Exclusive Pursuit
April 4, 2009 Recently, I was asked if I had noticed an improvement in certain abilities since I had been a nun for several years. Did my brothers perhaps have an increase in their abilities since they had been monastics for a longer time? For example, was I or my brothers better able to see auras?
Another recent question was how I would incorporate other practices into my Pure Land practice?
And a third was could someone (a Pure Land Buddhist) chant a certain mantra since it was said to reduce fear.
My response to all is "No.”
Whether it's trying to see auras or to develop other abilities, these would be distractions. And we become easily attached to our distractions. When I am chanting “Amituofo” or the Amitabha Sutra, I don't want to be distracted by any other practices. The best way to succeed on our path to enlightenment is exclusive pursuit. One goal—one practice.
Anything else takes time away from my first priority in this lifetime: rebirth in the Pure Land. Once there, I can develop other abilities and learn all the other methods the Buddha taught. There I'll have the best teachers: Amitabha Buddha and bodhisattvas who are further along the path than I.
All the methods to attain enlightenment taught by the Buddha are perfect. We just need to find the one that is suitable for us and then put all other methods and practices aside. Seeing auras and developing other abilities won't help me get to the Pure Land. So I set them aside.
Practices from other belief systems won't help me get to the Pure Land. So I set them aside.
For a Pure Land Buddhist, chanting a mantra from another method to reduce fear is not as effective as chanting “Amituofo.” First, for a mantra to be effective one must be focused on it from start to finish. So from a purely practical standpoint, the longer the mantra is, the greater are the chances of being distracted. I stand a much greater chance of remaining completely concentrated during “Amituofo” than during the recitation of a long mantra.
Even if I could focus perfectly during that mantra, for a Pure Land Buddhist, nothing surpasses becoming one with Amitabha Buddha. When my mind focuses solely on him, I become one with him. Being one with Buddha, how could I possibly feel fear? Why chant this mantra for one situation and that mantra for another? For them to work, I have to spend time perfecting my concentration in them. Why not devote my time to perfecting “Amituofo”?
Chanting mantras from other methods won't help me get to the Pure Land. So I set them aside.
It seems that as humans, we are always in a rush to acquire “more.” For many people that is more everyday stuff. But spiritual seekers take craving in a different direction. We’re like spiritual Oliver Twists. We too are asking “Please sir, more?”
Don’t seek more in a broader sense. Strive for it in a narrower sense. Instead of trying to pick up all the stones you see and lugging them around with you, pick one and keep polishing it until it shines with clarity and reflects perfectly.
Exclusive pursuit—pick one practice and perfect it.
Reader Comments (5)
Peace & Love.
http://DirtyFootprints-Studio.blogspot.com
Thank you for the work you do putting all this on the internet. I so enjoy reading the materials that are availble for reading.
I would like to reapond to "picking up many rocks" If someone does not know better and is so enthusiastic picking up many rocks sounds reasonable to me. Why? because it is part of our how shall i say... "greed" and let me tell ya greed is so hard to manage. Some people call greed a "vise." Even a good vise can make us run around in circles. Sometimes hiding behind "spirituality" leads us to ignore the sage advice of "keep it simple".
Personally, cultivating and practicing name chanting does all the above in an express fashion anyway. However, I choose Amitabha name recitation/practicing any day. It calms/quiets my mind. It relaxes my body. It focuses my speech. I am in the presents of the Buddha and all that is pure. Pure mind Pure body Pure speech. What more could could there be? Oh ya that other stuff is like jewlrey. It sparkles alot and makes you want something outside of your self. However, the truth is i am enough being one with the Buddha.
This is available to all right now. How cool is that!
Many blessings to you and the work you do.
Amitoufou,
anybody
For instance we have
1. Namo Amitabha Buddha
2. Namo Amitabha
3. Namo Amituofo
4. Amitabha
5. Amituofo
and probably many other combinations and pronounciations.
The way I'm thinking is that the shorter the nianfo, the more mindful we are of it. I have been using "Namo Amitabha Buddha' but find that sometimes I 'drift' away.
I am fairly new to the Pure Land Dharma Door and welcome any advice you can offer.
Best wishes
Mark
Your conclusion is right.
In the past, people could single-mindedly chant "Namo Amituofo." But today, even this short chant is difficult. So we chant "Amituofo."
Please try this and let me know how things go. Just keep patiently and sincerely returning your mind to "Amituofo. It does become easier with time as we become more adept at being focussed without wandering off.
Amituofo...