Essays No. 11 – No. 20
Sacrificing the Deer Wouldn’t Work
Should Your Parents Bow to You?
Recite the Buddha’s Name and Be Reborn in the Pure Land
(by Grand Master Lian Chi)
The Amitabha Sutra states that if one recites the Buddha’s name, one will assuredly be born in that Pure Land at the moment of death. Furthermore, the Contemplation Sutra teaches that those who recite the Buddha’s name and successfully attain rebirth will be assigned to one of the nine grades of lotus birth. The Dharma gate of Buddha-name-recitation is open to all – monks or laypeople, men or women, the noble or the lowly, the wise or the foolish. Provided one recites Amitabha Buddha with an undistracted single mind, one will attain rebirth in one of the nine grades according to the depth of one’s practice.
Therefore, there is no one in this world unsuited for Buddha-name-recitation.
If you are wealthy and enjoying material abundance, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you are poor and unencumbered by material burdens, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you have children to carry on the family line, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you are childless and live in solitary freedom, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If your children are filial and meeting your needs, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If your children are unfilial and therefore you are spared the entanglements of sentimental attachment, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you are healthy and strong, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you are ill and facing the imminence of impermanence, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you are elderly and have little time left, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you are young and have a clear mind, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you are at leisure, with a mind undisturbed by worldly affairs, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you are busy, snatching moments of quiet amidst the rush, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you have left the home life, living freely without worldly concerns, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you remain a householder, recognizing the world as a burning house, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you are intelligent and well-versed in the Pure Land teachings, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you are simple and unlearned, possessing no skills, you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you observe the precepts – for the precepts are the Buddha’s ordinance – you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you study the sutras – for the sutras are the Buddha’s words – you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you practice Chan – for Chan is the Buddha’s mind – you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
If you seek enlightenment – for enlightenment requires the Buddha’s confirmation – you have every reason to recite Amitabha Buddha, and it is exactly the perfect time for you to recite Amitabha Buddha now!
Earnestly, I urge everyone to recite Amitabha Buddha with utmost urgency. Attain rebirth in the Pure Land and behold the Buddha upon the lotus blooming. By beholding the Buddha and hearing the Dharma, one will ultimately attain Buddhahood and realize that one’s own mind is inherently Buddha.
普勸念佛往生淨土
《彌陀經》言，若人念佛，臨命終時，必生彼國。又《觀經》言，念佛之人，生彼國者，蓮分九品。蓋此念佛法門，不論男女僧俗，不論貴賤賢愚，但一心不亂，隨其功行大小，九品往生。故知世間無有一人不堪念佛。若人富貴，受用現成，正好念佛。若人貧窮，家小累少，正好念佛。若人有子，宗祀得托，正好念佛。若人無子，孤身自由，正好念佛。若人子孝，安受供養，正好念佛。若人子逆，免生恩愛，正好念佛。若人無病，趁身康健，正好念佛。若人有病，切近無常，正好念佛。若人年老，光景無多，正好念佛。若人年少，精神清利，正好念佛。若人處閑，心無事擾，正好念佛。若人處忙，忙裡偷閑，正好念佛。若人出家，逍遙物外，正好念佛。若人在家，知是火宅，正好念佛。若人聰明，通曉淨土，正好念佛。若人愚魯，別無所能，正好念佛。若人持律，律是佛制，正好念佛。若人看經，經是佛說，正好念佛。若人參禪，禪是佛心，正好念佛。若人悟道，悟須佛證，正好念佛。普勸諸人，火急念佛。九品往生，華開見佛。見佛聞法，究竟成佛。始知自心，本來是佛。
Buddha Mind 