General Advice

Remembering Buddha 

The Pure Land teaching began with the World Honored One Shakyamuni Buddha, and has been disseminated through the generations of sage worthies. 

They have divided the one gate of buddha-remembrance into four types: buddha- remembrance through reciting the name [of Amitabha Buddha], buddha-remembrance through contemplating the image [of Amitabha Buddha], buddha-remembrance through contemplating the concept [of Buddha], and reality- aspect (real mark) buddha-remembrance. 

Though there are differences among the four types, ultimately they all go back to reality- aspect buddha-remembrance. Moreover, the first three types can be grouped as two: contemplating the concept, and reciting the name. [Buddha-remembrance through] contemplating the concept is explained in detail in the Sixteen Contemplations Sutra (Meditation Sutra). Here I will discuss reciting the name. The Amitabha Sutra says: 

If a person recites the name of Amitabha Buddha singlemindedly for [a period of from] one or two up to seven days without allowing anything to confuse the mind, at the end of that person's life Amitabha Buddha and a multitude of holy ones will appear before him. As the person dies, his mind will not be deluded, and he will attain rebirth in Amitabha Buddha's land of ultimate bliss. 

This is the great [scriptural] source from which for myriad generations has come [the practice of] buddha-remembrance by reciting the name, the wondrous teaching personally communicated from the golden mouth [of Buddha] . An ancient worthy said: 

As they contemplate the subtleties of the inner truth of phenomena, the minds of sentient beings are mixed [with other concerns than truth]. Since they practice contemplation with mixed minds, the contemplative state of mind is hard to achieve. The Great Sage [Buddha] took pity on them, and encouraged them to concentrate on the recitation of the buddha-name. Because it is easy to invoke the buddha-name, there starts to be some continuity [to their buddha-remembrance]. 

This teaches that the work of buddha-remembrance through reciting the name is most essential for being born in the Pure Land. If by reciting the name one arrives at the reality-aspect, then this has the same efficacy as subtle contemplation. Beings of the highest caliber must not doubt this. 

All you children of Buddha here today, [I tell you this]: in the gate of repentance, everyone must repent - even the sages of the vehicles of the disciples [sravakas] and the solitary [pratyeka] buddhas, even the great beings of complete mind [bodhisattvas], even those of enlightenment equal to the buddhas, all must still repent. Since they all must equally repent, don't they all have to be born in the Pure Land? How much the more so for those at the stage of ordinary mortals and those in the stages of study! 

To all of you here today, disciples and others, whatever plane of existence you are in, I respectfully offer [this teaching] to you: all of you must wholeheartedly invoke the buddha- name, and seek birth in the Pure Land. I hope that Buddha's compassion will extend down specially to you, and gather you in and save you. 


A General Call to Remember Buddha 

The Amitabha Sutra says: 

If people are mindful of Buddha, at death they are sure to be born in the Pure Land. 

The Sixteen Contemplations Sutra (Meditation Sutra) says: 

People in all categories who practice buddha-remembrance are born in the Pure Land. 

Thus with this method of buddha-remembrance, it does not matter whether you are male or female or a monk or nun or layperson, it does not matter whether your social status is high or low, or whether you are virtuous or stupid. As long as the singleminded [remembrance of buddha] is not confused, all categories of people will go to the Pure Land, according to how much they practice [buddha-remembrance] . So we know that there is not one person in the world unworthy of buddha-remembrance. 

If people are rich and high ranking, receiving the use of everything ready-made, they should practice buddha-remembrance. 

If people are poor and destitute, with small families and few relations, they should practice buddha-remembrance. 

If people have children to remember them at their clan shrines, they should practice buddha-remembrance . 

If people are childless, and live alone on their own, they should practice buddha- remembrance. 

If people's children are filial, so they are secure receiving their support, they should practice buddha-remembrance. 

If people's children are rebellious, and feel no gratitude or love, they should practice buddha-remembrance . 

If people are free from sickness, they should take advantage of their good health to practice buddha-remembrance. 

If people are infirm, and closely pressed by impermanence, they should practice buddha- remembrance. 

If people are old, and do not have much time left, they should practice buddha- remembrance. 

If people are young in years, with spirit still pure and sharp, they should practice buddha- remembrance. 

If people are at leisure, without cares to trouble their minds, they should practice buddha- remembrance. 

If people are busy, and can only steal a little free time from the press of business, they should practice buddha-remembrance. 

If people have left home [to become monks or nuns], and wander free of outside material considerations, they should practice buddha-remembrance. 

If people are living as householders, then knowing that [worldly life is as impermanent as] a house on fire, they should practice buddha-remembrance. 

If people are intelligent, and clearly understand the Pure Land, they should practice buddha-remembrance . 

If people are stupid and dull, and can do nothing else, they should practice buddha- remembrance. 

If people maintain discipline, the discipline which is the order of the Buddha, they should practice buddha-remembrance. 

If people read the sutras, the sutras which are the words of the Buddha, they should practice buddha-remembrance. 

If people study Zen, Zen which is the mind of the Buddha, they should practice buddha- remembrance. 

If people awaken to the Path, the awakening that must be witnessed by the Buddha, they should practice buddha-remembrance. 

I encourage all people everywhere as a matter of great urgency to practice buddha- remembrance. All categories of people will be born in the Pure Land: the [lotus] flower will open and they will see Buddha. 

Seeing the Buddha, hearing the Dharma, in the end they will become enlightened. Only then will they know that their own inherent mind was all along fundamentally Buddha. 


Universal Encouragement to Buddha-Remembrance 

Studying Buddhism is not a matter of adornments and formalistic practices: the only thing that is important is genuine cultivation of practice. Buddhist laypeople who live at home do not need to dress like monks and nuns. People who keep their hair can make a constant practice of buddha-remembrance: they do not need to abide by the daily schedules of monks and nuns. 

People who like quiet can practice buddha-remembrance [alone] in silence: they do not have to form groups and create associations [for the purpose]. 

People who fear untoward events can practice buddha-remembrance [at home] behind closed doors: they do not have to go to temples to hear the scriptures. 

People who know how to read can practice buddha-remembrance according to the scriptural teachings. 

Burning incense [in temples] far and wide is not as good as sitting peacefully in a hall at home practicing buddha-remembrance. 

Serving misguided teachers is not as good as being obedient and filial to one's parents and practicing buddha-remembrance. 

Making widespread connections with deluded friends is not as good as preserving one's purity alone and practicing buddha-remembrance. 

Storing up merit for future lives is not as good as creating merit in the present by practicing buddha-remembrance. 

Making vows and promising expiation [of wrongdoings] is not as good as repenting past faults, undergoing self-renewal and practicing buddha-remembrance. 

