birthless birth　無生の生 Birth in the Pure Land is not the birth we experience while we are in samsara, birth-and-death. In samsara we repeat the cycle of transmigration endlessly. Once we are born in the Pure Land, we transcend the ordinary course of living and dying. In the main text, Tan-luan raises two questions on this issue. The first is , “Is birth for beings attached to the idea of a physical birth possible?” To this Tan-luan explains that no matter how karmically bound a person may be, the power of the Name makes it possible for all beings to be born in the Pure Land. The second question is, “Does a person, who is attached to the idea of a physical birth, in fact not attain birth and instead return to the world of delusion?” Tan-luan answers this by explaining that because the virtues of the adornments of the Pure Land are complete (extensive) and that the Pure Land is the realm of no-birth (brief), upon entering that land one’s attachment to physical birth will automatically be extinguished. Hence birth for all beings no matter what their spirtual or psychological state may be, is possible for them.
　Based on this interpretation, Shinran states in the Hymns of the Pure Land Masters,
　Although initially there are nine grades of beings,／Because the birth attained through Amida’s pure Primal Vow／Is birth that is no-birth,／The Pure Land is free of such discrimination.
　Shinran further explains it as follows: Birth here is one that is apart from birth in the six courses. Persons of true and real entrusting heart are not reborn in the sic courses or four forms of birth: hence, it is called ‘birthless birth’.