You can become a Buddha!
You can become
a Buddha!
(A) Budhha’s Message to All Human Beings: You
can, and will become Buddhas!
“When a son of the Buddha (anyone
who has strong faith in the Buddha) has fulfilled
his course (of spiritual cultivation),” the Buddha
Shakyamuni said to His leading disciple Shariputra in the Lotus Sutra, “in a world to come he becomes a Buddha…” (1)
Although
the Lotus Sutra makes the definitive
statement in Mahayana literature that everyone can become a Buddha, the same
message has been delivered implicitly in the vastly profound Avatamsaka Sutra which is believed by
Mahayanists to have been given by the historical Buddha when in deep meditative
concentration (samadhi) soon after gaining the Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment
of Buddhahood.
“There is
not a single sentient being who is not fully endowed with the knowledge of
Buddha; it is just that because of deluded notions, erroneous thinking, and
attachments, they are unable to realize,” the Bodhisattva Universally Good
(Samantabhadra) spoke on behalf of the Buddha in the Avatamsaka Sutra.
“If they
would get rid of deluded notions, then universal knowledge (omniscience),
spontaneous knowledge, and unobstructed knowledge would become manifest…” (2)
In the Surangama Sutra, another major
discourse and text in Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha taught Ananda, His cousin
and a leading disciple, about the two kinds of human mind. As translated by
Buddhist scholar David Rounds, one is “the ordinary quotidian mind of which we
are aware and which is entangled, lifetime after lifetime, in the snare of
illusory perceptions and random thoughts…”
The
day-to-day mind, mired in “worldly dusts” of the five senses and mundane
consciousness. What we have in the perishable three-pound brain with 100
billion neurons.
The other
is “the everlasting true mind, which is our real nature, and which is the state
of the Buddha…” (3) The originally enlightened consciousness of Buddha Nature,
is it. And its realization is the omniscient wisdom of Buddhahood.
The
spiritual mind of inherent enlightenment, the Buddha taught Ananda, “is the
original and pure essence of nirvana…”
To quote
further: “It is the original understanding, the real nature of consciousness.
All conditional phenomena arise from it, and yet it is among those phenomena
that beings lose track of it.
“They have lost track of this fundamental
understanding, though it is active in them all day long, and because they remain
unaware of it, they make the mistake
of entering the various destinies (countless lifetimes of ignorance-bound suffering in the various realms of Samsara)…”
(B) Buddha’s Vow to Enlighten Everyone
Spiritual liberation and
enlightenment, this is the Buddha’s Primal Vow. The timeless,
eternal, and irrevocable vow of all the Buddhas of the past,
the present and the future.
In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni spoke in verse:
“The original
vow of the Buddhas
Was to cause
all sentient beings to universally
Attain the very
same Buddha path
That I have
practiced…” (4)
The Buddha
then reiterated:
“From a great
many kalpas (eons) ago,
I have always
taught like this:
I have praised
and illuminated
The teaching
of Nirvana,
Saying it ends
the sufferings
Of birth and
death…” (5)
Concluding His teaching in the Lotus Sutra on the various expedient
and skillful means to attain Buddhahood, Shakyamuni exhorted His disciples in
the highly distinguished assembly of 1,200 bodhisattvas and arhats:
“Let great joy
arise in your hearts
And know that
you will all become Buddhas!”
(C) Buddha’s Mission: Buddhahood of All Human
Beings
“The Buddhas appear in this world to cause
sentient beings to aspire toward purity and the wisdom and insight of the
Buddhas,” Shakyamuni said to Shariputra in the Lotus Sutra.
“They
appear in this world to manifest the wisdom and insight of the Buddhas to
sentient beings.
“They
appear in this world to cause sentient beings to attain the wisdom and insight
of a Buddha’s enlightenment.
“They
appear in this world to cause sentient beings to enter the path of the wisdom
and insight of a Buddha.
“ O Shariputra! For this one great reason
alone the Buddhas have appeared in this world…” (6)
Buddha’s
mission is for all human beings to obtain the omniscience and wisdom of
Buddhahood, and to make all sentient beings His equal.
To quote
Buddha:
“I will lead
and inspire all sentient beings
And cause them
to enter the path of the Buddhas…” (7)
They will all
become the equal of the Buddha Shakyamuni, with the eventual and ultimate
fulfillment of their intrinsic Buddha Nature.
(D) The Buddha’s Teaching of
Expedients and Skillful Means
In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha spoke in verse:
“The Dharma
obtained by the Buddhas
Is spoken for
living beings
Through the power of
limitless expedients…” (8)
To recap, the
Buddha then said:
“I have established
these expedients
To cause them
(sentients) to enter the Buddha’s wisdom…”
On practicing in
accord with Skillful Means, Shramana Chih-i (538-597), the Patriarch of the
Lotus Sutra-based T’ien-t’ai School, taught practicing with five dharmas of
zeal, vigor, mindfulness, discerning wisdom, and single-mindedness,
determination and perseverance to the end of the Way of Full Enlightenment. (9)
The Buddha has also given the assurance to all
those who have great faith in the Dharma:
“Of those who hear
the Law
Not one fails to
become a Buddha…” (10)
In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha also teaches
the Dharma of faith and devotion.
Being completely antithetical
and contrary to faith, doubt has no place in Mahayana practice. The Great
Master Chih-I has taught that all doubtfulness must be cast off.
“Because doubt
covers the mind, one is unable to develop faith in any dharma. Because one has
no mind of faith, one encounters the Buddha’s Dharma in vain and gains nothing
whatsoever from it,” Chih-i taught.
“With respect to
the Dharma of the Buddha, faith constitutes the means whereby one can enter…”
(11)
In the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Bodhisattva Chief
in Goodness versifies:
“Faith is generous, the mind not
grudging;
Faith can joyfully enter the
Buddha’s teaching;
Faith can increase knowledge and
virtue;
Faith can assure arrival at
enlightenment…” (12)
Of the myriad expedient means to
Buddhahood, including those cited in the Lotus
Sutra, the Buddha said:
“Those who, even with distracted
minds,
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, ‘Homage to
the Buddha!’
Have certainly attained the path
of the Buddhas…” (13)
The
invocation of the Buddha has become the number one skillful cultivation in
Mahayana practice. In Pure Land Buddhism, it has evolved into the full-time
signature practice of mindfulness of the Buddha.
E. The Quintessential
Practice of Mindfulness of the Buddha
The
practice of mindfulness through reciting
the Buddha’s Name has been perfected and propagated by the Bodhisattva
Mahasthamaprapta, Boundless Light and Power of Buddha-Wisdom.
In the Surangama Sutra, the lead teaching text
of the Chan/Zen School, Mahasthama said he was taught by the “Buddha Whose
Light Surpasses that of the Sun (Great Compassion) and Moon (Supreme
Enlightenment) in the remotest of eons “how to realize Samadhi (profound
meditative concentration and equanimity) by thinking exclusively of (Amitabha) Buddha”.
Having
mastered and perfected this fundamental practice of mindfulness of the Buddha,
Mahasthama added: “I help all living beings of this world to control their
thoughts (their minds) by repeating the Buddha’s Name so that
they reach the Pure Land (where they can attain their spiritual liberation and
perfection)…” (14)
The eminent
Buddhist master and philosopher Chih-i has taught: “Ordinary people with no
power can only concentrate on reciting
the Name of Amitabha Buddha until they achieve samadhi, stable
concentration. When this work is completed, then when they die they can gather
in their thoughts (concentrate in calm mindfulness) and attain birth in the
Pure Land and definitely get to see Amitabha Buddha…”
The
T’ien-t’ai patriarch was himself deeply devoted to Amitabha Buddha, and
faithfully recited the Buddha’s Name. His advice: “you should concentrate on cultivating Pure Land
practice, and vow to be born there…”
(15)
With the
power of your concentration/samadhi and your karmic stock of merit, you can
further call and draw on the ever-sustaining power or grace (adhisthana) of the Buddha Amitabha.
