Pure Land Buddhism Amitbha Buddha Recitation In Defence of Preamble.

e. Recently I wrote about contemporary Zen Buddhist practice to explain away deviant new age Western interpretation of what Zen or Buddhism generally is or was about. I did not name names then but I think I should have. You have some Westerners getting all excited and giggly about awareness like Alan Parsons and oneness like Fred Davis. It is like an English version of curry that you find in a British fish and chips shop. Or, like a French man singing Gangnam Style. What these Westerners do not realise is that they are heretics, deviants, maniacs and mutants. It is like a Westerner claiming to have discovered paper money! On this occasion, I am prompted to write about Pure Land Buddhism because of Brian Ruhe. This person is a real nut case. He claims any Buddhism other than Theravada Buddhism is false. He was or is trying to be a smart alec being sarcastic about Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism; and reserving his most telling funny mocking looks (rolling of the eyes and the raising of the eyebrows) on YouTube for the Pure Land Buddhist practitioners who practise Amitbha Buddha recitation (in Chinese Namo Amitofou) and also the Japanese Buddhists who recite the name of the Lotus Sutra (in Japanese - Namu Myoho Renge Kyo). All these persons, Alan Parsons, Fred Davis, Brian Ruhe and others are charlatans, frauds and fakes! They only have superficial worldly rather than spiritual knowledge of Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta. They are like people who learn 2 years of conversational Mandarin and then bombastically claim that they know everything Chinese. Conversely, it is like a Chinese person getting a Western University degree and then claim that he is now a white man! He is no more than a banana! Awareness or more correctly spiritual awareness or consciousness is a spiritual experience you must have to know that you have awakened to the Bodhi-nature. But once you have experienced it you do not experience it again like having the ability to see things or flex your muscles in a worldly sense. When you lose or have lost your virginity, that is it, it is a once only experience; you do not keep on losing your virginity! Spiritual awareness is like that! It is not aware as being aware, as in worldly sensually aware or worldly sensually know. It has nothing to do with human senses or worldly knowledge. It cannot be explained or utilised like one of your worldly senses; sixth sense or otherwise. When you have experienced it, you will know that it is not an experience in a worldly sense, at all! That is why in Zen we say that when you get enlightened there is no enlightenment at all and nobody getting enlightened! It is more like an awakening from a dream. When you say that you can spiritually see or is spiritually aware, there is nobody that actually spiritually sees or is spiritually aware! You are just changed spiritually (outside your worldly self)! For, the trees are still trees and mountains are still mountains. Nothing in the world has changed! You have not worldly changed? You just had a spiritual experience. Once you say that you are aware you already have an ego of self. "I think, therefore I am," said Rene Descartes; but that is false thinking and is no proof that I exists. For who is it that is aware? For the Bodhi-nature does not abide anywhere! It definitely does not abide in a false ego of self! For, that would be like the (spiritually) blind leading the (spiritually) blind. The false ego of self is the source of spiritual blindness! Even the Jews, Christians and Moslems are in agreement on this point! You cannot actually say that you are aware that you and other humans and the trees and the mountains are one! That is like saying that the universe is one or all phenomenon is one. That is stating the obvious! That is worldly science and has nothing to do with the Bodhi-nature. That is like drawing a picture of God as a white-haired elderly grandfatherly human being on the ceiling of the Page 1 of 12

