Right now I am extolling the benefits of
the inconceivable virtues of
Amitabha Buddha.
Needless to say, unawakened beings like ourselves have yet to see and experience these benefits. Fortunately, Sakyamuni Buddha as well as accomplished masters taught us about the benefits.
As we have just learned, the first is horizontal transcendence, thanks to which we need not undergo the slow, painstaking progress through vertical transcendence. With horizontal transcendence, we can transcend the cycle of rebirth in this very lifetime.
A second benefit is that the four lands making up the Western Pure Land, and which represent four states of mind, all merge. This is in contrast to other buddha-lands where the four lands are separate and distinct. In the Western Pure Land, dwelling in one land is like being in all four lands at the same time. So all beings are together.
Even though Amitabha Buddha and the bodhisattvas actually abide in lands other than the one we are in, we can still be with them. We can still learn directly from them. We are not yet in those lands because we have not yet attained the respective states of mind. Nonetheless, through our cultivation, we will have access to all the beings in the lands other than ours.
A third benefit is attainment of the three stages of non-retrogression. As we previously learned, the three stages of non-retrogressions are no falling back from one’s level, no falling back from one’s practice, and no falling back from one’s mindfulness. We will attain all three when Amitabha Buddha and the bodhisattvas come to guide us to the Pure Land.
These profound benefits and many more can be achieved through one practice: the mindful chanting of the buddha-name. No other forms of meditation are required. From the moment we first practice till the moment we are born in his land—we chant “Amituofo.”
Exquisitely simple.
Incredibly effective.
— Chapter 36, "Pure Mind, Compassionate Heart: Lessons from the Amitabha Sutra", Venerable Wuling
Photo credit link
Comments