Hi Dharma-friends, Welcome back to Weekly Wasan!  Today, continue listening to the Shōzōmatsu Wasan or Hymns of the Dharma Ages with five more verses.  Shinran reflects in this group on the present age - the Last Dharma Age - and its difficulties and challenges.  Mired, as we are, in an endless and futile go-round of striving for Awakening through our own limited efforts, we find ourselves stuck.  However, Shinran says that, when we receive the true cause of birth in the Pure Land from Śākyamuni and Amida, we will unfailingly attain Nirvana.  All the Buddhas, countless as the sands of the Ganges, attest to this. Hope you are enjoying the podcast.  Please check out ambuddhist.org the website of the American Buddhist Study Center, for more good Dharma content. With palms together, Gary