People Should Practice Pure Land

Buddha Sakyamuni said: "There are many expedient ways to practice, and each can lead to an end to the cycle of Birth and Death." Reciting the Buddha's name seeking rebirth in the Pure Land is a shortcut. The wonderful and complete teachings of the Avatamsaka and Lotus Sutras, as well as the sublime conduct of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, all point to and lead to the Pure Land. Similarly, from the Patriarchs Asvaghosa and Nagarjuna to the great masters Yung-Ming and Chung-Feng, all are in favor of Pure Land.

This Dharma can convert people of all three levels: superior, mediocre and inferior. It can be practiced to good effect by all people whether of dull or sharp capacities. It is not limited to those of shallow roots. It is taught in the sutras that if you want to purify the Buddha land, you should purify your own mind first. If you want to have pure karma, you must first purify your own mind. To purify your own mind, you should first maintain pure discipline (keep the precepts).(11) Given the three evils of the body, four evils of the mouth and three evils of the mind, there are altogether ten evil karmas. They are the causes of suffering in the Triple Realm.

From now on, you must maintain the rules of discipline and keep the three karmas af body, speech and mind pure and clean. Then the mind will be naturally pure. If you do not kill sentient beings, steal or commit adultery, then the karma of body will be pure. If you do not tell lies or use deceitful double meanings and do not indulge in coarse, filthy language, then the karma of speech will be pure. If you do not allow into mind feelings of covetousness and anger and do not hold perverted views, then the karma of mind will be pure. If you can sever the ten evil karmas forever, the Triple Realm will be cleansed and purified. This is very important for the purification of your own mind.

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Once you have a clean and pure mind and have developed an abhorrence for the sufferings of the Saha World, make a vow for rebirth in the Pure Land. Then, practice the right action of Buddha Recitation so as to end the cycle of Birth and Death. Block all distractions from outside and concentrate singlemindly on reciting Amitabha Buddha's name in thought after thought twenty-four hours a day without stopping. While you are walking, standing, sitting or reclining, whether you are moving or still, at leisure or busy, you must always be of clear mind without any confused thoughts and must not be affected by intruding conditions from outside. If you can practice over a long period of time, never forgetting Buddha Recitation even in dreams, reciting gently and continuously whether asleep or awake, without any distracting thoughts, and if you can recite the Buddha's name like this up until your final moment, the realm of the Pure Land will appear before you. Then, as a matter of course, you will no longer be bound by the cycle of Birth and Death. Amitabha Buddha will respond by emitting rays of light and lead you to rebirth in the Pure Land.

Singleminded recitation of the Buddha's name is correct action. However, for a deeper understanding, visualization is also required. Thus, the Meditation Sutra [a key Pure Land text] states:

Sakyamuni Buddha taught sixteen wonderful meditations and contemplations to Queen Vaidehi, so that she could attain rebirth in the Pure Land within one lifetime.

When cultivating alone or in the company of friends, choose one of the sixteen meditations, depending on your purpose and vows. You may visualize only Buddha Amitabha and the Bodhisattvas or else the realm of the Pure Land with its golden ground and wonderful lotus blossoms. If you keep the object of visualization clearly in mind twenty-fours hours a day, whether walking, sitting, standing, reclining, with eyes open or closed, the pure realm will always appear before you.

If you can pursue this meditation over a long period of time, you will suddenly become enlightened. The Pure Land is then everywhere.

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It has been said that "to be born is definitely to be born, but to return [to the Pure Land] is not really to return.” This is the wonderful doctrine of Mind-Only Pure Land.(12) If one is capable of maintaining discipline as indicated earlier, then the six organs will be clean and pure, and he will sever evil karma and defilements forever. If the mind-ground is clean as one practices visualization in thought after thought, then it is easy to accomplish this wonderful practice. This is the real cause of rebirth in the Pure Land.

Conversely, as Sakyamuni Buddha taught, if one only talks about Buddha Recitation and rebirth in the Pure Land but does not hold to the necessary discipline or sever defilements -- while constantly having defiled thoughts and an evil mind -- he can never attain the Way. For this reason, all practitioners should maintain discipline as the foundation, to assist them in the correct practice of visualization and Buddha Recitation. Anyone who practices in this manner is assured of rebirth in the Pure Land.
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(11) Discipline, ie., precepts. There are many sets of precepts, for monks, nuns and laymen. The five basic precepts for laymen are not to kill, steal, engage in illicit sex, lie or consume intoxicants. All of these numerous precepts, however, may be summarized by three vows: to avoid evil; to cultivate virtue; to benefit all sentient beings.

