The evil person as the object of Amida’s salvific working　悪人正機
　A major concern in Pure Land Buddhism is whether those who commit evil offenses are still saved by Amida’s compassion. This theme is expounded upon in the Larger Sutra and Contemplation Sutra, the content of which have slightly different emphases. In the 18th Vow of the Larger Sutra, those who commit the five grave offenses and slander the right Dharma are excluded from birth in the Pure Land. This is known as the ‘exclusion clause’ of the 18th Vow. However in the Contemplation Sutra it says that even those who commit the five grave offenses and then transgressions are still able to be saved if they recite Amida’s Name at their deathbed. Tanluan concludes that even those who commit the five grave offenses and the ten transgressions will be saved, granted they do not slander the right Dharma. He defines slandering the right dharma to be when a person says that the Buddha, Buddha Dharma, bodhisattva, or bodhisattva-dharma does not exist.
　In the section of the ‘Eight Questions and Answers’ of this Commentary, Tanluan discusses this apparent discrepancy between the two sutras in detail, and concludes that Amida’s compassion is so thoroughgoing that it saves all such beings who might commit the offenses and/or transgressions provided they say Amida’s Name. He explains that it is like a medicine that eradicates the poisonous effects of the five grave offenses and the ten transgressions of foolish beings. However, it is important to note that Tanluan still explain that slanderers of the Dharma are not born in the Pure Land because these people do not have the aspiration to be born there.
　For Shinran, this issue is very important as it directly concerns Amida’s unconditional compassionate working. According to his understanding of the 18th Vow, the exclusion clause should not be understood literally in which certain types of those beings despite the fact that they might commit the five grave offenses, ten transgressions, and/or abuse of the right Dharma. The purport of the clause then, is precisely to show that the human condition is such that everyone commits the five grave offenses, ten transgressions, and/or abuse the right Dharma and for that reason is the object of Amida’s salvific activity. In the section of ‘The Person Difficult to Save’ Shinran mentions the liberation of those who have committed the five grave offenses, ten transgressions, and slandering of the Dharma. Those who have committed such evils are still in fact saved precisely because of Amida’s compassionate working. Unlike the other Japanese Pure Land masters, Shinran never fails to quote the ‘exclusion clause’ of the 18th Vow.