In pureland, a vow is needed. Is it ok if I say something like "I wish to go to pureland where Enlightment is certain?
Originally posted by sinweiy:Zen Master Han-Shan Te-Ch'ing
Translated by Dharma Master Lok To
http://www.ymba.org/han/hanfrm.htm
All teachings in the Tripitaka (Buddhist Canon) are tools to induce sentient beings to sever attachment. To those attached to Emptiness, Buddha Sakyamuni taught Existence to break that grasp. To those attached to Existence, He taught Emptiness so as to loosen that grasp. To those grasping at both Emptiness and Existence, He taught "neither Emptiness nor Existence" to break that grasp. Lastly, to those grasping at "neither Emptiness nor Existence," He taught both Emptiness and Existence to break that attachment. (1)
In short, the purpose is to draw all sentient beings away from attachments.
The purpose is to break the grasp of practitioners who sought advice on the mudra of dharma, and were in the verge of enlightenment. Usually, these practitioners have full understanding and acknowledgement of Bodhi but on the level that was near the surface of fruition.
Originally posted by knightlll:
Hi sinweiy,
why is there difference in the level of attainment whether guan yin pu sa or Amitabha fetching the deceased ?
sorry the story is not correct. the correct one is by Amitayus48. both are Amttabha come and fetch but with different silver and gold pedestal.
guan yin pu sa or Amitabha fetching depend on one's affinity. not much different when reached the same pureland.
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Originally posted by Beautiful951:In pureland, a vow is needed. Is it ok if I say something like "I wish to go to pureland where Enlightment is certain?
do mean it. and have deep will power in it.
recently i listen to Ven Jing Jie's talks. He explained all this very very well. and mentioned the need to tell urself 3 times a day, that we come from emptiness and shall return to emptiness, all and all is to practice emptiness to aid in pureland practice and let go of worldly affairs.
净界法师主讲
http://www.pureland.com.sg/avlibrary.html
ps: he also compare the suffering of hell realm. we can image a human being cut by 300 knife, but a hell being suffer 1000 0000 times more than that!
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Originally posted by sinweiy:
another good info:-
for ordinary beings, to be born in human and heavenly realms to enjoy is rare and what lies after that is deeper suffering. it is like tasting honey on the blade of a knife. when people gain fortune and start to enjoy, they loose it and commit more unwholesome karma and fall into the 3 lower realms for very very long time. then slowly they "climb" back into human realm. then they enjoy and commit karma yet again. the suffering of the 3 lower realms destroy one's cultivation and have to start all over. however the good news is the seed of learning dharma will never ever be destroy.
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The precepts that Buddha assigned can lead one to Enlightenment.
It start will yuan li 愿力 to restraint one from commiting unwholesome deed. it not only protect certain sentient beings through normal good deed, but protect all sentient beings of all directions, including those u do not like.
Even if a king of a country were to offer all his wealth to the Buddha, his merit still cannot be compare to a person who uphold the 8 precepts for one day and night! even if one commit evil during the process of upholding the precept, the after effect of remorse will also slowly lead one to restraint next time. normal people only do what the mind tell them to do, but with precepts, another voice will make an objection. precepts is from wisdom. it's different from normal good deed.
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http://www.pureland.com.sg/avlibrary.html
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the chinese character 念佛 is bit different from 唸佛
唸 is more toward mouth reciting with a � character, while the chinese character 念 is form by a 今 and a 心, which mean Now, heart/mind.
so 念佛 is more like Buddha remembrance than Buddha recitation.
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