One Who Has Enough
July 30, 2008 Maitreya will succeed Sakyamuni Buddha to become the fifth Buddha in the Saha world. He presently resides in the inner court of the Tusita heaven. Tusita is a Sanskrit word meaning “being aware that one has enough.” What is the criterion for attaining Buddhahood? To know that one has enough! One who is aware that one has enough will attain Buddhahood. Therefore, bodhisattvas who are waiting to succeed [become the next Buddha after the current one has entered parinirvana] Buddhas live in the Tusita heaven and not anywhere else.
Those who know that they have enough desire nothing. Those who are not content still have desires. In this sutra, Maitreya is listed here to signify that those who learn and practice this Dharma door are like bodhisattvas who are waiting to succeed Buddhas. This is truly a method that is hard to believe. But this is the truth, because when one practices this Dharma door, one will attain Buddhahood in one lifetime.
Maitreya is now in the Tusita heaven and in the future will descend to this world to manifest his birth and his attainment of Buddhahood. When we practice this Dharma door, we will be reborn in the Western Pure Land and, once there, we will learn from Amitabha Buddha. We will also perfectly attain Buddhahood in one lifetime. We do not have to wait until another lifetime. That is why Sakyamuni Buddha introduced the Western Pure Land to us.
…We Pure Land practitioners should emulate Maitreya: whenever and wherever we meet someone, we should always put our palms together and say “Amituofo” with a smile. We should not discriminate whether what this person says is good or bad. What he says should not affect us. If this person says something good, we reply with “Amituofo.” If this person says something bad, we also reply with “Amituofo.” We turn all right and wrong, and good and bad, into the thought of Amituofo, the thought of great compassion.
~ From Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra
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