Sistine Chapel seeing spiritual matters with worldly eyes. Buddhism is not like that! The Bodhinature is inconceivable in worldly terms. The Tao is inconceivable in human terms. Once you can express it absolutely, it is no longer the Tao. In spiritual terms oneness is not oneness at all but is only so called oneness out of human convenience. You have to be egoless or selfless to be one. Two selves cannot be one. Only two selfless can be one spiritually. But in any case spiritual oneness is not one but one in many and many in one, as in water or air. An iota of air or water has no notion that it is in oneness with its neighbours. I repeat; the Bodhi-nature has no such ego! In Buddhism we say or use terms like awareness or oneness but they are just convenient tools. What is this falsehood by these charlatans about their spirit awareness of everything around them like as if they were a fly on the wall or that they can sense their oneness with everyone around them? Charlatans! Stop defrauding the public or you will stay forever in Avici Hell! Buddhism is about transcendence from birth and death to no birth and no death; from temporal to eternity; from realm to no realm, from finite to infinite and from the worldly to the inconceivable. A United States citizen is aware that he has to obey the laws and pay his taxes and that he is at one with the other citizens when it comes to flying the flag, but so what? A Christian is aware of the Ten Commandments and is at one with the rest of the Christian community, but so what? What has that got to do with the Spirit or whatever that Buddhists call the Bodhi-nature? The issue is whether a cultivator has awakened to the Spirit or Bodhi-nature and thereby realise in the spiritual awakening that he is spiritually at one with the Spirit or Bodhi-nature in all other sentient beings. At the Spirit or Bodhi-nature state there is no U.S. citizen or a Christian or anything worldly at all! Bodhi-nature just is! You are not there with the Bodhi-nature until you are there; and when you are there, there is no consciousness you are there once you are there! When the Ego in the illusion or dream realises that he is an illusion and in a dream, it is not a continuing awareness nor is he at one with all the other phenomena within the dream. When you are awakened from your dream you transcend above the dream, is outside the dream and take the dream as a dream and the dream remains the same, as a dream an illusion. Full Stop! In the egolessness outside the dream, why, when and where is the sense of awareness or oneness connected with an Ego? Do not get lost in or be obsessed by the Ego of awareness or Ego of oneness. Do not forget Equanimity. The mind should be like the pendulum at rest. Do not let your mind be moved. Do not let your mind abide in anything worldly. When you mind abides in anything it is your worldly mind. When your mind does not abide in anything it is your Bodhi-mind. When your mind is afflicted by Ego or anything else you are a sentient being! When your mind is pure in spirit you are with the Bodhi-nature! When you are awakened to your Bodhi-nature, you do not have to be awakened again and again nor is there any sense of worldly awareness. Once you are inoculated against the flu, you do not have a continuing sense of awareness of the inoculation. You are changed but not in any sense or in a continuing manner that can be ascribed or described in worldly terms. The worldly you remain the same. You still eat and shit and fart. The mountains remain mountains and the trees remain trees. The cycle of karmic consequences still go on relentlessly as determined by the Immutable Law of Karma or Cause and Effect. Let me illustrate. When you are not yet awakened to the Bodhi-mind, when you chant the dharani or mantra of the Heart Sutra - Thata Om Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha! you hear only the words (which in English means) That is OM, Gone, Gone, Gone Beyond, Gone Beyond the Beyond, Enlightened Awakening, Hail! OM signifies the primordial original boom or bang like the sonar effect of one big thump on the big bass drum; the equivalent of the Christian Original Sin of Adam when he tasted the Tree of Knowledge and became self-conscious of a separate self-ego. Om signifies the front-end. In contrast, the tail-end is signified by HUM; the soft sonic hum when Page 2 of 12

the sound falters off gradually to silence. It is like the initial push on a swing, setting the child on to swinging up and down, like a pendulum; and when there is no more added energy (in a spiritual sense no more karmic causes), the swing comes to rest like a pendulum. But the words mean nothing to you. There is non comprehende. Thus similarly in the dharani or mantra of the Lotus Sutra OM Mani Padme HUM you hear only the words - (which in English means) OM Jewel of the Lotus HUM. There is non comprehende. When you are awakened, (like having experienced an orgasm, you know what an orgasm is) you know what and why going beyond the beyond in the Heart Sutra dharani means awakening to enlightenment! You know why awakening to enlightenment is like the lotus flower blossoming from the mud of Samsara in the OM Mani Padme HUM! Understanding Zen koans is a bit like that, in having to catch the front-end before it gets to the tail-end! If you have to ponder what the koan means you have lost the plot; or should I say, you are not yet awakened. Awakening is like in the Christian sense of being reborn in the spirit. Unless you are reborn in the spirit, you will not be able to understand the parables of Jesus. The parables cannot be interpreted literally in worldly fashion! Now let me get to Brian Ruhe. This guy has no idea! He is taking Buddhism to be like a religion like Christianity or Islam. He thinks that there are set scriptures, rules, tenets or absolute commandments in Buddhism. I will explain why there is not. As Buddha advised the Kalamas tribe in his discourse to them they have to individually and personally work out what the Truth is; not just simply accept what Buddha said to them, just because they respect him as a teacher. This is because awakening to enlightenment cannot be taught! Experience of any kind, whether it be worldly or spiritual has to be personally experienced. One cannot be taught how to fall in love! One cannot be taught how to be grateful or compassionate! You cannot say exactly how hot a chilli is unless you have tasted it yourself! Were not the Kalamas practising the teachings of Buddha when they left to experiment at their own volition and free-will? Were these free spirits not Buddhists? Buddhism is just a personal journey up the spiritual mountain. Who cares by what route you climb Mount Everest? Whether it is the North face or West face? If you are into Zen, into instantaneous awakening, then it is like spiritually flying over Mount Everest and dropping down on a parachute to the summit. Take careful note! The Buddha taught by expedient means depending on the spiritual capacity and capability of each supplicant. The Buddha said different things to different people, to different audiences. If not read in their respective context many of his sermons would be totally contrary. You teach a child about Father Christmas. You do not teach about Father Christmas to a university student! Whether you practise the Smaller Vehicle (Theravada) or the Larger Vehicle (Mahayana) or the Vajrayana (Diamond) Vehicle of Buddhism, you are still practising Buddhism. All are appropriate and correct practices at their respective levels. Bearing this in mind, all of the Buddhas teachings are therefore provisional, relative and subjective, depending on the manner the topic question was asked of him and the spiritual level of the enquirer, and the realm that the enquirer was in. We are normally concerned with ourselves as human beings in the quest for the awakening to our Bodhi-nature. But the Buddha preached to all sentient beings in Samsara. For, there are six realms in the realm of Samsara, in which we may be reborn. The six realms are - gods, demigods, human beings, animals, hungry ghosts and denizens of hells. The realm of our rebirth is determined by our volitional actions known as karma committed during our present and past lives. Generally, good karma leads to the rebirth in the realm of gods, demigods and human beings, and bad karma causes the rebirth as animals, hungry ghosts and denizens of hells. In each rebirth and the realm you are reborn in, you are relative to other beings in that realm and existence, in terms of spiritual capacity and capability. In a spiritual sense therefore, we are not all born equal (in our afflicted self), even Page 3 of 12

