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The Pure Land Method and the Five Essential Elements
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------A talk given at Donglin Temple on Mount Lu, summer 2009
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Venerable Master Jiqun
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[I. The Focus of Buddhist Practice [2](#一学佛的重心)](#一学佛的重心)
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[II. Taking Refuge [5](#二皈-依)](#二皈-依)
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[III. Aspiration [7](#三发-心)](#三发-心)
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[IV. Precepts [11](#四戒-律)](#四戒-律)
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[V. Right View [12](#五正-见)](#五正-见)
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[VI. Śamatha-Vipaśyanā [13](#六止-观)](#六止-观)
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[Q&A Session [13](#讲座问答)](#讲座问答)
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Venerable Master Da'an, Dharma masters, and lay practitioners, good morning!
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I have long wished to pay homage at Donglin Temple, the ancestral seat of the Pure Land tradition. I have also followed, through various channels, how Master Da'an has been vigorously carrying out the work of spreading the Dharma, and I deeply rejoice in this. Now that this karmic connection has brought me here, I can say the temple fully lives up to its reputation. In this world, every monastery and every monastic bears a responsibility for the transmission of the Buddha Dharma. As the saying goes, the path is propagated by people, not people by the path. From ancient times, monasteries have served two functions: inward cultivation, supporting the practice of the fourfold assembly, and outward propagation, bringing the Dharma to society at large. Only when every practice center grounds itself in this dual role of inner cultivation and outer propagation, and does its proper work, can Buddhism develop in a healthy way and the true Dharma endure in the world. Donglin Temple has done well on both fronts and deserves our admiration.
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In recent days the temple has been holding a training workshop for Dharma propagation instructors, which I find very meaningful. Spreading the Buddha Dharma should not be the work of a small minority --- it is the responsibility of every Buddhist disciple. In the past, we pinned our hopes solely on eminent monks to propagate the Dharma. Lay practitioners felt that propagation was the monastics' job; monastics felt that propagation was the job of eminent monks and great masters. The problem is, how many eminent monks and great masters are there? When they are overburdened, no one is left to propagate the Dharma. Clearly, this mindset is flawed. That is why I advocate: "To spread the Buddha Dharma, everyone has a part to play" --- every Buddhist has a responsibility to propagate the Dharma and should contribute what they can. This does not mean everyone must give lectures on sutras. You can share what you have learned and understood according to your ability, or support propagation activities by assisting with Dharma talks, sponsoring sutra printing, and so on. Only when the fourfold assembly recognizes its own responsibility and takes an active part in the propagation effort can Buddhism have a future.
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What is most lacking in today's Buddhist world? Many magnificent temples have been built, yet they serve merely as places to offer incense and pay homage to the Buddha, or even as tourist attractions, without the functions of inner cultivation and outer propagation. When people come here, apart from satisfying their need to worship, they do little more than admire the architecture and statues. They do not gain a deeper understanding of Buddhism, let alone real benefit. Why is this? Precisely because of a lack of guidance through the Dharma.
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The Dharma is the very foundation of a monastery. Inner cultivation means cultivating the Dharma; outer propagation means propagating the Dharma. Without the substance of the Dharma, a monastery is nothing more than an impressive building and cannot become a genuine place of practice. If the monastics have not been transformed by precepts, concentration, and wisdom, they remain nothing more than shaven-headed worldlings in dyed robes, not qualified members of the Sangha jewel. And if lay practitioners cannot hear, study, and practice the Dharma, they remain Buddhists in name only, and may even drift into superstition. That Donglin Temple is holding events like this --- enabling more disciples to receive training and strengthen their capacity to spread the Dharma --- is enormously significant. Teaching the Pure Land school is not my specialty; Master Da'an is the expert. Here, I will mainly share insights I have gathered from my own years of study and practice.
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{#一学佛的重心}
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## I. The Focus of Buddhist Practice
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We live in an internet age, with an unprecedented flood of information and unprecedented turmoil in people's minds. When a confused mind confronts confused information, confusion in our choices is inevitable. The same problem applies to Buddhist practice. Nowadays we have access to all kinds of Dharma methods, sutras, and treatises. But without sufficient insight to make sound judgments, we end up dabbling everywhere, unable to settle on anything. This is precisely why many people practice for years yet never grasp the essentials.
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The key to practice is to have right view firmly in place and to use the mind skillfully. With these two prerequisites, our hearing and contemplation, our actual practice, and our service work can all become genuine practice. Otherwise, they easily become empty formalities. Those who focus on doctrinal study tend to become eloquent talkers who cannot put anything to use; those who focus on practice tend to grope in the dark and veer off course; those who focus on service tend to be swayed by circumstances and lose sight of their original intention. Busy, busy, busy --- they think they are being highly diligent, but in the end none of it has anything to do with liberation. What a pity!
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We need to be clear about where the focus of Buddhist practice lies. Once the root is established, the path can unfold. This focus has an outer and an inner dimension.
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The outer focus is to rely on the Three Jewels, using them to guide us out of our confused mental tracks. Otherwise, we will mostly just follow our impulses. And what are these impulses? Nothing other than self-grasping, greed, hatred, and ignorance. Following such impulses, life has no way out. So we must take refuge in the Three Jewels with wholehearted sincerity, turning from self-centeredness to centering on the Three Jewels. For those who practice the Pure Land method, this means taking Amitābha Buddha as your refuge. Through a continuous stream of pure mindfulness, your mind resonates with Amitābha's mind. This shift marks the true beginning of Buddhist practice and a change in the course of your life. Centered on the self, you drift through the six realms driven by karma, in endless samsara. Only by centering on the Three Jewels can you walk the path to liberation and awaken to bodhi.
