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Common Ground - Islam and Buddhism

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Oneness: The Highest <strong>Common</strong> Denominator<br />

the verse: Call upon Allāh or call upon al-Rahmān (the ‘All-Compassionate’)<br />

(17:110). One sees here that the intrinsic nature of the<br />

Absolute is saving compassion; the invocation of the ‘name’ of the<br />

Absolute is thus absolutely salvific. We shall return to the theme of<br />

mercy <strong>and</strong> compassion shortly. But for now, we should note that<br />

the Prophet of <strong>Islam</strong> expressed a sentiment analogous to the vow of<br />

Amida, alluding to his prerogative to intercede for sinners. In relation<br />

to the verse of the Qur’ān which says: And your Lord shall give<br />

you, <strong>and</strong> you will be content (93:5), he said: ‘I shall not be content<br />

for as long as a single member of my community (umma) is in the<br />

Fire.’ 75 Given that the Prophet was sent as a ‘mercy to the whole of<br />

creation’ (21:107) his ‘community’ can be interpreted to mean all<br />

peoples—<strong>and</strong> even all ‘beings’, as in the vow of Amida—<strong>and</strong> not<br />

just ‘Muslims’ in the narrow sense of the word.<br />

Tariki <strong>and</strong> Tawakkul<br />

In the Amidist tradition these principles are operatively expressed<br />

in the Nembutsu, the invocation of the formula: namu Amida Butsu,<br />

‘veneration to Amitābha Buddha’. Honen calls upon his followers<br />

to ‘cease not the practice of the Nembutsu even for a moment’; 76<br />

‘seeing that the practice may be carried on, whether walking, st<strong>and</strong>ing,<br />

sitting or lying, whensoever <strong>and</strong> wheresoever one may be ...<br />

the Nembutsu is called an easy practice’. 77 One is reminded here of<br />

the verse of the Qur’ān: Truly in the creation of the heavens <strong>and</strong> the<br />

earth, <strong>and</strong> in the alternation between night <strong>and</strong> day, there are signs<br />

for possessors of substance, those who invoke God st<strong>and</strong>ing, sitting<br />

<strong>and</strong> reclining on their sides ... (3:190–191).<br />

Honen tells his followers that there is no more effective discipline<br />

than that of the Nembutsu if one wishes to attain enlightenment<br />

<strong>and</strong> to be reborn in the ‘L<strong>and</strong> of Perfect Bliss’. ‘All the other<br />

disciplines’, he says, ‘are effective for their respective purposes, but<br />

not for birth in the Pure L<strong>and</strong>.’ 78 Likewise, we have such sayings as<br />

the following, from the Prophet, which refer to the practice of the<br />

dhikr as being the most efficacious of all forms of prayer <strong>and</strong> action:<br />

75. Many sayings of a similar import are found in various collections. This particular<br />

saying is found in the collection of al-Daylamī.<br />

76. Honen, The Buddhist Saint: His Life <strong>and</strong> Teaching, Shunjo, tr. H.H. Coates,<br />

R. Ishizuka (New York: Garl<strong>and</strong>, 1981), vol. 2, p. 441.<br />

77. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 460.<br />

78. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 463.<br />

67

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