Buddhism of Wisdom & Faith

 

8. PERSEVERANCE AND STEADFASTNESS IN RECITATION

 

 

Remember the Ultimate Aim and Be Diligent

 

For recitation to be vigorous and steadfast, we should have a firm standpoint. That standpoint is to remember the very goal of cultivation. For example, a farmer who aims for a bumper crop arises early and retires late, endures many hardships and toils all day long. Similarly, an aspiring official, wishing to pass his examinations with honors and make his parents proud, burns the midnight oil in study, tired but not discouraged. The cultivator should do likewise. His current practice is for the goal of ultimate liberation, to save himself and others. Elder Master Ch'e Wu, a master of the highest virtue, versed in both the sutras and the various schools, once wrote a stanza which can be considered the kernel of Pure Land:

 

Because of Birth and Death, 
Develop the Bodhi Mind; 
With deep Faith and Vows, 
Recite the Buddha's name.

 

We who are in the cycle of Birth and Death, subject to endless suffering, should urgently seek to escape that cycle. I have already dwelled briefly on this urgent matter. However, self-liberation alone is a limited and narrow goal. We should seek Buddhahood to help ourselves and others reach the realm of ultimate liberation. Our Master, Sakyamuni Buddha, preached the Dharma for forty-nine years and elaborated upon it in more than three hundred assemblies precisely and for no other reason than to reach that goal.

 

Once we have developed the Bodhi Mind, seeking to escape Birth and Death, there is no easier or safer way to go about it than "to recite the Buddha's name with deep Faith and Vows."

 

Those who are ignorant of the Dharma are, of course, helpless. However, those who know the Pure Land teaching but fail to cultivate diligently are ungrateful to the Buddhas and are wasting a unique opportunity to realize their wonderful Self-Nature. Thus, we should persevere with increased effort in reciting the Buddha's name over an extended period of time, rather than doing so in a perfunctory, haphazard manner, with constant interruptions. The ancients have said:

 

If we do not plan to save this body in this life, 
When, then, will we do so?

 

Promising ourselves to cultivate in the next life is no different from a deluded person speaking of a dream-like event. Let us take two examples from ordinary life: a lover sometimes has to travel long distances and endure many hardships just to get to the rendezvous; a gambler, desiring to win, can give up food and sleep, sometimes playing for several days in a row. If ordinary people can endure such hardship over a little bit of worldly lust, how much more should a cultivator endure while pursuing a lofty goal? Therefore, if we are indolent during cultivation, subject to lapses and interruptions, afraid of difficulties and hardships and fond of fleeting pleasures and sleep, it is because we are not firm in our determination or earnest in our will to liberate ourselves and others!

Time flies, the God of Impermanence does not wait, this body is easily lost, the Dharma is difficult to encounter. The practitioner should remember these points and keep the two words "suffering" and "death" constantly before his very eyes, thus urging himself on.

 

A Method for Escaping Birth and Death in One Lifetime

 

The ocean of worlds throughout the ten directions can be divided, in general, into two types: pure lands and defiled lands. 

Pure lands are the pure and adorned realms of the Buddhas; once reborn there, we have escaped Birth and Death forever and will gradually progress to become sages and saints. 

Defiled lands are realms where everything, from the environment to the bodies and minds of sentient beings, is defiled; their inhabitants must revolve along the Six Paths, subject to the sufferings of samsara.

 

If sentient beings in this defiled Saha World merely keep the Five or the Ten Precepts and perform other good deeds but do not practice Buddha Recitation, they will have little affinity with the Buddhas. As they lack affinity with the Buddhas, the transcendental seeds in their Alaya consciousness cannot develop. Therefore, although they may perform good deeds, they can at most be reborn in the celestial realms, but not in the Western Pure Land. The lifespan in these realms, while long, is still limited. When their merits and blessings are exhausted, they will undergo rebirth once more, according to their stock of transgressions and merits.

 

With attachment to the self as the cornerstone, sentient beings begin to create more good or bad karma; therefore, they continue to revolve in the cycle of Birth and Death. In that cycle, transgressions are easy to commit, while good deeds are difficult to perform. Thus, the time spent on the evil realms is very long, while the periods of stay in the celestial realms are limited. Buddha Sakyamuni once lamented:

Sentient beings usually take the three Evil Paths as their homeland.

