Feed Your Head Deliverance and Pure Land teachings Buddha Love
Our Role in Amitabha’s Teaching of Deliverance to the Pure Land
By Alan Kwan
The Pure Land path is based on Amitabha’s teaching of deliverance
The spirit of the bodhisattva teaching in Mahayana Buddhism is “self-benefiting through benefiting others,” or “delivering oneself by delivering others.” In order to be a bodhisattva, one has to set forth or aspire to the awakening mind (Skt: bodhicitta) “to seek the Buddha’s way above, and to take across or deliver sentient beings below.”
In this respect, there are two different roles played by followers of the bodhisattva path. One is the role of “one who can deliver,” and the other is the role of “one to be delivered.” The former is known as the “capable great person who resolves to deliver” and the latter is comprised of “fearful, incapable, ordinary people.”
In his “Chapter on the Easy Path” in the Discourse of the Ten Stages, Nagarjuna Bodhisattva writes: “According to the Buddha, Mahayana practitioners who aspire to pursue the Buddhist way are as difficult and heavy to lift as Three Thousand Great Chiliocosms. You teach us to strive for the state of avinivartaniya (Skt: non-retrogression); but accomplishing that is extremely difficult and takes a very long time to attain.”
Nagarjuna continues: “There are infinite ways to practice the Buddha’s way. They are just like taking trips around the world; some are difficult and some are easy. If we take a trip by walking overland, it is painful; but if we cross the sea on a boat, it is joyful. The bodhisattva paths are similar.”
He further says: “Some pursue practices with diligence and vigor. But some choose “the easy practice” with faith as an expedient means. In these ways, they both reach the state of avinivartaniya.”
The “easy practice” specifically refers to name-recitation, in accordance with Amitabha’s 18th or Fundamental Vow, as stated in the Infinite Life Sutra.
In the Pure Land teaching, ordinary beings play the part of “patients”
In the Pure Land teaching, the “one who can deliver” is definitely the compassionate, capable, great being in the Land of Peace and Joy, called Amitabha Buddha. He is like a doctor, and the “ones to be delivered” are the timid, ordinary sentient beings who suffer in samsara without any way to escape. They are like patients.
The role of “benefiting others” is played by Amitabha Buddha, and the role of those who are “being benefited” is played by ordinary beings like us. So when we study and practice the Pure Land teaching, we have to bear in mind that we are “patients” with terminal illnesses, who are taken care of by the greatest and most capable doctor.
As patients, we must entrust ourselves to the doctor (Amitabha) and strictly follow his instructions. He prescribes one and only one medication, called the “agada” (the six-character great name, Namo Amituofo) that can heal all kinds of physical and mental diseases, as said in the Contemplation Sutra. This means that the practitioner who recites Namo Amituofo will become a buddha-like being, with a pure body and mind upon rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land. There all supremely virtuous people gather together in the same place, as said in the Amitabha Sutra by Shakyamuni Buddha.
Easy practice, splendid rewards in the Pure Land teaching
“All supremely virtuous people” refers to “sentient beings born in the Land of Bliss all achieve non-retrogression. Many of them attain the state of being one lifetime removed from buddhahood.” This is the highest stage that bodhisattvas can achieve, similar to Maitreya Bodhisattva.
Why is the practice so easy, but the reward so splendid in the Pure Land teaching? It is because Amitabha Buddha has attained perfect enlightenment, and accomplished his 18th or Fundamental Vow of Deliverance through reciting his Name, which enables us to be reborn in his Pure Land.
How can Amitabha’s Name enable us to be reborn in his Pure Land? It is because Amitabha Buddha instilled all of his flawless merit and virtues within his Name. This means that all those who exclusively recite his Name for rebirth (in accordance with his Fundamental Vow) will receive Amitabha’s unsurpassed merit and virtues.