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The inner focus is ourselves. That is to say, all study and practice are meant to help us resolve our own problems. The entire Tripitaka --- the twelve divisions of the canon --- and the eighty-four thousand Dharma methods all serve to help us understand and transform ourselves. This is, of course, entirely different from the self-centeredness mentioned above. The former goes along with our existing ordinary mind; the latter is about unlocking the awakened nature inherent within us --- the true treasure of life.
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Every day we have countless thoughts --- about work, study, family, and so on. These thoughts arise from causes and conditions; they represent the accumulated deposits of countless lives. The trouble is, they are mostly driven by greed, hatred, and ignorance, and take shape before we even know it. When greed arises, we are swept along by it automatically. We never pause to ask whether this is right or whether there might be another choice --- it is sheer force of habit. You could say that greed, hatred, and ignorance have long become an ordinary being's instinct. If we make no effort to change, everything we think and feel will necessarily follow along with greed, hatred, and ignorance, reinforcing them all the more.
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Practice means eliminating deluded thoughts and establishing right mindfulness. The reason we recite the Buddha's name day after day, moment after moment, is to cultivate right mindfulness through repetition. We choose the name of Amitābha as our object, rest our mind there, and sustain the mindfulness moment after moment. Each time you recite the Buddha's name, the right mindfulness associated with Amitābha Buddha is repeated and strengthened once, then hundreds and thousands of times, then trillions of times... Through this continual recollection, this thought will grow stronger and stronger. Correspondingly, other deluded thoughts will lose their chance to surface and gradually weaken.
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But recitation alone is not enough. The key is to recite with your whole being --- with a heart of genuine refuge in Amitābha, with an aspiration to leave the Sahā world and be born in the Pure Land. The stronger the force of your mind, the greater the spiritual energy you invest, the more nourishment your thought receives, and the faster it grows. If you merely recite with your lips while your mind wanders --- mouthing the words, fingering the beads, yet inwardly aflutter with deluded thoughts --- there is actually very little power in it. So in the course of reciting the Buddha's name, we must deeply recognize its importance and recollect with full attention. Only then can we build a powerful right mindfulness that becomes the guiding force of our inner world. If right mindfulness lacks strength, what guides us will still be deluded thoughts, greed, hatred, and ignorance.
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Ordinary beings mostly live in the world of the deluded mind --- upside-down views and illusory thoughts, each thought steeped in ignorance. Yet the Buddha Dharma tells us that behind the deluded mind there is the true mind: awakened nature, the potential for Buddhahood. These two kinds of mind form the basis of the different qualities of life between ordinary beings and sages. From an ordinary perspective, ordinary beings and sages are worlds apart. Yet from the standpoint of Chan insight, they are but a single thought apart. As it is said, "The previous thought, deluded, is the ordinary being; the subsequent thought, awakened, is the Buddha." Lose touch with your awakened nature, and you are an ordinary being. Realize your awakened nature, and right then and there, you are a Buddha. Of course, this Buddha differs from the Buddhas of the ten directions who have perfected their compassion, wisdom, and merit. But the awakened nature that is realized is the same; the difference lies only in whether it is fully perfected. It is at this level that we say there is no difference among mind, Buddha, and sentient beings.
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The *Platform Sutra* also tells us: "The previous thought clinging to objects is affliction; the subsequent thought released from objects is bodhi." Why do we cling to objects? Because the deluded mind is sticky. Moreover, it takes a great heap of mistaken ideas and turbulent emotions to be the "self," developing into what we call the ordinary mind. When such a mind encounters an object, it naturally sticks to it, giving rise to greed or aversion. In truth, this "self" is nothing but a product of ignorance --- it is illusory. Because of it, we must constantly search for support, continually proving it and reinforcing it. And from this arise suffering, birth and death, and samsara.
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But at the level of awakened nature, there is no need and none of the fear, loneliness, or any affliction that comes in its wake. Awakened nature has the quality of non-abiding --- like a mirror that clearly reflects mountains and rivers, yet when an object appears, its reflection arises, and when the object departs, the reflection vanishes, leaving no trace of clinging. This is what it means to be released from objects. It is as the *Śūraṅgama Sūtra* describes: "The awakened luminosity, empty and still, is like the clear sky, free of the coarse shadows of past sense-objects. Observing all the lands, rivers, and mountains of the world, it is as a bright mirror reflecting forms."
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The Pure Land principle that "it is the mind that recites the Buddha's name, and this very mind is the Buddha" is established precisely on the basis of awakened nature. From this perspective, the Buddha and sentient beings share the same essential nature. Therefore, the mind that recites the Buddha's name, right in that very moment, is the Buddha. But we must be clear: this is by no means the ordinary deluded mind. We study the Buddha Dharma to understand ourselves, to see that our present personality is a product of ignorance. The purpose is to dismantle it and then realize the awakened nature hidden behind the ordinary mind --- and this is precisely the power of liberation.
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What the Buddha Dharma calls "illuminating the mind and seeing one's nature" means realizing awakened nature through the stage of seeing. But this is not the end. During the stage of cultivation, we must continue to apply awakened nature and dismantle our habitual patterns. Thus, in the teachings of the scriptural schools, the path goes from the stage of preparation and the stage of accumulation, through the stage of seeing and the stage of cultivation, all the way to the ultimate stage. Only when the ordinary mind is thoroughly dismantled and wisdom is fully perfected can one finally attain Buddhahood. For a practitioner of the Pure Land method, this is expressed as "when the lotus blooms, seeing the Buddha and awakening to the unborn." The main difference from other methods is that the Pure Land method relies more on other-power. Although our afflictions and karma have not yet been fully eradicated, through the receptive power of Amitābha's vows we can be reborn in the Western Pure Land with our karmic residue, continuing our practice in a pure environment without fear of backsliding in samsara. This is the special excellence of the Pure Land method.
