25 04 2012 WEDNESDAY LESSON 591FREE ONLINE eNālāndā Research And Practice UNIVERSITY And THE BUDDHIST ONLINE GOOD NEWS
LETTER by
ABHIDHAMMA RAKKHITA through
http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
|
Dhammapada: Verses and Stories |
Dhammapada
Verse 146 Visakhaya Sahayikanam
Vatthu One Pacifying Word Is
Noble
Please watch this video site:
http://video.pbs.org/video/1461557530/
for
The Buddha
Full Program
Filmmaker David Grubin presents the story of
the Buddha’s life and teachings.
Verse
146. One Pacifying Word Is Noble
Why this laughter, why this joy,
when it’s ever blazing?
Shrouded all about in gloom
won’t you look for the light?
Explanation: When you are perpetually burning with the flames of
passion, what laughter, what pleasure? When you are enveloped in the darkness
of ignorance, why do you not seek the light of Wisdom to dispel that darkness?
Dhammapada
Verse 146
Visakhaya Sahayikanam Vatthu
Ko nu haso kimanando
niccam pajjalite1 sati
andhakarena2 onaddha
padipam3 na gavesatha.
Verse 146: Why is there laughter? Why is there joy although (the
world) is always burning? Shrouded in darkness why not seek the light?
1. pajjalite: burning, in this context, it means burning with
fires of passion, etc. (The Commentary)
2. andhakarena: darkness, in this context, ignorance of the Four
Noble Truths. (The Commentary)
3. padipam: light, in this context, wisdom. (The Commentary)
The Story of the Companions of Visakha
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered
Verse (146) of this book, with reference to companions of Visakha.
Five hundred men from Savatthi, wishing to make their wives to
be generous, kind-hearted and virtuous like Visakha, sent them to Visakha to be
her constant companions. During a bacchanalian festival which lasted for seven
days, the wives of those men took all the drinks left by their husbands and got
drunk in the absence of Visakha. For this misbehaviour they were beaten by
their husbands. On another occasion, saying that they wished to listen to the
Buddha’s discourse, they asked Visakha to take them to the Buddha and secretly
took small bottles of liquor hidden in their clothes.
On arrival at the monastery, they drank all the liquor they had
brought and threw away the bottles. Visakha requested the Buddha to teach them
the Dhamma. By that time, the women were getting intoxicated and felt like
singing and dancing. Mara, taking this opportunity made them bold and
shameless, and soon they were boisterously singing, dancing, clapping and
jumping about in the monastery. The Buddha saw the hand of Mara in the
shameless behaviour of these women and said to himself, “Mara must not
be given the opportunity.” So, the Buddha sent forth dark-blue rays
from his body and the whole room was darkened; the women were frightened and
began to get sober. Then, the Buddha vanished from his seat and stood on top of
Mount Meru, and from there he sent forth white rays and the sky was lit up as
if by a thousand moons. After thus manifesting his powers, the Buddha said to
those five hundred women, “You ladies should not have come to my
monastery in this unmindful state. Because you have been negligent Mara has had
the opportunity to make you behave shamelessly, laughing and singing loudly, in
my monastery. Now, strive to put out the fire of passion (raga) which is in
you”.
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
|
Verse |
At the end of the discourse those five hundred women attained
Sotapatti Fruition.
V.
FIVE TYPES OF BUDDHIST STUDY AND
PRACTICE
MAHAYANA AND HINAYANA COMPARED
PURE LAND
BUDDHA
RECITATION
EIGHT
CONSCIOUSNESSES
ONE
HUNDRED DHARMAS
EMPTINESS
FIVE TYPES OF BUDDHIST STUDY AND
PRACTICE
http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/BuddhistDict/BDF.html
Five
Types of Buddhist Study and Practice
1) Study and Practice of the Teachings, 2)
Study and Practice of the Moral Regulations (Vinaya), 3) Study and Practice of
the Mysteries (Tantra) , 4) Study and Practice of Meditation (Chan), 5) Study
and Practice for Rebirth in the Pure Land.
