In our daily lives, we often try to rely solely on our own strength — our abilities, our plans, our sense of control.
Yet, there inevitably comes a moment when everything we have built begins to crumble.
We face failure, disappointment, or loss, and realize how powerless we truly are.
It is precisely when our self-effort fails that the true working of Amida Buddha becomes visible.
The Buddha’s compassion does not appear as something added to our power; rather, it is revealed when our self-centered striving is exhausted.
In that moment of surrender, something larger than ourselves begins to move — not through our will, but through the boundless vow of Amida.
What we thought was “our failure” becomes the opening through which wisdom and compassion flow in.
The Pure Land teaching invites us to look not at “how hard we try,” but at how deeply we are being embraced.
When we stop clinging to success, to control, to being right, we begin to sense the quiet strength of the Other Power — the vow that has never left us, even when we turned away.
To fail in self-effort is not the end.
It is the beginning of awakening — the moment when the Buddha’s working gently reveals, “You were never alone.”
Written from Sainenji Temple, Fukuoka, Japan.