 

For this reason, we can predict that sentient beings who are not reborn in the pure lands of the Buddhas are bound to remain in the defiled lands. In these defiled lands, in the midst of an evil environment full of obstructions and weighed down by their limited capacities and conditions as sentient beings of the Dharma-Ending Age, they will sooner or later descend onto the Evil Paths. Thus, to achieve rebirth in the pure lands of the various Buddhas, they must recite these Buddhas' names.

 

Some might ask: "There are many methods leading to liberation; why should we recite the Buddha's name?"

 

The answer to this question should be obvious, but I will reply all the same, to make it clearer.

In ancient times, even though Sakyamuni Buddha had passed away, the True Dharma still flourished. Sentient beings then had light karma and their minds were intrinsically good. Therefore, they could succeed with whatever Dharma method they chose. With the passing of time, in the Dharma Semblance Period, a long time after Buddha Sakyamuni had entered Nirvana, the environment and the minds of people had gradually grown complicated. Out of hundreds of thousands of practitioners, perhaps one or two would attain the Way.

This is even more true now that we are deep into the Dharma-Ending Age, when virtues and morals have broken down. True cultivators are rare enough; why talk about those who have attained the Way? This is because sentient beings today have heavy obstructions, their minds are confused, and their lives and social organization are more complex and troublesome than in earlier times. Added to this are constant threats of war and strife, poverty, shortages and disasters, one after another. Furthermore, pornography and violence are condoned, while religion and morality are considered anachronisms. With so many obstacles from within our minds and from the environment reinforcing one another, no wonder it is difficult to reach Enlightenment by reliance on self-power alone, as taught in most Dharma methods.

We should know, furthermore, that to escape Birth and Death, we must sever Delusions of Views and Delusions of Thought. However, according to the ancients:

Blocking Delusions of Views is as difficult as blocking a raging stream coming from forty miles away.

Why, then, even mention eliminating all Delusions of Thought?

 

Thus, if we want to achieve liberation in this Dharma-Ending Age, the most appropriate method is Buddha Recitation. Through this method, the cultivator, after utilizing his self-power to the utmost, receives additional assistance from other-power. Even though his karma and delusions are not yet extinguished, he can, through the power of Amitabha Buddha's Vows, "take his residual karma along" to the Pure Land. Once reborn, he will no longer retrogress and will have transcended Birth and Death forever!

As discussed earlier, in the Great Heap Sutra and the Longer Amitabha Sutra, Sakyamuni Buddha, in His profound wisdom and compassion, predicted the limited capacities and evil conditions of people in the Dharma-Ending Age as well as the efficacy and appropriateness of the Pure Land method. Therefore, in this degenerate age, when Enlightenment "in this very lifetime" can seldom be attained through other methods, only Pure Land can prolong the turning of the Dharma wheel and liberate sentient beings. In a letter to a fellow monk, Elder Master Yin Kuang expressed it this way:

Deep into the Dharma-Ending Age, when practicing methods other than Pure Land, we may speak of sowing good seeds and creating favorable conditions for Enlightenment in the future, but we cannot speak of attaining the fruit of liberation in this very lifetime.

For these reasons, we can conclude that in the Dharma-Ending Age, only Buddha Recitation brings liberation from Birth and Death in one lifetime.

 

Do Not Procrastinate

 

We should know that Pure Land is a Perfect and Sudden Mahayana method. Why Mahayana? Because this method takes Buddha Recitation as "cause" and complete Enlightenment as "effect." Why "Perfect"? Because this Dharma door, as the ancient masters have said, completely encompasses the Five Periods and Eight Teachings. Why "Sudden"? Because this expedient can guide everyone from the level of an ordinary being completely bound by greed, anger and delusion to the stage of non-retrogression, and from the beginning levels of Bodhisattvahood to Supreme Enlightenment, via a straight and swift shortcut.

 

Therefore, this method is extolled by all of the Buddhas of the ten directions, while Bodhisattvas such as Manjusri and Samantabhadra, and Patriarchs such as Asvaghosha and Nagarjuna, all vow to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land. Thus, to recite the Buddha's name is to practice personally according to the Perfect Sudden Mahayana method.

