Part Two
Chapter 4: The Dark Mind: The Source of Suffering

THE WORDS OF SHINRAN

What is the root of human suffering? As we have seen, Shinran's answer in Teaching, Practice, Faith, Enlightenment is plain and unequivocal: it “is caused by one thing alone: the doubting mind.” The only cause is doubt. Shinran's words are free of tentativeness; as he expounds the sole solution to suffering, such assertions are frequent in his writings. Here “doubt” means the darkness of mind that does not know what will happen after death, concerning which we will have more to say in the following chapters.

Probably no one, on being told that the source of suffering is darkness of mind, will immediately see the light. eople are much more likely to show bewilderment, or dismiss the assertion with a careless shrug. Even those who do take a critical look at themselves are likely to feel that their troubles are rooted in worldly passions such as desire, anger, and envy. These passions are known in the teachings of Buddhism as bonno, a word written with characters for “trouble” and “distress.”

SHINRAN 'S YOUTHFUL STRUGGLE WITH WORLDLY PASSIONS

Like the cherry blossom,
the heart planning on tomorrow
is ephemeral indeed—
what sudden storm may not arise
in the middle of the night?

Shinran lost his father at age four and his mother at age eight. Startled to realize that he would be the next to die, he entered the Buddhist priesthood at the age of nine, and wrote this poem on that occasion. For the next twenty years he lived on Mount Hiei in Kyoto, in a monastery central to Buddhism of that time, engaged in a pitched battle with his own worldly passions. The following account paints a vivid picture of his struggle:

Try as I will to quiet the waters of my heart, the waves of thought continually move; try as I will to achieve a mind bright as the full moon, clouds of delusion blanket it. If my next breath should stop, I would fall into Hell. How can I indulge myself in trivial socializing and wear myself out with useless studies? Swiftly, I must cast aside worldly desires and seek liberation.

As he pursued ascetic training on the mountain at night, Shinran could see Lake Biwa in the distance, reflecting the full moon like a mirror. “Why cannot my mind be as serene as the water in that lake?” he would ask himself in deep frustration. “One after another, thoughts I should not think rise unbidden to the surface of my mind. My heart is aswirl with ideas I should not entertain. It is too horrible. Why am I a seething cauldron of anger and desire? I must do something ...”

Reduced to tears by the turmoil of his passion–filled mind, so different from the tranquil lake, Shinran raised his eyes to the sky above, where the full moon was shining brightly. “Why can I not see the moon of enlightenment as clearly as I can see the moon in the sky? Foul clouds befog the sky of my mind. Must I go to my death with a mind so black?”

Aware that every breath he drew brought him closer to the world of eternal suffering after death, Shinran became distraught. He thought, “With this great problem at hand, I have no time to waste. I must cast aside all earthly desires and quickly find a solution. There is not a second to spare. Somewhere I must find a great teacher, a priest of true virtue, to show me the way to salvation.” The words recorded in the book Panegyric convey the anguish Shinran felt on leaving Mount Hiei behind, shedding bitter tears as he made his way down the mountain of so many memories.

Soon afterwards he would meet Honen (1133–1212), the founder of the Pure Land School of Buddhism, who taught him “the Vow of Amida which eliminates the dark mind that is the source of human suffering, and imparts blissful life beyond measure.” Shinran's surprise and joy at this encounter and this revelation must have been beyond all imagining.

THE ENCOUNTER WITH HONEN

To meet with a true master
is difficult above all else;
the endless wheel of suffering
comes only from the doubting mind.

These lines from Hymns on the Masters may be paraphrased as, “Oh, how hard it is to find someone who can teach the true message of Buddha—that the source of human suffering is darkness of mind.” The words overflow with Shinran's profound delight at meeting Honen and his strong emotion on learning the true cause of suffering.

The word used for “master” here refers specifically to someone who conveys the teachings of Buddha. A “true master” is one who teaches true Buddhism.

What do most Japanese people think of when they hear the word “Buddhism”?

The word calls up various associations. First in most people's minds is “funeral Buddhism,” which thrives on funerals, memorial services, and sutra chanting. Next is “invocation Buddhism,” dispensing this–worldly favors to worshippers who pay to burn incense or cedar sticks. But that is not all. We could also name “sightseeing Buddhism,” which makes money off temple compounds and statues; “business Buddhism,” where priests pay more attention to operating various lines of business than to the faith, busying themselves with management of schools, kindergartens and such; “double-duty Buddhism,” where priests moonlight as teachers, rent out temple compounds as parking lots, etc.; and finally, “death anniversary Buddhism,” which seeks to profit from memorial services marking the deaths of great masters like Shinran and Rennyo (1415–99; a descendant of Shinran's who brought about a revival of the True Pure Land School or Shin Buddhism). Of course, none of these enterprises comes close to approximating the true nature of Buddhism.

All too often, those monks who do speak of Buddhism mistakenly teach that worldly passions like desire, anger, and envy are the source of suffering, and offer advice on how to overcome them. To meet with a true master—one who teaches that the ultimate root of suffering is darkness of mind—is truly as rare as stars on a rainy night. It is not hard to understand why Shinran wrote with such exultation of his rare good fortune in encountering the priest Honen, who taught him the truth about the “wheel of suffering.” How happy he must have been to meet Honen, how thrilled to have his darkness of mind eliminated! Elsewhere in Hymns on the Masters he described his reaction in these words:

Never in all my lives in aeons past
did I know the strong power for liberation.
Were it not for the true teacher Genku,
this life should have ended in vain as well.

This means, “From endless ages past, I knew neither the source of suffering nor the power of Amida's Vow to eradicate it. If I had not met the teacher of true Buddhism, Honen, I would have lost this precious chance as well and suffered eternally after death, never knowing either the purpose of my life or the way to fulfill it. Honen saved me from imminent peril.”

What, then, is the nature of the dark mind that is the root of humansuffering?