Daibutsu statue of Amitabha Buddha, who vowed to help all who fear that they cannot realize the Truth on their own
It is said in Japan that those who suffer from the delusion of inadequacy find Other Power (tariki 他力) Pure Land Buddhism attractive, and those who suffer from the delusion of adequacy find Self Power (jiriki 自力) Zen Buddhism attractive. Pure Land offers the help of Amitabha/Amida Butsu for being born in a world where learning Buddhism is easier, while Zen follows the final advice of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Work out your salvation with diligence.
Now we have said many times that self and other are nonsense, but when speaking to the deluded (you, presumably, since you are here asking or seeking) we have to have compassion for whatever knots they/you have tied your non-self up in, and apply appropriate Skill in Means to them.
Pure Land Buddhism teaches that it is necessary and sufficient to chant
Namu Amida Butsu/Namah Amitabhaya Buddhaya
with complete faith. This faith turns out to be a koan of the usual type, requiring leaving self behind, which I will not explain further today.
I will instead mention a few novels and a movie in which the main character has been severely abused or worse, and has to break out from feelings of worthlessness and helplessness, with or without assistance.
- Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy, by Rumer Godden about a woman forced into prostitution who later becomes a Catholic nun. The title refers to the Mysteries (koans) of the Rosary.
- Huckleberry Finn—“Well, I will go to Hell, then.”
- Foundation and Intrigue, by Mercedes Lackey, where breaking out the first time isn’t enough
- Silas Marner, by George Eliot, about a man whose faith has been destroyed
- Dingaka, directed by Jamie Uys—“I will do right, though the Gods slay me.”
Dingaka are traditional Sotho healers. One of them turns out to be [spoilers].
Now, what’s the deal with adequacy, then?
I don’t mean narcissism, which goes beyond mere adequacy to Donald Trump-level delusion.
Only I can save you.
(and nobody can save me).
It is more about people who think they can understand koans, and thereby reap the benefits that come from leaving self behind and penetrating them. We call this
Raising great waves on dry land, and dust storms on the bottom of the sea.
- Judaism can be called a self power religion, where one is tasked to love God and one’s neighbor, and to follow the commandments, as the path to the Tree of Life. Kabbalah presents a variety of koans.
- Many forms of Christianity are other power religions, where salvation can come from God alone, by faith, but it has self power branches focused on penetrating various mysteries through what it calls contemplation.
- Islam presents itself as a self power religion, with a series of obligations on believers. Sufism reframes all of this in a variety of koans.
- You can find everything in Hinduism.
- Daoism explains itself in terms of self power.
And so on.