 

When seeking liberation, we should consider Buddha Recitation to be most essential and urgent and put this method into practice immediately, without procrastination. Buddha Sakyamuni taught on many occasions that human life is only as long as one breath, because if we exhale but do not inhale, we have already died and stepped over into a new lifetime. Therefore, death awaits us at all times; behind each year, each month, each day, each hour and even each and every second lurks our impending demise. No one can predict the length of his own lifespan, as reflected in the following stanzas:

 

Yesterday, at the crossroads, he still rode his horse; 
Today he lies still in his coffin!

Do not wait until old age to recite the Buddha's name, 
In abandoned cemeteries can be found the graves of many youths.

 

These stanzas reflect the facts of life. Thus, to avoid being surprised by the God of Impermanence, let us at all times apply ourselves to earnest recitation of the Buddha's name. Only then will we escape bewilderment and confusion in our last moments.

 

To prevent and discourage laziness and laxity in cultivation, Sakyamuni Buddha carefully taught:

 

There are, in general, eight occasions when a monk tends to be lax. For instance, whenever he does not receive enough food on his alms rounds, he may think, "I do not have enough food today. Therefore I lack nutrition and good health. Let me postpone cultivation for one night." Whenever he receives ample food, he may think to himself, "today I am full and feel heavy and tired. Let me postpone cultivation for one night and continue tomorrow." He may engage in similar reasoning on such occasions as: preparing to do a great deal of work, having just completed some heavy physical task, feeling ill, recovering from illness, readying himself for a long trip, or having just returned from a long trip. In all these instances, he always has one excuse or another to stop cultivation and rest. On the contrary, when a diligent monk is faced with these same situations, he always sets his mind on the truth of Impermanence and never avoids assiduous cultivation.

 

If even monks and nuns are that indolent, lay people can be assumed to be worse. A well-known Master once urged a close friend to recite the Buddha's name. The latter wrote back complaining that he was currently too busy, and promised to take the Master's advice into account as soon as his affairs were temporarily settled. The Master penned a stanza on the letter before returning it. The verse reads as follows:

 

If we have decided to stop, let us stop at once; Why promise to wait for our cares to end -- as they never will.

Truthfully, the preoccupations and worries of this world will never end, not even when it comes time for us to close our eyes and depart.

 

A well-known Master once advised a lay friend to recite the Buddha's name. The latter replied, "There are three things I have not yet attended to: one, my father's coffin is not yet entombed; two, my son does not yet have a family; three, my youngest daughter is still unmarried. Let me take care of these three things and then I will follow your advice." A few months later, the layman was struck by a grave illness and suddenly passed away. After the memorial, the monk offered a stanza in lieu of condolences:

 

My friend, the wise official 
When I advised him to recite the Buddha's name he countered with three things; 
The three things have not been accomplished, 
Yet impermanence has already snatched him away. 
Lord of Hell, how inconsiderate can you be!

 

Reading this stanza, who among us dares claim he is not another wise official? Therefore, those who are determined to cultivate should take advantage of every single instant, and recite the Buddha's name at that very moment. They should avoid stepping in the doomed footprints of those who have erred before them -- with cause for regret for a thousand autumns to come.

 

Cultivate Step by Step

 

If the Pure Land practitioner wishes to cultivate in a lasting way, he should establish a timetable and, depending on his inclinations, health and particular situation, grow progressively more diligent. He should not be over-ambitious at the very beginning, reciting too much for too long.

Like a pedestrian who should not walk too fast lest he stumble and trip, those who do not know their limits and go overboard in practice can be discouraged by fatigue and stress and abandon all cultivation.

 

In general, the Buddha Recitation practitioner should have two periods of practice: fixed and unfixed.

 

"Fixed period of practice" means that each day we should have a predetermined period of recitation during which we record the number of utterances.

 

"Unfixed period of practice" means that outside the fixed period, we should always silently recite the Buddha's name whether walking, standing, reclining or sitting, but no recording is necessary.

 

The main point to remember about Buddha Recitation is that whether reciting slowly or fast, we should do so distinctly and deliberately, the mind closely paralleling the utterances, mind and utterances in unison. Reciting in that way over a long period of time makes recitation second nature, and the practitioner can go from one thousand to over one hundred thousand utterances per day.

