Is the Pure Land real

Question: Is the Pure Land real? Why do you chant?

Response: The Pure Land exists on two levels. On one level, the Pure Land is a very real land that is far to the west of us. But on the ultimate level of understanding, the Pure Land is already within us. We ordinary beings see everything in terms of duality: pleasant or unpleasant, like or dislike, gain or loss. Buddhas no longer see duality.

They understand that we are all one and that everything outside of us is already within us. “Me” doesn’t exist for “I” am part of everything that is. When my mind focuses solely on Amitabha, I am Amitabha. When it focuses solely on the Pure Land, I am one with the Pure Land. It is already within me.

Black-nosed Buddha

 

A nun who was searching for enlightenment made a statue of Buddha and covered it with gold leaf. Wherever she went she carried this golden Buddha with her.

Years passed and, still carrying her Buddha, the nun came to live in a small temple in a country where there were many Buddhas, each one with its own particular shrine.

The nun wished to burn incense before her golden Buddha. Not liking the idea of the perfume straying to others, she devised a funnel through which the smoke would ascend only to her statue. This blackened the nose of the golden Buddha, making it especially ugly.

~101 Zen Stories

"It's All About Me"

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said “It’s All About Me”. I murmured “Amituofo.”

It’s what I say when I see an animal that was run over, when someone thanks me for some valued advice, when I greet another cultivator, and in so many circumstances.

Sometime I murmur it in regret. Like when I saw that bumper sticker.

What a sad way to view life. It’s a viewpoint that can only lead to suffering. Tragically, it’s a viewpoint that is fostered more and more by an advertising industry that will prosper only if we continue to buy into their world of illusion. I’ve read that the average American watches four hours of television a day. That average viewer sees as many ads in a year that a few decades ago, it took a lifetime to see. These people are listening to the wrongs “teachers.”

I’m working on a talk by my teacher, Ven. Master Chin Kung, on the Amitabha Sutra. In one section, he was had spoken about one of the five corruptions mentioned in the sutra: the corruption of views. He said that the corruption of views means that everyone has erroneous views and vastly different opinions. When one’s thoughts and views about others and the environment are wrong, one error will lead to other errors. Inevitably, trouble follows.

We live in troubled times. Why are our times troubled? Because people do not believe in the sages’ teachings. People do not value the writings of the sages. Because people do not believe in the sages’ teachings, even though these writings are available, people have no inclination to read them, thinking that these teachings no longer are relevant. People do not try to study and understand them. They make this mistake because they are not open-minded. They are focused on what the advertising industry and multinational companies want them to believe.

As long as people continue to think that they’re the center of the universe and that what they want supersedes the wishes of others, they will continue to search for their illusive idea of happiness. Thinking that “It’s All About Me” will lead, inevitably, to painful troubles.

And again, I say "Amituofo."

Finding Our Path

I periodically am asked to respond to letters similar to the one that asked the questions below. The inmates I correspond with encounter many obstacles to their practice. But they understand "suffering." And so they persevere.  

Question: I am currently an inmate in a prison. I don't know anyone here who is even remotely interested in Buddhism. I would like to learn and practice on my own but don't know how to. Suggestions? 

Response: It is natural for us to initially read about Buddhism in a general sense and then at some point feel that we want to start to narrow our focus. This next step would seem much more difficult for you since you cannot go into a bookstore and see what looks good or meet with a group.

But regardless of where we are, our conditions were created by ourselves dues to our past thoughts, speech, and actions. Someone may live around a corner from a bookstore with an excellent Buddhist selection or drive by a Buddhist center every day, but if he or she has not planted the right seed they’ll never notice the Buddhist aisle of the bookstore or walk into the center.

If we are fortunate, we will have planted enough seeds in earlier lifetimes to find the right method and teacher for us. If this happens, we will intuitively know what is right for us and we will feel as if we have "come home." We will find the answer through asking which one “feels” best? Which are we drawn to? Which keeps popping up in front of us? Which writer’s or master’s work seems to resonate best with us? Which teachings feel most comfortable?

How Siddhartha Could Leave Yasodhara

Imagine you are in a house with the person you love more than anyone else in the world. Your newborn child is with you. The person you love has an illness that is not yet serious, but which in time will kill him or her. You know that at some time your child will succumb to the same illness.

You are sure there is a cure for the illness, but you are not sure exactly what it is or how to find it. If you stay in the house, you know you will have to watch helplessly as the person you love slowly dies of the illness. You know that your child and everyone else in the house will also die if you remain there.

But if you leave this person and your child with the other people in the house who will lovingly care for them, and you go to find the medicine, you will do even more than end this terrible illness. You will provide them with a way to live without ever being ill again, without ever suffering again.

What would you do?

Stay and watch everyone you love suffer?

Or go find the medicine.