Studying non-Buddhist books and texts is not as good as being totally illiterate and practicing buddha-remembrance. 

Engaging in false talk about the principles of Zen without knowledge is not as good as genuinely maintaining discipline and practicing buddha-remembrance. 

Seeking demonic spiritual powers is not as good as having correct faith in cause and effect and practicing buddha-remembrance. 

To express the essential point, an upright mind annihilates evil. If you practice buddha- remembrance like this, you are called a good person. If you practice buddha-remembrance while reining in the mind and eliminating scattering, you are called a worthy person. If you practice buddha-remembrance while enlightening your mind and cutting off delusion, you are called a sage. 

I urge people who are completely at leisure to practice buddha-remembrance. You have finished arranging marriages for your daughters. Your sons and grandsons are taking care of family business. You are secure and at leisure with no concerns. You should practice buddha- remembrance with your whole mind and your whole strength. Every day recite the buddha-name several thousand times, or even several tens of thousands of times. 

I urge people who are half at leisure and half busy to practice buddha-remembrance. You are half through, half not through: sometimes you are busy, sometimes you are at leisure. Though you are not totally at leisure, when you are busy you should take care of business, and when you have free time, you should practice buddha-remembrance. Every day recite the buddha-name several hundred times, or several thousand times. 

I urge people who are completely busy to practice buddha-remembrance. You are working on government affairs, or else running around taking care of family business. Though you have no free time, you still must steal a bit of free time amidst your busy life and practice buddha-remembrance. Every day recite the buddha-name ten times in the morning, and several hundred times during the day. 


Essentials for Reading the Sutras 

What is explained in the sutras of the great canon is no more than discipline, concentration, and wisdom. 

In reading the scriptures, there are two kinds of mistakes. 

One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles. 

The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them on your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement. 

If you can fully comprehend the practice of discipline, concentration, and wisdom, this in itself is what is called constantly abiding from moment to moment in the scriptural teachings of the great canon, and being mindful of thousands and millions of volumes of sutras. 

We must also recognize that this discipline, concentration, and wisdom are equivalent to the method of buddha-remembrance. How so? 

Discipline means preventing wrongdoing. If you can wholeheartedly practice buddha-remembrance, evil will not dare to enter - this is discipline. 

Concentration means eliminating the scattering [characteristic of ordinary mind]. If you wholeheartedly practice buddha-remembrance, mind does have any other object - this is concentration. 

Wisdom means clear perception. If you contemplate the sound of the buddha-name with each syllable distinct, and also contemplate that the one who is mindful and the one who is the object of this mindfulness are both unattainable - this is wisdom. 

Thus buddha-remembrance is discipline, concentration, and wisdom. What need is there to follow texts literally when reading the scriptures? 

Time passes quickly, life does not remain solid forever. I hope all of you will make the work of Pure Land practice your urgent task. Do not think that what I say is false and fail to heed it. 


A Talk to Householders 

Human life: mothers and children, husbands and wives. A person's family and dependents are all there due to the nexus of causal factors from past lives. Temporarily they join together, but in the end they must be parted. This in itself is not sad or painful. What is sad and painful is to pass a lifetime in vain, without being mindful of buddha, without practicing buddha-remembrance . 

Today let us simply abandon the myriad entanglements, turn the light around and reflect back. 

Buddha-remembrance is the most important thing in life. There's not much more to say. Just be concerned with purifying your mindfulness of buddha. 

As you recite the buddha-name, reflect clearly in your mind on every syllable. Be serious every moment: do not let any false thoughts mix in. Every morning and evening as you bow to the buddha-image, make a most earnest vow to seek birth in the Pure Land. 

If you persist in this [throughout your life] until you are on the brink of death, correct mindfulness will appear before you spontaneously, and you will go to be reborn in Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, reborn transformed in the Lotus Treasury World, forever removed from all suffering. 


To a Sick Person 

The ancients had a saying: 

Sickness is the best medicine for sentient beings. When sick, a person should be very happy. When everything goes against your will, do not feel afflicted. 

Another saying goes: 

Life and death are fated. When sick, a person should give rise to great liberation. Let life and death go on, without being afraid. 

Again: The past is like an illusion. The present is like an illusion. The future is like an illusion. Abandon them utterly with all your feelings, and just uphold correct mindfulness. In the midst of your sickness, be peaceful and patient. Do not think restlessly of a quick cure. This is the best prescription for a fast recovery. 

Also: Put aside all your household affairs. Abandon the myriad causes of entanglement. Empty your mind and be mindful of the buddha-name. Do not forget it for a minute, and your karmic barriers will dissolve by themselves. When your karmic barriers have dissolved, naturally you will sleep peacefully at night, and your body and mind will get healthy and strong. 

The person practicing buddha-remembrance must vow to abandon this evil world, and be born in [Amitabha's Pure Land,] the land of bliss. 


To an Elderly Layperson 

The body of form inevitably declines and weakens, but reality-nature never decays or perishes. Remove all entanglements, and purify and unify your mind. Pure mind, pure land - this is how to achieve birth in the Pure Land, and spontaneously arrive at birthlessness. 


To a Good Woman on the Brink of Death 

Although the bodies of men and women differ, their luminous real nature does not. Why talk of the five impurities [that afflict bodily life]? All that is important is the one mind. If you invoke Amitabha with your whole mind, you are sure to be reborn in the land of peace and bliss. 


The Esoteric Secret 
To Ta-t'ung 

The ancients taught us to approach enlightened teachers, and seek spiritual friends, [that is], men and women of knowledge. But enlightened teachers do not have any means to transmit mind or impart secret methods: all they do for people is release sticking points and remove bonds. This is the esoteric secret. 

Today we just recite the buddha-name with unified mindfulness without confusion. This formulation is the esoteric method for releasing sticking points and removing bonds. This is the grand highway out of birth and death. 

Recite the buddha-name morning and night. Recite it when you are walking and when you are sitting. When your mindfulness [of Buddha] is continuous, then it spontaneously becomes a samadhi, that is, a stable state of concentration. Then you will not seek further elsewhere. 

Also: The mind which has long been in confusion is hard to settle down all at once. If your mindfulness of buddha as you recite the buddha-name is not pure, do not worry. All you have to do is deepen your effort, reciting every syllable of the buddha-name clearly in your mind. 


Emptying Body and Mind 
To Wang Chih-ti 

If your mind is empty, then your karma is emptied. If your body is empty, then your sickness is emptied. If there is any doubt, you should wholeheartedly abandon it. 

