Rubble Into Gold

Shinran (親鸞, 1173 – 1263), founder of the Jodo Shinshu sect in Japan, was a prolific writer. His largest work by far as the voluminous text, the Kyogyoshinsho (教行信証, “The True Teaching, Practice, and Realization of the Pure Land Way“), but Shinran also wrote a number of lesser-known text and commentaries, including the Notes on Essentials of Faith Alone (yuishinshō-mon’i, 唯信鈔文意).

Shinran’s writing style is a bit challenging, even with translations,

because Shinran tended to use subtle turns of phrase that would be lost on readers today. Sort of like a certain Buddhist blogger you might know.

or to make use quotations within quotations…

But I digress. 😋

In the Notes, which are commentaries on an older text written by Genshin, Shinran quotes a certain Chinese Pure Land teacher named Fa-zhao¹ as follows:

That Buddha [Amida], in the causal stage, made the universal Vow:

When beings hear my Name and think on me, I will come to welcome each of them, not discriminating at all between the poor and the rich and wellborn, not discriminating between inferior and the highly gifted, not choosing the learned and those upholding pure precepts, nor rejecting those who break precepts and whose evil karma is profound.

Solely making beings turn about and abundantly say the nembutsu, I can make bits of rubble change into gold.

Fǎzhào (法照, 746–838), original source here: https://shinranworks.com/commentaries/notes-on-essentials-of-faith-alone/

The most important phrase here, and one that Dr Taitetsu Unno liberally referred to in his books, is “turning bits of rubble into gold”.

This notion of transformation gets to the very heart of the Buddhist path. It is not limited to Pure Land Buddhism, but speaks to the potential of all beings toward transformation if given the right conditions and training. Or, alternatively, through the compassion of Amida Buddha. If you look at the 48 vows of Amida Buddha, by the way, in the Sutra on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, there is this vow:

(3) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not all be the color of pure gold, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

Translation by Rev. Hisao Inagaki, source: http://www.acmuller.net/bud-canon/sutra_of_immeasurable_life.html

Or, the Buddha’s simile of refining gold in the Pali Canon: the Paṁsudhovaka Sutta (AN 3.102):

“There are these gross impurities in gold: dirty sand, gravel, & grit. The dirt-washer or his apprentice, having placed (the gold) in a vat, washes it again & again until he has washed them away.

“When he is rid of them, there remain the moderate impurities in the gold: coarse sand & fine grit. He washes the gold again & again until he has washed them away.

In both sutras, we see that gold was used to symbolize the purity of one’s inner character. Regardless of one’s impurities, one’s inner character and potential for awakening can shine forth if purified. What makes Fa-zhao’s comment even more extraordinary is the symbolism of little bits of rubble becoming gold, not just a large nuggets.

He describes the compassion of Amida Buddha toward all beings, and his non-discrimination toward them, and how Amida’s compassion extends to all equally, transforms all equally, each according to their background and inspires them to recite the nembutsu out of sheer magnetism.

It’s easy to see why Shinran was inspired by this passage.

But also, if we look at non-Pure Land texts such as the Lotus Sutra, a recurring theme there through similes as the Dragon Princess, medicinal plants, and the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, is that anyone can become a Buddha. Sometimes you just need to believe.

P.S. I keep quoting the same Lego Movie joke over and over again for some reason. I must be getting old. 😂

¹ Pronounced like “fah-jow”.