“Invoking
Amitabha’s (Name) is equivalent to invoking (the Names of) all the Buddhas,”
Master Chih-i has taught, “so in this case we simply focus on Amitabha as the essential gate of access to Dharma…” (16)
In the year 770 AD the Bodhisattva
Manjushri appeared before Master Fa-chao (747-821?) who was then in deep
meditative concentration at a temple on the legendary Mount Wu-tai in
Hang-chou.
During this
extraordinary appearance, the Dharma Prince taught the young monk to constantly
recite Amitabha Buddha’s Name, to be born in the Pure Land with the certainty
of attaining the Supreme Enlightenment.
“All the
phenomena of enlightenment, from the perfection of wisdom, to meditative
concentration, to Buddhahood, are all born from reciting the Buddha’s Name,” the Bodhisattva of Wisdom taught
Fa-chao.
“Thus we know
that reciting the Buddha’s Name
(Amitabha) is the king of all the Dharmas…” (17)
Master Fa-chao
himself subsequently taught the practice of mindfulness of the Buddha Amitabha
and incessantly reciting the Buddha’s Name as the supreme method of meditation
and cultivation of Samadhi.
The illustrious
20th century Chan/Zen Patriarch Hsuan Hua (1918-1995) has taught his
American disciples: “To become a Buddha, all you need to do is
to recite the Buddha’s Name…” (18)
NAMO
AMITABHA BUDDHA
15-16.10.2014 01:51 07.01.2015
06:16
Notes.
1. THE THREEFOLD LOTUS SUTRA, translated
by Bunno Kato, Chapter Two: Tactfulness, p. 41 rk-world.org
2. The Flower Ornament Scripture, A
Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra
by Dr. Thomas Cleary, published by Shambhala, Boston, 1993, Book Thirty-six:
The Practice of Universal Good, p. 1002
3. David
Rounds, Rescuing Ananda – An Overview of
the Surangama Sutra, Religion East and West Issue 7 October 2007 p. 81
4. Translation
by Tsugunari Kubo and Akira Yuyama bdk.america.org
p. 40
5. Ibid.,
p. 44
6. THE LOTUS SUTRA translated by Tsugunari
Kubo and Akira Yuyama, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research,
Berkeley, California, 2007 Chapter II Skillful Means bdk.org.jp/pdf p.46
7. Ibid.,
p. 52
8. The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra
Chapter 2 Expedient Devices THE SAGELY CITY OF TEN THOUSAND BUDDHAS cttbusa.org
9. The Dharma Essentials… translated by
Dharmamitra 1915 Chapter Five todian.net
10. The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the
Wonderful Law translated by Bunno Kato Chapter Two: Tactfulness rk-world.org pdf p. 43
11. The Dharma Essentials…Chapter Three, on
doubting oneself, one’s guru, and the Dharma todian.net
12. Flower Ornament Scripture, translated
by Dr. Thomas Cleary, Book Twelve, p. 331
13. THE LOTUS SUTRA translated by Tsugunari
Kubo and Akira Yuyama Chapter II Skillful Means bdk.org pdf p. 55
14. THE SURANGAMA SUTRA, translated by
Upasaka Lu K’uan Yu (Charles Luk), p. 81
15. DIRECT POINTING TO THE SOURCE, by 16th
century Chan/Zen Master Tsung-pen, collated in PURE LAND, PURE MIND, translated by Dr. J.C. Cleary, reprinted
November 2003 for free distribution by The Corporate Body of the Buddha
Educational Foundation, Taiwan, pp. 149-150
16. Daniel
Stevenson, Samadhi in Early T’ien-t’ai
Buddhism, collated in TRADITIONS OF
MEDITATION IN CHINESE BUDDHISM, edited by Peter N. Gregory, University of
Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 1986 pp. 60-61
17. PURE LAND, PURE MIND, p. 184
Master Fa-chao became a patriarch
of the Pure Land.
18. BUDDHA ROOT FARM, Buddhist Text
Translation Society, San Francisco
February 1976 p. 56
Mahasthama Mindfulness Center
25 Selasar Rokam 40
Taman Ipoh Jaya
31350 Ipoh
Perak MALAYSIA
Telephone: 05-3134941
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pages 1,881 words 15-16.10.2014 01:56 02:37 02:53
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