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Nevertheless, we must also understand that the key to leaving samsara behind is not a matter of time and space. It is about dissolving the confusion and afflictions within our minds, dissolving our mistaken identification of ourselves and the world. That is the real root of samsara. In fact, the mind not only creates birth and death and suffering --- it also possesses the capacity for self-liberation. We need to come to know this capacity and find the key to unlocking it. The Tripitaka and its twelve divisions, the three great traditions of Theravāda, Tibetan, and Chinese Buddhism, the eight major schools --- Pure Land, Chan, Tiantai, and so on --- and all the various Dharma methods: these are all skillful means that the Buddha established for people of different capacities.
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But for an individual's practice, what matters most is not knowing the differences between the various methods, but understanding the common core they all share. The reason many people today cannot make progress in practice is precisely that they neglect the foundations. Based on my years of study and practice, I have found that although different methods each have their own emphasis, none can be separated from five essential elements: refuge, aspiration, precepts, right view, and śamatha-vipaśyanā. Grasp these guiding principles, and you have grasped the root of practice. Neglect any one of them, and your practice is bound to be incomplete. Of these five, the first three form the common foundation of all schools, while the latter two represent the distinctive features of each school.
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{#二皈-依}
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## II. Taking Refuge
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The first step in Buddhist practice is taking refuge, and this is what distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist. Today's Buddhist world is afflicted by a widespread weakening of faith. In other words, faith does not hold enough weight or standing in people's hearts to keep the ordinary mind in check. At first, we feel that we are practicing Buddhism. But gradually, just as before, we find ourselves putting our faith in money, status, relationships, children, social connections, the idea that power is everything. Why does this happen? Because we lack understanding of the object of our faith; we cannot find a felt connection to the Three Jewels and to practice. When faith cannot become the guiding force within, it is naturally pushed to the margins. This is what lies behind the saying: "Practice Buddhism one year --- the Buddha is right before your eyes. Practice two years --- the Buddha is in the shrine hall. Practice three years --- the Buddha is far off in the west." Unless we make adjustments, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas will drift further and further away, until they are beyond the farthest horizon.
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That is why, since 2004, I have made teaching the subject of taking refuge a priority. In my *Handbook for the Study and Practice of Taking Refuge*, I have elaborated in detail on topics such as the place of taking refuge in the Three Jewels within the study and practice of the Buddha Dharma, the causes for taking refuge and how to make the right choice, understanding the Three Jewels, how to take refuge properly, the correct practice of refuge, the precepts related to refuge, the benefits of taking refuge, and the cultivation of refuge. My hope is to help everyone deepen their understanding of the Three Jewels and truly grasp why we take refuge and how to do so in accordance with the Dharma. In addition, I have compiled the *Liturgy for the Cultivation of Taking Refuge* and promoted communal refuge practice. I hope that everyone will make recollection of the Three Jewels a daily commitment, strengthening their presence in your heart through repeated practice.
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Faith in Amitābha Buddha and practice of the Pure Land method must likewise be built on the foundation of taking refuge in the Three Jewels. When we choose Amitābha Buddha from among all the Buddhas of the ten directions as our ultimate destination, this is taking refuge in the Buddha. When we rely on the Pure Land method for our practice, this is taking refuge in the Dharma. When we take the Pure Land patriarchs and great masters of successive generations as our teachers and models of practice, this is taking refuge in the Sangha. It can be said that taking refuge represents the most important choice in life.
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When we become aware of the confusion in our minds, the suffering of birth and death, and the perils of samsara, how can we gain liberation? Can wealth liberate us? Can status liberate us? In the process of choosing, we discover that only the Three Jewels can lead us to liberation. Although this is our own choice, born of our spiritual need, faith is not the only need in life --- there are also relationships, power, social connections, and so many other needs. Making faith the dominant force in our hearts is no easy task. In this process, we must continually deepen our recognition of the qualities of the Three Jewels and continually practice taking refuge. Otherwise, without reinforcement, this faith will gradually weaken.
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For a Pure Land practitioner, the key point in cultivating refuge is to recognize the great vows of Amitābha Buddha and the extraordinary excellence of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, to recognize that reciting the Buddha's name can lead us straight out of the three realms and out of samsara. Only with this recognition can we devote ourselves wholeheartedly. If you cannot feel its weight, your heart will easily be carried away by the demands of daily life. So we must strengthen the place of the Three Jewels in our hearts, take refuge in Amitābha Buddha with the utmost sincerity, and continually reflect on the vital importance of reciting the Buddha's name for our lives. Without this kind of analytical meditation, reciting "Amitābha Buddha" with real depth is far from easy.
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The three provisions of the Pure Land method are faith, aspiration, and practice. Faith comes first. Faith in what? And on what basis do we believe? If we lack clarity on these questions, our faith is blind and superstitious --- it has no power. There are indeed people whose faculty of faith is exceptionally sharp. When they hear what a virtuous teacher says, they can give rise to deep faith and earnest aspiration, wholeheartedly follow through, and have no need to grasp many principles. But for the majority of people who have received a modern education, it is very difficult to bring forth genuine faith without rational reflection. What is more, simply giving rise to faith is not enough --- you must further reinforce it, letting it grow and become sturdy, like a great towering tree, so that it can abide securely in a mind constantly agitated by habitual patterns and deluded thoughts. Thus, taking refuge is both our starting point for leaving samsara and our assurance of rebirth in the Pure Land.
