Humble is the opposite of proud. Pride is the attitude of a self-sufficient person. Humility is the attitude of a person who knows they need help.

What Is Shin Buddhism?

By Dr. Nobuo Haneda
Reprinted by permission of the The Maida Center of Buddhism, 2609 Regent Street, Berkeley, CA 94704, (510) 843-8515

The more ripe a cluster of rice becomes, the lower it bows down its head.
-A Japanese proverb

Shin Buddhism, or the teachings of Shinran (1173-1262), teaches us the importance of humility, the most important universal virtue. Many people think that the ultimate goal in Buddhism as well as human life is to become good.

But according to Shinran, it's to become humble. Being good isn't good enough; we must become humble persons. We must know our evilness, the existence of our ineradicable egoism. We must know our ignorance, the limitations of our intellects. We must become humble persons who can say, "I'm evil & ignorant."

In order to explain that Shin Buddhism teaches us the importance of humility, let me first discuss the two stages of life that Shinran experienced.

Two Stages in Shinran's Life
The most important event in Shinran's life was his meeting with Honen (1133-1212), the founder of the Jodo School, when Shinran was twenty-nine.

This event divided his life into two stages: the period before the meeting was the first stage & the period after it was the second stage.

When Shinran met Honen, Shinran realized that he had had a shallow view of Buddhahood. His thoughts on the subject went thru a total transformation. Before Shinran met Honen, Shinran thought that a Buddha was a "good" & "wise" person - a holy person who was possessed of wonderful virtues.

In order to become such a Buddha, Shinran attempted to purify himself by eliminating evil passions. But he couldn't attain Buddhalhood. Not only was he unable to become a Buddha, he was feeling more & more depressed & miserable.

His goal of Buddhahood seemed far away. He couldn't understand what was wrong.

When Shinran met Honen, Shinran saw a Buddha in him. But the Buddhahood that he saw in Honen was totally different from what he had anticipated. More than anything else, Shinran was moved because Honen was a humble student.

Honen identified himself only as a student of Shan-tao (613-681), a Chinese Pure Land master. Honen said that the only important thing for him was to learn from his teacher. This way, Honen embodied the spirit of a Buddha by the name of Namu Amida Butsu (Bowing Amida Buddha).

Namu (Bowing) is a part of the Buddha's name. The Buddha's name symbolizes the humblest human spirit. Before Shinran met Honen, he had thought that a Buddha was a teacher, a respected & worshipped person. But now, having met Honen, he realized that a Buddha was actually a student, a respecting & worshipping person.

Further, before Shinran met Honen, he had thought that a Buddha was a "good" & "wise" person. But now Shinran realized that such an understanding of Buddhahood was a shallow one. He realized that he had been seeing Buddhahood only objectively, from outside.

He hadn't known the subjective reality of Buddhahood - what a Buddha would say about himself. Although people would see a Buddha from outside & describe him by saying, "He is good & wise," a Buddha would describe himself by saying, "I'm evil & foolish."

Having met Honen, who had deep insight into his own evilness & ignorance & said, "I'm evil & foolish," Shinran realized that the true essence of Buddhahood was humility - deep insight into one's own evilness & foolishness.

Thus in the first stage, i.e., before he met Honen, Shinran thought that a Buddha was a "good" & "wise" person & Shinran made efforts to become such a Buddha.

But in the second stage, i.e., after he met Honen, Shinran realized that the essence of Buddhahood was humility - studentship & insight into evilness & ignorance.

Thus, having been moved by Honen's humble spirit, Shinran also became a humble student. He recognized that he had ineradicable egoism at the basis of his being & that he had no goodness that he could rely on as the basis of his liberation.

Thus he stopped his practices designed to transform himself into a holy person. He realized that a wonderful Dharma tradition had already been given to him & that the only thing necessary for him was to listen to it. This realization was his liberation.

Growing & Maturing
Let me further discuss the two stages, calling the first stage "the growing stage" & the second stage "the maturing stage."

Human beings must grow up first; we must learn & experience all kinds of things. We must strive to be good, better & best; we must pursue infinite possibilities.

But when our growing stops, we must enter the maturing stage. We must reflect upon ourselves, know our evilness, ignorance & ineradicable egoism & become humble.

