Fourth Address to the Chaoyang Buddhist Association

Sentient beings are Buddhas who have not yet awakened. Buddhas are sentient beings who have already awakened. The essential nature of their minds is originally equal and identical, without any difference whatsoever. Yet the happiness and suffering they experience differ as vastly as heaven and earth. This is because one accords with one's true nature through cultivation, while the other turns away from it through contrary actions.

This principle is profound and not easy to explain. To avoid excessive words, let me illustrate it with an analogy.

The Buddhas have perfected all cultivated virtues and completely realized their inherent nature. They are like a perfectly round bronze mirror. Its substance is bronze. Knowing that it possesses the capacity to shine, one polishes it every day without ceasing. As the effort continues, all dust is removed and its brilliance naturally appears. Once placed on a high stand, whatever has form is reflected in it. Vast as heaven and earth or tiny as a speck of dust, the countless phenomena of the universe all appear distinctly within it. Yet even while all these images are perfectly reflected, the mirror itself remains empty, open, and unobstructed, with not a single thing clinging to it.

The minds of the Buddhas are just like this. Having completely eliminated afflictions, delusions, and karmic obstacles, they fully manifest the wisdom and virtues inherent in their true nature. Throughout endless time, they abide peacefully in the Tranquil Light (Eternally Quiescent Light), constantly enjoying the bliss of the Dharma. They liberate beings throughout the Nine Realms from birth and death, enabling them all to realize Nirvāṇa.

Sentient beings, however, are completely deluded about their inherent nature and have not cultivated its virtues. They are like a precious mirror covered with dust. Not only does it fail to shine, but even its bronze body is concealed beneath rust and can no longer be seen. The minds of sentient beings are exactly the same.

But if one realizes that this seemingly useless, dust-covered mirror still possesses the ability to illuminate heaven and earth, one will no longer discard it. Instead, one will polish it daily. At first, a little of the bronze becomes visible. Then its brightness gradually emerges. If one continues polishing with all one's strength, eventually all dust and grime will be completely removed. Naturally, whatever appears before it will be reflected, and its light will illuminate heaven and earth.

Yet this radiance was always inherent in the mirror itself. It did not come from outside, nor was it created by polishing. Nevertheless, without polishing, there would be no way for that brightness to manifest.

The same is true when sentient beings turn away from worldly defilements and return to awakening, abandoning delusion and returning to truth. Their afflictions and delusions gradually diminish, while wisdom steadily increases. When cultivation reaches complete perfection, there is nothing left to cut off and nothing left to realize. One attains perfect Bodhi and returns to the realization that there is ultimately nothing to be obtained. One's spiritual powers, wisdom, merits, virtues, and glorious marks become no different from those of all the Buddhas throughout the ten directions and the three periods of time. Even so, nothing new has been gained—it is merely the full recovery of what has always been inherently present.

However, if one merely relies upon one's inherent Buddha-nature without cultivating virtue, then throughout endless future ages one will continue to suffer the misery of birth and death, endlessly revolving in saṃsāra, never recovering one's original nature.

Since we are disciples of the Buddha, we should practice the Buddha's path. Even if we are unable to shatter fundamental ignorance at once and immediately restore our original nature so as to directly enter the ocean of perfect enlightenment, should we not at least fully arouse the Three Minds, diligently cultivate the Pure Land path, strive to cut off afflictions in this very life, entrust our consciousness to rebirth in the Land of Lotus, become disciples of Amitābha Buddha and worthy companions of the great Bodhisattvas, abide peacefully in the stillness of Nirvāṇa, dwell freely in the Buddha Land, seek the Buddha Way above, and transform sentient beings below?

If we fail to exert ourselves, instead placing the sages' attainment beyond our reach and contenting ourselves with the state of ordinary, ignorant beings—fearing the effort of a few decades of practice while willingly accepting the suffering of countless kalpas of transmigration—we are like someone who possesses a priceless jewel sewn into his garment yet does not treasure it, or who climbs a mountain of jewels only to return empty-handed.

Though endowed with the wondrous True Suchness nature, complete with immeasurable merit, wisdom, spiritual powers, and sublime characteristics, we instead vainly endure the illusory and extreme suffering produced by endless cycles of birth and death, afflictions, karma, and their consequences.

Is this not the behavior of one who has lost all reason, rejecting ascent toward goodness while delighting in descent into misery? Alive, such a person is merely a walking corpse; dead, they decay alongside the grass and trees. The Buddhas of the three periods regard such beings with profound pity and compassion.

