Making the Choice Every Day

Preya is what is pleasant now, though in the long run it leads to insecurity and distress. Shreya is what is permanently beneficial, though it sometimes seems unpleasant at first. We are so poorly educated in the art of living that we prefer temporary satisfaction, even though it may lead to permanent loss, to the adventure of bearing a temporary displeasure that leads to permanent fulfillment.

We have to make this choice between preya and shreya every day.

~ Like a Thousand Suns by Eknath Easwaran

What's the Urgency?

The reality of life in Samsara (the cycle of rebirth) is that as humans our lives are incredibly short, an average of some seventy odd years. Of those years, roughly one-third is spent sleeping, years are spent in growing up, a good portion of our adult life is involved in work, and so on. After all these activities, how much time do we really have to spend on our practice?

We can spend our lifetime reading about Buddhism and this can certainly feel like an admirable use of our time. But while learning about our chosen method of practice is vital, reading about other schools and traditions runs the risk of becoming a distraction.

We need to remember that our lifetimes are short and we do not know when we will breathe our last breath. The Buddha advised people who would be living in other times to learn and practice other methods. But for those in our time he recommended the Pure Land method so we could transcend the cycle of rebirth by being reborn in the Western Pure Land.

Once there, we will be in the presence of Amitabha Buddha and uncountable bodhisattvas. No longer hampered by a short lifetime or a need to work or sleep or do all the other things we humans do, we will have all the time we need to learn from these beings who have progressed farther than we have. Finally, the time will be right for us to learn all the different methods and practices we will need to help an incredible range of beings end their suffering and attain happiness, and break through delusion and attain enlightenment. Until those of us who are drawn to this path attain that rebirth, we need to remember this is our primary goal.

What’s the urgency?

Sakyamuni Buddha compared the odds of our being reborn as a human to the likelihood that a blind sea turtle, surfacing from the depths of the ocean only once every century, would encounter a tree trunk with a hole suitable for nesting. That’s how unbelievably rare our opportunity to have been born as a human is. And there’s more. Next, we needed to be reborn during the period of time after the appearance of a Buddha so we could hear the Dharma. Then we needed to have the right conditions to hear those teaching, then to find the specific teaching that is right for us, then to find a teacher we can learn from and Dharma friends to practice with. And when we have finally managed to accomplish all this, we have to realize that all we can count on is our next breath!

We need to use this rarest of opportunities to focus on and achieve in our practice. If we fail to do this, we will carry the seeds from our practice with us, but as the Buddha cautioned, it will be a long time for we ordinary people to encounter these wonderful conditions again. We cannot afford to waste time.

I know that on the surface seeking our own release from suffering can sound selfish. And the urgency stressed above can seem a tad over the top. When I first heard that our primary goal is to seek rebirth, the conversation in my head would come up with things like “But I need to help those who can’t understand Chinese” and “People want to learn now. What about them?” and “I still have time.”

Well, after taking the three refuges and five precepts under Ven. Master Chin Kung almost fifteen year ago and having been involved in learning and working with the teachings for much of that time, in the past twelve years virtually on a daily basis, I have learned a few things. :-)

One of the things I have learned is that my ability to help people in this lifetime, even as a nun who spends a great part of her time in different aspects of propagating the Dharma, is limited. I don’t know very much. My level of achievement is extremely modest, my abilities inadequate. I make mistakes all the time and am not nearly as skillful in helping others as I should be. In short, there isn’t a lot I can do to truly help people. I just don’t have enough time. Life can and does end in a moment. And as someone shared with me recently, “If we don’t attain rebirth in this lifetime—what a waste.”

So, we need to focus. Now, not next year, not after we learn everything. We need to remember the first vow of Buddhas and bodhisattvas: “Sentient beings are innumerable; I vow to help them all.”

How do we focus, and then how do we maintain that focus? Perhaps we can ask ourselves some questions:

What is the ultimate goal in my life?

What is the ultimate goal in my practice?

How much time will I devote to my practice and learning?

Is it enough to accomplish my goal?

Am I honestly doing everything I can to progress in my practice?

What is my strongest motivation to practice?

What inspires me to practice or learn when I’d rather do something else?

What is the one book or recorded talk that I can really get into by reading or listening to it on a regular (daily is ideal) basis?