“The Buddha’s teachings are taught in
Five Schools: the Teachings School, the Vinaya School, the Esoteric School, the
Chan School, and the Pure Land School. There are many who like to say that
these are five sects, or types of Buddhism, which leads to all kinds of
doctrinal squabbling. It is not accurate; the schools might better be called
five basic approaches to cultivation. Each of these Dharma-doors has special
appeal to certain types of people, but only one can be said to be equally easy
for all to cultivate, and that is the Pure Land Door.” (WM 17-18)
I. Teachings.
The Teachings includes the Buddhist
doctrinal schools, such as the eighteen Hinayana schools, the Madhyamaka and
Yogacara schools of the Mahayana, and sutra-based Mahayana schools such as
Tyan-tai and Hwa-yan.
“The Teachings School emphasizes using
skillful expedients, and therefore capitalizes on beautiful expression and
elegant phraseology. Adherents to this school are well-versed in terminology
and characteristics. They determine the different periods of the teachings and
divide them into categories. Thus, the sea of meanings billows, and the
Dharma’s principles run deep. They serve to focus the audience’s rambling
thoughts, and to gather in stray mental activities that leak out through seeing
and listening. When this occurs, it’s as if one has entered the hall of samadhi,
and ascended the heavens of the six desires. Layer upon layer one bores in;
step by step one ascends. Even if one wanted to stop, it would be nearly
impossible, and it’s hard to fathom the very source.
“Regarding the teachings of the
Teachings School–such as the Four Teachings of Tyan Tai, the Five Esoteric
Meanings of Syan Shou (i.e., Hwa Yan), the Dharma-mark propagated by
Consciousness Only–each has its strengths. Although each of these schools may
not be extremely biased; nevertheless, on occasion they extol themselves at
others’ expense.
“Whenever clear-eyed Good and Wise
Advisors see such incidents, they feel greatly pained at heart. Since the
foundation of the Teachings has not flourished, and true talent is scarce,
these good advisors are willing to act personally as models, practice ascetic
discipline, and cultivate the door of the Six Paramitas. In the face of a
hundred oppositions they do not bend, and they are glad to undergo ten thousand
vicissitudes, to the point that even if their bodies had to be smashed to
pieces and their bones pulverized, they would not begrudge such a sacrifice.
Supported by magnanimous vows, they are courageous and vigorous. Renouncing
themselves for others, they take across everyone with whom they have causal connections.
Observing the opportunities, they entice with the teachings and dispense
medicine according to the illness. Not avoiding weariness or toil, they would
offer up their heads, eyes, brains and marrow, give away their bodies and
minds, all with the sole intention of causing living beings to turn away from
confusion and return to enlightenment, to cast out the deviant and come back to
what is proper. They want living beings to quickly attain Bodhi and perfect the
sagely fruition. Therefore, they employ both provisional and actual means, and
bestow both sudden and gradual teachings. With kindness they draw in those with
whom they have no affinities; with compassion they embrace all things and
become one with them. Revealing a vast and long tongue, they take great pains
to exhort with earnest words, sparing no efforts. They teach and admonish
without tiring, while always conducting themselves in accord with strict
discipline. In such ways they act as the ‘dragons and elephants’ at the
Dharma’s entrance, also as teachers of gods and people. Throughout long kalpas
they practice the Bodhisattva Way and never rest.” (WM 74-75)
“The cultivation of the Teaching
School, while serving as an excellent cure for the disease of stupidity, does
demand certain qualifications. It cannot, for example, be cultivated by the
illiterate, by those who do not know the languages in which the teachings are
written, or by the very stupid. And so, although the teachings are universal
and there is not a single being who cannot benefit from them, in their literary
form there is a definite group of people to whom they are best suited.”
(WM 18)
II. Moral Regulations
“The Vinaya School stresses the study
of precepts, the rules and regulations. In the four comportments of walking,
standing, sitting, and lying down, one has to be stern and dignified, and the
three karmas of body, mouth and mind have to be pure. Upasakas and upasikas
(laymen and laywomen), the two lay assemblies, may maintain the five precepts
and the eight precepts, as well as the Ten Major and Forty-Eight Minor
Bodhisattva Precepts. Shramanas and Shramanerikas take the Ten Novice Precepts.
