"As for myself, Shinran, I simply take to heart the words of my dear teacher, Honen, "Just say the nembutsu and be
saved by Amida," and entrust myself to the Primal Vow. Besides this, there is nothing else.
I really do not know whether the nembutsu may be the cause for my birth in the Pure Land, or the act that shall condemn
me to hell. But I have nothing to regret, even if I should have been deceived by my teacher, and, saying the nembutsu, fall
into hell. The reason is that if I were capable of realizing buddhahood by other religious practices and yet fell into hell
for saying the nembutsu I might have dire regrets for having been deceived. But since I am absolutely incapable of any religious
practice, hell is my only home."
--Tannisho II
I used to think that faith proceeded from an intellectual assent to a particular
dogma or doctrine. Faith was akin to merely believing that x + y = z. One couldn't question it. That's the way it is. Don't
fight it. Believe it. Don't ask questions. Just be faithful. Remember, everyone believes: family, friends, society and generations
before me. They all can't be wrong. Who am I to question anything?
However, the Tannisho II shows me
that true faith is a personal experience devoid of dogma and coercion. It's a new way of looking at things, which is free
of intellectual paradigms. Faith is simplicity, single-minded, naked and steady. For this reason, Shinran states, "Just say
the nembutsu and be saved by Amida." This faith experience isn't derived by my mind or even assent; it's roused from deep
within my consciousness. I can tell you that I know that its fountainhead is the very source of life itself, which is the
Primal Vow of Other Power. I can't tell you how I know, I just do. This is the
core of faith. It's beyond logic and conceivability. It's a living reality in my consciousness. The Vow is part of me and
at the same time it is me. I have no choice in the matter. Like being swept up in a gushing current, I just entrust myself
to the ebb and flow of water that will inevitability take me to the Ocean of Life and Light. Beyond this,
there is nothing else.
