Note
Sutra Translation Commitee of the US and Canada
with Zen Master T’ein Jui - Yuan Dynasty (ca. 14th century) and T’ien T’ai Patriarch Chih I - Sui Dynasty (ca. 6th century) translated with annotations by Master Thich Thiên Tâ (1991)
I, of my own accord, act as an unsolicited friend to sentient beings, wishing to first cause all beings to fully develop their good potential and attain omniscience.
Flower Ornament structure, Vol. I, p. 471. Thomas Cleary, tr.
The goal espoused by all Buddhist schools is to become an “enlightened being”. Thus, to practice Buddhism is to cultivate enlightenment, to attain Wisdom. Although there are many paths to reaching this goal, they all involve perfecting the qualities of the Mind (“paramitas”). The traditional six or ten paramitas can be reduced to three: Discipline, Concentration and Wisdom.
Pure Land, or Buddha recitation, is a Mahayana approach that, inter alia, employs the techniques of visualisation1 (of the Pure Land, Amitabha Buddha …) and of oral recitation2 of the Buddha’s name, to realise these paramitas.
[The view is that] when a practitioner is busy visualising the Buddha or reciting the Buddha’s name, he cannot commit transgressions or violate the Buddha’s precepts. Therefore he fulfils the parmita of Discipline.3 Likewise, reciting the Buddha’s name with a completely focused Mind4 is fulfilling the paramita of Concentration. Once Concentration is achieved, the practioner’s Mind becomes empty and still, leading to the emergence of innate wisdom – the Wisdom of the Buddhas.
Thus, a Buddha Recitation practitioner, by dint of his own effort, effectively attains Buddhahood.5 This is a simple, straightforward alternative to strict monastic ascetism, deep and extensive study of the Buddhist Canon,6 esoteric yogic practices, ceremonies and services or intensive meditation under the personal instruction of highly competent mentors.7
According to Pure Land doctrine, however, most practitioners in this Degenerate Age find the “self-power”, self-help approach too difficult and arduous; therefore the Buddhas and Sages compassionately stressed the element of “other-power.” This relies on the Vows of Amitabha Buddha made eons ago, to welcome and escort all sentient beings to the land of Ultimate Bliss – an ideal training ground, a half-way house for ordinary beings. Once this “Land” is reached and training completed, the practitioner will naturally discover that “training is no-training” and that the half-way house, the Pure Land, is Mind-Only. Rebirth at the time of death is rebirth within our own Mind.
Thus, to the Pure Land advocate, this approach, ground in wisdom and faith, is profound yet simple, and can be practised anywhere, under any circumstance, with no special training nor guidance. It is, therefore, infinitely adaptable to practitioners at all levels of intellectual and spiritual development.
- A person asleep and dreaming finds the scenes in his dreams very real; these scenes exist for him. Likewise, the Pure Land, saints, sinners, everything “exists” at the mundane level, albeit in an illusory, dream-like way. At the absolute level, however, everything, including Pure Land and Amitabha Buddha, is Mind-Only, a product of the our Mind. “in True Emptiness, there is a Wonderful Existence”.8
- The Law of Cause and Effect underlies all of our actions and thoughts. However, in Mahayana thinking, cause, effect and karma are intrinsically empty and devoid of true nature. Therefore, they are infinitely subject to change. Just as a small flame can destroy a pile of wood as high as a mountain, a perfect thought of Buddha recitation can destroy eons of bad karma.9
- When Buddha recitation is practised with one-pointedness of Mind10, at that moment there is “no practitioner, no Buddha, no practice.”
- The fourth and final point comes from a statement that “Pure Land is so boring”! The master’s response is: “There are 84,000 Dharma Doors. Each of them is a medicine for a given sickness at a given time, and each, as a first signpost of success, provides that practitioner with a sense of well-being and joy. Pure Land is obviously not for you. You might try Theravada or Zen!“11
Preface
Some people misunderstand the Pure Land12 method, believing it to be devoid of philosophical teaching… In truth, however, theory leads to practice, within practice is hidden the element of theory.
Question 1
“It is unwise for human beings who are still bound by all kinds of afflictions, even if they posses a great compassionate Mind, to seek premature rebirth in this evil realm to rescue sentient beings.
“Why is this so? It is because in this evil, defiled world, afflictions are powerful indeed. Those who lack the power of forbearance are bound to be swayed by external circumstances. They then become slaves to form and sound, fame and profit, with the resulting karma of greed, anger and delusion. Once this occurs, they cannot even save themselves, much less others!13
“If, for example, they are born in the human realm, in this evil environment, full of heretics and nonbelievers, it is difficult to encounter genuine sages. Therefore, it is not easy to hear the Buddha Dharma nor achieve the goals of the sages.