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{#三发-心}
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## III. Aspiration
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Aspiration is not the exclusive domain of Buddhist practice. In fact, we are setting an aspiration every day --- except that what we set is greed, hatred, and ignorance, and what we ultimately produce is an ordinary person's personality. Now that we have deeply realized the flaws of such a personality, we must begin adjusting from the point of aspiration, transforming the ordinary mind into renunciation and bodhicitta.
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What is renunciation? It is to deeply recognize the perils of samsara, with its afflictions and karma, and to resolve to break free from this state. For people today, there seem to be more ways to escape suffering than ever before. Although life is hardly easy, and pressures weigh on us from all sides, we are quite skilled at evading them in various ways --- even to the point of losing ourselves in virtual worlds and refusing to face reality. Yet the truth is, avoidance solves nothing, and virtual worlds are no place to dwell for long. As long as the mind still harbors afflictions, it will keep generating problems and producing suffering.
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We keep improving our environment with the aim of relieving suffering, yet this also brings new problems in its wake. For example, we need a car to get around. We earn money, buy a car, and feel happy for a while --- but the troubles that come with the car soon follow. In a life based on affliction and karma, there can be no essential happiness, only a temporary relief from suffering. By essential happiness, I mean a happiness that is joyful whenever and however long you enjoy it, never diminishing, and never turning into sorrow at the peak of joy. Only nirvana is that kind of happiness. The happiness that rests on affliction and karma does not possess these qualities.
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Only when we deeply realize that the very nature of samsara is suffering can we stop harboring any expectations about its splendors and genuinely give rise to renunciation. Otherwise, when things are not going our way, we rush to the temple to recite the Buddha's name and practice, seeming to put everything down. But once favorable circumstances return, we plunge right back into worldly life with no hesitation, clinging to everything just as before. That is not renunciation --- it is only a temporary aversion and escape.
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In truth, renunciation is a wise, proactive, and courageous choice. It means, after seeing the truth of life clearly, taking the sword of wisdom to cut through attachment to worldly fame, fortune, career, and relationships. Then, with the resolve of a great hero, you practice with vigor, enduring what others cannot endure and doing what others cannot do. Only in this way is there hope for liberation and assurance of rebirth in the Pure Land. Since you no longer crave anything in the world, nothing can sway or disturb you. Rebirth in the Pure Land through reciting the Buddha's name requires faith, aspiration, and practice. The aspiration here is the "aspiration to leave the Sahā world and be born in the Pure Land." Without a strong wish to leave, if you still harbor craving for the world, how can you be reborn in the Pure Land?
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Only when you make a clear choice --- the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is my destination, that alone is my true home, and I have no wish to go anywhere else --- coupled with deep faith in the receptive power of Amitābha Buddha's compassionate vows, and sustained by the provisions of single-minded recitation and active benefitting of others, can you be sure of rebirth. The problem is that many people's faith is impure, their aspiration insufficient, and their practice inadequate. On the surface they seem to recite the Buddha's name every day, but inwardly they still have many attachments, feeling they have not yet enjoyed enough blessings. When temptation comes, they are drawn to other options. At the critical moment of life and death, they are obstructed by the splendors of samsara. How could they possibly be reborn in the Pure Land?
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Thus, faith and aspiration are profoundly important. Faith is taking refuge --- it is choosing your support and destination. Aspiration is setting the mind --- it is bringing forth a genuine wish to leave samsara. And bodhicitta is the extension and perfection of renunciation, taking the wish "I want to leave samsara" and extending it to all sentient beings. Not only do you yourself leave, but you extend the wish to others, unable to bear the thought of sentient beings suffering in samsara, resolving to lead them all to liberation together. This broad practice of benefitting others is the bodhisattva path. It not only perfects compassion but also perfects wisdom. These are precisely the two great qualities perfected by the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. A bodhisattva is also called an "awakening being" --- one who brings sentient beings to awakening. If you only think of your own liberation, you can only attain the liberation of a hearer; that is the Śrāvakayāna, not the bodhisattva path.
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As a noble wish of altruism, the defining characteristic of bodhicitta is its quality of aspiration, as described in the *Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra*: "Such an aspirant surely seeks unsurpassed bodhi, and seeks to accomplish the welfare of sentient beings. Therefore, the defining characteristic of this aspiration is this determined seeking." From the standpoint of aspiration, it is the same mental process as "I want to buy a house" or "I want to buy a car"; the only difference lies in the content of the wish. The aspiration of ordinary people arises from desire and is instinctive to sentient beings. The aspiration of bodhicitta is for the benefit of others --- it is the wish that "I will benefit all sentient beings and help them all find release from the suffering of samsara."
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This raises a question: Why benefit others? What do sentient beings have to do with me? In real life, we feel no connection to many beings and may even dislike them. How do we persuade ourselves to benefit them? This is the difficult point in bringing forth bodhicitta. It must be approached by adjusting our views and mental attitudes. In Master Xing'an's *Essay Exhorting the Arousal of Bodhicitta*, ten reasons for arousing bodhicitta are given. When we reflect on them repeatedly and come to see that these reasons are correct and that this undertaking is meaningful, we can bring forth bodhicitta from the heart. In Master Tsongkhapa's *Lamrim*, the methods of the seven causes and effects and exchanging self and others are used to explain why we should arouse bodhicitta and how to do so. When we accept these perspectives, we accept this choice.
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We often think that arousing bodhicitta is merely a practice of benefiting others, related to compassion but not essentially connected to personal liberation. So isn't it enough simply to recite the Buddha's name sincerely? Why help others or do all kinds of altruistic deeds --- isn't that just a waste of time? This kind of thinking has given many Buddhist practitioners a strong self-centered streak and also led the public to perceive Buddhism as disengaged and of no use to society. The root cause is our serious underestimation of the value of benefiting others.