 

Recitation Should be Pure and Unmixed -- the Number of Utterances is Secondary

 

Certain practitioners do not like to finger the rosary as they recite the Buddha's name; they just decide in advance the duration of each recitation session. This method has the advantage of "sustaining" the mind, each utterance clearly registering in the Alaya consciousness. However, if the practitioner lacks strong power of mind and determined will, he will be prone to languid, dilatory recitation (making it difficult to achieve results), boredom, fatigue and frequent glances at the clock. On the other hand, fingering the rosary and reciting the predetermined number of utterances reinforces the power of diligent recitation, just as a weak person leaning on a cane can climb mountains. However, if the practitioner does not follow the cardinal principle of Buddha Recitation (i.e., to recite distinctly and deliberately, with mind and recitation in unison) he will fall into the error of reciting too much too fast, thus becoming sloppy.

 

We should know that as soon as the practitioner begins to recite, each utterance penetrates deeply into his Alaya consciousness. As the utterances accumulate, the Buddha's name will eventually emerge, whether he is awake or asleep. This is called the "state of non-recitation being recitation." If the cultivator recites clearly and distinctly in daily life, the utterances emerging from the Alaya consciousness will be clear and distinct; if he recites perfunctorily in an unclear manner, the utterances will not be clear.

 

Cultivation usually fails in this particular area and therefore, practitioners should be cautious from the very beginning. If reciting many utterances swiftly is motivated by the desire for fame and the reputation as someone who recites tens of thousands of times a day, we will be better off reciting less and concentrating on the quality of the recitation.

 

This author knows of a laywoman who practices Buddha Recitation regularly. She has great faith in the Triple Jewel; however, she likes to socialize a lot. Every evening, when she returns home and is invited to the dinner table, she says, "I have promised my master to recite ten full rosaries every day. If I do not keep my promise, I will commit a transgression against the Triple Jewel. Please wait while I fulfill my promise, and then we will sit down to dinner." So saying, she hastily dons her Dharma robe, recites the Buddha's name at top speed, as though she were trying to put out a fire, and is done in about fifteen minutes. How can such recitation lead to rebirth in the Pure Land? Like this laywoman, many practitioners recite the Buddha's name in such a manner "to fulfill the required number." We should know that there are two areas crucial to Buddha Recitation: a true, earnest mind and clear, distinct recitation. Only in this way can we hope to achieve results.

Another anecdote concerns a laywoman who once approached a well-known Elder Master and asked: "I have recited the Buddha's name for some time now, but have not seen any sign of progress. Can you explain to me why this is so?" The abbot said, "Reciting the Buddha's name is not difficult; the difficulty lies in perseverance. Perhaps you have not recited regularly and in a persevering manner." The laywoman replied, "You are entirely right. I am usually interrupted in my recitation and have not been persevering, because of family obligations. From now on, I will put aside all distractions and vow to keep reciting exactly as taught."

Some time later, she returned and asked, "Since receiving your instructions last time, I have put aside all external distractions and recited the Buddha's name regularly, every day. Why is it that I still do not see any results?" The abbot replied, "Reciting the Buddha's name is not difficult; the difficulty lies in perseverance. Persevering is not difficult; the difficulty lies in being singleminded. Although, on the surface, you may have put all distractions aside, in your mind you still worry about possessions and property and are still attached to children and family. You have neither discarded worry nor eliminated the root of love-attachment. How can you achieve one-pointedness of mind and see Amitabha Buddha?" Hearing this, the woman sighed aloud "That is so true, Master! Although I have seemingly abandoned all distractions, my mind is still preoccupied with them. From now on, I vow to disregard everything and recite the Buddha's name singlemindedly."

Thereupon she went home and, from that time on, each time her children or anyone else sought her advice or confided in her, she would invariably reply, "I want peace of mind, and do not wish to be bothered by anything." For this reason, everyone referred to her as "the woman who is above all worry and care." A few years later, she went to bow to the abbot at his temple, saying, "Thanks to your advice and teaching, I have now achieved one-pointedness of mind and seen Amitabha Buddha. I have come to pay my respects and take leave of you, Abbot, because I will soon be reborn in the Pure  Land "

 

The laywoman in our story achieved liberation because she was enlightened to two principles: perseverance and singlemindedness. Thus, to be successful, the Pure Land practitioner should consider everything, from personal possessions and property to family and friends, to be illusory and phantom-like, coming together temporarily and then disintegrating. If we care about family and friends, we should ensure our own rebirth and liberation and then rescue them. This is true affection! Therefore, to recite the Buddha's name effectively, we should not only ignore one hundred distractions, we should discard all distractions, be they one thousand or tens of thousands!