The sutra says, "Whatever has form is empty falsity." Belonging to the realm of empty falsity, [forms] are like optical illusions, like bubbles on water, like things in a dream. How can you think they exist [in any absolute sense]? 

Reduce your thoughts and worries, curb your annoyance and anger, regulate your drinking and eating, be careful in your conduct. Every hour, every minute, simply make buddha- remembrance your meditation topic. 

Don't neglect it! 

Then enlightened awareness will always be present, and you will be fully awake and undimmed. 


Too Many Concerns 
To Ming Ta-hsiao 

You have too many concerns that preoccupy your mind too urgently. That's why you develop all these illnesses. 

Just work continuously [on buddha-remembrance] without any breaks, without mixing in any other thoughts. This is the work [for you]. Excessive austerities are not needed. 

False thoughts are powerful, but after a long struggle they will submit. Have no doubts about this. 


Do Not Concern Yourself 
To Wu Ta-chun 

Do not concern yourself with whether or not you will become enlightened. 

Do not concern yourself with existence and non-existence, with inside and outside and in-between. 

Do not concern yourself with "stopping" [shammata/samatha] and "observing" [vipashyana/vipasyana] . 

Do not concern yourself with whether [this method of reciting the buddha-name] is the same or not the same as other Buddhist methods. 

If the feeling of doubt does not arise, do not concern yourself with who it is or who it is not [who is reciting the buddha-name]. Simply go on reciting the buddha-name with unified mind and unified intent without a break, pure and unmixed. 


Mindfulness of Buddha is the Medicine 
To Yu Kuang-hui
 
An ancient said: 

Mixed mindfulness is the disease. Mindfulness of buddha is the medicine. 

When buddha-remembrance is correct, it cures mixed mindfulness. If you cannot cure it, it is because your mindfulness is not keen. 

When miscellaneous thoughts arise, then use your mind to increase your effort to be mindful of buddha. When your spirit is unified and undivided on every syllable [of the buddha- name], miscellaneous thoughts will cease by themselves. 


Penetrate Through 
To Wang Kuang-ti 

Nothing is better than simply reciting the phrase "Amitabha Buddha." Recite it with your whole mind, with your whole strength, without any other thoughts at all. 

This is equivalent to the [Zen method of contemplating] the meditation topic "No." You do not need to keep in mind "No" or any other meditation topic. 

If you purify and unify your buddha-remembrance, and penetrate through in your recitation of the buddha-name, you will penetrate through in all places. 


The Place Where Buddhas are Chosen 
To Kuang-ch'i 

The Zen master Layman P'ang said in verse: 

From the ten directions we gather together 
Each and every one of us learns not-doing 
This is the place where buddhas are chosen 
Minds empty, having made the grade, 
we return home. 

If you cannot yet empty your mind, for the time being diligently practice buddha- remembrance. When it becomes continuous from moment to moment without a stop, then your mind will spontaneously empty out. 


Why Are You So Afraid? 
To Wu Kuang-shou 

If you do not doubt birth and death, if you do no doubt the public cases [koans] of the ancient worthies, then why are you so afraid? Why has the arrow of anxiety entered your mind? Of this it is said, "The one who does not doubt still has doubts." 

In olden times two monks had committed adultery and murder, but after a single word from [the enlightened layman] Vimalakirti, their wrongdoings were totally dissolved away. (6) 

If you could be like those two monks right now, we would not have to talk about it. Since you are not this way, there is another method. The sutra says: 

Reciting the buddha-name wholeheartedly once wipes away the serious sins of eight billion eons of birth and death. (7) 

If you recite the buddha-name sincerely eighteen thousand times, all your sins will be wiped away. The evils which you have committed will then be like the clouds blown away by the wind, like the frost melted by the sun, like a drop of water thrown into the ocean, like a snowflake on a red-hot stove: cleansed away utterly and obliterated without a trace. 


To a Buddhist Layperson 

Firmly uphold the five precepts (8), and singlemindedly practice buddha-remembrance. Be filial and care for your parents, [to be sure,] but I still urge you to unify your mind and practice buddha-remembrance. Vow that both mother and son will be born together in the Pure Land. Pass your days according to circumstances. If people come with offerings, accept them, but do not go about soliciting donors. Do not form associations for buddha-remembrance. Keep to what's proper and cultivate practice. Then you will be a man of great goodness, a true Buddhist layman, in this age of the end of the Dharma (Dharma-Ending Age). 


Ambition 
To Mr. Shih of Weng-men on Tung-t'ing Mountain, who seeks to become an official in a future life 

Though it may be good to be an official, if having been an official, in a future life you fall from [that position], you will experience measureless suffering. (9) You must singlemindedly practice buddha-remembrance and seek birth in the Pure Land. Even if you were to ascend to the highest rank of officialdom, it is not as good as ascending to the Lotus Treasury World among the nine classes of beings [born in the Pure Land]. Practicing buddha-remembrance and seeking birth in the Pure Land is far, far superior to being an official. 


Being Near a True Buddha 
To Mr. Shih of Xu-men on Tung-t'ing Mountain, who seeks to become a monk in a future life 

Though being a monk is good, if a monk does not cultivate practice, in his future life he will fall from [that position], and receive measureless suffering. (10) 

You must singlemindedly practice buddha-remembrance and seek birth in the Pure Land. 

Being near false images of carved and decorated metal and wood is not as good as being near the true Buddha who is preaching the Dharma right now. 

It is far, far better to be a monk in the Pure Land than to be a monk here in this world. 


To Students 

These days many people like to talk about studying enlightenment and finally comprehending birth and death. They do not realize that in this world complete enlightenment is extremely difficult. They think of it as [direct, sudden] "vertical" transcendence of the Triple World [of desire, form, and formless states]. 

But even [someone who has overcome desire and reached the stage of] a "once-returner" (11) still has to go [to his death] and come back once more [through rebirth]: how much the more so, for an ordinary person! Most of the sentient beings in this world will have to be reborn in the West [in the Pure Land] first before they can be completely enlightened. The [Pure Land] gate to the West is called "horizontal" transcendence: (12) not one in ten thousand misses it. 
........................................................

6. This passage refers to a story in which Vimalakirti reassured two monks that they had committed adultery and "murder" involuntarily, without intent. Therefore, since their minds were not polluted, they could repent their transgressions and remain within the Order. 

7. See note 1. 

8. See Glossary, "Five Precepts." 
Five Precepts. The precepts taken by lay Buddhists, prohibiting i) killing, ii) stealing, iii) lying, iv) sexual misconduct, v) ingesting intoxicants. See also "Ten Precepts." 

