Enlightenment seeking Enlightenment

not sure if i'll have the chance to post much, if at all, over the next month as i'm taking a TEFL course. in the meantime though i'd like to share this article by Paraskevopoulos. despite Shinran's mentioning Ashvaghosa twice in the KGSS (once in True Buddha and Land and again in Transformed Buddha-Bodies and Lands) both references are brief, with only the former quoting directly from The Awakening. given this, i'd always presumed it held more relevance for the Chinese Pure Land schools, buddhanusmrti as recitation viewed through the lens of practice. Paraskevopoulos' essay really opens up the relevance of the text for the Shinshu tradition though and two excerpts in particular (the first a direct quote from The Awakening)  really highlight its significance in my mind -

 It may be said that there is the principle of Suchness and that it can permeate into ignorance. Through the force of this permeation, Suchness causes the deluded mind to loathe the suffering of birth-and-death and to aspire for Nirvana. Because this mind, though still deluded, is now possessed with loathing and aspiration, it permeates into Suchness in that it induces Suchness to manifest itself. Thus a man comes to believe in his essential nature...
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In this way, one can see that the initiative for seeking enlightenment can only come from Enlightenment itself. Strictly speaking, our limited egos can contribute nothing to this process because they are ultimately insubstantial and unreal - 'empty' of self-being and thus incapable of generating light out of darkness. All we can really do, under these circumstances, is to maintain mindfulness of Amida's Dharma through monpo, or 'hearing' (Skt. sruta-maya-jnana).

be sure to read the whole thing, it's worth your time.

namu amida butsu