though we are all one and many in the pure Bodhi-nature. You can judge for yourself as to why we are different in terms of physical or mental attributes and wealth. As we say in Hakka, everything is miang sui (karmic destiny)! Out of the six realms of existence, the human realm provides the ideal platform to attain Buddhahood. This is because it is only in the human realm that one can find both and compare and contrast happiness and suffering and appreciates the transiency of mortal life. The beings in the heavens experience happiness like immortals (although they are not) such that they see no need to practise the teachings of the Buddha. On the other hand, in the realms of animals, hungry ghosts and the hells, the suffering is so intense that they are so embroiled in excruciating pain and suffering, that there is no second of time available for Buddhist practice. Remember the parable in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra of the dreadful odds of a blind turtle in the open ocean finding a piece of driftwood to rest on? That is how difficult it is to be reborn as a human being and also get to hear the (Buddhist) Dharma. In a Christian sense we say, you have to be baptised by water (have a human birth) and be baptised by the spirit (be reborn in the spirit). So, please take advantage of your good fortune to be born of water! Once you appreciate the full phantasmagoria of Bodhi and the afflictions of the false self-ego, you will understand that Dharma (the teachings of the Buddhas) is limitless, the number and types of sentient beings are limitless, their various capabilities and capacities are limitless, and the sheer number of possible rebirths is limitless. It follows that the various paths and journeys and attempts and methodologies and ways of seeking the Truth is limitless. In the Avatamsaka Sutra the pilgrim Sudhana went seeking the truth from fifty-three teachers, and each teacher taught him different things, before he found or was awakened to enlightenment. Since we are each a different product from different past karmic causes and effects, we have to find our own way to the Truth, find our own way back to our Bodhi-nature. This is the essence of Buddhism! That is why it cannot be a religion or a spiritual practice stymied by rituals and forms or fettered by fixed tenets or the rigour of theological principles. In the end, all worldly methods and measurements and instructions are but only signposts and guidelines, pointing the way to the Truth, the way up the spiritual mountain. Awakening to enlightenment has to be spiritually intuitive, and not bound up by worldly manner and form. In Zen we say Dharma (the teachings of the Buddhas) is found in all the worldly dharmas (things, events, phenomena) out there. In Zen we say When your Bodhi-nature is pure you are a Buddha. When your Bodhi-nature is deluded (or impure) you are a sentient (human) being. Thus the pure Dharma is found in all the worldly dharmas (afflictions and phenomena) out there! In a Christian sense we say the kingdom of God is close at hand. Yet unless a Christian is reborn in the spirit, he cannot see it! They all (Dharma and dharmas) mean nothing without the finality of an actual experience of an awakening to enlightenment. To be a Buddhist you just have to follow in the path of Buddha. His teachings and the Sutras and Shastras (altogether the Dharma) are all comprised, as are also all the worldly dharmas, in the path. You can be a Theravada, a Mahayana, a Vajrayana or Apa Mana Pun (whatsoever in Bahasa), as long as you seek the Truth that is the Bodhi-nature. There is no one indisputable blueprint like the Bible or the Koran. There is no one way only or one size that fits all. There is no assurance of success either other than the singular assurance that every karmic cause has a corresponding karmic effect. In Christian jargon you shall reap what you sow! But do not despair! We will all get there, beyond the beyond, sooner or later, for eternity is infinite, even if we were in the deepest pits of Avici Hell; otherwise the Earth Store Bodhisattva would not have vowed to stay in Avici Hell until all sentient beings are saved! I conclude by reciting what Vimalakirti said to Bodhisattva Maitreya (the next Buddha to be) in the Vimalakirti Sutra (one of my favourite Sutras) Page 4 of 12