Bhikshus have 250 precepts, and bhikshunis have 348 precepts. One should
maintain each and every one of those precepts without every violating them and
believe in them, accept them, and offer up one’s conduct. One should be mindful
of the agony of revolving in birth and death. If we lose this human body, it
will be hard to recover it in ten thousand aeons. Therefore, at all times, we should
strictly cultivate the Vinaya and never be lax.” (WM 75-76)
“The Vinaya, or ‘Rules and Regulations’
School, requires not only that one be literate, but also that one be living a
monastic life. There is no way for the worldly man to perfect cultivation of
the Vinaya. Pure maintenance of this Dharma-door serves as a supremely
efficacious cure for greed, desire, and arrogance. Much of it, however, can be
practiced by men and women in the world, and it can be an immense help in
cultivation. All real practicers of Buddhadharma, Sangha-members or lay people,
formally maintain precepts, ranging from the five for lay people to the more
than three hundred for bhikshunis. There are few more awesome people in the
world than the masters of Vinaya, perfect in the three thousand rules of
deportment.” (WM 18)
III. Mysteries (Tantra)
“The School of the Mysteries
specializes in the holding of mantras and maintains that one can realize
Buddhahood in this very life. And yet, if practitioners are the slightest bit
reckless, they can easily fall into the Dharma Realm of the asuras. That is
because the majority of those in these practices have not subdued the hatred in
their minds, and their tendency to seek revenge is extremely strong. They lack
thoughts of kindness and compassion, and rarely practice the art of patience.
Many of them are prone to be arrogant, and their pride and conceit are deeply
rooted. In holding secret mantras they dare to slight others, and wielding
their vajras they are not afraid of bullying people. However, if one can be rid
of the bad habits described above, then one’s practice of samadhi can
become successful, and one can go on to achieve the fruition that is Bodhi. In
that case, this Dharma-door is also a skillful expedient for cultivators of the
Way.” (WM 76)
“The School of the Mysteries requires
among other things both a good memory to hold its many mantras and dharanis,
plus a good deal of money to carry out its elaborate and splendid rituals. A
fully adorned temple and bodhimanda are required as well as a profusion of
images and various Dharma instruments. Also essential are numbers of Dharma
Masters well-trained and conversant with the esoteric lore of this school. They
are hard to find. Without them and without special instruction, it is not
possible to be successful with the teachings of the School of the
Mysteries.” (WM 19)
I have preached the truth without making any
distinction exoteric and esoteric doctrine; for in respect of the truths,
Ananda, the Tathagata has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher who
keeps some things back. (Dialogues of the Buddha II 107)
IV. Meditation (Chan)
“The Chan (Zen) or Dhyana-meditation
School stresses the practice of meditation, and its cultivation requires a
special set of circumstances. First, it is essential to have an advisor, one of
great wisdom and skill, who can teach the student by all manner of expedient
means. Without such a teacher, there is no way for ordinary people to have any
success in Chan meditation. They may achieve some measure of attainment, but
due to lack of wise counsel, they will be turned by their experience; thinking
that they are like the great Chan Masters of old, they will go around
committing all sorts of stupid and even dangerous or immoral acts. Such
so-called ‘enlightened masters’ and ‘patriarchs’ are too often well-meaning
practicers of Chan who have either not met or not submitted to the teaching of
a Good and Wise Advisor. Too many of them have entered into the various demonic
states that the Buddha discussed in the Shurangama Sutra. Anyone who
professes to be a follower of the Buddha should act in accordance with his
teachings and find a capable advisor, one whose experience and lineage are
unquestioned.
“In addition to the above
qualifications, Chan cultivation requires a certain temperament which is rarely
found. While some immediately get a response in Chan cultivation, there are
many for whom it represents unbearable difficulty. If this is the only means of
cultivation presented to them, many people will flee from the Buddhadharma as a
small child screams upon seeing a tame but incredibly fierce-looking tiger on a
leash. ” (WM 18-19)
See also Chan School.
V. Pure Land
“The Pure Land School Dharma is the
most perfect and the most instantaneous, the simplest and the easiest. It is a
Dharma that everyone can cultivate; one and all can practice it. Hence it is
described as ‘universally including the three types of faculties (superior,
average, and inferior capabilities), and gathering in both the keen and the dull.’
One only has to singlemindedly uphold the great name ‘Namo Amita Buddha’, that
of the teaching host of the Land of Ultimate Bliss of the West. When one
recites this name and arrives at the point of singleminded concentration, then
one will definitely be reborn in the West from a lotus flower. When that lotus
blooms, one will see the Buddha, awaken to a forbearance with the not coming
into being of dharmas, and attain irreversible anuttara- samyaksambodhi.