 

Let Us Not Lose our Place within the Lotus Grades

 

When a practitioner recites the Buddha's name seeking rebirth in the Pure Land, a lotus blossom grows there, in the Seven-Jewelled Pond. If he perseveres in his efforts without interruption, the lotus blossom will continue to grow. Otherwise, it will, of itself, wither and die. If the practitioner later resumes recitation, becoming diligent once more, another lotus blossom appears. The flowers come into being as a consequence of the practitioner's power of cultivation and vary according to his deeds. There are nine grades of lotus blossoms, corresponding to the nine grades of rebirth, from low to high (Meditation Sutra). These grades, in turn, comprise an infinite number of subgrades.

Pure land practice differs with each cultivator, as such practice depends on his capacities and circumstances. There are some cultivators who utter the Buddha's name from a few hundred to tens of thousands of times each day. However, regardless of how busy a cultivator may be, he should practice at least ten recitations per day.

"Ten recitations" refers to the Ten Recitations method taught by a well-known Master, which is based on the lowest grade of rebirth described in the Meditation Sutra. It is reserved specifically for those who are busy with mundane activities, so that they, too can practice Buddha Recitation and achieve rebirth in the Pure Land. The method consists of uttering Amitabha Buddha's name approximately ten times each time one inhales or exhales. The real intent behind this practice is to use the breath to concentrate the mind. Depending on the cultivator's breath span, he may recite more than ten utterances or fewer. After ten inhalations/exhalations (or some fifty to one hundred utterances in total) the cultivator may proceed to recite the Transference of Merit stanza:

I vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, 
The nine lotus grades are my parents. 
As the lotus flowers bloom, I will see Buddha Amitabha and reach No-Birth, 
Liberating all sentient beings ...

 

After reciting the stanza, the practitioner bows to the Buddhas three times before retiring. This practice has its roots in the boundless compassion of Buddha Sakyamuni and the Patriarchs. However busy a practitioner is, he can engage in this method and step onto the path of liberation.

There is one caveat about the Ten Recitations method. While inhaling and exhaling, the practitioner should recite the number of utterances with which he feels most comfortable, without trying to lengthen or shorten his normal breath span. Otherwise he might develop a respiratory ailment.

On one of his lecture tours, a respected Chinese Master was told by an elderly layman, "It is because of Buddha Recitation that I have become hard of hearing, and at times cannot hear anything." When the Master inquired further, the old man said, "A junior monk once secretly transmitted a method of Buddha Recitation to me. He said that 'nowadays, high-ranking Masters do not really know the Ten Recitations method because there is a little known oral tradition within the method which is now lost.' I sincerely sought his guidance and he taught me to recite the Buddha's name one hundred and eight times with each breath (corresponding to the number of beads in a long rosary). I did as I was told, exerting myself until I began to hear a continuous, rumbling noise. My hearing loss dates from that time. Please, tell me whether or not such a method is in keeping with the Buddhas' teaching."

The Elder Master, hearing this, immediately rejected what the young monk had taught, blaming him for subverting the Dharma and converting it into an externalist practice detrimental to health. The Elder Master then gradually taught the layman the Buddhist method of Ten Recitations.

 

Pure Land cultivators should pay heed and learn from this anecdote.

 

Buddha Recitation, an Easy-to-Practice Method

 

Everyone can appreciate why Pure Land, particularly Oral Recitation, is an easy method. However, the word "easy" has many meanings, with which not everyone may be familiar.

This is because when practicing other methods, for example, Sutra Studies, we encounter an immense number of sutras and commentaries, infinitely profound in meaning. In the first instance, the practitioner should fully understand the basic teaching and, from there, penetrate the different shades of meaning. After that, he should reconcile all meanings, extracting their kernel and essence, to discover and choose the method of cultivation that he will follow all his life. All this cannot be done unless he is willing to spend several dozen years of hard work.

