‘The Buddha of Immeasurable Lifespan has innumerable transformation bodies. He often comes to the dwelling of the cultivator together with the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva.’
Where to find them? They do not go to your room neither do they come to your table.
They enter your mind. When you recite the Buddha’s Name, He is in your mind. They come to take care of us, to observe us.
Why do they come to your mind? Yes, they are repairing your mind, to see if it is broken a little.
Of course, you do not realise this. This wound in your mind has been passing down from many past lives, uncountable in numbers. They can see the wound and repair it, applying the dharma medicine.
See when you recite the Buddha’s Name, your mind is repaired, your evils are halted. When they see that an evil sprout arises from your mind, they just pulled it up so that it will not flourish into big evil, without you knowing it.
So why do I say that recite the name of the Buddha is good? It is because without your knowledge all the evil seeds, evil roots are pulled up, extracted from your mind.
Why do not you know about this? This is the state of the Buddha. How can you know it? A mundane man is very superficial, attaching to a false self. They live in emotion, in attachment. While the Buddha does things without a self. So how does a man who is attaching to a-self understand the state of no-self? This is an impossible task. The Buddha is the light and we are darkness. So how do we know the Buddha’s state? No way. This is for sure.
If you rely on your own effort to cultivate the path, you need awareness, your knowing faculty. For example, you say you want to earn some money yourself, so you manage to get three dollars, five dollars. When you get the money, you feel so good. This is the bliss, the joy you obtain by earning the money.
But if you obtain a heritage, the money enters your account one hundred billion. How to compare the feeling of earning three or five dollars? There is no feeling at all. Why? It is a number even your mind cannot understand. You simply cannot imagine. Or maybe you receive one million billion? Your mind will be lost. Suddenly your mind is fully filled with such a great number. So, you see how your mind can know or understand this? If it cannot understand, that is good. If it really understands the amount it will explode!
So, in this way, the Buddha without your knowing repairs your mind, stops your evils, fulfils your wishes and let you accomplish your virtues. The Buddha just takes a look at your wishes. He decides it is a small wish, a beneficial wish. He immediately fulfils it. The Buddha fulfils your wish without you knowing it. In fact, he gives you much more than what you have desired, by ten times, a hundred times, millions of billion times. But you do not know this.
What is letting you to accomplish the virtues? We are originally full of sins and offences. Now when you start to recite, ‘Na Mo Amitabha Buddha’ the Buddha starts working in your mind. He enables you to accomplish your virtues. He enables you to be calm at ease, to be joyful. He gives you love and strength. So, you feel calm, blissful and safe. You automatically feel relax, serenely at ease, with a joyful mind.
A cultivator who practises the Buddha recitation is joyful. Who give you this joy? This positive energy is given by the Buddha. He will never take the joy away from you. He always gives without any conditions. This giving is without obstruction, solid and immovable. This joy will not retreat. When the Buddha gives us love and strength, we naturally become brave and strong. This is the effect of Buddha recitation, full of bliss, strength and bravery. The man who receives this love will gradually become a wholesome man, not a man who is weak, who is going to break down anytime. He envelopes us with His bright illumination and our mind is touched by His Lights and we feel the warm of his care. And gradually our mind which is harsh and stubborn becomes tender. He has managed to repair our mind which is distorted, in pain and sufferings, which has broken into many pieces. It is like the function of a computer that can take control of the other computers in faraway places. So even in this world, with the recitation of the Buddha’s Name, our mind is repaired and become wholesome, gradually.
A Pure Land cultivator only recites the Name of the Buddha. He does not know how to contemplate his mind. He has no cultivation. But without his knowing, his sins are eradicated. He is replete with virtues naturally. This is because he solely relies on the Buddha’s merits and virtues.
So, in the Buddha recitation there is a natural function in the contemplation of mind. In fact, in comparison with a man who cultivates using his personal effort, a Pure Land cultivator often far surpasses him.
