Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra, Excerpt Five
July 17, 2010
Their minds constantly and truly dwell
on how to enlighten all beings.
The first of the Four Great Vows is “Sentient beings are innumerable; I vow to help them all.” Always having this thought is “the Way to enlighten all beings.”
This excerpt is about generating the bodhi mind—a mind that constantly abides by the Four Great Vows.
But before we can help others, we must first succeed in our practice. The Four Great Vows not only refer to a great bodhi mind, they also spell out the sequence for our cultivation and attainment. The vows are our guide as well as our driving force.
Cultivation should start with the eradication of afflictions. Following one teacher helps us eradicate afflictions. When we eradicate afflictions completely, Mara’s enmities are no more, and we accomplish meditative concentration and wisdom. We next learn the boundless Dharma doors.
People today forsake the first two of the Four Great vows and start with the third one, “Dharma doors are boundless; I vow to master them all.” Many of them spend only a few days learning and then start telling others that they are incarnates of a certain Buddha or bodhisattva. This is complete nonsense. They are deceiving themselves as well as others.
In the past, when one started to learn Buddhism, one had to first learn the precepts for five years. The precepts refer to the teachings and rules set by the teacher. One had to spend at least five years learning from one teacher before one was able to achieve meditative concentration and wisdom. With this foundation [achievement of meditative concentration and wisdom], one was allowed to learn extensively. In the past, when life was much simpler than today, five years were required for following the teacher’s rules. Today, the living environment is very polluted, more than ten times what it was before. Therefore, if five years were required in the past, fifty years are required for learning the precepts today.
But if we tell everyone to do so for fifty years, then no one will want to learn Buddhism.
Therefore, it is best to mindfully chant “Namo Amituofo” unceasingly, and only after we meet Amitabha Buddha do we learn extensively.
Our cultivation of the Four Great Vows should be divided into two stages. Presently, we cultivate only the vows of “helping innumerable sentient beings” and “ending inexhaustible afflictions.” When we get to the Western Pure Land, we then cultivate the vows of “learning boundless Dharma doors” and “attaining supreme Buddhahood.” This is the correct sequence. If we start with cultivating the last two vows, this will obstruct our Buddha-name chanting practice. This is why it is a matter of immediate urgency to wholeheartedly chant “Amituofo” and seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land.
~ Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra by Venerable Master Chin Kung
Reader Comments (2)
Thank you very much for the timely posting. This was the answer I needed at this very moment. For a couple years now, I tried to carry out the first of the Four Great Vows, helping sentient beings, by speaking to my family on what I learned about Pureland Buddhism and Di Zu Gui. I've met resistance. I feel very bad when I have caused my family to speak ill of Pureland and of Chinese culture. I am deeply saddened that their misunderstandings got worse. Thus, I've stopped to speak to them about Pureland Buddhism and Di Zu Gui. I felt at least, this way, they wouldn't slant the teachings at all, since it won't come up in the conversation. I now know that I must also end my inexhaustible afflictions and become a better being through practicing Buddhism and Di Zu Gui. This way, one day in the future, my family will have the confidence in Pureland Buddhism and Di Zu Gui.
Yes. We use the first vow as the motivating aspiration, but we begin our work by eliminating our afflictions. When your family sees how you are changing for the better (by eliminating your afflictions), they will naturally want to learn how you have accomplished this change.