Should he decide to seek liberation through the Discipline method, the practitioner must join the Order and become thoroughly conversant with all aspects of the different bodies of precepts. He should also possess the wisdom to distinguish meaning from words and apply the precepts in a flexible manner, according to the environment, the times and the occasion. Thus, to study the sutras is not necessarily difficult, but to study the precepts to the point of knowing how to adapt them skillfully, neither breaking nor being rigidly bound by them, is truly difficult. Once having understood the precepts, the practitioner must exercise patience and fortitude and endure discomfort and suffering in order to achieve success.

If he decides to enter the Way through Zen, he should have previously sown the seeds of wisdom and have suitably high innate capacities. Otherwise, he has no hope of attaining this lofty Dharma and participating in the "transmission of the lamp" (the enlightenment experience). Therefore, a famous Buddhist scholar once said:

Keynes became Practicing Zen to achieve Buddhahood is the domain of scholars endowed with wisdom.

This observation is certainly not incorrect or exaggerated.

With Oral Recitation, once the practitioner has developed the mind of Faith and Vows, he can recite the Buddha's name and engage in cultivation regardless of whether his capacities are high, moderate or limited. Moreover, while other methods depend on self-power alone, the Pure Land Dharma Door first relies to the utmost on self-power and then adds the element of "other-power." Other-power is precisely the infinitely great and powerful Vow of Amitabha Buddha "to welcome and escort." As long as a practitioner sincerely repents and recites the Buddha's name with one-pointedness of mind, even though he is not yet free of delusions and is still afflicted with heavy evil karma, he, too, will be welcomed to the Pure Land.

The ancients used to say, by way of comparison:

Practicing other methods is as difficult and laborious as an ant climbing a high mountain; reciting the Buddha's name seeking rebirth in the Pure Land is as swift and easy as a boat sailing downstream, in the direction of the blowing wind.

This observation is very appropriate indeed. Moreover, once reborn there, living in an auspicious and peaceful environment, always in the company of Buddha Amitabha and the Bodhisattvas, the practitioner will swiftly achieve success in whatever Dharma method he chooses. He is like a log rolling down a high mountain, which just keeps going and never stops, even for a moment.

In summary, Buddha Recitation is easy for three reasons: easy practice, easy achievement of rebirth in the Pure Land, easy attainment of Buddhahood. Therefore, the results achieved through Buddha Recitation from time immemorial can be compared to the clear and limpid sound of precious stones striking against genuine gold, or the sight of "smiling lotus blossoms with their fresh and fragrant grades of rebirth."

Within these levels and grades, the path from sentient being to Buddhahood contains many ranks, yet is also without rank. This is because, once reborn in the Pure Land, the practitioner has transcended Birth and Death -- and to recite the Buddha's name is to become Buddha. This is like the silkworm, the chrysalis and the butterfly, which are inseparable; there is very little difference between saying that a butterfly is originally a worm or that the worm is the butterfly.

 

From Scattered Mind to Settled Mind

 

When the mouth recites Amitabha Buddha's name while the mind is focused on the Buddha or rests on His name, it is called "Settled Mind Buddha Recitation." When the mouth recites the Buddha's name but the mind is not on Amitabha Buddha and is lost in errant thought, it is called "Scattered Mind Buddha Recitation." The effectiveness of "Scattered Mind" is very much weaker than "Settled Mind" Buddha Recitation. For this reason, since ancient times, good spiritual advisors have all exhorted us to recite with a settled mind, and not let our thoughts wander.

Therefore, Buddha Recitation with a scattered mind cannot be held up as an example to be emulated.

 

However, all external activities must reverberate in the Alaya consciousness. If reciting with a scattered mind were entirely ineffective, where would the sacred name of Amitabha come from? The very existence of the sacred name results from two conditions: first, the existing seeds arising from the Alaya consciousness; second, the power of outside action reflecting back inward. Therefore, we cannot say that "Scattered Mind Buddha Recitation" is entirely without effect, albeit its effectiveness is much more limited than recitation with a settled mind. Thus, while reciting the Buddha's name with a scattered mind has never been advocated, its significance and effectiveness cannot be rejected either. For this reason, the ancients have handed down the following gatha:

The sacred name of Amitabha Buddha is the supreme method, 
Why bother and fret over scattered thoughts! 
Though clouds thousands of miles thick hide the sun's brightness, 
All the world still benefits from its "amber" light.

