CHANTING
For a true practitioner who wants to have a fast, assured success in his practice in this lifetime, the Buddha-name is all he needs. One chants and read the sutras to understand the truth. Once confidence is established upon one's understanding of the principles and the truth, one will naturally let go of everything else.
Not only did Sakyamuni Buddha use this method as the foremost method to teach all beings, but all Buddhas do the same. The Pure Land method is hard to believe but easy to practice. Only when one has great good fortune and great wisdom will one be able to believe this method.
The way to cultivate a pure mind is to mindfully chant the Buddha-name. When we are not chanting the Buddha-name, we should listen to the chanting of the Buddha-name. It is best if we can listen to our own chanting. So, we could record our chanting, and when we are not chanting, listen to this recording. This is very effective. This is cultivating a pure mind.
As practitioners who chant the Buddha's name, if we are able to correct one fault daily and be mindful of Amitabha Buddha, then in three year's time we will be reborn into either the high or middle levels of the Pure Land. This is the way to cultivate to become a Buddha. The question is whether we are willing to do so earnestly.
We are fooling ourselves if we are unable to find one fault daily. In failing to know them, we will fail to correct them. How can we hope to improve in this way? When there is no improvement, there is regression. To regard ourselves as infallible and that everything we do is correct is the most horrible way to live.
The Buddha-name chanting method is suitable for everyone to learn and practice regardless of one's capacity. Other methods such as Zen meditation and Tibetan Buddhism are not as easy for one to learn and practice. The Buddha-name chanting method is simple and convenient. It does not matter whether one has a Buddha image at home or if one has flowers to offer. Everyone can learn and practice. This method does not emphasize appearance or learning environment. it is the most convenient method.
The Buddha said: "All Dharmas are created by the mind." When we think about a matter [that will benefit others] every moment of every day, never forgetting it, then this matter will be successfully accomplished. If we think, "This is so difficult. I cannot do it. Forget it!" then this matter will not be accomplished. Why? Because we stop thinking of benefiting others, we stop generating energy. Thoughts will truly generate inconceivable energy--this is continual mindfulness.
When one understands this principle, one sees that those who are mindful of Buddha will attain Buddhahood. A practitioner who chants the Buddha-name will definitely attain reborn in the Western Pure Land--this is also the same principle. When one mindfully chants "Amituofo" and is mindful of the Western Pure Land--being diligently mindful without any interruption -- Amitabha Buddha will definitely come to one.
Purity of mind can suppress the negative karma accumulated over infinite past eons. How can we attain purity of mind, stillness of thought? We can do so through the unmoved mind that is in deep concentration. This is called One Mind Undisturbed in the method of chanting mindfully the Buddha's name.
Once we attain this state, all of our negative karma will be suppressed. However, when a new wandering thought arises, our negative karma will again materialize.
If we want to practice filial piety to perfection, we just need to single-mindedly chant the Buddha-name and seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land. When we meet Amitabha Buddha, our filial piety will then be perfect.
It is because [once we are in the Pure Land] we will be able to recognize our parents and also all our parents in past lifetimes and clearly know which paths they are in, so that when the conditions are mature, they will listen and accept our advice to mindfully chant the Buddha-name when we urge them to. This way, we will have the ability to help them.
We will be able to help our families, friends, and those who have an affinity with us--from every one of our lifetimes--transcend the Six Paths, attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land, and attain Buddhahood. This is great filial piety! This is true filial piety!
Single-mindedly chanting "Amituofo" day and night will reduce all of our wandering thoughts into one thought of Amituofo. Is Amituofo good or bad? Neither. It has nothing to do with the duality of good and bad for it accords with our true nature. The duality of good and bad only exists in our conscious minds, not in our true minds.
With prolonged practice, we will naturally attain enlightenment if we are constantly mindful of Amituofo. Among eighty-four thousand methods, this method is unsurpassed.
The cultivation method that we practice is mindfully reciting the name of Amitabha Buddha. What is the meaning of Amitabha Buddha? Amitabha means infinite, and Buddha means wisdom and awakening.
Therefore, Amitabha Buddha means infinite wisdom and infinite awakening. This is a good thought. Infinite wisdom and awakening is Buddha-nature. In the case of phenomena, it is Dharma-nature.
When we chant Amitabha Buddha, we are chanting Dharma-nature. Wisdom and awakening reside in everything in the universe. Wisdom and awakening are innate in everything in the universe. Wisdom and awakening pervade the whole universe. This Dharma door of mindfully reciting the Buddha-name is absolutely perfect. This is the state described in the Avatamsaka Sutra.
Some people may say that when one chants mantras, one will also get help from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Indeed, when chanting mantras as practiced by the Esoteric school, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will also be there to help, but it is not as good as chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha. When one chants mantras, one will have the help of one or two Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. To have the help of three to five Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is incredible. But when one mindfully chants the name of Amitabha Buddha, one will have the help of all the Buddhas in the ten directions and in the three time periods. This is why the merit of the name of Amitabha Buddha is inconceivable!
