First to Last: Chanting "Amituofo"

In the Avatamsaka Sutra , we read about Sudhana, the young seeker of truth in the sutra. Under Manjusri Bodhisattva’s guidance, Sudhana eliminated a part of ignorance and attained a part of Dharma Body, thus gaining fundamental wisdom. The Zen school calls this state complete enlightenment. The sutra-study schools call it perfect understanding. At this time, Manjusri allowed Sudhana to travel around to visit other teachers. The purpose was for Sudhana to attain acquired wisdom. What followed is the famous “Sudhana’s visit to fifty-three wise teachers.”

The method used to cultivate fundamental wisdom is completely different from that used to cultivate acquired wisdom. To cultivate fundamental wisdom, the practitioner must delve deeply into one method. The practitioner has to be immersed in that method for a long period of time. His mind must be focused. Through deep meditative concentration, he lets go of wandering thoughts, discriminations, and attachments, and uncovers his true nature.

After he has uncovered true nature, the teacher will permit him to come into contact with anyone and get involved in anything. Instead of delving deeply into one method, the practitioner can now learn extensively from many teachers. This will help us understand the Four Great Vows of Bodhisattvas.

Sentient beings are innumerable,
I vow to help them all.

Afflictions are inexhaustible,
I vow to end them all.

Ways to practice are boundless,
I vow to master them all.

Enlightenment is unsurpassable,
I vow to attain it.

The second vow, “Afflictions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them all” is to cultivate fundamental wisdom. The third vow, “Methods to practice are boundless; I vow to master them all” is to cultivate acquired wisdom. Having attained fundamental wisdom, one does not study with just one teacher. Everyone is one’s teacher. Everything can be learned, so we will know everything.

The first teacher that Sudhana visited was Cloud of Virtues Bodhisattva. What was the method this teacher practiced? The method of being mindful of the Buddha!

Sakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment and Buddhahood at the age of thirty. After he had attained Buddhahood, he started to propagate the Dharma and benefit all beings. He did so for forty-nine years until he entered nirvana at eighty.

During the forty-nine years, Sakyamuni did not have a day off. Why? Because what he taught—ending the cycle of rebirth and transcending the Three Realms—was very important. So he could not take any day off. Had he done so, his students’ learning would have been interrupted, and they would have regressed. Learning is like going upstream in a boat; if you do not move forward, you go backward. It is the same in cultivation; if one does not make progress, one immediately regresses.

To ensure that one does not regress, one has to keep making progress. One should overcome one’s afflictions and residual habits. How does one do so? By being eager to learn. When one has a strong will to learn, one will not regress, and it will be easy for one to learn the teachings.

Cloud of Virtues Bodhisattva diligently chanted the name of Amitabha Buddha, and vowed to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. He made a strong first impression on Sudhana. After this first visit, Sudhana visited other wise teachers, and every one of them practiced different methods.

It was the fifty-third teacher, Samantabhadra, who taught Sudhana the Ten Great Vows and urged him to vow to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. The first teacher taught the method of being mindful of Amitabha Buddha, and the last teacher vowed to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. So from the beginning of the Avatamsaka Sutra to the end, Sudhana practiced the method of being mindful of Amitabha Buddha and vowed to be reborn in the Western Pure Land.

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

When is Chanting Effective?

Question: Must people know who Amitabha is for the recitation to be effective, or does it have power regardless?

Response: To attain rebirth in the Pure Land, we need to have faith, vows, and practice. Basically, faith means that we believe what the Buddha taught us, vows means that we make the vow to be reborn in the Pure Land, and practice means we live a moral life and chant “Amituofo.”

Sakyamuni Buddha told us that at the end of the Dharma-ending age, the age we are now in, as his teachings are gradually lost to us; the last sutra to remain will be the Larger Amitabha Sutra, also called the Infinite Life Sutra. This sutra “will remain for another hundred years to rescue sentient beings and lead them to the Western Pure Land.” After that, only the name of Amitabha Buddha will remain for a final one hundred years.

From this, we can see that just chanting “Amituofo” benefits us. How much depends on our good roots, good fortune, and causal conditions. But, at the very least, chanting “Amituofo” will plant more seeds in our Alaya (most subtle) consciousness. So while we do not know when we will benefit from our chanting, we can be assured that at some time we will.

