Self-power/Other-power
I see from your letter that you have developed faith and wish to take refuge in the Buddhas and their teachings. When taking refuge in the Triple Jewel, however, you should cease all evil actions, perform wholesome deeds, fulfill your moral obligations, develop Faith and Vows and practice Buddha Recitation, seeking rebirth in the Pure Land. You should also refrain from killing, protect sentient beings and be vegetarian several days a month. If you cannot yet eat frugally all the time, at least do not be too demanding in your diet. In this way, you will not go counter to the compassionate Mind of the Buddhas.
Since your name is “Precious Wood,” I shall give you the Dharma name “Verdant Wisdom.” This is because the Mind-Nature is like a tree; when consumed by the fire of afflictions, it withers and dries up. Once you have wisdom, afflictions will not arise and the tree of the Mind-Nature grows naturally healthy and verdant.
If you wish to receive the five lay precepts, you should, first of all, examine your mind. If you believe that you can keep the precepts without transgressing, you may ask the layman Hua San about self-administration of the precepts before your altar; he will be glad to instruct you.
Having now returned to the Dharma, you should read my compendium of letters carefully and follow closely the teachings described therein. Only then will you avoid being deceived by misguided persons into seeking merits and blessings in future lives or trying to become an Immortal through the practice of balancing energy currents. If you truly understand the teachings set out in my compendium, no externalist can cause you to vacillate. Do not doubt the words in the compendium. You should realize that they are based on the essence of the sutras or the enlightened words of the Patriarchs and other Dharma teachers. I did not invent these teachings. If you reflect carefully upon what I have just said, you will receive great benefits.
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Your aspirations are as lofty as the heavens, while your will is as low as the ground. Although you claim to follow my teachings, you are, in fact, merely pursuing your own biased views. Faith constitutes the very basic of Pure Land teaching. With solid Faith, even those guilty of the Five Transgressions and the Ten Evil Deeds can achieve rebirth in the Pure Land. Without solid Faith, even those fully versed in the various schools and teachings have no hope of escaping Birth and Death – unless they have severed all delusive karma.
You are not yet versed in the various schools and teachings. Therefore, you cannot rely on your own strength (self-power) to eradicate karmic delusion and transcend Birth and Death. Now, if you do not believe that the power of the Buddhas and the virtues of the Self-Nature are boundless, how can you achieve liberation?
You should know that no one who seeks rebirth in the Pure Land with deep and earnest Faith and Vows will fail to achieve it. Buddha Recitation is the perfect shortcut to escape from the wasteland of Birth and Death. You do not even realize the loftiness of this method, yet harbor the ambition to study the treatise Awakening of the Faith. Although this treatise presents the essence of the Dharma, it is not too helpful for those of limited capacities and shallow roots. Even if you study and understand it thoroughly, severing all doubts, once you begin practicing, you must still follow the method of reciting the Buddha’s name seeking rebirth in the Pure Land. This is the only prudent, safe course. As for the Consciousness, Zen and Sutra Studies schools, how can you expect to grasp all their subtlety and profundity?
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Your mind has such high aspirations but you do not know how to adjust their loftiness to your capacities! Yet you also think that “with humble, limited capacities, it is difficult to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land; to avoid sinking into the Three Evil Realms is enough cause for rejoicing.” Little do you realize that without rebirth in the Pure Land, you will, in the future, descend upon the three Evil Paths [hells, hungry ghosts, animality]. Ideas such as yours fail to conform to the teachings of the Buddhas and are contrary to my own advice. How can you then say that you are “following my words and singlemindedly reciting the Buddha’s name”?
You are currently engaged in an ordinary profession and do not yet have a lofty, magnanimous character. Thus, such high determination will only make others sigh and laugh. You should completely abandon your ambition to become a great scholar, concentrating instead on studying the Pure Land sutras. Reread the letters I sent to Kao Shao-lin and Miss Hsu and practice accordingly. You should not look at your humble, limited capacities and consider rebirth in the Western Pure Land as too lofty and beyond your reach. You should cling to the Buddha’s name as to your life and mind, holding fast at all times without letting go. Moreover, you should keep your thoughts and actions in conformity with the tenets of Buddhism, that is, put a stop to all evil actions and practice all wholesome deeds. In addition, if you still have spare time, you may recite sutras and mantras, but always keep in mind the need for utter sincerity. Do not rush to fathom meaning and substance. If you rush to understand everything at the outset and do not concentrate on utterly sincere recitation of the Buddha’s name and the sutras, even thorough understanding will bring no true benefits – not to mention that, to begin with, understanding is difficult.
