AMITABHA BUDDHA CONSCIOUSNESS (ABC)
Part
One:
Singleminded Concentration,
Superconsciousness (Cosmic
Consciousness), and Oneness
with the Infinite within One’s Heart
- The Yoga of Samadhi
In
the classic teaching of the great Indian sage of the second century B.C.,
Patanjali, the highest stage of samadhi (concentration of the mind) is known as
nirvikalpa and is said to be
“seedless” because it is “nothing but pure, undifferentiated consciousness” which
is also the description of Brahman (the universal Godhead}; seedless because it
contains no phenomenal impressions, no seeds of desire and attachment. In this
state of perfect yoga, one attains the goal of spiritual union with the Godhead
and Supreme Self.
In their masterly
translation and interpretation of Patanjali’s teaching of the essence of Yoga
in How To Know God, the two
distinguished collaborators and co-authors Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher
Isherwood comment (p. 61) that “in nirvikalpa samadhi, you are no longer
yourself, you are literally one with Brahman, you enter into the real nature
(Atman/the Reality/the Godhead within each human being which is synonymous with
Brahman) of the apparent universe and all its forms and creatures…” (1)
Further on (p. 95), the two
commentators point out that samadhi is complete realization of, and union with,
the Atman (the same as Brahma, the Godhead): “The objective universe
disappears. The Atman is experienced as total existence, consciousness and joy.
In this experience, all sense of individual separateness and differentiation is
lost,” they write, and they go on to quote from another ancient classic by Shankara,
the great Indian philosopher, saint, and scholar-monks of the 9th
century A.D.:
“In Sankhara’s Crest-Jewel
of Discrimination, the Disciple who has reached samadhi exclaims: “My
mind fell like a hailstone into that vast expanse of Brahman’s ocean. Touching
one drop of it, I melted away and became one with Brahman. And now, though I
return to human consciousness, I abide in the joy of the Atman. Where is this
universe? Who took it away? Has it merged into something else?
“A while ago, I beheld it
– now it exists no longer. This is wonderful indeed! Here is the ocean of Brahman
Shankara has described
nirvikalpa samadhi as follows (p. 64)
There is a continuous
consciousness of the unity of Atman and Brahman.
There is no longer any
identification of the Atman with its coverings. All
sense of duality is obliterated. There is
pure, unified consciousness. The man
who is well
established in this consciousness is said to be illumined.
A man is said to be free even in this life when he is established in
illumination. His bliss is
unending. He almost forgets this world of
appearances.
Even though his mind
is dissolved in Brahman, he is fully awake, free
from the ignorance of waking
life (as distinct from the periods of dreaming
and dreamless sleep). He is
fully conscious, but free from any craving. Such a
man is said to be free even
in this life.
For him, the sorrows of
this world are over. Though he possesses a finite
body, he remains united with
the Infinite. His heart knows no anxiety. Such a
man is said to be free even
in this life.
Such a man is a saint,
an arhat in Buddhist terminology, fully emancipated from ignorance, craving (attachment
to self) and other defilements, spiritually liberated.
With the attainment of
spiritual liberation, Patanjali concludes his sutra with these words (p. 154):
“The Atman shines forth in its own pristine nature, as pure consciousness.”
In Buddhism, it is the
Clear Light and pure luminosity, the primordial and inextinguishable essence of
Buddha Nature (the Dharmakaya) in every sentient being. In Buddhism,
self-realization is attaining full liberation and complete enlightenment, and
fulfilling one’s inherent potential for Buddhahood.
With his liberation, a
man had finally evolved “till his lost glory came back, and he remembered his
own nature.” And to further quote Swami Vivekananda (1862-1902), given the last
word in the commentary (p. 154): “Then the kind Mother (Nature/Prakriti) went
back the same way she came, for others who have also lost their way in the
trackless desert of life. And thus is she working, without beginning and without
end. And thus, through pleasure and pain, through good and evil, the infinite
river of souls is flowing into the ocean of perfection, of self-realization.”
