Episode 129 — 一句阿彌陀佛是大圓滿

“It is stated in this sutra, ‘All sentient beings in the future will be liberated from transmigration by relying on this Dharma method’” -- this was expounded by Sakyamuni Buddha. The Dharma Ending Age still has another 9,000 years, whereby the Buddha’s teachings will still be influential. During this period, only this sutra (i.e., the Infinite Life Sutra) and the Buddha-name chanting method can really enable the Buddhists to succeed in their cultivation in one lifetime. Throughout his life, Great Master Yin Guang had been teaching people, “Love everyone, and fulfill one’s duties and responsibilities; restrain deviance and uphold sincerity; practise Buddha Mindfulness with belief and vow, and seek rebirth in the Pure Land.” I had carved a seal for this essential teaching of the Great Master. If you ask me what kind of a person the Great Master was, the above teaching is a portrayal of his life. 敦 (dūn) means love, while 倫 (lún) denotes same kind. We should expand this scope to love everyone, regardless of nationality, race and religion. The relationship between people can be close or distant. One must first love one’s family, then expand it to love one’s clan, one’s neighbours, town, society, country and the world. As stated in the book, Di Zi Gui (Standards for Being A Good Student and Child), “Human beings, regardless of nationality, race and religion – everyone – should be loved equally.” What is ‘fulfilling one’s duties and responsibilities’? It means doing one’s best to serve, care, take care of and help all sentient beings without seeking repayment of kindness. These are mundane teachings, which are the basis of supramundane teachings. Without mundane teachings, how can there be Buddhism? Buddhism is established on the foundation of mundane teachings. For instance, the first of the Three Conditions of pure karmas is be filial to and supportive of one’s parents, serve one’s teachers and elders, compassionately abstain from killing, and practise the Ten Virtuous Acts. This is the foundation of Buddhism, so one must seriously learn and practise it. Why can’t we succeed in our Buddhist practice? Because we do not have this foundation, or our foundation is not deep enough. We must make every effort to take root from this foundation. Only when our foundation is deep-rooted will we be able to grow and reap the harvest from our cultivation. We will not succeed if our foundation is not deep. To help you understand this Pure Land method better, you must recite and listen to this sutra more. Once you have truly understood this method, your mind will be settled. You can then stop reading the sutra and keep chanting this Amitabha Buddha’s name to the end. The more you chant, the happier you will become. Why is that so? Because by chanting this Amitabha Buddha’s name, you have recited all sutras without missing any of them. Moreover, all buddhas’ and bodhisattvas’ names are embodied in this Amitabha Buddha’s name. None of the buddhas’ and bodhisattvas’ names is left out. That’s why one single phrase of ‘Amituofo’ is great perfection.