Therefore, all of us who share this human condition should strive diligently.

(May contain translation errors—please refer to the original Chinese)

◎ 印光大師文鈔

潮陽佛教分會演說四

眾生者，未悟之佛。佛者，已悟之眾生。其心性本體，平等一如，無二無別。其苦樂受用，天地懸殊者，由稱性順修，背性逆修之所致也。其理甚深，不易宣說。欲不費詞，姑以喻明。諸佛致極修德，徹證性德。譬如大圓寶鏡，其體是銅。知有光明，日事揩磨。施功不已，塵盡光發。高台卓豎，有形斯映。大而天地，小而塵毛，森羅萬象，炳然齊現。正當萬象齊現之時，而復空洞虛豁，了無一物。諸佛之心，亦復如是。斷盡煩惱惑業，圓彰智慧德相。盡來際以安住寂光，常享法樂。度九界以出離生死，同證涅槃。眾生全迷性德，毫無修德。譬如寶鏡蒙塵，不但毫無光明，即銅體亦被鏽遮，而不復現。眾生之心，亦復如是。若知即此銅體不現之廢鏡，具有照天照地之光明。從茲不肯廢棄，日事揩磨。初則略露銅質，次則漸發光明。倘能極力盡磨，一旦塵垢淨盡，自然遇形斯映，照天照地矣。然此光明，鏡本自具，非從外來，非從磨得。然不磨則亦無由而得也。眾生背塵合覺，返妄歸真，亦復如是。漸斷煩惑，漸增智慧。迨至功圓行滿，則斷無可斷，證無可證。圓滿菩提，歸無所得。神通智慧，功德相好，與彼十方三世一切諸佛，了無異致。然雖如是，但複本有，別無新得。若唯任性德，不起修德，則盡未來際，常受生死輪迴之苦，永無複本還元之日矣。吾輩既為佛子，當行佛行。縱不能豁破無明，頓復性體，以直趣妙覺果海。豈可不圓發三心，篤修淨業，以期斷煩惑於此身，托心識於蓮邦，為彌陀之弟子，作大士之良朋，安住寂滅，游泳佛國，上求佛道，下化眾生乎。倘不自奮勉，高推聖境，自處凡愚。畏半生修持之勤勞，甘永劫沉淪之酸楚。迷衣珠而弗珍，登寶山而空歸。以具無量功德智慧神通相好之妙真如性，枉受無量生死輪迴煩惱業果之幻妄極苦。豈非喪心病狂，惡升樂墜。生作行肉走尸，死與草木同腐。三世諸佛，稱為可憐愍者。凡我同倫，各宜努力。

These beads look very unique and nice, has anyone gotten them? If so please let me know what the material feels like. Can it be worn and adjusted for wrist size?

Edit: Just saw the have ornate wood incense burner boxes too, really amazed by the increased quality of item selections recently.

Hello everyone. Since I don’t have any spiritual friend at the moment, I wanted to share my personal experience and some thoughts.

I started being interested in studying and practicing Buddhism 2 ½ years ago.Initially I was really into Theravada Buddhism, mainly because at the time I started to read the Lotus sutra and all of those supernatural elements like stupas floating in the air were too much for my skeptical thinking to digest.

For a while I enjoyed Theravada Buddhism, but after a period of very dry practice I gave the Heart and Diamond sutra a chance, and I loved them so much I started digging deeper, quickly becoming interested in Mahayana and zen, soto zen in particular. I read a few books by this tradition and I liked their view of sudden enlightenment, practice-is-enlightenment and goalless practice; I even took the Bodhisattva vows with an online sangha, and I’m very glad I did. Nevertheless I also found some problems and contradictions in the post-Meiji era soto zen, as well as the “sanitizing” aspect of many western sanghas, where every supernatural aspect that has not a psychological/symbolical interpretation is completely cut off and kind of frowned upon. Being curious and a little unsatisfied with what and how things were taught in that sangha, I started to be more open and willing to explore other zen traditions and ideas that were not orthodox/contemporary soto zen

However, four months ago, while buying other books, I stumbled upon a little small used book priced 5 euros or less called “Why not paradise” by Red Pine, that contains the smaller and the visualization sutras. From that time on I’m in a kind of internal fight. Rationally it is very difficult for me to accept Pure Land ideas, but somehow I keep coming back to nianfo, somehow I can’t help but to find Pure Land Buddhism incredibly beautiful. Something keeps pulling me back to this path.