- The
The MANDUKYA Upanishad
teaches that the life of man is divided between waking, dreaming, and dreamless
sleep. But transcending these three states is superconscious vision, called The
Fourth:
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
“The Fourth, the
Self (within, also known as Brahman within as well as without, the Godhead) is OM , the indivisible syllable. This syllable is
unutterable, and beyond mind. In it the manifold universe disappears. It is the
supreme good – one without a second. Whoever knows OM ,
the Self, becomes the Self.” (2)
“All this that
we see without is Brahman. This Self that is within is Brahman…”
On
Superconsciousness, called Brahman-knowing or God-realization, Phiroz Mehta has
written in an illuminating essay entitled That
Brahman, the Buddha (published 1954): “Whoever attains Superconsciousness is a true fount and source of religion. The
attainment of Superconsciousness, which is the experience of the Silence, the
Void, the Plenum, the Infinite, the Absolute, is the source-experience from
which have emerged the teachings embodied in words like Brahman, Atman, Isvara
(God), Godhead, God, Eternity, Immortality, Nirvana, the Kingdom of Heaven,
etc.” (3)
Mehta has
also written (pp. 8-9): “At its very heart, all true religion is concerned with
bringing a man to full fruition, first in terms of character – the perfected
man, the exemplar, and next in terms of the realization of Superconsciousness.”
C.
Illumination and Realization:
Knowing Brahman within the heart:
Attaining the Infinite, Becoming Brahman
In the MUNDAKA Upanishad, the ancient sage
Angiras taught the famous householder Sounaka:
“… Brahman
(the Godhead, the Self, the Supreme Being, the Self-Luminous, the Infinite) is
all in all. He is action, knowledge, goodness supreme. To know him, hidden in
the lotus of the heart,, is to untie the knot of ignorance… (4)
“With the
mind illumined by the power of meditation, the wise know him, the blissful, the
immortal. He is pure, he is the light of lights. Him the knowers of the Self
attain… (5)
“He who knows
Brahman becomes Brahman. No one ignorant of Brahman is ever born in his family.
He (knowing/becoming Brahman) passes beyond all sorrow. He overcomes evil.
Freed from the fetters of ignorance he becomes immortal…”
\
In THE BHAGAVADGITA (Chapter 12, verse 2),
the Blessed Lord Krsna answered Arjuna on worship of the Personal God Isvara:
“Those who fixing their minds on Me (God in His manifested form) worship Me,
ever earnest and possessed of supreme faith – them do I consider most perfect
in yoga.” (7)
In the
concluding XVIII chapter verse 55, Krsna taught and stressed the supreme
spiritual significance of a yogi’s devotion to the Supreme Lord: “Through
devotion he comes to know Me, what My measure is and who I am in truth; then,
having known Me in truth, he forthwith enters into Me.” (8)
Professor S. Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) has
written in his classic commentary: “The knower, the devotee, becomes one with
the Supreme Lord, the Perfect Person, in self-knowledge and self-experience.
Jnana, supreme wisdom and bhakti, supreme devotion have the same goal. To
become Brahman is to love God, to know Him fully and to enter into His being.”
(9)
D.
Unveiling the Supreme Mind, the Infinite Spirit:
Finding and seeing God within
“Consciousness is man’s state of awareness. It is the capacity of the
mind to know and its knowing determines his capacities along all lines,”
American spiritual leader and teacher Baird Spalding (1857-1953) wrote in 1935.