Therefore, Maitreya, do not fool and delude these deities! No one abides in, or regresses from, enlightenment. Maitreya, you should introduce these deities to the repudiation of all discriminative constructions concerning enlightenment. Enlightenment is perfectly realized neither by the body nor by the mind. Enlightenment is the eradication of all marks. Enlightenment is free of presumptions concerning all objects. Enlightenment is free of the functioning of all intentional thoughts. Enlightenment is the annihilation of all convictions. Enlightenment is free from all discriminative constructions. Enlightenment is free from all vacillation, mentation and agitation. Enlightenment is not involved in any commitments. Enlightenment is the arrival at detachment, through freedom from all habitual attitudes. The ground of enlightenment is the ultimate realm. Enlightenment is realization of reality. Enlightenment abides at the limit of reality. Enlightenment is without duality, since therein are no minds and no things. Enlightenment is equality, since it is equal to infinite space. Enlightenment is unconstructed, because it is neither born nor destroyed, neither abides nor undergoes any transformation. Enlightenment is the complete knowledge of the thoughts, deeds and inclinations of all living beings. Enlightenment is not a door for the six media of sense. Enlightenment is unadulterated, since it is free of the passions of the instinctually driven succession of lives. Enlightenment is neither somewhere nor nowhere, abiding in no location or dimension. Enlightenment, not being contained in anything, does not stand in reality. Enlightenment is merely a name and even that name is unmoving. Enlightenment, free of abstention and undertaking, is energy-less. There is no agitation in enlightenment, as it is utterly pure by nature. Enlightenment is radiance, pure in essence. Enlightenment is without subjectivity and completely without object. Enlightenment, which penetrates the equality of all things, is undifferentiated. Enlightenment, which is not shown by any example, is incomparable. Enlightenment is subtle, since it is extremely difficult to realize. Enlightenment is all-pervasive, as it has the nature of infinite space. Enlightenment cannot be realized, either physically or mentally. Why? The body is like grass, trees, walls, paths, and hallucinations. And the mind is immaterial, invisible, baseless, and unconscious.

In Defence of Pure Land Amitbha Buddha Recitation. In my last discourse on contemporary Zen practice I wrote However, if time is not important, and there was no exigency for a short cut, one can revert back to our Bodhi-nature just by focusing on Morality (sla). Thus you can just learn to recite Amitbha Buddha as a minimalist form of mind management and just concentrate on being good. It might take a million life times but so what? I never thought that I would be prompted to write in greater detail to defend the Pure Land practice. In my childhood I was not particularly interested in Buddhist scriptures or practice. Yes, I grew up knowing that my mother had made constant invocations to Guanyin (Avalokitevara) to save my life and protect me, as I was born with a hole in the heart. Growing up I got familiar with Chinese Buddhist and Taoist funeral rites; and in particular the chanting of Namo Amitofou (in Cantonese Lamo Omitaufoot) by the Buddhist monks (that we called Lamo Loh in Cantonese). One night, about twenty odd years ago, I was having supper (round or about 10pm) with my 2nd Brother and 7th Brother at our usual Fried Hokkien Mee haunt at Restoran Loong Kee located at Jalan Pahang (Pahang Road) opposite Kuala Lumpur General Hospital and near the Grand Seasons Hotel, and right next door to the Amitbha Buddha Society at 90-92, Jalan Pahang. It was the usual steamy balmy tropical night with the usual suspects or neighbourhood regulars, for the Chow Kit triad controlled precinct of Kula Lumpur was not a place to be wandering about at night, if you were not a local. We were sipping our Iron Buddha Fujian tea while waiting for our usual fare of Fried Hokkien Mee, Bee Hoon Soup and Stewed Loh Mee the three treasures of Hokkien noodle cuisine. Page 5 of 12

