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(10) AMIDA BUDDHA'S PROMISE
Shinran Shonin, founder of Jodo Shin Buddhism, expressed his profound awareness of the law of cause and effect through the words:
gI have embarked on the ship
of the boundless compassion of Buddhafs Promise.
Now I float on a vast ocean of Light.
Winds of virtue gently blow
Turning the waves of misfortune into bliss.
gThe ship of the boundless compassion of Buddhafs Promiseh refers to Amida Buddhafs Promise. Amida Buddha promises to save all beings and grant them Absolute Happiness. Shinran Shonin was saved by Amida Buddhafs Promise when he was 29 years old. He expressed his joy through the above poem.
At the instant that Shinran Shonin was saved, he gfloated on a vast ocean
of Light.h The vast ocean of Light is the World of Absolute Happiness where
there are no obstacles. gThe winds of virtueh are the favorable circumstances,
when everything happens exactly as one expects.
When we are saved by Amida Buddhafs promise, we are made aware of how full
of worldly passions we are. With these worldly passions we perform infinite
evils. Thus, according to the law of cause and effect, which says, gbad
deeds bring bad results,h it is only natural that we suffer the results
of our bad deeds. Shinran Shonin cried tears of joy when he found that
even he, who had committed such evil deeds, was the object of Amida Buddhafs
salvation.
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