How do I Begin a Daily Pure Land Practice?

Question: I'd really like to start some kind of daily Pure Land practice and to be honest I'd be very grateful for some suggestions.

Response: First, you can place a container of clean water on the gongzhou (the table or shelf with you Buddha image, incense, etc.) if you have not already done so. Next, if you wish, light a stick of incense. If you have respiratory problems, there are some very nice smokeless varieties available. After lighting the incense, do not blow on the incense but fan it gently with your hand to put out the flame and allow it to burn slowly. Raise the lower tip of the incense to lightly touch your forehead with the incense pointed towards the Buddha and then place the incense in the holder.

In the following ceremony, which we follow sequentially, we first pay respects to Sakyamuni Buddha for teaching us about the unsatisfactory reality of our existence and of the happiness and liberation of the Pure Land. We then pay our respects to Amitabha Buddha for his compassionate vows to help all beings who request that help. Next, we begin chanting “Amituofo,” which is the main part of the session. Continue this chanting for the time you have set aside for your practice.

After chanting, we pay our respects to the bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta for their exemplary teachings of compassion and wisdom respectively, and then to all the bodhisattvas in the Pure Land for having progressed on the path of awakening. Next is the Verse of Repentance to express our deep regret for having harmed innumerable beings throughout our countless lifetimes. We conclude with the Dedication of Merit to pass on the goodness that has resulted from our chanting to help all beings end suffering and attain lasting happiness.

The following is the format for the practice. 

(Put palms together. Do one bow, three prostrations, one bow.
Place container of water in front of Amitabha Buddha image. Light incense if desired.
Put palms together, bow once, and say what is in quote marks.)

“Homage to our original teacher Sakyamuni Buddha.” (One bow)
(Repeat three times)

“Homage to Amitabha Buddha.” (One bow)

(For as long as time permits, do sitting or walking meditation while mindfully chanting )
“Amituofo”

( When finished, stand and put palms together)

“Homage to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.” (One bow)

“Homage to Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva.” (One bow)

“Homage to the great pure sea of bodhisattvas.” (One bow)

“All evil actions committed by me since time immemorial,
stemming from greed, anger, and ignorance,
arising from body, speech, and mind,
I deeply repent having committed.”
(One bow)

“May the merits and virtues accrued from this work adorn the Buddha’s Pure Land,
repay the Four Kindnesses above, and relieve the sufferings of those in the Three Paths below.
May those who see or hear of this bring forth the Bodhi mind,
and at the end of this life,
be born together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.”

(One bow, three prostrations, one bow)

My Resolve is Firmly Fixed

Periodically, I receive a letter or an email recounting something that has happened and the individual's reaction to that event. Like the following, such correspondence often shows remarkable clarity and dedication in spite of much personal pain.

In painful times, we realize again that the wish to alleviate the suffering of all beings is the underlying source of strength for our practice. 

Dear Venerable,

Amituofo. My father was rushed to the hospital today. He has contracted a virulent, drug-resistant staph infection. I fear for his life. Life has conspired, along with sundry books, to teach me living, breathing lessons about karma, impermanence and no-self, attachment and aversion. Death is our constant companion from birth; patiently walking beside us, watching and waiting. Lord Yama cares not for our plans, our schedules, our level of preparedness.

Events of late have prompted a thorough inner inventory-taking. I've observed my faults, frailties and failures; witnessed the lack of compassion and wisdom, the surplus of selfishness, self-absorption and lack of empathy, of charity, of genuine concern for the well-being of others. The result of this insight is a strengthening of my commitment to strive for, not simply rebirth in the Pure Land, but the manifestation of enlightenment, of mind-only Pure Land, here and now.

Toward that end, the number of morning and evening recitations (liturgy) will be increased to 1,008 (10 malas) per sitting, with additional chanting, sans mala, throughout the day when possible. I will continue my study of sutras and AMTB [Amitabha Buddhist Societies] center books regularly, hoping and praying that my resolve remains firmly fixed. With Amituofo's irresistible power, my Faith, Vows and Practice must flourish; growing from a small seed into a magnificent Bodhi tree, for my sake and the welfare of all sentient beings. By Amituofo's 48 vows we are liberated, through 9 lotus stages we reach the other shore.

Caught Again...and Again...

The Buddha often spoke of the poisons of greed, anger, ignorance, and delusion. These poisons are still very much with us today.

Greed is our endless craving, and anger is what arises when our greed is unfulfilled. Ignorance is our lack of understanding the truths that underlie what is happening to us and around us. Delusion is mis­taking wrong ideas for the truth. Due to our ignorance and delusion, we believe in ideas that are wrong and reject those that are correct and beneficial. But we do so not because we are bad people. Lazy? Yes. Easily dis­tracted? Yes. Impatient and judgmental? Yes.

But because we are bad people? No.

Lacking the ability to clearly discern right from wrong, we automatically react out of our bad habits and, consequently, we are impatient and inconsiderate. In most instances, our intentions are not to harm others. We are just so easily caught up in our desires, wishes, and expectations. When these are unfulfilled, in our impatience and disappointment, we give in to anger, which rises from within us, uninvited and unnoticed.

So easily, so automatically, we feel resentment and irritation, if not outright rage. And in so feeling, we are again immersed in our greed, anger, ignorance, and delusion.

The Solution to Our Unhappiness

After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha explained that what he had learned was not the result of any analytical thinking, but of having seen reality. Those who seek the Way should neither immerse themselves in sensual pleasures nor deprive their bodies of essential needs, but follow the path of moderation. He explained that all beings who live in this world are subject to four basic truths.

The first three are that suffering exists, it is caused, and it has an end. The fourth truth explains how to end suffering through the proper practice of discipline, concentration, and wisdom.

It might seem pessimistic for the Buddha to say that in life there is much unhappiness. But he did not leave it at that, for like a good doctor, he diagnosed the fundamental problem of life and declared it: Life involves suffering. Like a good doctor, he wanted to help all beings so that they would attain the understanding that would lead to awakening and, thus, obtain permanent release from this distress. He was not concerned with worldly or spiritual speculation but with how to help all beings achieve liberation.

And like a caring doctor, he optimistically determined that a cure exists, and prescribed the requisite treatment as embodied in the Four Noble Truths: right understanding and proper practice. The Four Noble Truths provide the solution to our unhappiness. We need to understand and abandon suffering and its cause, and embrace the proper way of living. This statement is surely one of optimism, not pessimism.

Let it Flow Into Your Heart

 

When you listen to the Dhamma you must open up your heart and compose yourself in the center. Don't try to accumulate what you hear or make a painstaking effort to retain what you hear through memory. Just let the Dhamma flow into your heart as it reveals itself, and keep yourself continuously open to its flow in the present moment. What is ready to be retained will be so, and it will happen of its own accord, not through any determined effort on your part.

Similarly when you expound the Dhamma, you must not force yourself. It should happen on its own accord and should flow spontaneously from the present moment and circumstances. People have different levels of receptive ability, and when you're there at that same level, it just happens, the Dhamma flows.  The Buddha had the ability to know people's temperaments and receptive abilities. He used this very same method of spontaneous teaching. It's not that he possessed any special superhuman power to teach, but rather that he was sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people who came to him, and so he taught them accordingly.  

~ Ajahn Chah