I chant amida buddha many times, and I felt something was put into my head. Was this a bodhisttiva, a heavenly demon casting spells, or dharma protector, or amida buddha?

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The Greatest Obstacle to Rebirth in the Pure Land
By Master Jingjie (淨界法師)

From the perspective of the Pure Land school, what is the greatest obstacle to our rebirth in the Pure Land? It is attachment to the Sahā World—our deep clinging to this world. This is the greatest barrier within our minds.

Why is it that Amitabha Buddha’s Forty-Eight Great Vows are sometimes unable to bring us to rebirth? Amitabha Buddha spent inconceivably long eons accomplishing the Name, gathering all His immeasurable merits into it so that we may uphold and recite it. Yet why are we unable to fully awaken the power of His merits? Because our minds are obstructed by attachment to this world. As the saying goes, “If one’s attachment is not deep, one will not be born in the Sahā World.” Therefore, we must use the power of contemplation to transform our attachment to the Sahā World into joyful aspiration for rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

If our way of thinking does not change, then merely reciting the Buddha’s Name cannot bring about rebirth. This is because no Buddhist school—including the Pure Land school—can deny the principle that all phenomena arise through causes and conditions. If one could attain rebirth without any transformation of the mind, it would imply that things arise through an external power independent of one’s own mind—that someone outside ourselves controls our destiny. Such an idea resembles belief in an all-controlling deity rather than the Buddha’s teaching.

Non-Buddhist paths seek salvation by relying on an external power. They believe that whether one ascends to heaven or falls into hell is determined by another being. Buddhism does not teach this. The Buddha teaches that all phenomena arise through causes and conditions, and this is a fundamental principle shared by all Buddhist traditions.
What, then, are these causes and conditions? Fundamentally, they are our own minds. So how should we transform them? According to the sutras, we should cultivate three kinds of contemplation.

1. Contemplation of True Suchness
Our True Suchness (Buddha-nature) has remained dormant for far too long. Thus Chan masters often exhort us:

“Awaken, O true master within! Do not continue sleeping.”

Most of the time, we mistake deluded thoughts for our true self, as though mistaking a thief for our own father. In reality, these wandering thoughts are merely habitual tendencies left behind by our past actions. When we continually contemplate:
“How unexpected! Our own nature is originally pure.” and “Originally, there is not a single thing,”
our deluded thoughts gradually lose their power. Since they arise only through causes and conditions and possess no true existence, constant contemplation of True Suchness naturally weakens and extinguishes them. This greatly helps us maintain right mindfulness at the time of death.

2. Contemplation of the Merits of Amitabha’s Name
A Pure Land practitioner should firmly believe that Amitabha Buddha’s Name possesses complete and sufficient power to save all beings. Train yourself to take complete refuge in the Name. If your refuge is one hundred percent complete, then rebirth is one hundred percent certain. In Pure Land practice, there is no such thing as ninety-nine percent. Even a tiny deficiency means the work is incomplete.

Master Ouyi emphasized the need for true faith, while Master Yinguang stressed firm and decisive faith and aspiration. Why did they repeatedly emphasize “true” and “decisive”? Because the key to spiritual resonance with Amitabha Buddha lies precisely here. Whether one responds to Amitabha’s compassionate vow does not depend primarily on the quantity of Buddha-recitation. Rather, it depends on the depth of one’s wholehearted reliance and refuge.

Naturally, such faith cannot be given to us by someone else—not even by the Buddha. It must be cultivated through repeated contemplation.
Reflect again and again on the inconceivable virtues of Amitabha’s Name: that it eliminates karmic obstacles, increases blessings, nurtures wholesome roots, and enables us at life’s end to receive Amitabha Buddha’s welcoming guidance.
Repeated contemplation gradually matures the mind. Whatever we repeatedly reflect upon develops tremendous strength. This is known as repeated perfuming (數數熏習). Through contemplating the virtues of the Name, unwavering faith naturally arises.

