Waiting to be Rescued

Question: If many beings have been reborn in the Pure Land and they have vowed to help us, where are they? Why aren't they helping?

Response: Beings are here helping us, they just don't walk up and say "I'm from the Pure Land, and I'm here to help you." That may sound silly, but seriously, how would people react if someone said they had been born in the Pure Land and had just returned to help others do the same thing? We wouldn't believe them. We'd be asking for proof.

The reality is that we ourselves have to do the hard work to be helped. There's no magic wand. The help we receive isn't obvious and it won't knock us off our feet with its impact. But beings are here teaching us and they are showing us how to act correctly and practice. The problem is, we're not paying attention. We're too pre-occupied in all the daily things we consider so important. If Amitabha Buddha came to us and said "I'm from the Pure Land and I'm here to take you there this moment" how many of us would say "I'm ready!" 
 
Your question reminds me of the story where a man drowned and went to heaven. He asked God why God hadn't saved him from drowning. God asked if the man remembered the farmer who came by in a boat and offered to rescue the man. But the man had said, no thanks he was waiting to be rescued by God. The drowned man said yes, he remembered the farmer and the boat. God looked at him and said "That was me. But you refused my help because you were waiting for 'God.'"
 
This may be a humorous story, but the principle is serious. We're so wrapped up in our pre-conceived expectations of how awakened beings will help us, that we don't recognize true help when it is offered. True help comes from the cook who prepares the meals at the retreat, so we can stay in the cultivation hall and chant. It comes from the master who spends hours trying to find the right words to help his students understand and thus dedicate themselves to their practice. It comes from the man who works patiently and quietly helping to build the center.

Our help is here, we just need to open our hearts and minds to see it. And learn from it.

Non-attachment not Detachment

Question: I was talking to a friend and she told me "she tried" Buddhism but the following was her reason for not pursuing it further: "I don't think that it is a good thing to detach from the body and all emotions.  I believe that passion and emotions are part of the best part of being human.  So... pure detachment leaves me feeling un-human."

Response: I imagine "pure detachment" would leave any reasonable person feeling un-human. But Buddhism does not teach pure detachment.

In Buddhism, the opposite of attachment is not detachment but rather non-attachment. Detachment is unresponsive and removed from emotions. Non-attachment allows us to feel the emotions but not become trapped by them.  When we are non-attached, we still care but we no longer discriminate, feeling love for this person and aversion for another. When we practice non-attachment, we are letting go of worries and expectations. We are fully engaged in what we do, but we realize the act of doing is all we control. As Master Kuang-ch'in said, "Non-attachment does not mean indifference or carelessness, but rather you should do your best and not worry about the results."

Neither do we "detach from the body." We wisely realize it is not permanent and that it is not our true self. It is a temporary dwelling for this lifetime. But we still need to take care of it and treat it with respect as we try to find the balance between hedonism and asceticism. 

Those I know who excel at non-attachment are some of the most engaged, hard-working, and cheerful people I know. Practicing as the Buddha taught, they are a joy to be around. Just thinking of them makes me smile.

In a Flash

Having a change of heart towards another can require much patience and effort. Or it can happen in a flash of empathetic understanding.

Picture yourself walking down the street. You're running late as usual so decided to carry your handbag, laptop case, the new reference books you need to use today, and a large cup of coffee rather then make a second trip from the car. Suddenly, you are pushed from behind. Your bag, laptop, and books go flying, and you spill the coffee down the front of your best suit.

Furious, you turn around to demand why on earth the person did this when you find yourself looking at an elderly lady whose eyes are welling up with tears. She's muttering to herself a mantra she may often say "So stupid." She looks terribly embarrassed and seems so frail.

And in a flash, you have a change of heart. Your anger dissolves, and your only thought is to comfort her and tell her it's alright.

If we can similarly feel the suffering of those who upset us, our anger towards them can likewise dissolve.

Even After Death

Question: Buddhism arrived after my father died three years later. Do I not dedicate any merits to him? (because the 49 days are over?) Or not continue to pray he go to the Pureland on his own, when I pray and finish my practice?

Response: This is a very good question that also came up at this weekend's retreat in Nanango, Australia. So rather than post this response as a comment, I'll post it here.

In our every lifetime, we have had parents and other people and beings whom we loved and vowed to help. We have also had many beings we have harmed, either intentionally or because we were not being mindful. So we first dedicate or merits to all beings.

After this universal dedication, you can specifically mention your father's name and say your wish that he "be reborn as quickly as possible into the Western Pure Land to end suffering and attain happiness."

Encouraging people to seek rebirth during the forty-nine days is so important because there is great confusion in the intermediate state between lifetimes. We need to try to connect with beings in this state as they are who torn between the last lifetime and the future lifetime. If we can connect, they could catch our encouraging thought to move on to the Pure Land, heaven, etc.

But even after the being has moved on to the next lifetime, he or she will still benefit from our practice. Personally, after my nightly dedication of merits, I voice the wish that my parents, both deceased, will "be reborn as quickly as possible into the Western Pure Land to end suffering and attain happiness."

This practice accords with causality. The cause: our parents gave us this life. The result: we are the filial children of our parents, honoring and loving them even after they are no longer with us.

