Weekly Wasan - Episode 45 - Kōsō Wasan (Hymns of the Pure Land Masters) Hōnen 113-117 & Concluding Verses 118-119asan

Hi Dharma friends,

This episode concludes Shinran's verses on his own teacher, Master Genkū (Hōnen) of Japan, the seventh master in Shinran's Jōdo Shinshū lineage.  In these verses, Shinran reverently recognizes Hōnen as a manifestation of Amida Buddha and describes his passing in terms familiar from the entry of Śākyamuni Buddha into Nirvana.  Shinran concludes the Kōsō Wasan collection with two concluding verses.  In the first, the teachings of all seven masters are summarized and restated:  When sentient beings of this world of five defilements (that is: all of us) entrust themselves to the selected Primal Vow (that is: saying Namo-Amida-Butsu), virtues beyond description, explanation, and conception fill those beings.  Finally, Shinran - our own Master and Teacher - directs the good that he received from these masters toward all sentient beings equally.  Great stuff.

I hope you have enjoyed listening to the Kōsō Wasan.  Next time, we will continue with a third collection written by Master Shinran, the Shōzōmatsu Wasan or Hymns of the Dharma Ages.  There are 116 verses in that collection.