Long precious human life

Pema Kalsang Rinpoche

Conditions which bring about deterioration of lifespan include: receiving secret mantra Vajrayana empowerments but impairing the commitments (samayas), or meeting others with impaired commitments (samayas) and closely befriending them, being in a state of mental agitation or always miserable, being depressed or always suffering from deep regret, experiencing great terror and fear, becoming extremely angry and letting anger consume your mind, and being struck by weapons and arrows aimed at you by those who practise sorcery; these and other things bring about deterioration of lifespan.

Signs of the deterioration of lifespan are a swift change of personality, behaving in an uncharacteristic way, getting angry with those around you for no reason, always moaning that things are no good, changes of expression and losing lustre, improper behaviour, loss of appetite, and so on; all these can occur. This kind of deterioration of life causes our 'life support' to split, or become crooked or broken. In addition, our la vital basis can deteriorate, become scattered, or flee etc. in which case we need to perform an authentic 'ransoming the la' ritual.

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Similarly, there are all kinds of rituals for cheating death. There is 'clearing a treacherous path', which involves actually clearing away stones and obstacles from roads and paths…

Another outstanding way to ransom death and accumulate merit is to amend any impaired and broken vows in relation to your root guru, and make feast offerings. The fire offering of the dakinis and the fire puja of the four activities: pacifying, increasing, magnetising and subjugation are also profound. By meditating on the truth of the generation and perfection phases and working the key points of the subtle channels, winds and drops, train in the direct instructions of dispelling hindrances. In addition, by means of the Dzogchen three unwavering states and the four methods of settling and so on, enter meditative equipoise in a state of stillness and insight. This unwavering state is the most supreme of all the ways to accumulate merit.

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If you receive the blessings of the lineage but do not master a degree of realisation of the direct instructions, realise the view, or develop supreme meditative absorption, simply by entering the path of these teachings, receiving empowerments, keeping pure vows, and provided that at the time of death you combine this with positive prayers of aspiration, then you will be able to transform death into something joyful, and will be content to be sick and happy to die. By this means, making the great enemy, death, into a friend is one way to face up to him.

Alternatively, spending this life accumulating a plethora of positive and negative karma and then when death comes crying out in despair, does not evoke any pity in the Lord of Death; he will not release you. Power, status, force or weapons are impotent against the Lord of Death. There is no chance of using your influence to pay death off with a bribe and flee out of a back door via a secret escape route. Therefore, when that time comes, American dollars or gold and silver will be useless as protectors and friends, and of no value in making provision for the journey to the next life. We need the holy Dharma and nothing else. 

Therefore, if you had only one day left to live and you spent it practising the holy Dharma, then the karma would be sure to ripen and the virtuous merit would be ready to benefit you in the next life. Moreover, the closer to death you are, Dharma practice becomes that much more valuable. Tibetan people have a saying: "Mani recitations at death are worth a horse (ie very valuable)."

At the time of death, the holy Dharma is more valuable than any wealth, and it has immediate application. The basis of practising the holy Dharma is this human body with the freedoms and advantages. This body is like a boat which takes us to liberation, therefore we need to make great effort to avoid it coming under the influence of any causes of untimely death.

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The condition of untimely death occurs if one of three things is exhausted: life force, karma or merit. If the life force becomes exhausted, conduct longevity rituals. .. You also need to receive long life empowerments and its relevant practice, the number of times that corresponds to your age, or any number of times. This empowerment should be received from a Lama complete with the appropriate qualities and who possesses the power through having been empowered.

A short life is the fully-ripened result of accumulating the negative karma of killing in a previous life. To exhaust this karma, ransom the lives of many animals. To do this it is necessary to ransom living creatures marked out for slaughter, ransoming them from the blade of the knife with money or goods, and making sure the creatures will remain alive by restoring them to their individual habitats and placing them on suitable ground or in water etc. 

Ransoming lives is the same as doing any virtuous Mahayana practice, so use the three practices for the opening, main part and conclusion. First, begin with refuge prayers, then take the Bodhisattva vows and recite the seven line prayer. Recite the long life prayers, the dharani for longevity and also the particular recitation for saving the lives of creatures. Having completed this, recite the confession of downfalls Sutra, names of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, mantras to purify lower rebirths and others, so the creatures may hear them. Feed the creatures special holy substances such as Dharma medicine nectar which liberates through taste, and so on. Finish by sealing the practice with prayers of dedication and aspiration. Make an absolutely pure aspiration prayer for the long life especially of your glorious and supreme Lama, together with all masters of the teachings, wherever they are. Doing this will benefit the teachings and beings in general, as well as pacifying adverse conditions which threaten your own life, and so will once again be helpful in prolonging your life.

If your merit is exhausted you need to accumulate positive merit. Generally speaking, this is helpful not just for a long life, but for whichever Dharma or worldly activities you want to undertake. If you have not previously accumulated merit, you will not be able to accomplish very much. Just as it is taught: "Someone with merit accomplishes all they wish", so this can be understood to mean someone with no merit will achieve none of the things they wish for. We need to increase our merit both by making offerings and being generous. According to how much we have, that which we offer needs to be pure and excellent, without taint of stinginess or attachment.

If you have no wealth, visualise offerings and offer them to a pure object. Generally, one's parents, the sick, teachers of Buddhism and 'last birth' Bodhisattvas who will be enlightened in their next life are powerful objects to make offerings to. Therefore, by paying homage to those with marvellous enlightened qualities, a great accumulation of merit will quickly be amassed. Giving impartially to orphans without refuge, the aged without protectors, the crippled, the deaf and mute, and so on, will increase merit. If merit increases, life will be long and hopes and wishes will be fulfilled, and so it will be possible to avoid life-threatening conditions and adverse circumstances.

Meeting a real practitioner

Anyen Rinpoche

Jigme Lingpa said that if we don’t raise our understanding of the dharma to the level of personal experience, our understanding “will fall off like a patch.” This metaphor points out how even if we mend a hole on the elbow of our jacket, eventually that patch will wear out and fall off. It never becomes seamless and fully integrated. Likewise, if we leave our study of the dharma at the level of mere intellectual understanding, at some point we are going to separate from that knowledge because it hasn’t become part of us…

My Experience with Gyalgo Lama Tsepel

I’ve never been a person to go here and there seeking dharma teachings. But one day my lama told me that I should meet with Lama Tsepel, so I went. My meeting with Lama Tsepel constituted a very different kind of experience and instruction in the meaning of Parting from the Four Attachments.

As my lama wished, I traveled to the remote cave where Lama Tsepel lived; I was accompanied by Khenpo Tashi, an esteemed lama and elder from my shedra (Buddhist college). At that time, I was studying at the shedra and paid a lot of attention to being clean and neat and living in a clean and neat environment. Meeting Lama Tsepel blew my mind.

When I entered the half-built temple below his cave, I was overwhelmed by the environment he lived in. It was exactly the opposite of the kind of place I lived in. Next, I noticed how dirty he was and how uncomfortable he must be in his matted sheepskin gak (winter robe) and bearskin hat. I looked around and saw that there wasn’t anywhere to wash or bathe.

Because of how he looked and my own attachment to cleanliness, I didn’t have a strong feeling of devotion to him—the way one should when they are in the presence of a fully realized master—when I entered the room. I’m sure he sensed this. I knew I should do prostrations, so I tried, but he smacked me with his cane and told me to stop.

One strong memory I have of that experience was the evidence of his genuine contentment. Often the teachings tell us to cultivate an attitude of contentment so that we can reduce afflictive emotions such as dissatisfaction, unhappiness, jealousy, or envy. But Lama Tsepel was not cultivating contentment—he was actually content with everything. He was content with his clothing, his room, and even with the one pot he tossed literally anything into to make thukpa (soup).