(10)
“We carry
our consciousness to God consciousness wherein we are aware of all things
including ourselves in the highest state. That is the state where we see
through all conditions and all circumstances. As the Masters say, the veil is
then completely removed – the veil that hitherto seemed to exist between the
mortal or physical and Spirit. There is no limitation here. The mortal and
physical conceptions are abandoned completely for the spiritual,” Spalding
taught. (11)
In notes
written for the teacher of his classes, Spalding elaborated: “To grow from the
present state of awareness of himself as a material being and into the
consciousness that he is a spiritual being contains the full secret of man’s
attainment…” (12)
On
God, Spalding has written: “They (the Masters) teach that God is right within
man always, just as Jesus Christ taught. That is always the attitude and
thought of the illumined, Man is God. That statement, “I am God,” is one of the
most definite statements that man can use…” (13)
Man must completely surrender the
lower-case self and accept the
all-embracing capital Self as the only reality, which is the spiritual Self,
for there is no other Self. “Such an
one knows himself as God,” Spalding taught. (14)
.
“The realization includes
the conscious mind when the Christ mind has become the complete consciousness
of the individual, for the conscious mind is then included in complete
consciousness… The Christ is the God mind always,” Spalding clarified and
explained. (15)
In
another article Spalding wrote: “Give the conquering Christ within you the
opportunity to free you “(16)
He has
also written that every one is Supreme Mind, the Supreme Wisdom, the Supreme
Power, the Infinite Spirit called God: “Every child, every person is God.”
There is no guessing here: every person must know that they as well as all
others are Supreme and that there is nothing missing in the Supreme Energy.
(17)
E.
The Sufi’s Ever-Remembrance of God and Struggle for Perfection
“The goal
of Sufism (so-called “esoteric” Islam), then, is to reach God,” American
scholar William Chittick has written in his lucid study Faith and Practice of Islam: Three
Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts.
(18)
“If one wants to summarize the Tariqah
(the Sufi path of the middle road) in a nutshell, one can say that the Sufi
lives with God in the present moment through remembrance (dhikr). To remember God is to put God at the center and everything
else at the periphery.
“All
Islamic ritual is performed for the sake of remembrance. The Koran calls the ritual
prayer (salat) itself “remembrance.”
“But in Sufism, this remembrance tends to be
focused on the silent and continuous repetition of one of God’s names. This
practice derives from numerous Koranic commandments and prophetic injunctions.
Moreover, it is a struggle and a discipline, because God’s name is eminently
elusive, especially when the soul is weak and easily distracted by daily
concerns…
“All this discussion of discipline and
practice is simply to bring out that, according to the classical texts, every
moment of the Sufi’s existence should be taken up with concentration on God.
This is a continuous struggle…
“There is merely the attempt to achieve one-pointed
concentration on God’s name, or to be aware of God’s presence in every moment
and every situation in life…”
On
the practice of ihsan (the third
dimension in Islam after submission and faith), the pursuit of virtue and human
perfection, Chittick has written: “To become perfect is to bring the latent
divine qualities within oneself into full actuality. It is to act, know, and be
as God would act, know, and be, were He to assume human form…” (19)
Part
Two:
Mindfulness
of the Buddha
One of the most
significant teachings in the Mahayana, THE SURANGAMA SUTRA (the Sutra of the Heroic One) emphasizes the power
of samadhi (one-pointed or single-minded concentration) in attaining
enlightenment.
