Buddhist Psalms translated from the Japanese of Shinran Shonin — John Shaqi
Buddhist Psalms translated from the Japanese of Shinran ShoninShinran
Religion
Buddhist Psalms translated from the Japanese of Shinran Shonin
Shinran
Buddhism
63. By the Divine Promise of the final salvation hath our Lord
instructed the men of the Single Vehicle to recite His Holy Name
that is the Essence of all the merit revealed in the Lesser Sutra of
the Buddha of Infinite Life.
64. He that reciteth the Holy name by his own effort and in the mind
of meditation or of dispersing, being led by the virtue of the
divine promise of final salvation, turneth naturally in at the Gate
of Truth.
65. He that holds not the True Faith, even though he desire to be
born into the Pure Paradise of Joy, must go unto his own place, and
it shall be in the border of the Outermost Places, for this is the
fruit of doubting the mystery of the Supreme Wisdom.
66. That a man should be a Buddha, made manifest in this world, is a
rare thing and difficult. So difficult is it also to hear the
excellent doctrine of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In all the
myriads of Kalpas such a way comes seldom.
67. Difficult is it for men to find a wise Teacher; so is it also
for them to be instructed and to hear the Holy Law. More difficult
still is it to receive the True Faith.
68. More difficult is it for men to receive the Divine Promise made
unto men than to receive all other teachings.
The Lord Buddha teacheth that this is of all hard things most
difficult and yet again more difficult.
69. The true Doctrine teacheth men that they may become Buddhas in
reciting the Holy Name, and so therefore is it that all other faiths
and moralities are but transitory doorways unto the Truth. Man
comprehendeth not that Pure Land of Peace unless he holdeth fast the
true Doctrine, casting aside that which is transitory.
70. Seek refuge in the Sole Vehicle of merciful promise. For the
transitory teachings have let and hindered men in the Way of
Enlightenment so that they must needs pass through the long
weariness of births and deaths.
CONCERNING THE SUTRA OF THE MEDITATION
71. That Lord that was made flesh in India, the Lord of great pity,
showing unto Vaidehi, Queen of Magadha, the golden mirror created by
his marvellous power, commanded her to choose the Land of Pure Joy
among all the worlds therein appearing.
72. Binbisara, he who commanded that an ascetic should be slain
before his pre-ordained time was come, by his own son was imprisoned
in a seven-walled prison as the due recompense of his violence.
73. Ajāta-Šatru, prince and heir of Magadha, denouncing his mother
as a traitor, with drawn sword ran furiously upon her.
74. Then said Jīvaka the minister and another with him: “This act is
worthy only of an outcast. For the fame of our race unworthy art
thou to dwell in the Palace.” And earnestly did they counsel him to
change his evil purpose.
75. Laying his hand on his sword-hilt, Jīvaka, the minister, drew
backwards a few steps, steadfastly regarding the prince, that he
might avert this great sin. And so it was that the prince laid down
his sword, and secluded his mother in a palace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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