He had only one wooden bowl, which I’m sure he never washed. Instead, he licked the inside of the bowl after he was done eating and wiped it dry with his clothing. After we sat down, we had a meal together. He served me a bowl of the soup that he made. It smelled horrible, and I didn’t want to eat it. In Tibet, it is not just rude but inauspicious to not eat what is served by a lama, so I forced myself to take a few bites. When I thought he wasn’t looking, I poured it onto the dirt floor.

After we ate, we entered his cave, the old mine. I found myself not wanting to sit down on the floor because it was so dirty, but I did. What happened next was truly astounding. He said to me, “Khenchen Dharmakirti must have had a reason to send you to me. I heard that you are extremely smart and good at memorizing texts. If you applied everything that you have studied, you would already be a Buddha.” I felt that he could see right through me. His words shook me hard because I knew he was right.

Lama Tsepel had received very few dharma teachings. He had received instructions on Parting from the Four Attachments from Alak Zenkar Rinpoche, and in hindsight, his very appearance was the expression of the first line: “If you are attached to this life, you are not a dharma practitioner.” He also received simple instructions on Dzogchen from Alak Zenkar Rinpoche, one or two pages that were composed by his previous incarnation, Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje. He was content with what he had—and everything he had, he practiced and mastered completely.

Lama Tsepel went on to say, “The difficulty you have is that you haven’t applied what you have learned, so you are still wandering in samsara. Your mind is completely separate from the dharma.” His words made a tremendous impact. Often when I teach the dharma now, I reflect on Lama Tsepel’s words—his advice seems to be the advice that is most needed in the modern world, to be heard and practiced by modern dharma practitioners. Thinking back, it is incredible that this lama, who seemed to have so little knowledge to impart, gave me some of the most profound teachings I have ever received.

Next, he opened his few pecha (text) pages, which I later learned contained Parting from the Four Attachments and a few pieces of advice he had received. The pages were old and worn, and dirty smudges had mostly covered up the words so they could no longer be read. He said to me, “I received pointing-out instructions and Parting from the Four Attachments from Alak Zenkar Rinpoche, and because I trained my mind and applied the meaning of these teachings completely, my lifespan and my accomplishment are equal.” This is an expression we use in Tibet—it means that the practitioner’s realization and accomplishment increases day by day, so the measure of life will equal the measure of realization.

Then he read through the four lines written by Sakya Drakpa Gyaltsen and gave his version of a teaching on it. First, he read, “If you are attached to this life, you are not a dharma practitioner.” He didn’t say much, but he said to me forcefully, “Do you know what that means? Have you understood it?” He didn’t give any commentary on the words, he just said, “If you have attachment to this life, you’d better get rid of it! Understand?” My own lama’s commentary on this verse... is so profound and eloquent. But I can’t say that Lama Tsepel’s commentary was any less powerful, though he expressed it in only a few words.

Next, he read, “If you are attached to samsara, you do not have renunciation.” He didn’t explain what renunciation is, the way a scholar would when giving the same teaching. He simply asked me in his gruff voice, “Do you have renunciation? You are a lama and an ordained monk. Without renunciation you aren’t even keeping your vows.” Then he said, “I don’t have any grasping or attachment to samsara.” The difference between us was striking, and where I thought I looked like a dharma practitioner when I entered the cave, I realized now that he was the authentic yogi.

Then he said, “If you have self-interest, you do not have bodhicitta.” He asked me, “Haven’t you taken the bodhisattva vow? But isn’t your only thought how to benefit yourself? If that’s true, how can you train in bodhicitta and practice the bodhisattva path?”

Finally, he said, “If there is any grasping present, it is not the view.” He asked Khenpo Tashi, “Tashi, what does that mean? Have you understood it? Have you understood it?” It was obvious from Lama Tsepel’s presence, words, and conduct that he had thoroughly understood the meaning of this line and had completely realized the Atiyoga Dzogchen view.

When he completed this round of teaching, he reread the verse nine or ten times, and at the end he said, “Apply the dharma and make it inseparable with your own mind. No matter how long and hard you study, you will never find more profound instructions in the entirety of the teachings.” And I could see myself for the first time—a young lama and scholar in training who was spending all my time receiving dharma teachings but not really applying the meaning of the dharma to myself.

This idea was expressed in Patrul Rinpoche’s Collection of Heart Advice when he said, “If conduct is entangled with the world, there is no benefit.”

In other words, when we just study the dharma but don’t apply it and use it to cut through our attachment to ourselves and the beings and world around us, our actions won’t bear fruit. The efforts we make with body, speech, and mind won’t be purposeful at all—our afflictive emotions won’t decrease, and we won’t experience any relief from suffering; our self-attachment won’t decrease, and we won’t experience any increase in our compassion and care for others.

So even though it may look like we are fully devoting ourselves to spiritual practice, our efforts just reinforce the mental and emotional habits we already have and further entangle us with worldly life.

Also in this collection, Patrul Rinpoche said, “If contemplation is entangled with confusion, there is no benefit.” If the mind doesn’t follow the dharma but just remains confused and overpowered by ignorance, then what is the point of studying the dharma?

Even if we understand the meaning of the dharma, if we don’t apply it correctly and with discipline, but allow ourselves to remain confused—for example, because applying the actual meaning of the dharma is difficult—no change will occur. Our own mind is just going to remain the same as it is now, and our efforts at contemplation will bear no fruit.

When I returned to the shedra and arrived in front of my lama’s tiny retreat house, he opened his window and asked excitedly, “Son, come here! How was it? What happened? What did Lama Tsepel say?” I recounted the whole story tearfully to my lama. He nodded with approval: “Very good, very good. The effort of sending you to see Lama Tsepel was worth it. In the future, don’t forget this experience—a genuine practitioner of the dharma is just like Lama Tsepel.” Lama Tsepel’s words and teaching continue to impact me to this very day.

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More description about Lama Tsepel

Lama Tsepel…was a Khampa in every sense of the word. He was a nomadic practitioner who didn’t even start studying the dharma until he was thirty-seven years old. Due to his deep renunciation and devotion, he received pointing-out instructions on Atiyoga Dzogchen from the renowned Longchen Nyingthig master the first Alak Zenkar Rinpoche, who wore the white robes of a Tantric practitioner. The first Alak Zenkar Rinpoche and his present living reincarnation, as well as Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje in the nineteenth century, are recognized as reincarnations of Jigme Lingpa.

In comparison to my root Lama, Lama Tsepel’s study of the dharma was very brief. Where my Lama had spent over twenty years at Shri Singha Shedra and his retreat room was filled with volumes upon volumes of philosophical texts, Lama Tsepel had only received the teachings contained on a few pieces of paper. These pages weren’t wrapped in beautiful red silk like texts at my Lama’s shedra. They were covered in dirt from the cave where Lama Tsepel lived.

Lama Tsepel was dirty from head to foot. He looked as though he hadn’t bathed for a long time. He had long, thick fingernails that he didn’t cut, and he lived in a tiny dug-out cave in Gyalgo, an area of Tibet. It wasn’t a natural cave but rather a hole in the mountain that had been used to mine gold. His room was cramped, just large enough for him to sit in meditation or sleep. It had a tiny makeshift shrine and a musty, unclean smell that made it unpleasant to enter. Once inside, it was difficult to sit comfortably and relax.

You may not ever have met this kind of yogi before. He was a true chattral, a possessionless yogi, who had entered into lifelong retreat directly after receiving teachings from Alak Zenkar Rinpoche. Often in Tibet, this kind of retreatant is named after the place where they remain in retreat because they become a fixture of the place, just like the rocks, trees, and water. He was called Gyalgo Lama Tsepel because he never once left Gyalgo after he entered his lifelong retreat.