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In fact, benefiting others not only nourishes compassion but is also closely connected to liberation. Our present personality --- and indeed our afflictions, birth and death, and samsara --- are all based on self-grasping. Some people recite the Buddha's name but without a correct aspiration, directed entirely toward their own concerns. So whenever they encounter something disagreeable or contrary to their wishes, all kinds of afflictions still arise. The root is precisely self-grasping. If every day you are only thinking of yourself, self-grasping will be continuously reinforced. But the practice of benefiting others can actually weaken self-grasping: you shift your attention from yourself to sentient beings. The more you think of others, the less you think of yourself. However, this only works if your altruism is genuine and not merely seeming. What I call seeming altruism is when you use good deeds to make your self-grasping more refined --- what people in society call "performative" good deeds. If that is what you do, benefiting others will just become another way to strengthen self-grasping.
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Bodhicitta must be pure altruism. Whether in motivation or in action, its sole purpose is to benefit sentient beings, without the slightest concern for oneself. When a person is always calculating their own interests, they are plagued by anxiety over gains and losses and burdened with afflictions. But when a person wholeheartedly considers what others need and does what serves them, they actually have no time to be troubled for themselves. In the process, self-grasping naturally weakens, thereby removing the fundamental obstacle to liberation.
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Looked at from another angle, although we do possess compassion, it is very narrow. In the course of practicing altruism, when we continually hold the intention to benefit all sentient beings, the heart gradually opens, and compassion grows. Thus, bodhicitta and the cultivation of compassion are mutually reinforcing.
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As we know, the "Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra" (of the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra*) is a classic text on the teaching of bodhicitta and is also one of the five Pure Land sutras. The text tells us: "All buddhas, the Tathāgatas, have great compassion as their essence. Because of sentient beings, they give rise to great compassion; because of great compassion, they give rise to bodhicitta; because of bodhicitta, they attain perfect awakening." Only with compassion as the foundation can bodhicitta arise, and bodhicitta in turn further perfects compassion. Perfect compassion is impartial and boundless, and this is inseparable from wisdom. So from the standpoint of practice, benefiting others has two meanings: one is benefiting sentient beings and perfecting compassion, and the other is opening up wisdom and moving toward liberation. It is through bodhicitta that wisdom and compassion can continually grow, until at last you attain the great wisdom and great compassion of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
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If we practice the Pure Land method with bodhicitta, it becomes an important provision for rebirth in the Pure Land. After rebirth, guided by this vow, we can liberate sentient beings throughout the worlds of the ten directions. As the "Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra" says, when a person approaches the end of life, "only this king of vows does not abandon them --- at all times it guides them forward. In a single instant they attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and upon arrival they see Amitābha Buddha... They see themselves born within a lotus flower and receive the Buddha's prophecy of enlightenment. Having received the prophecy, over countless hundreds of thousands of myriads of nayutas of eons, throughout inexpressibly inexpressible worlds in the ten directions, they employ the power of wisdom to benefit sentient beings according to their minds. Before long, they will sit upon the bodhi seat, subdue the army of Māra, attain perfect awakening, and turn the wondrous Dharma wheel. They will cause sentient beings in worlds as numerous as the finest dust particles in a buddha-land to bring forth bodhicitta, and according to their capacities, teach and bring them to maturity, until the end of the ocean of future eons, broadly benefitting all sentient beings."
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Why is the "Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra" called the "King of the Ten Great Vows"? Because each of these vows takes as its object all the Buddhas of the ten directions and three times, and all sentient beings throughout the entirety of space and the dharma realm. Although many people recite this chapter as part of their morning and evening practice, the emphasis is merely on recitation, without understanding that it contains an extraordinary method of practice. I gave teachings on this chapter back in 1996, later compiled as *A Buddhist Practitioner's Faith*, and have since lectured on it several more times as *The Contemplation Principles of Samantabhadra's Vows*. The reason I value this scripture so highly is that the practice principles it sets forth can serve not only as a preparatory practice for other methods but are themselves the main practice --- the method by which Samantabhadra Bodhisattva attained Buddhahood.
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From the standpoint of preparatory practice, the contemplations set forth in the "Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra" allow us to swiftly accumulate merit and purify obstacles. They are the primary productive force for attaining Buddhahood. When you recite "Amitābha Buddha" once, or perform any wholesome deed, using the method from this chapter, that single recitation or deed is, in that very moment, everything. It is like multiplying any number by infinity --- the result is infinite. At the same time, the "Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra" is also the supreme main practice, grounded in the insight of the Avataṃsaka. The *Avataṃsaka Sūtra* has long been called the king of sutras, and its practice culminates in Samantabhadra's vows and conduct. When I taught *The Contemplation Principles of Samantabhadra's Vows*, I summarized its practice method as: "the unsurpassed contemplation of bodhicitta, the method for copying the qualities of the Buddha." We know that in practicing calligraphy, you copy a model. If you follow the guidance of the "Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra" in your contemplation and recitation, you are using your own mind to copy the qualities of the Buddha, gradually tuning it to the frequency of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
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Why can we tune our minds to the frequency of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas? Because at a certain level of life, sentient beings and the Buddhas and bodhisattvas are no different. It is only because we are lost in ignorance and have fallen into traps of our own making that we have become ordinary beings. The process of copying is precisely the gradual dismantling of the self's constructs and limitations. When these obstacles are completely cleared away and you realize the mind that is selfless, formless, and boundless, you equally perfect omniscience with all the Buddhas of the ten directions. If we did not possess the potential for Buddhahood within, we could never attain it. It is precisely because sentient beings inherently possess the wisdom and virtue of the Tathāgata that they can accomplish Buddhahood through practice.
