When chanting “Amituofo”

and a wandering arises,

which remains in the front of your brain

and which recedes to the back?

Initially, any wandering thought will derail our chanting. With time, as our chanting becomes stronger, the interrupting thoughts will occur less often and go away more quickly. With enough patience and diligence, the wandering thoughts will cease.

Since few of us have reached that level, for now it will be helpful to determine if we’re at least making progress. When that thought arises, observe which recedes, “Amituofo” or that wandering thought? And how soon do we notice what has happened? A few seconds? Twenty minutes? Or even longer.

Good thoughts or bad, it seems they arise from nowhere. One minute “Amituofo” is at the front of our brain and the next that interrupting thought is front and center, and “Amituofo” is gone.

Perceive what has happened and needs to be let go of, then return to the safety—and joy—of “Amituofo.”

 

Sincerity is having no doubts, no intermingling, and no interruptions.

When chanting “Amituofo,” it is to not doubt what Sakyamuni Buddha told us 3000 years ago or what Amitabha Buddha vowed in his 48 vows. It is having no doubt that we have the same nature as a Buddha and that we too can awaken. It is having no doubt when we are assured that our chanting is the cause and being reborn in the Pure Land is the consequence.

No intermingling is not chanting “Amituofo” one time and a mantra the next.

No interruptions is not allowing other thoughts to arise, including the thought, “I am chanting.”

The sincere mind is the mind dedicated to the aspiration to help others. It dwells in peace and joy.

Precepts were not given

to restrict us and

force us to follow arbitrary rules and regulations.

Precepts are the standards for goodness.

In a world where freedom to do as we wish is enjoyed by some and sought by many, it can seem a step backward to be told that precepts and rules for behavior are still necessary. How can I be free if I have to follow a bunch of rules conceived by someone who lived 3000 years ago?

First, the Buddha did not formulate the precepts. He observed cause and effect. He saw that in killing, we would be killed. Stealing, we would be stolen from. Lying, we would be lied to. He encouraged us to both learn about and experience causality.

He also encouraged us to make informed, conscious decisions about how we would behave by using standards, like the precepts, for what was right. Not just right for ourselves. Right also for those we interact with.

The reality is that the precepts allow us to escape the snare of painful karmic consequences.

This truly is freedom.