You may be wondering how two such masters (my Lama and Lama Tsepel), who were educated so differently and lived so differently, became close dharma friends. My Lama said it was due to their deep realization of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage that they held such great respect and affection for each other.

Amitabha and Fulfilling wishes

Dharma Master Jingjie

Master Lianchi, the eighth Pureland patriarch, was seventeen when he passed the imperial examinations and earned a government position.  It could be said that he was quite famous in that region. Later, he saw his neighbour, an old woman, holding prayer beads and chanting Amitabha all day long. He felt it was odd and asked her, "Old lady, why are you always chanting Amitabha?"

The old woman said, "When my husband was alive, he chanted Amitabha very devoutly, and because my husband chanted like this, when he was about to die, he had absolutely no pain or illness. This was very unusual. Also, on his deathbed, he called me to his bedside and said goodbye to me very clearly. After he died, his body remained soft and flexible, and even had a fragrance. Therefore, I developed faith in the practice of chanting Amitabha."

After hearing this, Master Lianchi was deeply affected. That night he wrote four characters in his study: "The matter of birth and death is paramount." He felt that although chasing fame and position was useful, right mindfulness at the moment of death was much more important, therefore, (resolving) the matter of birth and death was the topmost priority.

He began to cultivate, bowing and chanting Amitabha every day. Later, through the blessings of Amitabha, his virtuous roots ripened and he became a monk at the age of twenty-two.  After becoming a monk, he travelled everywhere to study. At the age of twenty-five, having been a monk for about three or four years, he arrived at Mount Yunqi. He felt the environment in this place was quite good, so he built a hut to practice cultivation there.

One year, a very severe drought occurred at Mount Yunqi, which meant it hadn't rained for several weeks and this was very serious. The people could no longer make a living, they went up the mountain, saying, "There is a Dharma Master practicing up here, let's ask him to bring rain."  People in those days thought that all Dharma Masters knew methods to bring rain.

Master Lianchi responded, "I don't know any method for bringing rain; I just bow and chant Amitabha every day." But these devotees insisted, "Dharma Master, it doesn't matter.  Regardless of what you practice, as long as you make the heavens rain, it will be fine." Master Lianchi said, "How about this, I will lead everyone (to pray for rain)."

Master Lianchi took a small wooden fish (Dharma instrument) and chanted 'Namo Amitabha' as he struck the wooden fish rhythmically and walked around the village thrice. He also walked around the crop fields thrice. When these three rounds were almost finished, it rained right there and then. Inconceivably, the Naga Kings obediently sent rain.

With our usual state of mind, it is difficult for us to fulfill our wishes because we have many obstacles. However, when your mind is single-pointedly fused with Amitabha’s name, it is a different matter altogether. If you walk from this place to Taipei, your physical strength is limited; if you get on a train, your speed becomes faster. Why? Because you have the assistance of the train.

Why was Master Lianchi able to pray for rain and bring rain immediately? I believe that Master Lianchi had not been a monk for long at that time, so it was not the power of his precept discipline, concentration, and wisdom.  Rather, his clear mind that believed in Amitabha with joy, combined with his practice of the Bodhisattva path, caused him to resonate with Amitabha.

A Dharma classmate at the Buddhist college whom I was close to bowed to Amitabha three thousand times daily during those three years he studied at the Buddhist college. With every bow, he also chanted Amitabha ten times. That was equivalent to doing three thousand bows and chanting Amitabha thirty thousand times daily.

Can you imagine what the state of mind is like when a person is constantly mindful of Amitabha? I will tell you so you can see what it’s like. When this Dharma Master first became a monk, I thought that he didn't have much merits/fortune. He used to be a factory worker.

After practicing Amitabha everyday, if the thought arose that he needed a new pillow, someone would immediately offer him a pillow. If his cup broke and he thought of buying a cup, someone would just offer him a cup. After he graduated from the Buddhist college, he wanted to find a place to cultivate. A lay practitioner in Luodong offered to build him a hut, did up the place nicely and invited him to live there. When he wanted to cultivate, someone prepared a hut for him.

In recent years, he came to see me, and I asked, "Do you still bow as much now?" He said he bows very little now. Then I asked, "Does the spiritual response of ‘wishes coming true’ still happen now?" He said it doesn't happen now. This is because one is only relying on one’s own power now. What power could an ordinary person have? Think about it.

In Bodhisattva Nagarjuna's Mahaprajnaparamita Sastra, it says that the merits of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can be shared with sentient beings, but their virtuous roots cannot be shared. Amitabha Buddha has infused his name with all the merits he has accumulated and cultivated over countless eons.

He aspired that his name would represent his qualities, merits, infinite light and infinite life. Whenever anyone's mind comes into contact with Amitabha’s name, they will avoid having incomplete sensory faculties, an inferior female rebirth and achieve a noble body, be able to accomplish vast merits and receive the protection of devas and human.

Life like a flowing stream

Dharma Master Jingjie

The Buddha often likened our life to a flowing stream that flows through the past, present and future. To begin with, we need to understand what factors affect this stream. Without this understanding, it is impossible to change the direction of this stream (ie, to change your fate/destiny).

The Buddha said that two factors influenced the stream of our human life—one is karmic force; the other is thinking.  Just these two factors! This is also called “cause and condition”. 

Perhaps we had a pure thought in the past.  This became the force behind actions of body and speech that produces a virtuous karma.  We might also have had a non-virtuous thought which drives us to actions or speech that produces negative karma.

In the scriptures it is said that if all the karmas we created in past lives took a physical form, it could not be contained in all of space.  However, in this present life, we are only experiencing one tiny fraction of that karmic force. 

Our last thought on the deathbed in our immediately preceding life activated a certain karmic seed, producing our present lifetime. Therefore, this present life is just a tiny part of our entire karmic warehouse.

Our karmic warehouse contains many drawers. Our present lifetime is just one among hundreds, thousands or millions of countless drawers. In this life, we opened one of those drawers. This present life appeared because we created a karmic seed in a past life.  It came from a thought which created a karmic seed. This karmic seed was activated just before you died in your immediately preceding life, therefore it manifests as this present life.

If you feel this life is relatively happy, then congratulations to you, you opened the drawer of good karma; if you feel this life is more painful, then you have opened the drawer of negative karma when you were dying in your immediately preceding life.

As the karma has already ripened, it is hard to change the present life drastically. Buddhist cultivation and learning is more for changing the next and future lives…

Actually, life itself is not to blame, because your life is merely reflecting the karmic seed that got activated in your preceding life, that is all. However, if we feel conflicted about experiencing this karmic consequence, then that is where the trouble comes because we generate further inverted or wrong thinking…

When we live in our (inverted) thoughts, it becomes very troublesome.  It is hard to help or persuade such a person because they can't accept any other viewpoints.  They do not care what you say. They only believe the distorted thoughts they have.  

Therefore, for a person to change, he needs to realize the truth by himself.  If you do not overcome your habitual patterns and thoughts by yourself, no one else can help you.  The Buddha knew that he could not change us, we can only change by ourselves, that is, if you wish to change.  

All the Buddha can do is to help guide and influence us… When the Buddha teaches some principles, we should contemplate it seriously, this will then help us to walk out from our inverted thinking and wrong views.

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It is important for a practitioner to turn his fragmented perspective of life into a complete picture. The biggest problem most practitioners face nowadays is to regard this present life as being extremely important. They do not think much about the past, nor do they care much about the future.

