What are sentient beings? Sentient beings are thoughts in the mind, which in Buddhism refers to living things. This level of truth is the level of Mahayana Buddhism.
Therefore, when you make a vow, you must stick to your wish. As long as you are not persistent, it will open up the Buddha's knowledge and enlighten you to first be able to master the "emptiness of delusional thoughts" side, and then start cultivating the side of "the ultimate meaning of existence". After all, it is Some, not empty.
However, this existence is a wonderful existence, not a false existence that ordinary people are obsessed with. Without the power of true aspiration, one cannot achieve the true Buddhaland. For example, if a person is engaged in learning or career, he must be truly determined and work hard day and night to achieve success. Even if you don't practice calligraphy with a brush for decades, you will never become a calligrapher.
Therefore, if you want to become a Buddha, you must make a vow, and you must make a vow to benefit others. Otherwise, it will not be achieved, so remember it.
"So what? Bodhisattvas take the Pure Land for the benefit of all sentient beings. For example, if someone wants to build a palace in an empty space, and there is no hindrance in it, if it is in the void, it will not be possible. Bodhisattvas do this for the sake of benefiting all living beings. , not in the void." This is the essence of Mahayana Buddhism.
All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are born for a great event, that is, they are born to benefit all sentient beings and show freedom from their own life and death. This is the spirit of Buddhism.
We study Buddhism for others, not for ourselves. Without this understanding, one is not considered a Buddhist.
Standard ordinary people are all planning and justifying themselves, without any aura of Bodhisattva.
For example, a person wants to build a palace on an open field. This can be easily accomplished. Without land, it would be impossible to build a palace in the air.
The first secret here is that if you have not cultivated your own merits and virtues, you will not be able to talk about Buddhism. I have no ability and no foundation. Isn’t it a big delusion to want to become a Buddha? Bai Juyi's poems:
How can empty flowers seek fruit at the same time? How can Yang Yan find more fish?
Perturbation is Zen. Zen is movement. Without Zen, immobility is Ruru.
That's the truth. So we have to examine ourselves and see where our foundation lies!
The aspiration of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to achieve the pure realm of the Buddha Land is not just empty talk. Nothing but convenience to move forward! But if you can’t realize the emptiness of your own nature first, you can’t talk about practice. Therefore, we must first cultivate and realize the emptiness of nature, and then we can cultivate the wonderful existence of dependent origination. For example, here is a piece of land with an old house built on it that is billions of years old. There are poisonous snakes and beasts in the house, as well as feces and all kinds of dirt.
You must first clean up the house, even level it all, and build a new house. That is to say, you must first empty it out before you can achieve the existence of life.
However, to only talk about emptiness is to be partial and stubborn. To be honest, we ordinary beings are initially empty of thoughts, delusional thoughts of the sixth consciousness, and karmic habits. Slowly influenced, the seventh consciousness of self-grasping is emptied, and people are emptied and I am emptied. Finally, since beginningless time, the habits of the eighth Alaya consciousness have become both empty and pure. Empty and pure are two sides of the same coin.
Although the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have realized emptiness and cultivated the land of existence, their own minds are still unattainable and cannot be grasped. They are still in emptiness.
Therefore, Buddhist scriptures also call emptiness such as such, which is really wonderful. You say it is empty, but it is not empty. You say it exists, but it does not exist. Following the minds of sentient beings, they should know and understand, and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will establish their realm of Buddhaland, that's all. Here the Buddha tells us the highest points of Buddhist practice.
All bodhisattvas have a straight mind when they arise. What is a straight mind?
Is it outspoken? No, a straight heart is a heart without flattery. When you study Buddhism, you need to study the psychology of sentient beings.
All sentient beings’ thoughts are flattery, and flattery means flattery and flattery. For example, when we wear clothes on a daily basis, we are obsessed with flattery, fearing that we will look ugly, and trying to flatter others. We also put on makeup to make others look good. When you say you don't put on makeup or wash your face, you are really flattering yourself and making do with yourself. Therefore, we have a flattering mind everywhere. Unless we understand the Tao and understand our nature, we will be true.
