You're Very Welcome

I'm currently at the homestead at the Amitabha Buddhist Retreat Centre in Nanango. About a week ago, Celine and Charles went out for an appointment and I opted to stay here and work on the practice booklet for the centre.

Two brothers who have been helping at the centre came by to do some work. While they were here, as requested, they placed a large, heavy box in the carport where it would be safe from any rain. After they did so, I said thank you. In return I received a smile and "You're very welcome."

Wow.

Not a mumbled "welcome" or even a "you're welcome." But a sincerely said "You're very welcome." And a smile.

If anyone thinks a smile and sincere expressions of appreciation don't matter very much, they need to meet Woody and Clay.

Failing that, please take it from me. This event happened a week ago and I still smile as I think back on the sincerity and naturalness of that simple reply. Sincerity and simple courtesy can brighten a person's whole day. And that's the giving of fearlessness.

Taking a Ship to the Other Shore

Our true nature is the same as that of Buddhas. But simply because we became deluded and violated this nature, we have been trapped in the endless cycle of reincarnation. The Buddhas took pity on us and taught us the Dharma according to sentient beings’ conditions so that we might all return to our true nature.  

There are many methods to practice; the two most important [for us] are Zen and the Pure Land. They offer us the easiest ways to transcend endless reincarnation. For the Zen method, one relies solely on one’s own effort. For the Pure Land method, one relies on both one’s own effort and Amitabha Buddha’s help. Comparing the two, the Pure Land method suits our characters the best.  

Just like a person who wishes to cross a sea must expediently and comfortably take a ship to the other side, sentient beings in the Dharma-ending stage will find the Pure Land method is the only reliable method. Other methods do not suit our characters and are difficult to succeed in.

One makes up one’s great Bodhi mind, establishes one’s sincere faith and vow, practices being mindful of Amitabha Buddha, and upholds it throughout one’s lifetime. When one practices this method this deeply, all attachments in one’s mind will drop. The exact and profound state of the Zen practice thus completely surfaces, as well.

At the end of one’s present life, one will be escorted by Amitabha Buddha to be reborn in the Pure Land in a high grade and with the attainment of no-birth and no-death. There is a key secret I want to advise sincerely, that is, to practice with one’s utmost sincerity and respect is immensely wondrous, tremendously wondrous.

~ Great Master Yin Guang

What Would You Think if . . .

When I first started practicing Pure Land, I was sitting in the dining hall one Sunday at the Dallas Buddhist Association with a group of other people. A senior practitioner looked at us and asked a very simple question:

If Amitabha Buddha appeared before you and said he had come to escort you to the Pure Land right now, what would your first thought be?

We all thought.

And that was the problem.

Because in our thinking, we were hesitating. Clearly, we weren't ready. Our first thought should have been an instant, "Yes!" No other thought should have arisen other than the thought to go immediately.

What if it isn't the right time?

But it is. That is why Amitabha Buddha comes for us. He knows the time is right.

So I ask Pure Land practitioners reading this, "If Amitabha Buddha appeared before you and said he had come to escort you to the Pure Land right now, what would your first thought be?"

Life and The Living of it

It's not about me.

It's about others.

Thoughts on Purity of Mind

• What is the difference between ordinary people and Bodhisattvas?  Bodhisattvas correct their faults every day until they become Buddhas.  Ordinary people do not yet realize their faults.

• Deep concentration is not being attached to external forms.  It is to remain in stillness and serenity.

• We all want to accumulate merits and virtues. Giving is to cultivate them and patience is to keep them. If we are not patient but give rise to resentment and anger we will constantly be burning up our merits and virtues.

• Our mind needs to remain in serenity.  Our body needs to continue in movement.

• To go along with our true nature, we need to give up trying to control and dominate others.  Then our purity of mind will increase and our afflictions will decrease.

• To be pure and tranquil is not to be separated from all phenomena, it is to not be attached to all phenomena.

• Purity and calmness are the greatest enjoyment of the mind pure.  Where do we start?  First, let go of selfishness, let go of thoughts of controlling others.  All sentient beings have thoughts on controlling others, our environment and infinite objects.  These wandering and discriminating thoughts and attachments block our purity of mind.

• Why is it called the Pure Land?  Because it reflects the qualities of all who live there; kindness, gentleness and purity.

 ~ Based on the teachings of Venerable Master Chin Kung