(12) Mind-Only Pure Land: see Buddhism of Wisdom and Faith, para. 27, "Buddha Recitation and the Four Realizations.”

related post:  The Important Doctrines of Pure Land and Zen

Source Of Information:
《Pure Land of The Patriarchs》, by Zen master Han-Shan Te-Ch'ing, translated by Dharma Master Lok To, Sutra Translation Committee of The United States and Canada, New York - San Francisco - Toronto, published in March, 2001, distributed by Amitabha Buddhist Society Malaysia (92, Jalan Pahang, 53300 Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
*** The information provided above does not contain personal opinion of this blog.

The Important Dharma of Pure Land

This book is a translation of selected passages from the sermons and writings of Zen Master Han-shan Te-ch'ing, one of the three "dragon-elephants” of Ming Buddhism. These passages originally appeared in the Han-Shan Ta-Shih Meng-Yu Chi (Collection of Master Han-Shan's Dream Roamings).

The Dharma of Buddha Recitation is for the purpose of achieving rebirth in the Pure Land, thus ending the cycle of Birth and Death. This is a most crucial matter. Therefore, sentient beings are urged to practice Buddha Recitation. Unfortunately, people today understand only that Buddha Recitation can lead to the end of Birth and Death, without understanding where the root of Birth and Death lies. How should you practice Buddha Recitation so as to end the cycle of Birth and Death? If you do not sever the root of Birth and Death, how can you expect to end that cycle?

What is the root of Birth and Death? An ancient master said:

If your evil karma were not heavy, you would not have been born in the Saha world. If thoughts of love-attachment are not severed, you cannot be reborn in the Pure Land.

Therefore, we know that love-attachment is the root of Birth and Death. All sentient beings are subject to the suffering of Birth and Death because of the affliction of love-attachment. The root of this attachment does not come from this life alone, nor indeed from two, three or four previous lives. Rather it stems from time without beginning, birth after birth, death after death. Abandoning one life only to reappear in another life, we are always swayed by love-attachment, up to our present lifetime. Thinking back, when did you have a single thought not tied to this root of love-attachment?

The seeds of this love-attachment have accumulated over long kalpas and are planted very deep. Therefore, birth after birth, death after death, the cycle never stops. For now, you should direct your mind to Buddha Recitation, seeking only to be reborn in the Pure Land. If one part of your mind is geared to Buddha Recitation while the other is tied to Birth and Death, even if you continue this recitation until the final moment, you will only see that you are still rooted in love-attachment, still in the cycle of Birth and Death. At that time, you will see that such Buddha Recitation is useless. You may then complain that Buddha Recitation does not bring results, but it will be too late for regrets.

I urge those who practice Buddha Recitation to understand first that love-attachment is the root of Birth and Death. Buddha Recitation requires that you sever love-attachment in thought after thought. During recitation at home, when you see your son or daughter or grandchildren, or your material possessions, you are attached to all of them. But this is the root of Birth and Death. Everything around your body can bend your mind. You may recite the Buddha's name with your mouth, but if the root of love-attachment is in your mind and you never lose this for one moment, you need not wonder why you cannot concentrate on Buddha Recitation!

When the mind is filled with attachment to the Saha world, Buddha Recitation remains superficial. One part of the mind is practicing Buddha Recitation while the other is increasingly filled with love-attachment. If thoughts of children and grandchildren are in the forefront of your mind, the mind trying to recite the Buddha's name cannot resist the mind of love, and thus you cannot sever love-attachment. This being so, how can you expect to put an end to the cycle of Birth and Death?

Because this condition of attachment stems from many previous lifetimes, for fruitful Buddha Recitation, just start in the present, even though you are not yet wholly familiar with the method and do not have a fully sincere mind. If you have no power and no control over yourself now, you will have no control during the final moments of your life either.

Therefore, I would like to urge all of you: if you really want to recite the Buddha's name and bring an end to the cycle of Birth and Death, cut off the root of Birth and Death in thought after thought. It is not advisable to wait till the end of your life to do so. I urge you to do your best. Bear in mind that everything is Birth and Death. To end the cycle of Birth and Death in your current lifetime, concentrate on reciting the Buddha's name in thought after thought. If you can practice like this every moment and still do not end the cycle of Birth and Death, then all Buddhas are lying. So whether you are a monk or a layman, just keep Birth and Death at the forefront of your mind. This is the method for escaping Birth and Death and there is no more wonderful Dharma than this.