And the final question:

How much time do I have left in this lifetime?

I Have Some Questions!

Question: I have a few questions. Hope you can help me with them. I haven't heard a lot about your Pure Land Buddhism. Is it very popular in Asia? Is the Pure Land Heaven? It sounds kind of selfish to want to go there but I must have missed something to think that. Isn’t Buddhism a religion? Is chanting the same as praying? Thank you!

Response: After almost 3000 years there are many forms of Buddhism being practiced. Forms of Pure Land are found in China, Japan, Malaysia, Tibet, and Vietnam, and to a lesser degree in other countries as well.

How they are practiced depends on many factors. A primary one is the master (or teacher). Our teacher, Master Chin Kung, stresses that Buddhism is a teaching of understanding the reality of our lives and everything around us, and that Buddhism is not a religion.

In the Visualization Sutra one of the three Pure Land sutras, there is a short, but vitally important paragraph where the Buddha tells Queen Vaidehi of the Three Conditions and how they are the true causes of attaining Buddhahood for all Buddhas of the past, present, and future.

The First Condition is to be filial and provide for parents, be respectful to and serve teachers, be compassionate and do not kill, and cultivate the Ten Virtuous Deeds.

The Second Condition is to take the Three Refuges, abide by all precepts, and behave in a dignified and appropriate manner.

The Third Condition is to generate the Bodhi mind, believe deeply in the law of cause and effect, recite and uphold the Mahayana sutras, and encourage others to advance on the path to enlightenment

In the Amitabha Sutra, another of the three Pure Land sutras, the Buddha emphasized the importance of being "good men and good women." To qualify as such, a person must accomplish the above eleven practices.

We do not pray to Buddhas, we respect them. The Buddha himself asserted that he was not a god and explained that he was "awakened."

Our practice is to chant the name of Amitabha Buddha. Understanding that everything is created by our minds (not a higher being) we chant to form a connection with Amitabha Buddha, to become one with him and thus with all Buddhas. Understanding that every thought is a cause that will produce a result, our chanting is the cause that will result in our being reborn in the Pure Land. This is simply karma, cause and effect, nothing more. It is not praying, but rather diligent work on our part.

The Western Pure Land is not a heaven. Heaven is still within the cycle of rebirth. The Pure Land is not within the cycle of rebirth. We do not go to the Pure Land to enjoy the pleasures of living in a paradise. We go to learn how to help all beings end their suffering just as students go to a university to continue their studies.

The beauty of the pure land is the result of the purity of the minds of the beings who are there. Just as our world with all its unhappiness and conflict is the result of our impure minds. As soon as we are ready, we will return to this and other worlds to help all beings. This is a major difference between the Heaven and the Pure Land.

Amitabha Buddha will help us just as any good teacher will help an earnest student. He is not a god. But unless we reach out to him, he cannot help us. Our reaching is our chanting and our accomplishment of the eleven above practices.

These practices help us to be moral, compassionate, wise people. They require hard work, constant mindfulness, and dedicated effort.

I know many people regard Buddhism as a religion. We do not. We read and study the Pure Land sutras and listen to our teacher explain them to us. We work hard to be moral and caring people who do not harm any beings. We practice and vow to go to the Pure Land so we will be able to learn all the ways to help others end their suffering.

We pay our respect to the Buddha for teaching us so wisely and tirelessly. We do everything possible to resolve the conflicts within each of us so we may help bring peace to ourselves, and in so doing, to our troubled world.

The Secure Way to Cultivate

In a certain town where the Buddha was teaching, his followers were always involved in severe arguments. The Buddha would then tell them about the story of King Longevity's tolerance in order that they might reconcile. The Buddha said, “It is impossible to end hatred with hatred. Only compassion and patience can extinguish the flames of resentment.”

Although many of them were moved by the Buddha's words and tried to do as he taught, there was still a minority who favored arguments and would never give in. At this time, the Buddha remembered the humble and patient Annurudha, who was then cultivating in the woods. So the Buddha went on his own to see him.

Besides Annurudha, Kimbila and Nandiya were also cultivating in the woods. The three of them were first cousins of the same generation, and they remained very close even after their renunciation. They had an agreement to follow the Buddha in all his instructions to cultivate.

