Finger, Text, and Moon: Dennis Hirota and Iwasaki Tsuneo
Open Theology October 1, 2018 Bermant Gordon
Dennis Hirota, a modern Shin Buddhist master, argues that Shinran Shonin (1173-1263) accepted the Mahayana teaching of nondual awareness as necessary for awakening but held that ordinary people historically could not achieve it through disciplined practice. Shinran taught that the Buddha Amida's perfect wisdom and compassion become available to those who call his Name with joyful sincerity, a difficult teaching of non-practice. To illustrate Hirota's presentation, the paper introduces a painting by Iwasaki Tsuneo, a modern Japanese scientist and artist, which connects an ordinary person's aspiration to ultimate truth through the Heart Sutra, a key nondual awareness text.