Buddha/Bodhisattva Recitation practice, no rebirth vow

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LastLegend
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Buddha/Bodhisattva Recitation practice, no rebirth vow

Post by LastLegend »

For believers only, don't slander!

Hope it's appropriate to post here, but I think it does because Buddha recitation strengthens the path of Pure Land.

Amitabha's Vows are very direct with very few to no match-able capacity and wisdom to liberate sentient beings. But for those who are interested in an alternative practice without vowing to take rebirth, Buddha/Bodhisattva recitation could be a practice on its own. In Maha Prajnaparamita Sutra by Manjusri, it is adviced us to learn maha prajnaparamita and recite a Buddha name to enter One Action Samadhi. In Ksitigarbha Sutra, brahman girl recited The ENLIGHTENMENT-FLOWER-SERENITY-SELF-SOVEREIGNTY-KING TATHAGATA and was able to enter the hell realm. Furthermore, according to one of Ksitigarbha's vows, if one follows this vow, one will be eventually lead towards Buddhahood. There are other vows of Ksitigarbha that ensure us from falling onto the evil path. Must read the whole Sutra.

If such a person should, furthermore, be able to invoke this Bodhisattva's name one thousand times every day and repeat this continuously for a period of one thousand days, then the Bodhisattva will summon the deities and demons in charge of the land and command them to guard and protect this person throughout his or her life and provide him or her with plentiful and costly clothing, good food, and freedom from illness. Any unexpected hazard will never cross his or her threshold but, on the contrary, will be far distanced from this person. The Bodhisattva will touch this person's head and prophesy his predestination.


From Maha Prajnaparamita Sutra by Manjusri

Mañjuśrī asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, what actions can one take to attain anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi quickly?”
The Buddha replied, “Mañjuśrī, those who practice prajñā-pāramitā as explained will quickly attain anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi. Furthermore, there is the Samādhi of the One Action. If good men and good women train in this samādhi, they will also quickly attain anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi.”
Mañjuśrī asked, “World-Honored One, what is called the One Action Samādhi?”
The Buddha replied, “The dharma realm has the one appearance. Focusing one’s mind on the dharma realm is called the One Action Samādhi. If, among good men and good women, there are those who aspire to enter the One Action Samādhi, they should first hear prajñā-pāramitā and next train and learn it accordingly. Then they will be able to enter the One Action Samādhi, which fits the conditions of the dharma realm: indestructible, inconceivable, with no regress, no hindrance, and no appearance. If good men and good women aspire to enter the One Action Samādhi, they should sit properly in an open place, facing the direction of a Buddha, abandon distracting thoughts and appearances, focus their minds on that Buddha, and keep saying His name. If they can continue, thought after thought, thinking of one Buddha, they will be able to see, in their thinking, past, future, and present Buddhas. Why? Because the merit acquired from thinking of one Buddha is immeasurable and boundless, no different from the merit acquired from thinking of innumerable Buddhas or thinking of the inconceivable Buddha Dharma. They all will realize true suchness and attain the perfect enlightenment, acquiring immeasurable merit and eloquence. Those who enter the One Action Samādhi in this way will know that there are no differentiated appearances in the dharma realm of Buddhas, who are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Although among voice-hearers Ānanda is foremost in the Buddha Dharma he has heard, in his total retention of memory, and in his eloquence and wisdom, his attainment has a measure and a limit. If one has attained the One Action Samādhi, one will be able to differentiate one by one the Dharma Doors in the sūtras and to know them all, without obstructions. One will be able to expound them day and night unceasingly with wisdom and eloquence. By comparison, Ānanda’s eloquence and hearing much [of the Dharma] are not even one hundred-thousandth thereof. Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas should think: ‘How should I attain this One Action Samādhi, which will bring inconceivable merit and innumerable [good] names?’”


From Ksitigarbha Sutra,

"The ENLIGHTENMENT-FLOWER-SERENITY-SELF-SOVEREIGNTY-KING TATHAGATA addressed the holy girl, saying, `After having completed your offering, go directly home, sit reverently and contemplate my name and title; then you will know your mother's whereabouts.'

"Then the brahman girl concluded her worship of the Buddha and returned to her house. She thought about her mother very deeply and sat reverently and contemplated the ENLIGHTENMENT-FLOWER-SERENITY-SELF-SOVEREIGNTY-KING TATHAGATA.

"After one day and one night she found herself arriving at some unknown seashore. The water in the sea was boiling. There were many wicked beasts, all with iron bodies, flying over or walking upon the sea and running and chasing in an east-west direction. She saw that men and women, hundreds of thousands of myriads in number, emerged from and submerged again into the sea, at which time they were snatched up and devoured by the wicked beasts. She also saw yaksas with different forms-some with many hands and numerous eyes, others with many feet and multiple heads, and still others with teeth as sharp as swords protruding from their mouths-chasing and herding these suffering people into the claws of those wicked beasts, who snapped at and seized them by either their heads or their feet. Those beasts had all sorts of horrible forms which one dared not gaze upon too long. The Brahman girl, at this time, by virtue of her mindfulness of the Buddha, was, naturally, not frightened.


If, furthermore, this person should be able to worship Ksitigarbha's image wholeheartedly for three seven-day periods and recite his name as many as ten thousand times, then the Bodhisattva will manifest his boundless entity to him or her, telling him the whereabouts of his or her relatives. Sometimes the Bodhisattva will manifest great miraculous power and personally lead this person, in a dream, to various other worlds to see his or her relatives. If such a person should, furthermore, be able to invoke this Bodhisattva's name one thousand times every day and repeat this continuously for a period of one thousand days, then the Bodhisattva will summon the deities and demons in charge of the land and command them to guard and protect this person throughout his or her life and provide him or her with plentiful and costly clothing, good food, and freedom from illness. Any unexpected hazard will never cross his or her threshold but, on the contrary, will be far distanced from this person. The Bodhisattva will touch this person's head and prophesy his predestination.

Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha addressed the Buddha, saying, "O World Honored One, incalculable asankhyeya kalpas ago there was a Buddha by the name of Anantakaya. Any man or woman who hears the name of this Buddha and instantly performs obeisance to him will be exonerated from serious sins of life and death covering forty kalpas. But how much better even will it be for one who would mold or paint his image to worship and praise him! Countless and boundless will be the bliss gained by this person.

"Again in the past, as many kalpas ago as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, a Buddha came into the world bearing the title of Ratnasuabhava Tathagata. Any man or woman who hears the name of this Buddha and makes up his mind, as quickly as it takes to snap one's fingers, to take refuge in him will never suffer retrogression from the stage of Unsurpassed Enlightenment.

"Again in the past, a Buddha came to this world by the name of Padmajina Tathagata. Any man or woman who hears this Buddha's name once will be reborn repeatedly one thousand times in the six heavens of desire. But how much better even would it be for one who wholeheartedly recites the name and keeps the name in mind!

"Again in the past, some inexpressible, inexpressible asankhyeya kalpas ago, a Buddha was born in the world by the name of Simhananda Tathagata. Any man or woman, hearing this Buddha's name and wholeheartedly taking refuge in him, will be able to encounter incalculable numbers of Buddhas, who will touch his head and bestow upon him the superlative predestination.

"Again in the past, there appeared in the world a Buddha bearing the title of Krakucchandsa Buddha. Any man or woman who, upon hearing this Buddha's name, also wholeheartedly worships him or praises him will become a great Brahman king in the Thousand Buddhas' Assembly and gain the superlative predestination.

"Again in the past, there appeared in the world a Buddha bearing the title of Vipasyin Buddha. Any man or woman, hearing this Buddha's name, will never fall onto evil paths of existence but will always be reborn as a human being or a deva and enjoy extraordinarily wonderful happiness.

"Again in the past, immeasurable, incalculable kalpas ago, as many as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, there appeared in the world a Buddha bearing the title of Ratnasambhava Tathagata. Any man or woman, hearing this Buddha's name and showing respect to him, will soon attain the stage of an Arhat.

"Again in the past, immeasurable asankhyeya kalpas ago, there appeared in the world a Buddha bearing the title of Kasayadhvaja Tathagata. Any man or woman, hearing this Buddha's name, will be exonerated from all the sins he or she ever committed during his or her rebirths and deaths in one hundred great kalpas.

"Again in the past, there appeared in the world a Buddha bearing the title of Mahabhijna-Sumeru Tathagata. Any man or woman, hearing this Buddha's name, will encounter Buddhas, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, preaching extensively to him or her, and will definitely attain Bodhi.

"Again in the past, there appeared many other indescribable Buddhas such as Sudhacandra Buddha, Sumeru Buddha, Jnanajina Buddha, Vimalanamanraja Buddha, Jnanasaddhi Buddha, Anuttara Buddha, Sughosa Buddha, Full-Moon Buddha and Moon-Faced Buddha.

"O World Honored One, all the sentient beings of the present and future generations-whether devas or human beings, whether males or females-will gain immeasurable meritorious virtue even if they invoke the name of only one Buddha. But how much better even will it be to invoke many names! These beings will automatically gain great benefit while living and while dead, and they will not ever fall onto the evil paths of existence.

"When someone is approaching the end of his life, if any of his relatives or even only one person should, on his behalf, invoke aloud the name of just one Buddha, such a dying person will be exonerated from all karmic retribution for his sins other than the unpardonable offenses.

"The five unpardonable offenses are those sins of the utmost, seriousness, and usually a person committing such offenses cannot be acquitted of them even after millions of kalpas. However, if at the time of his death, others invoke, on his behalf, Buddhas' names, then even some of these extremely serious offenses will gradually be reduced and eradicated. But how much better even would it be for the dying one to invoke the Buddhas' names himself in order to gain immeasurable bliss and to eradicate innumerable sins!"
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Zhen Li
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Re: Buddha/Bodhisattva Recitation practice, no rebirth vow

Post by Zhen Li »

Well spoken.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Buddha/Bodhisattva Recitation practice, no rebirth vow

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

The entire world is filled with natural disasters and calamities;
it is covered in blackness and there is no light. This is a sign that
the human race is in danger of extinction. The noxious vapors
that come from killing are something we’ve never experienced
before to such an extent. We are familiar with the atom bomb, the
nitrogen bomb, all nuclear weaponry, and now there is the laser,
as well. If any of those weapons are used on a grand scale, the
entire human race will be wiped out. So the only thing we can
do now, is to cultivate according to the Buddha’s teaching and
invisibly dispel these calamities and disasters.

The world is filled with black energy; black karma envelops
us. In any place where there are true cultivators, the disasters
in that place will be lessened. If many people come together to
cultivate, their collective strength can dispel these disasters and
counteract the plunders, and invisibly eradicate this noxious, evil
energy and transform it into harmonious and auspicious energy.
But first, both feet must be firmly planted on the ground, and
then you must realistically cultivate according to the Buddha’s
teaching.

Everyone should bring forth his or her true heart in reciting
[Amita] Buddha’s name. For every time you recite the Buddha’s
name, a ray of light shines through empty space. If you recite
very sincerely, then this light fills up the trichiliochosm, so that
the energy of the three-thousand-great-thousand worlds will
be auspicious and harmonious and the atmosphere of violence,
defilement and disaster will be dispelled and transformed.
Master Hua
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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