Amitabha teachings by Chetsang Rinpoche

[Luke]

Chetsang Rinpoche gives a dharma talk about Amitabha and his Pure Land. I posted this in the general Mahayana forum because I think that many people here are interested in Amitabha.

http://www.dharma-media.org/media/kagyu ... wechen.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Admin_PC]

Still reading my way through the document but I just wanted to thank you for the find.

[plwk]

Q. “Is there any way in which one can be in the Pureland, aside from literally at the end of existence.
On the other hand, is this something that can be reached in this present existence? Can the Pureland be accessed in this life?”

A. “Yes, when the last breath has been exhaled, before the next breath is inhaled. At that moment, there is a death and a rebirth.
You can experience the Pureland there in the interval between breaths.”

This may be helpful for Zamotcr...

[pemachophel]

IMO, Chetsang Rinpoche's answer to the above question is very interesting, especially from a Dzogchen POV.

Here's a funny story that (I think) also speaks to Chetsang Rinpoche's answer: In the early 80s, I went to medical school in Shanghai, and one of the places we visited on vacation each year was a large monastery in Hangzhou. It had the following saying over the front gate: Xi Tian Yi Cun, "one inch from the Western Paradise." I really liked that saying and had it calligraphed on a t-shirt over my heart. Once one of my Tibetan Teachers saw me in this t-shirt and asked what the Chinese said. I told Her and She whacked me up the side of the head. She said that, dummy, the Western Pureland is not even an inch away from my heart.