Shinjin
Shinjin is a central concept in Japanese Pure Land Buddhism which indicates a state of mind which totally entrusts oneself to Amida Buddha's other-power, having utterly abandoned any form of self effort or calculation. The term has been variously translated as "faith", "entrusting heart", "true entrusting", "mind of true faith", and so on. It is also often left untranslated in English language publications on Shin Buddhism. It is a key concept in the thought of Shinran, the founder of Jōdo Shinshū. Shinran's concept of shinjin is rooted in the concept of faith found in Indian Pure Land scriptures and in the teachings of the Chinese Pure Land Buddhist masters Tanluan and Shandao, who also emphasized the importance of faith in Amitābha Buddha.
The term Shinjin is also used in other Buddhist traditions occasionally, though not as commonly as in Pure Land. The influential early Chan Buddhist poem Xìnxīn Míng is one example.
Indian precedents
The original Sanskrit term that was translated into shinjin was prasanna-cittā. In Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit and in Pali, prasanna can indicate belief, trust or faith, thus the term can mean "faithful mind". However, the term prasanna also means "clarity" and "pure" in Sanskrit, thus the term can also mean "clear mind" or "pure mind". Furthermore, the term can also mean pleased, peaceful, serene, delighted, happy. Thus, prasanna may have had multiple connotations.The term prasanna-cittā appears in a key passage of the Amitayus Sutra which discusses the 18th vow of Amitabha Buddha. This passage is central to Pure Land Buddhist through, for it discusses the fundamental vow of Amitabha. The standard Chinese edition of Saṅghavarman states:
If, when I attain buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten directions who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and think of me even ten times should not be born there, may I not attain perfect enlightenment. Excluded, however, are those who commit the five grave offenses and abuse the Right Dharma.Luis O. Gomez, translating from the Sanskrit, uses "serene trust" for prasanna-cittā.
In the Dasabhumikavibhāsā attributed to Nagarjuna, 信心 xìnxīn is used in the following passage:
If a person sows roots of good but still harbors doubts, the flower petals will not open. For the person of pure xìnxīn, the flower will open and he will see the Buddha.Another synonymous term is cittaprasāda. According to the Dà zhì dù lùn, cittaprasāda can be attained by sentient beings through the actions of the Buddha:
All his bodily actions, all his vocal actions and all his mental actions accompany knowledge. – In the Buddha, all bodily, vocal and mental actions are preceded by knowledge and, subsequently, accompany knowledge. Of all the bodily, vocal or mental actions of the Buddha, there is not one that is not useful to beings: this is why it is said that his actions are preceded by knowledge and accompany knowledge. Thus it is said in a sūtra: "In the Buddhas, even the out breath and the in breath are useful to beings." How, then, would their bodily, vocal and mental actions not be useful to them? The wicked who smell the perfume of the breath of the Buddha obtain pure faith and love the Buddha.In Bodhiruci's translation of Vasubandhu's Upadeśa on the Sūtra of Amitāyus Buddha, the term 信心 is used in the following passage:
How does one contemplate? How does one produce pure faith ? If a good man or woman practices the Five Gates of Mindfulness and if that person's practice is perfected, ultimately that person will obtain birth in the Land of Peace and Bliss and will see Amida Buddha. What are the Five Gates of Mindfulness? The first is the Gate of Worship. The second is the Gate of Praise. The third is the Gate of Aspiration. The fourth is the Gate of Contemplation. The fifth is the Gate of Merit Transference.Furthermore, Vasubandhu speaks of three key qualities bodhisattvas cultivate to achieve birth in the Pure Land: the undefiled pure mind that does not seek anything, the peaceful pure mind that seeks to eliminate suffering in all beings, the blissful pure mind which seeks to bring all beings to Buddhahood. Vasubandhu also goes on to state that "the above-mentioned three types of minds, namely, the undefiled pure mind, the peaceful pure mind and the blissful pure mind are condensed into one which is the perfection of the exquisite, blissful, superior and true mind". He also states that this comprises Wisdom, Compassion and Expediency.
Precedents in Chinese Buddhism
In Chinese Buddhism, the term 信心 and other related compounds appear in various sources like the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra and the Shi Moheyan Lun. Various Chinese Mahayana sutras contain related terms for faith, such as jìng xìnxīn which appears in the and which appears in various sutras like the Diamond Sutra.In Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, faith in the Buddha Amitābha and his power to transport all beings to the Pure Land was a central element. It was discussed by various Pure Land masters, including Tanluan and Shandao.