9. See Glossary, "Third Lifetime." 
Third Lifetime. In the first lifetime, the practitioner engages in mundane good deeds which bring ephemeral worldly blessings (wealth, power, authority, etc.) in the second lifetime. Since power tends to corrupt, he is likely to create evil karma, resulting in retribution in the third lifetime. Thus, good deeds in the first lifetime are potential "enemies" of the third lifetime. 
To ensure that mundane good deeds do not become "enemies," the practitioner should dedicate all merits to a transcendental goal, i.e., to become Bodhisattvas or Buddhas or, in Pure Land teaching, to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land - a Buddha land beyond Birth and Death. 
In a mundane context, these three lifetimes can be conceived of as three generations. Thus, the patriarch of a prominent family, through hard work and luck, amasses great power, fortune and influence (first lifetime). His children are then able to enjoy a leisurely, and, too often, dissipated life (second lifetime). By the generation of the grandchildren, the family's fortune and good reputation have all but disappeared (third lifetime). 

10. A monk or nun who does not cultivate while receiving offerings from the laity has betrayed the latter's trust and, in effect, stolen the offerings. He has, therefore, incurred immense suffering for the future. The Buddha referred to such monks or nuns as "bald-headed thieves." 

11. See Glossary, "Once-Returner." 
Once-returner. A sage who has only one rebirth left before reaching Arhatship and escaping birth and death. 

12. "Horizontal" and "vertical" are figures of speech, which can readily be understood through the following example. Suppose we have a worm, born inside a stalk of bamboo. To escape, it can take the "hard way" and crawl all the way to the top of the stalk. Alternatively, it can look for or poke a hole near its current location and escape, "horizontally" into the big, wide world. The horizontal escape, for sentient beings, is to seek rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. 

Source Of Information:
《To Understand Buddhism》, the collected works of Venerable Master Chin Kung, translated by Silent Voices, distributed by: Persatuan Penganut Agama Buddha Amitabha Malaysia, 90 & 92, Jalan Pahang, Gombak, 53000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.)
*** The information provided above does not contain personal opinion of this blog.

Introduction: Pure Land Buddhism

Buddhism has evolved many, many forms during its long history. Codes of conduct, guidelines for communal life, rituals, meditative practices, modes of teaching, images, fables and philosophies have varied greatly over time and place. According to the fundamental Buddhist principle of skill-in-means, this multiformity is natural and proper, a necessary response to the great variety of circumstances in which Buddhism has been propagated.

Skill-in-means requires that the presentation of the Buddhist Teaching, (sometimes simply called "the Dharma"), be adapted to the mentality and circumstances of the people being taught. According to Buddhist seers, the absolute truth is inconceivable and cannot be captured in any particular formulation. Therefore in Buddhism there is no fixed dogma, only provisional, partial expressions of the teaching, suited to the capabilities of the audience being addressed.

In keeping with this fundamental principle, a tolerant, nonsectarian approach has normally prevailed throughout Buddhist history. Where dogmatic controversies and sectarian partisanship have cropped up in the communities of Buddhist followers, these are distortions of the teaching, and have always been based on misunderstanding and misinformation. In embracing Pure Land Buddhism, therefore, people are not rejecting any of the other streams of the Buddhist tradition - they have only decided that Pure Land methods are most appropriate and most effective for them.

                ***

Pure Land Buddhism is a religion of faith, of faith in Amitabha Buddha [and in one's capacity to achieve Buddhahood]. Amitabha Buddha presides over the Pure Land, a "paradise" in the west, the Land of Ultimate Bliss, named "Peaceful Nurturing." In the Pure Land, there is none of the suffering and defilement and delusion that normally blocks people's efforts toward enlightenment here in our world (which the Buddhists named "Endurance.")

The immediate goal of Pure Land believers is to be reborn in Amitabha's Pure Land. There, in more favorable surroundings, in the presence of Amitabha, they will eventually attain complete enlightenment.

The essence of Pure Land practice thus consists of invoking the name of Amitabha Buddha, contemplating the qualities of Amitabha, visualizing Amitabha, and taking vows to be born in the Pure Land.

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Making a vow to attain birth in the Pure Land signifies a fundamental reorientation of the believer's motivations and will. No longer is the purpose of life brute survival, or fulfillment of a social role, or the struggle to wrest some satisfaction from a frustrating, taxing environment. By vowing to be reborn in the Pure Land, believers shift their focus. The joys and sorrows of this world become incidental, inconsequential. The present life takes on value chiefly as an opportunity to concentrate one's awareness on Amitabha, and purify one's mind accordingly.

The hallmark of Pure Land Buddhism is reciting the buddha-name, invoking Amitabha Buddha by chanting his name. Through reciting the buddha-name, people focus their attention on Amitabha Buddha. This promotes mindfulness of buddha, otherwise known as buddha-remembrance [buddha recitation].

In what sense is buddha "remembered"? "Buddha" is the name for the one reality that underlies all forms of being, as well as an epithet for those who witness and express this reality. According to the Buddhist Teaching, all people possess an inherently enlightened true nature that is their real identity. By becoming mindful of buddha, therefore, people are just regaining their own real identity. They are remembering their own buddha-nature.

Buddha as such is a concept that transcends any particular embodiment, such as Shakyamuni Buddha (the historical buddha born in India), or Maitreya Buddha (the future buddha), or Vairocana Buddha (the cosmic buddha) or Amitabha Buddha (the buddha of the western paradise). Buddha exists in many forms, but all share the same "body of reality," the same Dharmakaya, which is formless, omnipresent, all-pervading, indescribable, infinite -- the everywhere-equal essence of all things, the one reality within-and-beyond all appearances.

Dharmakaya Buddha is utterly abstract and in fact inconceivable, so buddha takes on particular forms to communicate with living beings by coming within their range of perception. For most people, this is the only way that buddha can become comprehensible and of practical use. The particular embodiments of buddha, known as Nirmanakaya, are supreme examples of compassionate skill-in-means.

Pure Land people focus on buddha in the form of Amitabha, the buddha of infinite life and infinite light. Believers put their faith in Amitabha Buddha and recite his name, confident in the promises he has given to deliver all who invoke his name. All classes of people, whatever their other characteristics or shortcomings, are guaranteed rebirth in the Pure Land and ultimate salvation, if only they invoke Amitabha's name with singleminded concentration and sincere faith.


Buddha-Name Recitation

Buddha-name recitation is practiced in many forms: silently or aloud, alone or in groups, by itself or combined with visualization of Amitabha or contemplation of the concept of buddha, or combined with the methods of Zen. The aim is to concentrate one's attention on Amitabha, and let all other thoughts die away. At first and all along, miscellaneous thoughts intrude, and the mind wanders. But with sustained effort, one's focus on the buddha-name becomes progressively more steady and clear. Mindfulness of buddha -- buddha-remembrance -- grows stronger and purer.

