a buddhist perspective

We often hear about renunciation in Buddhism. For the vast majority of Buddhists, renunciation does not mean giving up a worldly life and becoming a monastic. It means letting go of one’s attachments. The Buddha showed us how for he had no attachments to this world. Unfortunately, as ordinary beings we are still very much attached to the world in our every thought. Although the Mahayana teachings emphasize substance rather than form, if there is substance, it will certainly be reflected in form. Therefore, if our thoughts transcend this world, our behavior will reflect this.

How will our behavior reflect our thoughts of transcending the world? We will not be attached to anything in this world, be it a good reputation, money, or our five desires of wealth, lust, fame, food, and sleep. Our every thought will be like those of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. For ourselves, we come to this world to cultivate, which is to train and discipline our minds when we encounter various situations. We are here to test ourselves to see if we still have wandering thoughts and attachments to this world. For all other beings, we are here to teach and help them on behalf of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. We should have the Buddhas’ great compassion and skillful means to help all beings, who are suffering in this world.

We help different people achieve different goals. We help people with a superior capacity to end the cycle of birth and death, to transcend the Three Realms, and to be reborn in the Western Pure Land to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime. We help people with a medium capacity to end delusion and attain awakening and to advance to a higher stage in their cultivation. We help people with a dull capacity to plant the good roots of enlightenment.

In other words, regardless of a person’s capacity, we should benefit him or her impartially, like Buddhas and bodhisattvas do. On our part, we are impartial at the level of inner truth and the level of phenomena when it comes to helping beings. On the part of the beings, they are equal at the level of inner truth but are not equal at the level of phenomena. For example, when we teach Buddhism, we teach everyone to the best of our ability. But people will understand the teachings differently so some people will grasp more, others less. This is because every being’s good roots, good fortune, and conditions are different.

To renounce the world is to see through the truth of impermanence, to let go of all wandering thoughts and attachments, to attain freedom of mind and spirit, to accord with proper conditions, to be mindful of Amitabha Buddha, and to aspire to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

In the Earth Treasure Sutra, we see that it is difficult to save sentient beings who have already descended into the hell realms. Earth Treasure Bodhisattva has great wisdom and great extraordinary abilities, thus he can help the sentient beings in the hell realms to even reach the Western Pure Land. But, because of our habitual behavior, when we are able to move up to the heaven realms, we continue to commit wrongdoings. And after life in the heaven realms has ended, we will again fall into the hell realms. But to Earth Treasure Bodhisattva it is as if we have returned after only having been gone for a few days!

Once in the hell realms, as we experience continuous suffering we will be unable to cultivate. Thus, our hatred and resultant negative karma will increase and become more binding. The sutras clearly explain this for us. From this, we can begin to understand how difficult it is to help sentient beings who have descended into the hell realms.

When can we be helped?

After we have committed wrongdoings, but before we pass on and descend into the hell realms. During this time, we must awaken so that through feelings of intense remorse and fear, we will diligently forgo thinking, saying, or doing anything that is bad and only do that which is good. In this way, we will maintain purity of mind. And in this way, we can change our present conditions and transform a bad situation into a good one.

It would be even better if we could bring give rise to the great Bodhi mind. If at the moment of death, we sincerely regret as we recite “Amituofo” one to ten times and we seek birth into the Pure Land, we will be reborn there. And we will do this even though we had been about to go to the lowest of the hell realms. We will be born in the Pure Land as non-retrogressive bodhisattvas, beings who will never fall back in their practice. Once there, we will have the opportunity to return to our world to help those whom we have an affinity with to transcend the hell realms.

At the end of the Amitabha Sutra, the Buddha explained that the Pure Land method is hard to believe. What did he mean by this?

Briefly, belief in other methods can increase gradually, but in Pure Land Buddhism one is taking a giant step from samsara (the cycle of rebirth) to the Western Pure Land. Belief is much harder because the step is so high we can’t see over the top. With other methods, we can see what’s on the next step so it’s easier to believe.

Imagine coming from a land where there is much suffering and arriving in a new land. In our old land, we only had small single-story dwellings. But in this new place we see a building that is very high. A kind-looking gentleman smiles gently at us. We approach and ask what is at the top of the building.

The gentleman replies that it is a wonderful place for it doesn’t have all the suffering that our land does. He then tells us that we can go up the building and live at the top if we would like. We ask how we can do that.

He points to some steps and says we can take those but it will take us a very long time. He then points to some closed doors and says that, alternatively, we could take the elevator, which will safely and quickly take us to the top.

We can see the gradual rise of the steps and so we’re okay with the idea of walking up them. But what about this magical device called elevator? What if the apparently nice gentleman isn’t telling us the truth? What if he doesn’t really know what’s at the top of the building? Wouldn’t it be safer to just take the steps?

This is essentially the newcomer’s predicament. We tend to doubt the “quick fix.” In most situations, this is very wise. But doubting the efficacy of the Pure Land method will result in not only our continued suffering, but the suffering of those we wish to help as well.

Question: I have deep faith in Buddhism as a logical and systematic approach, almost philosophical, to life. But the other bits of it, the rebirth bits (where do we find proof? I know many people are said to be able to remember their past lives but perhaps they're just over imaginative? coincidental recounting of incidents that are taken as one's past life, or even schizophrenic people?), as well as the parts of being reborn in the Pure Land if one were to harbour pure thoughts while reciting Namo Amitabha - but how can it be fair to the poor man who spends his entire life reciting it well but nearing his death, loses concentration for a split second because of something beyond his control, e.g loud noise outside his hospital ward which is something beyond his control, thus, losing a wonderful chance to be reborn in the Pure Land, as opposed to someone who has never chanted Namo Amitabha and suddenly, converts to a Pure Land follower and goes to the Pure Land just before he dies? It's so unfair.

Response: First, those who can truly remember their past lives are extremely rare and have much good fortune. Others may be "over imaginative" as you said or perhaps unable to really tell what the "memories" are.

Second, those who are reborn in the Pure Land exhibit certain signs such as saying in advance when they will pass from this life, passing away without any sign of illness, passing away at will, remaining standing or sitting after passing. Or the body may remain flexible and maintain a good color many hours after death. The signs indicating rebirth are to be carefully checked and validated before being made public. 

As for the conditions surrounding our death, we need to conserve our good fortune to create the right condition as we are dying. No other time is as important as this as our last moments lead us to our future rebirths. The person who suddenly encounters bad conditions, like that loud noise, did not have enough good fortune to ensure a peaceful, quiet environment. 

And that person who hears of the Pure Land at the last moments and dies while chanting is unbelievably rare! We cannot count on that happening to us. This exceptional occurrence happens because the person was a practitioner in past lifetimes and conserved his good fortune in this lifetime. So he had the wonderful conditions to be conscious, to encounter a good spiritual advisor, to immediately and completely believe in the Pure Land, and to be able to practice, all while facing death. The coming together of all these conditions is unbelievably rare and the direct result of profound previous practice.