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Bodhicitta is divided into conventional bodhicitta and ultimate bodhicitta. The aspirational bodhicitta discussed above is only conventional bodhicitta. Ultimate bodhicitta is the awakened mind within us. That is the final reality, the priceless treasure within life, and it is what all sentient beings inherently possess. As disciples of the Buddha, no matter what method we practice, the ultimate goal is to recognize the awakened mind and attain liberation and even unsurpassed bodhi.
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{#四戒-律}
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## IV. Precepts
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The precepts are the rules of the road for the mind in the course of practice. Their function is to help us stop the habitual momentum of samsara and protect us as we travel safely along the path of the three fortunate destinies, the path of liberation, and the bodhisattva path. Their first principle is "do no evil," and the basis of evil is greed, hatred, and ignorance. These are powerful inner habitual forces. If we do not deliberately guard against them, we can easily be swept along by them. Only by not falling into our habitual patterns do we have the strength to rest in right mindfulness, cultivate right concentration, and open up our inner awakened nature.
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The precepts possess the power to guard against wrongdoing and stop evil. If our motivation when receiving the precepts is correct and the ceremony is properly conducted, we can thereby obtain the essence of the precepts, establishing within ourselves a system of self-restraint and protection. But receiving the precepts is not a once-and-for-all matter. We must also continually uphold them and recollect their merits to reinforce them. The precepts need to be implemented in body, speech, and mind, and applied to every aspect of practice and daily life, until observing the precepts eventually becomes part of our character. Only then can we withstand the unwholesome habitual patterns accumulated since time without beginning and purify our body, mind, and personality.
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If we do not take the precepts as our standard, our thoughts, words, and actions will largely be saturated with greed, hatred, and ignorance. On such a mental basis, can we really resonate with the power of Amitābha Buddha's vows? If we cannot, then the so-called recitation is nothing more than a formality of mouthing words without the mind's engagement --- it cannot become a provision for rebirth in the Pure Land. Thus, for the method of reciting the Buddha's name, precepts are also an indispensable foundation.
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{#五正-见}
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## V. Right View
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In terms of reciting the Buddha's name, aside from the distinctive views of the Pure Land method, we must also pay attention to the right view common to all schools. For instance, contemplating the suffering of samsara and the suffering of the three lower realms can help us genuinely give rise to renunciation and cut off greed, hatred, and ignorance. This is what the teaching of the Four Noble Truths conveys: by knowing suffering, one can cut off its causes, aspire to its cessation, and cultivate the path. It can be said that contemplating suffering is the very engine of practice. Contemplating impermanence and no-self tells us that everything from the outer world to our inner body and mind is arising and ceasing moment by moment, impossible to hold onto for even a single day. Only by recognizing the awakened nature behind the deluded mind can we directly see the original face of life. And contemplating that dependent arising is empty by nature helps us recognize that the samsara constructed by ignorance is merely a dream --- an illusory appearance produced by causes and conditions, not truly real. This is what the patriarchs meant by: "In the dream, clearly there are the six destinies; upon awakening, vast emptiness --- not a single world." We find this world so bustling and lovable that we do not want to leave it. Once we see that it is fundamentally absurd and unreal, there is no need to cling to it any longer.
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In practicing the method of reciting the Buddha's name, we must deeply recognize that samsara is suffering by nature, recognize the majestic perfection of Amitābha Buddha's myriad virtues, and recognize the incomparable excellence of the Western Pure Land. Only when we are fully equipped with these right views can we invest ourselves wholeheartedly, so that our recitation of the Buddha's name becomes powerful and resonant. The higher our insight, the deeper our resonance with Amitābha Buddha as we recite, the greater our likelihood of rebirth in the Pure Land, and the higher our grade of rebirth. If we recite with an ordinary mind, lacking both insight and the minds of renunciation and bodhicitta, we are merely pronouncing some syllables. If the recitation does not even enter our own hearts, how can it resonate with Amitābha's mind?
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{#六止-观}
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## VI. Śamatha-Vipaśyanā
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The ordinary mind is never truly quiet. Even when not confronted with people or events, thoughts rise and fall one after another. This requires the training of focusing the mind on a single point, keeping it fixed on a wholesome object. Whenever the mind wanders off, bring it back. When it wanders off again, bring it back again. Through repeated training, we gradually calm the restlessness and cultivate sustained, stable concentration. Once we experience this stillness, no matter what we face, we remain unmoving, undisturbed by circumstances.
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Take the familiar practice of reciting the Buddha's name. Resting the mind on the Buddha's name is śamatha. On this foundation, each recitation can truly resonate and carry power. Vipaśyanā is the power of clear observation --- it means being lucidly aware throughout the recitation. How do we combine reciting the Buddha's name with the practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā? First, there must be a preparatory stage: contemplate the great significance of a precious human life, contemplate death and impermanence, contemplate the suffering of the three lower realms, and deeply recognize the extraordinary excellence of Amitābha Buddha and the Western Pure Land, giving rise to the powerful aspiration to "leave the Sahā world and be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss." Then, through cultivating śamatha, recite the Buddha's name with single-minded focus, allowing this right mindfulness to grow stronger day by day, continuing unbroken, until it becomes the dominant force in your life. Finally, through the practice of vipaśyanā, observe that the mind that recites the Buddha's name is intrinsically empty, and that the mind that recites the Buddha's name is itself the Buddha. This is what the patriarchs meant by "it is the mind that recites the Buddha's name, and this very mind is the Buddha." To recite in this way is to resonate with the Buddha in every thought --- it is the supreme practice.
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Above, I have shared my reflections on practice, organized around the focus of practice and the five essential elements. I believe these five elements are also highly relevant to the method of reciting the Buddha's name. Today's karmic conditions have been most extraordinary, and I hope my insights may offer you some inspiration.
