New Way Of Approach In Buddhist Studies

Author(s): Hajime Nakamura
Publisher: Hajime Nakamura

Page 13

26) A NEW WAY OF APPROACH
275
is primarily an inhibition, and who is in this sense an uncompromising dualist”. (I. Babbitt: The Dhammapada, Introduction, pp. 105–106.) To the Buddha evil is something to be conquered; inhibition should be observed assiduously. Evil is not mere negation of reality. Viewed from the religious standpoint, good action as such is never a means final end. Prince Sumana. once asked the Buddha what would be the difference between two men, one of whom had been bounteous in a former life and one not. He replied that there would be no difference at all after they have attained release. (Anguttara-Nikaya, III, p. 32.) And yet devout Buddhists will practise good actions spontaneously, without considering the results of actions concerned.
In the Buddhist faith there is no conception of original sin. There are none who would be damned forever. Eternal damnation is absolutely inconceivable for the Buddhists. Even such hideous crimes as patricide are forgiven by deep repentence. The path of religion leads through morality; but when one approaches the goal, one enters into an entirely different element; the saint who has attained the calm of Nirvana is said to be beyond good and evil'. What is called 'good' in our daily life is. very often defiled with worldly desire. The ideal situation should be perfectly pure, so it is said to transcend secular good and evil. In a situation like this there are no differences between the release of one person and that of another, because they are all purified.
It seems that Shinran might be, at the first glance, the only exception to what we have just predicated. Shinran reflected: We should realize what calamity is involved in the mere fact of our being alive. All living beings are sinful. We cannot live without committing sins. We are all karma-bound. Only through meditating on the reflection that we are sinful, we come to feel compassionate to others. The attitude of compassion can be founded only by grace. "We are wicked and sinful, but through the virtue of faith We try to do good for the welfare and peace of the worldyet not through our own power, but through that of Another (i.e.
Amitabha.)” (Inagaki's Tr. pp. 99-100.) All men, whether they are honest or criminal, are, without any distinction, admitted to Amida's Pure Realm. Faith in Amida's grace is the one and only condition of admission. We are equally sinful, and Amida is a being of compassionate love in the genuine form comparable to the highest God, but unlike the Christian God, he is not a judge. There is no conception of punishment by Amida. The Shin sect holds the view that the evil are rightfully eligible for salvation by Amitabha Buddha.
Shinran brought this idea of Buddha's grace to its extreme conclusion.