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A Brief Discussion on Being Mindful of the Buddha’s Name 2016-07-03
Dharma Master Heng Yun at GSM in Spring 2016
Long ago, there was a good king who helped his citizens and thus accumulated many blessings and virtue, so he had the opportunity to encounter the Buddha. The Buddha is an enlightened being who has reached “self-enlightenment.” He then tells others about the principles of enlightenment and allows them to become enlightened as well, which is the “enlightenment of others.” Finally, because of the perfection of both self-enlightenment and the enlightenment of others, the Buddha has obtained the “perfection of enlightened practice.” In this way, the Buddha is one who has perfected the three types of enlightenment and is replete with the ten thousand virtues.
At the monastery, we sometimes see a plaque that reads, “Adorned with ten thousand virtues.” Why is this the case? Unlike ordinary people who apply cosmetics and wear beautiful clothes to adorn themselves, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas adorn themselves with virtue. Therefore, they naturally seem noble and majestic, manifest with the adornment of virtue.
The adornment of virtuous conduct is not only possessed by the Buddhas, but also by every one of us. Although the Buddhas have attained Buddhahood, our inherent natures are not different from those of the Buddhas, so we can also rely on cultivation to adorn ourselves with virtue. For example, we can eat slowly and refrain from talking during meals, instead listening attentively to instructive talks or silently reciting the Buddha’s name. If we have guidelines to every thing we do, then we will develop the four great deportments of walking, standing, sitting, and reclining in our daily lives. As it is said, “If one possesses inherent virtue, one will display external deportment.” This is saying that if we have virtue within, we will display a certain kind of deportment on the outside. By being filial to our parents, respectful to our elders, and compassionate and protective to our peers and those younger than us, we will gradually develop virtue.
I recall that when the Venerable Master traveled to Taiwan to propagate the Dharma in 1993, he was very concerned about the country’s political scenario, and the media had many relevant reports on his actions. He met with several important Taiwanese government officials and beseeched them to govern the country with virtue. When he was about to leave Taiwan, he asked me in the airport to read some news reports on what he did in Taiwan. One report stood out to me: a reporter had described the Venerable Master with a single sentence, saying, “The Master conducts himself in a very noble manner.” This is the manifestation of virtue; this is integrating one’s virtue into one’s daily life, whether walking, standing, sitting, or reclining. Upon seeing this, people believe that they can also slowly improve themselves and develop their virtue in their daily lives.
Going back to the story of the king: once the king had cultivated enough blessings and wisdom, he had the opportunity to meet in person the Buddha King of Self-Mastery in the World. He was delighted upon seeing the Buddha. He saw that the Buddha had helped so many people, was so compassionate, possessed profound wisdom and awesome virtue, and was replete with the Eighteen Exceptional Characteristics, Three Bodies, Four Types of Wisdom, Five Eyes, and Six Spiritual Powers. Therefore, the king was extremely joyful and thought: “I wish to become a Buddha in the future as well.”
“The mind is the Buddha; the mind becomes the Buddha.” This saying explains that every one of us has the Buddha nature and that our true minds are identical with that of the Buddha. Although we have the Buddha nature, we must let our minds “become the Buddha;” in other words, we need to honestly cultivate according to “contemplative prajña.” We must practice Bodhisattvahood step-by-step all the way until we reach Buddhahood.
The king had deep faith and deeply believed that he would become a Buddha and be able to help living beings like the Buddha. Therefore, he abdicated the throne and left the lay-life, and he received the Dharma name “Bhikshu Dharmakara (Dharma Treasury).” He wished that after he attained Buddhahood, the people in his land would be able to peacefully practice the Way in a good place, thus helping them become Buddhas. He thought: “In the future when I become a Buddha, the people in my land are going to be such and such, the primary and secondary retributions are going to be such and such…” He proclaimed his vows to the Buddha King of Self-Mastery in the World, who then used the Buddha’s spiritual power to bring him to visit many lands. In all, they visited twenty-one billion Buddha-lands. A “land” in this sense of the word does not merely refer to a planet. In fact, the Buddha can use his spiritual power to move our planet to another planet without us being aware, just like we can move an ant unawares from our foot to our hand.
After Bhikshu Dharmakara saw all of these lands, he selected the superior aspects of every land to be part of his own land, which he vowed to create after he attained Buddhahood. In the Sūtra on Limitless Longevity, Bhikshu Dharmakara also make forty-eight great vows, each one of which is very delightful.
I especially like the section in the Sūtra on Limitless Longevity that describes how Bhikshu Dharmakara realizes his vows. We often make vows, yet we rarely fulfill them. The process of making vows, working towards realizing them, and finally fulfilling our vows requires great perseverance and uninterrupted cultivation life after life. After Bhikshu Dharmakara made his great vows, he practiced life after life for many eons without interruption and finally became a Buddha. He is the present Amitabha Buddha.
We recited the Amitabha Sūtra as part of today’s Dharma Assembly on Reciting the Buddha’s Name. The Amitabha Sūtra describes the adornments of the Land of Ultimate Bliss; the Sūtra on Limitless Longevity, on the other hand, describes in great detail the process of Amitabha Buddha from when he made the resolve on the causal ground until he reached attainment on the ground of fruition. The latter part of the sūtra compares the Land of Ultimate Bliss with our Saha World, allowing us to recognize the suffering of the World Able to Endure (another name for the Saha World) and to bring forth faith and seek rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.
