Other Power, Self-Power — Giver and Taker in Dōhan’s Himitsu Nenbutsu Shō
Dohan's " Himitsu Nenbutsu Shō " doesn't discuss self-power and other power as Shinran does in his writings. Might this be because of esoteric pure hold holds to the idea of non-dualism? Just as there is no separation of samsara and nirvana, there can be no separation between self-power and other power. This does not mean they are the same, it only means they cannot be separated. Dōhan's Himitsu Nenbutsu Shō reflects the Esoteric Pure Land perspective, deeply rooted in non-dualism, which profoundly shapes how concepts like self-power ( jiriki ) and other power ( tariki ) are approached. In Esoteric Pure Land, the distinctions we often draw—such as samsara versus nirvana or self-power versus other-power—are ultimately seen as provisional or relative truths, existing only from the standpoint of conceptual duality. From a non-dual perspective, self-power and other power are not the same, but they are inseparable. This aligns with the Mahayana and Vajrayana understa...