Out of the blue (or darkness in this case), a tall handsome matronly Chinese lady, about mid-fifties in age, appeared finely dressed in silk cheongsam, quite authoritative looking like a Chinese School Principal. She spoke curtly but in a very cultivated and educated tone and manner, and for some reason, she addressed her message directly at me Do not eat meat; and come and join us at Amitbha Buddha Society (but in Cantonese), and she pointed at the building next door. That building was not lit up but I could make out the signage from the diffused street lighting. I just said OK in Cantonese, and she then bade us goodnight. I never saw her again. For a week or two, I made nothing of it; but out of curiosity I later checked out the Amitbha Buddha Society. Strangely enough, there was no such lady, as the one that spoke to me a few nights before, there! To cut a long story short that was when and how I started my Buddhist meditative practice as a Pure Land practitioner reciting Namo Amitofou. I am a Zen practitioner now; but I am still a Pure Land practitioner because Pure Land is an integral and essential part of Zen practice. Any Zen practitioner who is not also practising Pure Land still has an ego of self! They will never succeed in Zen. If Zen is practised as an elitist and not tempered with humility, it will be a lost cause. For there will be no awakening to be had. In fact it can be dangerous. In the past, when Zen was misunderstood as the instant short cut to awakening to enlightenment, there were many cases of Zen monks going mad and becoming roving lunatics up in the mountains. They had kept pushing their mind to be awakened relentlessly but could never succeed because they were still plagued with the ego of self, of an I getting enlightened. For that reason every Zen Master since the 6th Patriarch has advocated and incorporated the Pure Land practice of Amitbha Buddha recitation into Zen Practice. This is like meeting in the middle as in the Middle Way. On one hand you accept that it is a personal journey requiring self-effort as to the awakening to enlightenment but on the other hand you also accept that as a matter of practicality, that you do not know whether you have or are at the right level of spiritual capacity and capability in karmic terms of destiny to succeed in the spiritual quest. You accept that the three gates to Enlightenment of Morality, Meditation and Wisdom are inter-related and interdependent. Just focusing on Wisdom through tortuous sessions of koans is not going to get you anywhere if you fail in Morality and/or Meditation. This is where Pure Land comes into Zen Practice as an insurance policy; for just in case you fail in the level of spiritual wisdom required. It could be that no matter how assiduously you try, the karmic residue carried over from past lives is just too great to overcome for you to have the necessary spiritual wisdom to awaken to enlightenment. It is like no matter how you try you will never graduate to be a nuclear scientist. I should reiterate that the main obstacle here is the continuing clinging to a concept of ego of self. You can still be a nuclear scientist even if you have an ego. But you can never get spiritually enlightened if you still have an ego of self! Awakening has no self of Ego! We are now in the 3rd Age of the The Three Ages of Buddhism that the Buddha predicted will follow after his passing - (1) the Age of the Right Dharma the first 500 years (2) the Age of Semblance Dharma the next 500 years and (3) The Dharma-ending Age the next 10,000 years. It is said that very, very few practitioners will awaken to enlightenment in the Dharma-ending Age. It is for this very reason that Zen masters exhort Zen practitioners to use Amitbha Buddha Recitation as the basis of meditation for the one-pointedness to the mind requisite in Zen. The common denominators for both Pure Land and Zen are (1) the Meditation practice of Amitbha Buddha recitation for one-pointedness to the mind and (2) being good that is not creating any further bad karma; so as to contain the karmic problem to the karmic residue and its potential Page 6 of 12

karmic consequences from past karma accumulated from past lives and un-expiated. I want to make it quite clear that not all Pure Land practitioners are Zen practitioners but every true Zen practitioner has to also be a Pure Land practitioner. I shall leave you to study the Buddhist scriptures as they relate to Pure Land Buddhist Practice: (1) Shorter Sukhvatvyha Stra or Amitbha Stra. This is the main passage Sariputra, all who hear this should make fervent aspiration to be reborn in that land of Sukhvat (Western Pure Land), so that they may be in the company of the most virtuous beings. But Sariputra, one cannot be born there with insufficient root of merit or virtue, or lack of good nidana (previous good deeds and felicities). Sariputra, any virtuous man or woman, hearing the name Amitbha Buddha and calling his name for one day, two days, three days, four days, five days, six days, seven days and so on, keeping his mind undisturbed, such that, when they come to die they will see before their eyes the vision of Amitbha Buddha and his retinue. If he or she keeps intently in mind the aspiration for rebirth in Sukhvat (eliminating all desires for mundane things), such a person will inevitably be reborn in the happy land of Amitbha Buddha. O Sariputra, in view of these advantages I counsel all who hear this message to aspire to be born in that Buddhaland of Sukhvat (Western Pure Land). (2) Longer Sukhvatvyha Stra or Infinite Life Stra. Read in particular Vow 19 by Bhikshu Dharmakara (before he became the Amitbha Buddha) to Tathagata Lokesvararaga O Bhagavat, if those beings who in immeasurable and innumerable Buddha countries, after they have heard my name, when I shall have obtained Bodhi, should direct their thoughts to be born in that Buddha country of mine, and should for that purpose bring their stock of karmic merit to maturity, if these beings should not be born in that Buddha country of mine, even those beings who have only repeated the thought (of that Buddha country) ten times, barring always those beings who have committed the five Anantarya sins, and who have caused an obstruction and abuse of the Good Law, then may I not obtain the highest perfect knowledge (Bodhi). (3) Amityurdhyna Stra or The Sutra of Visualising the Buddha of Infinite Life or Sutra of the Sixteen Visualisations or Meditations or Contemplations. Visualisations 1-13 are described in order as follows: 1. Visualisation of the setting sun 2. Visualisation of an expanse of water 3. Visualisation of the ground in the Pure Land 4. Visualisation of trees in the Pure Land 5. Visualisation of ponds in the Pure Land 6. Visualisation of various objects in the Pure Land 7. Visualisation of the lotus-throne of the Buddha 8. Visualisation of the image of Amitbha Buddha 9. Visualisation of Amitbha Buddha himself