There is one vow among the forty-eight vows that goes: “When I attain Buddhahood, all the types of beings from Buddha-lands limitless and inconceivable in number in the ten directions on whom my light shines will become softer and gentler in body and mind than those of the gods. If this is not the case, I will not attain proper enlightenment.” If beings approaching the end of life can believe in and be mindful of the Buddha, or if they receive supporting conditions that allow them to be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, their bodies will become soft and supple when Amitabha Buddha’s light shines on them. I have encountered a few cases such as these in my life, and I would like to share some of them with everyone as exhortation and forewarning.
It is difficult to talk about the affinities of people and difficult to predict where one will pass away. There was an elderly layman in Taiwan whose wife had great faith in Buddhism since she was young. Because the husband was older than the wife, the couple prepared how they would help each other recite at the end of their lives. The husband’s family was in Mainland China, and he wanted to go back and visit, so he brought his son along with him. Unexpectedly, he became in critical condition and passed away one night at a hotel in China. The son quickly called his mother and asked her what to do. The Venerable Master once said that technology was transformed by heavenly demons to suck away our essence, energy, and spirit. However, if we can use it well, it can still be quite convenient.
The son called his mother, and his mother told him very calmly, “Do not call the police or ask for help from relatives, because they do not understand the Buddhadharma. All you need to do is stay in the hotel and recite the Buddha’s name for your father.” Therefore, the son recited the Buddha’s name for eight hours, from ten that night until six the next morning. Because the period for reciting the Buddha’s name was so long, the mother would periodically call from Taiwan to tell her husband to put down everything and single-mindedly recite the Buddha’s name so that they could reunite in the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the future. In this way, the son could take a rest and also encourage his father to recite the Buddha’s name and seek rebirth in the West.
Therefore, mother and son spent that entire night helping the father recite the Buddha’s name and only called the police the next morning. Because the death had been so sudden, the father had been alarmed when he passed away and had had his mouth open. Only later did his mouth slowly close. When the local officials came for the autopsy, the son felt that his father’s body was soft. Furthermore, although his feet were cold, his forehead was warm, which is an auspicious portent that signifies rebirth in the West. The softness represents that the father was shone by the Buddha’s light, because this is the power of Amitabha Buddha’s vows.
The surname of the mother was Gao. Laywoman Gao told me, “Oh, preparation is no use. Impermanence can come any time!” She said that the room that they had specially set aside to help dying people recite the Buddha’s name was no use, and that one must constantly prepare oneself.
I would like to tell another story about how one is better off seeking rebirth by sincerely reciting for oneself than relying on others to recite for one. There was an old lady in Taiwan who lived on the fifth floor of an apartment. Because the building was quite old, there was no elevator, so she had to take the stairs every day. When she was at home, she would often shut her door and practice her daily practice of reciting the Buddha’s name. Regardless of whether someone rang the doorbell or called her phone, she would ignore them until she finished her practice.
One day, she told her son, “Mother is going to leave tomorrow” and bade him farewell. The son did not believe her, thinking: “This is not possible. Mother is surely just casually saying this!” To his disbelief, his mother recited the Buddha’s name the next day and passed away without anybody to help her recite. The son went to check on his mother and saw that she had auspiciously passed away and that her body was soft. The son originally did not believe in Buddhism or in the Dharma-door on reciting the Buddha’s name. However, now that his mother had passed away so peacefully, he converted to become Buddhist and vigorously recited the Buddha’s name. Therefore, we can also use our own power to be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. We will know when our time to leave has come; that is perfect.
Also, if we have too many material and emotional attachments, it will be rather difficult for us to be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. If we have deep affinities with our family and relatives, we can physically take care of them and help them. However, we must put down these emotions in our mind so that we will not become burdened by our attachments at the end of our lives. Do not say when Amitabha Buddha comes to bring you to the Land of Ultimate Bliss, “I don’t want to go! I want to stay with my family.” Even if Amitabha Buddha wanted to bring you there, he would have no way. So we must be cautious.
Another problem is that even when we are busy, we must still find time to come to the monastery and cultivate together. For example, we should attend a Dharma assembly on reciting the Buddha’s name when there is one because there is a collective energy in everyone reciting together. If you cultivate alone, there is no collective energy to draw from, so it is easy to go off in your cultivation.
It takes most people at least an hour round-trip to come to Gold Sage Monastery. Some people may think: “I could spend that hour listening to the Dharma at home.” That is not the same. When you come to the monastery, the power of everyone and of the monastery produces different results from when you cultivate alone at home. This does not mean that you should not apply effort at home—you should still do so—but when you come to the monastery, your resolve for the Way will be relit, everyone helps each other, and the brilliance shines even farther.
We are in a technologically advanced age, and one Dharma Master said that propagating the Dharma no longer requires large spaces any more. Instead, we can just speak in a small room and broadcast it out to others. I do not support this idea, because then the Buddha would not have needed to establish so many monasteries for people to cultivate together. Of course, cultivating and applying effort at home is one way, but collectively cultivating in the monastery has an unshakable strength as well. I know an example of someone who cultivated by himself to the point that he ended up locking himself inside his room and never coming out. He was in a very critical situation, but because he had some blessings and treated everyone well, everyone worked hard to pull him back out. Otherwise, his Dharma-body and wisdom-life would have disappeared.
I would like to use the stories above as an exhortation and warning for everyone. Amitabha!