“If living beings remember the Buddha and are
mindful of the Buddha, they will certainly see the Buddha now or in the
future,” Dharma Prince, Great Strength (Mahasthamaprapta) Bodhisattva said,
speaking on the practice of the Buddha-Recitation (Remembrance) Samadhi. (20)
“Being close to the
Buddha, their minds will awaken by themselves, even without the aid of expedients…
(21)
“Now in this world I gather in all those
who are mindful of the Buddha (Amitabha) and bring them back to the Pure Land
Asked by the
Buddha Shakyamuni to name his foremost method of cultivation and of perfect
penetration, Mahasthama (who represents the Buddha-wisdom of Amitabha) chose the
complete gathering in and perfect control of the six sense faculties through
the practice of “continuous pure mindfulness” (of the Buddha) to obtain
samadhi. As Master Hsuan Hua (1908-1995) has explained, concentration and
wisdom become completely harmonized and nondual (unified) in samadhi. Great
Strength used mindfulness of the Buddha as the causal ground (the cause) to
enter into Nirvana (the ultimate spiritual fruition). (23)
“Mindfulness has the uncanny ability to bring
about concentration, one-pointedness of mind (samadhi). When mindfulness
penetrates into the object of observation moment by moment, the mind gains the
capacity to remain stable and undistracted, content within the object. In this
natural fashion, concentration becomes well-established and strong. In general,
the stronger one’s mindfulness, the stronger one’s concentration will be,” the
then 63-year-old Sayadaw U Pandita taught in 1984 at the Insight Meditation
Society (IMS) in Barre , Massachusetts
One of the
greatest living meditation masters, U Pandita has also made other highly
insightful points on the practice of mindfulness:
“As a yogi repeatedly comes face to face with
the object (of mindfulness and meditative concentration), his or her efforts
begin to bear fruit. Mindfulness is activated and becomes firmly established on
the object of observation…
“If mindfulness
can be maintained for a significant period of time, the yogi can discover a
great purity of mind because of the absence of kilesas (the kilesas or
defilements cannot infiltrate this strong barrier of mindfulness). Protection
from attack by the kilesas is a second aspect of the manifestation of
mindfulness.
“When
mindfulness is persistently and repeatedly activated, wisdom arises. There will
be insight into the true nature of body and mind… (25)
“When
mindfulness is present from moment to moment, the mind is gradually cleansed
(mindfulness is like fresh air, essential to life), just as the lungs of a
person who stops smoking gradually shed their coating of tar and nicotine.
“A pure mind
easily becomes concentrated. Then wisdom has the opportunity to arise. This
process of healing begins with mindfulness.
“Basing your practice on mindfulness and
deepening concentration, you will pass through the various levels of insight,
your wisdom growing by degrees. Eventually you may realize nibbana, at which
point kilesas are uprooted. There are no pollutants in nibbana… (26)
“The
happiness of a pure mind is the true birthright of every human being…” (27)
Spiritual liberation is the highest and
truest form of liberation for every human being. And truly, indeed, is
Buddhahood everyone’s birthright. and everyone’s spiritual destiny.
“Birth and death are not apart from a single
moment of mindfulness,” Master Chu-hung (1535-1615) wrote in a letter to Liu
Lo-yang, a layman in Su-chou. (28)
“Right now take this moment of mindfulness,
and be mindful of buddha (Amitabha), remember buddha, recite the buddha-name.
How close and cutting! What pure essential energy, so solid and real!
“If you see through where this
mindfulness arises, this is the Amitabha of our inherent nature…”
On the Pure Land Harvard
University
“According to the Buddhist Teaching, all people possess an inherently
enlightened true nature that is their real identity. By becoming mindful of
buddha, therefore, people are just regaining their own real identity. They are
remembering their own buddha-nature…” (29)
Who is the one mindful of Buddha? Cleary
has written: “The question is answered when the practitioner comes face to face
with his or her own buddha-nature. The one mindful of buddha is the buddha
within us…” (30)
In a brilliant and insightful commentary on
the AMITABHA SUTRA, Master Ou-i
(1599-1655), a contemporary of Master Chu-hung and a Pure Land
“This
sutra teaches the wondrous practice of reciting the name of Amitabha, so it
makes a special point of explaining the name.
The intent of the sutra is that people should develop deep faith in the
inconceivable powers of this great name and its myriad virtues, and
singlemindedly recite the Buddha-name…” (31)
As the Buddha Shakyamuni has explained in
the sutra, the name “Amitabha” means “Infinite Light” as well as “Infinite
Life.”
Thus Amitabha is the Buddha of Infinite
Light and Infinite Life.