The straight heart is just like the three characters of the Kun hexagram in the Book of Changes: straight, square, and big. The full name of the Huayan Sutra is the Huayan Sutra of Dafangguang. The three words Dafangguang mean a straight heart, a big heart, a broad mind, tolerant of all sentient beings, and to achieve the success of all sentient beings, not for oneself. The Buddha said that the straight heart is the Bodhisattva's Pure Land, and the mind is truly pure. The purpose of practicing precepts, revision, and wisdom is to achieve the straight heart and the Bodhisattva's Pure Land.
Because a Bodhisattva cultivates a straight mind in the Cause Ground and achieves the Pure Land of Mind Consciousness. Therefore, when every Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, he will not lie or flatter other sentient beings to be reborn in his country. It depends on your own intention and destiny. If you create this destiny, others will, too. Actually no, it’s you who doesn’t want to come.
Pure Land Sect says that Amitabha wishes all living beings to come back just as parents remember their children. However, children choose to go far away and do not remember their parents. Parents miss their children infinitely. Buddhist scriptures teach us to recite the Buddha's name with the same heart as parents miss their children. In this way, there will be no chance of death.
"Deep mind is the pure land of Bodhisattva. When a Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, sentient beings with sufficient merit will be born in this country." Deep mind is opposite to shallow mind. If a poor man picks up a large bag of money on the road, he will be so happy that he cannot sleep that night. Rich people who make a lot of money from a business may just smile and say it's okay. This is a question of depth of mind.
Everyone is very happy when they achieve a little state of mind while meditating. They think that they are about to become a Buddha, but they are afraid that their state of mind will fly away when they meditate tomorrow. This is shallow-mindedness.
When you do your morning and evening homework, you should recite the verses composed by Ananda in the Surangama Sutra:
Consecrate this deeply to the world
This is called repaying Buddha’s kindness
What is deep heart? The deep heart is the pure land of Bodhisattva. All merits and virtues are solemn. There is no point that cannot be cultivated. "Do not do any evil and practice all good deeds." I asked you to do a small thing today, and you immediately thought why you were looking for me, why not someone else? How can we achieve merit in this way?
What is "having enough merit"?
It is the solemnity of all goodness. Everyone likes to talk about Zen. It's crazy how the frog dives into the water and the lotus blooms.
What is Zen? The founders of Zen Buddhism once said: "In reality, there is not a single speck of dust, and there is not a single dharma in the ten thousand practices." Can you practice it?
The actual principle is not to be free of a single dust, which is to throw away all the karma, habits and troubles from life to life. Thoughts together are actions. Practicing ten thousand practices without giving up any one method is the solemnity of all good deeds.
Lao Na recited it again, "A deep heart is the pure land of Bodhisattva. When a Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, sentient beings with sufficient merit will be born in this country." The heart must be deep, kind, tolerant, and kind. With such a deep heart, when a Bodhisattva establishes a Buddha land, he will be able to fulfill everything. Only sentient beings with meritorious deeds can be reborn in the Buddha's kingdom!
Don't think that you can die just by calling the Buddha's name a few times. You should recite the Buddha's name like a parent or child. This is just the merit of cultivation, you also need to have the virtue of "sufficient merit". The "Pure Land Sutra" tells you that the sentient beings who are reborn in the Western Paradise are all Atta Bazhi, that is, the Bodhisattva who has not retreated from the eighth level or above. Those who have deeply possessed all the merits, how can they not be reborn? This is its reason. secret. Therefore, ordinary beings who want to be reborn in the Buddha's land with greedy and delusional thoughts are so arrogant and foolish!
"Bodhicitta is the pure land of Bodhisattvas. When Bodhisattvas become Buddhas, Mahayana sentient beings will be born in their country." The behavior of Bodhicitta is great kindness and compassion, great joy and great equanimity, and true enlightenment.
Knowing one's mind and seeing one's nature is bodhichitta. There is no one who can truly see one's mind and one's nature in Zen Buddhism who does not have compassion, joy and generosity. If compassion, joy, equanimity, prajna wisdom, and the power of vows cannot be expressed, it will be absolutely useless to dare to say that you have understood your mind and nature.
Some people think that sitting up can make you a little bit purer, and understanding a certain principle is Zen. If you can't abide by the rules and precepts, and are arrogant and ignorant, that is not enlightenment, that is the seed of hell.