For our sake—and the sake of all those we have vowed to help—the sooner we attain the ultimate benefit and achieve rebirth in the Pure Land, the better.

Do not Waste the Opportunity

We shall follow the rules set by the Pure Land patriarchs:
be a vegetarian;
be mindful of Buddha;
refrain from committing evil and cultivate good deeds;
know the law of cause and effect; and
cultivate good fortune and nurture virtues
so we can eradicate our karmic obstacles in this life and
attain rebirth in the Pure Land at the end of this life.

This way, we will not waste this lifetime and
this opportunity of being students of the Buddha.

~ Patriarch Yin Guang ~ 

Above all Worry and Care

A laywoman once approached a well-known Elder Master and asked: “I have recited the Buddha’s name for some time now, but have not seen any sign of progress. Can you explain to me why this is so?"

The abbot said, "Reciting the Buddha’s name is not difficult; the difficulty lies in (1) perseverance. Perhaps you have not recited regularly and in a persevering manner.”

The laywoman replied, “You are entirely right. I am usually interrupted in my recitation and have not been persevering, because of family obligations. From now on, I will put aside all distractions and vow to keep reciting exactly as taught.”

Some time later, she returned and asked, “Since receiving your instructions last time, I have put aside all external distractions and recited the Buddha’s name regularly, every day. Why is it that I still do not see any results?”

The abbot replied, “Reciting the Buddha’s name is not difficult; the difficulty lies in perseverance. Persevering is not difficult; the difficulty lies in (2) being single-minded. Although, on the surface, you may have put all distractions aside, in your mind you still worry about possessions and property and are still attached to children and family. You have neither discarded worry nor eliminated the root of love-attachment. How can you achieve one-pointedness of mind and see Amitabha Buddha?”

Hearing this, the woman sighed aloud “That is so true, Master! Although I have seemingly abandoned all distractions, my mind is still preoccupied with them. From now on, I vow to disregard everything and recite the Buddha’s name singlemindedly.”

Thereupon she went home and, from that time on, each time her children or anyone else sought her advice or confided in her, she would invariably reply, “I want peace of mind, and do not wish to be bothered by anything.” For this reason, everyone referred to her as “the woman who is above all worry and care.”

A few years later, she went to bow to the abbot at his temple, saying, “Thanks to your advice and teaching, I have now achieved one-pointedness of mind and have seen Amitabha Buddha. I have come to pay my respects and take leave of you, Abbot, because I will soon be reborn in the Pure Land.”

The laywoman in our story achieved liberation because she was enlightened to two principles: perseverance and single-mindedness. Thus, to be successful, the Pure Land practitioner should consider everything, from personal possessions and property to family and friends, to be illusory and phantom-like, coming together temporarily and then disintegrating.

If we care about family and friends, we should ensure our own rebirth and liberation and then rescue them. This is true affection! Therefore, to recite the Buddha’s name effectively, we should not only ignore one hundred distractions, we should discard all distractions, be they one thousand or tens of thousands!

~ Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism

An Image of Amitabha for Someone Who is Dying

 

Question: When someone is dying, is it important to show the person an image of Amitabha Buddha? Where can I get one?

Response: If the person was a Pure Land Buddhist, it is extremely important to have a picture or statue of Amitabha Buddha for them to see and focus on. Normally, the image never goes at the foot of the bed, but when a person is dying it needs to be placed or hung so the practitioner can easily see it. So at the foot of the bed is permissible at this time.

If the person does not have any religious beliefs, but in their final days they learn of the Pure Land teachings and wish to be reborn there, an image can be obtained from a Pure Land practice center. If there is no center close by, an image can be obtained from the Amitabha Buddhist Society of USA or the Amitabha Buddhist Library in Chicago. Also, you might find a society closer to you by checking on the list at Amitbaha Pureland.

But we need to remember that it is exceptionally rare for a person who never knew or practiced the teachings to do so in their final days. For this to happen, they need extraordinarily good roots, causes and conditions. So, it would be wise to take an opportunity to speak with a person when they were still well and not wait till their last moments.

If the person had other beliefs, we need to respect them. This is not the time to try to "convert" someone. Encourage them to go to heaven if that is their wish. Remind them of all the good things they have done in their lives and do what you can to help them die peacefully.