## II. Recollecting the Three Jewels

### Awaken the Buddha Within

Q: Shakyamuni Buddha is our original teacher, and there are also all Buddhas of the ten directions and three times. Why do Buddhist practitioners greet one another by saying "Amitabha Buddha"? What is the meaning behind this?

A: This is mainly because of the popularity of the Pure Land school. The Pure Land approach takes faith, aspiration, and practice as the foundation of cultivation: deep faith in Amitabha's vow power, and the aspiration to be reborn in the West. If you can sincerely recite Amitabha's name with single-minded concentration, you will be received by the Buddha at the time of death. For many practitioners, this is a method that is easy to understand, accept, and put into practice, and it has always had a broad following. Almost every Chinese person, whether Buddhist or not, has at least heard of "Amitabha Buddha" and the "Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss," which shows how widely it's known. Compared with other pure lands, the pure Buddha land created by Amitabha through his forty-eight great vows is easier to enter, and this is also the ideal destination Shakyamuni Buddha introduced for sentient beings of the Saha world.

Reciting "Amitabha Buddha" also reminds us to remember the merits of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, to keep them close in mind, and to follow their example. "Amitabha" means infinite light and infinite life, symbolizing boundless compassion and wisdom. When we recite the Buddha's name, we should not only remember Amitabha in the Western Pure Land, but also awaken the Amitabha within us—our own intrinsic awakened nature. Such faith is more direct and more profound.

### How to Make Buddha-Recitation Effective

Q: I used to practice the Pure Land method of Buddha-recitation. After joining the Three-Stage Practice, I have found it very beneficial, and I hope my former Dharma friends will study it with me. They say that as long as one has faith, aspiration, and practice, one can rely on Amitabha's vow power to be reborn in the Blissful Pure Land. Is that really true?

A: Many people recite Amitabha Buddha's name, but not many do so in a way that truly connects. So how should you recite to make it effective? Pure Land practice may seem simple—just hold fast to one Buddha's name. But do you really have faith in the Pure Land? How strong is your aspiration to be reborn there? In fact, to make this recitation powerful, you need the right understanding; it is not enough simply to repeat the words. That is why the patriarchs of the Tiantai, Huayan, and Chan schools brought their own schools' insights into Buddha-recitation. The sayings "teachings based on Tiantai, practice returning to Pure Land" and "with both Chan and Pure Land, like a tiger with horns" all serve to support Pure Land practice. If your understanding doesn't improve, you may be reciting the Buddha's name with your mouth, but in daily life you'll still handle problems with mistaken views and create afflictions. This happens all the time. If your practice can't help you work with the afflictions right in front of you, how can it resolve the great matter of birth and death?

The purpose of the Three-Stage Practice is to provide everyone with complete, step-by-step guidance. Nowadays many people practice—whether reciting the Buddha's name or investigating Chan—treating it as an isolated thing and thinking that doing this one thing well is enough. In fact, the power of that one practice comes from the combined strength of the entire practice system. Just as a rocket can only reach the sky with a launch base and propulsion system, so too, with the foundation of the Three-Stage Practice and a clear understanding of the path of practice, whatever method you cultivate in the future will more easily become effective.

### How to Maintain Pure Mindfulness

Q: The Surangama Sutra section on Buddha-recitation spoken by Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva mentions the method of "gathering the six sense faculties so that pure recitation continues unbroken." Does this mean we should recite the Buddha's name recklessly, without stopping for a single moment?

A: Gathering the six sense faculties doesn't mean closing your eyes or plugging your ears. The key is to cultivate right mindfulness. For example, before reciting the Buddha's name, reflect on the suffering of samsara and on the merits of Amitabha Buddha, and recognize that only the Three Jewels can save us. Once your mind is properly adjusted, focus on the Buddha's name, and a powerful right mindfulness will take shape within you. Once this right mindfulness becomes stable, it naturally continues in an unbroken stream. This isn't about keeping your mouth reciting constantly—you still have to eat and sleep, so how could it continue without pause? What continues is right mindfulness, the resonance between your mind and Amitabha. Of course, before right mindfulness has taken shape, it isn't easy to achieve uninterrupted pure recitation, because the mind is impermanent: now present, now absent, now continuous, now broken. It requires long training.

### Can One See the Buddha by Recollecting and Reciting?

Q: The Surangama Sutra section on Buddha-recitation says, "When one recollects the Buddha and recites the Buddha's name, in the present and in the future one will surely see the Buddha and be not far from the Buddha." The Amitabha Sutra also says that if one holds the name with single-minded concentration, "at the time of that person's death, Amitabha Buddha and the holy assembly will appear before him." But the Buddha says in the Diamond Sutra, "If someone sees me in form or seeks me in sound, that person is practicing a wrong path and cannot see the Tathagata." Buddha-recitation uses sound to seek the Buddha, and in the end one sees the Buddha. Why does the Diamond Sutra say one cannot see the Buddha?

A: This is because different methods, at different stages of practice, have different aims. What is seen in the Surangama section and the Amitabha Sutra is the enjoyment body of the Buddha; through recollecting the Buddha and reciting his name, one sees Amitabha coming to welcome one. What the Diamond Sutra speaks of is the Dharma body of the Buddha; what is seen is emptiness, so "if one sees that all forms are not forms, one sees the Tathagata." Emptiness is formless; one must let go of attachment to forms in order to see the Tathagata. The Buddhas spoken of in these sutras are not the same, and there is no contradiction.

### Does the Buddha Have a Lifespan?

Q: The Earth Store Sutra says, "That Buddha's lifespan is four hundred thousand million asamkhyeya kalpas." Isn't the Buddha an eternal state? Why would the Buddha still have a lifespan?

A: The Buddha has three bodies: the Dharma body, the enjoyment body, and the manifestation body. The Dharma body is formless; it takes emptiness as its body, and therefore neither is born nor perishes. The enjoyment body is formed from the Buddha's wisdom and merit. The manifestation body appears in various times and places according to the needs of sentient beings. For example, over 2,500 years ago Shakyamuni Buddha came to the Saha world, was born in Lumbini, then left home, attained awakening, and propagated the Dharma, and at the age of eighty entered nirvana in the sala grove at Kushinagar. This is the response body manifesting; depending on the karmic conditions and merit of sentient beings, the duration of its appearance may be long or short. Therefore, "neither born nor perishes" and "born and perishes" are not contradictory; they simply refer to different levels.

### Contemplative Practice Strengthens Faith

Q: When I recite the Three Refuges, taking refuge in the Buddha I think of the Buddha; taking refuge in the Dharma I think of scriptures such as the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra; taking refuge in the Sangha I visualize the Dharma teacher. Is this right? How can I contemplate more effectively?

A: In reciting the Three Refuges, at different stages of practice and with different levels of insight, contemplative practice also differs. While reciting, you can let your mind be fully absorbed in the recitation and maintain that state, hearing each phrase clearly, rather than switching back and forth among various objects of contemplation. You may also take the Buddha's name as your object, or a Buddha image, or directly recognize the mind of non-attainment. As to which method is more suitable, each person can choose according to its effect in their own practice. As long as it expresses the meaning of the Three Jewels and strengthens our faith in them, it is enough. At your present stage of practice, contemplate whatever is clear and stable for you.