Practice Buddha Recitation with your own mind. To recite the Buddha's name is to recite your own mind, thought after thought, without interruption. Buddha and Mind are the same. With neither subject nor object, the mind is empty; both subject and object are still. This is called reciting one's own mind, reciting one's own Buddha. If you miss one thought, you will fall into the karma of demons.

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Many people following the current fashion of Zen think of it as the supreme Dharma. They look down on Pure Land and do not practice it. Because they delight in fame, they learn some words and sentences from ancient sages so that they can talk smoothly and eulogize one another. This is not real practice. The urge to enter the Dharma doors is in decline. These people also deprecate the Mahayana sutras, claiming that they are mere words and need not be read. Though such persons may have accrued some virtues, they cannot save themselves. It is really terrible. Most of them do not understand the Mahayana sutras, do not understand that there are many expedient methods for teaching sentient beings, do not know the meaning of the expression: "Everything returns to oneness, but there are many expedient methods that lead us to an understanding of the Truth." They only know the Patriarchs' teaching that the supreme way is Enlightenment. Yet the original meaning of Enlightenment is to end the cycle of Birth and Death. Is this not also the very purpose of Buddha Recitation?

Many Zen practitioners fail to escape the cycle of Birth and Death, while Pure Land followers find it easier to escape that cycle. What is the reason for this? It is because to practice Zen, you must stop the thought process, while to recite the Buddha's name, you must concentrate on thoughts. Since sentient beings have been mired in false thinking for untold eons, it is very difficult to detach themselves from it. Buddha Recitation changes impure thoughts to pure thoughts, fighting poison with poison to purify one's own thoughts.(10) Therefore, in Zen practice it is difficult to attain Enlightenment, while Buddha Recitation makes it easy to reach that goal. If you really want to end the cycle of Birth and Death and you concentrate on Buddha Recitation, there need be no further worry about ending the cycle.

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People today think of the Dharma of Pure Land as an expedient teaching. Little do they realize that it is also a wonderful Dharma. Take the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, whose Dharma body encompasses the whole Dharma Realm. He made ten Great Vows directed to the Pure Land. The Patriarch Asvaghosa relied on one hundred sections of the Mahayana sutras to write the Treatise on the Awakening of the Faith, showing sentient beings the way to the Pure Land. All patriarchs in the East [i.e., East Asia] are involved in Mind-to-Mind transmission. While they may not always refer to the Pure Land, if after becoming enlightened and bringing an end to the cycle of Birth and Death, they do not turn to the Pure Land, would that not be nihilism?

The Zen Master Yung-Ming collected passages from the entire Tripitaka demonstrating that to point to the Mind is to return to the Pure Land. During the Dharma-Ending Age, many Zen masters glorify the Western Pure Land. Moreover, the Pure Land Dharma was preached by Sakyamuni Buddha himself without being requested and is extolled by all Buddhas throughout the ten directions. Are not the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Patriarchs more worthy than a few ignorant, defiled sentient beings?

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One who really wants to practice Pure Land should not consult others. He should rely solely on his own mind if he really wants to end the cycle of Birth and Death. Just as if there were a fire in his own head, he cannot delay any longer.

For example, if a person becomes hopelessly ill, suffering greatly, and someone should find a panacea(10) that will treat this illness, and if this person is of the right frame of mind, believes in this medicine and takes it right away, letting the body sweat out its ills, he will recover quickly. He will then naturally believe that this is a wonderful medicine. Similarly, anyone who sincerely believes in the Dharma of Pure Land and practices Buddha Recitation until the final moment will discover that it is true and wonderful. It is not necessary to ask others.

I urge all of you to exert yourself.
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(10) Poison; panacea. Buddha Recitation is a poison at the ultimate level. It, too, is a false thought that should, ultimately, be discarded.
This Dharma-door [Pure Land] fights poison with poison. False thinking is like poison, and unless you counter it with poison, you will never cure it. Reciting the Buddha's name is fighting false thinking with false thinking. It is like sending out an army to defeat an army, to fight a battle to end all battles. (Master Hsuan Hua.)
Buddha Recitation is a panacea because it can heal the mind -- ultimately the source of all disease. It is also a remedy for persons of all capacities under all circumstances.

related post:  People Should Practice Pure Land

Source Of Information:
《Pure Land of The Patriarchs》, by Zen master Han-Shan Te-Ch'ing, translated by Dharma Master Lok To, Sutra Translation Committee of The United States and Canada, New York - San Francisco - Toronto, published in March, 2001, distributed by Amitabha Buddhist Society Malaysia (92, Jalan Pahang, 53300 Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
*** The information provided above does not contain personal opinion of this blog.