Master Ou-i has also commented:
“…Amitabha is the inherently enlightened
True Nature of sentient beings, and reciting the name of Amitabha reveals this
Enlightenment… (32)
“The
true nature of mind is still but always shining with awareness; hence it is a
light… Amitabha Buddha penetrates to the
infinite essence of the true nature of mind, so his light (the light of the
Dharmakaya) is infinite… (33)
“We must realize that there is no name of
Amitabha apart from the mind of infinite light and infinite life that is before
us now at this moment, and that there is no way for us to penetrate the mind of
infinite light and infinite life that is before us now at this moment apart
from the name of Amitabha…” (34)
The world-renowned Zen scholar and author D.
T. Suzuki (1870-1966) has taught that in the state of absolute oneness,
absolute identity, absolute faith, “the name is Amida (Amitabha), Amida
(Amitabha) is the Name…” (35)
At the highest level of noumenon (principle),
Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life, is the True
Mind, True Nature, Self Nature, Dharma Body (Dharmakaya), Buddha Nature, common
to the Buddhas and all sentient beings.
Shoji
Matsumoto and Ruth Tabrah, two contemporary authors of Shin Buddhism in Hawaii
“Amida
(Amitabha) is the potential and essence of all living beings and all things (in
the universe). With this understanding we begin to see that Amida (Amitabha) is supreme enlightenment, a treasure
equally endowed to each of us, to all that exists…” (36)
In Pure Land Pure Land
“Samadhi and wisdom are then
achieved…”
Master Ou-i has written that “if you
invoke the name of Amitabha until your mind opens and you see inherent
Buddhahood, this is the One Mind (the Dharmakaya)…” (38)
You
merge with Buddha, in the clear and boundless light of perfect illumination.
This
is the Amitabha of our inherent nature, to quote Master Chu-hung again.
And to quote Sogyal Rinpoche: “Amitabha is
the limitless, luminous nature of our mind…” (39)
NAMO AMITABHA
25 Selasar Rokam 40
Tel: 05-3134941
Notes
- How To Know God THE
YOGA APHORISMS OF PATANJALI, translated with a new commentary by Swami
Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, originally published 1953
by Vedanta Society of Southern California, printed by Mentor , New York
Of
various forms of concentration taught by Patanjali, one is by “fixing the mind
upon the Inner Light” (p. 49).
The
ancient yogis believe that this inner light shines in “the lotus of the heart”
– in the fourth charka or centre of spiritual consciousness.
In
their commentary the translators quote from the KAIVALYA Upanishad: “Those who
struggle and aspire may enter there (in deep meditation)… enter the lotus of
the heart and meditate there on the presence of Brahman – the pure, the
infinite, the blissful…”
Comment the translators (p. 51): “Let your
mind dwell on some holy personality – a Buddha, a Christ, a Ramakrishna. Then
concentrate upon his heart. Try to imagine how it must feel to be a great saint; pure and untroubled by sense-objects, a
knower of Brahman. Try to feel that the saint’s heart has become your heart,
within your own body…”
Patanjali has also highlighted the liberating
power of concentration in an undistracted mind of consummate discrimination,
calling its samadhi the “cloud of virtue.” He concludes (p. 152): “Thence come cessation of ignorance, the cause of
suffering, and freedom from the power of karma.” This is spiritual liberation
and enlightenment.
Sri
Paramahamsa Ramakrishna (1836-1886), a highly influential and multifaceted man
of modern India
“Every time
I gathered my mind together, I came face to face with the blissful form of
Divine Mother. However much I tried to free my mind from consciousness of
Mother, I didn’t have the will to go beyond. But at last, collecting all the
strength of my will, I cut Mother’s form to pieces with the sword of
discrimination, and at once my mind became ‘seedless,’ and I reached
nirvikalpa. It was beyond all expression.”
