From Scientific American Blog
The Buddha’s Name contains Amitabha’s great compassion, great vow power, and great meritorious virtues. This Name is alive and active, as it has the Buddha’s eyes, ears, and conscience. So, when we recite his Name, Amitabha Buddha can hear it immediately and, in response, appears to protect us, to clear all our karmic obstructions, and to increase our merits and virtues.
From Master Jingzong Facebook; English translation by Foying, edited by Jingnian
Are we qualified to educate a child, simply because we are adults? Are those who have teachers’ credentials competent enough to teach youngsters? Are more knowledgeable people capable of teaching kids?
Aren’t children more innocent, honest and joyful than we are? Are they not more capable of facing life with a smile?
So what is it we are supposed to impart to them? Knowledge is useful but is it more important than life itself? If there is know-how that degrades life instead of dignifying it, is it appropriate to instill it in our children’s minds?
My understanding of childhood education is that the young should be provided with good care and all the necessaries for living and developing fully. They must be safe and allowed to grow freely in accordance with their dispositions and characteristics.
While appropriately sharing knowledge, we should observe and appreciate our children who often become our teachers in life. By refining these truths with adult rationality, we can all grow in love together.
From On Love
A Discourse by Dharma Master Huijing
Pure Land Buddhism Amitabha-Recitation Society, December 23 and 27, 2015
From phys.org
The Sutra of Infinite Life and Splendor says:
May sentient beings caught in the various realms of rebirth be reborn soon in my land, so they can enjoy peace and happiness. Exercising compassion constantly to save all beings, I will deliver them from Avici Hell. “May sentient beings caught in the various realms of rebirth be reborn soon in my land, so they can enjoy peace and happiness.” This is a message from Amitabha Buddha to all beings. He has been calling out to us for ten kalpas. The call has come from the Land of Bliss to this Saha world, passing through a hundred thousand koṭis of Buddha realms. Riding on the infinite compassion of Amitabha’s 18th Vow, the Buddhas of the ten directions have also been calling on beings of all the worlds to recite Namo Amitabha Buddha and return to the Land of Bliss, the home of their own true nature.
The purpose of life, put in a simple way, is “to aspire to be reborn in Amitabha’s Pure Land.” This is also the purpose of studying Buddhism, or, generally speaking, looking for answers of each of these questions: From where does a human being come? To where does he go after death? Which direction should our life head towards and follow? The answer is simple: to be reborn in the Land of Bliss.
Namo Amitabha!
The Cathedral of Ávila. From Buddhistdoor Global
A groundbreaking conference between Teresian sisters and priests and Buddhist scholars and monastics has just concluded at the University of Mysticism in Avila, Spain. During our time here among new friends and Carmelite masters, I had the chance to visit many churches in the Old City (the UNESCO-listed complex behind the grand walled fortifications) and those beyond the walls, each of which hold a piece of the life of Saint Teresa, Saint John of the Cross, or some other Christian figure associated with the Discalced Carmelite Order. Within each sublime structure we were reminded of the simultaneous grandeur and humility of the contemplative life, which demands a retreat from the lies and futility of the world and an inner turning that results in the elevation of the human being and a union with God.
So, we turn inwards single-mindedly. What of the single-minded determination to become a Buddha, which is the ultimate goal in Mahayana Buddhism? What of the path to achieving Buddhahood, the quickest and most effective of which is total reliance on Amitabha Buddha’s 18th Vow and one-minded invocation of his Name? Isn’t this Buddhist anthropology also one of the highest elevation, of an evolution through bodhi to Buddhahood that parallels the metamorfosis of the Carmelite mystic into something God-like, a true human of light and love unified with all of God?
By Master Huijing; English translation by Jingtu
No matter what, Amitabha’s Fundamental Vow
Is like diamond, never changing.
No matter what, Amitabha thinks of me
Like a mother remembers her child, never abandoning it.
No matter what, Amitabha is with me
Every moment, never letting me go.
No matter what, sinful sentient beings
Need Amitabha and the deliverance of his Fundamental Vow.
No matter how contaminated and impure,
False and hypocritical are sentient beings,
Amitabha’s deliverance never changes.
No matter how sentient beings desire and detest,
Are deluded and vicious,
Amitabha’s deliverance never changes.
No matter how deep beings’ offenses and heavy their afflictions,
However intense their sufferings,
Amitabha’s deliverance never changes.
No matter how beings commit the Five Gravest Offenses,
Or slander the Dharma and lack self-cultivation,
Amitabha’s deliverance never changes.
Because the Fundamental Vow exists, our minds are at ease,
Hope arises and people turn virtuous.
Because no matter what, no matter what,
Amitabha Buddha’s deliverance is certain,
Amitabha Buddha’s deliverance is certain.
Ivan Latham
Homage to Amitabha,
Lord of Life and Lord of Light;
Before Whom all beings bow,
Whom all Buddhas adore and honour;
Amitabha, Breaker of Chains,
Bestower of Merit,
Refuge of All Refuges
Liberator, Lord, and Friend.
Namo Amituofo!
Massimo Claus
Amitabha is to me the air I breathe, the sounds I hear, the colors I see, the music of the sea, the chant of a child. I saw Amitabha among the flowers of a cherry-tree and in my stupidity feeding my fears.
Shandao is His hand approaching me, so I chant the Sacred Name in order to see and feel in a better way. One can see the colors of Pure Land by listening to the sounds hidden in the Name. They will show up just for a moment and you won’t be able to hold them.
Namo Amitabha!
 Total Hits : 176308 |
Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén