Up the Mountain

Attaining the final goal in Buddhism—Buddhahood—takes a very long time. I'm not talking years here, I'm talking about lifetimes, more lifetimes than you and I can count. Together. For people used to a quick fix and quarterly results, this can easily seem overwhelming. But maybe the following will help a bit.

Imagine the perfect, complete enlightenment of Buddhahood as the top of a mountain that is so far above you that you cannot even see it. But people have come down the mountain and assured you that the mountain does have a top and, yes, you will get there if you keep climbing.

So you climb a few steps, then slip on some pebbles and fall back to even lower than you were before you slipped. Then you climb a few more steps and find a resting place. Starting up again, you come to an outcropping of rock and for the life of you; you cannot figure how to get around it. No matter what you try, it doesn't work. And as you get frustrated, you start slipping back on those darn pebbles again and even on a few rocks. It feels very tempting to just give up and either build a hut where you are to stay in or to just go back down the mountain. After all life was much easier down there.

But if you stop staring at the mountain and glance around, you will see that you are a little higher than you originally were. The air is a little less polluted, you can see farther, and the sky is a little bluer. You can breathe more easily.

You can also look down the mountain and see other climbers below struggling to just reach the point you're at. By not thinking solely of your own climb, you can call down to them with some encouraging words. And as you do this, you realize that there are others above you on the mountain who are doing the same for you: calling down words of encouragement and helpful hints for the climb.

You then realize, you're not the only one on the mountain. Helping others, you feel good. Being helped, you feel more assured about what lies ahead of you.

By stopping to look around instead of being focused on your own climb and being oblivious to everything else, you will feel better about the progress you have made so far. You still can't see the top and it's clear you have a very long way to go, but things have gotten better than they were. You have indeed made progress.

Taking the time to realize this and breathing deeply, you smile. Feeling renewed, you turn back to the mountain and resume your climb, with more energy and confidence than you had before.

Why Crows Only Say “Caw! Caw!”

 Before an elder, do not speak loudly.

But if your voice is too low and hard to hear,

you are being improper.

A very long time ago, all birds were silent. They didn’t know why this was so, just that it had always been that way. They were very sad about this because all the other animals could talk. Only the birds were mute.

Then one day, an amazing bird appeared. He looked like two birds joined together! But that was not what really amazed the other birds. As they all clustered around to look on in awe, he began to talk! And what he said astounded them even more.

He told them he had come at the order of the Sound Giver. It was the Sound Giver’s job to decide what would be the best sound for each animal. Once decided this sound would belong to that animal and no other. Much to the distress of the Sound Giver, she just learned she had never given the birds their sounds! She was coming now to correct her terrible mistake.

With that the Sound Giver came into the clearing. She was a little girl! She apologized to all the birds for her terrible oversight. She told them she would do something she had never done before to make up for their being silent so long. If they did not like the sound she gave them, they were allowed to exchange it.

As the Sound Giver looked around, she saw a little finch hopping up and down with excitement. The Sound Giver smiled and the finch started chirping! All the birds were thrilled and quickly lined up to receive their very own sounds.

The Sound Giver began to carefully work her way through the line. Some birds liked the sound she gave them while others asked for another. She gave many birds a few sounds, others she taught to sing. She patiently worked with each one until it was happy.

Then it was time for the crow. He marched up to the Sound Giver and glared at her. The Sound Giver gave him a single “Caw” to see how it sounded. The crow repeated it loudly. Then more loudly. Then even more loudly! The Sound Giver winced, put her hands over her ears, and asked the crow to please speak more softly. But the noisy bird crowed even louder and demanded he be given more sounds. He was so loud that the Sound Giver shook her head and said “No.”

The crow said “Caw, caw!” as if demanding “Why not?”

The Sound Giver calmly looked the crow in the eye. “You are loud and rude. Because of this I will only give you one sound. Other birds will be welcome and their calls will delight all those who hear them. But you will not be welcome. People will cringe at your call and shoo you away because you are so loud.”

And this is why even today, the only sound a crow can make is “Caw! Caw!”

The Pure Mind, the Still Mind

Trying to grasp the concept of a pure mind is difficult because the phrase means different things to different people. Many faith and ethical traditions speak of purity and purifying one's mind. And most likely, they define it differently.

We define the pure mind as the mind that has no wandering and discriminatory thoughts, or attachments. It is the mind that has no thoughts of like or dislike, favorable or unfavorable. It has no greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, doubt, or wrong views. It is the calm mind that is no longer affected by the environment.

In other words, it is the still mind, the mind unmoved by what is going on around us. In our practice, we can attain it by chanting "Amituofo" or "Namo Amituofo" or "Amitabha Buddha" or the Amitabha Sutra. Since our chanting needs to be focused and without a rising thought, the short "Amituofo" will be easier to stay focused on than the much longer Amitabha Sutra.

If we do get distracted during our chanting, does that eliminate all the benefits? No, because the seeds will have been planted in our Alaya Consciousness. But they will help us in the long run, not in the short run. Concentrating and chanting without being distracted will bring us many more benefits and we can receive them much sooner if we are reborn in the Pure Land at the end of this life.

In daily life, we can work toward attaining a still mind by only thinking about what we need to, but not being distracted by all the images and sounds, all the ideas and information, all the stuff that vies for our attention every moment of the day.

So the pure mind is nothing mysterious or strange, it is simply the mind that is calm and serene.

Cultivating Wisdom and Good Fortune While in the Pure Land

Once in the Western Pure Land, Amitabha Buddha truly helps the practitioners. Although a practitioner still has afflictions and residual habits, with Amitabha Buddha’s help, he or she has the ability to visit all the Buddhas in all the ten directions. (North, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, above and below. These ten stand for all directions.)

The sutra says that the practitioner can visit one hundred thousand kotis, or one hundred billion, Buddhas in the ten directions. There is a reason for using this number. The reason is that the Western Pure Land is one hundred thousand kotis of Buddha-lands away from our Saha world. This means that after you attain rebirth there, you can easily come back to the Saha world. You can come back to the Saha world every day. In fact, you can come back whenever you like due to this ability.

When you visit a Buddha, you will listen to the Buddha’s Dharma talk, and your wisdom will arise. Of course, you will also make offerings to that Buddha. Therefore, when you visit a Buddha, you cultivate both wisdom and good fortune. And you do so every day. This is why accomplishment in the Pure Land is much quicker than with other methods.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

Mr. Joseph's Special Chest

When siblings value family ties

more than possessions,

there will be no resentment among them.

When siblings are careful with their words

and hold back hurtful comments,

feelings of anger naturally dissolve

If we are not careful, we may find ourselves saying things that hurt our brothers and sisters. Or we may find ourselves arguing over family possessions. When these happen, we may fight and even stop speaking to each other.

This is what happened to Mr. Joseph’s family. But then one day he found a way to change everything ...

Although Mr. Joseph had three sons, he was very lonely because they rarely came to visit him. And when they did visit, it was always by themselves because they didn’t get along.

Every visit was the same. They would spend all the time talking about themselves and telling him how busy they were. When they had run out of things to tell him, they would then ask how he was. But as soon as he began to tell them, they would make an excuse to leave. They never spent time listening to him, never asked if there was anything they could do for him or even if he was okay.

Mr. Joseph was getting older so he had plenty of time to consider his situation. He rarely saw his sons and he wanted to change that. He also wished they would get along better. He began to plan a way to make all this happen.

First, he bought a chest with two locks. He placed the chest in the room where he spent most of his time. Then he brought home several rocks from the nearby forest. He carefully wrapped the rocks in cloth so they wouldn’t make any noise and put them in the chest. He also put the key to the locks on a string and began to wear it around his neck.

Next, he got a lot of pennies, which he placed in several bags. These he then put in the chest. He made sure the bags had plenty of room for the coins to clink against each other should the chest be moved.

For a final touch, he bought an expensive chair. The chair was an extravagance for him, but necessary for his plan.

And then he patiently waited.

His youngest son was the first to visit. He immediately noticed the locked chest, the key on the string around his father’s neck, and the new chair his father was sitting on. When he asked about them, his father said he had received a generous offer for a piece of land and so sold it for a lot of money. In fact, he had received so much money that he splurged on the chair as a comfort for his old age. The rest of the money was in the chest where he could keep an eye on it. The key opened the locks so he wore it to for safekeeping.

When Mr. Joseph’s son thought his father wasn’t looking, he nudged the chest with his foot. It didn’t move, but he heard the clinking of coins. Then he eyed the new chair and thought that if his thrifty father had spent money on an expensive chair, he most have indeed received a lot for the land.

He decided he would come to visit his father more often.

Then the middle son came by and he also noticed the chest, the key, and the chair. Asking about them, he received the same explanation his brother had. He also tested the chest with the same results and eyed the new chair. Like his brother, he decided he would visit his father more often.

After some time, the oldest son also came for a visit. Like his two brothers, he asked about the new possessions and learned of his father’s good fortune. After nudging the chest and checking out the chair, he too decided to visit more often.

As the three each began to call on their father more often, they began to spend more time talking with him and listening to what he had to say. They even helped out doing things around the house. They also found out what food he liked and brought it for him when they visited.

This continued for some time until one night, Mr. Joseph passed away peacefully in his sleep. His sons were told of their father’s passing and they all came to the house that very day.

They found the key among his clothes and went to the chest. With barely contained excitement, they unlocked it and lifted the lid. The oldest brother took out the bags and dumped their contents on the table. The three stared at the pile of pennies. Then they reached into the chest to take out the cloths and their heavy contents. When placed on the table, the cloths fell away to reveal the rocks.

In shock, the three looked at each other. They became very angry. Then the eldest brother shook his head and said that he only started to visit more because of the chest. The other two brothers admitted the same. Realizing what their father had done, the eldest brother said that he must have been really lonely.

The three brothers began to feel ashamed for all those years they had neglected their father. They had only cared for him when they thought he had a lot of money. And to make matters worse, each had visited him secretly in hopes that they would get more of the money! So they had been jealous brothers as well as bad sons. This was not the way their father had brought them up.

With a heavy heart, the youngest brother bent over the chest to close it but saw something had been carved in the bottom of it. He moved closer and read the inscription aloud:

A family’s greatest wealth

is its member’s love for one another.