On The Pure Land Path

Many of my friends and my two children know that I will be going to Nianfo, reciting Amituofo, in a Buddhist meeting somewhere in Auckland on Mondays. They know I and my wife are Buddhists; are quite devoted to its activities; and are helping that group with some secretarial tasks.

But they know very little about what activities are held there; why it attracts me to travel all the way by bus to attend every week; what do I pursue on this path? I suppose they have some ideas about Buddhism - it talks about emptiness and various philosophical yet abstract topics; it was founded by a prince of ancient India; and it is mainly welcomed by old fellows. And that are all what they might know about.

So I like to write this post to tell my friends, especially my two children the basics of this tradition.

The following are what I learned. About 2500 or 3000 years ago, a prince of ancient India, by an enormous cause, got a chance to leave the palace and saw things that he could only see in the outside world. He saw a very old man staggering along the street; he saw a sick man lying on the roadside; he saw a corpse surrounded by the mourning family. He was overwhelmed by what he had never seen in the palace. And he saw a spiritual practitioner as well. This encounter triggered his realization of the truth of life, and resulted in his drop out of palace one night to start his quest for solution of complete liberation. (This link will bring you to a 40 minute video which gives detailed description about The Life of The Buddha.)

After 9 years of diligent practice and seek for the truth, he achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. He found the answer of life and discovered fact of the universe. He was free from the endless cycle of rebirth. He was completely liberated.

I imagine what the Buddha was thinking after his enlightenment. He was thinking that he should share with all beings how he had reached the state of full liberation, what the liberation was like; he should start his teaching. So he walked out of his retreat to begin his preaching that lasted 49 years long till he dropped his physical body and entered Nirvana, the ultimate state of being free from suffering and cycle of rebirth.

His teaching came to China in the middle of 1st century, and was naturally localized and diversified into many different schools to suit individual learners of various nature and capacity. Among them are schools such as Cha'n (or Zen in Japan), Tendai, Pure Land and etc. Despite that there are so many different schools, their main courses are all the same - following the three learning steps: Observance of Precept, Mindful in Concentration and Ultimate Wisdom.

I was brought onto Pure Land path through viewing Venerable Chin Kung's DVD titled "Getting To Know Buddhism". This school teaches us how to go through the above mentioned three steps by reciting "Amituofo". So in the group meditation practice, you can see they walk in round in the chanting hall aiming to tame our wandering mind to achieve mindfulness by focusing our thought on the recitation of Amituofo.

My personal experience from practice Pure Land path tells me mindfulness is the most difficult skill one can learn in his lifetime. Try it yourself. Sit on a chair comfortably, close your eyes, take a few deep breath, and then try to still your thought. How do you feel? Can you hold the stillness for a few seconds? It is challenging, isn't it? A renowned spiritual practitioner had lived in a cave in remote mountain for 12 years doing intensive meditation retreat. Once she was asked by people about how she felt during her retreat. She said to them that she was never bored during that period of time. Obviously she had tasted the heavenly happiness through her diligent practice.

Though it is difficult, it is a lot of fun and enjoyment in cultivating this skill because you will gradually gain the long lasting calmness and bliss if you persevere. And don't forget, our ultimate goal is to achieve Paramita Wisdom, the perfectly awaken state of mind, the state that free us from the endless cycle of rebirth.

Recently I heard from some of my friends that their parents were suffering from various diseases such as Alzheimer, Diabetes, Incontinence etc and had become bed bounded for quite some time. Although their life is long, all are over 90, but the diseases resulting from longevity make them suffer. That's why in the first sermon that Buddha delivered after his enlightenment pointed out that life is Dukkah, or is never satisfactory. To my perspective, Pure Land path is designed to train us to be in control of our worldly life, to get us prepared to migrate to the Pure Land at our will.

Knowing that no one can bring anything along after our life is ended, isn't it the most urgent and important task to be prepared to break the cycle of rebirth in our lifetime?