- THE UPANISHADS: Breath of the Eternal, the principal texts selected and translated
from
original Sanskrit by Swami Prabhananda and Frederick
Manchester, originally published by The
Vedanta Society of Southern California 1948,
subsequently published by Mentor ,
New York
pp. 49, 50, 51
3. In
a collection of erudite and insightful essays by Phiroz Mehta (born 1902)
entitled BUDDHAHOOD, edited and
introduced by John Snelling, and published by Element Books, Longmead, Great
Britain, 1988, p. 6.
This collection of 16 essays were contributed
over a period of more than 30 years (1954 to 1987) to The Middle Way, the quarterly journal of the Buddhist Society in
London, founded by the late Christmas Humphreys (1901-83), a lifelong friend
and supporter of the author. Born in India of Parsi parentage, brought up in Sri Lanka Cambridge
14.2.2009 0600 201544.
4. THE UPANISHADS: Breath of the Eternal,
p. 45
5. Ibid., p.
46
6.
Ibid.,
p. 48
7.
THE BHAVAGADGITA, English translation with an introductory
essay and notes by S. Radhakrishnan, a prominent philosopher, author and
educationist, and one of modern India
8.
Ibid.,
p. 371
9.
Ibid.,
pp. 371-372
10.
Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far
East, Volume IV published by
De Vorss, Marino del Moy, California, 1948, 1976’
Published in 1924, the first volume of the celebrated
quartet launched the so-called New Age.
A widely known research mining engineer as well as a
far-flung archaelogist and world traveler, Baird Thomas Spalding joined a
metaphysical research party of eleven persons that visited the Far East in 1894
covering a large portion of India, Tibet, China, and Persia (Iran of today)
where they met the Masters. “We went thoroughly skeptical and came away
thoroughly convinced and converted,” Spalding admitted in the 1924 inaugural
publication.
In a eulogy offered on 22 March 1953 in memory of his friend, David
Bruton spoke: “…His true life-mission lay in his writing the four volumes of Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East …” (as recorded in Volume VI (1996), p. 163).
11.
Ibid.,
Volume IV, p. 73
12.
Ibid.,
p. 86
13.
Ibid.,
p. 91
14.
Ibid.,
p. 99
15.
Ibid.,
p. 99
In a Q-n-A published in Mind magazine (to which Spalding contributed articles 1935-37) in
answer to the question: What power do we contact beyond our own Christ
consciousness?
A: There is no other power beyond our own. Man stands
forth one with power. The moment he contacts it he is one with it… It lies
right within and no other place. (Volume VI, 1996, p. 52)
“The Masters and Jesus do not journey in the world for
their knowledge and power. They look within themselves to that Self which is
the God within and that is why they are masters,” Spalding taught and revealed
with deep insight. (Volume VI, pp. 160-161)
“So long as you seek outside of yourself that which is
to be found only within yourself, you will not find it… It is in this way that
you will always be able to know the teachings of a real master. The unillumined
tell you that you must find some teacher outside yourself but a Master tells
you that you must find the teacher within. This is the main point which Christ
tried to make clear to the world… “The Father within” is the true Christ
teaching.” *
Summing up his credo, Spalding taught (p. 197):
“Obedience to one’s inner nature, the expression of life as he instinctively
feels it ought to be expressed, is the very foundation of the life which the
masters reveal as the only true mode of living…”
Spalding concludes (p. 204): “This is the road to
mastery, the life of the masters, and the only true life there is. It is to be
found just where you are in the secret places of your own inner nature. The
masters teach that liberation is to be found in this and in other way… Your
only contact with a master is through the mastery in yourself…”
*In another article written in the mid-1930s for the Mind Magazine, Spalding advised (Volume
VI p. 43) using your God-given power: “,,, By contacting God in you, you will
attain. Jesus tried to show that as the source of His power.”
On prayer (p. 44): “Prayer raises your vibration to
the point where you can contact the power of the universal (cosmic)
consciousness.
“When you get the eternal life thought in your
consciousness, you can attain any degree of spirituality. No one can give you
the rules to go by. You must work out the formula for yourself…”
16.
