Master Shandao's Two Kinds of Deep Faith

Master Shandao inherited the Pure Land thought of Tanluan and Daochuo, fusing it with the enlightenment he himself had attained through Pure Land practice. He authored the Five Works in Nine Fascicles, elaborating a system of Lotus School thought centered on the Original Vow's other-power. His exposition of faith is suffused with the distinctive religious sentiment of Pure Land practitioners—resonant as a voice from beyond kalpas, capable of inspiring faith in people countless generations hence. Please consider the text of his Two Kinds of Deep Faith:

First, definitive deep faith: I myself am at present an evil ordinary being caught in the round of birth and death, and since time immemorial I have perpetually drowned and wandered on, with no prospect of escape.

Second, definitive deep faith: Amitabha Buddha's Forty-eight Vows reach out to embrace sentient beings; without doubt or anxiety, and relying on the power of that Vow, I shall surely attain rebirth.

The Two Kinds of Deep Faith are a reflection of Master Shandao's inner experience, while also describing the universal spiritual journey by which beings of the Saha world come to arouse faith in the Lotus School. Master Shandao cast his stern gaze upon the afflictions and evils of ordinary beings, contemplating them with deep concern. Though sentient beings possess the nature of suchness, their ignorance runs thick, their afflictions blaze fiercely, and their karmic illusory body—every stirring of thought, every flicker of mind—is nothing but defilement. Even when a pure intention arises, it is like drawing lines upon water. Thus, through immeasurable kalpas, they have drowned in the bitter sea of birth-and-death—sometimes enduring intense suffering in the three evil realms, sometimes briefly catching their breath in the three good realms—yet never departing from the three realms and six paths, perpetually drowning and wandering on. Among them, some have aspired to cultivate the Way, but in the end, because their obstacles are deep and their wisdom shallow, their self-power has been too weak to subdue or sever the vast afflictions of views and discursive thoughts, and so they plunge once more into the rushing torrent of samsara, forever without a chance of escape. Contemplating, across the vast expanse of life's time and space, the wheeling rounds of evil ordinary beings caught in samsara—how grievous and sorrowful a sight it is!

Master Shandao sternly positioned himself as an evil ordinary being caught in samsara. For us self-important and arrogant folk, this is nothing less than a stunning blow. Turning the light inward to examine our own thoughts, we find they are indeed nothing but evil, nothing but sin; we ourselves are truly evil ordinary beings caught in samsara, through and through! The sentient beings born in the impure Saha world of the Dharma-ending age are all people of heavy karmic burdens and inferior faculties.

The Sutra of the Flower of Compassion records that our original teacher Shakyamuni, in this Fortunate Aeon when human lifespan stood at one hundred years, manifested Buddhahood in the Saha world. At that time, the world was filled with beings afflicted by full-blown passions, subject to their degradation. These beings had all been cast out by other world-systems and shunned even by those of profound good roots. We should understand that the heavy-karmic beings described in the sutra are none other than you, and I, and others of this very age. We must hold this as our definitive deep faith.

This ordinary being who perpetually drowns, powerless to save himself, stands in a canyon of despair and turns to hope for rescue by an outside power. The moment his gaze begins to search, he is astonished to discover that the ladder to heaven was already at hand. He grips it tightly, and in an instant soars to the magnificent peak of wondrous scenery. To find life at the point of death—such wonder is beyond compare!

Know that Amitabha Buddha, like a compassionate mother, has been pitying us ordinary beings who perpetually drown; through endless kalpas, he has stretched his hand down into the abyss. After we have gazed deeply upon our own evil and despaired of liberation through self-power, we make a thrilling leap toward rescue through Amitabha's Vow-power. It is precisely this thrilling leap that saves the evil ordinary being caught in samsara! Mother and child are reunited, their hearts mingled with sorrow and joy. In the air, the triumphant hymn of life resounds of its own accord, sounding the eternal melody of "Namo Amitabha"—the oneness of sentient being and Buddha. The single thought of seeking rescue from an evil ordinary being resonates in mysterious accord with Amitabha's absolute universal-rescue Vow-power. Truly, this is a rare and hard-to-encounter moment across immeasurable kalpas! This rebound from self-power to other-power manifests the subtle mystery of the oneness of sentient being and Buddha, and at the same time highlights the greatness of Amitabha's compassionate Vow-power. From the interactive relationship between the evil of perpetually-drowning beings and Amitabha's compassionate Vow, Master Shandao reveals the profound meaning of the Lotus School's other-power faith, fulfilling the Buddha's original intent, with merit beyond all measure.

This thought—deep faith in the difficulty of severing afflictions through self-power, and deep faith in the ease of accomplishing the Way through the Buddha's power—has a long and unbroken lineage in the doctrine and practice of the Chinese Lotus School. The patriarchs of the school, openly or in subtle ways, expounded it according to circumstance, devising all manner of skillful and expedient means to guide sentient beings to take refuge in the great Vow-sea of Amitabha.

The modern Master Yinguang devoted his life to the exclusive practice of Pure Land, vigorously extolling the supreme excellence of the Buddha-recitation Dharma gate. He once said: "Everyone should understand this: what power do you have if you rely on self-power in your cultivation? It is nothing but the karmic force accumulated since beginningless time. That is why, through ten thousand kalpas and a thousand lives, liberation is hard to attain. Relying on the great Vow-power of Amitabha Buddha, it is naturally accomplished in a single lifetime." There are many such instructions, and their meaning tallies exactly with the import of Master Shandao's Two Kinds of Deep Faith. From this we may verify that the interpretation of faith that entrusts oneself to the rescue of Amitabha's great Vow has been transmitted in an unbroken line in our land—like the sun blazing at high noon, shining universally over the universe, opening the hearts and minds of people and inspiring correct faith.