Archives A Change of Heart

Rev. William Masuda

For the person of wholehearted single practice of nembutsu, change of heart occurs only once. People who have in ordinary life been ignorant of the true essence of the Primal Vow, which is Other Power, come to realize, through receiving Amida's wisdom, that they cannot attain birth with the thoughts and feelings they have harbored up to then, so they abandon their former heart and mind and entrust themselves to the Primal Vow. This is what is meant by "change of heart". ---Tannisho (A Record in Lament of Divergences)

The process of life in the nembutsu is journey from "old" mind to a "new" mind. The "old" mind is a blindly self-centered mind steeped in the toxins of anger (hatred and aggressiveness), greed (selfishness and insatiable acquisitiveness), and ignorance (the denial of the karmic process of cause and effect). The "new" mind is the illuminating light and life of Other Power, Amida Buddha's primal vow of wisdom and compassion. The awakening of nembutsu in our life is when the new mind penetrates the old mind and transforms it with compassion and wisdom, kindness and humility, equanimity and selflessness. This urgent call to awakening is at the heart of each person's journey in the nembutsu path.

I am reminded of a story, amongst many, which may illustrate the process of how we seek and awaken to the call which opens the way to our spiritual life.

A woman is lying in a coma and slowly dying. She is suddenly overcome with the feeling that she is being drawn to the next life and facing her moment of departure.

Suddenly, she hears a voice from within calling to her, "Who are you?"
She is startled, but replies, "I am the wife of a successful business man."
"I didn't ask whose wife you are, but who you are," said the voice.
She replies, "I am the mother of three wonderful children."
"I didn't ask whose mother you are, but who you are."
She replies, "I am also a school teacher."
"I didn't ask what your occupation is, but who you are."

And so it went. No matter how she replied, she did not seem to have a satisfactory answer to the question, "Who are you?"
Again, she replies, "I am a Buddhist."
And again, the voice replies, "I didn't ask what your religion is, but who you are."
She replies, "I am the one who went to the temple every week and always helped those who were in need."
"I didn't ask what you did, but who you are."

She evidently failed the examination because she was returned to this life. When she recovered from her illness, she was determined to find out who she was. She came to realize that the search and journey towards true self-awareness and self-realization made all the difference in the world, especially in fulfilling the existential question from within, "Who are you?"

In each and every moment of our life, this inner voice calls to us to respond to the question, "Who are you?" The answer does not simply come from the outside. We are challenged by our karmic forces to enter the inner chambers of our heart and mind. Our obligation and responsibility is to become who we really are. Such is at the heart of the meaning of Nembutsu - Namu-amida-butsu - in our daily life.

Namu-amida-butsu is the "change of heart" occurring when we awaken and are transformed from the "old" mind to the "new" mind - from darkness to light, from sorrow to joy, from ignorance to gratitude.

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Only a fool is interested in other people's guilt, since he cannot alter it. The wise man learns from his own guilt. He will ask himself: Who am I that all this should happen to me? To find the answer to this fateful question he will look into his own heart. - C. G. Jung

In religious matters it is a well-known fact that we cannot understand a thing until we have experienced it inwardly. - C. G. Jung

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