I Have Some Questions!
January 28, 2009 Question: I have a few questions. Hope you can help me with them. I haven't heard a lot about your Pure Land Buddhism. Is it very popular in Asia? Is the Pure Land Heaven? It sounds kind of selfish to want to go there but I must have missed something to think that. Isn’t Buddhism a religion? Is chanting the same as praying? Thank you!
Response: After almost 3000 years there are many forms of Buddhism being practiced. Forms of Pure Land are found in China, Japan, Malaysia, Tibet, and Vietnam, and to a lesser degree in other countries as well.
How they are practiced depends on many factors. A primary one is the master (or teacher). Our teacher, Master Chin Kung, stresses that Buddhism is a teaching of understanding the reality of our lives and everything around us, and that Buddhism is not a religion.
In the Visualization Sutra one of the three Pure Land sutras, there is a short, but vitally important paragraph where the Buddha tells Queen Vaidehi of the Three Conditions and how they are the true causes of attaining Buddhahood for all Buddhas of the past, present, and future.
The First Condition is to be filial and provide for parents, be respectful to and serve teachers, be compassionate and do not kill, and cultivate the Ten Virtuous Deeds.
The Second Condition is to take the Three Refuges, abide by all precepts, and behave in a dignified and appropriate manner.
The Third Condition is to generate the Bodhi mind, believe deeply in the law of cause and effect, recite and uphold the Mahayana sutras, and encourage others to advance on the path to enlightenment
In the Amitabha Sutra, another of the three Pure Land sutras, the Buddha emphasized the importance of being "good men and good women." To qualify as such, a person must accomplish the above eleven practices.
We do not pray to Buddhas, we respect them. The Buddha himself asserted that he was not a god and explained that he was "awakened."
Our practice is to chant the name of Amitabha Buddha. Understanding that everything is created by our minds (not a higher being) we chant to form a connection with Amitabha Buddha, to become one with him and thus with all Buddhas. Understanding that every thought is a cause that will produce a result, our chanting is the cause that will result in our being reborn in the Pure Land. This is simply karma, cause and effect, nothing more. It is not praying, but rather diligent work on our part.
The Western Pure Land is not a heaven. Heaven is still within the cycle of rebirth. The Pure Land is not within the cycle of rebirth. We do not go to the Pure Land to enjoy the pleasures of living in a paradise. We go to learn how to help all beings end their suffering just as students go to a university to continue their studies.
The beauty of the pure land is the result of the purity of the minds of the beings who are there. Just as our world with all its unhappiness and conflict is the result of our impure minds. As soon as we are ready, we will return to this and other worlds to help all beings. This is a major difference between the Heaven and the Pure Land.
Amitabha Buddha will help us just as any good teacher will help an earnest student. He is not a god. But unless we reach out to him, he cannot help us. Our reaching is our chanting and our accomplishment of the eleven above practices.
These practices help us to be moral, compassionate, wise people. They require hard work, constant mindfulness, and dedicated effort.
I know many people regard Buddhism as a religion. We do not. We read and study the Pure Land sutras and listen to our teacher explain them to us. We work hard to be moral and caring people who do not harm any beings. We practice and vow to go to the Pure Land so we will be able to learn all the ways to help others end their suffering.
We pay our respect to the Buddha for teaching us so wisely and tirelessly. We do everything possible to resolve the conflicts within each of us so we may help bring peace to ourselves, and in so doing, to our troubled world.
Reader Comments (9)
Taking the refuges means we "receive" the refuges in our mind and heart. It does not mean we just go through a formal ceremony. The three refuges are symbolized by the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. When we take refuge in the Buddha, we take refuge in awakening. When we take refuge in the Dharma, we take refuge in proper views and understanding. When we take refuge in the Sangha, we take refuge in harmony and purity of mind. All Buddhas have taken refuge in awakening, proper views and understanding, and harmony and purity of mind. Awakening, proper views and understanding, harmony and purity of mind are how they became Buddhas.
It is not necessary to go through a formal refuges ceremony with a monastic. Those without access to a monastic can take the refuges themselves. But when we become a student of the Buddhas, which is what happens when we take the refuges, we are affirming that we want to learn from them. It's like becoming a brain surgeon. Yes, you could learn on your own but many people would die while you're trying to figure out what to do. Or you could enroll in medical school and learn from a neurosurgeon. Why struggle on your own, when the Buddhas are waiting to teach you? How can you learn from a teacher without becoming his student?
We ordinary beings do not know how many beings have attained supreme perfect enlightenment, nor do we know how they practiced. Frankly, only another Buddha would know that.
It feels like you're focused on this one lifetime and not considering all your uncountable past lifetime. Understandable when we can't remember them! So right now, we have no way of knowing how many times we have taken the refuges, chanted the sutras, or done any other Buddhist practice.
To become a Buddha, we follow the path, the "Way." We learn from those who have gone along the path ahead of us. This process takes three great kalpas. That billions of lifetimes!! It takes us so long because we keep falling back in our practice. This happens largely due to our bad habits, one of which is wanting to do things the way we wish to. All Buddhas would tell you it takes great discipline and a letting go of personal viewpoints to become a Buddha.
(PS. There's an eBook at http://www.abrc.org.au/eBooks/threerefuges.pdf that explains taking the three refuges, which you might find helpful.:-))
Are you just saying that for someone on the Mahayana path, this is what is advised and what has worked for others?
Regarding “people from other traditions who have become Buddhas,” other than the Buddha and Master Huineng, the sixth Patriarch of Zen, I have not heard of others becoming enlightened in our period of recorded history. So I am sorry, but not knowing who you are specifically referring to, I cannot comment.
Our lifetimes are very short and may well be mainly past. The future is uncertain and none of us knows how long we have left in this lifetime. I happily became a Buddhist—“a student of the Buddha”—because for me that was making a commitment to learn and practice in what remained of this lifetime. For me it made sense to want to learn from a Buddha, someone who I know has accomplished the goal I aspire to: to end my own suffering and to help others end theirs.
We each need to make our own decision on what path we will follow.
I was thinking of all the Self realized beings in India, such as Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ananda Mayi Ma, to name just 3 who lived in the past century. If you read the words of these and the accounts of their lives, it seems that they were established in the same kind of awareness as the Buddhist masters, but just expressed differently. But you don't consider any Buddhist masters to have been enlightened either, other than Master Hui Neng. What about Padmasambhava, Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu and others? What is it about Master Hui Neng that he is considered to be the only one who was enlightened?
A Buddha, having attained Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment always dwells in that perfectly enlightened state. Before reaching that state, someone may have a moment of enlightenment, but in the next moment they return to their normal unenlightened state. They cannot permanently sustain the enlightened state. A Buddha does.
Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu are recognized as bodhisattvas. A Tibetan master would be much better able to tell you about Padmasambhava. I have no way of knowing the levels of attainment of Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ananda Mayi Ma. Not having attained the level of awakening at which I can determine truth from delusion, I can only say what I know has been determined as truth by those who have reached the higher levels. I do not speculate on things for I know there will be serious consequences from my saying something wrong.
To learn about Master Huineng, I suggest the Platform Sutra. You might also read Buddhism: The Awakening of Compassion and Wisdom by Ven. Master Chin Kung (available for download at http://www.abrc.org.au/mckebooks.htm ) and The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism (available for download at http://www.abrc.org.au/generalcollection.htm ).
Amituofo...