The growing stage is the stage of self-betterment & self-enhancement; it's a stage of self-affirmation. Whereas, the maturing stage is the stage of self-reflection & self-understanding; it's a stage of self-negation.

Shin Buddhist teachings concern the maturing stage. Shin Buddhist terms such as "evil" & "foolish" are all connected with the discovery of our ineradicable egoism, with our becoming humble. Terms such as "evil" & "foolish" should be understood only with in the context of our individual self-understanding.

They should be used only within the grammatical context of the first person singular, as in "I'm evil, or "I'm ignorant." The evilness or ignorance of other people isn't an important issue in Shin Buddhism.

The essence of Shin Buddhism is the discovery of the evilness, ignorance & ineradicable egoism in our beings. In the sphere of religion people usually believe that they deserve liberation or salvation & seek it.

But Shin Buddhism teaches us that we, being helplessly egoistic & having no goodness as any basis for liberation, can't possibly deserve any liberation.

Having discovered ineradicable egoism in his being, Shinran said, "As I am incapable of performing any religious practice, Hell is my only home." (Tannisho, Chap. 2).

He also identified himself as an icchantika (one who is totally devoid of any good). However, the discovery of his impossible reality was his liberation.

This experience of liberation is a paradox that can be described only with the expression, "No liberation is liberation." When Shinran recognized that he had no "goodness" that he could rely on as the basis of his liberation, his religious self-reliance was totally shattered.

This total negation of self-reliance, however, was actually his liberation. Now he became a totally humble person, which was his liberation. Rev. Haya Akegarasu (1877-1954), a Shin teacher, described this paradoxical experience of liberation in his article "The Last Person Remaining":

"Our liberation doesn't exist in our becoming liberatable & liberated; it exists in our knowing that we're totally unliberatable."

In his article, "Self-Despising & Self-Respecting," Rev. Manshi Kiyozawa (1863-1903), another Shin teacher, described the liberation of the humble person by saying,

"The person who has entered the gate of religion sees 'zero' value in himself. Far from slighting or respecting the self, he doesn't recognize any value in the self. Generally speaking, our anguish & feelings of grief - grieving exist because of our sense of self-importance. If we've already lost our sense of self-importance, we don't feel anguish & feelings of grief - grieving. If we've already lost it, we don't mind whether others despise or honor us, or whether they slight or respect us. We can do all things calmly, leaving others to respect or despise us as they like."

Once a Dharma school teacher asked me, "Can Dharma school children comprehend Shinran's deep self-awareness?" I answered, "No, I don't think children can fully comprehend Shinran's deep self-awareness, because it belongs to the maturing stage. Children are still in the growing stage."

Growing must come first. We must let children grow up first. It's only after they finish growing up that they start to mature. When they enter the maturing stage, they can understand what Shinran says about himself. It's exactly the same with academic education.

No matter how important graduate education may be, we can't skip grammar school & junior. high school. Thus Shinran called the growing stage the "Necessary Gate (yo-mon)." It's a preparatory stage. It's only after we go thru the growing stage that the maturing stage can begin.

Another Dharma school teacher asked me, "Is it all right for children to have ambition? Should we Dharma school teachers encourage or discourage children's ambition?" I answered, "There's nothing wrong with children having ambition. It's important that they have ambition."

Let children have as much ambition as possible. Let them pursue whatever goals or ideals they have. Let them strive to become great scholars, scientists, artists & sportsmen. If, after having pursued their ambition & having become adults, children start to reflect upon themselves & see their limitations, then their maturing stage has begun.

While they're attempting to realize their ambitions, their arrogance will grow, too. But if they start to recognize their own arrogance, then their maturing stage has begun. Let them grow up first. Let them grow up as big as possible. We shouldn't make bonsai trees -miniature Shinran trees - out of children.

In a photo such a bonsai tree may look like a huge Shinran tree. But it's not the real Shinran. Shinran was a gigantic tree. In his growing-up stage, Shinran grew up to be a huge tree. If a ten-year old boy says, "I'm evil & ignorant," there's something wrong w/him.

If Dharma school teachers are attempting to make children say that, they're creating monsters.