Reciting the buddha-name functions as a powerful antidote to those great enemies of clear awareness that Buddhists have traditionally labeled "oblivion" and "scattering." "Oblivion" refers to the tendency of the human mind when not occupied by its habitual thoughts to sink into a state of torpor and sleepy nescience. "Scattering" is the other pole of ordinary mental life, where the consciousness flies off in all directions pursuing objects of thought and desire.

Through the centuries, those who practice it have found that buddha-name recitation is a much more beneficial use of mind than the ordinary run of hopes and fears that would otherwise preoccupy their minds. Calm focus replaces agitation and anxiety, producing a most invigorating saving of energy. "Mixed mindfulness is the disease. Mindfulness of buddha is the medicine."

According to the Pure Land teaching, all sorts of evil karma are dissolved by reciting the buddha-name wholeheartedly and singlemindedly.(1) What is karma? In Buddhist terms, "karma" means "deeds," "actions." Through sequences of cause and effect, what we do and what those we interact with do determines our experience and shapes our perceptions, which in turn guides our further actions.

Habitual patterns of perception and behavior build up and acquire momentum. Now we are in the grips of "karmic consciousness," so-called because it is a state of mind at once the result of past deeds and the source of future deeds. This is the existential trap from which all forms of Buddhist practice aim to extricate us.

According to the Pure Land teaching, buddha-name recitation is more effective for this purpose than any other practice, and can be carried out by anyone. The key is being singleminded, focusing the mind totally on Amitabha, and thus interrupting the onward flow of karmic consciousness. This is where Zen and Pure Land meet.


All Classes Go to the Pure Land

Buddha-name recitation enables all classes of people to attain birth in the Pure Land, from the most virtuous Buddhist saints, to those who are incapable of meritorious actions and do not develop the aspiration for enlightenment.

In Pure Land terminology, "nine classes" go to the Pure Land. The highest class are those who achieve the traditional goals of Buddhism -- that is, who free themselves from desire, observe the precepts, and practice the six perfections of giving, discipline, forbearance, energetic progress, meditation and wisdom. The lowest class who go to the Pure Land are those who keep on, as wayward human animals, piling up evil karma and committing all kinds of sins: even they can attain birth in the Pure Land, if only they focus their minds and recite the buddha-name.

Buddha-name recitation in itself dissolves away evil karma, no matter how serious- so say the Pure Land teachings. Infinity lies latent in the gaps within moment-to-moment mundanity - in the Zen formulation. But above all it is the power of Amitabha that makes birth in the Pure Land possible for sinners as well as saints, because Amitabha has vowed to save all who faithfully and singlemindedly invoke his name.(2)

 
The Pure Land

Amitabha's Pure Land is depicted in a way designed to attract believers. In the Pure Land there is no sickness, old age, or death. The sufferings and difficulties of this world do not exist. Those born in the Pure Land come forth there from lotus flowers, not from a woman's womb in pain and blood, and once born they are received and welcome by Amitabha and his assistants. They receive immortal, transformed bodies, and are beyond the danger of falling back into lesser incarnations. They are in the direct presence of Amitabha Buddha and the great bodhisattvas Kuan-yin (Avalokitesvara) and Shih-chih (Mahasthamaprapta), who aid in their ultimate enlightenment.

Those who go to the Pure Land live there among beings of the highest virtue. Beautiful clothing and fine food are provided to them ready-made. There are no extremes of heat and cold. Correct states of concentration are easy to achieve and maintain. There are no such things as greed, ignorance, anger, strife, or laziness.

The Pure Land is described, metaphorically, as resplendent with all manner of jewels and precious things, towers of agate, palaces of jade. There are huge trees made of various gems, covered with fruits and flowers. Giant lotuses spread their fragrance everywhere. There are pools, also made of seven jewels, and filled with the purest water, which adjusts itself to the depth and temperature the bathers prefer. Underfoot, gold covers the ground. Flowers fall from the sky day and night, and the whole sky is covered with a net made of gold and silver and pearls. The Pure Land is perfumed with beautiful scents and filled with celestial music.

Most precious of all, in the Pure Land, we are told, not only the buddha and bodhisattvas, Amitabha and his assistants, but even the birds and the trees (as manifestations of Amitabha) are continuously expounding the Dharma, the Buddhist Teaching.(3)


Pure Land Literature

Pure Land literature offers many stories presented as real-life biographical accounts which corroborate the efficacy of Pure Land practice, and the description of the Pure Land paradise drawn from the scriptures. Like most Buddhist biographies written in China, these accounts are very terse, and focus on the subject's religious life. There are stories of men and women, monks and nuns, nobles and high officials and commoners too, people young and old in various stations of life, all devoted to Pure Land practice.

The stories often relate people's early experience of Buddhism, and note the various practices they took up and the scriptures they studied. In due time, as the stories tell it, their faith in Pure Land is awakened, perhaps by meeting an inspirational teacher, perhaps through a dream or vision, perhaps from hearing the Pure Land scriptures, perhaps from personal acquaintance with a devoted Pure Land practitioner.

The stories always make a point of the zeal and dedication of the true believer in reciting the buddha-name. Here are some typical descriptions:

"He cut off his motivation for worldly things and dedicated his mind to the Pure Land."

"He concentrated his mind on reciting the buddha-name."

"She recited the buddha-name with complete sincerity."

"He set his will on the Pure Land."

"She recited the buddha-name day and night without stopping."

"He recited the buddha-name singlemindedly."

"She developed the mind of faith and recited the buddha-name tirelessly."

"She turned her mind to buddha-name recitation and practiced it wholeheartedly, never slacking off."

"The older he became, the more earnest he was in reciting the buddha-name."

This is the message of the Pure Land life stories.

 
The climax of a typical Pure Land biography comes in the subject's death scene, when buddha-name recitation is rewarded and the Pure Land teachings are confirmed.

The believer dies peacefully, even joyously, with mind and body composed, in full confidence of rebirth in paradise, reciting the buddha-name. Often the Pure Land devotee is able to predict his or her own death in advance, and calmly bid farewell to loved ones. Sometimes the believer receives reassuring visits from Amitabha in dreams or visions to prepare her or him to face the end.

Various signs give proof that the dying person is about to be reborn in the Pure Land. Uncanny fragrances and supernatural colored lights fill the room. Celestial music is heard. Flowers from the Pure Land appear: yellow lotuses, green lotuses, golden lotuses. The dying person sees Amitabha coming from the west to welcome him, or feels Amitabha's hand on his head, or sees Amitabha accompanied by Kuan-yin and Shih-chih appear to lead him to paradise. The dying person sees visions of the Pure Land: Amitabha and his companions seated on a jeweled dais, or the seven jewel ponds, or a staircase of gems leading up to the Pure Land.

