Amitabha of one's own nature and
the Pure Land of mind-only” (自性彌陀 唯心淨土)
For example, the Zen school teaches meditation on a "hua-t'ou" (wato). Hua-t'ou means "before words,"
before a single thought rises up in one's mind. (2) What is there before a single thought
rises up? It is No Thought. No thought is one's own Pure Mind,
one's own Buddha Nature, one's own Original Face. Meditating on a
hua-t'ou does not mean repeating it, because the repetition of a
hua-t'ou is also a great false thought. Rather, to recognize one's
own Original Face is the purpose of a hua-t'ou.
The Pure Land school teaches Buddha
Recitation -- the repetition of Amitabha Buddha's name. However, it does not teach
merely to recite by mouth, like a parrot mindlessly squawking out
words. Buddha Recitation centered on the mind is real Buddha
Recitation. This is because Mind is Buddha, Buddha is Mind. As the
sutras state: "The Mind, Buddhas and Sentient Beings are
undifferentiated and equal." Outside of Mind, there is no Buddha,
outside of Buddha, there is no Mind. Buddha is Mind, Mind is
Buddha. If a practitioner recites the Buddha's name in this manner,
he will gradually arrive at the stage where there is neither Mind
as subject nor Buddha as object. And there is neither a subject
reciting nor an object of recitation. This is the stage before the
arising of a single thought. This is the hua-t'ou and this is one's
own Original Face. If the practitioner can really understand the
Dharma as transcending subject and object, what difference is there
between Zen and Pure Land?
Hi knightlll,
When living beings aware of their pure nature for Pureland
tradition, they began towards the journey of attainment. Along that
path of bliss, their attainment varied in degrees and according to
the Flower Adornment Sutra, there are altogether 52 categories of
attainment where the last state 52 is supreme nature. Therefore the
different in level of attainment in pureland is owing to sentient
beings "purification" of mind per se. Even in supreme nature, there
is individual vow on expediency & yuan to liberate sentient
beings of the ten directions.
Nonetheless, living beings that do not know their pure nature
such as old folks etc may also be having different level of
attainment in pureland or supreme enlightenment depending on their
level of cultivation.