Volume
VI p. 155
17.
Volume
VI pp. 153-154
18. Faith and Practice of Islam
Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts
Translated, introduced, and annotated by William C.
Chittick,
published by S. Abdul Majeed, Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia
19.
Ibid., p. 10
8 pages (3,187 words)
15.2.2009 1818
20.
“Trying to convince living beings that they must be mindful of the
Buddha is not easy. That’s why the (Shurangama) Sutra text says “if,” which
suggests that perhaps living beings could remember the Buddha and think of the
Buddha,” Master Hsuan Hua explained in a series of lectures in Taiwan Burlingame , CA
“If your mind thinks of the Buddha, your
mouth will naturally recite the Buddha’s name (Amitabha). Then you will see the
Buddha now and in the future.
“In
remembering and thinking of the Buddha, you must be single-minded for it to be
efficacious. If you are distracted, it won’t work.
“If your mind is concentrated and you recite
the Buddha’s name with utmost sincerity, to the point that the flowing water is
reciting the Buddha’s name, and all sounds are “Amitabha Buddha,” then that is
what is meant by “remember the Buddha
and are mindful of the Buddha”…”
21. “Since
you are not far from the Buddha, you don’t have to make use of all sorts of
expedient methods in order to practice mindfulness of the Buddha,” Master Hsuan
Hua has explained (p. 46).
“Mindfulness of the Buddha is the quickest
shortcut, the most convenient of all expedients. It’s the most complete and
immediate, the simplest and easiest method.
“You need not search for other expedient
methods. Mindfulness of the Buddha is the most expedient, the best method of
all. “Their minds will awaken” means you will suddenly understand; your mind
will suddenly become enlightened, and you will attain the Buddha-recitation
Samadhi.”
22.
Interpreting
this line from the perspective of the Buddha, Master Hsuan Hua said (p. 47):
“Now in this Saha world (this world of beings capable
of suffering and enduring suffering), I
gather in all
those who are mindful of the Buddha. Anyone who recites the Buddha’s name will
get my help. If someone recites the Buddha’s name, I will welcome him and guide
him to rebirth in the Land
of Ultimate Bliss.\
“I’m like a magnet, attracting those who
recite my name to the Land
of Ultimate Bliss
23.
Thus Master Hsuan Hua has explained gathering in the six sense faculties (p.
48):
“If you can have one thought of Amitabha Buddha, then
you can think of Amitabha Buddha in
thought after
thought.
“If you recite the Buddha’s name in order to
seek rebirth in the Pure
Land
“With single-minded recitation of the Buddha’s
name, you can control the six sense faculties until they are well-behaved and
dare not rebel. The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind will not be
affected by states involving form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. Due
to your mindfulness of the Buddha, you can turn states around; you won’t be
diverted by any state.
“Simply by reciting Namo Amitabha Buddha, you can gather in your six sense faculties;
the six sense faculties will listen to your instructions and not get attached
to defiled states anymore. “Gathering in the six faculties” is a means of
uniting and upholding (generating samadhi) – it contains all dharmas and
upholds limitless meanings.”
In clarifying the practice of maintaining continuous pure mindfulness, Master
Hsuan Hua has stressed that continuity is very important (p. 49):
“You
cannot recite for a while and then stop. It has to be that you recite without
reciting; without reciting, you are still reciting.
“You should recite to the point that it
becomes so natural that even if you wanted to stop, you wouldn’t be able to.
The recitation will carry on by itself, and you won’t be able to halt it.
You’ll be as if drunk on reciting the Buddha’s name. That’s the only thing on
your mind.
“You recite the Buddha’s name continuously
without a break, day after day, month after month, life after life; you never
stop reciting…”
24.
After
more than 55 years of monastic training, Sayadaw U Pandita came to the US
the first 3-month retreat held in 1984 at the
Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre ,
Massachusetts
His talks have been collected and embodied in
half a dozen essays, published under the title IN THIS VERY LIFE: The Liberation Teachings of the Buddha.
