Taking Refuge in Amitabha Buddha

 THE THREE PURE LAND SUTRAS, by Dr Hisao Inagaki with Harold Stewart

Ignorance is the root cause of suffering, the master key in the padlock of karma (the immutable order of cause and effect). The total extinction of ignorance shatters this seemingly indestructible padlock and leads to the end of suffering and the attainment of spiritual liberation from the dictates of karma, and as well to the realization of complete enlightenment.

TAMING THE MONKEY MIND: A Guide to Pure Land Practice, by the Buddhist scholar Cheng Wei-an, translated by Elder Master Suddhisukha, published for free distribution by The Penang Buddhist Associtation, June 2001

The Dharma-ending Age was predicted by Shakyamuni Buddha. He said: “In the Dharma-ending Age, cultivators are numerous, but those who can achieve Supreme Enlightenment are few…”

A 10,000-year-period of spiritual decline, it began about 500 years ago, or about 2,000 years after the Buddha’s physical demise and parinirvana.

THE THREE PURE LAND SUTRAS

In the Garland (Hwa Yen) Sutra, the nienfo Samadhi (the awakened consciousness experienced in reciting the Buddha’s Name to the point of singlemindedness) is described as the king of samadhis (profound concentration practices). The Bodhisattva Manjushri and the eminent 8^th century T;ien-tai master Fei Hsi have also used the same words to describe the supreme enlightenment practice of reciting the Buddha’s Name.

The practice is reciting the Buddha’s Name “in complete sincerity, mindfulness and faith” as taught by Ven. Dr. Thich Thien-An, a distinguished Vietnamese Zen scholar-monk, in his book Zen Philosophy, Zen Practice, 1975,

TAMING THE MONKEY MIND

Towards the end of the Avatamsaka Sutra, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said that by the Mind of Great Compassion and the Bodhi Mind (Enlightenment Mind), the Buddhas “accomplish Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment…”  The Bodhi Mind (Bodhicitta), born from the seed of Great Compassion, contains the fundamental aspiration to seek and realize the ultimate enlightenment in order to be fully able to save and enlighten all sentient beings. The Bodhi Mind also signifies the Mind of Enlightenment.

PURE LAND ZEN/ZEN PURE LAND,

 BUDDHA ROOT FARM, 1976,  

This timeless teaching on the supreme enlightenment practice of reciting the Buddha’s Name is delivered in a simple sentence of 15 words in plain English.

NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA