Instead of feeling guilty for past wrongdoings,

 we need to let go of the guilt 

and chant “Amituofo.” 

We’re supposed to understand causality—to know why bad things are happening and also not to blame others for our problems. With this understanding, we will be better able to create favorable conditions for our future. And so, in our practice, we don’t just forgive others, we also need to forgive ourselves. We were just as ignorant as others then. And still are.

So we need to recognize that we have done bad things and that we don’t want to repeat them.

There is also no need to beat ourselves up over having done them. Each of us needs to let go. Not just of the things we like, not just the good stuff. We also need to let go of our guilt and self-anger for what we did in the past. The past is done and over with while the future is yet to be created. The present is where we do the creating. 

Be patient with yourself, not angry.

And patiently—and mindfully—replace each negative thought with “Amituofo.”

If Amitabha Buddha were to appear before you 

and say he was here 

to escort you to the Pure Land right now, 

what would your very first thought be? 

When I first started practicing Pure Land Buddhism in Dallas, Texas, I was sitting in the dining hall one Sunday afternoon with several other people. A long-time practitioner looked at us and asked the above question. We all started to think.

And therein lay the problem.

In our thinking, we had hesitated.

Clearly, and sadly, we weren’t ready. If we were, our first reaction would have been an instantaneous “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. Knowing that the time is right, Amitabha Buddha will come for us.

So I ask Pure Land practitioners reading this, “If Amitabha Buddha were to appear before you and say he was here to escort you to the Pure Land right now, what would your very first thought be?”