Zen and Pure Land (Talk at the Lotus Society of Great Enlightenment)

This book is a translation of selected passages from the sermons and writings of Zen Master Han-shan Te-ch'ing, one of the three "dragon-elephants” of Ming Buddhism. These passages originally appeared in the Han-Shan Ta-Shih Meng-Yu Chi (Collection of Master Han-Shan's Dream Roamings).

After Buddha Sakyamuni attained Enlightenment, He spread the Dharma and converted sentient beings. The entire fourfold assembly(6) obtained the benefit of the Dharma. He taught people according to their capacities, using different expedient methods so that all could obtain happiness and wisdom. As when there are timely rains and all trees and grass receive moisture and thrive, so all sentient beings derive benefits and grow by themselves. There are different methods, but they all spring from the same source. Since sentient beings are all endowed with the same Buddha Nature, they can all be taught and transformed. Everyone should practice in accordance with his own capacities. But, sentient beings grow confused if they have no one to guide them. Without guidance, they drown in the ocean of suffering.

When Hui-Neng [the Sixth Patriarch of Zen] came to see the Fifth Patriarch, he was asked, "Where do you come from?" Hui-Neng replied, "I come from Ling-Nan (South China)." The Fifth Patriarch asked, "Do the southern barbarians also have the Buddha Nature? " Hui-Neng answered, "People distinguish between North and South, but the Buddha Nature has no North or South."

Since these words were uttered, as thunder to wake up all who hibernate, they have spread across the world. But not many people understand and very few are enlightened. It is more than a thousand years now since Zen came out of southern China and was spread across the land by the Sixth Patriarch, but many people ... still cannot understand it. Therefore, the Buddha Recitation Samadhi, singleminded concentration and visualization of Amitabha Buddha are also taught.
 
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To practice Pure Land, one must abhor the condition of suffering [in the Saha world] and seek to be
reborn in the Western Pure Land. One must practice Buddha Recitation every day, bow to Amitabha Buddha and recite the repentance sutras. Practitioners must be firm in their faith, reduce their evil karma day after day and make a vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. Anyone who can really practice in this manner, even though he may be living in this Saha world of Birth and Death, will have a meaningful goal for his practice.

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The word "Buddha" means Enlightened One. All sentient beings have the same Buddha Nature. Everyone can be enlightened. One who is confused about the Buddha Nature is a sentient being. One who is enlightened about the Buddha Nature is called Buddha. When one recites the Buddha's name, Buddha Amitabha is one's Self-Nature, the Pure Land is the pure land of one's own mind. Anyone who can singlemindedly recite the Buddha's name in thought after thought and concentrate deeper and deeper will always find Amitabha Buddha appearing in his own mind. It is not necessary to seek the Pure Land far away, one hundred thousand lands beyond.(7) Therefore, if the mind is pure, the land is pure. If the mind is defiled, the land is defiled. If an evil thought comes to mind, then many obstacles appear. It a good thought arises, peace is everywhere. Thus, heaven and hell are all in one's own mind.

All good men and women should think about their future and the great matter of Birth and Death. Time passes swiftly and once the human body is lost, it cannot be recovered even in ten thousand kalpas (eons). It is like the sun and moon passing across the sky as fast as the fingers of weavers at the loom. Time cannot wait for you. If you lose the human condition, you cannot have it back [for many eons].(8) When the final moment comes, it will be too late for regrets. They will do you no good. So you should all strive to avoid this unhappy state.

The sutras teach that ordinary people, sages and saints are all equal. There is no difference [in their intrinsic nature]. Only the defilement or purity of mind is different. For this reason, it is said that "the Mind, Buddhas and sentient beings are no different from one another." A Pure Mind is Buddha, a defiled mind is sentient being. Buddhas and sentient beings differ only in the birth or non-birth of [wholesome or deluded] thoughts.