Therefore, if all cultivators only become replete with deep faith and earnest
vows, and actually realize the three requisites–faith, vows, and practice,
they all will most certainly reach their destination. It is my hope that all of
you good people will exhort each other onwards.” (WM 76-77)
“Recitation is the central practice of
the Pure Land Dharma-door. ‘Namo Amita Buddha’. ‘Namo’ means ‘to return in
reliance’, ‘to take refuge’. ‘Amita’ means ‘limitless’ and refers to the fact
that this Buddha has both ‘Limitless Light’ (Amitabha) and ‘Limitless Life’
(Amitayus). ‘Buddha’ means ‘Enlightened One’. And so ‘Namo Amita Buddha’ means
‘I take refuge with and return my life in worship to the Buddha of Limitless
Light and Life.’ The constant repetition of this Buddha’s name is the core of
the Pure Land Dharma-door. . . .
“The Pure Land Dharma-door requires no
great learning. Many illiterates attain inconceivable spiritual benefit through
it. Many, too, are the high and learned masters who praise this door. The Pure
Land Dharma-door shows us how to purify our minds, and as such it is identical
with the Teaching School, whose complex and learned systems serve to keep the
mind from wandering off on useless excursions. To be able to hold (in one’s
mind) the elaborate systems of the Teaching School requires prolonged
concentration on the Buddhadharma. Concentrating on what is pure is
fundamentally identical with recollection of the Buddha. The Pure Land Dharma
does not require that one lead a monastic life and perfect the three thousand
awesome deportments. This Dharma-door can be cultivated right in the midst of
the most ordinary life. Lay people and Vinaya specialists alike can cultivate
this Dharma. Nor does it require elaborate rituals and expensive ceremonies, or
secret, esoteric lore to be learned from specialized teachers. The secret of
the Pure land School–and there is indeed a great secret to it–lies in the
response. It is a secret clothed not in elaborate ritual and ceremony but in
the simplicity of faith and sincerity. Its secret, which is right out in the
open, is in fact the highest secret.” (WM 19)
“The Five Schools were created by
Buddhists who had nothing to do and wanted to find something with which to
occupy their time. The Five Schools all issued from Buddhism. Since they came
forth from Buddhism, they can return to Buddhism as well. Although the Five
Schools serve different purposes, their ultimate destination is the same. It is
said:
There is only one road back to the source.
But here are many expedient ways to reach
it.”
(Shambala Review, v.5, nos.1&2,
Winter, 1976, p. 26)
1) Ch. wu jyau , wu da dzung ,
2) Skt. —–, 3) Pali —–, 4) Alternate Translations: five basic approaches
to cultivation, five schools, five great schools. Teachings: 1) Ch. jyau. Moral Regulations: 1) Ch. jye, 2) Skt. vinaya, 3)
Pali vinaya, 4) Alternate Translations: discipline. Mysteries: 1) Ch. mi dzung, 2)
Skt. tantra, mantrayana, vajrayana. 4) Alternate
Translations: esoteric, secret, tantric. Meditation: 1) Ch. chan, 2) Skt. dhyana, 3) Pali
—–, 4) Alternate Translations: Zen (Japanese pronunciation of chan).
PURE LAND: 1) Ch. jing du.
See also: Consciousness-Only School, Tyan Tai School, Hwa Yan School, Chan School,
Buddha-recitation.
BTTS References: FAS Ch26 II 113-114; WM
16-19, 70-77; RH 230-231; VBS #12 (March, 1971) 32ff; VBS #185, 186 “Pure
Land Dharma Door,” Oct.-Nov. 1985.
http://www.ayurvedic-college.net/doku.php?id=five_types_of_buddhist_study_and_practice
Five Types of Buddhist
Study and Practice (Schools or Lineages of Buddhism Cultivation)
Five Types of Buddhist Study and
Practice:
1) study and practice of the teachings (Scholastic Buddhism),
2) study and practice of the moral Regulations (Vinaya or Pratimoksha),
3) study and practice of the Mysteries (Tantra or Secret School or Vajrayana - Tantrayana - Mantrayana) ,
4) study and practice of meditation (Shamatha-Vipassana-Chan-Zen-Dzogchen-Mahamudra,
5) study and practice for rebirth in the Pure Lands of the Buddhas.