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10. Visualisation of Avalokitevara 11. Visualisation of Mahsthmaprpta 12. Visualisation of the aspirants to the Pure Land 13. Visualisation of Amitbha Buddha and the two Bodhisattvas Avalokitevara and Mahsthmaprpta. Visualisations 14-16 deal with the 9 grades of rebirth in Sukhvat (Western Pure Land) depending on ones karmic residue or merit: (1) The highest level of the Superior grade (2) The middle level of the Superior grade (3) The lowest level of the Superior grade (4) The highest level of the Intermediate grade (5) The middle level of the Intermediate grade (6) The lowest level of the Intermediate grade (7) The highest level of the Inferior grade (8) The middle level of the Inferior grade (9) The lowest level of the Inferior grade The passage about rebirth in the lowest level of the Inferior grade, goes like this Buddha spoke to Ananda and Vaidehi. Regarding the lowest existence of the Inferior Grade. If anyone has done evil deeds and committed the five deadly sins and brought to completion the tenfold wickedness, that stupid person is subject to fall into evil realms by his evil karma, and be bitterly tortured for the duration of many kalpas. If he should however meet a good and well learned man just at the time before his death, who will comfort him by many means, preach to him the wondrous law, and teach him to meditate on the Buddha, then he would be saved. But while he endures the torture of pains of dying he will have no time to meditate on the Buddha. Then that good friend would teach him, saying: if you are unable to meditate on the Buddha you may recite the name of the Buddha of Infinite Life instead of meditation. At least repeat it ten times thus: Namo Amitbha Buddha, in an uninterrupted voice and with a sincere heart. Reciting the name of that Buddha will have the effect that, each time he recites it, he will be expiate the sins that would otherwise cause him to have births and deaths for eighty million of kalpas. He will, at the moment of approaching death, (if all he has is Amitbha Buddha and Sukhvat (Western Pure Land) in his mind) see a golden lotus flower like the sun presented to him. Thereupon he will immediately be born in the lotus flower in the World of the Highest Happiness. However he will remain in the calyx of the lotus flower for the duration of twelve great kalpas. Then the lotus flower will open, whereupon Avalokitevara and Mahsthmaprpta will speak to him in compassionate voices of great sympathy, preaching the details of the true-nature of all things and on how to expiate sins. On hearing these he will instantaneously be delighted and aspire to obtain the Bodhi-nature. This is a description of the lowest existence of the Inferior Grade. (4) The Vows of Samantabhadra (Universal Good) in Book 39 of the Avatamsaka Sutra (The Flower adornment Scripture)

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The relevant passage goes as follows Further, when a person who recites these vows (the Ten Great Vows of Bodhisattvas) is on the verge of death, at the last instant of his life, when all his faculties scatter and he departs from his relatives . can no longer accompany him, these Great Vows alone will stay with him. At all times they will guide him forward, and in a single instant he will be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Arriving there, he will see Amitbha Buddha, the Bodhisattvas Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Avalokitevara, Maitreya and others. All Pure Land practitioners (i.e. the Zen practitioners in a fall-back or insurance sense) rely on Pure Land Faith and Practice. Faith in Pure Land Practice is spiritual faith rather than religious faith, is in the sense of trust in the Buddhas and the Bodhi-nature; of which we all are, in our pure essence, one in many and many in one, if we were ever able to get out of Samsara. Obviously if you think that this is your one and only existence, then this discourse is irrelevant to you anyway. Nobody is forcing anyone to believe in an eternal after-life. It is a free world after all. Faith in Pure Land Practice is also in the sense of trust in the vows of Amitbha Buddha; that he would provide (metaphorically speaking) a spiritual sort of live-in shelter, a quarantine station, and a purgatory, a rehabilitation centre, an intensive casualty ward for patients in coma, a renal or blood toxin cleansing centre or some sort of hibernation centre or whatever you may call it or perceive it to be, where you remain in hiatus until you are spiritually cleansed in his Buddha-land called Sukhvat or the Western Pure Land. Practice in Pure Land Practice is (a) the quid pro quo vow to Amitbha Buddhas vows, in meeting his requirement that we have him in our mind all the time particularly at the time of our death, and (b) the vow to being good not creating any new bad karma. It all sounds too good to be true! But this is where you must have faith in all the Buddhas of all ages or kalpas; and in fact have faith in yourself for the Bodhi-nature in you! This submission or surrendering to the care and custody of Amitbha Buddha and being good is similar to the Twin Commandments in Christianity of (1) Love God with all your mind body and soul and (2) Love your neighbours as thyself. Here is a warning to the Zen practitioners who believe in elitism and intelligentsia and mocking the simple faith and concept of Pure Land practice. Do not be proud or arrogant as it will result in your failure in Zen practice through lack of humility. Be humble and egoless! Remember that all spiritual methodology and practice are expedient means. It is all in the mind. Everything is created in the mind. It does not really matter what is in the mind as long as there is no ego to attach any thought or idea to. The egoless Bodhi-mind abides nowhere! If thoughts lead to the afflictions of the mind; conversely you need countervailing thoughts to get rid of the same afflictions. While we are still in the world of duality of Samsara, everything is a twin-edged sword. To bring the pendulum of karma, of cause and effect to a rest, you have to contra bad against good, demerits with merits. On top of that the hardest problem is in getting rid of the I of Ego. Pure Land practitioners in professing simple faith and total humility and sort of admitting that they lack spiritual wisdom are at least going a long way in suppressing (even though not quite getting rid of) their Ego. In being good they are also admitting to a potentially bad karmic profile being carried over from past lives; and thus repenting by not creating further bad karma and hopefully creating only compensatory good karma. The simple minded faith of Pure Land is therefore pinioned on humility and gratitude for an opportunity to repent and make amends for bad karmic residue. There is no greater obstacle standing in the way of awakening to enlightenment than Ego. You can have all the worldly knowledge and wisdom but in spiritual terms they come to naught, if you have an Ego. If you were to practise Zen with an Ego, you will lose outright to the humility, gratitude for an opportunity to make amends and simple minded faith and dedication of a Pure Land practitioner. For, the Pure Land practitioner, though not quite egoless, is closer to being egoless than a Zen practitioner with an Ego. Page 9 of 12