 

Upon reflection, the above verse is quite accurate. This is because once the seeds of Buddha Recitation ripen in the Alaya consciousness, they trigger the sixth consciousness, leading to the development of pure thought and pure action. However, when the seeds of Buddha Recitation pass through the sixth consciousness, deep-seated defiled thoughts encroach upon them. Although these seeds ultimately manage to escape, their power has been greatly weakened. They are like the rays of the sun, which, although radiant, are hidden by many layers of clouds and are seen in the world only as "amber" light. This residual light, however, comes from the sun.

Realizing this, the Pure Land practitioner need not be unduly worried or concerned about sundry thoughts. He should continuously recite, content with whatever number of utterances he manages to produce with right thought. As he recites in such a manner over an extended period of time, the horse-like mind will return to the stable the monkey-like mind will gradually return to the den. With further recitation, right thought will emerge clearly without any special effort on the practitioner's part. Thus, we should emphasize the continuity of recitation, without worrying whether it is done with a settled mind or not. Like muddy water which, with constant decanting, becomes clear and pure, a person afflicted with many sundry thoughts, through extended recitation, can convert them into right thought. We should know that ancient masters would always recite the Buddha's name, whether walking or standing, asleep or awake or working. If they constantly recited with a settled mind, they would trip and stumble while walking and could not succeed in drafting commentaries or performing other tasks.

Therefore, at times they recited with a scattered mind, but they never stopped reciting because even though their minds were scattered, not all benefits were lost.

 

At this juncture, I would like to recount a story. Once there was a layman who came to inquire of a monk: "I have to confess to you, Master, that I have been reciting the Buddha's name for over ten years, but I still have innumerable deluded thoughts; I do not know how to get rid of them. I have sought guidance in many places, with many teachers. One master would tell me about this technique, another would teach me a different one. There was even a junior monk who advised me to recite the Buddha's name twenty-one times without breathing and then to swallow all the saliva at once. I have tried all available techniques, but only succeed in reining in my mind at the beginning. Afterward, perhaps because I get used to the technique, deluded thoughts reappear as before. I wonder if you have any effective method to teach me?"

The Elder Master replied: "You have failed because you were not persevering, and constantly switched methods. You should know that ordinary people like us have created immeasurable deluded karma, from time immemorial. How can we be pure after a short period of practice?

The main thing is for us to persevere over an extended period of time.

 

"Let me cite a few examples. Suppose you pour clean, fragrant water into a container filled with dirty and foul liquids. The container being already full, the clean water will, naturally, spill out, except for a few drops sticking to the container. If you persevere and continue to pour clean water in, one day the dirty container will turn into a clean one, filled with pure water.

"Similarly, suppose you have a severe stomach ailment that makes you throw up whatever medicine you ingest, but you persist in taking the prescribed medicine. Each time you take it, even though you may vomit, some of the ingredients will be absorbed, gradually curing you of the ailment. The afflictions of sentient beings are the same. It is fitting and proper to treat them with the medicine of Buddha Recitation, but if we constantly change techniques and methods, how can we expect to achieve results?

"Again, suppose someone is purifying water with alum, but, out of impatience, before the chemical has time to react, starts pouring in salt and then powdered lime. If he continually changes in this manner, how can the water ever become clear?

"Therefore, to rid ourselves of deluded thoughts, we should not keep changing from one method to another, but should select an appropriate method and practice it with perseverance until results are achieved."

 

The practitioner, hearing these explanations, nodded in agreement.

As indicated earlier, the key to a settled mind is to practice with perseverance. However, if we dread scattered thoughts and need an expedient to calm the mind, we should use the Decimal Recording method explained earlier. With this method, we use all of our mind-power to record and remember from one to ten utterances, which easily leads to pure concentration.

If the mind is still unsettled and we cannot use the Decimal Recording method, we should, with each utterance, concentrate firmly on the letter "A" in Amitabha Buddha. When the letter "A" is present, all the other letters are also present. If, because of delusion and forgetfulness, the letter "A" is lost, all the other letters are also lost. Moreover, the letter "A" is the key and fundamental letter of the Sanskrit alphabet and is therefore considered the mother of all other letters. Through concentration on reciting the Buddha's name while simultaneously holding fast to the letter "A," in time, mind and environment both dissolve and amalgamate into one bloc, as great as space itself. Buddha Amitabha and the practitioner will then both disappear.

