“If many beings have been born in the Pure Land and they have vowed to help us,where are they?”

The Western Pure Land: a land not just of beauty

but also of profound symbolism.

The Buddha spoke of a wondrous Pure Land for the benefit of future beings. But he knew this land would be beyond our ability to grasp.

And so the Buddha used imagery to help us—ground of gold, trees of jewels, birds singing the Dharma. He knew that wise masters would learn and practice the teachings, and over time they would explain the teachings to their students.

The masters would point out how the golden ground symbolizes purity, unlike ours made of dirt. And how the precious jewels aren’t like the jewels here that trigger our greed. In that land, they symbolize the four qualities of enlightenment: permanence, joy, true self, and purity.

Also, how the company of compassionate, caring bodhisattvas means that no longer will we be in the company of people who trigger our anger. 

So, like those masters, to truly appreciate and deeply believe the teachings, we too need to study and practice them.

Instead of feeling guilty for past wrongdoings,

we need to let go of the guilt 

and chant “Amituofo.”

We’re supposed to understand causality—to know why bad things happen—and also not to blame others for our problems. With this understanding, we will be better able to create favorable conditions for our future. 

And so, in our practice, we don’t just forgive others, we also need to forgive ourselves. We were just as ignorant as others then. And still are. So we need to recognize that we have done bad things and that we don’t want to repeat them.

There is also no need to beat ourselves up over having done them. Each of us needs to let go. Not just of the things we like, not just the good stuff. We also need to let go of our guilt and self-anger for what we did in the past. The past is done and over with while the future is yet to be created. The present is where we do the creating, where we focus our energy. Be firm with yourself, not angry. 

And firmly—and mindfully— replace each negative thought with “Amituofo,” not just for ourselves, but for all beings.

“Why is the Pure Land divided into four lands?”

One day, a student asked the Buddha what his land was like.

The Buddha touched the ground, and the student instantly saw the Buddha’s pure land, a land so very different from what the student had seen just moments ago. Most reasonable, since the Buddha observed everything with a perfectly enlightened mind, and the student with a mind not yet perfectly unenlightened. And so, due to their respective states of mind, they perceived the world in different ways.

Frankly, in our world, we too all live in different lands. Ignorant people might live in a land that we could call “Ceaseless Craving” or “Recurring Anger.” But one who is awakening might live in a land we could call “Gracious Compassion.”

In the Western Pure Land, beings are also in different lands. As their meditative concentration advances, ignorance gradually drops away, awakening increases, and, in time, they advance from the Land Where Sages and Ordinary Beings Dwell Together all the way to the Land of Eternally Quiescent Light.