What does proper thought arising mean? It is "Amituofo": the most truthful and ultimate proper thought. The only important issue in our life is to constantly maintain proper thoughts, to not cling to deviated or erroneous ones, and to be constantly mindful of Amitabha Buddha day and night, without interruption. If we can continue our cultivation in this way, then in three months we will receive wonderful results. If we can constantly maintain mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha, with this one thought we are assured of reducing our wandering discriminatory thoughts.
It is impossible for us to not have any wandering thoughts. Do not be afraid of them so long as thoughts of Amitabha Buddha can occupy us the most: such as sixty percent of our thoughts of Amitabha Buddha with only forty percent that are wandering. If we are not constantly mindful of Amitabha Buddha, then our minds will be filled with wandering thoughts.
If we can continue this practice for three months, increasing the thoughts of Amitabha Buddha and decreasing our wandering thoughts, we will be at ease and free in spirit. Our minds will become more serene and our joy from practicing the teachings will show that our karmic obstacles have been reduced. In the past, our minds were filled with afflictions and worries, and our futures looked dark. Now we can be happy, confident, and wise as our lives become interesting, and our futures become bright.
At all times, when one single-mindedly chants the Buddha-name, the mind will be free of all wandering thoughts, afflictions, worries, and concerns. Mindfully chanting the Buddha-name will thus tame all of one's faculties. One's body will be supple and one's mind will be gentle. One will be able to achieve physical and mental well-being.
We may want to ask, "What is the method that the Bodhisattvas of the Western Pure Land practice to achieve taming all their faculties and having a supple body and gentle mind?" It is mindfully chanting "Amituofo."
As Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva said, "I and fifty-two fellow practitioners ..."
"Fifty-two" refers to the ten stages of faith, ten stages of abiding, ten stages of practice, ten stages of dedication, ten stages of ground, the stage of equal enlightenment, and the stage of wondrous enlightenment.
"Fellow practitioners" refers to practitioners who shared the same aspiration and focused on practicing the Pure Land method. This tells us that from Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva's initial generation of the Bodhi mind until attainment of Buddhahood, he practiced the chanting of "Amituofo" without any changes. This is truly inconceivable! Chanting "Amituofo" enables us ordinary beings to attain Buddhahood.
To practice good deeds with one sincere mind means to have an absolute proper and virtuous thought as the first thought. There are no wandering second thoughts. To chant "Amituofo" is to single-mindedly practice Constant Mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha and wholeheartedly seek rebirth into the Pure Land. The most marvelous way to reform and reduce our karmic obstacles is to have no wandering thoughts. This does not mean to not have any proper thoughts. Without proper thoughts, we become ignorant. Wandering thoughts are discriminatory thoughts and attachments. It is not easy for average people to achieve the state of no wandering thought. But everyone can achieve this by practicing the Buddha Mindfulness Chanting method.
By single-mindedly chanting the Buddha-name, we will taste boundless meanings and flavor. After we taste the flavor of the Dharma, there will be no stopping us. During our learning, we will truly feel joy and will definitely be making courageous and diligent progress.
Now, when we chant the Buddha-name we do not taste any flavor of the Dharma because when we chant "Amituofo" we are thinking of other things. This is the reason that our cultivation has not gone anywhere. We should diligently continue with our chanting. Anything that obstructs us from single-mindedly chanting should be discarded.
In addition, we should chant with a sincere, pure, and respectful mind. After chanting in this way for half a year, we will taste the flavor of the Dharma. When we do, we will have confidence in attaining rebirth in the Western Pure Land. The more we chant, the firmer our confidence. We will be able to know in advance the time of our rebirth.
How does one subdue and transform one's thoughts? When an evil thought arises, one should instantly have the wisdom to be aware of it and stop the wandering thought. For many kalpas, for which there is no beginning, ordinary beings have been immersed in affliction and habits, so they naturally have many wandering thoughts. But as it is said, "Do not fear a thought arising; fear realizing it too late." When an evil thought arises, one should immediately detect it and transform it into "Amituofo." This is cultivation.
In the Zen school, this is the practice of enlightening illumination. Here is where we practice: transforming an evil thought into a virtuous thought, transforming an evil thought into "Amituofo." The thought of "Amituofo" is the most virtuous. There is no thought more virtuous than this.
The "Chapter on the Perfect and Complete Realization of Mahasthamaprapta" from the Surangama Sutra tells us how Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva concentrated on Buddha-name Recitation from the time he took refuge until the time he attained enlightenment.
He taught us that the proper way to chant is the complementary practice of concentrating the six sense organs and continuous pure mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha. Pure mindfulness is to chant with a pure mind and without doubt or any intermingling with other thoughts or methods. Continuous is the uninterrupted chanting with one word after another and is the key to success in the practice of Buddha-name Recitation that was taught by Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva.
Next, let's learn about the practice of Sutra Recitation now.
N a m o A m i t a b h a B u d d h a