 

At that time, naturally, the letter "A" will have ceased to exist as well. However, it was lost earlier because the mind was unsettled and scattered, while it no longer exists now precisely because of the harmonious state of "perpetual concentration." This is the manifestation of emptiness of Mind and environment -- the entry point into the Buddha Recitation Samadhi.

 

The Pure Lands of the Ten Directions and the Tushita Heaven

 

In the realm of the ten directions, there are innumerable beautifully and purely adorned Buddha lands, such as the Pure Lapis Lazuli Land mentioned in the Medicine Buddha Sutra, or the Land of Many Fragrances and Sublime Joy found in the Vimalakirti Sutra. This being so, why should we restrict ourselves to seeking rebirth in the Western Pure Land? There are basically three reasons, namely:

1. Because of the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha, who exhorted us to seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Buddha Sakyamuni did not wish to expound at length on the other pure lands, lest sentient beings develop a mind of discrimination, become undecided and have no focal point for their aspirations. Moreover, thanks to the ideal conditions for teaching and transformation in the Western Pure Land, not only do sentient beings from the Saha World seek rebirth there, but sentient beings in countless other worlds do so as well.

2. Because Amitabha Buddha has adorned the Western Pure Land with forty-eight lofty Vows. These Vows [particularly the eighteenth Vow of "welcoming and escorting"] embrace all sentient beings, from Bodhisattvas to common beings full of evil transgressions.

3. Because sentient beings in the Saha World have great affinities with Amitabha Buddha and the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. As proof, when Buddhists meet, they usually greet each other with the words "Amitabha Buddha" and when faced with accidents or disasters, they usually recite the sacred name of Avalokitesvara.

 

For these reasons, it is more advantageous to seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss than in the other pure lands of the ten directions, particularly the Tushita Heaven (the realm of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future).

 

Among the reasons cited are, first, that it is difficult to be reborn in the Tushita Heaven, as the Bodhisattva Maitreya does not have the "welcoming and escorting" Vow of Amitabha Buddha; sentient beings must rely solely on their own self-power to achieve rebirth there. Second, and more important, the Tushita Heaven is still part of the World of Desire (of which the Saha World is an infinitesimal part), not outside of it as is the Western Pure Land. Thus, sentient beings in the Tushita Heaven remain subject to retrogression. The difficulty of achieving rebirth in the Tushita Heaven is illustrated by the following anecdote.

Some nine hundred years after Sakyamuni's demise, there were three Indian Patriarchs who cultivated together, Asanga, Vasubandhu, and Simhabhadra.

These three all had the same determination in being born in Tushita Heaven and in desiring to see Maitreya. They vowed that if one were to die first, and obtain a look (at Maitreya), he would return and inform the others. Simhabhadra died, but once he had gone he did not return. Later, when Vasabhandhu was nearing his death, Asanga said to him, "If you see Maitreya, come and tell me." Vasabhandhu died, but returned only after a period of three years. Asanga asked him, "Why did it take you such a long time to return?" Vasabhandhu said that he had arrived there (in Tushita Heaven), had heard the bodhisattva Maitreya preach but one sermon, had circumambulated him ... and had come back immediately; but days are long there (in Tushita), and here (on earth) three years had already elapsed; Asanga again asked, "Where is Simhabhadra now?" Vasabhandhu replied that because Simhabhadra had received such heavenly pleasures, he was enjoying the five desires, and so ... from that time to the present he has never seen Maitreya!

 

If even a Patriarch like Simhabhadra finds it so difficult to achieve rebirth in the inner court of Maitreya, common people with ordinary capacities have little hope indeed. This author recalls a stanza by the eminent T'ang dynasty poet Po Chu-I. He was a Taoist early in life, but converted to Buddhism in his later years.

Preferring the Dharma of Emptiness, I have left the Immortal Way, 
As I fear it, too, has been corrupted during transmission; 

The Immortal Island is not my abode, 
I long only to return to the Tushita Heaven!

 

The poet-mystic early in life aspired for immortality; later on, he began to practice Buddhism, seeking rebirth in the Tushita Heaven ... In his later years, however, he took up Buddha Recitation, vowing to be reborn in the Pure Land. This shows that the more an intelligent person ponders and chooses, the more he reaches toward the profound and subtle!

 

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