Question: A while back a person that I met on line gave the address to the Amitabha Gallery. At that point I had never heard of Pure land Buddhism before. Needless to say I had a hard time with it. I had spent the last 20 years with virtually no belief just a faith in the teaching of Buddha. Now I was faced with a teaching that so much resembled that of Christianity I had very hard time accepting it. I would study it and then walk away. After a while I would study some more, and yet again walk away. I couldn't accept this new teaching. Then one day while mediating I realized, Pure Land mind, thats what we are all striving for, and its not some place out there. It seem not so different from Zen "in many ways". Sorry I will get to the question now.
In our study group we are studying the Zen method, which has always seemed to me very easy to understand. The other day as I was talking with them I looked at this group and realized that most of them will not have 20 plus years to study and hope for some level of enlightenment, much less attain Buddhahood and break the cycle of rebirth, I became very sad. As I was looking at them I seen also the reflection of myself. At almost 50 I to would not break the cycle in this life time. Understand, I want to come back, I cannot imagine leaving behind those who still suffer, I want to come back and help. The risk of coming back is what bothers me, Will I find the Dharma in the next life or will it be lost to me. It was hard enough to find it this time.
Realizing that the Pure Land method would be the best by far for this group, and myself. I just don't know how to introduce it to them with out the thoughts of, This is worshiping a god, this is a heaven, this is an after life, This is just like Christianity. My fear is that most want take the time to understand and will walk away. If you could help me with this approach I would really appreciate it.
Response: To newcomers looking in, Pure Land can seem like Christianity. This may say more about the culture many people grew up in rather than about Pure Land. But the reality is that neither Amitabha Buddha nor any other Buddha can "save" us. They cannot override the force of our karma. All they can do is teach us and show us by example. If we fail to put in the hard work of living morally, of letting go of our attachments, of chanting "Amituofo" in our meditation until our mind becomes one with Amitabha Buddha and we are able to do as we are dying, Amitabha cannot "save" us.
In Buddhism, there is no being to forgive our transgressions. We still have to undergo the outcomes of our deeds.
Additionally, Christianity is a religion with a God who is worshipped. Buddhism is a teaching of universal truths that all Buddhas teach. As the Buddha replied over 2600 years ago, Buddhas are not Gods, but rather ordinary beings who have perfectly awakened. So while there is only one God in Christianity, in Buddhism there are more Buddhas than you and I could count.
We do not worship these Buddhas, we respect them. An Asian way of showing respect is to prostrate. Those who do not understand often view this as worship. We have images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas not to worship, but to remind us of our own Buddha-nature and of qualities like compassion and understanding.
We seek rebirth in the Pure Land not as a final goal but rather as an intermediary step to Buddhahood. A step beyond the cycle of rebirth and within reach of supreme, perfect enlightenment: Buddhahood.
And, yes, the Pure Land we seek is not "out there," it is already within us.
About time, interestingly, you have reached the point many past Zen masters also reached—not enough. And so the ancient masters changed their focus to Pure Land. Because of their decades of daily practice for many hours in Zen, they were able to progress quickly in their chanting "Amituofo" and attain rebirth in the Pure Land.
Once in the Pure Land, they were—and we are—assured of never again falling back in our practice. This is vitally important because we encounter many problems in striving to achieve Buddhahood. One of them is that we are very rarely born as humans. When we are, we are very rarely born at the time the Buddhadharma is known. If we manage these two extraordinarily difficult conditions, we have to be in a place where we are able to practice (freedom to practice, economic and personal conditions allowing practice), we have to find the right method for us, and we need to find a teacher so we can follow just one path and not waste that precious commodity of time. All very rare.
Then, when we have one of those remarkably rare lifetimes in which all the pieces come together for us to practice, we as easily—if not more easily—regress as progress.
You wrote "Understand, I want to come back, I cannot imagine leaving behind those who still suffer, I want to come back and help. The risk of coming back is what bothers me, Will I find the Dharma in the next life or will it be lost to me. It was hard enough to find it this time." To truly help others we need a great deal of time. Even as a monastic, I do not have enough time even though everything I do is aimed directly or indirectly at helping others. There are simply far too many beings to help and far too short a lifetime left to me in which much of my time is spent sleeping, eating, and doing all the other things humans do.
The best way to truly help is to be reborn in the Pure Land so we can learn all the different methods to help different beings. Also, once there, we will never again regress in our practice. As we return to help others beings, there will be no risk of again being caught in the cycle of rebirth. No risk of falling prey to our past bad habits. No risk of being ensnared by greed, anger, or ignorance.
Also, there will be no risk of not being able to attain our own goal of Buddhahood due to not enough time to practice.
And all this will be due not to the intervention of another being, but as a result of our own hard work, confidence in what the Buddha taught, and aspiration to help all beings. We'll be reaping the results of our own causes and benefiting from the teachings of a wise and infinitely compassionate Buddha.