3. Contemplation of the Splendor of the Pure Land
This is an aspect many practitioners overlook.
We must never forget that the purpose of reciting the Buddha’s Name is not merely to eliminate karmic obstacles, but to seek rebirth in the Pure Land.
According to Master Ouyi’s Essential Explanation of the Amitabha Sutra, the entire structure of Pure Land practice begins with the aspiration for rebirth. Recognizing that we cannot accomplish liberation by our own strength, we rely upon Amitabha Buddha’s Name. The goal comes first; the practice is the means. Many people simply recite the Buddha’s Name without clearly knowing why they do so. Their recitation lacks direction and purpose.

Without the aspiration for rebirth, Buddha-recitation may merely become a cause for blessings within the human or heavenly realms, because the vow to be reborn in the Pure Land is absent. Many practitioners remain unfamiliar with the magnificent adornments of the Pure Land. If we know nothing about it, how can we develop joyful aspiration toward it?

Many of you immigrated here from Taiwan, China, or elsewhere. Before coming to America, if you had known absolutely nothing about America, would you have chosen to move here? Of course not.
Only after reflecting on its advantages were you willing to leave your former home and begin a new life. Change is never easy. Likewise, if we remain unfamiliar with the Pure Land while being deeply familiar with the Sahā World, then after death we will naturally return to the place we know best. The familiar environment exerts a powerful pull.

Therefore, we must study and contemplate the glorious adornments of the Pure Land, gradually nurturing the aspiration to seek rebirth there for the sake of fulfilling the Bodhisattva Path. The stream of our lives has flowed from the past into the present. How we lived in the past can no longer be changed.
“The past is gone.”The Buddha’s teaching focuses on the future, because the future can still be transformed. Infinite possibilities lie ahead.

Thus we must prepare ourselves through:
contemplating True Suchness,
contemplating the merits of Amitabha’s Name, and
contemplating the splendor of the Pure Land, so that we may preserve right mindfulness at the moment of death. When these three preparations have been completed, then we simply raise the Buddha’s Name.

“One thought corresponding to the Buddha is one thought of Buddhahood; thought after thought corresponding to the Buddha is thought after thought of Buddhahood.”

The real question is: Have we prepared ourselves?
Amitabha Buddha is even more eager than we are, for His great compassion is boundless. Therefore, through listening to the Dharma, studying the teachings, and reflecting upon them in accordance with right principles, we gradually transform our way of thinking. Only then, when we recite the Buddha’s Name, can we truly establish perfect resonance with Amitabha Buddha—eliminating calamities and karmic obstacles in this very life, and attaining rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss at the end of this one.

I have trouble understanding the metaphysical view of Huayan Buddhism, and I wonder if the position I will talk about is also the view of Pure Land Buddhism. I know it is often adopted by Chan too, so why not. The difference between Mahayana schools is mostly about the practice and aim rather than doctrienes, except maybe for Madyamika VS Cittamatra.

I know how the One Mind is empty, but what does this mean in practice ? If every phenomenon arises as a thought of such mind, how is this mind not eternal ? How the One Mind itself arises ?

Here are some parts of an article about Huayan Buddhism from Standford Encyclopedia of philosophy leading me to have trouble at understanding how it is still not an eternal substance such as the Brahman.

-"...Fazang identifies One Mind with tathagatagarbha. Tathagatagarbha, as Fazang understands it, is neither an individual consciousness nor something that stands apart from or opposed to matter. It is, instead, the one and only source of all that exists, creating and sustaining the dharma-realm of dependent arising—albeit without separation from that realm...

Fazang posits that One Mind has two aspects, Suchness Mind and Samsara Mind. Suchness Mind is free from discerning cognition, neither produced nor destroyed. It witnesses that which is neither “this” nor “that” and yet is also not empty. Samsara Mind, by contrast, arises and ceases in accordance with conditions, transforming into purity and impurity...

Fazang explains the relation between these two aspects of One Mind by positing a distinction between Suchness and Ignorance. Suchness is the true nature of reality. Fazang posits that Suchness has two aspects, one unchanging, the other accompanying change. Suchness as unchanging is calm and quiescent. Suchness as accompanying change, by contrast, is dynamic, embedded within the ebb and flow of conditioned dharmas..."-

-Standford Encyclopedia of philosophy-

So how this is not an eternalist, idealist view postulating an eternal mind/consciousness as the Absolute principle that is at the root of manifest reality ?

