>thanks to all for the response to the question about
>wording of the nembutsu, how about initiation
>ceremonies? I recently reread "River of Fire..." and
>"Shinran's Gospel of Pure Grace" and got the impression
>conversion might be considered a particularly significant
>event which might also be symbolically noted in a
>ceremony in Jodo Shinshu. Any truth to that? Is such a
>ceremony necessary? Is there a reason to be an official
>member of a Shinshu organization?
>
>thanks again to all,
>
>-A

Dear A,
Jodo Shinshu isn't about "conversion" per se. The central phenomenon
or experience in one's life in the nembutsu is shinjin, the awakening
to the mind of endowed trust in Amida Buddha, which the nembutsu
represents. Jodo Shinshu is all about shinjin - forget everything
else. Ceremonies are fine, they are a way of symbolically saying to
ourselves (and in the presence of witnesses) how valuable the path of
nembutsu is to us, but the services themselves are meaningless. I
think of Shin ceremony as a bonding experience, not a religious
experience in the highest sense. Bonding, sangha, is good, but the
important thing is the inner change in our being called shinjin.
Prof. Shigaraki wrote about shinjin - here is what he wrote:
http://web.mit.edu/stclair/www/2.html
gassho,
Rick
(Shaku Egen)
--
----------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Richard St. Clair
Laboratory for Energy and the Environment
MIT, Building E40-392a
Tel.: (617) 253-9871
Fax: (617) 253-8013
email: stclair@...
web: http://lfee.mit.edu/