Bodhicitta is the heart of complete enlightenment. A person who has developed bodhicitta must be compassionate.
An enlightened person is still the same person, but his thoughts, actions, and actions are completely different from before. People who are usually narrow-minded have become tolerant, cowardly people have become upright, and their habits have completely changed. Some young people came to me without telling me their names. They wanted to talk about Zen with me and asked me to confirm them. They were extremely arrogant.
well! I have to say that I don’t understand Zen. If you want to learn Zen, you must first read the Vimalakīrti Sutra and then come back! Let’s start with the line first! Bodhicitta is the pure land of Bodhisattva, so when Bodhisattva becomes Buddha, Mahayana sentient beings will be born in his country. There is no Mahayana sentient being who does not wish to practice compassion. The true Mahayana must have Bodhicitta, so Mahayana sentient beings are reborn in the Pure Land of the Buddha.
"Giving is the pure land of Bodhisattvas. When a Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, all sentient beings who can give up will be reborn in his country." True giving is the pure land of Bodhisattva, and only all living beings who can give up are qualified to be reborn in the Buddha's land. Although we keep talking about giving, we all hope that others will give to us. How can we give Dharma, wealth, and fearlessness to others? "Giving up everything" means not just giving away money, but giving away, which is external giving; there is also internal giving, which is to empty all worries, delusions, and even body and mind. All sentient beings who are able to give up are absolutely selfless, people are selfless, and Dharma is selfless. Only the Bodhisattva who can give up everything is qualified to be reborn in the Buddha's kingdom.
"Keeping the precepts is the Bodhisattva's Pure Land. When a Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, he performs the ten good deeds and fulfills his wish for all sentient beings to be reborn in his country." When the precepts are truly pure, it is the Bodhisattva's Pure Land.
Human beings, even all five, are based on the ten good karma paths. Being able to accomplish the ten good deeds and then dedicate the good results to all sentient beings is the standard for achieving the precepts, and then you can be reborn in the Buddha's land.
"Patience is the pure land of the Bodhisattva. When the Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, sentient beings with the thirty-two signs will be born in his country." When people see patience, they think it means being beaten and scolded. It is just superficial words and irrelevant.
True patience can be expressed in eight words: "If it is difficult, you can do it; if it is difficult, you can endure it."
Our world is translated as the Saha world, and Saha means tolerable and tolerable. People in this world have a particularly strong ability to endure the pain of all material circumstances, because the world is not perfect.
There is only one wish, which is to tell others what you know and see. It is up to you whether they listen or not. This is one of the acts of patience. There are so many things day and night, and if you are not doing them for yourself, it is also humiliating.
Bodhisattvas practice endurance and asceticism throughout the world. It is said in the "Diamond Sutra" that the Buddha cut off his body for King Kali. He was cut slowly and slowly with one knife, but he could still endure it, so he achieved success.
It doesn’t mean that you have to be cut off like the Buddha. We are all cut off slowly in this world, and all Bodhisattvas who are motivated sacrifice themselves.
To be patient is to bear everything. If you can't bear it, you still have to bear it; if you can't do it, you still have to do it. When we go to the Buddhist hall to recite Buddha's name, we have to find a good place to sit down, and we have to strive for this and that. This kind of xinxing becomes a problem. Patience is the pure land of all Bodhisattvas. Becoming a Buddha has thirty-two attributes and eighty kinds of good qualities. How did the good and solemn appearance come about? It is achieved through the merits of enduring humiliation. It is not like some people say, offering flowers to the Buddha will make you look beautiful in the next life, and that will become a business.
Diligence is the Bodhisattva's Pure Land. When a Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, all sentient beings who diligently cultivate all merits will be born in this country.
What is true diligence? In one sentence, it is to cultivate all merits diligently.
Therefore, all scriptures are precepts. When we look at the Vimalakīrti Sutra, all the precepts are in it. Every one of them is a precept. Which one should we fulfill?
When we study Buddhism, how many minutes or hours do we spend diligently cultivating all the merits? In addition to being greedy for comfort and supporting myself with dozens of pounds of meat, I have not diligently cultivated any merits.
How can this be the practice of Buddhism?