If you tell such people to cultivate and bow the 88 Buddhas Confession practice, saying that they will have immeasurable merit and virtue in the next life, they could not care less! But if you tell them that they can earn ten US dollars somewhere, they will immediately run there.

In Yogacara, it says, "bound by whatever one is born into". People cling strongly to the situation right before their eyes in whatever life they are born into. If you are an ant, you view the biscuit right before your eyes as being very important. If someone said to the ant, “Do not eat this biscuit and you will gain something more precious.” This ant will not care nor listen.

Similarly, we are bound to whatever life we born into.  Our minds are strongly attached to this present lifetime, thus we are misled by the deluded appearances before our eyes which causes us to wander in the three realms lifetime after lifetime. If we have not learnt our lesson, we will only repeat the same behavior lifetime after lifetime (due to a continuing effect of the habitual pattern).

When the omniscient Buddha appeared in the world, his teachings helped us to turn the fragmented perspective of life into a complete view. The concept of the flowing stream is to remind us that the present cannot be cut off from the past, nor can it be separated from the future.

If you do not understand the past, you have no way to win over the present delusions before you. If you do not know where this delusion comes from, how could you be its match in a fight?...

When you see how your present life came from past causes, and how the future depends on your present choices, then Dharma practice becomes very effective.  You can improve every single day.

If you can only see short-sightedly what is in the present, then it becomes a struggle to practice.  You do not recognise the nature of human life —how the present is the result of what came before and how it controls what will come in the future.  Therefore, you will never have the strength to overcome your habitual patterns and thinking.  You will be entirely controlled by your thoughts.  Whatever your thoughts or desires wish to do, you can only obediently follow suit, completely enslaved by them. 

Amitabha makes your mind undistracted

Master Huang Nianzu

Depending on Amitabha Buddha’s aspiration means to rely on "other-power"; our rebirth in Sukhavati depends on something beyond our own ability—Amitabha's aspiration. Otherwise, how could you be reborn in Sukhavati with just ten recitations of Amitabha (as stated in the 18th vow of Amitabha)?

After accomplishing sufficient merits, when a person like us approaches the end of life, Amitabha Buddha and the holy assembly will appear right in front of us. Weren't we talking the other day about an old woman in Fuzhou who saw Amitabha come to receive her?

The Buddha appearing before you—this is where Kumarajiva's translation of Amitabha Sutra is missing something. Kumarajiva was a great translator master, incredibly excellent, so Master Xuanzang would generally not retranslate the sutras that Kumarajiva had already translated.

However, Xuanzang did retranslate only two sutras—one is the Amitabha Sutra and the other is the Diamond Sutra. The Diamond Sutra had four very important lines, so he translated it again; as for the Amitabha Sutra, it was also missing a little bit.

In Xuanzang’s translation of the Amitabha Sutra, it states that "at the point of death, Amitabha appears before (the virtuous man or woman) surrounded by an assembly of countless Shravaka disciples and Bodhisattvas blessing and protecting them, causing their minds to be undistracted."

The word “undistracted” comes later. The term "single-pointed undistracted mind" is not present in Xuanzang’s translation, rather, it mentions "without being distracted" in the earlier sentence. (Refer to notes below)

Therefore, the issue of whether one has achieved a "single-pointed undistracted mind" or not doesn't even exist. Nowadays, many pureland practitioners have a big doubt. They say, "I have recited for so many years but I haven't reached the state of a single-pointed undistracted mind. I still have some wandering thoughts while reciting Amitabha. Can I actually be reborn in Sukhavati?"

Some people then say, "I just have to try my luck. If I'm lucky and can recite at the end of my life, I'll be reborn in pureland; if I'm unlucky, it won't work. It also depends on whether there's anyone to help me etc. It depends on my luck."

But it is not like that. For one, twenty-one characters were left out of Kumarajiva's translation of Amitabha Sutra. His translation was too concise. When you compare both translations, the meaning becomes very clear. This "undistracted" state arises when Amitabha appears and compassionately blesses you. Once you fill in the missing lines we talked about earlier, the meaning is complete. If you add this phrase "compassionately blessing and protecting them, causing their minds to be undistracted", this misunderstanding will not arise.

It is not that you must attain the level of being undistracted and clearly mindful at the end of your life before you are qualified to achieve rebirth in Sukhavati. Rather, it is because you have met the conditions of Amitabha’s aspiration (through your faith and aspiration). Since your mind aligns with the Buddha’s aspiration, Amitabha fulfils his vow and comes to receive you.

At the moment Amitabha comes to you, he blesses you compassionately, causing your mind to be undistracted! It is Amitabha who makes your mind undistracted. So what could go wrong? Your mind is undistracted, you are mindful of Amitabha, Amitabha comes to receive you. If you do not get reborn in pureland, what else could happen? Therefore, at that point, it is certain that you will be reborn in Sukhavati.

Notes:

Kumarajiva's translation: "Shariputra, if a virtuous man or women, hears of Amitabha and is mindful of his name for one, two, three, four, five, six or seven days with a single-pointed mind free from distractions （一心不乱）, Amitabha will appear before this person at the point of death with his holy assembly. This person will take rebirth in Amitabha's pureland Sukhavati at the end of his life with an unconfused mind."

Xuanzang’s translation: “Shariputra! If a virtuous man or woman of pure faith hears of the immeasurable and inconceivable merits of the name of Buddha Amitayus (Amitabha) and the sublime qualities of Sukhavati and brings it to mind for one, two, three, four, five, six, or seven days and nights without being distracted （系念不乱）, when this virtuous man or woman approaches the end of life, Buddha Amitayus, surrounded by a countless assembly of Shravaka disciples and Bodhisattvas, comes before them, compassionately blessing and protecting them, causing their minds to be undistracted. When their life ends, they will follow the Buddha and his assembly to be reborn in the pure realm of Amitayus, Sukhavati.” 

~~

Dharma Master Jingjie

Past high masters have given various interpretations on the term "one-pointed mind without distractions" (一心不乱）. Based on my understanding, there are two types of interpretation. Some people interpret "one-pointed undistracted mind" as a meditative concentration which consists of the power of focus and the power of continuity. Personally, I feel that this interpretation is not complete.

I am inclined to agree more with Master Lianchi's (8th Pureland Patriarch) interpretation. Master Lianchi divides the phrase into two parts for explanation: "one-pointed" and "undistracted".

He feels that "one-pointed" refers to meditative concentration. "The mind abiding one-pointedly on Amitabha’s name continually"—this is "one-pointed". In the mind, there is only the recitation of Amitabha and no other thoughts. This is equivalent to the state of Shamata. On the other hand, "undistracted" carries the meaning of Vipashyana. It means seeing that afflictions or thoughts are unreal and being unmoved by them. One is the power of concentration while the other is the power of insight.

To what degree must one achieve "one-pointedness" in Amitabha recitation? If the requirement is to reach the first Jnana or even the concentration of the desire realm, how many people can actually accomplish that? If that were the case, the pureland teachings would not be universally applicable to beings of all three levels of caliber (high, medium and low).

Master Tanluan said that at the end of life, one should be able to "recite the name continuously right up till attainment." "Continuous recitation" does not require you to achieve meditative concentration or samadhi. However, at the end of life, the recitation of Amitabha’s name must have a certain duration or continuity. You need the power of continuity and the power of focus for some time at least.

This power of continuity is definitely not a state of meditative concentration, but rather a state of focus. Focus is different from meditative concentration; focus is like a continuous chain while meditative concentration is a state of mastery or control under any condition.

We are certainly able to sustain the recitation of Amitabha for a certain amount of time. During this time, you should not be disturbed by afflictions. You must have the ability to counteract, subdue or resist afflictions for that period of time. This is the standard required for rebirth in Sukhavati.