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## Q&A Session
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Q: What is the relationship between hearing, contemplating, and practicing in the Chan tradition on the one hand, and faith, aspiration, and practice in the Pure Land method on the other?
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A: Hearing, contemplating, and practicing mainly belong to the content of the scriptural schools. They are not something the Chan tradition particularly emphasizes. Of course, Chan also speaks of relying on the teachings to awaken to the source, using hearing and contemplation of the scriptures to support practice, but this is not the main focus. In the scriptural schools, "hearing" means drawing near to virtuous teachers and listening to the true Dharma; "contemplating" means reflecting on it in accordance with principle; "practicing" means cultivating a particular method based on the right view established through reflection, and living under the guidance of that right view.
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Faith, aspiration, and practice in the Pure Land method likewise cannot be separated from the foundation of hearing, contemplating, and practicing. Otherwise, if you do not even know of Amitābha Buddha or the Pure Land method, what would you have faith in? Even if you have heard a little, without knowing that Amitābha is the great name of myriad virtues and that the Pure Land method is the shortcut straight out of the three realms, it is still difficult to bring forth faith. And even if you know of Amitābha's merits and the excellence of reciting the Buddha's name, faith will not be firm unless you understand and accept it through reflection and verify it through practice. Thus, hearing, contemplating, and practicing are the indispensable foundation for establishing faith, aspiration, and practice. Apart from this foundation, talk of faith, aspiration, and practice is often hollow.
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Q: What is the difference between ignorance and attachment? What is the relationship between fundamental ignorance, derivative ignorance, and the two forms of attachment to self and phenomena?
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A: Ignorance is the basis of attachment. The reason we are attached is precisely because of ignorance. Of course, ignorance manifests in many ways --- greed, hatred, ignorance, and the eighty-four thousand afflictions are all products of ignorance. Attachment is one of their most important expressions.
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Fundamental ignorance is also called beginningless ignorance. It is innate. Derivative ignorance is that which arises from fundamental ignorance. As for the two forms of attachment to self and phenomena, they are also manifestations of ignorance. In the *Lamrim*, self-grasping and ignorance are even described as two sides of the same coin: from ignorance comes self-grasping and grasping at phenomena. Because we cannot see ourselves clearly, we form mistaken identifications about ourselves --- that is self-grasping; and mistaken identifications about the world --- that is grasping at phenomena. If we could see ourselves and the world clearly, understanding everything with penetrating clarity, there would be no more mistaken identifications, and no more self-grasping or grasping at phenomena.
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Q: What is the relationship between renunciation and bodhicitta?
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A: In terms of the wish itself, renunciation and bodhicitta are the same --- both are the wish to leave samsara. But they differ in the scope of their object. Renunciation is simply the wish "I want to leave," while bodhicitta not only seeks one's own liberation but also the liberation of all sentient beings. In terms of their mental basis, the two are also the same. True renunciation is a function of the wisdom of emptiness, and bodhicitta likewise rests on the wisdom of emptiness. Without the wisdom of emptiness, a wish that rests only on the ordinary mind cannot bring about ultimate liberation or dissolve affliction and karma. At the conventional level, both renunciation and bodhicitta are wishes. At the ultimate level, both are the wisdom of emptiness, both are awakening. The awakening spoken of in Buddhism includes not only the unsurpassed bodhi attained by the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, but also the bodhi of the hearers and the bodhi of the solitary realizers.
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Q: What direction should the development of contemporary Buddhism take --- toward Humanistic Buddhism or toward mountain-hermitage Buddhism?
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A: The development of Buddhism cannot go exclusively toward engagement in the world, nor can it all retreat into the mountain forests. If the latter, then who would propagate the Dharma? What would become of the vast numbers of sentient beings? Looked at from another angle, without the soil of the broader society, the Buddha's original intention in establishing the teachings would be lost, and Buddhism could not survive. At the same time, going out into the world cannot be separated from quiet mountain cultivation.
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Seclusion in stillness allows you to face yourself directly; active service allows you to test and refine your mind through actual encounters. Donglin Temple's retreat center is excellent. We can come here for a period of retreat practice, then roll back into the worldly dust for a while. Both dimensions are necessary for practice. Engaging in service work is a process of cultivating bodhicitta --- you can use benefiting others to dismantle your habitual patterns and at the same time examine yourself: Does my right mindfulness have any real strength? Are greed, hatred, and ignorance still strong? If there is anything at all that can disturb us, it shows that the corresponding affliction is still at work within --- and that is precisely where practice should begin. Otherwise, nothing in this world could ever disturb us.
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Q: Why is the Pure Land method promoted in the Dharma-ending age? Why are the capacities of sentient beings most suited to the Pure Land school rather than the Chan or Vajrayana schools?
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A: The propagation of the Buddha Dharma should be pluralistic. Of course, the Pure Land method has a vast following in China and needs fine practice centers like Donglin Temple to propagate it. But the other schools are equally important. The reason the Buddha established the eighty-four thousand Dharma methods is precisely that sentient beings have different capacities. In today's pluralistic society, every school has its value. If Pure Land centers propagate the Pure Land school well, Chan centers propagate the Chan school well, and Yogācāra centers propagate the Yogācāra school well, that is a blessing for all sentient beings. Because sentient beings have different capacities, they need different methods to guide and gather them in. Only in this way can Buddhism develop comprehensively and healthily. That is why I do not advocate promoting only one school. Any practice center that propagates a particular school correctly and in accordance with the Dharma deserves our rejoicing and admiration.
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Q: Many Buddhist practitioners seek only worldly blessings and think that the Pure Land or the Buddha is invisible. How can we bring them to the Dharma?
