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The second movement: Light of Amida Nembutsu – Part 1

Posted date：2023-10-20
Author：じゅうべい(Jubei)  Transrator：ポンタ(Ponta)
Category：The Sacred Biography of Heian Buddhism: Amitabha Sage (Hijiri) Kuya, ed.

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The first part: Amitabha Nenbutu of the City Saint

“Well, we are here.”
I, Tatumi was brought by Oyu and coming to eastern market in the capital of Kyoto that day.

Bustling people under a blue sky

The calm wind strokes my cheek comfortably under the blue sky. Truly a diverse range of people go and out today, as well, and inscribe now of each via trading. With each standing point and place, they are inscribing the proof of their living now on this earth. Through them, I walked lined with Oyu and headed towards the shonin.

Higashi market, it is a government-run market administered by officials who were appointed by the imperial court called Ichino Tukasa. It is an important base to support the lives of people who are living in the city. Since it is not so far from the west Koro-kan of our current living base point, it is also relatively easier to go and come for us. This market is run by the end of the half of each month (by the 15th), and it begins at noon and closes at sunset with the beating of drums three times.
In the Higashi market, as many as 51 stores line up in a one-machi (120-meter square) area called the Ichiya district, where a variety of products such as rice, salt, oil, dried fish, and seaweed are sold and purchased. People use coins there to buy things and procure what they need.
Incidentally, most of the common people living in the capital today are employed as servants in the private residences of the nobility or in the various offices of the imperial court. Many of the old or young commoners living in the capital are also supported in various ways by those who work for the nobility. In the Higashi market, these common people and aristocrats come and go, and people from all walks of life, regardless of class, come and go.

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the Higashi City, the priest is said to be reciting the Nembutu and preaching the Dharma in front of the people of the city. Therefore, he was called the Amitabha Sage or the City Sage.

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―But doesn’t it disturb the public safety of the city to preach the Dharma delusionally in front of people?―

When I heard the story, I asked Oyu that question.
I have heard from someone that a woman from Echigo Province (Niigata Prefecture), who was called Koshinoubai, was sent back to her home country for dazzling the peasants with her delusions of sin and fortune at a market. In the Higashi City, where people gather and pass by, any activity that disturb public order is strictly prohibited by the city magistrate and the kebiishi.

Is it not a crime to dazzle people by chanting the Nembutu and preaching the Dharma in the city?

Then, Oyu answered, smiling.
“It is true that when he was first chanting the Nembutu in Higashi City, he said that people looked at him strangely.”

In the first place, among people, Amitabha Nembutu was deeply connected with expelling the stain of death of others and to exorcise the sprits of the dead.

Spirits of the dead guided to the Pure Land by Nembutsu

The recitation of the Nembutu is a way of wishing for the wandering spirits of the dead to be guided to the Jodo and to be reunited with Amitabha Buddha. For this reason, the Amitabha Nembutu was abhorred by the people because it was associated with the stain of death.

“So, at first, people had a hard time with him, saying insulting things to him, spitting on him, throwing stones at him, and so on.”
Even so, however, the priest continued to recite the nembutu with his mouth. In the midst of the bustle of the city, he would sit there with a piece of straw mat spread and a tray for beggars placed in front of him, calmly begging for food while chanting Nembutu earnestly in his mouth.

“Namu Amida Butu, Amida Butu. Namu Amida Butu, Amida Butu”

Images of Amitabha Buddha

No matter how many times they make fun of him, no matter how many times they throw stones at him, he never budges. He just continued to calmly chant the Amidha Nembutu. The people became accustomed to such an appearance of the priest. No, perhaps the people were unknowingly reassured by the monk, who was somehow calm and cloaked in an atmosphere of mystery.

It is one day after a series of such events. A person approached the priest who continued to recite the Nembutu.
“Why are you always chanting Nembutu? Nembutu is for the dead, right?” he said. The priest then shook his head calmly and replied in this way.

“No, Nembutu is for saving for all of us.”

To be continued to the latter part.

Author

じゅうべい(Jubei)
Hello everyone. I am Jubei, an earthling whose energy does not stop today. What I like is playing (manga, movies, music (J-Rock, etc.) and visiting cafes). Thank you for your understanding.

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