Published by Buddhist Publications Society, Kandy , Sri Lanka
25.
Ibid.,
p. 101
26.
Ibid.,
p. 242
27.
Ibid.,
p. 273 11 pages (4,500 words) 16.2.2009 1900
28.
PURE LAND PURE MIND: The Buddhism of
Masters Chu-hung and Tsung-pen, translated by J. C. Cleary, originally published by Sutra Translation
Committee of the United States and Canada, 1994, and reprinted for free
distribution by The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation,
Taiwan, November 2003, p. 63.
29.
Ibid.,
p. 3
30.
Ibid.,
p. 20
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
Wei Lang (638-713) aka Hui Neng, the Sixth Ch’an
Patriarch in China
In the farewell address to his disciples a few hours
before he passed away, Wei Lang told them to realize their Essence of Mind and
Buddha Nature (p. 122): “Within our mind there is a Buddha, and that Buddha
within is the real Buddha…”
31.
MIND-SEAL OF THE BUDDHAS: Patriarch Ou-i’s
Commentary on the AMITABHA SUTRA, translated by J.C. Cleary, originally published by Sutra Translation
Committee of the United States and Canada, New York, 1997, and subsequently
published (1998 third edition) by AMIDA FELLOWSHIP, Taman Billion, Jalan
Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, for free distribution. Pp. 73-74
32.
Ibid.,
p. 74
33.
Ibid.,
p. 75
34. Ibid., p. 77
35. BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIFE, by D.T. Suzuki, published by Shambhala, Boston
p.
53.
In
1958, at the age of 88, the Zen authority explained the Pure Land
Buddha’s Name at the American Buddhist Academy New York City
American audience that “love and compassion are experienced when
NAMU-AMIDA-
BUTSU (HOMAGE TO AMITABHA BUDDHA) is pronounced with singleness of
heart…”
36. The Natural Way of Shin Buddhism, by Shoji Matsumoto and Ruth Tabrah,
published by
37. Introduction on The Pure Land Tradition,
in PURE-LAND ZEN, ZEN PURE-LAND:
Letters from Patriarch Yin Kuang,
originally published by
Sutra Translation Committee of
the United
States Canada New York
38. MIND-SEAL
OF THE BUDDHAS, p. 90
39.
THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING, by Sogyal Rinpoche, published by
HarperSanFrancisco, 2003, p. 236
14 pages (5,617
words) 17,2.2009 1935 18.2.2009 0111`
20.2.2009 Ma’s 7th Anniversary
(English) 035
SEVEN STEPS TO SUPREME BLISS
- Faith in Buddha
Shakyamuni’s
- Faith in Buddha
Amitabha’s Infinite Power to save,
liberate, and enlighten all beings with faith
- Faith in one’s Buddha
Nature, one’s inherent potential
and destiny to attain Buddhahood
- Vow for rebirth in
the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss
- Vow for bodhichitta
to attain the Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment
to benefit and save all beings
- Observing the Five
Moral Precepts (Pancasila)
- Mindfulness of the
Buddha
by reciting/chanting the Buddha’s Name
to the point of singlemindedness
SEVEN STEPS OF
THREEFOLD FAITH IN SHAKYAMUNI’S PURE
LAND TEACHING,
AMITABHA’S INFINITE LIBERATING AND
ENLIGHTENING POWER,
AND ONE’S BUDDHA NATURE AND INHERENT
POTENTIAL TO
BECOME A BUDDHA
TWIN VOWS FOR REBIRTH IN THE PURE LAND
AND FOR
BODHICITTA TO BENEFIT ALL BEINGS
FIVE MORAL PRECEPTS
AND
MINDFULNESS OF THE BUDDHA: NAMO AMITABHA
20.2.2009 Ma’s 7th Anniversary (English)
0425 0455 0500
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