Those close to the dying believer receive assurances that rebirth in the Pure Land is imminent. In the most frequent motif, the dying person announces to his or her companions, "Buddha is coming to welcome me!" The dying person's relatives dream of a lotus opening in the Pure Land's jewel pond, with their reborn kinsman appearing inside it. Or the relatives see visions of the deceased riding off to the west on a green lotus. Or the dead person visits the survivors in dreams and assures them that she has indeed been reborn in the Pure Land.

After the person dies, the people in the room perceive a magical fragrance and hear celestial music gradually fading away toward the west. A golden lotus might appear on the death bed or on top of the coffin. The dead believer's corpse does not decompose. Auspicious colored clouds hang over the funeral pyre.

With elements like these, the death scenes in Pure Land biographies are meant to prove to the faithful that rebirth in the Pure Land is indeed the guaranteed fate of those who recite the buddha-name.

            ***

Besides collections of believers' biographies, Pure Land literature includes other types of works designed to promote faith in the Pure Land teachings.

Many commentaries were composed on the sutras basic to Pure Land Buddhism: the Amitabha Sutra, the Contemplation of Amitabha Sutra (Meditation Sutra), and the Sutra of Infinite Life (Longer Amitabha Sutra).

Pure Land adepts also wrote essays to explain Pure Land beliefs in terms of Great Vehicle Buddhism as a whole, and to answer objections to Pure Land teachings and clarify points of doubt.

Some writers linked the Pure Land teaching to the other currents in Buddhism by picking out references to Amitabha's Pure Land and buddha-name recitation contained in the Buddhist scriptures and philosophical treatises not identified with the Pure Land school.

There are many records of talks given by famous Pure Land teachers down through the centuries, and personal letters they wrote, urging people to adopt Pure Land practice as the most effective way to make progress on the Buddhist Path.


Pure Land Associations

For many Pure Land Buddhists, an important means of strengthening their faith has been membership in a group of fellow believers. The faithful join to form Pure Land associations, where they can meet regularly with like-minded people to recite the buddha-name and, if they are fortunate, listen to genuine teachers expound Pure Land texts. Though buddha-name recitation can of course be done alone in private, many people have found group recitation very powerful in helping them to focus their attention. Being part of a community with shared beliefs helps to reinforce the dedication of the individual and his belief that Pure Land is a correct application of the Dharma that really works for people of that place and time. When methods are being applied correctly, the group also provides the individual believer with living examples of the mental strength and unshakable serenity acquired by longterm practitioners of buddha-name recitation.

Pure Land adepts often founded teaching centers where people could gather to recite the buddha-name and hear the Pure Land doctrine. They enrolled believers in religious associations dedicated to buddha-remembrance, with their own bylaws for membership, scheduled meetings, and guidelines for practice. Though many monks and nuns practiced buddha-name recitation, and many lay Buddhists pursued Pure Land practice on their own, the typical institutional form of Pure Land Buddhism was the voluntary association of laypeople, sometimes, but not always, led by monks and nuns.

On a purely social level, Pure Land associations could evolve into communities that offered their members not only ideological companionship and a sense of belonging, but also tangible material support in the form of mutual aid and a network of people who could be trusted and relied on. In many times and places, Pure Land societies have had their own facilities and funds. Under oppressive conditions, where the local social structure offered little security and much institutionalized violence and exploitation, popular religious groupings might become the real locus of loyalty and community feeling.


Pure Land Buddhism as Other-worldly

Among the many varieties of Buddhism, the Pure Land teaching most deserves the epithet "other-worldly," often erroneously applied to Buddhism as a whole. Pure Land doctrine teaches that this world is an arena of unavoidable suffering and frustration, and holds out the vivid prospect of rebirth in another, better world, where sickness, pain and death do not exist. This world is a hopeless trap, from which we can escape only by the power of Amitabha. Unless we attain rebirth in the Pure Land, peace and happiness, to say nothing of enlightenment, are beyond reach ...

From a Buddhist perspective, it is the modern "this-worldly" orientation to life that is a form of unrealistic escapism and unwarranted pessimism about human possibilities. It is unrealistic because it seeks the meaning of life in gratifications that can only be temporary and partial: it seeks escape from mortality in transient pleasures. It is unnecessarily pessimistic because it ignores or denies the transcendental capacity inherent in humankind: "turning one's back on enlightenment to join with the dusts."


Pure Land Buddhism within the Buddhist Spectrum

What was the relationship between Pure Land and the other forms of Buddhism in East Asia?

Pure Land teaching incorporated many of the standards and perspectives that were basic in popular Buddhism as a whole, deriving from the Buddhist scriptures. Pure Land teachers urged their listeners to observe the basic Buddhist moral code, to refrain from killing, stealing, lying, sexual excess, and intoxication. Strict vegetarianism was encouraged, as a corollary to the precept against taking life. Pure Land people were to give their allegiance to the "Three Jewels," that is, the enlightened one (Buddha), the teaching of enlightenment (Dharma), and the community of seekers (Sangha).

Pure Land teachers adopted the usual Buddhist moral perspective of cause and effect, of rewards and punishments according to one's actions. Pure Land people were taught to accumulate merit by good works, such as giving charity to the needy, helping widows and orphans, maintaining public facilities, supporting monks and nuns, contributing money and supplies for ceremonies and rituals, and making donations to Buddhist projects like building temples, casting statues and painting images, and copying and printing scriptures. Many Pure Land believers, in addition to reciting the buddha-name, studied and chanted various Buddhist scriptures, like the Lotus Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, and the Flower Ornament (Avatamsaka) Sutra. All these merit-making activities were viewed as auxiliary to the main work of reciting the buddha-name.

Pure Land theorists were faced with the task of clarifying their teaching of salvation through faith in Amitabha, given the mainstream scriptural Buddhist view of salvation as the reward for eons of diligent effort at self-discipline and purification and refinement of perceptions. By holding out the prospect of rebirth in the Pure Land through buddha-name recitation even to sinners, the Pure Land teaching appears to depart from a strict rule of karmic reward, which emphasizes the individual's own efforts as the decisive factor in spiritual attainment.