Giving rise to a certain degree of mindfulness at the end of life is the way to connect with Amitabha's compassionate vows. This is very important.

Lord Buddha's display of impermanence

Dharma Master Jingjie

The Lotus Sutra mentions about Lord Buddha's passing into Parinirvana.  Lord Buddha could have actually remained in this world for an eon, but he did not do so.

The explanation in the Lotus Sutra is presented through a parable. It says that there was a highly skilled physician with several sons who were all strong and healthy. One day, these children went out to play and accidentally consumed poison.

This poison was a slow-acting toxin and as there was no immediate effects, the children did not feel it was anything to be concerned with. Their father then prescribed different medicines for each of them: one was for the eldest, another for the second and so forth, writing their names on each packet of medicine and distributing them to his sons.

These sons said, "What is there to fear? My father is a great doctor anyway, what is there to worry about?" They procrastinated about taking the medicine and left it aside.

The father thought to himself that this could not go on as these children were too dependent on him and took their health for granted. Therefore, he came up with a plan. He gathered all his sons together and said, "I am going to travel to other countries. Your medicines have all been stored away for you in the cabinet and I have labelled them with your names. If you need to take them, go take them yourselves."

The sons were still indifferent. So, this doctor took his attendant and traveled to other countries. After some time, the attendant returned and said, "Your father has died abroad."

Once the children heard this news, they got anxious about the situation. “Before, our father was around to cure any illness. Now our father is dead!" They rushed to the cabinet to get their own medicine, because their father was dead and they had to take the medicine immediately.

What does this show? It illustrates that if the Buddha remained in the world for a long time, it would bring less benefit to sentient beings. Disciples become complacent and unwilling to study and practice diligently and earnestly. They think that the Buddha will always be there to depend upon. They rely on the person, rather than the Dharma.

Thus, the Buddha manifested his parinirvana so that everyone would develop a sense of crisis. With no Buddha to rely on, the only thing we can do is to study the Dharma to realize the Dharma. Then everyone is made aware of impermanence.

No one else can study or practice on your behalf. Let me say it again: no one can walk the Dharma path for you and hand you the results, it's impossible!

Lama Tsongkhapa said, "The Buddhas do not wash away the sins of sentient beings with water, nor do they remove the sufferings of beings with their hands; they do not transfer their own enlightened qualities onto others, it is only by teaching the Dharma that they guide beings towards liberation."

If you study and practice Dharma earnestly, the Buddha remains in the world as far as you are concerned; if you do not study earnestly, being around the Buddha is of not much benefit. Look at Buddha’s disciples during his lifetime. Two disciples fell into the three lower realms even though they lived with the Buddha and took ordination under him.

The success or failure of your practice does not depend on whether the Buddha remains in the world, but it depends on the Dharma —the true refuge is the Dharma…The Buddha's appearance in the world is only to speak the Dharma—whether you transform your mind or not depends on your own efforts.

Managing the input into our minds

Khenpo Sodargye

Under the control of big data (algorithms), many short videos and social media are actually sowing discord and driving wedges between people. This includes relationships between husbands and wives, teachers and students, parents and children, among others; these relationships are being constantly being undermined.

To develop one’s life values from such input is deeply tragic and pitiful; it is also one of the reasons why more and more people are suffering from depression and anxiety nowadays. Many children who are just ten years old or so suffer from depression, feeling that they are not acknowledged by their schools or their parents. Consequently, they are unwilling to attend school and are even sent to psychiatric hospitals, and after coming out, their capacity for thinking is no longer fully intact. This phenomenon is becoming increasingly common…

Many people are constantly brainwashed with negative thoughts through short videos and similar medium, then they come to believe that the entire world must be as depicted by these negative perspectives. Online information is overwhelming and pervasive, while excellent education focused on virtue is missing. 

What catches people's eyes is negative information… the more they dwell on it, the more they want to watch it, until finally they truly believe in their hearts that things are exactly this way. Nowadays, there are alot of provocative suggestions about how children should confront their parents, even the words used by couples during arguments are learned from these videos designed by their creators for stimulation and entertainment…

Moral standards have also been torn down by these videos—as more people watch these videos of previously unacceptable behaviors with enjoyment, these immoral behaviors become normalised and accepted by the mainstream.  This is a characteristic of the degenerate times.

Chicken habit and Deity Practice

Lama Tharchin Rinpoche

(editted for clarity)

Vajrayana's wisdom is within you. You don’t have to wait because Dzogchen point of view is you don't need to be liberated. You are already liberated. You never got bound, you are free.

I have a story. We had a life-release. Suzanne bought several boxes of chickens. Each box had three or four chickens. A small box like this, it is completely packed. We opened the box and set them free. But due to their habit, the chickens feel they can't walk or run around. They always sit like this (in a restricted manner). Because of habit.

If you don't trust your freedom, you are just like those chickens. [Laughter] It's really true. I realized that, wow, this is how heavy habit is. Then I realized we are just like these chickens. Even though we already enlightened, we kept dualistic structure.

We taught these chickens to move and let them move, later they learned to move.

Similarly, this skillful training of (visualizing deities and generation stage) is like that. [Laughs] Just like that. Let us feel, “Wow, I'm a deity.” Trick our minds in a positive way so that we can be free. This trick is called the Mahayoga practice.

For example, if you change your name every day or every week.  You keep using different names, keep changing.  Someday you will be confused and think, “Who am I? What is my name?” So the mental trick is like that.

The deity yoga is a good way to feel this freedom. When you're feeling this freedom, it builds up a habit, then you are free. Because our delusion, this entire dualistic phenomena or appearance is created by our mental habit. This whole universe is a mental display.

Whether it is a good place or bad place; good life or bad life, it’s all okay.  Whether it is pleasurable or painful time. It's okay. Everything is displayed by mind.

Samsara is also a generation stage of creating material phenomena, concrete phenomena, heavy phenomena. We are always creating samsara appearances. This is unenlightened generation stage practice. This is samsara practice.

We use the same trick but in a good way. To create a good habit, your mind can visualize deity appearances. First you create, then you feel, then feeling comes more because that habit is coming closer to the truth, approaching purity. Then that mind attains the habit of deity phenomena.

It sounds a little complicated, but actually when you do it, it is simple. Because we have only one mind. We don't have two or three minds, just one mind. When you focus that one mind, whatever you focus on, repeating it again and again. That is called karma. It is a mental habit that you keep repeating.

That's why we repeat mantra. We repeat visualization of wisdom deities. The one mind is engaged with wisdom body, wisdom speech, wisdom mind. That's how you accumulate mental habit and build wisdom phenomena.

The one that builds ordinary, solid, material phenomena and clings to it is your mind. Your mind creates this karma.  When your mind shift focus to wisdom phenomena, then it gets a little vacation from building samsara and emotional phenomena. [Laughter]

Samsara is built by your mind. That is why we are meditating. Because the focus is now changed.  We have been meditating on samsaric phenomena for countless lifetimes. For eons and eons we repeated this meditation. Therefore, samsara is solidly manifesting to us right now.

So we are undoing the process through the same way. It is exactly same — using your mind. Clinging onto phenomena is our problem. We desire good things and hate negative things.  Both of these emotions of attachment and aversion comes from not knowing its nature, that's ignorance. Through repeating attachment, aversion and ignorance, we build this samsara.

Now, our Dharma practice is to reverse this process. Go back to who we are originally. For example, I am Tharchin and my body here is 75 years old. It is a temporary thing. This is not going to be forever. It is not reliable. If I understand this, I have less expectation of my body.

