Following Shandao’s interpretation of the Six-Character Name of Amida Buddha, Shinran developed his interpretation of the Six-Character Name in the “Chapter on Practice” in the Kyōgyōshinshō and the Songō shinzō meimon. In past studies, it is generally agreed that, in the “Chapter on Practice,” Shinran explains the Name as Amida’s working, and, in the Songō shinzō meimon, he discusses it from the perspective of sentient beings who receive Amida’s Name. Shinran’s explanation of the Name in the Songō shinzō meimon can also be understood as his interpretation following a “tradition” transmitted from Shandao to Hōnen, while his discussion in the “Chapter on Practice” can be seen as a demonstration of his unique interpretation based on his “self-realization.” In this paper, I examine the latter.
First, in relation to the characters “na-mo,” previous scholarship has interpreted “taking refuge” (kimyō 帰命) in Amida as his “practice” transferred to us. However, I question how this is intertwined with sentient beings’ faith. In this paper, I reexamine Shinran’s reading of the character setsu 説 and conclude that a unique characteristic of Shinran’s interpretation is that he understood not only myō 命 but also ki 帰 as the working of Amida Buddha.
Next, as for Shinran’s interpretation of the phrase “that is the practice” (sokuze gogyō), in past studies, practice is identified as recitations of the Name “even ten times” (naishi jūnen) as found in the Eighteenth Vow, the “selected Primal Vow” (senjaku hongan). In this paper, I reexamine Shinran’s usage of the phrase “selected Primal Vow” in the Kyōgyōshinshō and come to the conclusion that, for Shinran, his main concern is to demonstrate that we can all attain birth in Amida’s Pure Land through “True Practice” and “True Shinjin.” There is no need for us to consider Shinran’s use of “selected Primal Vow” as limited to the Eighteenth Vow, or recitations of the Name “even ten times.” The “True Practice” can be understood as “all Buddhas’ calling of the Name,” or sentient beings’ recitations of the Name “even ten times” (naishi jūnen). The “True Practice” revealed in the “Chapter on Practice” is none other than “all Buddhas’ calling of the Name” based on the Seventeenth Vow. Therefore, the “calling of the Name” is, simultaneously, the voice of Amida Buddha’s Vow and all Buddhas’ voices recommending sentient beings to recite Amida’s Name.
The main purport of Shinran’s teaching in the “Chapter on Practice” is to demonstrate that Amida Buddha’s Vow is revealed through Śākyamuni’s praise (a voice united in the calling of “Namu Amidabutsu”). The uniqueness, or the self-realization, of Shinran’s interpretation of the Name in the “Chapter on Practice” is his discovery of the significance in the practice of calling (praising) of the Name as “Namu Amidabutsu” by Śākyamuni and other great masters.