The novice Zen practitioner should be cautious not to dispute the efficacy of the Pure Land Practice. It would only reveal that they lack spiritual development and are mere novices talking spiritual hot air like heretics. Do not be like a student enrolled at a prestigious expensive private school and on that fact alone presumptuously thinks he is smarter than any student from any government funded free public community school. If you understand how the Immutable Law of Karma works, you will understand that it has its foundation in clinging, grasping, attachment, desire, lust and so on. It creates or develops an affinity between subject and object. Amitbha Buddha recitation is meant to stimulate a sub-conscious affinity and attachment to Amitbha Buddha; such that it is deeply ingrained in the subconsciousness. If done properly, the dying thoughts of a Pure Land practitioner will only be solely that of Amitbha Buddha and the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat. Why is it the Western Pure Land? Birth is denoted by the rising sun in the East and death is denoted by the sun setting in the West. But there are uncountable Buddha-lands in all directions of the meridians. The Western Pure Land of Sukhvat is the one recommended personally by the Buddha Gautama. Instead of an I attaching or clinging to the world of Samsara, we have the situation of an I clinging or attaching to Amitbha Buddha and his Western Pure Land of Sukhvat. Since the Bodhi-mind and the Bodhi-nature do not abide anywhere; and you cannot get awakened to the Bodhi-nature if you still have the I of an Ego; when a Pure Land practitioner who still has the scintilla of an I is reborn in the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat, he is obviously not yet awakened to the Bodhi. He is just in another realm other than the world or realm of Samsara. But this is how even Amitbha Buddha has to comply with the Immutable Law of Karma, for the Pure Land practitioner has still to expiate his residual karma and more importantly to continue to face the consequence for having an I of an Ego. The good news is that, un-expiated past karmic residue aside, his present clinging of his I of an Ego is to Amitbha Buddha and his Western Pure Land of Sukhvat; which is of course the anti-thesis of the world of Samsara. It is like an alcoholic voluntarily checking into Alcoholic Anonymous or a drug addict voluntarily checking into a drug rehabilitation centre. Samsara is like the addiction to alcohol, drugs or sex or power or money or status or like the Zen practitioner going mad, due to an addiction to enlightenment! The Western Pure Land of Sukhvat is like the drug rehabilitation centre where you voluntarily check in (through Amitbha Buddha Recitation) to get detoxed of un-expiated past karmic residue and the false self-ego of self. It is in that sense that samsaraic karmic are expiated; they are detoxed rather than forgiven or redeemed. The detoxification is done through the continuous preaching and chanting of Buddhist scriptures. Even the rain and the breeze and the birds sing the Dharma for that is the only activity taking place in the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat. Whatever the karmic condition of the Pure Land practitioner is when he is reborn in the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat, the surrounding ambience is one of ultimate bliss. It is like no matter how sick you might be in a hospital the surrounds are totally clean, hygienic and sterilised. You will note that the two main bodhisattvas assisting Amitbha Buddha in the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat are Avalokitevara (Guanyin) and Mahsthmaprpta. The karmic consequences that would have befallen the Pure Land practitioner were he or she to be reborn in the world of Samsara would be borne by Guanyin. Guanyin would bear your worldly sufferings (refer Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra) in Samsara. She has an infinite inexhaustible pool of merits.