Of the three of them, Annurudha had already attained the Arhat state, while Kimbila and Nandiya had also attained enlightenment in the summer retreat the previous year. Three holy ones coming together to cultivate obviously meant harmony and peace.

They had mutually agreed to abstain from speech except once every five days to report on their individual findings on their cultivation and how to improve on the content of their living. On normal days, the one who returned earliest from begging would have to prepare the beds, carry water for daily use and have the accessories laid ready for feet washing. Food that had been left over would have to be saved in a cool place or in uncontaminated water for the others who might not have enough to eat. When everything was prepared, he could then wash his own hands and feet, and tidy up the mat before practicing on chanting, sutra recitation, or meditation.

The next one to return could eat the leftover food, and if there should still be food left, he would have to go through the same procedure before doing his own practice. This would go on until the evening, when the one first to come out of meditation would check to see if there was still enough water for use. If not, he would have to go and get some more. If it was too heavy to carry, he could motion for assistance. Still remaining silent, they would carry the water together before returning to their rooms. This was the tranquil way of life they conducted in the serene woodlands.

The Buddha, who disliked places of bustling uproar, came to visit Annurudha in the woods. A sentry guarding the woodlands did not recognize the Buddha, and mistook him for a stranger. This was not surprising as the Buddha was always traveling to teach, and was usually accompanied by his followers. Coming forward to stop the Buddha, he said, “Please do not go in, as there are three holy ones practicing inside.” Smiling, the Buddha said calmly, “Please tell them they have a visitor. I am sure they would like to see me.”

The sentry did as proposed, and the three were very pleased to see the Buddha. They hurried out to welcome him, and quickly made his bed and poured water for him to wash his feet. After settling in, he asked, “Annurudha! Are you practicing securely here? Do you have lack anything?”

Annurudha replied, “Buddha! In my cultivation, I have been lucky to have good conditions and good fortune. Pure practice is with me, and I have abandoned subjective opinions in order to learn the conduct of the saints and virtuous. My cultivation is therefore very secure, and my mind is enriched and contented. I need nothing more.”

The Buddha then turned to Kimbila and Nandiya who assured him of the same. Very happy to hear that, the Buddha said, “You have practiced harmoniously without conflicts. You live so happily, devoting yourselves only to one mind, one merit, one teacher, one way. There is nothing better in life than this perfect harmony.”

Having expressed his praise, the Buddha further recounted his own past experience of cultivation to encourage them. Having left the crowd full of conflicts and met with the Sangha of concord, the Buddha felt delighted to have come to the woods. This unexpected visit from his Master also made Annurudha extremely blissful and thankful.

Note: Those with Buddhist Dharma within them are the wealthiest. The Dharma is a treasure which holds unlimited resources. But it is only when putting Dharma into practice that both body and mind can find peace and harmony.

New Age or the Old Way

Question: What is your view of the popular New Age view that we create our own reality? At the moment I feel somewhat torn in my focus between the traditional wisdom teachings such as Buddhism and New Age, contemporary philosophy. The former is about waking up from the dream while the latter seems to often be about making the dream, i.e. our lives in this world, more pleasant, abundant and satisfying.

I understand that Buddhism teaches that we create our own reality depending on the thoughts we have and the way we view people and situations. However the New Age focus is very much on changing the actual circumstances according our will and desire through techniques of "manifestation", like visualizations, affirmations etc. I have found that the general belief is that we can manifest happiness, abundance, good relationships, anything at all, if we genuinely believe we deserve them and focus properly on getting them. Whether we have the karma to have these things doesn't seem to be an issue, and I've even heard statements to the effect that "Karma is real only if you believe in it". Personally, I don't buy that one!

The way of traditional wisdom, such as the Buddhist, appears to be vastly superior in that it offers a way to get off the wheel of rebirth altogether, as well as a greater focus on helping others to become happy. However, I often find myself drawn to the New Age philosophy as it seems to offer a way to at least be more comfortable and satisfied with my life as it is right now. I wonder if there would be less struggle in my life if mastered some of the techniques of manifestation. I wonder if I would have more to give to others if I had more resources myself instead of perpetually struggling to get by in life. I even feel that if I had more money, I would have more time to myself to practice spiritually, go to retreats etc. and that perhaps these techniques could help me get it. Having said that, I'm also aware that there is such limited time in life, I had better get my priorities straight as to the best way to employ it and not dribble it away on temporary fixes.