If you have faith that your true nature is the primordial Buddha Kuntuzangpo, instead of Tharchin. Then you keep repeating this moment by moment. It changes this material, solid, concrete phenomena into what you are meditating upon.

 

Sharing: Supportive-chanting at end of life

Question:

During the end-of-life supportive-chanting of Amitabha, the deceased's body cannot be moved for eight hours. But in Japan, especially in hospitals, if we perform supportive-chanting when someone has just died, the hospital immediately requires their body to be moved to the mortuary when they die.  What should we do then?

Dharma Master Ding Hong:

…this depends on the merit of the practitioner. If you wish to pass away with ease, have people chant Amitabha for you right after you pass and have no one move your body, then you must cultivate merit right now.

You save this merit to be used at the time of your death. When you cultivate merit, you cannot yet enjoy it. When you enjoy your merits, it is used up. Therefore, you must cultivate strongly, do giving, let go.  At the same time, take suffering as your teacher. Live simply where possible. This way, your merits are preserved. When your end of life comes, you will have no problems.

We encountered the same problem in Hong Kong. Hong Kong law also dictates that once a person dies, the police must be called. If in a hospital, they must be immediately moved to the mortuary.

However, we have also sent off some fellow HK practitioners who had great merit. They notified the police a full 24 hours later.  The police came, took a look, and said, "Okay, let's check the body." After examining the body, it was fine. They did not investigate further.

There was no problem leaving the body there for 24 hours.  They had great merit. At the time of their passing, no karmic creditors came to disturb or interfere with them.

If one passes away in the hospital, it is quite troublesome because the hospital cannot accommodate you, especially if you enter the Intensive Care Unit [ICU]. Once you enter the ICU, your fate is completely handed over to the doctors.  Your family members can't do anything; fellow practitioners can do even less...

I have seen it myself. We once went to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong to do supportive-chanting for a pureland practitioner. Her son didn’t know what to do. His mother had a stroke and he immediately sent her to the hospital.

She was sent to the hospital, fell into a coma and went into the ICU. In the ICU, you mostly go in and only come out when you are dead. They use these machines to prolong your life or extend it for a few days. This is considered fulfilling the medical staff's responsibility of saving life.

How did they prolong her life? They cut open her windpipe and inserted a ventilator tube. Because your nose is no longer working, they insert it directly into the windpipe. They use a machine to help you breathe and they add a pump to the heart.

The entire body is inserted with tubes. There is a tube in the esophagus to pump liquid food into you. Then there are urinary catheters, tubes for feces, and so on. Anyway, you are full of tubes.

Plus, there are the wires and tubes for the monitors. This one is for heartbeats, this one is for breathing. This kind is for blood pressure etc.  Anyway, the person is restrained to the bed. Extremely suffering. Tell me, isn't this being cruel to the patient? This was too terrifying. It was simply hell on earth. You are unable to move a muscle.

When I went in and saw this, my tears just fell. The air conditioning was blowing on her, her clothes were quite bare, she was only covered with a thin blanket. Even normal healthy people would feel... most people would feel freezing cold in this environment.

Anyway, they don't care… as long as the machines are plugged in, it's fine to them. Just a thin layer covering her, her body was freezing cold. You see, it's like this.

Our group went in to chant Amitabha but the hospital wouldn't allow so many people to chant, they only allowed one person. If you came out to go to the toilet, there can't be a second person going in. The visit is considered over. What to do? In the end, everyone sent me in. Before going in, I first went to the restroom…

It was gloomy and eerie inside, as if entering the underworld. In that ICU, it wasn't just her alone; there were other people. Some people, when they woke up, were wailing. It truly sounded like ghosts crying. Going in, I felt my body trembling.

I chanted for her for a long time, but there was no response. I didn't dare to be loud. If it was loud, the medical staff would say, "Don't disturb the others." Because there were several patients together there, I didn't dare to chant loudly. But if I didn't chant loudly, I was afraid she couldn't hear it.

What to do? I thought of a method. I took a piece of paper and rolled it into a tube, placed this at her ear and chanted through it. I chanted softly to avoid getting kicked out. It was truly quite difficult.

Because there were no chairs there, I could only bend over. I couldn't stand too far away… after less than an hour of chanting, my lower back became sore. Finally, I knelt down. Kneeling down, I could at least keep my back straight, then my mouth was exactly level with her ear. So I chanted like this.

In the end, the doctor was touched and brought a stool over for me. Really, that supportive-chanting session was the most grueling in my life…

So it's best if you know it is the end of life to remain at home. You just chant Amitabha right where you are and seek rebirth in Sukhavati. Less suffering, it is okay even if we leave this world a bit earlier…

At home, when you chant Amitabha, your mind is clear. If you chant Amitabha with faith and aspiration to seek rebirth in Sukhavati, Amitabha will definitely come to receive you. If by chance karmic obstacles manifest and you lose consciousness, then faith and aspiration will all be absent.

Of course, that practitioner in Hongkong also lacked sufficient faith and aspiration, which is why she suffered such an outcome. If she had true faith and aspiration, she could have told her children that when her time comes, they must absolutely not send her to the hospital.

Take my mother, for instance… I have her will with me today. Let me read her will to everyone. This is from February 2008…

There are five clauses in total.

“Recalling my entire life, I am grateful to my parents, grateful to my teachers. Grateful to the country and its people, grateful to my siblings and all my friends. I was able to work peacefully until retirement and am able to enjoy a wonderful twilight years. Grateful to all sentient beings. Especially grateful to Venerable Master for teaching us to learn traditional culture and understand Buddhism and Pureland practice. At the time of departing this world, let me affectionately say: Thank you, everyone.”

This is the first clause.

“What makes me satisfied is that my thirty years of effort in raising my son were not in vain. My only child, my son Zhong Maosen, has allowed me to become the mother of a PhD and the mother of a professor. What comforts me even more is that my son has embarked on the path of learning from the past sages and propagating the teachings of the sages. I hope Maosen will diligently study and promote the traditional cultures of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Delve deeply into teachings, continuously teach, and follow the teachings of the sages. Cultivate moral character, manage the family, govern the state, bring peace to the world, benefit society and the people, and seek rebirth in the Pure Land.”

This is an expectation she has for me.

“In my later years, I personally studied the Buddhist Pure Land sutras, and resolved to chant Amitabha to seek rebirth in Sukhavati. I hope my son, Zhong Maosen, will preside over my end-of-life matters and affairs after my passing. I also hope relatives, friends, and fellow practitioners will chant Amitabha for me for twenty-four hours during my final moments, and escort me to be reborn in Sukhavati.

“My body should only be moved twenty-four hours after passing away. This is very important. If, due to old age I suffer an illness, no matter at what time or place, absolutely do not send me to the hospital. Even more so, do not attempt resuscitation or life-support. Please immediately chant Amitabha for me.”

My mother is really smart.

Below it says, “If my lifespan has not yet ended, I will receive the Buddha's blessing and recover. If my lifespan has ended, I can pass away amidst the chanting of Amitabha’s name. Absolutely do not, under any circumstance, send me to the hospital. Chant Amitabha right there. At the juncture of life and death, chanting Amitabha is the number one thing to do."

This is the third clause.

“The family property, including the real estate under my name and all bank deposits, cash, and household items, etc., shall all be inherited and managed by my son, Zhong Maosen. If there are still plenty of deposits, please donate appropriately to make offerings to the Triple Gem, print wholesome books, and engage in social public welfare and charitable works.

“I hope that when relatives, friends, and fellow practitioners learn of my passing, they can all recite the Ksitigarbha Sutra, Amitayus Sutra, Amitabha Sutra and chant Amitabha within 49 days. This will be the best memorial and help for me. Thank you!