These scriptures are very clear and easy to understand. Why do I say it so seriously?
Don’t think it’s easy to understand. In fact, you don’t understand it at all.
That's not chanting sutras, it's creating karma. If you create unrecordable karma, what will be the result? idiot! Get the consequences of ignorance.
The Pure Land mentioned in the "Vimalakīrti Sutra" includes the Pure Lands of all Buddhas in the ten directions and three times. Unlike the Amitabha Sutra, which specifically refers to the Pure Land of the Western Paradise, the only difference is this, but the principles are the same.
"Meditation is the pure land of the Bodhisattva. When a Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, all sentient beings will be reborn in his country without being distracted." Here we are clearly told that the principle of meditation is the four words "preventing the mind from being confused", which means to control the mind in one place. Keep distracting thoughts and delusions in one place. For example, when cultivating the Pure Land and reciting the name Namo Amitabha, your mind will not be distracted. This means focusing your mind in one place, and focusing your mind on the phrase Namo Amitabha.
We meditate for the sake of purity, comfort and tranquility. It seems to be concentration, but in fact, we do not have a single thought, so it is not a true revision. True revision is initially about concentration of mind, not concentration without mind. Most people are so ambitious that they think nothing of it and don't care about anything. They just sit comfortably and think that this is revision. This is drowsiness, not concentration! The more you cultivate, the more blank your mind becomes, and the more you cultivate your body, the worse it becomes.
You may ask, don’t some Zen masters teach people not to pay attention to everything? The word "not paying attention" here means that you should not have a delusional mind, but it does not require you to give up your right thoughts.
He said the first half of the sentence: You have to participate in the second half! If you don’t use any of your thoughts, then just learn it. Why bother learning Zen? Otherwise, learn to sleep! Therefore, in true meditation, the mind must be controlled and not distracted. The mind must be collected and all wandering thoughts must be withdrawn.
Some people say, then I just need to take my mind back and leave my body alone. That is completely wrong. The four elements of the body and mind, the body and mind together are one mind. If the mind is not chaotic, the body should not be chaotic. There is no need to talk about the Qi and pulse, and the Qi and pulse are naturally harmonious.
The Buddha statues before the Sui and Tang dynasties were correct. The seated statues of meditated people were still like this. They still had a slim waist and no belly. In particular, the stomach did not protrude, and they were not hunched over.
If the mind is really focused on one place, or the thought of reciting the Buddha's name is focused, then the body will naturally be focused. This is called keeping the mind undisturbed, and initially attaining concentration.
The cause of this kind of meditation is the Bodhisattva Pure Land. This is the beginning. Then you can ask, if you become a Buddha, can you stop worrying about your mind?
Of course, don't focus on the mind. Becoming a Buddha is something that happens after using the Tao. Don't use your mind to control the mind and it will naturally become calm. You will still be single-minded.
Therefore, meditation is the basis for all Mahayana Buddhism studies. It is said here that meditation is the pure land of Bodhisattvas. It is for this reason that only those living beings with concentration can be reborn in the Buddha's kingdom.
"Wisdom is the pure land of Bodhisattvas. When Bodhisattvas become Buddhas, all sentient beings will be reborn in this country." Wisdom is Prajna. Wisdom of Prajna is not intelligence. People in the world are knowledgeable, smart, and have thoughts, which is not necessarily wisdom, but scattered.
True wisdom must be the right concentration to obtain all samadhis. It starts from the undisturbed concentration of the mind, and ends without the need to absorb the mind. It is unsteady no matter where it is going, and it is unsettled at all times. In the concentration, there is bodhicitta and enlightenment. This is right concentration, so it is said that wisdom is the bodhisattva. The Pure Land, because when all Bodhisattvas become Buddhas, they rely on concentration, wisdom, etc. to be reborn in the Buddha's land.
Practicing wisdom revision means cultivating the Pure Land Dharma. When a Bodhisattva who practices this Dharma becomes a Buddha, he will be reborn in his Buddhaland because of the power of wisdom. The Buddha's Kingdom in the next life not only refers to the rebirth of all living beings in the Buddha's Kingdom, but also refers to the Bodhisattva's own transformation into the Buddha's Kingdom. This is explained very clearly here.
