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FEATURED ESSAY Commentary on Deaf and Dumb’s Nembutsu 1 By Shogyo Gustavo Pinto 14
SHOGYO GUSTAVO PINTO “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself. (I am large, I contain multitudes.)” “Songs of Myself,” Walt Whitman (1819 -1892) The title above is elusive. It means what it says, but not what it usually suggests. You, the reader, are being invited for a ride in the wilderness, not only in content but also in form. Let’s start at the beginning. Reverend Kodo Umezu’s kind invitation mentioned I was free to choose the theme of this essay. The Author asked himself, “Which theme? Noisy Sao Paulo. Traffic jams. Distant neighing. Autry and Whitley whistling. Insisting three times.” OK. “I’m on my way. Back in the saddle again.” Poor horse waited eleven years —and his name? “Commentary.” The text? “Deaf and Dumb’s Nembutsu” - A paper presented by me in 2011 at Otani University. That was the last IASBS Conference in which I participated. Paper remains unpublished until today. The text contained a clue to another narrative accessible only in a second reading. Time to unveil it. Never read the paper “Deaf and Dumb’s Nembutsu”? Don’t worry, dear Reader. The paragraphs that follow will provide what you need to know. The paper featured two protagonists - Lecturer and Fool. Lecturer introduces Fool to the audience. He says Fool is an incurable Fool. His only sign of intelligence is curiosity. Fool keeps annoying Lecturer for years with meaningless and naïve questions about Pure Land Buddhism. Seems all too weird? Not until you see what comes ahead. Trains are for welltravelled roads. Horses are for un-trodden paths. Let’s ride, old pal. Let’s jump straight to a phrase in the last few paragraphs of the paper: “I now regard the Fool as a kind of Master, in front of whom I bow as a humble and grateful disciple.” Lecturer’s view of the Fool is now inverted. The pestering voice that asked the annoying questions was once that of the Fool, and is now that of the master. That’s the clue. A new narrative emerges once the text is re-read through the eyes of the inverted first persona. For my Master (previously called “Fool”), upside down or upright makes no difference. For him, all the Sahāloka (illusory world) is Upaya (a skillful way to transcend illusion). In the end I was shown that I was the 1. This was the title of the author’s paper written in 2011. Out of respect for the author’s editorial choices at the time the paper was written, we are referring to the original title of the paper. However, the editors of the JSIO recognize that language changes over time and that different word choices would be made had the original paper been written today. 15
Page 1 and 2: Jodo Shinshu International Take Ref
Page 3 and 4: Volume 2, Issue 3, Published Septem
Page 6 and 7: FEATURED ARTICLE Nāgārjuna and th
Page 8 and 9: FEATURED ARTICLE - NĀGĀRJUNA AND
Page 10 and 11: FEATURED ARTICLE - NĀGĀRJUNA AND
Page 12 and 13: FEATURED ARTICLE Various Religious
Page 16 and 17: FEATURED ESSAY - COMMENTARY ON DEAF
Page 18 and 19: FEATURED ESSAY Encountering Shinran
Page 20 and 21: FEATURED ARTICLE - ENCOUNTERING SHI
Page 22 and 23: FEATURED ARTICLE THE CENTRAL CONCEP
Page 24 and 25: FEATURED ARTICLE - THE CENTRAL CONC
Page 26 and 27: FEATURED ESSAY Rev. Melissa Opel 26
Page 28 and 29: FEATURED ARTICLE - FIRST STEPS your
Page 30: EDITOR’S POSTSCRIPT Thank you ver

Vol. 2, Issue 3

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