“May we meet in Sukhavati again. Namo Amituofo!  Pureland practitioner Zhao Liangyu. Written on February 29, 2008, in Guangzhou.”

This shows my mom had the most wisdom. Being able to completely and clearly hand over all matters after death, one can rest completely at ease. Once people reach old age, they should quickly think about writing a will properly.

Master Yinguang said: "Always hang the word 'Death' on your forehead." If a person frequently thinks of death, they will have Dharma in mind.

Reciting till single-pointed emptiness

On an occasion of sharing by two venerable masters with their disciples.

Elder Master Chanyun: Layman Dong was an old man who stayed in Zhanshan Monastery as a language teacher.  He was reciting Amitabha in a room when they called him to come out for mealtime.  

Elder Master Mengcan:  No, no-one called him.  He recited Amitabha and simply exited the room.  The door was locked. He locked the door from within but he left the room while reciting Amitabha. I was staying there at that time. I was there when this happened.  This happened around 1938-39.  I did not leave the monastery yet.

Elder Master Chanyun: So what happened was that: he entered his room and locked the door from within to prevent anyone else from entering. Then he recited Amitabha until a state of one-pointedness. Without opening the door, he went out of the room.  Later, when he returned to his room, he couldn’t open the door because the door was locked from within. (Audience laughed)

Elder Master Mengcan:  This is the state of “one-pointed undistracted mind”.  It is “Form is emptiness; emptiness is form” (from Heart Sutra).  His body-mind was empty, the external structure of the room was empty.  He recited until all that remained was just that one phrase "Amitabha". Nothing else existed for him.  In this state of union, he could pass through the door and leave the room. 

Either progress or regress, there is no third alternative

Dharma Master Jingjie

When karma matures, firstly, it arises and ceases from moment to moment. Secondly, it directs your behavior. The power of karma will make you repeat the act again and again.

In the view of Yogacara, when you do not repent a negative deed, it means you rejoice in it. There is no third alternative.  Ordinary beings are not able to remain neutral in the middle.

Thus, from the perspective of Yogacara, if you do not repent your behavior, it means you approve of it. If you say, "I didn't repent, but I don’t approve of it either," that is wrong. If you do not repent, then you are complying with it.

In Yogacara, there are only two situations: you either purify and eliminate karmic seed, or you strengthen it. 

This means that no one remains in the original condition without changing. The phrase "staying constant" does not apply to ordinary beings, only to holy beings (who have realisation). Holy beings have realised their mind to be unborn and unceasing, so they can stay constant.

We are not qualified to "stay the same." You are either improving or you are regressing, because your life is a flowing stream of thoughts which arises and ceases, so how is it possible to stay constant?

Therefore, from the perspective of Yogacara, if you do not repent and purify, it means that you are indulging in the behavior. “Not repenting” and “rejoicing” mean the same thing. Therefore, the power of the negative karma is augmented…

At first, you create the karma, but in the end, the karma will be the one compelling you to create further karma. A karmic seed will activate further ripenings. Originally, you were the one who created it, but later it influences you to do that same type of action again…

Therefore, a kind of mutually reinforcing cycle is generated. This seed will not cease until you repent and counteract it.  It slowly snowballs and accumulates strength. This is the first point.

Once the karmic seed has been created, even if the conditions that allow it to surface are absent and it doesn’t continue (to influence your behavior), then it is instead stored latently within your mind (until conditions allow it to arise again.)

Study but do not neglect practice

Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro

Many people are studying the Five Great Treatises, and this is very good.  If you have the time, you should study them as well. But it is important to remember that the Dharma is as vast as the ocean—boundless and inexhaustible. One could spend an entire lifetime and still not learn it all.

Therefore, after reaching a certain level of study, one must understand the importance of practice. If one keeps studying without practicing, one may eventually degenerate into a mere theorist—someone who lacks renunciation, bodhicitta, and faith, and can only talk eloquently about Buddhism without genuinely embodying it.

Much of the content in the Five Great Treatises is not merely theoretical; it has practical significance and can guide us in real life. There is no need to wait until attaining Buddhahood or being reborn in the Sukhavati (for results from Dharma practice). Even in this very life, one can benefit from Dharma.

For example, when we encounter afflictions, old age, sickness, or other hardships, we realize that things we usually value so much—money, fame, philosophy, logic etc—become meaningless, whereas many of the principles taught in Buddhism turn out to be very useful.

However, we should also be careful. Once we reach a certain stage of learning, we may become so absorbed in study that we cannot pull ourselves away. We continue studying endlessly, reluctant to let go, and even find it highly enjoyable. From there, two outcomes are possible.

One possibility is positive. Because we understand many Buddhist teachings, our faith in the Guru and the Three Jewels becomes even stronger. We become deeply aware that the only truth of real value in this world is the Dharma, we lose interest in everything else and wish to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to practice.

The other possibility is negative. As our learning and reflection increase, our actual practice naturally decreases. Instead of applying Buddhist teachings to our own cultivation, we use them for debating, preaching, and scrutinizing others.

Taking Buddhist principles as a measuring stick, we begin judging other people's strengths and shortcomings. At that point, we have started going downhill, and in the end, we may even regress from the path altogether.

If we notice such a tendency in ourselves, we should immediately make adjustments and intensify our practice. We should put great effort into cultivating faith, compassion, and renunciation. By doing so, we can reverse the situation and get back on track.

Remembering impermanence is the mark of a practitioner

Khenpo Sodargye

In Dharma practice, thinking of impermanence is of the highest importance. If we lack the remembrance of impermanence, we are no different from ordinary worldly people. Sometimes, we see certain Khenpos, Geshes, or other figures of high stature whose speech and behavior seem to lack the understanding of impermanence.  Then, their Dharma practice will not be good either. If one lacks the contemplation of impermanence, one clings to permanence, leading to afflictions and negative karma which ultimately brings suffering.

For practitioners, the contemplation of impermanence is of the highest importance among all practices… Just as the teachings of the Kadampa masters show, when the feeling of impermanence arises in our mindstream, we no longer have much interest in worldly matters, realizing that if we do not listen, contemplate, and practice Dharma as soon as possible, this brief human life will pass by in the blink of an eye.

Amitabha's light

Khenpo Yeshe Phuntsok

When you recite Amitabha with utmost sincerity, you are connecting to the mind of Amitabha. Amitabha will immediately bless you and your mind will gradually undergo a transformation.

As Lord Buddha Shakyamuni stated in the Contemplation Sutra, Amitabha Buddha radiates infinite light upon countless universes in the ten directions, blessing and guiding those who recite his name, without leaving out anyone.

Pureland Patriarch Shandao also mentioned in his Pratyutpanna Praise that the Amitabha’s light shines universally upon those who practice Amitabha-recitation. Amitabha’s light possesses boundless, inconceivable functions to benefit beings. When your recitation resonates with Amitabha, you will naturally receive blessings.  The more you recite Amitabha, the greater the joy and bliss that arises in your mind.

Therefore, reciting Amitabha is by no means dry or boring. The peace and joy it brings can only be experienced by those who recite with genuine sincerity. As you continue to recite Amitabha, your mind gradually becomes purified and your faith and feeling for Amitabha will grow and deepen.

When you reach the point where you experience the peace and joy, you will be unwilling to stop reciting even if someone told you to do so. Amitabha’s ocean of aspirational vows has infallible blessings. Amitabha guides and cares for sentient beings through his light; his sacred name is a medium for sentient beings to connect with Amitabha’s power.

As long as you sincerely recite Amitabha, the Buddha's light begin to enter your mind. As your recitation progresses and your communion with Amitabha deepens, the blessings you receive will also become greater and greater.