“Of those who planted seeds of charity, morality and blessings in previous lives and are now enjoying power and fame, how many are not infatuated with a life of wealth and honour, wallowing in endless greed and lust?”
“Therefore, even when they are counselled by enlightened teachers, they do not believe them nor act accordingly. Moreover, to satisfy their passions, they take advantage of their existing power and influence, creating a great deal of bad karma. Thus, when their present life comes to an end, they descend upon the three evil paths for countless aeons. After that, they are reborn as humans of low social and economic status. If they do not then meet a good spiritual advisor, they will continue to be deluded, creating more bad karma and descending once again into the lower realms. From time immemorial, sentient beings caught in the cycle of birth and death have been in this predicament. This is called the ‘Difficult Path of Practice.‘ ”
— Perfection of the Wisdom Treatise
“Take the case of two persons, each of whom watches a relative drowning in the river. The first person, acting on impulse, hastily jumps into the water. However, because he lacks the necessary skills and means, both of them drown. The second person, more intelligent and resourceful, hurries off to fetch a boat and sails to the rescue. Thus both persons escape drowning.
“Newly aspiring Bodhisattvas are like the first individual, who still lacks the power of forbearance and cannot save sentient beings. Only those Bodhisattvas who remain close to the Buddhas and attain Ultimate Forbearance can … ferry countless sentient beings across, just like the person who has the boat.”
— Perfection of the Wisdom Treatise
“This is not unlike a young child who should not leave his mother, lest he fall into a well, drown in the river or die of starvation; or a young bird whose wings are not fully developed. It must bide its time, hopping from branch to branch, until it can fly afar, leisurely and unimpeded.
“Ordinary person who lack forbearance should limit themselves to Buddha Recitation, to achieve one-pointedness of mind. Once that goal is reached, at the time of death, they will certainly be reborn in the Pure Land”
Footnotes
Footnotes
The visualisation aspect lacks, for the most part, in Judaism. I suppose, if there was a true human need for such visualisation, it is inevitable that a more “pagan” orientated form of Judaism (called Christianity) would have burst through. ↩︎
Oral recitation is one of the pillars of our practice. However, there is an time-based cycle in which this is performed that forms an essential part of the practice. ↩︎
To follow halacha fully, performing all the “commandments”, is the practice of Discpline. ↩︎
“Pray with all your heart and your soul” - deep oral recitation, is the practice of Concentration. ↩︎
Could Buddhahood (i.e., the ten Buddhas) be compared to the Prophets of G-d that were sent to us, to guide us, and the Bodhisattvas be the Righteous one in our tradition? ↩︎
The Talmud. ↩︎
Respectively the Theravada School, the Sutra Studies School, the Tantric School or Zen. ↩︎
Reminiscent of the incredible amount of energy nuclear physicists are finding in the “emptiness” of the cosmos. It is generally accepted that most of the energy in our universe is “dark energy”, with “dark matter (form)” making up another chunk. Leaving only a small amount of energy that we can “recognise” or perceive in our surroundings. ↩︎
This is the Christian model of “accepting Jesus”. Here, however, it is clearer, and thus probably more stringent. This concept also has resonances with the idea that unless you have been baptised and accept Jesus, you will not go to heaven. In Buddha Recitation, if you perform the recitation correctly, accepting Amitabha Buddha into your heart, you will end up in the Pure Land. ↩︎
Every interaction takes place at the point of “connection” or meeting. The only way for us to pass from one place to another is to achieve pointed concentration, essentially 1d consciousness. That 1d point becomes a zero-point, a place itself of emptiness, expressing nothing but prescence. From that place it is possible to pass through to anywhere. That is why guidance, gurus, mentors and protocols, after the discipline of practice, are so necessary. This is referred to as a “hineni” moment. ↩︎
This speaks to a broad-mindedness that we seldom find in our culture, especially professionally. If this gate does not work for you try another. ↩︎
What if we translate Pure Land method to Judaism, and say the same thing: “Many Jewish people believe that the practice (“halacha”) is devoid of any philosophical teaching”. ↩︎
The Vimalakirti Sutra states: “If we cannot cure our own illnesses, how can we cure the illnesses of others?” “As the Lord Buddha declares: It is not possible for one who is himself bound to deliver others from their bondage. But one who is himself liberated is able to liberate others from their bondage.” (Robert Thurman, The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti, p. 46.) ↩︎