Amitabha buddha - a personal experience

[GarcherLancelot]

I mean is it reasonable to use faith to justify things when we don;t know the whole picture of a situation?.. .

[Kaji]

I mean is it reasonable to use faith to justify things when we don;t know the whole picture of a situation?.. .

I reiterate my question - is anyone using faith to justify things? If so, who is using faith to justify what? Perhaps it would be worthwhile looking at your question on reasonableness.

If not, your question above is merely hypothetical and I would spend my time and energy for more relevant stuff.

[GarcherLancelot]

I mean is it reasonable to use faith to justify things when we don;t know the whole picture of a situation?.. .

I reiterate my question - is anyone using faith to justify things? If so, who is using faith to justify what? Perhaps it would be worthwhile looking at your question on reasonableness.

If not, your question above is merely hypothetical and I would spend my time and energy for more relevant stuff.

Yes,it is hypothetical,and I don;t see anything wrong with that,is like asking to what extent someone can apply intuition to a situation.. .

[Kaji]

I mean is it reasonable to use faith to justify things when we don;t know the whole picture of a situation?.. .

I reiterate my question - is anyone using faith to justify things? If so, who is using faith to justify what? Perhaps it would be worthwhile looking at your question on reasonableness.

If not, your question above is merely hypothetical and I would spend my time and energy for more relevant stuff.

Yes,it is hypothetical,and I don;t see anything wrong with that,is like asking to what extent someone can apply intuition to a situation.. .

OK, I see where you are coming from. However, I see things differently. I do not see a need to use faith to justify things. What faith does is help us make judgements and decisions.

Because we cannot possibly know everything, the way we live we have to make do with what information and knowledge we already have, and make probabilistic judgement.

For example, I know every time I drive my car I risk getting into a traffic accident and potentially die from it. I do not know exactly how likely this is or whether it will happen the next time I drive. Based on my knowledge if I drive safely that risk is not very high, so I can reasonably assume that my next trip will be accident-free and live my life accordingly. This is a probabilistic judgement, upon which I base my decisions. This requires some faith, the faith that the next time I drive I will safely arrive at my destination. However this is not blind faith, as my belief has some basis from my knowledge and reasoning.

I am not using faith to justify road safety. I am using faith to make my daily decisions of whether to drive my car. Get my drift?

[GarcherLancelot]

Hmmm...I think I understand and agree with what you say,but say if someone gets really paranoid about getting into a car accident,should he just walk?Or basically in the end of the day,it all comes down to common sense and "being realistic" instead of applying logic in all scenarios?.. .Because in Kalama Sutta,I think Buddha said logic over other things including common sense?But maybe we can apply the part of Kalama Sutta that says "not to simply believe in anything one has been told" to "counter" the part about "not simply use common sense"?.. .

[remm]

This story isn't about Amitabha Buddha per se, but it is something that shocked the family, especially my mother and I.
About a few months ago my grandmother took korean ginseng to try and boost her immune system. She has a fairly weak stomach and her health in general is very poor. Taking korean ginseng at an elderly age is not a good idea because it can cause the elderly to get ulcers in their stomach as well as other forms of internal bleeding. Anyway, my grandmother had been taking korean ginseng for about a week because my father was the one who kept buying the ginseng for her to drink in hopes that it would boost her immune system. Then suddenly one day she collapsed from pain in her abdomen and began throwing up blood (I was not a witness to this). She was alone in the house and she somehow managed to dial one of her sons (my uncle) and he quickly got her to the emergency room. She was put in ICU for about two weeks and during this period I came to visit her, I was completely devastated at her condition. When I saw her laying there it looked as if she just sunk into the bed, there really was not much left of her. She could hardly open her eyes and she began to look extremely frail to the point where she looked almost skeletal. At the instant I saw this I began to cry as my heart broke. I couldn't help but weep and although I did not want her to see me crying my emotions got the best of me. I knelt down and begged Master Hsuan Hua to help my grandmother, even though my grandmother really has no idea who Master Hsuan Hua is or has even seen his image, I still put all my faith into the Master to help my grandmother. I began reciting the great compassion mantra for awhile putting all my concentration into reciting it and then pleading with Master Hsuan Hua, every ounce of faith I had I poured my heart and mind into it and asked for help.

