This book is, as the title shows, an attempt to explain the meaning of faith and Nembutsu in accordance with the teaching of our school. I start my explanations with the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha because without it there would be no Jodo Shinshu. As Shinran said: “If Amida’s Primal Vow is true, Shakyamuni’s teaching cannot be false. If the Buddha’s teaching is true, Shan-tao’s commentaries cannot be false. If Shan-tao’s commentaries are true can Honen’s words be lies? If Honen’s words are true, then surely what I say cannot be empty.” Every Buddhist school has a lineage of transmission. Ours starts with Amida Buddha, then continues with Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, the seven Masters, Shinran Shonin, Rennyo Shonin and any true teacher that came after them and was loyal to the Primal Vow. What all the representatives of our lineage said with one voice is that the Primal Vow is true and that it contains everything we need for our attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land of Amida. “Be in accord with the Primal Vow” is the motto of our school and this book tries its best to do just that – to be in accord with the Primal Vow, to turn people’s minds toward the Primal Vow and make them follow exclusively the requirements of the Primal Vow. May all beings who read it abandon the wrong teachings of non-Buddhist paths and among the various Buddhist teachings and practices chose the one which represents the true reason for all Buddhas coming to this world – the Nembutsu of faith, the One Vehicle of the Primal Vow. The audio version of this book was made by my Dharma friend Gansen John Welch from Australia, to whom I am very grateful. You can download it for free in pdf version, at this link, http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2018/07/new-book-meaning-of-faith-and-nembutsu.html#more Note: Many of the footnotes are not included in the audio version because they are too many, but you can read them in the online (pdf) version. Contact details and information about me and my temple: http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html If you wish to support my Dharma activities and Amidaji temple, you can do so by becoming a casual donor or a patron (constant/monthly donor). To send your donations you can use the information bellow. Any small contribution is greatly appreciated and very much needed: http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.ro/p/donation.html ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTmVNX1HkAk

Introduction by Gansen John Welch, I wrote this new poem to thank and honour my teachers Reverend Josho Adrian Cirlea and Paul Roberts as well as our Amida Dharma Masters, Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, Tan-Luan, Daochuo, Shandao, Genshin, Honen,Shinran and Rennyo without whom I could not have found and understood (in my case, to some small extent) Amida Dharma and my utter helplessness, trapped in the endless suffering of samsara. Never forget these wise words from Tannisho by Yuienbo: “As I humbly reflect on the past [when the late master Shinran was alive] and the present in my foolish mind, I can not but lament the divergences from the true shinjin that he conveyed by speaking to us directly, and I fear there are doubts and confusions in the way followers receive and transmit the teaching. For how is entrance into the single gate of easy practice possible unless we happily come to rely on a true teacher whom conditions bring us to encounter? Let there be not the slightest distortion of the teaching of Other Power with words of an understanding based on personal views.” My hope is that readers and listeners will find that certain words, phrases, ideas and concepts in this poem resonate with their past and present experience and prove to be helpful and meaningful in increasing their understanding of this profound and preciousAmida Dharma. As Master Rennyo wrote: “There will also be those who are lacking in faith(fushinjin). This is an extremely serious matter. For unless there is a decisive settling of faith, the birth that is to come in the fulfilled land is uncertain. Therefore, those whose faith is lacking (fushin)should in all haste attain the decisive mind.The human realm is a place of uncertainty. The Land of utmost bliss is one of eternity. Hence we should not make our abode in the uncertain human realm, but rather aspire to [birth in] the eternal Land of Utmost Bliss. In our tradition, therefore, the matter of faith is placed before all else; unless we are fully aware of the reason for this, everything is meaningless. We must promptly undergo a decisive settling of faith (anjin) and aspire to birth in the Pure Land.” (The Letters of Master Rennyo, Fascicle Five, 11: On the Anniversary of Master Shinran’s Death) “There is, then, no anxiety over becoming a Buddha. How incomparable is the all-surpassing Primal Vow! And how gracious Amida Tathagata’s light! Without encountering the [receptive] condition of this light, there can be no cure at all for the fearful sickness of ignorance and karma-hindrance, which has been ours from the beginningless past. Prompted by the condition of this light, and with the ripening of good from the past, we assuredly attain other-power faith now. It is immediately clear, however, that this is faith ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8ZpmtzSZcI