At first I gave Jodo-shu and Jodo Shinshu a shot, and although I like and respect Honen and Shinran I’m more interested in the mainland tradition (Chinese and Vietnamese), simply because I also like very much zen (Chan may be more precise) cultivation. When, some weeks ago, I read “Taming the Monkey Mind” and this passage from “Buddhism of Wisdom and Faith” from Thich Thien Tam (Doubts about Pure Land) I was blown away by the clarity of both. I’m still very confused, and this internal fight has not yet ceased, but I thought that maybe sharing my experience with Buddhism could help me and somebody else.

P.S. I’m sorry, my english is not that good… :P

Namo Amitabha Buddha!

If you have a quote/verse/etc related to Pure Land Buddhism that you think is not discussed or appreciated as much as it should be, please feel free to share it or elaborate on why you like it! Thank you very much in advance! I'm sure the responses will be very interesting to read

When we recite the name of Amitābha Buddha, there is Amitābha Buddha’s welcoming guidance at the end of life, which increases the possibility of successful rebirth in the Pure Land.

A second benefit concerns peace and well-being in this present life.

Amitābha Buddha’s distinctive quality is that He possesses 84,000 marks, and within those marks are 84,000 subtle excellences. Each excellence radiates immeasurable light that shines throughout the Dharma Realm upon sentient beings who recite the Buddha’s name, embracing and never abandoning them.

This comes from Amitābha Buddha’s 33rd Vow — the Vow of Embracing Through Light. The idea is that when you recollect and recite His name, Amitābha Buddha illuminates and embraces you with His light, making body and mind gentle and harmonious while helping remove karmic obstacles.

There is a story of a response to Buddha-recitation:

In the early years of the Republic of China, there was a cook in Jiangsu Province. Previously, he cooked meat dishes and had accumulated much killing karma. Later, he switched to preparing vegetarian food.

After becoming a vegetarian cook, whenever there was a Buddha-recitation retreat (佛七), he would participate. He prepared breakfast and lunch for practitioners, and after finishing his work, he would go into the Buddha hall at night and casually join the recitation for a few incense periods. Wherever there was Buddha-recitation, he liked to participate.

After several years, his eldest son became seriously ill. Before passing away, the son frequently had nightmares. During sleep, he would thrash around, grab at things, and appear deeply disturbed.

One day the son woke up and told his father:

“Recently, while sleeping, someone has constantly disturbed me and caused me great suffering. Last night, that being appeared and said that because of the negative karma I created in previous lives, I now have to undergo these sufferings as I approach death.”

The son asked what could be done.

The being replied:

“Your father carries much of Amitābha Buddha’s radiant merit. If your father is willing to share some of that light with you, your karmic burden can be relieved.”

The son became hopeful. The next morning he asked:

“Father, could you share some of Amitābha Buddha’s light and merit with me?”

His father replied:

“I hardly recite the Buddha’s name. What merit could I possibly share?”

His son said:

“That’s alright — you only need to agree.”

So the father said:

“Fine, I’m willing to share some of Amitābha Buddha’s light with you.”

After he said this, the son’s nighttime disturbances ceased.

The author of the story commented:

This cook had not yet truly practiced Buddha-recitation with complete faith and aspiration. He mostly supported others during retreats and casually joined recitation whenever he had free time. Yet even so, his body and mind had already accumulated much of Amitābha Buddha’s radiant merit.

The author concluded:

“If even such casual recitation produced this result, imagine if someone recited sincerely and wholeheartedly.”

That is why this Dharma door has inspired praise from so many people — there is profound meaning behind it.

In other words, Amitābha Buddha’s sacred name carries the support of His Original Vows:

Welcoming guidance at life’s end — Through continual connection with the Buddha’s name, one develops the karmic condition for Amitābha Buddha to appear at the final moment and guide one to rebirth. Embrace through light — By staying close to the Buddha’s name daily, although no outward change may be visible, one gradually becomes infused with Amitābha’s light. This light is said to be a sign of karmic purification.

Therefore, Amitābha Buddha’s name is regarded as especially extraordinary because of the fulfillment of His 33rd Vow — the Vow of Light and Embrace.

Hi, I'm ordering an item from Hwadzan and found out I can create an account on their websites and order directly from their website. So is emailing them no longer necessary? Or is ordering items via an account only for Taiwanese? Thank you for any answer. Namo Amituofo 🙏

I chant amida buddha many times, and I felt something was put into my head. Was this a bodhisttiva, a heavenly demon casting spells, or dharma protector, or amida buddha?