A Fistful of Sand

  In my own practice, the Dharma does not appear as separate traditions—Pure Land, Zen, or Vajrayāna—but as different expressions of a single path. When the mind becomes heavy or uncertain, the practice naturally becomes nembutsu —calling the name of Amitabha Buddha. In this, there is a shift from effort to entrusting. One does not try to awaken; one relies. This is the heart of Pure Land: not technique, but relationship. At other times, especially when there is clarity or openness, the same mind moves into a Vajrayāna mode. Experience is not abandoned or surrendered—it is recognized, transformed, and allowed to self-liberate. The world itself becomes the mandala, and awareness reveals its luminous nature. These are not two different practices. They are two movements of the same mind: Nembutsu expresses surrender —the recognition that the self cannot complete the path through effort alone. Vajrayāna expresses recognition —the direct insight that the nature of mind is alre...

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...