“The Buddha’s teachings are taught in five schools: the teachings school, the Vinaya school, the Esoteric school, the Chan School, and the Pure Land school.
There are many who like to say that these are five sects, or types of Buddhism, which leads to all kinds of doctrinal squabbling. It is not accurate;
the schools might better be called five basic approaches to cultivation. Each of these
Dharma Doors has special appeal to certain types of people, but only one can be said to be Equally easy for all to cultivate, and that is the Pure Land Door.” (WM 17-18)
I. Teachings - Philosophical Schools
The teachings includes the Buddhist doctrinal schools, such as the eighteen Hinayana schools, the Madhyamaka and Yogachara schools of the Mahayana, and Sutra-based Mahayana schools such as Tian Tai and Hwa-yan.
“The teachings school emphasizes using skillful]] expedients, and therefore capitalizes on beautiful
expression and elegant phraseology. Adherents to this school are well-versed in terminology and characteristics. They
determine the different periods of the teachings and divide them into categories. thus, the sea of meanings billows, and the Dharma’s principles run deep. They serve to focus the audience’s rambling thoughts, and to gather in stray mental activities that leak out
through seeing and listening. When this occurs, it’s as if one has entered the hall of Samadhi, and ascended the heavens of the six desires. layer upon layer one bores in; step by step one ascends. Even
if one wanted to stop, it would be nearly impossible, and it’s hard to fathom the very source.
“Regarding the teachings of the teachings school–such as the four teachings of Tian Tai, the five Esoteric meanings of Syan Shou (i.e., Hwa Yan), the Dharma-mark propagated by consciousness-Only]]–each
has its strengths. Although each of
these schools may not be extremely biased; nevertheless, on occasion they
extol themselves at others’ expense.
“Whenever clear-eyed Good and Wise Advisors
see such incidents, they feel Greatly pained at heart. Since the foundation of the teachings has not flourished, and true talent is scarce, these good advisors are willing to act personally as models, practice ascetic discipline, and cultivate the door of the Six Paramitas. In the face of a hundred oppositions they do not bend, and they are
glad to undergo ten thousand vicissitudes, to the point that even if
their bodies had to be smashed to pieces and their bones pulverized, they would not begrudge such a
sacrifice. Supported by magnanimous vows, they are courageous and vigorous. Renouncing themselves for others, they take across everyone with whom they have causal connections. Observing the opportunities,
they entice with the teachings and dispense Medicine according to the illness. Notavoiding weariness or toil, they would offer up their heads, eyes, brains and marrow, give away their bodies and minds, all with the sole intention of causing living beings to turn
away from confusion and return to enlightenment, to cast
out the Deviant]] and come back to what is Proper. They want living beings to quickly attain Bodhi and perfect the Sagely fruition. Therefore, they employ both provisional and actual means, and bestow both sudden and gra[[dual teachings. With kindness they draw in those with whom they have no affinities; with compassion they embrace all
things and become one with them. revealing a vast and long tongue, they take Great pains to exhort with earnest words, sparing no efforts. They teach and admonish without tiring, while always conducting themselves in accord with strict discipline. In such ways they act as the ‘Dragons (Naga) and Elephants’ at the Dharma’s entrance, also as Teachers of Gods and people. Throughout long kalpas they practice the Bodhisattva way and never rest.” (WM 74-75)
“The cultivation of the teaching school, while serving as an excellent cure for the disease of stupidity, does demand certain qualifications. It cannot, for example, be
cultivated by the
illiterate, by those who do not know the languages in which the teachings are written, or by the very stupid. And so, although the teachings are Universal and there is not a single being who cannot benefit from them, in their literary form there is a definite group of people to whom they are best suited.” (WM 18)
II. Moral Regulations (Vinaya School)
“The Vinaya school stresses the study of precepts, the rules and regulations. In the four Comportments of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, one has to be stern and dignified, and