The difference between this and Advaita Vedanta to me seems to be the fact that in Advaita Vedanta there is a descending process. The relative is contained by the Absolute but the Absolute is not contained by the relative. Brahman manifests as the Universe but the Universe is only an infinitesimal, illisory part of it, so Brahman is also above. The Dharmakaya/One Mind instead is on the same footing of the manifest Universe. They both interpenetrate eachothers, with the One Mind being the invisible principle at the root, and the Universe being the manifest side, that also contains the whole principle, since it is its necessary manifestation and the principle itself has no actualized reality without it.

I think either the article is unaccurate, either some, not all, forms of Mahayana Buddhism actually are a form of Panentheistic philosophy.

Hi all,
I’m new to pure land. I only know that Amitābha Buddha made 48 vows and one of them is that he will receive the consciousness of whoever chants his name with faith and take them to Sukhāvatī. This is called niànfó/nembutsu.
However,
1. I have not taken refuge.
2. No communities near me (I checked).
3. I know nothing else.
4. I don’t know how to learn more.
5. If possible, are there practices other than niànfó/nembutsu that I can do? I would like to.

Please guide me.
नमः** अमिताभ*ाय*** ***ब*ुद्धाय!

This is not a Pure Land teacher (she is Theravada), but this article is entirely applicable to Pure Land practice. We’re saying “get me off this ride Amitabha, I don’t want to go again!”

I'm still relatively new to Buddhism, I have read most of Thich Nhat Hanh's book Heart of the Buddha's Teaching. I'd like to hear from you guys what Pure Land is, and how it's different from other schools.

How do you believe enlightenment is reached? Are you generally open to newcomers at your temple? Why did you choose pure land buddhism?

It's not a new server.. but I think it can still help many people connect.

I have been practicing Pure Land for a couple months now. I have faith in Amitabha and his vows. But I had a thought -- why do we have to die? Why can't we just go to the Pure Land right now? The obvious answer is that Amitabha did not make that one of the vows, but why not? Surely if he has the power to take us after death, he has the power to take us before death. Why is death a necessary part of this process?

I'm sure I'm missing something, but this has been bothering me lately. Thanks!

Namu Amida Butsu

I saw this website, https://buddha.market/

Im not sure if this a legit website, (you can check if it is legit), if it isn't, which website is best to get buddhist altar supplies? preferably a website that ships to south africa (worldwide shipping)

(Mods you may remove this post if it isnt allowed)

About a week ago, my dog died tragically and unexpectedly. It was awful and the worst experince of my life. If you pray, practice phowa, dedicate merit, or just send well wishes, I would be beyond grateful if you would include my baby, his name is Teddy and he is the sweetest dog I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I am so thankful that I got to experince his love, and devastated that he is gone so soon and so tragically.

Literally, my brain feels so empty, that I am not used to a light weight karma brain instead of a heavy bad karma brain... Have you guys ever felt this sensation before? Does it mean the destiny has been altered?

Take these hare Krishna's for example. Their art style is so vibrant and has everything that makes it feel "alive".

I don't really think Ai can be a good match against such highly detailed artworks.

We just relay on the artwork of old times. While they are beautiful without a doubt. We should also try to make modern style arts to make it easier to plant seeds to countless people. Similar to what venerable shantao had done and asked others to do so too.

In fact, there's a whole sutra on this called "The Sutra on the Production of Buddha Images."

I really hope we come together and make more beautiful artworks (or get them made) and share it with each other to contribute for our community ❤️

I wanted to share with everyone in the Pure Land community that you can currently read four Pure Land books for free on the Google Play Books app. I hope these books inspire you to continue your practice of nianfo or nembutsu and motivate you to wish to be born in the Pure Land. I also recommend buying these books if you can find them in physical form, as they are excellent additions to your book collection. Namo Amida Butsu :)