pure land buddhism?

ThailandTom

I found this PDF file on the net entitled, ''taming the monkey mind''. It speaks heavily of the pureland buddhism and reciting the buddhas name in meditation, whilst walking, whilst doing leisurely activities and every moment you can think of basically. What exactly is the pureland and does anybody here recite the buddhas name?

SherabDorje

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_Land_Buddhism

tariki

ThailandTom wrote: »

I found this PDF file on the net entitled, ''taming the monkey mind''. It speaks heavily of the pureland buddhism and reciting the buddhas name in meditation, whilst walking, whilst doing leisurely activities and every moment you can think of basically. What exactly is the pureland and does anybody here recite the buddhas name?

ThailandTom (or can I just call you Tha?), the "chanting" of the Buddha's name within the Pure Land tradition is known as the Nembutsu, "Namu Amida Butsu", which is variously translated, but the gist is "My foolish self is embraced by infinite compassion, grasped, never to be abandoned". (Foolish, not in any intellectual sense, more that the "self" can do nothing of itself to effect its own salvation - its calculations are null and void, to the point where no working (mental calculation) is true working)

The Pure Land tradition has evolved over the milleniums, and with it the purpose and understanding of the chanting. Personally, I live in a Buddhist free zone (which has its compensations.....:p) so can join in no communal chanting, but say the nembutsu as and when. In line with "no calculation" I do not delve into why, what or anything else. One of my Pure Land mentors, Shinran (12th century Japan) had much to say on how many times the nembutsu needs to be said..........from once to the infinite squared.

The Pure Land way is very egalitarian. Amida can be seen and understood as "up there", "out there", as a "person" who we "call out to", or as a personification of Reality-as-is. (Perhaps the Way allows each to move along the spectrum at their own pace.)

And just as Amida can be understood in this wide way, so to the Pure Land itself. From being a land to the west where we go to when we die, to THIS world NOW, this moment. Once again it was Shinran who telescoped the prior understanding of its futuristic sense into the "now".

Many modern day Pure Landers understand it in such a way, including the "zen" man D T Suzuki, who said as much in his delightful little book "Buddha of Infinite Light". Suzuki had great affinity for the Pure Land way, demonstrating that its apparent simplicity ( even "magical" formulas! ) can in fact be alligned with an intellectual profundity, even entwined with a deep existential insight into the whole Buddhist path of emancipation. (Nagarjuna, more often associated with the madhyamika, the central philosophy of Buddhism, wrote hymns of sincere devotion to Amida, and was very much aware of the Vow, that surrender of the "self" to its efficacy could have genuine existential validity.)

The Pure Land way is for those who live a lay life rather that a monastic one. It knows and recognises no "masters" ("mentors" , yes) . In fact the nembutsu can be just the words "thank you", expressing the heart of our lives as one of gratitude...........though, as the Pure Land "saint" Saichi said......

To be grateful is all a lie,
The truth is - there is nothing the matter;
And beyond this there is no peace of mind -
"Namu-amida-butsu, Namu-amida-butsu, Namu-amida-butsu!"
With this peacefully I retire.

:smilec:

qoheleth

Pure Land Buddhism allows the idea of "grace" or outside help to enter into an otherwise "do-it-yourself" tradition.... although I understand that this "outside help" approach is what leads so many modern Buddhists to Buddhism in the first place... to get away from their Christian backgrounds and the "God" they've become disillusioned with.

It really hinges on these concepts, I think: Tariki (other power) and Jiriki (self power). In many other transformative traditions, using some kind of repetitive invocation with faith to seek help from an Outside Power (eg Amida Buddha) and to still the mind and develop concentration, constitutes a central practice of the path. In Pure Land, it's the Amida Buddha and saying the nembetsu. In Orthodox Chtistianity, there's the Prayer of the Heart, which I have some experience with. In Sufism, saying: "Allah, Allah, Allah". The practice is called japa in Hinduism. And so on. I believe the effects of using the nembestu would be the same or very similar to these... albeit in different contexts! Hope this is helpful.

Here's an article about tariki and jiriki:

http://www.jsri.jp/English/Honen/TEACHINGS/otherself.html

tariki

Just to offer further clarification regarding tariki (Other Power), just as Buddhist non-duality is not the opposite of duality - rather, it embraces the dualities, or transcends them - it is said in the Pure Land that there is neither self power nor other power, there is only Other Power.

Saichi again.......

O Saichi, won't you tell us about Other Power?
Yes, but there is neither Other Power nor Self Power,
What is, is the graceful acceptance only.

A helpful link......http://buddhistfaith.tripod.com/nguyentri/id20.html