the Three karmas of body, mouth and mind have to be pure. Upasakas and Upasikas (laymen and laywomen), the two lay assemblies, may maintain the Five Precepts and the eight precepts, as well as the Ten Major and Forty-Eight minor Bodhisattva precepts. Shramanas and Shramanerikas take the ten Novice precepts. Bhikshus have 250 precepts, and Bhikshunis have 348 precepts. One should maintain each and every one
of those precepts without every
violating them and believe in them, accept them, and offer up one’s conduct. One should be mindful of the agony of revolving in birth and death. If
we lose this human body, it will be hard to recover it in ten thousand eons. Therefore, at all times, we should strictly cultivate the Vinaya and never be lax.” (WM 75-76)
“The Vinaya, or ‘Rules and Regulations’ school, requires not only that one be literate,
but also that one be living a monastic life. There is no way for the worldly man to perfect cultivation of the Vinaya. pure maintenance of this Dharma Door serves as a supremely efficacious cure for greed, desire, and arrogance. Much of it, however, can be practiced by men and women in the world, and it can be an immense help in cultivation. All real practicers of Buddha Dharma, Sangha-members or lay people, formally maintain precepts, ranging from the five for lay people to the more than Three hundred for Bhikshunis. There are few more awesome people in the world than the Masters of Vinaya, perfect in the Three thousand rules of Deportment.” (WM 18)
III. Mysteries (Tantra Mantra Vajrayana)
“The school of the Mysteries specializes in the Holding of Mantras and maintains that one can realize Buddhahood
in this very life. And yet, if practitioners are the
slightest bit reckless, they can easily fall into the Dharma Realm of the Asuras. That is because the majority of those in these practices have not subdued the hatred in their minds, and their tendency to seek revenge is extremely strong. They lack thoughts of kindness and compassion, and rarely practice the art of patience. Many of them are prone to be arrogant,
and their pride and conceit are deeply rooted. In Holding Secret Mantras they
dare to slight others, and wielding their Vajras they are not afraid of bullying people. However, if one can be rid of the bad habits described above, then one’s practice of Samadhi can become successful, and one can go on to achieve
the fruition that is Bodhi. In that case, this Dharma Door is also a skillful]] expedient for cultivators of the way.” (WM 76)
“The school of the Mysteries requires among other things both a good memory to hold its many Mantras and Dharanis, plus a good deal of money to carry out its elaborate and splendid rituals. A fully adorned Temple and Bodhimanda are required as well as a profusion of images and various Dharma instruments. Also essential are numbers of Dharma Masters well-trained and conversant with the Esoteric lore of this school. They are hard to find. Without them and
without special instruction]], it is not possible to be successful
with the teachings of the school of the Mysteries.” (WM 19)
I have preached the Truth without making any distinction Exoteric and Esoteric doctrine; for in respect of the Truths, Ananda, the Tathagata has no such thing as the closed fist of a Teacher who keeps some things back. (Dialogues of the Buddha II 107)
IV. Meditation
(Shamatha-Dhyana-Vipassana of Chan-Zen - Dzogchen-Mahamudra)
“The Chan (Zen) or Dhyana meditation school stresses the practice of meditation, and its cultivation requires a special set of circumstances. first, it is essential to have an advisor, one of Great wisdom and skill, who can teach the student by all manner of expedient means. Without such a Teacher, there is no way for ordinary people to have any success in Chan meditation. They may
achieve some measure of attainment, but due to lack
of wise counsel, they will be turned by their experience; thinking that they are like the Great Chan Masters of old,
they will go around committing all sorts of stupid and even d[[angerous or immoral acts. Such so-called ‘enlightened Masters’ and ‘Patriarchs’ are too often well-meaning practicers of Chan who have either not met or not submitted to
the teaching of a good and Wise Advisor. Too many of them have entered into the various demonic states that the Buddha discussed in the Shurangama Sutra.
Anyone who professes to be a follower of the Buddha should act in accordance with his teachings and find a capable advisor, one whose experience and lineage are unquestioned.