The Pure Land teachers explained this apparent anomaly by appealing to the infinite compassion of Amitabha Buddha (as an expedient embodiment of the infinitely pervasive Dharmakaya Buddha), who promises that all who invoke his name will attain birth in his Pure Land. The pioneers of the Pure Land teaching indeed took the position that for people in the later ages, the arduous path of self-restraint and purification proposed in the old Buddhist scriptures was no longer feasible. For average people, the only hope of salvation would be to rely on another power than their own, the power of Amitabha Buddha (4) [in addition to their own personal effort].

The Pure Land practice of reciting the buddha-name bears a family resemblance to the chanting of mantras that plays a major role in esoteric Buddhism. As the Pure Land master Chu-hung said, "Reciting the buddha-name is equivalent to upholding a mantra. After you have gained power by reciting the buddha-name, you will be able to face objects with equanimity." According to the Pure Land teaching, invoking the buddha-name brings into play the vows of Amitabha Buddha, whose supernatural powers bring those who invoke him rebirth in the Pure Land. The key element is faith in Amitabha, and the Pure Land teaching is propounded as an easy path open to everyone.

            ***

Reciting the buddha-name and chanting mantras can be seen to operate in similar ways, from the point of view of the analysis of the workings of the human mind taught by Yogacara Buddhism and adopted by the Zen school.

Both practices in effect suspend the operation of the discriminating intellect, the faculty of the internal dialogue through which people from moment to moment define and perpetuate their customary world of perception. As the Yogacara bodhisattvas pointed out, people ordinarily are not in touch with phenomena themselves, but rather with mental representations projected onto phenomena. What we ordinarily perceive is not the world itself, but a description of the world that we have been conditioned to accept. The internal dialogue of the intellect holds in place these representations, which make up the world of delusion.

By focusing on the sounds of the mantra or the syllables of the buddha-name invocation, the internal dialogue is stopped. Once its grip is loosened, the description it perpetuates is suspended. Then other descriptions of reality, other worlds, can come into view (such as Amitabha and the Pure Land, or the interplay of deities visualized in esoteric Buddhism, or the infinite vistas of the Avatamsaka Sutra).

            ***

Operating in East Asia, Pure Land teachers had to reconcile their views with the perspective of Zen Buddhism. While Pure Land was the most widespread popular form of Buddhism in East Asia, Zen was the form that was intellectually preeminent.

According to the Zen school, since all people inherently possess buddha-nature, the potential for enlightenment, enlightenment equal to the buddhas can be attained in this lifetime by a properly directed and executed effort to break through the barriers of delusion. Rather than venerating the Buddhist scriptures as sacred but unattainable standards, the Zen people went to great lengths to apply the perceptions revealed in the sutras in practice. Generations of enlightened Zen adepts "appeared in the world" to demonstrate a freedom from worldly bonds and a mastery of the Buddha Dharma that proved that liberation was not an unattainable goal. Through their personal example and the unparalleled originality of their utterances, the Zen masters made a great impact on East Asian high culture in the realms of religion, philosophy, and aesthetics. The prestige of Zen was such that the other schools of Buddhists, and Confucians and Taoists as well, all had to answer to its perspectives.

            ***

The Pure Land school accepted the Zen perspective as valid in principle, but questioned how many people could get results by using Zen methods. Pure Land teachers granted that Zen might indeed be the "direct vehicle," but insisted that for most people it was too rigorous and demanding to be practicable. The Pure Land method of buddha-name recitation was offered as a simpler method by which average people could make progress toward enlightenment. The Pure Land teachers pointed out that many who scorned Pure Land methods as simplistic, and who proudly claimed allegiance to the Zen school, actually achieved nothing by stubbornly clinging to Zen methods. "With Zen, nine out of ten fail. With Pure Land, ten thousand out of ten thousand succeed."

The Zen school itself came to make room for Pure Land methods. From the time of Yung-ming Yen-shou in tenth century China, who was a master of scriptural Buddhism, Pure Land, and the Zen school, the synthesis of Zen and Pure Land figured prominently in the teachings of many Zen adepts.

In the Zen understanding of Pure Land, Amitabha Buddha represents the enlightened essence of our own true identity, while the Pure Land is the purity of our inherent buddha mind. Buddha-name recitation is effective as a means to cut through the deluded stream of consciousness and focus the mind on its true nature. "Being born in the Pure Land" means reaching the state of mental purity where discriminating thought is unborn and immediate awareness is unimpeded.

The synthesis of Zen and Pure Land methods was epitomized by the "buddha-name recitation meditation case" taught by many Zen masters. "Meditation cases" (koans) in Zen are generally short sayings or question-answer pairs or dialogues or action-scenes which were designed for use as focal points in meditation. They were designed with multiple levels of meaning that interact with the mind of the person meditating to shift routine patterns of thought and open up deeper perceptions. Sustained concentration on the meditation point provides the opportunity for direct insights beyond the level of words.

Examples of meditation cases are: "What was your original face before your father and mother were born?" "The myriad things return to one: what does the one return to?" "What is the Dharmakaya? A flowering hedge." "What is every-atom samadhi? Water in the bucket, food in the bowl." Sayings like these were everyday fare in the Zen school. The Pure Land master Chu-hung whose teachings are translated below put together a detailed compendium of how to meditate with koans.

In the buddha-name recitation meditation case, the person intently reciting the buddha-name asks himself or herself, "Who is the one reciting the buddha-name?" "Who is the one mindful of buddha?" The question is answered when the practitioner comes face to face with his or her own buddha-nature. The one mindful of buddha is the buddha within us. This is the Zen rationale for Pure Land practice.(5)


The Present Translation 

For this book I have translated texts from sixteenth century China that I hope will serve as an informative introduction to Pure Land Buddhist methods and teachings. The texts contain detailed explanations of Pure Land practice, vigorous encouragements to recite the buddha-name, and theoretical discussions relating Pure Land beliefs to the other branches of Buddhism. The synthesis of Pure Land Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, and the Buddhism of the Buddhist scriptures is very much in evidence. 

These texts display the characteristic tone and concerns of Pure Land writings. They put forward the Pure Land teaching in clear language as an expression of skill-in-means, as the most appropriate and expedient method for people of ordinary capabilities to advance on the Buddhist Path. 

After the rise of Pure Land Buddhism, many eminent teachers had occasion to explain Pure Land practice in terms of the all-encompassing theoretical outlook of Great Vehicle Buddhism as a whole. By the sixteenth century, late in the Ming dynasty, Chinese Buddhism was in a period of retrieving and reassembling its ancient heritage. There was a deliberate attempt by the learned to extract the gist of the classic teachings, and spread their message to a wider popular audience. Many Buddhist writers of the time offered reasoned explanations of the interrelationships among the various streams of the Buddhist teaching, harmonizing apparent divergences. Consequently, the Ming era Pure Land texts translated in this book are rich in information for modern day Buddhists of any denomination who are trying to comprehend the various parts of the Buddhist tradition in terms of the whole spectrum of Buddhist practice, thought, and imagery. 

