zen & pure land

7/28/2019 Zen & Pure Land

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at piece of string again. In order to untie the knots, we have to do it one by one. How do we do this? We simply reflect on our mental activities and do not become attached to any of them. We just let them pass by being fully aware. We fully observe the mind's activities and then let them go. As a result we will attaina very calm mind, because we are not being disturbed by wandering thoughts. Wewill come to have control of the mind.

The habit we get from this is that we come to understand there is an awareness mind that is much stronger than the wandering mind. Each time we are aware of themind, these thoughts start to disappear. By focusing on that awareness mind, wesuddenly come to a very calm and still mind. There is another level of mind that is even stronger than this pure awareness mind. There is the higher mind still. This is an ultimate non-attachment to any kind of mind, which is the OriginalMind or Buddha-nature. Zen Buddhism tries to get to that level. To get to that level is just like being the water. There is no self to attach to, so there is noentity to be born or to die. As long as there is something that you are attached to, the self will go through the cycle of becoming - of being destroyed and ofdisappearing.

It seems like everything is mind; everything is right there. This physical bodyis mind. It is no different to the mind that we want to achieve. However, whileit is there, it is so far away, that it seems hard to get to. In relation to this, one Zen master said,

'Before I became a monk I looked at the mountain and river as the mountain and river. For twenty years of practice I saw that the mountain and river are emptiness. They are not the mountain and river that I was attached to. After practisingfor almost forty years, the mountain and river are just mountain and river again.'

Zen masters say that this kind of pure mind takes forty years to attain - so itis quite hard to get to. If believe in reincarnation however, in terms of the countless number of times we have been reincarnated, forty years is nothing. Fortyyears is just like a drop of water in a great ocean. The good news is that we can end suffering right there, rather than carrying on for another countless number of reincarnations full of suffering.

Now we come to Pure Land. The name itself already says what this form of Buddhism is about. It is about a land that is pure. However, pure of what? Pure of allthe defilements, pure of greed, hatred and ignorance. There are four kinds of pure lands: the pure land where the Dharmakaya Buddha body resides; the pure landwhere the treasure body, or the physical body of the Buddha resides; the pure land where arhats live; and the Amitabha Buddha pure land, which is not quite as good as the other three pure lands. People can be reborn in that pure land however, and from there achieve the same ultimate enlightenment as Zen Buddhists talkabout.

While Pure Land Buddhism does not object to the Zen idea of the ultimate enlightenment, they regard it as too hard to get there in one lifetime. What happens ifwe die and we still have some impure karma left behind? How can we deal with it

? We have to take another reincarnation in order to purify that small amount ofkarma that is left behind. Pure Land Buddhists are very worried about reincarnating again. There is no control over our impure karmic reincarnation. We do not know where we are going to be reborn, whether we will understand Buddhism, or even if we will be reborn as human beings.

According to some of the scriptures, Amitabha Buddha has made forty-eight vows.One of these vows - number nineteen - says that he will create this pure land where people can be reborn and practise Buddhism. Such a concept is possible in Buddhism, because of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas compassion, where they will do e


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verything they can to help sentient beings like us achieve certain enlightenmentso we can escape suffering. Through compassion, the deities will transform intoany form or do anything to help us. There are no limits to what practice they will adopt. They will try to do everything they can.

Buddhas will always want to help sentient beings to achieve awakening. It is just a matter of us tuning into the Buddha wavelength. In the same way that radio stations do not wait until we turn on our radio before they transmit radio waves,so too does the Buddha's compassion radiate outward. If we can tune into that wavelength, we can receive that kind of blessing.

In terms of practice, Zen relies very much on self-discipline; one has to make the effort to continuously reflect on the mind. In Pure Land, self-effort is notwhat is emphasised. They say that the Buddha's compassion is like an external support. It is just a matter of turning around and longing for the pure land and the Buddha's compassion will be waiting for us.

Zen practice relies upon awareness, but this too can act like a kind of support,because through awareness one can increase one's understanding of even the mostdifficult texts, if we apply that awareness sincerely. Therefore, Zen masters say that awareness itself, mindfulness itself, is the external supporting condition. That is the Zen argument.

Pure Land is practised, first through establishing faith in the existence of Ami

tabha Buddha. That he does exist, that he does have compassion and that he has created a pure land. Practice is about wanting to be reborn in his pure land andmaking a vow to be reborn in his pure land. Then we just practise by rememberingthe Buddha. How do we remember the Buddha? By visualizing the Buddha, recitingthe Buddha's name and reading the Buddha's scriptures. Through just rememberingthe Buddha, we establish a certain karmic connection with Amitabha Buddha and can be reborn in his Pure Land.

We can use praying beads and recite, Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha,Namo Amitabha Buddha, or visualise the Amitabha Buddha land or use books. So, we can hear the name of the Buddha and we can think about the name of the Buddha.In this way, body, speech and mind are practised together. Or we can use our breathing and recite the Buddha's name while we observe our breath.

Pure Land is about having total trust in Amitabha Buddha's bodhisattva vow - that he would create a pure land and take in people who have not yet become enlightened. They can be reborn in his pure land and practise Buddhism there. SometimesZen says the pure land is in the mind. Remember I said there are four kinds ofpure land: the pure land for Dharmakaya; the pure land for Samboghakaya; the pure land for arhats; and the Amitabha Buddha pure land. In the Amitabha Pure Land,bodhisattvas, arhats and other common people who have not become enlightened live together. So the Amitabha Pure Land is not as high as the pure land of our hearts, which is the pure land of Zen Buddhism.

When we talk about the different traditions of Buddhism, we never say one tradition is better than another, because we think of the traditions as medicine. We c

annot say which medicine is the best medicine. The best medicine is the one thatcures the illness. A tablet to cure stomach-ache could cost fifty dollars a bottle, while a Panadol that can cure a headache is only a few dollars. We cannot say that a stomach-ache tablet is better. It is only good for a stomach-ache. A tradition is good if it works for that person, if it can cure that person's 'illness'.

While Pure Land Buddhism may look simple, it might be a good medicine, the bestmedicine, for a certain type of person. This is so, because, despite our sincerity, if we are working hard and have a lot of commitments in our daily lives, it


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could be very difficult to achieve enlightenment in one lifetime. If we comparethe number of hours we put into practice and the number of hours we lock ourselves in competition, we can see that the house has not been cleaned without someone bringing more dirt in. So Pure Land might be a good alternative for some people. That is why Pure Land has become a very popular practice for the common people in the Vietnamese community.

In principle, Zen is very good. If one is able to understand Zen, which points directly to the original mind, the Buddha-mind, one cannot go wrong in practice.We know that is where the ultimate achievement of Buddhism lies. We all want toget to that Buddha-mind. If one is able to understand the teachings of Zen one cannot go wrong with the practice. However, as I said, while the mind is right here, it is so hard to get into. Maybe, therefore, Pure Land is a good intermediate level that one can achieve, and then, with the help of Amitabha Buddha, move on to what Zen sets out to do.

zen & pure land

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