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Buddhism is about a Nobody going Nowhere. This is because the Bodhi-mind and the Bodhinature have no I of an Ego and abide nowhere. Therefore like the world of Samsara is a dream or an illusion to the Bodhi-mind or Bodhi-nature; so is the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat. It is also a dream or an illusion to the Bodhi-mind or Bodhi-nature. Everything is mind or consciousness only. They do not exist outside the mind. In Chapter 1 of the Vimalakirti Sutra the Buddha explained to Sariputra that the real Pure Land is neither a geographical nor a physical location. The Pure Land is within human pure consciousness. The world of Samsara and the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat, and other realms, only exist in the mind! So, you ask, is the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat real? Of course it is real, if you are abiding there, in that dream or illusion! Are you real? Pinch yourself! Of course you are real! You are real within your dream! Test yourself in your dream, if you do not agree or believe me. Do you not sweat with fear when someone points a gun in your head in your dream? When you awake from your sleep, you then realise that the you in your dream is just an illusion and a dream (or nightmare!). Buddhism is about extricating yourself from your dreaming (whether you are abiding in the world of Samsara or the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat) and returning to your Bodhi-nature. The Bodhi is inconceivable and ungraspable by the worldly mind. Therefore, the best Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas can do to instruct sentient beings is by expedient means. As is said in the Vimalakirti Sutra Although he knows that the Buddha-lands are void like living beings; he goes on practising the Pure Land (Dharma) to teach and convert men. Using the mirror as an analogy, Bodhi-nature is like the reflectivity of the mirror. The world or realm of Samsara is like the moving elusive transient reflections in the mirror. The anti-thesis to Samsara is the passive inert backing behind the reflectivity of the mirror. Nothing moves there in that hiatus world or realm of the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat. The Pure Land is in the mind-consciousness. To get to the Pure Land within your mind, your mind must be pure, that is, your spiritual intent and motive must be pure. I conclude with this warning to cosmetic Pure Land practitioners; those who are the equivalent to cosmetic Christians, those who go to Church only on Good Friday and Christmas, or those who go to Church on Sunday to repent and then go back to their sinful ways the ensuing Monday to Saturday. The affinity required to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat is not easy to achieve; you have to mentally recite Amitbha Buddha in good faith and devotion constantly 24/7 in your sub-consciousness. If you are bad but are fortunate enough to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat, albeit at the lowest level of the Inferior Grade, you might not have to suffer as you would have had to if you were born in Samsara, but your afflicted consciousness will still suffer; as an ill patient will still suffer in hospital when he is undergoing medical treatment. That is, even though you are in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, you will still suffer within yourself! It is just that the suffering that you would have suffered in long kalpas of existence in Samsara is replaced by long kalpas of existence locked up in the calyx of a lotus flower in the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat. Your monkey ego still longs to go monkeying but it is imprisoned. It is like to your visitors in hospital that you are in a coma. But within yourself you are screaming out loud, that you are aware but somehow you cannot reach out to your visitors to communicate to them. Hiatus in the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat is like that. Although there is no retrogression to Samsara, for you are just securely and safely coiled up in the calyx of the lotus flower; however you are still self-tormented by your own monkey ego and residual karma. This is the Immutable Law of Karma! This self-torment will definitely give a new meaning to guilty conscience. You are like Monkey in the Journey to the West; with the metal band around his forehead, which causes him pain and anguish beyond description, if his monkey ego should play up. Luckily in the Western Pure Land of Sukhvat, you are being sedated not by a metallic headband but Page 11 of 12

by the continuous reciting and chanting of Buddhist scriptures and mantras in the background. Only after long kalpas, and when your Ego Mind is finally under control, does the lotus flower blossom to release you for Bodhisattvas Avalokitevara and Mahsthmaprpta to teach you the spiritual exercises to expiate your bad karma. In purgatory you are being purged. So, if you are reborn at the lowest level of the Inferior Grade, you could be in purgatory for a very long spell! At least, however, you are guaranteed under the tutelage of the Amitbha Buddha and the Bodhisattvas Avalokitevara and Mahsthmaprpta to awakening to enlightenment. I dedicate this discourse to the Amitbha Buddha Society at 90-92, Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur and the Lady of the Night many years ago and the Chow Kit precinct of my childhood where it all began. Readers who are interested in my first Buddhist writing The Hainanese Chicken Rice Hawker based on my Chow Kit childhood and written years ago at Adelaide University, please look up <www.scribd.com/> under Vincent Hong Chuan Cheok.

Cheok Hong Chuan

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