The prejudice against it is huge to be honest. I am a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist and a majority of other Buddhists online mock me for using religion in the way you d

The prejudice against it is huge to be honest. I am a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist and a majority of other Buddhists online mock me for using religion in the way you describe, that is, to connect with the Absolute and to understand my life. Not even just the secular ones, who call me pathetic for believing in Amida Buddha or Pure Lands, but even the very religious ones, who say that I am arrogant for thinking that I can give myself up to Amida fully. Thankfully, Jodo Shinshu is popular in Japan, and also in the US, so it is not difficult to find English resources that understand. Everywhere there is huge gatekeeping from these experiences, or from life in general. I definitely agree with people who say that our society is spiritually bankrupt. It isn't that they are missing some essential doctrine or belief or they will be damned, it is that they can't give themselves up to life fully if they have no recognition of the Absolute. > Reverently contemplating Amida’s directing of virtue for our going forth, I find there is great shinjin [faith]. Great shinjin is the superlative means for attaining longevity and deathlessness. It is the wondrous way to awaken aspiration for the pure and rejection of the defiled. It is the straightforward mind directed to us through the selected Vow. It is shinjin* that actualizes Amida’s profound and vast benefiting of others. It is true mind that is diamondlike and indestructible. It is pure shinjin by which a person easily reaches the Pure Land where no one goes. It is the mind that is single, realized by the person who is grasped and protected by the compassionate light. It is great shinjin, rare and unsurpassed. It is the quick path difficult for people to accept. It is the true cause of attaining great nirvana. It is the white path by which all virtues are fulfilled instantly. It is the ocean of shinjin that is itself suchness or true reality. Shinran Shonin > Shin Buddhist practice is not based on belief in an uncertain better future but instead places emphasis on the present moment—a moment made possible by the causes and conditions of the past. Many take for granted the efforts that generations of humans have made, along with the interdependence of all life forms, that contribute to our being here now. > Reciting Amida’s name is like an alarm clock that says “Wake up!” to the joy of being alive each and every day. Awakening to this rare gift of life, we can accept and endure the wide spectrum of human grief and bliss and become a source of happiness for others. Buddhist Churches of America