path to peace

path to peace from Bee Ho.

Do We Come Back From the Pure Land to Help Others?

Question: When we born in Pure Land, do we come back to to the world to help others?

Response: The first of the Four Great Vows is "Sentient beings are innumerable, I vow to help them all." We go to the Pure Land not just to end our own suffering, but to help all beings end theirs.

This vow becomes the underlying inspiration for our cultivation, practice, and learning.

In the Pure Land, we learn all the different methods to be able to skillfully and wisely help others. We are thus able to come back to this world, and to others, to help those we have affinities with. We do so through the strength of our vows, not the pull of our karma. Our true being remains in the Pure Land when we come back so we are never separated from the Pure Land and run no risk of again being lost in samsara.

This way we always continue to progress towards Buddhahood and help others progress as well.

The Doors of My Heart

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.

Too Scientific to Practice Wholeheartedly?

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.

I Understand and Appreciate . . . But . . .

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?