How can Amitabha Buddha assure the rebirth of exclusive Amitabha-reciters? Once we make the decision to change our path within the bodhisattva teachings and aspire to be reborn in Amitabha’s Pure Land through his Name, Amitabha will embrace and protect us with his light, and never forsake us.
When we are near to the end of our lives, Amitabha Buddha and sacred beings will automatically appear before us, welcoming us and transporting us upon a lotus platform. In one brief moment, we will be reborn in the Land of Bliss within a blooming lotus flower and see Amitabha’s Dharma body.
Shakyamuni Buddha’s original intent in sharing Amitabha’s Name
At the end of the Amitabha Sutra, all buddhas in the 10 directions extol Shakyamuni’s inconceivable merit, declaring: “Shakyamuni Buddha has accomplished the most difficult and incomparable practices. He has attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi in the Saha world, a land of Five Turbidities.”
It continues: “He expounds this teaching for all sentient beings, despite the difficulty for them to comprehend it. Shariputra, I have accomplished extremely difficult practices, and attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Through great effort I have expounded this teaching, which is difficult for those in this world to accept!”
“This teaching” refers to Amitabha’s teaching of deliverance through the recitation of his Name, as stated in his Fundamental Vow. All sentient beings who recite his Name will be embraced and protected by his light in the present lifetime, and attain rebirth in his Land of Bliss at the end of their lives. Upon rebirth, all sentient beings live in a state of peace and joy, and ultimately become buddhas.
The Approach of Ordinary Beings
In the famous text The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, the Buddhist master Gyalsé Togmé Zangpo (1297–1371) describes the ordinary approach of ordinary beings as treating our friends and loved ones with attachment and love, and treating those we dislike or feel disconnected to with anger, hatred, or distaste. But because bodhichitta is a state of heart and mind that enables us, ultimately, to love others equally and impartially, we are called upon to change this habit we have of relating to our emotions, as well as to our connections, as friends and enemies. When we practice bodhichitta, we must be willing to appreciate, love, and care for all sentient beings despite our perceptions, the history or lack of history between us, or our current relationships with them. What is even more difficult is that we must be willing to put aside our own needs, comfort, and wishes in order to make space in our hearts and minds for others and their needs.
Atisha and the Lojong Teachings
Like Patrul Rinpoche and other sages, Atisha had a radical approach to living. When we view his life through the lens of bodhichitta, we see that he exemplifies the way to heal ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally so that we are healthy enough to serve others. It is said that when Atisha traveled to Tibet to teach the dharma, he brought with him a monkey who constantly soiled his body and his clothing, and an irate cook who often shouted at him. Because Atisha was a great Indian Buddhist master, he was highly revered and respected by all Tibetan people. He could have had the most comfortable home and the best clothing, and he could have been treated like a king by everyone around him. But Atisha, being wise, knew this would not ultimately bring him happiness or enable him to serve others. When asked by his students why he didn’t just get rid of the annoyances of the monkey and the cook, Atisha said, “All of you Tibetans are so nice to me. How will I ever learn to practice patience if I don’t live with the monkey and the cook? You see the monkey and the cook as enemies. Actually, they show me more kindness than my students do by giving me the opportunity to practice.”
THE GREATEST KINDNESSES ARE GIVEN TO US BY THOSE THINGS—OR PEOPLE—THAT WE WANT TO GET RID OF, THOSE THINGS THAT MAKE US UNCOMFORTABLE, ANGRY, IRRITATED, AND IMPATIENT.
In this story, Atisha gives us even more insight into the nature of friends and enemies. According to Atisha and the general Mahayana Buddhist teachings, the greatest kindnesses are given to us by those things—or people—that we want to get rid of, those things that make us uncomfortable, angry, irritated, and impatient. And the kindnesses shown by those who love and treat us well are more like the actions of enemies, since these kindnesses reinforce our sense of self-cherishing, which only brings us greater and greater unhappiness.
