Buddhism As Education

The sutras help us to understand the true reality of life and the universe so that we will know the proper way to think and behave as well as the appropriate cultivation method to be used. Only when we truly accord with the teachings of the sutra will we benefit. if we chant or read indifferently without applying the principles, then our efforts will be futile. Only when we become aware of the purpose and method of chanting the sutra can we actually achieve any results. Today, people simply recite absentmindedly like a small child who sings a song with the right words to the right tune but without understanding the meaning. Only when we become aware of the purpose and method of chanting the sutra can we actually achieve any results. If the Buddha's teachings are not integrated into our minds and our minds are still dictated by our afflictions and habits, what is the use of chanting the sutras? Only our verbal karma is good; whereas our minds and behavior still remains the sa...

Single-mindedly chanting a sutra without wandering thoughts, distractions or doubt, this is called cultivating meditative concentration. From the beginning till the end, enunciating clearly every word without error or omission - this is cultivating wisdom, we call it fundamental wisdom. Thus, chanting a sutra is cultivating simultaneously the precepts, meditative concentration and wisdom. If one thinks about the meaning of the sutra while chanting it will ruin the cultivation of precept observation, meditative concentration and wisdom. This is treating the sutra as a worldly book. A Living Buddha Zhangjia once said: Buddhism does not emphasize on forms or rituals but rather true substance. If we pay attention only to the formality and fail profoundly comprehend the essence of the sutra's teaching, we will not progress any further than just being zealous about our faith and thus be easily manipulated by those with bad intentions. Chanting the sutras is cultivating the prece...

Venerable Master Yinguang spoke of small size cultivation centers with no more than twenty practitioners. Small centers will be easy to maintain. There is no need to ask for donations or contributions, no need to hold Dharma assemblies or ceremonies for helping the deceased attain a better rebirth and no need to confer precepts or to give lectures on the sutras. However, it is hard to find practitioners of the same mind, Pure Land centers could not completely follow Venerable Master Yinguang's instructions, but he added one thing: a lecturing session. Why? Because if we do not understand the Pure Land teachings, we may gradually lose our enthusiasm. The more we listen to lectures on the sutras, the more we will understand the Pure Land teachings. Listening to lectures on sutras will help us to dissolve our doubts, developing confidence and strengthen our belief and vow. It will therefore guarantee our success in this lifetime. We should do nothing else but listen to lectures o...

When we go to the western Pure Land, we are like elementary school students. But there are also university students, post-graduate students and PhD students in the same classroom. When we face difficulty, they will help us. An inconceivable world! Therefore, attaining rebirth in the Land of Common Residence of Ordinary Beings and Saints, the first of the four lands, is the same as attaining rebirth in the Land of Expedient Liberation because arhats are our fellow practitioners. It is also the same as attaining rebirth in the Land of Eternally Quiescent Light, the highest of the four lands because Buddhas are also there with us. Although there are uncountable number of methods, their objectives are the same. It is often said, 'all the roads lead to Rome' and 'all methods are the same'. Pure Land practitioners should never criticize or slander Zen, Esoteric or any other schools because their objectives are the same as ours; they simply follow different methods of p...

Purity, impartiality and enlightenment are the guidelines for learning and practicing. what are we learning? We are learning to, first, cultivate a pure mind, second, cultivate an impartial mind and third, be awakened and not deluded. Purity, impartiality and enlightenment are three in one, one in three. The Pure Land school focuses on the cultivation of a pure mind. When the mind is pure, the land will be pure. The connection between us and Amitabha Buddha of the Western Pure Land lies in a pure mind. Amitabha Buddha is Sanskrit. Amitabha means 'infinite', Buddha means 'awakening'. This name therefore implies infinite enlightenment. 'Infinite' describes that which is innate in the true nature: infinite wisdom, infinite virtues and abilities, and infinite auspicious marks. These three categories of  'infiiteness' covers all the infinities in the entire universe. 'Amitabha Buddha' is the name of the true nature. That is why Venerable Mast...

These three factors are the cornerstones of Pure Land Buddhism. If they are present, rebirth in the Pure Land is achieved. Faith means faith in Amitabha Buddha’s vow to rescue all who recite his name, as well as faith in one’s own self-nature, which is intrinsically the same as His [to recite the Buddha’s name is to recite the Mind]. Vows are determination to be reborn in Pure Land in one’s pure Mind so as to be in the position to save oneself and others. Practice generally means reciting the Buddha’s name to the point where one’s Mind and that of Amitabha Buddha are in unison i.e. to the point of single-mindedness. Samadhi and wisdom are then achieved. Please note that all Buddhist Teachings are expedients, dividing the one and indivisible Truth into many parts. Faith, Vows and Practice, although three, are really one. Thus, it can be said that rebirth in the Pure Land depends on three conditions or two conditions [Faith and Vows] or even one condition [Faith], as the one contains all...

The Buddha name recitation is practiced in many forms: silently or aloud, alone or in groups, by itself or combined with visualization of Amitabha or contemplation of the concept of Buddha or combined with the methods of Zen. The aim is to concentrate one’s attention on Amitabha, and let all other thoughts die away. At first and all along, miscellaneous thoughts intrude and the mind wanders. But with sustained effort, one’s focus on the Buddha name recitation becomes progressively more steady and clear. Mindfulness of Buddha – Buddha remembrance – grows stronger and purer. Reciting the Buddha name functions as a powerful antidote to those great enemies of clear awareness that Buddhist had traditionally labelled “oblivion” and “scattering”. “Oblivion” refers to the tendency of human mind when not occupied by its habitual thoughts to sink into a state of torpor and sleepy nescience. “Scattering” is the other pole of ordinary mental life, where the consciousness flies off in all direction...