I do know people who are successful, prosperous and quite happy in life who claim that these New Age philosophies and techniques of "magic and manifestation" have helped them to become that way. It's tempting to want to find out what it is they know, but I feel concerned that this may pull me away from a more authentic spirituality of the kind that Buddhism embodies.

Can you offer any insights?

Response: First, this is an excellent question and one which doesn’t bear cutting down. So I’ve posted the entire email. And thank you for giving me permission in advance to use it here.

“Karma is real only if you believe in it.”

This is like saying gravity is real only if you believe in it. Rather risky. ;-)

Also, karma—cause and effect—can be as simple as doing something to help another person and feeling happy or making someone cry and feeling badly. And for those recommending visualization to make something happen, that’s cause and effect! I do and something happens. I speak and something happens. And in visualization, I think and something happens. So to me it seems a tad confusing to apply principles of cause and effect on the one hand while denying them on the other.

“We create our own reality.”

Well we do, but not exactly in the way referred to above. Feeling I “deserve” to have a life that is more pleasant, abundant, and satisfying doesn’t mean it will happen. For example, I may feel that I deserve to have a beautiful garden, but that won’t create it. To simply visualize or wish for something and then receive it requires an incredible amount of good fortune and merits and virtues from our practice. And frankly, awakened beings who had all these would not be thinking they deserved something, they’d be trying to help others get what they needed.

So the vast majority of us, after the thought “I’d like a garden,” need to prepare the ground, plant the seeds, care for and protect the seedlings, and water them carefully. In other words, I need to plant the causes and provide the right conditions to have the result I wish for.

I daresay there are some people who have both used the above techniques and gained success and prosperity. But such people had already planted the seeds for what they came to enjoy. And they would have received success and prosperity anyway. And I’m also sure there are many people have tried the techniques to no avail. Either they had not planted the seeds for what they visualized, etc., or they did not have the right conditions.

“At the moment I feel somewhat torn in my focus between the traditional wisdom teachings such as Buddhism and New Age, contemporary philosophy...”

The Buddha cautioned that as time went on, there would be increasing numbers of deluded teachers. And so with increasing numbers of deluded students as well, people would have much difficulty discerning the truth from someone’s perception of the truth.

Perhaps you might try looking at intention. The Buddha taught whoever asked him a question. He walked (choosing to neither ride in a carriage nor go on horseback) to where he was invited and lectured. He did not charge or ask for anything in return. Those who could afford to made offerings. Those who had little offered a few cents. Those who had nothing might have only offered a flower or a thank you, but regardless they too received a perfect teaching from the Buddha.

The Buddha taught to not be selfish but to broaden the mind to reach the awareness that we are all one. Rather than wishing for personal prosperity and success, perhaps it would better if we visualized a world where all beings had what they needed to be safe and content, not just oneself. A world where future generations would also have what they needed.

All this wishing for abundance combined with a surge in the population combined with the technology that has enabled us to the deplete natural resources that took millions of years to create in what will be about two centuries, has lead to the thinking that we each can have it all. Perhaps we should be visualizing a world where people are humble and disciplined, and care not about their own prosperity but others’ survival.

We are living in an infinitesimally small blip in time. A time in which we can live like kings! Actually we are living better than kings when we consider how kings used to live. All this royal living is terribly dangerous because we have become ensnared by our craving and greed. Living at the time of the Buddha or in the centuries that followed, how much could people hope to have? We however dream of having everything and think it is normal.

Rather than normal it is a tragic waste: a waste of our world, a waste of our lives. In the past half century when much of the world has enjoyed a rare period of stability—no world wars or great depressions—we have focused not on spiritual growth but on self-indulgence.

History, economics, the principle of finite resources in a closed-world system, and most importantly, the Buddha’s warning not to waste our unbelievably rare opportunities to practice all point to not wasting time in indulging ourselves. Instead of seeking to enjoy ourselves more for a few decades, we need to strive to end the suffering of all beings for uncountable lifetimes.

As Pure Land practitioners, you and I do this by living morally and chanting “Amituofo” so we can be reborn in the Western Pure Land. From there we can come back to help all those we have vowed to help.

To me it’s a simple choice: indulge myself or help others.