hearing　聞 Hearing or listening to the teaching has been central to the Buddhist path; for example, in the cultivation of prajñā the earlier stages are to be pursued by hearing (śruta), reflection (cintā), and practicing (bhāvanā) what one has heard. The act of hearing is also said to implant seeds which will ultimately bear rich fruit. In Shin Buddhism, however, hearing is not just the beginning; it is the alpha and omega of religious life, for it is the experience of shinjin. This is to say, “hearing” is “awakening” to 1)Amida’s Primal Vow as the highest expression of compassion in relation to 2) the deep crisis of one’s existential plight. Thus, in “hearing”/”awakening”, these are experienced simultaneously; hearing is to hear the call of true and real life to return to the home of homes, and to respond with one’s whole being to that call, following it until one has arrived home. This call is Namo-amida-butsu.