Then, what can Dharma school teachers do for children? The only thing they can do is to prepare children for the maturing stage in their future. The teachers must tell them that becoming good isn't good enough - that the ultimate goal in human life is to become humble.

They must tell them that humility is the most important universal virtue & that only a humble person can have the greatest happiness & joy.

More than anything else, Dharma school teachers themselves must learn to be humble; they must learn to gain insight into the pettiness of their being & have deep respect for the Dharma. If Dharma school teachers simply attempt to teach ideas & concepts to children, they fail to be good teachers.

But if they can manifest humility, deep respect for the Dharma, they are good teachers. Children will eventually forget most of the ideas & concepts that their teachers have taught them, but they'll remember the humble attitude & respect that they've seen in their teachers.

An American Girl & Paderewski
There's a story about an American teenage girl who was sightseeing in Germany. One day the American girl visited Beethoven's house.

When she saw the piano that was used by Beethoven, she, being an accomplished pianist, couldn't resist her desire to play it. Thus she sat on a chair in front of the piano & played one of her favorite numbers.

Since she played well, some tourists in the room clapped their hands. She was proud of herself.

After playing, she moved from the chair & started to look at the things, such as lamps & books, which were used by Beethoven. Then an elderly gentleman came into the same room. When he came to Beethoven's piano, he sat on the chair where the girl had played music a little while before.

The elderly gentleman sat there quietly. He looked as if he were meditating.

The girl was curiously watching him. Then a tourist approached her & whispered into her ear, "Do you know who that gentleman is? He is Paderewski, a famous Polish pianist. He's probably the greatest pianist alive today."

She had heard much about Paderewski, but she'd never seen him before. She was very excited to see such a famous pianist before her eyes. She thought that Paderewski would play music on the piano just as she had done a little while before.

She waited & waited, but he didn't start playing. Minutes passed. But he didn't play.

The girl became impatient. She finally approached Paderewski & said, "Mr. Paderewski, aren't you going to play?"

The master answered, "No." She said, "Mr. Paderewski, it would be a great honor for us if you would let us listen to your music." Paderewski answered, "No, Miss, I am sorry. I won't play now. As a matter of fact, I can't play. I can't play music on this piano. This is the piano of Beethoven, my teacher. Miss, I am nothing before this piano, before my teacher. I'm totally worthless. I'm not worthy even to touch this piano."

When she listened to his words, she was deeply moved.

Let me comment on this story. The two pianists in this story, an American girl & Paderewski, show us two different stages in human life, the growing stage & the maturing stage. The girl represents the growing stage & Paderewski the maturing stage.

Both were excellent pianists. But there was a considerable difference between them. The girl was a good pianist - a capable & skillful pianist; but Paderewski was a humble pianist, a great pianist.

The difference was that Paderewski had deeper respect for Beethoven than the girl did. The girl certainly had some respect for Beethoven; but her respect couldn't be compared with Paderewski's.

He had tremendous respect for the great composer. He knew his limitations, smallness & worthlessness before him. He was nothing before him. He was completely bowing down his head before him.

It's one thing to be good. But it's quite another to be humble. Being good isn't good enough. We must know the limitations, smallness & emptiness of our being. A good person must become a humble person. The girl must become a Paderewski.

Besides deep understanding of the pettiness of our being, besides humility, besides deep respect for the Dharma, what else do we need in our lives?

If we're truly bowing our heads before the Dharma, that is itself our liberation. Shinran's view of liberation is fully expressed in his words at the end of his Shoshinge, "Just entrust yourself to the words of these [seven] great monks."

He says that if we can truly respect & bow our heads before our teachers, that's all there is in Buddhism; nothing else is necessary. Our liberation is fully realized there.

Many people think that Buddhism means a practice or efforts to perfect themselves. But the most important thing in Buddhism isn't practices or efforts to perfect ourselves; it's the realization that something perfect - a wonderful Dharma tradition - is already given to us. We need only to receive it, to listen to it.

Thus the most important thing in Buddhism isn't whatness - not what we can do or achieve. It's howness - how humbly we're respecting the Dharma & how deeply we're bowing our heads before it. Our lives' focus must shift from whatness to howness, from becoming a good person to becoming an evil person - a humble person.