Articles related with this video teaching, A collection of passages on the true meaning of birth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha - https://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-collection-of-passages-on-true.html Vows explaining the characteristics, the capacities and activities of beings who attained Enlightenment in the Pure Land after being born there - https://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2012/10/vows-related-with-22nd-vow-of-amida.html Virtues and activities of the Enlightened Bodhisattvas of the Pure Land – commentary on sections 28 and 30 of the Larger Sutra - https://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2019/06/virtues-and-activities-of-bodhisattvas.html Against the idea that the Pure Land is "here and now" - https://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2021/09/against-idea-that-pure-land-is-here-and.html Unenlightened beings are not the same with Amida Buddha - https://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2017/05/unenlightened-beings-are-not-same-with.html A question on shinjin (faith) and Amida's attainment of Buddhahood - https://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2016/09/a-question-on-shinjin-faith-and-amidas.html#more Stop using Zen Masters explanations when referring to Amida Buddha - an example - https://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2018/01/stop-using-zen-masters-explanations.html Don’t listen to teachers who deny birth in the Pure Land through Nembutsu - https://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2022/07/dont-listen-to-teachers-who-dont.html * Click here if you wish to become a patron or make a donation to support my Dharma work. Any little help is appreciated and very much needed - http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/p/donation.html Click here if you want to know about Amidaji temple - http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html Click here if you want to read my autobiography - http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-path-between-thorns-my-spiritual.html Click here to download my books for free - http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/p/the-true-teaching-on-amida-buddha-and.html These are all the social platforms where you can find me: Facebook account - https://www.facebook.com/joshoadrian333 (main account) Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/Josho.Adrian.Cirlea Amidaji Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/amidaji MeWe - https://mewe.com/i/joshoadriancirlea1 Minds - https://www.minds.com/josho VK (Russian platform) - https://vk.com/josho Telegram - https://t.me/amidaji Gab - https://gab.com/Josho Twitter - https://twitter.com/RCirlea Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/JoshoAdrianCirlea Odysee - (a backup channel for all my videos), https://odysee.com/@JoshoAdrianCirlea:8 ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CErd9djJgRY

This book is, as the title shows, an attempt to explain the meaning of faith and Nembutsu in accordance with the teaching of our school. I start my explanations with the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha because without it there would be no Jodo Shinshu. As Shinran said: “If Amida’s Primal Vow is true, Shakyamuni’s teaching cannot be false. If the Buddha’s teaching is true, Shan-tao’s commentaries cannot be false. If Shan-tao’s commentaries are true can Honen’s words be lies? If Honen’s words are true, then surely what I say cannot be empty.” Every Buddhist school has a lineage of transmission. Ours starts with Amida Buddha, then continues with Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, the seven Masters, Shinran Shonin, Rennyo Shonin and any true teacher that came after them and was loyal to the Primal Vow. What all the representatives of our lineage said with one voice is that the Primal Vow is true and that it contains everything we need for our attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land of Amida. “Be in accord with the Primal Vow” is the motto of our school and this book tries its best to do just that – to be in accord with the Primal Vow, to turn people’s minds toward the Primal Vow and make them follow exclusively the requirements of the Primal Vow. May all beings who read it abandon the wrong teachings of non-Buddhist paths and among the various Buddhist teachings and practices chose the one which represents the true reason for all Buddhas coming to this world – the Nembutsu of faith, the One Vehicle of the Primal Vow. The audio version of this book was made by my Dharma friend Gansen John Welch from Australia, to whom I am very grateful. You can download it for free in pdf version, at this link, http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2018/07/new-book-meaning-of-faith-and-nembutsu.html#more Note: Many of the footnotes are not included in the audio version because they are too many, but you can read them in the online (pdf) version. Contact details and information about me and my temple: http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html If you wish to support my Dharma activities and Amidaji temple, you can do so by becoming a casual donor or a patron (constant/monthly donor). To send your donations you can use the information bellow. Any small contribution is greatly appreciated and very much needed: http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.ro/p/donation.html ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSneib7Vv6U