard as my teacher? In heaven and on earth, there is no one who is my equal. I am the Enlightened One of this world; I am the supreme teacher. I alone dwell in pure quiescence. From now on, I shall turn the Wheel of the Dharma in this blind world; here I shall beat the drum of immortality. To accomplish this, I now direct myself to the city of Kasi.”

Upaka said, “World-Honored One, do you, of your own accord, call yourself ‘the Enlightened One’ and ‘the Victorious One’?” The World-Honored One replied, “He who has extinguished all defilements and has restrained evil—is not that man ‘the Victorious One’?” Upaka said, “perhaps that is so,” and nodding his head, he departed, taking a different path.[8]

This is a story that informs us that even if we were to meet with a Buddha, we still need the heart to receive a Buddha. It is partially for this reason that within the introduction of the Three Refuges it states, “It is difficult to hear the Buddha-Dharma.” Like the passer by, however, we live in a world where the Buddha-Dharma has already been transmitted, and because of this one of the necessary conditions for our being able to hear it has already been established. This condition for our hearing the Dharma could only be established after overcoming the difficulty of transcending languages, cultures, space and time. It is also evident, however, through the above anecdote, that simply meeting with the Dharma, or being in the presence of the Dharma may not be enough. We also need to hear and receive. It is to help us do this that the Sangha was established. It is the reason temples are founded and supported.

The (Jodo Shinshu) Temple

Temples are established to house and shelter the Sangha. The Jodo Shinshu temple is no exception. As with all schools of Buddhism, however, one distinguishing factor between temples of the different Buddhist traditions or schools is the practice that occurs within the temple. Jodo Shinshu is particularly unique in this regard because although the Nembutsu or the voiced utterance of the Buddha’s Name is a central component of its doctrinal system, it says that its practice is “no practice.” For example, Jodo Shinshu practice has been described in the following way:

The nembutsu, for its practicers, is not a practice or a good act. Since it is not performed out of one’s own designs, it is not a practice. Since it is not good done through one’s own calculation, it is not a good act. Because it arises wholly from Other Power and is free of self-power, for the practicer, it is not a practice or a good act.[9]

As revealed in the story of Upaka, the emphasis is less on what one does (actively) and more on what one receives.[10] This emphasis is also incorporated into the ritual service. As with any Karmic act, however, we discover that the more we do something, the better we get at doing it and the easier it gets to do. This is one of the primary reasons why repetition or the creation of a tradition becomes so important. At the ritual service we are constantly practicing how to receive the Dharma. Unlike Upaka, however, we do not simply shrug off the Dharma and take a different path. Instead, an appreciation for the rarity of human life and the meeting with the Dharma is acknowledged whenever the recitation of the Three Refuges is read as part of the Jodo Shinshu ritual service.

When used in the ritual service as a group reading, the Three Treasures are divided into a “leader” section and a “group” section. The leader section is read to the Sangha and is comprised of the first and last paragraphs. The group sections are read by all in attendance and are the paragraphs that begin with the phrase “I take refuge in.”

It is difficult to receive a human body; already, now, have I received it. It is difficult to hear the Buddha-Dharma; already, now, have I heard it. If this body, in facing this life, does not cross over, then in facing what life will this body cross over? Together with the great assemblage, with a true heart I will take refuge in the three treasures.

1 I take refuge in the Buddha. Truly it is my vow that together with multitudinous beings, I will understand (with my whole being) the great path and give rise to the unsurpassed heart.

2 I take refuge in the Dharma. Truly it is my vow that together with multitudinous beings, I will deeply enter the Dharma Storehouse and become like the ocean of wisdom.

3 I take refuge in the Sangha. Truly it is my vow that together with multitudinous beings, I will unify and give meaning to the great assemblage making it unobstructable to all.

The Dharma that is unsurpassed, extremely deep, wondrous and rare is difficult to meet even in Hundreds of Thousands of Tens of Thousands of kalpa. I am now seeing and hearing, and have gained the receiving and holding of it. It is my vow to understand the True and Real meaning of the Tathagata.

As part of the ritual observance, the Sangha receives the opening and concluding sections of the reading. We are helped to understand that truth is not created or made and is instead received. We are enlightened by the truth, as we are awakened to it. Furthermore, although “taking refuge” may be considered something “done,” we pledge or vow that it is something that I will do “together with multitudinous beings.” The act of sharing is also an act of receiving.

At the Jodo Shinshu temple, then, “practice” may be considered the act of receiving. In this receiving, however, one further discovers that we begin to create a different world from that formed of the three poisons and begin to do as the Buddha does. As a natural response to receiving the Dharma of the Buddha and participating in a Sangha, we discover that in place of greed we find ourselves giving. In place of anger we discover calm. In place of stupidity we discover ourselves sharing the wisdom of the Buddha. In our actions of the body we smile, in the actions of the mouth we repeat the words of a Buddha in our chanting or repeat the commentary of Buddhist masters, and in the actions of the mind we find peace. These three treasures are the foundations that a Buddhist anchors their life on in order to explore life as both wisdom and compassion. It also describes the reason for the Sangha. For the Jodo Shinshu Sangha, the three treasures also becomes the acknowledgment of having received the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha through Namo Amida Butsu. It is the pledge to share in the Dharma and to fulfill the Vow of the Buddha to share Enlightenment with all sentient beings. Or, in quoting from the closing section of the Kyogyoshinsho:

I have collected true words to aid others in their practice for attaining birth, in order that the process be made continuous, without end and without interruption, by which those who have been born first guide those who come later, and those who are born later join those who were born before. This is so that the boundless ocean of birth-and-death be exhausted.[11]

and

On seeing a bodhisattva

Perform various practices,

Some give rise to a good mind and others a mind of evil,

But the bodhisattva embraces them all.[12]

For more about the life and teachings of Shinran Shonin and the doctrinal heritage he established, the reader is encouraged to take the on-line course offered by the Center for Buddhist Education. For more information about the Center and the on-line course offerings, please visit http://jscc.cbe-bca.org/home/index.php?option=com_frontgage&itemid=1.

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[1] There was one other group created or an outcast group known as “untouchables” and were regarded as almost “sub-human.” Other sub-divisions were later created and added but the four caste system can be regarded as the foundation.

[2] Vasettha Sutta, (Majjhima Nikāya), verse number 650.

[4] Suttanipata, Ch. 3, verse 462 as quoted in Hirakawa, Akira, “A History of Indian Buddhism,” p. 43.

[5] In Japanese this is known as the sango (三業)

[6] See Dharma Section, “The First Challenge: the Buddha’s Death”

[7] Collected Works of Shinran (CWS) , volume 1, p. 666.

[9] Tannisho, Chapter 8 as found in CWS, volume 1, p. 665.

[10] Although it is not possible to adequately discuss the very important doctrinal concept of “Other Power” and “Self Power” as mentioned in the above Tannisho passage in this introduction, as a preliminary step towards understanding this very important doctrinal concept I have tried to use the distinction between actively doing something (the importance of actions and deeds) and that of receiving (seeking the path).