Wasan: ‘Softened Praises’

Hi all, I hope you’ve been enjoying Jishin’s reflections on his recent trip as much as I have.  Such insights into living Shin-shu in Japan are invaluable in helping to broaden our sense of community and awareness of the diverse expressions of nembutsu living.

Jishin’s recent mentions of the wasan reminded me of something I learnt recently on that subject.  ‘Wa san’ (和讚) literally means ‘Japanese (和) Songs of Praise (讚)’ where ‘wa’ (和) - being an old name for Japan - differentiates them from hymns in Chinese.  Such ‘Wasan’ were already quite popular before Shinran’s time but interestingly he highlighted one of the other meanings of the character ‘wa’ (和) and called the hymns he wrote ’softened praises’.  This reflects his desire to make the Pure Land liturgy more accessible and less daunting to nembutsu followers. [1]

[1] Scholars (.pdf) also point out that Shinran’s hymns “frequently retain terms and phrases directly from the Chinese of the Pure Land writings,and surely required considerable explanation in the meeting places in Kanto. Thus, even in these “softened praises” Shinran added annotation to many of the terms and marks to indicate the proper intonation in Chinese.”  (These annotations are presumably the basis for the notations we find in our sutra books today.)

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Moving on to another subject I met up with Ray of Dharmakara’s Prayer / Inward Light at the weekend.  Having corresponded for many years it was great to actual meet face-to-face at last and we had such a great time that the day really flew past.  In particular we spent a lot of time talking about the challenges faced by small Buddhist communities in the United Kingdom and I found it useful to compare my own experiences against his. Anyway if you haven’t done so already please do check out Ray’s thoughtful and extremely helpful blog.

And to round off this post another link; Rev. Harry of Lodi Buddhist Church has posted about the famous Japanese poem the ‘Iroha no uta’ at his blog The Nenju.

 

Insights from Literature …

A small group of my Dharma friends have recently started studying Shinran’s Sanjo Wasan. On Saturday we began looking at verse two and, whilst reading the books’ section of the Saturday Times, I was struck by resonances with Jeanette Winterson’s column about ‘closed’ and ‘open’ worlds in literature.

Sanjo Wasan #2

Those who say the Name while they doubt
The Vow beyond conceptual understanding
Attain birth and abide for five-hundred years
Vainly within a palace; so it is taught.”

Becoming a nembutsu devotee isn’t about our taking on this elaborate conceptual framework as a comforting world in which to hide from our troubles. On the contrary it is one in which our usual way of thinking is ‘destabilised’, as Winterson puts it, and where light is shone into all the corners of our lives. It can be frightening and unsettling, as true freedom is, but at the same time it brings us in touch with a dynamic true reality of which we find ourselves intimately a part.

After this verse of the wasan the next section goes on to describe the way in which the Other-power, to borrow Winterson’s words, works upon our constructed self by introducing “strange and unexpected destabilisation from outside its borders”.

 

Learning Jodo Shin chanting (2)

Listening to others and right attitude

Following my last post my Dharma friend Jishin, who lived in a taya* house for a time, sent me an email about some of the things he has been taught - which are very helpful I think:

“When chanting with others we should concentrate not on listening to our own voice but listen attentively to those around us. In doing so we lose our self-consciousness and our voice begins to harmonise with everyone elses. It stops us from feeling pride in having a strong voice or in being embarrassed if our voice seems weak or stumbling.”

“The second point is that when we chant to the Buddha our voice should be an offering to him, one in which we put in as much effort and energy as we can.”

I have also been taught similar things myself. Attending Hoonko (Shinran Shonin’s memorial day) this year I commented to a priest that I found the chanting of the last verses of the Hoonko hymns (wasan) very loud and harsh. The priest pointed out that in that particular verse the words are:

“Such is the benevolence of Amida’s great compassion,
That we must strive to return it, even to the breaking of our bodies;
Such is the benevolence of the masters and true teachers,
That we must endeavor to repay it, even to our bones becoming dust.”
(Shozomatsu Wasan 59)

The point being that, in this particular case, putting one’s whole body and mind into the sincere offering of thanks was the most important thing. Context is important.

Other points …

- When chanting the nembutsu it is good to look at the object of worship i.e. the Buddha image or calligraphy of the Name (omyogo). This need not be a rigid rule, indeed closing one’s eyes at certain times is also beneficial, but it is a skillful practice.

- When listening to the person who is reading Rennyo’s letters (Ofumi / Gobunsho) it is traditional to turn towards them, close one’s eyes, and incline one’s body and head downwards in a respectful half-bow, remaining that way throughout the reading.

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* Taya - Accomodation in or near to a Jodo Shin temple, provided so that followers can stay and study the Dharma intensively for a period. Also a system of spiritual encounter.

(The picture above is from Shogyo-ji temple in Japan)

Namuamidabutsu.