August 31, 2013 
Opening the doors of my heart
wider,
wider still,
I step through and find
I am not alone and vulnerable.
My heart has not been left behind.
It has expanded to include all beings,
is one with all beings.
August 30, 2013 Question:
Do you have suggestions for people like me who are too 'scientific' in outlook to practice wholeheartedly, and is there a way to distinguish between faith and wishful thinking?
Response:
Science incorporates the principle of cause and effect, trying to discern the cause of a known result or a result from a known cause. Doing experiments and finding the cause and effect are consistently connected moves the concept more firmly into the realm of fact. For example, my letting go of an object and observing that it falls to the floor every single time leads me to conclude there’s cause and effect at work: release and falling.
Buddhism follows the same principle of experimentation. The Buddha never told us to blindly believe what he said. We learn his teachings and put them into practice. We then can discern the result he spoke of for ourselves.
I calm my mind, and I discern am less anxious.
I reduce my wants, and I realize that I am more content with what I have.
I think before I speak, and I observe that I say fewer things that hurt others and get me into trouble.
So by learning and doing, through experimentation, I prove for myself that he spoke the truth when he said such things as quiet the mind, let go of desire, and be aware of our thoughts before we act on them.
Through doing what the Buddha advised, our confidence, belief, or faith will grow as we experience the truth in the teachings for ourselves. With this, there will be no need for wishful thinking for we will begin to know the reality.
August 19, 2013 Question:
I understand the "theory" of Pureland Buddhism, and can logically appreciate it, but I have a very hard time believing in the literal descriptions of the Pureland in the sutras, and to a great extent, believing in a literal Amitabha (and other bodhisattvas).
Response:
As Venerable Master Chin Kung has explained, the Amitabha Sutra is a condensation of the Infinite Life Sutra, which is a condensation of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Thomas Cleary’s translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra is about 1600 pages. We can only imagine the difficulty of trying to condense 1600 pages into a dozen pages!
The Buddha was trying to describe for future ordinary, unawakened beings a wonderful and pure land. But he knew this land was beyond our ability to visualize even if he elaborately described it to us. It would have been like trying to describe a color to a person who was color blind. And so the Buddha used terms and imagery that we were familiar with, knowing that with the passage of time, wise masters would study, learn, and practice the sutra and its teachings. They would then explain what the Buddha was speaking of to those who were less accomplished.
They would explain that the golden ground symbolized purity, unlike the dirt in our world that can become muddy or rock hard. That the four precious jewels represent the four qualities of enlightenment: permanence, joy, true self, and purity, unlike the “jewels” in our world that often represent greed. That the ability to wish for clothing or food actually means that everything is as one desires so there is no anger that someone else has something and I don’t.
So to truly appreciate and believe the sutra, we need to study and learn it, and practice its teachings. Fortunately, we have Great Master Ouyi’s commentary titled Mind-Seal of the Buddhas, which has been translated by J. C. Cleary to study. The master explained in terms that people today can understand the symbolism in the sutra. A copy of the book is available here.
As for believing in a literal Amitabha, Sakyamuni Buddha, our historical Buddha, spoke of the Pure Land and/or Amitabha Buddha in over 200 sutras. Believing in the Buddha who lived in our world 3000 years ago and believing he only spoke the truth would, to me, logically lead to believing what he said. And he spoke of Amitabha Buddha and the Western Pure Land. If we believe the Buddha was enlightened and his wisdom was perfect, how could he have spoken so much about a Buddha and a land that does not exist?
July 26, 2013 I was not a witness to the event, but I remember tales of what happened the day my mother's pressure cooker erupted. I don't remember why, although she was a very kitchen-savvy woman who had used the cooker many times so given that this was many decades ago, I assume the pressure cooker malfunctioned.
Dramatically.
There was food on the ceiling, on the walls, and on the floor. And presumably on Mom. This is the reason why I have never bought nor stepped within erupting distance of a pressure cooker.
So why "Like Mother" you ask?
I just got another jar attachment for my Blendtec blender to make hummus, salad dressings, nut butters, etc. Things that required a different design from the usual jar. Unlike my mother, I didn't sit down and read the manual first. (To save myself from sounding completely silly, much of the time I normally do, but not this time.)
Unfortunately, I should have.
Fortunately, I was chanting. And I was standing within arm's length of the blender.
Apparently, (hindsight is wonderful!) I had filled the jar too much with my usual morning smoothie. I did have the presence of mind to not turn on the blender and leave the kitchen.
Being a powerful blender, the moving of the jar contents is very strong and forceful. So forceful in fact that the contents came shooting out the pour spout of the blender jar.
Where did the contents go you ask?
On the walls, on the water filter, and yes, a bit on the floor. I purposely keep it under the cabinets so I managed to miss the ceiling (and I just now checked) and me. (You have no idea how difficult it is to clean up tiny bits of fresh blueberries. They stick to everything like glue!)
The good part of all this (in addition to getting something to write about) is that since I was chanting, I did not get upset. At all. I calmly cleaned everything up, poured the remaining smoothie into the larger jar, added more blueberries, etc., and finished making my smoothie.
Wow!
Before I started practicing, this would most definitely NOT have been my reaction.
Chanting—silently or aloud, at the front of one's mind or the back—has wonderful consequences. Ultimately, it will enable us to be reborn in the Wester Pure Land. But until that longed-for rebirth happens, it will help us face life's daily challenges more calmly and more happily.
And more like our mother would have wished.
July 18, 2013 When sad thoughts arise . . . Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo, . . .
When fearful thoughts arise . . . Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo, . . .
When self-defeating thoughts arise . . . Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo, . . .
When unkind thoughts arise . . . Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo, . . .
When angry thoughts arise . . . Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo, . . .
Replace the negative with the perfectly positive. The thought of "Amituofo." The more we do so, the more natural it becomes. Just as our brain knows to breathe, to digest food, to pump blood, it will gradually know to "Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo."
The learning can be extraordinarily profound and deep.
The practice can be utterly simple. And incredibly fulfilling.
Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo, . . .