Tanluan
The Chinese Pure Land patriarch Tanluan gives faith a central role for the practice of Pure Land Buddhism. According to Tanluan, reciting the names of the Buddha Amitabha has the power to eliminate ignorance and satisfy all of one's aspirations. However, some people are not in true union with the name of the Buddha and this is because of a lack of faith. If one's faith is not honest, definitive, continuous and one-pointed, then one will not be able to attain union with the true meaning of the Buddha's name.Shandao's triple mind of faith
The central concept of Pure Land faith taught by Shandao is the triple mind or "three minds", which is the mental attitude needed to attain birth in the Pure Land of Amitabha. The "Three Minds" are found in Shandao's extant works, like his commentary on the Amitayus Contemplation Sutra and in his Hymns in Praise of Birth. They are also listed in the Contemplation Sutra and taught by other Chinese commentators like Jingying Huiyuan. According to Shandao, the "Three Minds" represent three qualities necessary for practitioners seeking birth in the Pure Land of Amitābha Buddha. They are:- The Sincere Mind : This mind embodies the quality of complete sincerity and authenticity in one's trust in Amitābha Buddha. For Shandao, sincerity here means aligning one's intention entirely with Amitābha's vow to liberate beings. It implies an earnest and wholehearted commitment without pretense.
- The Deep Mind : This mind reflects a profound trust and belief in the effectiveness of Amitābha's power and vow. Shandao interprets this as unwavering confidence that Amitābha's vow can indeed enable rebirth in the Pure Land. It also involves deep humility, recognizing one's own limitations and the inability to attain liberation through self-effort alone.
- The Mind Aspiring for Rebirth : Often translated as "Aspiring-for-Rebirth Mind," this is the sincere desire and intention to be born in Amitābha's Pure Land. This mind also involves dedicating all merits accumulated from one's practices, thoughts, and deeds to this purpose.
Japanese Pure Land
Shinjin is a general Japanese Buddhist term used in other traditions, especially in Japanese Pure Land Buddhism. Hōnen 法然, the founder of Jōdo-shū and Shinran's teacher, discussed the idea of Shinjin basing himself on the teaching of Shandao about the threefold mind. However, the term Shinjin is particularly associated with the Jōdo Shinshū teaching of Shinran, in which it becomes the central and singular element of a person's liberation.Hōnen
Hōnen generally follows Shandao's explanation of the threefold mind or threefold devotional heart and exhorts his followers to "cultivate the threefold devotional heart". Hōnen explains the threefold mind as follows:Put succinctly, the Three-fold Devotional Heart is nothing more than just the earnest desire for birth in the Pure Land. The wish for birth in the Pure Land, truthfully and without pretension, is called the "Genuine Heart." The purity of this heart, which bears no doubt even for a moment that the vocal Nembutsu leads to Buddha Amitabha to come to welcome one at the time of death, is called the "Profound Heart." One's desire to be born in that Pure Land and to transfer one's accumulated merits of practice and wholesome deeds for Ojo are called the "Heart Aspiring Ojo through the Transference of Merit." In short, if one wishes for birth in the Pure Land with purity of heart, one will by nature embody the Three-fold Devotional Heart.Furthermore, according to Hōnen, the triple mind is "the heart of the essential vow, which Amida Buddha made when he was a bodhisattva Dharmakara". He also writes that it is not necessary to have some deep scholarly understanding to develop this faith, since:
The threefold devotional heart was designed for even the most ignorant. Those who are not even aware of the name of the threefold devotional heart can also possess the three parts of it without knowing anything about them. Accordingly when one hears that Amida Buddha will certainly receive us into the Pure land through total reliance on him and the single-hearted recitation of his name – if, with deep faith in these words without questioning, one desires to be welcomed by him and recites his name – one will embody the threefold devotional heart naturally because one's heart is in accordance with the threefold devotional heart.Hōnen also taught that there are two types of the threefold heart: "the threefold devotional heart that encompasses wisdom and the threefold devotional heart that encompasses practice". The threefold heart of faith which encompasses wisdom is developed gradually through study of the Pure Land scriptures. The threefold heart of practice meanwhile is "devotion in the recitation of nembutsu, unshakable faith, and aspiration for birth in the Pure Land."