Episode 122 — 明白生死是什麼 對生死就不害怕了

“The Buddha-name chanting is a shortcut in cultivation” -- the shortest distance is called ‘a shortcut.’ “Oral and mental recitation of Amitabha Buddha’s name is a shortcut among the four types of Buddha-name chanting, hence it is called ‘the shortest shortcut among all shortcuts.’ Moreover, One Mind Undisturbed is not advocated in this sutra. Its overall principle of cultivation is developing the bodhi mind (i.e., bodhi resolve) and single-mindedly concentrating on chanting Amitabha Buddha’s name.” “If one can bring forth the mind to concentrate on chanting Amitabha Buddha’s name, one can be born in the Pure Land. This is more defined and concise. This sutra is called ‘the foremost sutra of Pure Land Buddhism’ because its method is the most direct and convenient to practise. It is absolutely perfect, comprehensive and inconceivable, so it is the most beneficial sutra for sentient beings.” the Infinite Life Sutra is indeed the foremost sutra imparted by the Tathāgata. It is not false at all. We are so lucky to have encountered the foremost Dharma method. How come we encountered it in this very life? Let’s look at Upasaka Huang’s annotation below, “The path taken by other Dharma methods is the proper path to attain the endurance based on the non-arising of phenomena” -- attaining this endurance means seeing into the mind and true nature, whereby one has attained above the eighth ground stage of bodhisattva practice. “These are difficult-to-cultivate methods” -- these methods are really difficult to practise; it is difficult even for one to enter the Dharma door (i.e., the stream of sages ^[1]). To be honest, we can never enter the Dharma door if we follow the normal track of practice. The condition to enter the Dharma door is to sever the delusional views. In other words, our wrong views must be rectified before we can enter the Dharma door. What is our first erroneous view? It is regarding this body as real self. Think about it: which sentient beings in the Six Realms do not perceive their physical body as themselves? The Buddha told us that this perception is wrong because this body is not our real self. What is our real self then if it is not the physical body? The Buddha told us that real self neither arises nor ceases but this body of ours is subject to arising and ceasing. If this body is our real self, wouldn’t we disappear right after we die? Do we still need to cultivate then? Need not anymore! We must recognize clearly that this body is not our real self. It is illusory. What is this physical body? It is like our clothes; we all know that clothes are not our real self. What are clothes? They are our possession, so is this physical body. It is thus not our real self. If you have figured this out, you will not be afraid of birth and death anymore. What is ‘birth and death’? It is just changing of clothes, replacing the dirty clothes with new ones. Transmigration within the Six Realms is changing of clothes. We must know which path we will be transmigrating into.