The works translated below serve as an overall theoretical and practical guide to the Pure Land teaching, placing it squarely within the wider tradition of East Asian Buddhism. As always, I have done my best to make the translation faithful to the substance and tone of the original, and in English as fluent as the original Chinese. 

J. C. Cleary 
Spring 1994 

related post:  General Advice

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(1) All evil karma results, ultimately, from delusion, the antithesis of enlightenment. Correct practice leads to awakening and enlightenment and thus dissolves away evil karma. It is as though a house were boarded up for ten thousand years. As soon as a window is opened, eons of darkness disappear in a split second. 

The dissolution of evil karma through buddha-remembrance can be explained in another way: 

A non-individualistic interpretation of the law of karma is provided by the doctrine of parinamana or "turning over" of merits. According to this doctrine, the merits which one person has acquired by the performance of good actions, can, if he so wishes, be transferred to another . . .By sincerely invoking his name, which is in reality identical with Amitabha himself, we identify ourselves with Amitabha. As a result of this identification, a portion of his merits is transferred to us. These merits, which are now ours, are sufficient not only to counterbalance the effects of our evil actions but also to ensure our rebirth in the Pure Land. The law of karma has not been suspended for our benefit. All that has happened is that a more powerful karma has cancelled out one that was weaker. (Sangharakshita, A Survey of Buddhism, p. 375.) 

(2) This is the essence of the Eighteenth Vow of the future Amitabha Buddha, as described in the Longer Amitabha Sutra. 

(3) See the following passage from the Amitabha Sutra: 

Shariputra: do not say of these birds that they are in fact the products of evil karma. Why should you not? In that Buddha's land, there is none of the three evil states . . . All these various birds are the Amida itself, transformed for the purpose of carrying far and wide the sound of the Dharma. (Hozen Seki, The Buddha Tells of the Infinite [Amitabha Sutra], p.34.) 

Another way of understanding this metaphor of birds (or trees) teaching the Dharma, is to recall that self-enlightened Buddhas realized the truth of impermanence "by observing natural phenomena, such as the scattering of blossoms or the falling of leaves." 

(4) See the following passage: 

As an analogy, for a student to exert his own efforts to the utmost is, of course, a laudable thing. If, in addition, he has the benefit of an excellent teacher, who follows his progress and assists him, his level of achievement will be higher, resulting in a sure success in his endeavors. Adding other-power to self-power is similar ...( Thich Thien Tam, Buddhism of Wisdom and Faith, section 18, question 1.) 

(5) Please note, however, that buddha-remembrance (Buddha Recitation) as described here has essentially become a Zen method with the goal of reaching awakening. For the koan of Buddha Recitation as a safety net, see Glossary under "Zen." 

If we were to use Buddha Recitation to discover the Mind-Ground and awaken to our Original Nature, the Pure Land method would be no different from other methods. However, when we rely on Buddha Recitation to seek rebirth in the Pure Land, this method has unique characteristics. (Ibid., sect. 27.) 

The strength and pervasiveness of Pure Land are such that its main practice, buddha-remembrance (recitation), is found in other schools, including the Tantric and Zen schools. In Pure Land, recitation is practiced for the immediate purpose of achieving rebirth in the Land of Amitabha Buddha. In the Tantric school, the immediate aim is to destroy evil karma and afflictions and generate blessings and wisdom in the current lifetime. In Zen, the koan of buddha-remembrance is meant to sever delusive thought and realize the Self-Nature True Mind. The ultimate goal of all three schools is, of course, the same: to achieve enlightenment and Buddhahood. 

A question that immediately arises is how two methods seemingly so opposite as Pure Land and Zen can lead to the same goal of Buddhahood. As an analogy, supposing a patient is admitted to the hospital with a high fever. The physician will, of course, prescribe a medication to lower the fever. However, if later in the day, her temperature has dropped to a dangerously low level, he will attempt to raise it with another prescription. The immediate goal is different in each case, but the ultimate goal in both is the same: to normalize the temperature of the patient. The Buddha, as the master physician, likewise employs 84,000 methods to treat the 84,000 afflictions of sentient beings. 

Source Of Information:
《To Understand Buddhism》, the collected works of Venerable Master Chin Kung, translated by Silent Voices, distributed by: Persatuan Penganut Agama Buddha Amitabha Malaysia, 90 & 92, Jalan Pahang, Gombak, 53000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.)
*** The information provided above does not contain personal opinion of this blog.

Publisher’s Foreword (Pure Land Pure Mind)

In what appears to be a long time ago, in the summer of 1990, a friend drew our attention to a manuscript anthologizing the teachings of two eminent Chinese masters of the sixteenth century. We recall reading through the text with keen interest, hoping that it would soon become widely available. 
The matter then skipped our minds as we busied ourselves, in the intervening years, with editing and publishing the four-volume Pure Land Series of the Sutra Translation Committee. One thing leading to another, in early 1993, we were reminded of the manuscript, still unpublished at the time, and opened discussions in earnest with the translator, Dr. J.C. Cleary. One more year would go by, however, before the matter was finally settled, thanks in large part to the assistance of Master Lok To and Mr. Tsu-ku.
Causes and conditions having finally met, we believe that the reader will find Dr. Cleary’s translation a lucid and inspiring text on Pure Land – a Buddhist tradition widely followed in Asia but little known in the West.
The present volume contains Dr. Cleary’s original manuscript, except for the section on Master Chu-hung’s “Answers to Forty-Eight Questions on the Pure Land,” which is being considered for a separate publication. Transcription of names is in the Wade-Giles system to conform to other works in this Pure Land Series.

        ********

To those pressed for time and hungry for solace, Buddha Sakyamuni left behind a treasure trove of 84,000 Dharma gems. All of them are rare, exquisite and priceless, beyond mankind’s deepest and wildest dreams. Whatever gem strikes your fancy, be it the brilliant Zen diamond or the fiery Esoteric ruby, do not forget the translucent green jade of Pure Land, bestowed upon Sudhana – the quintessential seeker of the Way. In the words of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Sudhana’s fifty-third and last teacher in the Avatamsaka Sutra: 

The supreme and endless blessings 
of Samantabhadra’s deeds, 
I now universally transfer.
May every living being, drowning 
and adrift, 
Soon return to the Land of Limitless 
Light – of Amitabha Buddha!

D.Phung/Minh Thanh/P.D.Leigh
Rye Brook: Ullambana ‘94

related post:  Introduction: Pure Land Buddhism