As far as the Consciousness, Zen and Sutra Studies methods are concerned, even if you pursue them all your life, you will find it difficult to grasp their profound essence. Even if you do, you will still have to sever delusive karma completely to escape Birth and Death. When speaking of this, I fear that your dream will not come true and will remain just that – a dream!
You have not read my compendium carefully enough and, therefore, your words rise as high as the Milky Way and then descend to the depths of the ocean. In the compendium, I frequently refer to the sutras and commentaries that should be read, how to go about reading them and the difficulty of benefitting from the Consciousness, Zen and Sutra Studies methods. This is because the Pure Land method calls upon the compassionate power of Amitabha Buddha (other-power), while other methods rely on self-power, self-cultivation alone.
Dharma doors other than Pure Land are ordinary methods. They resemble the approach of a scholar in everyday life who, through his own talents and virtues, becomes an official of high or low rank. The Pure Land method is a special teaching – just like a prince who, right at birth, is more honored than courtiers or ministers. Thus, methods based on self-power and those based on other-power cannot be compared. Should not ordinary beings, full of karmic afflictions, exercise caution in the selection of a method of cultivation?
You admit that human beings have a limited life-span and that your own real strength is limited. Why, then, continue to pursue such lofty ambitions? If you can become a great scholar, it will be a great honor for Buddhism. My only fear is that if you do not succeed and do not have firm faith in the Pure Land method either,
you will fail on both accounts. Furthermore, if you do accrue some limited virtues in this life, in the next life you will certainly be reborn within the cycle of worldly blessings and merits. Think this over: among the wealthy and noble, how many can avoid creating evil karma?
Today the fate of the nation is in great peril and the people are in misery. This is all due to the influence of the merits and blessings of those, who, in previous lifetimes, cultivated without wisdom. Once having gone astray and having been reborn in the Triple Realm, how can you ensure that you will not be deluded and descend upon the three Evil Paths? If you do not achieve rebirth in the Pure Land, it may be possible to escape perdition for one lifetime, but to do so for two lifetimes is rare indeed!
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Sakyamuni Buddha taught a great many sutras and mantras. No one can recite and uphold them all. Therefore, ancient masters selected only a few important ones for use in daily recitation. [Among these important sutras and mantras are the Heart Sutra, the Amitabha Sutra, the Longer Repentance Liturgy, the Surangama Mantra, the Great Compassion Mantra, the Ten Mantras.] Regardless of which sutra or mantra is recited, to be in accord with the tenets of Pure Land you should include recitation of the Buddha’s name and dedicate the merits to rebirth in the
Pure Land ... You should know that the very words “Amitabha Buddha,” if recited to the level of one-pointedness of mind, have ample power to lead sentient beings to Buddhahood. Do you really think that reciting the Amitabha Sutra and the Buddha’s name cannot eliminate “fixed karma”?
The Dharma is like money. It is up to the individual to use it wisely. To those with money, many courses of action are open. If you can concentrate on cultivating one method, whatever you wish will be fulfilled. Why insist upon reciting this mantra or that sutra to accrue this or that merit, but not other merits? If you follow my instructions in a flexible way, you will naturally “understand one thing and penetrate one hundred things.” If not, even if I speak at length, your mind will not be focussed and you will not obtain any benefits!
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It is taught in the sutras:
There are two types of heroes in this world: those who do not
commit transgressions and those who, having done so, are
capable of repentance.
The word “repentance” should spring from the depth of the mind. If you do not truly repent and change your ways, whatever you say is useless. It is like reading the label on a medicine bottle but refusing to take the medicine. How can your illness be cured? If you take the medicine according to instructions, the disease will certainly be cured – with body and mind calm and at peace. I only fear for those who, lacking strong and determined will, put things out in the sun to warm for one day and then let them freeze for ten days. All they get is empty fame and no true benefits!
Source Of Information:
《Letters From Patriarch Yin Kuang, Pure-Land Zen Zen Pure-Land》, translated by Master Thich Thien Tam, et al
consulting editor: Forrest G. Smith, reprinted and donated for free distribution by: The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, (11F, 55, Hang Chow South Road, Sec 1, Taipei, Taiwan), second edition 1993
*** The information provided above does not contain personal opinion of this blog.
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