When I first started practicing Pure Land, I was sitting in the dining hall one Sunday at the Dallas Buddhist Association with a group of other people. A senior practitioner looked at us and asked a very simple question:
If Amitabha Buddha appeared before you and said he had come to escort you to the Pure Land right now, what would your first thought be?
We all thought.
And that was the problem.
Because in our thinking, we were hesitating. Clearly, we weren't ready. Our first thought should have been an instant, "Yes!" No other thought should have arisen other than the thought to go immediately.
What if it isn't the right time?
But it is. That is why Amitabha Buddha comes for us. He knows the time is right.
So I ask Pure Land practitioners reading this, "If Amitabha Buddha appeared before you and said he had come to escort you to the Pure Land right now, what would your first thought be?"