“Take the elevator, it’s much quicker.” 

Imagine you’ve left your small village to see the world. Exhausted after days of walking, you see an incredibly high building on the horizon. In awe, you finally reach it and are greeted by a kind gentleman who offers you much needed food and water.

“What’s at the top of the building?” He replies that it is a glorious place, for it has none of the sufferings your land does. He invites you to move in.

“How?” you ask. He explains there are stairs, but they take a very long time. Pointing to a door, he says that the elevator will instead whisk you to the top. The stairs look safe to you, but what about his “magical elevator?”

You wonder, What if it doesn’t work as promised? Wouldn’t the stairs be safer?

Some Pure Land newcomers face this predicament because they doubt quick fixes. But sometimes, we need to trust those who have already helped us greatly. Questioning the efficacy of the Pure Land method will result in not only our continued suffering but also the suffering of those back home whom we wish to help. 

There’s no need to fuss.

Everything is “perfect.” 

This phrase doesn’t mean our day is wonderful and requires scant improvement. (Nor does it mean the speaker lives in an alternate universe.) The phrase means that everything has transpired precisely the way it was supposed to.

Three unexpected projects dumped on your desk by a vacation-bound supervisor? Perfect!

Your name added to the updated volunteer list after you had notified the group of your future unavailability? Perfect as well.

The perfect outcome isn’t the fantastic one we imagined, but an appropriate one. There’s no point fussing over how things can be different. If they are to be different, they will be. But none of that is happening. Let’s accept reality and quit wasting time and energy on our disappointment. Instead, tell yourself “It’s perfect!”

Thankfully, most things happening in our lives can indeed become more bearable, and sometimes even humorous, when we summon forth our newfound motto.