“Amida is a phase of shunyata itself”
there are roughly two types of thinking regarding ‘birth in the Pure Land’, one of which is to place it in linear time after death as being ‘born’ into a place called the ‘Pure Land’ which is generally conceived as being a substantial entity; the other is to equate Amida and Pure Land with our inmost self and this actual world we are living in, which we can realize through a special religious intuition. Which of the two is correct? … This sort of discussion has been repeated for a long time since the introduction of Western ways of thinking, or even before then, and seems likely to continue as long as the Shin doctrine is comprehended only theoretically.”
- Michio Tokunaga
Recently the small Jodo Shinshu blogosphere has seen an argument flare up over issues such as whether Amida Buddha and the Pure Land are literally spatial/temporal entities or are symbols pointing to formless truths. I am disappointed in the way that this debate has been conducted. The former side have displayed a disregard for right conduct that reflects poorly on the authenticity of the faith which they claim to hold so dear, whilst those reacting against their behaviour and arguments have utilised surprisingly poor scholarship which will likely only further inflame the situation.
My suspicion is that the dispute stems from a failure on both sides to properly appreciate Shinran Shonin’s understanding of the relationship between form and formlessness. As such I would simply like to commend anyone who is concerned with this issue to read the writings of Michio Tokunaga who has done some great work on the subject. I also recommend the writings of Gadjin Nagao which have clearly influenced Tokunaga.
dharmakaya as suchness and dharmakaya as compassion are not separable … Thus, Amida is not a simple reification of the ultimate reality of shunyata. Amida is a phase of shunyata itself; thus Amida is, so to speak, a ‘formless form’ which may sound sophistic to Westerners. What enables this ‘formless form’ to be realized is, as has repeatedly been mentioned, the self-negating or self-emptying nature of shunyata, that is, ‘being stilled of attachments’ in T’an-luan’s terminology.”
- Michio Tokunaga
Reading List:
from Kenryo Kanamatsu’s Naturalness:
(p.63 World Wisdom Edition)