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A: It is true that some Buddhist practitioners seek only worldly blessings. This requires targeted guidance. Given the kind of education modern people receive, if you talk to them directly about samsara or the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, they will find it hard to accept and may even regard it as superstition. Under these circumstances, we can introduce them to Humanistic Buddhism first --- Do you want to live well in this life? To be happy? Buddhism is the great wisdom of life. It can guide us to dispel our afflictions and make our present life happier. Once they are willing to accept the Buddha Dharma, we can then go further and introduce the deeper teachings on renunciation, bodhicitta, and the Western Pure Land.
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When the Buddha taught, he would often "first speak of the path of upright conduct, then speak of the essentials of the true Dharma." If sentient beings want blessings, tell them how to attain blessings. Once they have blessings and realize that blessings alone are not enough, it becomes easier for them to accept the Dharma. It is like people who, when poor, think that money is everything, only to find after becoming wealthy that they are still suffering, and then begin searching for new solutions. The current wave of interest in traditional Chinese culture and Buddhist studies illustrates this point. Many people are no longer satisfied with worldly blessings and have begun to ask, "What is happiness?" "Who am I?" "What is the point of living?" When they start asking these questions, to then introduce the Buddha Dharma is to follow their line of thought, give them what they need, and appeal to what they seek. The effect will naturally be different.
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Q: How do we bring the Buddha Dharma into our daily lives?
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A: On the one hand, you must let the wisdom of the Dharma truly become your own view. As for the Dharma teachings on the precious human life, impermanence and no-self, and causes, conditions, and effects --- after hearing them, we still need to reflect on them deeply before we can understand them. Only when we recognize that what the Dharma says is the truth of the world can we accept it wholeheartedly and make it our own view. In that case, the Dharma will naturally enter your life. Many people study the Buddha Dharma and know quite a few principles, but when they face actual problems, they still fall back on their old ingrained views --- "The Dharma is the Dharma; I am still me." This gap between knowing and doing comes from not having truly "known" --- from not having transformed concepts into views.
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On the other hand, you should establish a healthy lifestyle in accordance with the Buddha's teachings. Under the guidance of the precepts, concentration, and wisdom and the Noble Eightfold Path, receive and uphold the precepts and earn a right livelihood. At the same time, set aside time every day for meditation or reciting the Buddha's name, and maintain the clear illumination of wisdom. If you can do all this, the Buddha Dharma will surely enter your life.
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Q: My attachment to my parents is too deep --- how can I learn to hold it lightly?
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A: Attachment is the habitual pattern of ordinary beings. Attachment to parents, in particular, is the closest bond and the most tenacious. How to resolve this? On the one hand, from the perspective of samsara, we recognize that our relationship with our parents is also dependently arisen. At the same time, we recognize that clinging to this relationship does no good for either side. Only by guiding our parents toward the Buddha Dharma and transforming this worldly bond into a pure Dharma connection is the truest way to repay their kindness. On the other hand, shift the emphasis of your affection onto your faith. Turn from self-centeredness to centering on the Three Jewels --- this can weaken attachment to worldly relationships. In practicing the Pure Land method, we should establish our reliance on Amitābha Buddha and the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
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Of course, we must also be mindful of the approach. Some people, after taking up Buddhist practice, neglect their family and career, and in the end bring many obstacles upon themselves. As lay practitioners, we need to fulfill our worldly responsibilities. As parents, be good parents; as children, be good children. This is what Master Yinguang meant by "fulfilling your roles and doing your part." In the course of being with family, we are both meeting our responsibilities and cultivating bodhicitta. If we are to have compassion for all sentient beings, we should begin with our parents and siblings. If we have no compassion for our own immediate family, how can we have compassion for all beings? Of course, this is not the love of human attachment but the great love of compassion --- begin with those closest to you, then extend it to more and more people. As long as you do this with bodhicitta, these efforts will also become provisions for rebirth in the Pure Land. They are not in conflict with practice.
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## Concluding Remarks by Master Da'an
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I believe that everyone who has listened to Venerable Master Jiqun's teaching has received great benefit. I myself have benefited enormously. It truly seems to me that the Master has expressed the profound Buddha Dharma with extraordinary precision, using modern language that everyone can understand. For Pure Land practitioners, he has also clearly explained how the common-path practices of upholding precepts, bodhicitta, and right view relate to the method of reciting the Buddha's name. It calls to mind what Master Ouyi said: the Pure Land method "horizontally shares the same ground with all Dharma methods, yet vertically stands apart from all Dharma methods." Sometimes we emphasize the "standing apart" dimension while forgetting the "sharing the same ground" dimension. In truth, the shared ground is the foundation. It is not the case that just because you recite the Buddha's name and rely on other-power, you can set aside the bodhisattva path of the common Mahayana. In the process of reciting the Buddha's name, we must value the common-path curriculum --- the foundation of the bodhi path --- while at the crucial point of rebirth, we rely entirely on other-power. Only in this way will our practice of the Pure Land method be balanced and integrated.
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Venerable Master Jiqun's perspective on the pluralistic development of Buddhism is also excellent. The eighty-four thousand Dharma methods were established to meet the diverse capacities of sentient beings. Every practice center has its own orientation in practice and can develop its own distinctive style, allowing all eight Mahayana schools to bloom and bear fruit for the benefit of sentient beings. From the standpoint of Donglin Temple's orientation, we focus exclusively on practicing and propagating the Pure Land method. But toward Chan, Vinaya, and scriptural-school centers, we should offer our rejoicing and admiration. Only with this understanding and this breadth of heart can we jointly uphold the course of the Dharma. I hope that after hearing these teachings, everyone will reflect on them deeply and put them into action.
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iacore