“In addition to the above qualifications, Chan cultivation requires a certain temperament which is rarely found. While some immediately get a
response in Chan cultivation, there are
many for whom it represents unbearable difficulty. If this is the only means of cultivation presented to them, many people will flee from the Buddha Dharma as a
small child screams upon seeing a tame but incredibly fierce-looking tiger on a leash. ” (WM 18-19)
V. Pure Land School
(Faith-based Buddhism - Devotional Bhakti)
“The Pure Land School Dharma is the most perfect and the most instantaneous, the simplest
and the easiest. It is a Dharma that everyone can cultivate; one and all can practice it. Hence it is described as ‘Universally including the Three types of faculties (superior, average, and inferior capabilities), and gathering in both the keen and the dull.’ One only
has to single-mindedly uphold the Great name ‘Namo Amitabha Buddha‘,
that of the teaching host of the Land of ultimate bliss of the west. When one recites this name and arrives at the point of single-minded concentration, then one
will definitely be reborn in the west from a Lotus Flower. When that Lotus blooms, one will see the Buddha, awaken to a for[[bearance]] with the not coming into being
of Dharmas, and attain irreversible Anuttara- SamyakSambodhi. Therefore, if all cultivators only become replete with deep faith and earnest vows, and actually realize the Three requisites–faith, vows, and practice, they all will most certainly reach their
destination. It is my hope that all of you good people will exhort each other onwards.” (WM 76-77)
”recitation is the central practice of the Pure Land Dharma Door. ‘Namo Amitabha Buddha‘. ‘Namo‘ means ‘to return in reliance’, ‘to take refuge‘. ‘Amita‘ means ‘limitless‘ and refers to the fact that this Buddha has both ‘Limitless Light (Amitabha)’ (Amitabha) and ‘limitless life‘ (Amitayus). ‘Buddha‘ means ‘Enlightened One‘.
And so ‘Namo Amitabha Buddha‘ means ‘I take refuge with and return my life in worship to the Buddha of Limitless Light (Amitabha) and life.’ The constant repetition of this Buddha’s name is the core of the Pure Land Dharma Door. . . .
“The Pure Land Dharma Door requires no Great learning. Many illiterates attain inconceivable spiritual benefit through it. Many, too, are the high and learned Masters who praise this door. The Pure Land Dharma Door shows us how
to purify our minds, and as such it is identical with the teaching school, whose complex and learned systems serve to keep the mind from wandering off on useless excursions. To be able to
hold (in one’s mind) the elaborate systems of the teaching school requires prolonged concentration on the Buddha Dharma. ConcentRating on what is pure is fundamentally identical
with recollection of the Buddha. The Pure Land Dharma does not require that one lead a monastic life and perfect the Three thousand awesome Deportments. This Dharma Door can be cultivated right in the midst of the most ordinary life. lay people and Vinaya specialists alike can cultivate this Dharma. Nor does it require elaborate rituals and expensive ceremonies, or Secret, Esoteric lore to be learned from specialized Teachers. The Secret of the Pure Land School–and
there is indeed a Great Secret to it–lies in the response. It is a Secret clothed not in elaborate ritual and Ceremony but in the simplicity of faith and sincerity. Its Secret, which is right out in the open, is in fact the highest Secret.” (WM 19)
“The five schools were created by Buddhists who had nothing to do and wanted to find something with which to occupy their time. The five schools all issued from Buddhism. Since they came forth from Buddhism, they can return to Buddhism as well. Although the five schools serve different purposes, their ultimate destination is the same. It is said:
There is only one road back to the source.
But here are many expedient ways to reach it.”
(Shambala Review, v.5, nos.1&2, Winter, 1976, p. 26)
1) Chinese: wu jyau , wu da dzung , 2) Sanskrit: —–, 3) Pali —–, 4) Alternate translations: five basic approaches to cultivation, five schools, five Great schools. teachings:* 1) Chinese: jyau. moral Regulations:* 1) Chinese: jye, 2) Sanskrit: Vinaya, 3) Pali Vinaya, 4) Alternate translations: discipline. *Mysteries:* 1)
Chinese: mi dzung, 2) Sanskrit: Tantra, Mantrayana, Vajrayana. 4) Alternate translations: Esoteric, Secret, tantric. meditation: 1) Chinese: Chan, 2) Sanskrit: Dhyana, 3) Pali —–, 4) Alternate translations: Zen (Japanese pronunciation of Chan). Pure Land: 1) Chinese: jing du.
See Also: Consciousness-Only
School, Tian Tai School, Hwa
Yan school, Chan school, Buddha [[recitation.*
BTTS References: FAS Ch26 II 113-114; WM 16-19, 70-77; RH 230-231; VBS #12 (March, 1971) 32ff; VBS #185, 186 ”Pure Land Dharma Door,” Oct.-Nov.
1985.