This story about the life and habits of Atisha is a beautiful introduction to the canon of teachings referred to as lojong, literally “mind training,” practiced by all followers of the bodhisattva path. In the West, lojong has come to be associated with a set of slogans and sayings that help us kindle mindfulness in many different situations. But in the context of the Buddhist tradition, lojong is a vast topic. We could think of it as the whole of engaged spiritual practice, using all the situations we face—positive, negative, and neutral—for self-improvement and spiritual development. So lojong cannot be limited to one practice or set of teachings. Actually, all of the eighty-four thousand different teachings taught by the historical Buddha Shakyamuni can be called lojong; their goal is to help us decrease and ultimately destroy self-attachment.
NO MATTER WHAT OUR PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES, THE ROOT OF OUR UNHAPPINESS IS EXACTLY THE SAME: WE CANNOT GET WHAT WE WANT, AND UNWANTED THINGS KEEP HAPPENING.
Because he was a great lojong master, Atisha can be considered an authoritative source of advice about how to develop emotional balance and stability. After all, Atisha was willing to approach life in a way that tore down all the walls and boundaries in his mind, so that he could get beyond his ordinary habits and simply work for the happiness and welfare of others. We may think that someone living a thousand years ago couldn’t comprehend the kinds of difficulties we face in the modern world today. But no matter what our problems and difficulties, the root of our unhappiness is exactly the same: we cannot get what we want, and unwanted things keep happening. We have taken birth and now are facing the aging, sickness, and death of ourselves and our loved ones.
EVEN THOUGH WESTERN CULTURE HAS A LONG TRADITION OF PRACTICING COMPASSION, IT CAN STILL BE DIFFICULT TO GET A SENSE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO TRAIN IN BODHICHITTA, WHICH GOES FAR BEYOND ORDINARY COMPASSION.
We may not think of seemingly positive actions as being the manipulators of our life situations, but when we entertain selfish thoughts and feelings, we are always, directly or indirectly, trying to be the architects of the scenarios we are facing. When we start to train seriously in bodhichitta, we begin to reverse our ordinary selfish tendencies—the same unhappy tendencies that cause us to keep the focus on ourselves and our own emotions. So it follows that to start training in bodhichitta, we must be willing to turn our ordinary ways of thinking, feeling, and doing upside down.
Bodhichitta is not a practice easily mastered because the emotional habits that we have developed run so deep. They are not like the ordinary paths worn into a hillside by frequent walking but rather more like deep ravines cut by swift flowing water. In fact, it is said that of all the teachings in Tibetan Buddhism, the teachings on bodhichitta are the most difficult to master because this practice fundamentally transforms the ordinary approach we take toward every aspect of our lives.
The difficulty of practicing bodhichitta in the modern world was in fact prophesied by the Tibetan masters of old. Traditionally the teachings on bodhichitta were always the first teachings to be received, practiced, and mastered, but that isn’t so in the modern world. It was said that in this modern age, the teachings of bodhichitta would become a secret aspect of the dharma, becoming more and more hidden as the years passed. This prophecy refers to the fact that in this modern age, people have extremely strong emotions and strong self-attachment. Fewer and fewer people see the value in releasing the grip they have on their emotions—or rather, that their emotions have on them—or dedicating themselves to spiritual practice. When we have the chance to read about and reflect on bodhichitta, or to begin to put it into practice, we should feel extremely fortunate that we have made a connection with such a genuine approach to spiritual growth and development that is said to be so rare and hard to find in this modern age. Mahayana Pilgrim
If you are enjoying the blog please share the posts, and subscribe that is amazing support!
Feel free to visit The Home page for Shamanic Offerings and the shop & extras at Buymeacoffee
Or just buy me a coffee all donations help this keep growing and keep my death Doula work donation based as well
This year thanks to my few and amazing supporters and my beautiful path, I AM overcoming and can see a bright light at the end of the tunnel
Medical donations for overcoming Lupus
Comments