Truly Mindful in Chanting

 

To be truly mindful of Buddha Amitabha
and give up attachments to the body,
the false mind, and worldly affairs
is great giving.

To be truly mindful of Buddha Amitabha
and not have any greed, anger, and ignorance
is truly upholding precepts.

To be truly mindful of Buddha Amitabha
and not be bothered by who is right or who is wrong
is great tolerance to insult.

To be truly mindful of Buddha Amitabha
and not be distracted by other thoughts
is great focus and diligence.

To be truly mindful of Buddha Amitabha
and not have wandering thoughts
is great dhyana.

To be truly mindful of Buddha Amitabha
and not be enticed by any temptation
is great prajna.

Try reflecting on the following: If I still have not given up the attachments to body, false mind, and worldly affairs; if greed, anger, and ignorance still arise in my mind; if I am still bothered by who is right and who is wrong; if I have not eradicated distractions from other thoughts; if I still have not ceased my wandering thoughts; and if I am still enticed by temptations; then, I am not truly mindful of Buddha Amitabha.

~ Patriarch Yin Guang

What are Wandering Thoughts?

Wandering thoughts are afflictions that cloud our true nature. To have no wandering thoughts means to have absolute proper and virtuous thoughts. It does not mean that our minds are empty of all thoughts! As ordinary beings, we use an illu­sory mind, a mind that arises and ceases, and one which has wandering thoughts. Enlightened beings use the true mind, which constantly dwells on truth. They have deep concentra­tion, the state without wandering thoughts or attachments.

Not to have wan­dering thoughts does not mean that we are supposed to be idle. We continue to do every­thing, but we do so with a pure and completely aware mind. When the external environment no longer hinders or affects us, we will have attained deep concentra­tion.

Afflictions

 

Afflictions are conditions or causes of pain and suffering that af­fect. Common afflictions are thoughts of gain or loss, of controlling others, criticism, worries, regrets, resentments, etc. Afflic­tions feel perfectly normal to us because we have had them for innumerable lifetimes.

Our major afflic­tions are greed, anger, igno­rance, arrogance, and doubt. Afflictions arise because of our selfishness. As Pure Land practitioners, we chant “Amituofo” to re­strain afflic­tions so we can eradicate our unwholesome karmic consequences, give rise to merits and virtues, and uncover our innate wisdom.

Lamp of a Buddha

King Ajatasatru invited the Buddha to preach and offered as a token of his piety several tens of thousands of lamps. At the time, an old woman (named Nanda) who had been begging, and had only managed to collect two coins, bought some oil with them and offered it all in a small lamp to the Buddha. [With this offering she vowed to eliminate the darkness of the sufferings of all people.] Old and hungry, she later collapsed and died.

By the next morning the many lamps offered by the king had already burned themselves out, but the lamp of the poor old woman was still burning with increasing brilliance. When it proved impossible to extinguish it, the Buddha explained that it was so because of the donor's extremely fervent faith and transcendental vow. 'The light of a Buddha can never be extinguished' said the Buddha who then predicted that she would attain Buddhahood."

~ Thus Have I Heard, Translated by the Sutra Translation Committee 
 

What are Attachments?

Attachments are our desires for people, things, pleas­ures, wrong views, life, the idea of the self as an individual, etc. Attach­ments arise from delusion and lead inevitably to suffer­ing. In our delusion, we do not understand cause and effect. Our past thoughts and behavior determine what we will receive in this lifetime. What we are des­tined to obtain will naturally come to us. What we are not destined to obtain, will either elude us or quickly slip through our fingers if we do manage to grasp it.

In our delusion, we do not understand the true nature of everything in our world, that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent and without an individual self. So, we cannot truly possess anything be­cause all is imperma­nent: every­thing is in a state of change.

Our attachments lead us to have expecta­tions, to see the world through rose-colored glasses. We then attrib­ute qualities to people or things that they do not have. It is inevitable that these exaggerated expecta­tions will not be met and when this happens, we become disillusioned and blame the person, object, and so on for our frustration, unhap­piness, and suffering.

We can eliminate attachments by living simply and only asking for what we need. This will also enable us to conserve our good fortune. We can eliminate attach­ments through giving. When we can let go or give something away and do not think of it again, we have severed an attachment. We will begin to feel lighter and more contented. As our expectations are reduced, we will feel calmer and less subject to the whims of our emo­tions. Gradually, our purity of mind will increase.