08/07/2026
This might give us a glimpse of what shinjin is. To put it simply, shinjin is not a state in which we possess something of our own; rather, it is the absence of doubt concerning the working of Namo Amida Butsu. Shinjin is Namo Amida Butsu working upon us and coming to be present in us.
Please see the explanation below by the late Rev. Jitsuen Kakehashi, from his lecture text Senshōsha Honkō “Yuishinshō Mon’i.”
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p. 84
Whether we say “free of doubt,” “there is no doubt,” or “this is called shinjin because it is untainted by the hindrance of doubt,” these are all negative expressions. They do not describe some positive state or entity that exists in itself. In other words, “entrusting” indicates the absence of doubt; it does not point to some independently existing thing.
The three aspects of teaching, practice, and realization each have an explanation identifying their essential substance. Concerning teaching, Shinran Shōnin states, “To reveal the true teaching: It is the Larger Sutra of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life.” The concrete reality of the true teaching is the Larger Sutra. In the case of practice, he states, “The great practice is to say the Name of the Tathagata of unhindered light.” Thus, the great practice is the saying of the Name. In this way, its substance is clearly identified. Then, in the “Chapter on Realization,” he states, “To reveal, with reverence, the true realization: It is the wondrous state attained through Amida’s perfect benefiting of others; it is the ultimate fruition of supreme nirvana.” “Realization,” then, refers to the ultimate fruit of Buddhahood. Thus, the meaning of the word “realization” and the concrete reality designated by it are clearly distinguished, and that reality is explicitly identified. In the “Chapter on Shinjin,” however, there is no such explanation identifying its substance.
p. 85
The “Chapter on Shinjin” begins immediately by praising the virtues of shinjin in twelve different ways, saying, “Great shinjin is the superlative means for attaining longevity and deathlessness. It is the wondrous way to awaken aspiration for the pure and rejection of the defiled. It is the straightforward mind directed to us through the selected Vow. It is shinjin that actualizes Amida’s profound and vast benefiting of others. It is true mind that is diamondlike and indestructible…” There is no explanation identifying some substance called shinjin and saying, “This is what shinjin is.” This is the uniqueness of the “Chapter on Shinjin.”
If so, it would seem that shinjin has no independently identifiable substance of its own. What, then, does it mean to say that shinjin has no such substance? If we ask, “What is the concrete reality of shinjin?” nothing is presented as a separate entity corresponding to it. From this we can see that, although we speak of teaching, practice, shinjin, and realization together, the manner in which shinjin is expressed differs somewhat in character from the other three aspects of teaching, practice, and realization.
If we nevertheless speak of the “essence” of shinjin, there is the threefold identification of its essence: “This sincere mind takes as its essence the revered Name of supreme virtues”; “the essence of entrusting is the sincere mind of benefiting others and directing virtues”; and “true and real entrusting is the essence of aspiration for birth.” However, this threefold identification of its essence is not so much an attempt to identify shinjin as a separate concrete entity; rather, it seeks to disclose its underlying essence. Ultimately, then, the essence of shinjin is the Name—the revered Name of supreme virtue. In other words, the Name, Namo Amida Butsu, is the essence of shinjin.
Therefore, when we look closely at the way the virtues of shinjin are praised in the “Chapter on Shinjin,” what is actually being praised is the Dharma as it is present in the person. The Dharma is not being praised merely as Dharma in itself; it is being praised as the Dharma present in the person. When this is the case, the virtues of shinjin are being praised. If we look, for example, at the passage describing the four negations and fourteen exclusions (CWS, p. 107), it is clear that what is being praised there is the Dharma as it is present in the person.
Thus, when we say that “entrusting” means that no self-calculation is mixed in and no doubt is mixed in, we may ask: positively speaking, what is there? It refers to the state in which the Dharma has come to be present in the person—the state of having received the Dharma.
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