1. Where, exactly, is the Pure Land? It is immanent within your
mind. As long as you are free of worries and vexations, your mind
is the land of equanimity hence the Pure Land.
2. When reciting the name of the Buddha, pronounce each word
distinctly with full concentration. Further, vow to be reborn in
the Pure Land so as to escape this bitter prison of samsara.
3. "When the mind is pure, the buddha-land is also pure". Practice
recitation dilligently to the extent that the mind is pure, clear,
and unfettered by vexations or illusive thoughts. When you attain
such a state, this world is the Pure Land and your mind the kingdom
of Amitabha Buddha.
4. Within the limitless void, a world resembles a grain of sand. If
there are as many worlds as there are grains of sand in the Ganges,
and if all beings of these worlds are willing to recite the
Buddha's name, they can all be reborn in the Pure Land.
5. An important prerequisite to be reborn in the Pure Land is to
relinquish all worldly concerns. One can only be reborn in the Pure
Land without the encumbrances and entanglements of this
world.
6. If our minds are composed and stable, we are naturally free of
vexations. We can live every day with a pure mind and good spirit,
crave for nothing but live according to circumstances, and our
hearts will be filled with joy and bliss. Such is the state of the
Pure Land. So why quest elsewhere when the Pure Land is immanent
within our minds? On the other hand, if your mind is unsettling and
disgruntling, you will become vexed easily and you will feel
restless wherever you are.
7. Practice recitation to the extent that your mind becomes
absolutely pure and clear, and you will be reborn through the lotus
into the Pure Land. Those who are born through the physical bodies
of their parents will remain in the cycle of birth and death.
8. Do not pray for the divine manifestation of Buddhas and/or
Bodhisattvas at your deathbed. Such revelations are most likely to
be illusions. What you should do is to recite the name of the
Buddha with a pure mind and free of appeals. Then, whatever is
manifested in your mind will be genuine revelation.
9. There are limits to the merits we can enjoy in this world. But
the blessings we attain through practice will invigorate our
Buddha-nature, unfold our wisdom, and help us retrieve our true
nature. It is by no means easy to become monastic practioners, as
we have to endure immeasurable hardships. But such endurance will
help us remove the massive karmic obstructions we have accumulated
through the eons. Only by so doing will we be able to eradicate all
our negative karma, be reborn in the Pure Land, and ultimately
attain Buddhahood.
10. (At dusk, we recite the following stanza:) "The day is drawing
to an end and our lives are cutting short accordingly. Just like
the fishes in a drying pond, how much joy can there be?" Indeed, we
do not realize that our lives are drawing closer to an end each
day, just like the fishes in a drying pond that are still swimming
happily, not realizing their imminent extinction. We just live one
day after another, do not know where we are going after we die.
Therefore, we should constantly remind ourselves not to lessen our
vigilance. Practice diligently so that we can be reborn in the Pure
Land.
11. A diligent practitioner is just like an old farmer who tills in
the field all day and can joyfully rest at home after the sun goes
down. The Pure Land is his ultimate home and resting-place.
12. We monastic practitioners should not be afraid of death because
there is the Pure Land to look foward to. We should also attain the
level in our practice at which we can easily untie our minds from
all worldly concerns and can resolve all difficulties with a simple
change of perception.
13. A snap pf thought takes 90 ksana (of time), and there are 900
births and deaths within a ksana. Hence, within the time of a snap
of thought, there are 81,000 births and deaths. At the critical
moment of our last breath, even only one snap of thought (other
than the wish to be reborn in the Pure Land) arises to distract us,
we will be unable to escape the cycle of birth and death. Thus, the
last snap of thought before we die is of utmost importance! What
kind of thought will flash through our minds depends on the state
of our minds at that instant. If our minds are completely pure and
we are making no distinction among the forms of self, others,
sentient beings, and life, we will be reborn in the Pure
Land.
14. Where is the Pure Land? You have to begin your search through
purifying your own mind. If your mind is unfettered by worldly
distractions and delusion, and is absolutely pure and clear, then
your mind itself is the Pure Land. So there is no need to keep
questing "where is the Pure Land?" If you continue to have such an
illusive idea of pursuit, you are still defiled by greed, anger,
and ignorance. Do not cling to the idea that there is indeed a Pure
Land somewhere out there. In fact, the Pure Land is immanent in
your mind and can only be brought out through diligent practice. As
an old stanza makes it clear: "Do not search afar for the Buddha
because the Buddha is right there at the Spirit Vulture Peak, and
the Peak within your mind. Everyone has a pagoda under the Spirit
Vulture Peak within his/her mind, under which he/she can practice
to attain Buddhahood." It will be a total mistake to search for the
Buddha outside our minds. If we practice by training our minds, we
can eventually reach the Pure Land.
Taken from:
http://vajrasword.blogspot.com/2009/08/chapter-13-on-pure-land.html