Why is this so? This is because Amitabha Buddha comes to repair his mind personally. So how can a mundane man be able to compare to the Buddha? When the Buddha comes to contemplate, surely, he can contemplate much better than you, right? See he does the contemplation. He comes to see you so often. If you recite thirty thousand times Na Mo Amitabha Buddha, he comes as many times as your recitation. Each time he comes he repairs your mind. So maybe you are not very clever. After reciting so many times, you will also at least learn how to fasten a screw, am I right?
I hope everyone will learn this Dharma Door single-mindedly. The benefits are indeed as I have said.
An extract of the Dharma Teaching by the Venerable Master Shi Jing Zong, the Abbot of the Hong Yuan Temple, Xuan Cheng in the province of Anhui, China.
An extract from the above teaching in mandarin:
无量寿佛有很多化身。他时时来到念佛人的住处，和观世音菩萨，大势至菩萨。怎样找到他们呢？他们没有来到你的房间，你的桌子前。他们来到你的心中。当你念佛时，他就在你的心中。他们来照顾我们，观察我们。为什么来到你的心中。对了，他们来修理你的心，看看是不是破了一些。当然，这些你都不知道。这个心的伤口是很多世时就受伤了，一个久远世的伤口。他们用法药替你治愈。所以，
当你称念佛号时，你的心被修理好，
你的恶被止住了。
当他们看见一个恶芽从心中生起，
他们就把它给拔了，才不至于繁殖成大恶。这些你都不知道。所以为何我说念佛好？ 这是因为在不知不觉中，你心中的恶种子，恶根都从你的心中根除了。
‘The Buddha of Immeasurable Lifespan has innumerable transformation bodies. He often comes to the dwelling of the cultivator together with the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva.’
Where to find them? They do not go to your room neither do they come to your table.
They enter your mind. When you recite the Buddha’s Name, He is in your mind. They come to take care of us, to observe us.
Why do they come to your mind? Yes, they are repairing your mind, to see if it is broken a little.
Of course, you do not realise this. This wound in your mind has been passing down from many past lives, uncountable in numbers. They can see the wound and repair it, applying the dharma medicine.
See when you recite the Buddha’s Name, your mind is repaired, your evils are halted. When they see that an evil sprout arises from your mind, they just pulled it up so that it will not flourish into big evil, without you knowing it.
So why do I say that recite the name of the Buddha is good? It is because without your knowledge all the evil seeds, evil roots are pulled up, extracted from your mind.
净土行人只管念佛，他并不观察他的心。他自己没有修行。但是，不知不觉的他的罪业就消了。他自然具足功德。这是因为他专门依靠阿弥陀佛的功德。所以，念佛人自然是在观心。其实，靠自力的行者是比不上念佛人的。念佛人远远超越了他。为何如此呢？这是因为是阿弥陀佛亲自来修理的。一个凡夫怎能和佛比呢？ 当佛观察时， 一定比你更好，对吗？感恩南无阿弥陀佛
A Pure Land cultivator only recites the Name of the Buddha. He does not know how to contemplate his mind. He has no cultivation. But without his knowing, his sins are eradicated. He is replete with virtues naturally. This is because he solely relies on the Buddha’s merits and virtues.
So, in the Buddha recitation there is a natural function in the contemplation of mind. In fact, in comparison with a man who cultivates using his personal effort, a Pure Land cultivator often far surpasses him.
Why is this so? This is because Amitabha Buddha comes to repair his mind personally. So how can a mundane man be able to compare to the Buddha? When the Buddha comes to contemplate, surely, he can contemplate much better than you。Am I right?
See， he does the contemplation. He comes to see you so often. If you recite thirty thousand times Na Mo Amitabha Buddha, he comes as many times as your recitation. Each time he comes he repairs your mind. So maybe you are not very clever. After reciting so many times, you will also at least learn how to fasten a screw, am I right?
I hope everyone will learn this Dharma Door single-mindedly. The benefits are indeed as I have said.
阿弥陀佛时时亲自来观察你。你每天念三万声南无阿弥陀佛，他来三万次。每一次都修理你的心。 或许你不很聪明，但是念了这么多佛号，至少也会锁一颗螺丝吧！
希望大家一心学此法门，他的利益如我所说。
I'm ORI the Light 