The mind is inherently clean and pure, but it is obstructed by greed, hatred, stupidity, arrogance, the five desires and many kinds of delusions. Therefore, those with such minds are called sentient beings. If defilements are discarded and the mind becomes pure, that is Buddhahood. It is not necessary to depend on others.

However, all sentient beings bear heavy karma; since time immemorial, it has been difficult to purify their defilements. Most of them require practice, such as meditation, working on a hua-t'ou or Buddha Recitation, in order to do so. So you see, there are many expedient ways to practice, but all are medicines to treat the diseases of the mind. For example, a mirror, intrinsically bright, cannot reflect anything if it is covered with dust. To clean it, a remedy (cleaning agent) is required. Yet the remedy itself is also dust, though it can rid other things of dust. Once the mirror is bright, there is no further need for the remedy. This is like gold in its ore, covered with the dirt and dust of sand and stone. After it is smelted and pure gold appears, there is no need to smelt it again.

It is difficult to rid oneself of the defiled mind characteristic of sentient beings. However, it can be done through diligent practice. When this is accomplished, the bright and undefiled mind appears.
Therefore it is said that all sentient beings are inherently Buddhas. To call those who are full of defilements Buddhas is not wrong.

Practicing Zen and meditating on a hua-t'ou are important methods for attaining Enlightenment. Unfortunately, very few people nowadays practice diligently enough. This is because they have shallow roots and cannot concentrate on practice. Furthermore, without a good teacher to direct them, they are easily led astray.

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We should, therefore, practice both Buddha Recitation and Zen. This is a proper and safe Dharma. One who can practice Buddha Recitation and then observe where his Buddha comes from and where his Buddha goes will, over a period of time, come to understand what Buddhahood is. This will open his mind, allowing bright wisdom to flow forth from his own mind-ground. This is no different from meditating on a kung-an (koan) or hua-t'ou. But sincere practice and hard work are necessary.

If someone with false thoughts dismisses hard work, seeks leisure day in and day out and does not consider practice important, he will be confused until the Year of the Donkey. Anyone who thinks that laziness and false thoughts are enjoyable is not misleading himself in this life alone; even at the end of many kalpas he might still be in confusion.

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If you have the right conditions for Buddha Recitation, try to practice it. Though you may still be part of the defiled world in this time of defilement, once you practice Buddha Recitation, you can rid yourself of afflictions. As stated in the sutras: if you purify water by letting sand and mud settle to the bottom so that pure water appears, that is the first step toward overcoming "guest dust"(9) afflictions. When all sand and mud are removed and only pure water remains, that is the same as breaking away from all ignorance and defilement forever. “You can then practice Buddha Recitation silently by yourself without fear of the least mistake.

If you can really separate yourself from defilement or, as the sutras say, if the mind is pure and bright and you have arrived at the stage where you have no obstacles put in your way by "guest dust” afflictions, not only will Amitabha Buddha come to lead you to rebirth in the Pure Land, but all Buddhas throughout the ten directions will praise you.

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(6) Fourfold Assembly. Monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen.

(7) This passage refers to the noumenon (transcendental) aspect of Pure Land: "if the mind is pure, the land is pure. " See Appendix, section B. The phenomenal aspect of Pure Land is expressed in the following passage from the Amitabha Sutra:
The Buddha then said to Shariputra the Elder: "Westward from here and beyond ten billion Buddha-lands there is a world called Utmost Happiness. In that land there is a Buddha called Amida, who is right now preaching the Dharma." (Hozen Seki, tr., Buddha Tells of the Infinite: the "Amida-kyo,’ p. 13).
For further details, see Note 23 below.

(8) To illustrate the extreme difficulty of rebirth in the human realm, Sakyamuni Buddha compared it to the likelihood that a blind sea turtle, surfacing from the depths of the ocean only once every century, would encounter a tree trunk in which to nest.

(9) Afflictions may be termed "guest dusts." They are "guests" because they come and go, unlike our empty and still True Nature. They are "dusts" because they stick to and defile the True Mind, just like the dust which covers a bright mirror and prevents it from reflecting the objects before it.

related post:  The Important Dharma of Pure Land

Source Of Information:
《Pure Land of The Patriarchs》, by Zen master Han-Shan Te-Ch'ing, translated by Dharma Master Lok To, Sutra Translation Committee of The United States and Canada, New York - San Francisco - Toronto, published in March, 2001, distributed by Amitabha Buddhist Society Malaysia (92, Jalan Pahang, 53300 Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
*** The information provided above does not contain personal opinion of this blog.