Instructions for Cultivating the Pure Land Dharma Gateway

By the Great Ming Dynasty
Dhyana Master Shramana Hanshan Deqing
From "Record of Dream Wanderings"

The dhyana meditator Hai-yang came from afar to have an audience at Gwang-shan. He sought the transmittal of the dharma of the precepts. It was directed that he be given the [Dharma] name of “Profoundly Foolish.” Holding up the stick of incense and requesting assistance, he declared, “I, disciple so-and-so, have made a vow to seek rebirth in the Pure Land of the West and to gather a number of Dharma companions together in the same place that we might exclusively practice pure karma. I pray that [the Master] will be compassionate and proffer instruction in the essentials of Dharma.”

On account of this, the Old Master instructed him, saying, “In the Buddha’s explanation of dharmas to be cultivated for the purpose of going forth from [the sphere of] birth and death, there are many types of skilful means. It is only [the method of] mindfulness-of-the-buddha with the intention of achieving rebirth in the Pure Land that is the most rapid and essential. The perfect and marvelous Dharma gateways of such [teachings as] The Floral Adornment Sutra and The Lotus Sutra as well as the marvelous conduct of Samantabhadra all ultimately point in their import towards the Pure Land. Such great patriarchs as Ashvagosha and Nagarjuna as well as those from this region such as Yung-ming and Jung-feng all engaged in extremely strong promotion of the single gateway of the Pure Land.

This Dharma gateway was spoken spontaneously by the Buddha without his first being asked. It comprehensively takes on all three grades of faculties and equally takes in all four groups [of disciples]. It is not the case that it is a provisional technique set forth for those of inferior faculties. In a sutra, it states, “If one [would] purify the buddha land, one [must] engage in constant purification of one’s own mind.” As the primary priority one must first establish purity in the faculty of the precepts. This is because the ten evil karmic deeds consisting of the three physical, the four verbal and the three mental [karmic actions] constitute the causes for suffering in the three [miserable] destinies. Now, one possesses the essential [prerequisite] of upholding the precepts. If one first takes as a necessity the purification of the three karmic vehicles [of body, mouth and mind], then the mind will naturally become pure on its own.

If the body does not engage in killing, does not engage in stealing and does not engage in sexual misconduct, then the karma of the body becomes pure. If one does not lie, does not engage in frivolous speech, duplicitous speech, or in harsh speech, then the karma of the mouth becomes pure. If the mind does not engage in greed, hatred or stupidity then the karma of the intellectual mind becomes pure.

When in this manner the ten evil actions have become eternally cut off and the three karmic vehicles have become as pure as ice this brings about the essential [prerequisite] of the purified mind. Within this pure mind one develops an aversion for the suffering of the Saha world, brings forth the vow to go forth to rebirth, and peacefully nourishes one’s establishment of the correct practice of mindfulness-of-the-buddha. Having done this, then the absolute essential requirement in mindfulness-of-the-buddha becomes the urgency of one’s mind in relation to birth-and-death.

One first cuts off external conditions. One exclusively brings up the one thought. One takes the one phrase, “Amitabha” as the very root of one’s life. It is not forgotten for even a single moment. It is not cut off for even the space of a single thought. During both the day and night, whether walking, standing, sitting or lying down, whether picking up a spoon or raising the chopsticks, whether twisting or turning around, whether bending down or raising up, whether moving or still, and whether at leisure or busy, — in every single moment one refrains from any stupidity or mental darkness. One does not allow the intrusion of any other conditions.

If one uses the mind in this manner then after a time it becomes so pure and completely developed that one does not forget [one’s mindfulness] even in one’s dreams. Wakefulness and sleep become of a single suchness. When this becomes the case then one’s skill becomes subtle and integrated and then becomes fused into a single, [continuous] entity. It is at this time that one gains realization of the power [of this practice].

If one’s mindfulness reaches the state where one is single-minded and [one’s thoughts are] not scattered, then when one approaches the end of one’s life, the realm of the Pure Land will manifest before one. Then, one will naturally not be detained by birth and death. This being the case, one will then achieve as a response [the manifestation of] Amitabha who will emit light and lead one forth. This demonstrates the efficacy [of this practice’s ability] to definitely bring about [the desired] rebirth. Thus this single-minded exclusive mindfulness assuredly is a correct mode of practice.

...If one applies one’s mind in this manner and if one meticulously upholds the practice of the precepts, then the six faculties become pure. If one eternally cuts off evil karma and afflictions, then the mind ground becomes pure. If one’s contemplative mindfulness becomes continuous, then the marvelous practice is easily perfected. As for the true cause of the Pure Land, there is nothing which lies outside of this.

If one’s mindfulness of the buddha consists only in verbal utterances and yet one seeks thereby to gain rebirth in the Pure Land, if one fails to uphold the pure precepts, if one fails to cut off the afflictions, and if the mind ground is defiled, the Buddha declared of such a person that he will be eternally unable to succeed in this.

Therefore, the practitioner must first take the upholding of the precepts as the foundation while employing the bringing forth of vows as auxiliary causes. Mindfulness of the buddha...constitute[s] a correct mode of practice. If one carries out one’s cultivation in this manner and yet does not succeed in going forth to rebirth [in the Pure Land], then the Buddha would thereby fall into [the offense of] false speech.

~ English Beta Translation ©1990 by Bhikshu Dharmamitra