Self-sacrifice and selfless behavior aren’t just for the big things in life.

Just as time is needed  

for a perfume bottle’s fragrance to fade away, 

time is also needed 

for the scent of our habits to wane.

An empty bottle of perfume, even after washing, will still exude its original fragrance. Although the perfume is long since gone, its scent or “habit energy” remains and will need considerable time to dissipate. 

In a similar manner, our bad habits also need time to be eliminated. Even after we curtail an action its habit energy remains, like that scent of the perfume. Lured by the habit energy’s lingering presence, we find it difficult to break the energy’s hold. And so, we are unable to cease the action. 

Consider the countless lifetimes we have spent perpetuating and reinforcing our habits, committing misdeed after misdeed. The time the perfume stays in its bottle is minuscule compared to our time committing misdeeds in samsara. And so, our habit energy will take a long time of diligent hard work to dispel, to finally be extinguished. 

Chapter 32: Infinite Lifespan and Joy (11)

“Their minds encompass boundless space and naturally accord with the Middle Way.”

This is about the capacity of the mind. The mind should be as broad as boundless space and able to embrace all within it. In the Amitabha Sutra, we read that the Western Pure Land is a place where beings of superior goodness gather. The bodhisattvas are called beings of superior goodness because of their ability to coexist harmoniously with each other. That is, this phrase means that they have practiced the six harmonies to a level of perfection. It is like the boundless space accepting all things naturally.

In a similar way, the bodhisattvas naturally accept and coexist harmoniously with all beings. There is no thought that they need to do so. We would be wise to consider this. When we have disputes and problems with others, we can remember that the minds of the bodhisattvas in the Pure Land “encompass boundless space.” 

The bodhisattvas’ minds also “naturally accord with the Middle Way.” The Middle Way attaches to neither emptiness nor existence. As is said in the Diamond Sutra, “A mind that does not attach to anything will give rise to a true mind.” Not attaching to anything and giving rise to a true mind are one. This is the Middle Way. We ordinary beings think every phenomenon is real, so we are stubbornly attached to existence. This results in the six paths. Arhats and pratyekabuddhas are attached to emptiness, to the emptiness of the noumenon. The bodhisattvas in the Pure Land naturally accord with the Middle Way and attach to nothing. Attaching to nothing, they give rise to the bodhi mind. When beings request help, the bodhisattvas respond. They accomplish all this naturally.

From "Commentary on the Infinite Life Sutra" Volume 3

Pure Land Translation Team

How can anger be real when in an instant— “Poof”—it’s gone.