Hence, reciting Amitabha is akin to bathing in the Buddha's light. The better you recite, the more obvious will be the receipt of blessings. It can bring peace and strength to your body and mind; it can eliminate karmic obstacles. Sometimes you can feel it yourself during the recitation that you are truly bathing and immersed in the Buddha's light, your mind naturally becomes very pure and joyful.

This is because Amitabha’s light is also called the "Blissful Light ". When you receive the blessing of Amitabha’s light, joy naturally wells up in your mind. Furthermore, when you recite Amitabha with a sincere heart, the dust obscuring your mind will gradually be cleared away and your virtuous roots will be activated and manifest effortlessly more and more.

For example, your body and mind feels gentle and workable, your hairs may stand on end, or you may find yourself weeping as you recite; sometimes a heart of great compassion may arise, making you aspire to benefit all sentient beings without end... These are all signs of your virtuous roots being activated. (However, do not become attached to these signs as these are natural processes.)

Normally, when we are not reciting the Amitabha, our body and mind remain in an impure state of afflictions. Yet, when you recite Amitabha well, even for just a short period of time, your body and mind feels as though they have been thoroughly washed clean, becoming extremely pure and joyful, and your entire body-mind feels refreshed and transformed.

From various biographies as well as the personal experiences of the Buddhist friends around us, we know of some blind people who have recovered their sight through Amitabha-recitation. Some have had their tumors disappear, some have become so full of energy that they do not need to sleep much because they receive the blessings of Amitabha’s light all day long and are free from wandering thoughts.  They have already attained recitation-samadhi. There are even patients with terminal illnesses who had been told by hospitals to prepare for their death, but through single-minded recitation of Amitabha were cured of their very severe illnesses.

This is because when people reach that critical stage, they have no other hope and their sole recourse is to single-mindedly take refuge in Amitabha Buddha. Thus, the sincerity of their recitation produces a spiritual response very quickly. These are all results of Amitabha recitation and receiving the blessings.

I have told the story of Venerable Zhaoyue's mother many times. When she was first brought to the monastery by her son, she missed her son every day, and she spoke of nothing but worldly matters. Later, the monk urged his mother to recite Amitabha and refused to discuss any other topics with her, leaving her with no choice but to recite Amitabha.

In the beginning, she was extremely reluctant and only did it because there was nothing else to do, forcing herself to recite half-heartedly. After three years of continuous practice, she became used to it and derived great benefit. She no longer thought about worldly affairs and achieved a rather pure practice of Amitabha recitation.

One day, while reciting Amitabha in front of a Buddhist pagoda (stupa), her mind suddenly opened up and all she could see was a vast boundless light. All ordinary appearances vanished from her consciousness and she directly beheld a golden world (ie, Sukhavati).  From then on, her six sense faculties became serene and still, and whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, she no longer gave rise to any discursive thoughts.

There was also a man named Blacksmith Huang. He was a smith who worked all day beside a high-temperature furnace which was exceptionally grueling labor. Later, he began to recite Amitabha while striking iron. Because his recitation connected to Amitabha’s blessings, he no longer felt tired or miserable at all.  His mind was always restful, joyful and deeply at peace.

The Dharma practice of Amitabha recitation is by no means a shallow or inferior method. As long as one continuously invokes this great name of myriad virtues, when the recitation reaches full maturity, the body and mind will dissolve into emptiness, the duality of subject and object will collapse and one's nature of mind will manifest and be realized. This is what is known as attaining "One-Mindedness in Principle." (See note below)

Of course, reaching One-Mindedness in Actuality or One-Mindedness in Principle belongs to a very high level of attainment, which ordinary people cannot achieve for the time being. However, this does not matter; as long as your faith and aspirations are firm and resolute, you will certainly achieve rebirth in Sukhavati.

After being reborn in Sukhavati and having received the blessings of Amitabha Buddha, you will absolutely attain realisation. Therefore, as long as you recite Amitabha with utmost sincerity, the Buddha's power will produce its function in your mind and you will reap immense benefit.

Our main goal right now is to urge everyone to get on the path; otherwise, if you never take this first step, you will never be able to get on the path. As the proverb goes, "The first step is always the hardest." At the beginning of practicing Amitabha recitation, there will indeed be some difficulties because you have never habituated yourself to it, making the practice feel very foreign and unfamiliar.

But this is not a problem at all. As you recite over time, you will become proficient in it and really obtain the Dharma bliss from your recitation. Right now, we are using the power of group practice to urge everyone forward, helping everyone get accustomed to Amitabha recitation.

People's spiritual acumen vary. Some find it hard to sustain their recitation, this type of person needs to strengthen their faith and vows, or combine it with other methods of practice. On the other hand, some people have very simple, pure minds and can sustain their recitation easily, having no problem reciting all day long. Therefore, since there are many different situations, we must apply different methods to handle them in accordance with each individual's capacity.

(Note: Read past posting in this group on Venerable Yuan's life of practice for an example of attaining realisation of mind-nature through Amitabha practice.)

Useful in Countering Afflictions

Jamyang Rinpoche

For instance, when we hear pleasant sounds, we are happy; when someone says something harsh, we get really upset. If we are still behaving like that, it means that our practice is not really good. If we had a good practice, we would have at least dissolved this sort of fixation. If we can’t dissolve this fixation, then we can say a great deal about the Dharma but it doesn’t do the slightest bit of good for our practice or afflictions. 

Being unable to overcome our afflictions means that our practice has failed.  If the military trains troops for a few years, yet these troops do not know how to fight their enemies on the battlefield, then the military is a failure and all its efforts are useless.  

Afflictions are the enemies for a practitioner. If afflictions win, then the practitioner has failed.  One can check for oneself if your practice has succeeded or failed. There is no need to ask the Guru.

When afflictions arrive, our training in renunciation and bodhichitta are completely lost, needless to mention emptiness —then your Dharma practice has been useless to you.  What is the use of listing out all the amazing practices you have done? Useless! If Dharma is useful when it comes to dealing with your afflictions, then you are truly successful.

~~

Constantly trying to rest your mind in a state free of thoughts and thinking that this is Dharma practice is incorrect. In Tibet, many small animals called marmots hibernate for about 6 months each year. Keeping your mind in such a state is similar to the minds of these hibernating animals.  

It is not necessary to control your mind in this way. What we need to address is the source of afflictions. We need to investigate where afflictions come from.  

There is a certain sect in India that trains in keeping the mind still for hundreds of years. In history, the adherents of this sect have been said to achieve this feat.  Long-life devas can also still their minds for hundreds of years. After all that effort, the only result is that they remain trapped in samsara.  

The cause of samsara is self-grasping.  When we rest our minds in stillness, this self-grasping is not dissolved, instead, on top of that, we add another layer of clinging at stillness.  

In other words, we already have self-grasping, but this type of practice adds another layer of self-grasping on top of our existing self-grasping. In the meditation, a watcher observes the mind for distractions and brings it back to stillness; this watcher becomes another artificially created layer of self-grasping. Therefore, one remains entrapped in samsara instead of moving closer to liberation.

When this type of training is engaged in for a long time, one approaches a kind of state when consciousness seems to be extinguished.  If this habit becomes deeply entrenched, then one takes rebirth as a long-life deva. These devas are still firmly enslaved by self-grasping. 

The true view of Buddhism is to dismantle self-grasping. This is the only way to liberation.  Beginning with self-grasping, discrimination arises, and the various objects of the five senses are judged as pleasant or unpleasant, attachment and aversion arises, one reacts and creates karma and all of samsara unfolds from there on…