When our friends share our faith in Jodo Shinshu, we feel sadness but in addition we have the warm assurance that they have gone to Amida's Paradise, and we will meet them again. When I attain my birth, Shall be the precious memory of friends I left on earth. This project is in the planning stages and some legal technicalities need to be resolved. It is hoped that within the next few months a small number of talking books will be available as free matter for the blind and sight-impaired, to be dispersed through the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii. The first thing that we learn in Shin Buddhism is that Amida Buddha saves us unconditionally, however far down the ladder we have gone in our many vices and erroneous ways.
Human beings are experts at inventing vices and evils.
We are all corrupt to the core, Shinran says. We take refuge in Amida Buddha because we are so immersed in our own evils and delusions of self-hood that we couldn't enlighten ourselves if we tried and tried and tried. Shinran's attitude towards morality seems to be that of gratitude for Amida's great bestowal on us. When we turn to Amida, we at first may feel nothing, even disappointed that our 'conversion' didn't set off any'bells and whistles', no fireworks, no great sensational insights or spaced-out revelations. That's Shin Buddhism.