Namo Buddhaya,
Sedikit share aja, ada penjelasan yang indah dari Hui Neng, Patriach Zen ke-enam mengenai Amitabha Sutra. Sebagai bahan tambahan informasi untuk topik ini
Mettacittena,
Luis "Prefect Wei then asked the next question:
"I notice that it is a common practice for monks and laymen to recite the name of Amitabha with the hope of being born in the Pure Land of the West. To clear up my doubts, will you please tell me whether it is possible for them to be born there or not."
"Listen to me carefully, Sir," replied the Patriarch, "and I will explain. According to the Sutra spoken by the Bhagavat in Shravasti City for leading people to the Pure Land of the West, it is quite clear that the Pure Land is not far from here, for the distance in mileage is
108,000, which really represents the '
ten evils' and '
eight errors' within us.
To those of inferior mentality certainly it is far away, but to superior men we may say that it is quite near. Although the Dharma is uniform, men vary in their mentality. Because they differ from one another in their degree of enlightenment or ignorance, therefore some understand the Law quicker than others.
While ignorant men recite the name of Amitabha and pray to be born in the Pure Land, the enlightened purify their mind , for, as the Buddha said, 'When the mind is pure, the Buddha Land is simultaneously pure.'
"Although you are a native of the East, if your mind is pure you are sinless. One the other hand, even if you were a native of the West an impure mind could not free you from sin, When the people of the East commit a sin, they recite the name of Amitabha and pray to be born in the West; but in the case of sinners who are natives of the West, where should they pray to be born?
Ordinary men and ignorant people understand neither the Essence of Mind nor the Pure Land within themselves, so they wish to be born in the East or the West. But to the enlightened everywhere is the same.
As the Buddha said, 'No matter where they happen to be, they are always happy and comfortable.' "Sir, if your mind is free from evil the West is not far from here; but difficult indeed it would be for one whose heart is impure to be born there by invoking Amitabha!
"Now, I advise you, Learned Audience, first to do away with the 'ten evils'; then we shall have travelled one hundred thousand miles . (
The 10 unwholesome acts)
For the next step, do away with the 'eight errors', and this will mean another eight thousand miles traversed. (
The 8 Wrongs from Wrong View to Wrong Concentration, the opposite of the 8 fold path)
If we can realize the Essence of Mind at all times and behave in a straightforward manner on all occasions, in the twinkling of an eye we may reach the Pure Land and there see Amitabha.
"If you only put into practice the ten good deeds, there would be no necessity for you to be born there. (The 10 Wholesome acts)
On the other hand, if you do not do away with the 'ten evils' in your mind, which Buddha will take you there? If you understand the Birthless Doctrine (which puts an end to the cycle of birth and death) of the 'Sudden' School, it takes you only a moment to see the West. If you do not understand, how can you reach there by reciting the name of Amitabha, as the distance is so far?
"Now, how would you like it if I were to shift the Pure Land to your presence this very moment, so that all of you might see it?"
The congregation made obeisance and replied, "If we might see the Pure Land here there would be no necessity for us to desire to be born there. Will Your Holiness kindly let us see it by having it removed here."
The Patriarch said, "Sirs, this physical body of ours is a city.
Our eyes, ears, nose and tongue are the gates. There are five external gates, while the internal one is ideation. The mind is the ground. The Essence of Mind is the King who lives in the domain of the mind. While the Essence of Mind is in, the King is in, and our body and mind exist. When the Essence of Mind is out, there is no King and our body and mind decay.
We should work for Buddhahood within the Essence of Mind, and we should not look for it apart from ourselves . He who is kept in ignorance of his Essence of Mind is an ordinary being. He who is enlightened in his Essence of Mind is a Buddha. ...............
.........Greed and hatred are the hells. Ignorance and infatuation are the brutes.
"Learned Audience, if you constantly perform the ten good deeds, paradise will appear to you at once. When you get rid of the idea of a self and that of a being, Mount Meru will topple. When the mind is no longer depraved, the ocean (of existence) will be dried up.