Well, early in the morning around 6 or 7 am after the registered nurse came to check up on my grandmother, my grandmother claimed someone in a red and yellow robe came to visit her beside her bed. She said it was a Buddha, but this Buddha looked like a monk who walked around the bed and finally stood at the end of the bed and gazed at her. This person then proceeded to leave moments afterwards. My grandmother said she was too weak to put her hands together, but she kept reciting "Amitabha Buddha" in her mind. She told me that the room felt really warm and this person radiated with warm and golden light. She then felt her eyes became very heavy and she fell back into a slumber where she dreamt she saw Amitabha Buddha and various other lay people dressed in the hai qing situated in a beautiful monastery with lotus blossoms that bloomed beautifully beyond the beauty of anything of this world. She woke up and felt her body and mind had been refreshed and her energy somewhat came back.

When I heard the story I got goosebumps all over my body but I cried because I knew my prayers were heard and I am pretty sure the monk she saw was Master Hsuan Hua.

My grandmother is now safe and healthy again and practicing Buddhism even more vigorously since the incident.

[GarcherLancelot]

This story isn't about Amitabha Buddha per se, but it is something that shocked the family, especially my mother and I.
About a few months ago my grandmother took korean ginseng to try and boost her immune system. She has a fairly weak stomach and her health in general is very poor. Taking korean ginseng at an elderly age is not a good idea because it can cause the elderly to get ulcers in their stomach as well as other forms of internal bleeding. Anyway, my grandmother had been taking korean ginseng for about a week because my father was the one who kept buying the ginseng for her to drink in hopes that it would boost her immune system. Then suddenly one day she collapsed from pain in her abdomen and began throwing up blood (I was not a witness to this). She was alone in the house and she somehow managed to dial one of her sons (my uncle) and he quickly got her to the emergency room. She was put in ICU for about two weeks and during this period I came to visit her, I was completely devastated at her condition. When I saw her laying there it looked as if she just sunk into the bed, there really was not much left of her. She could hardly open her eyes and she began to look extremely frail to the point where she looked almost skeletal. At the instant I saw this I began to cry as my heart broke. I couldn't help but weep and although I did not want her to see me crying my emotions got the best of me. I knelt down and begged Master Hsuan Hua to help my grandmother, even though my grandmother really has no idea who Master Hsuan Hua is or has even seen his image, I still put all my faith into the Master to help my grandmother. I began reciting the great compassion mantra for awhile putting all my concentration into reciting it and then pleading with Master Hsuan Hua, every ounce of faith I had I poured my heart and mind into it and asked for help.

Well, early in the morning around 6 or 7 am after the registered nurse came to check up on my grandmother, my grandmother claimed someone in a red and yellow robe came to visit her beside her bed. She said it was a Buddha, but this Buddha looked like a monk who walked around the bed and finally stood at the end of the bed and gazed at her. This person then proceeded to leave moments afterwards. My grandmother said she was too weak to put her hands together, but she kept reciting "Amitabha Buddha" in her mind. She told me that the room felt really warm and this person radiated with warm and golden light. She then felt her eyes became very heavy and she fell back into a slumber where she dreamt she saw Amitabha Buddha and various other lay people dressed in the hai qing situated in a beautiful monastery with lotus blossoms that bloomed beautifully beyond the beauty of anything of this world. She woke up and felt her body and mind had been refreshed and her energy somewhat came back.

When I heard the story I got goosebumps all over my body but I cried because I knew my prayers were heard and I am pretty sure the monk she saw was Master Hsuan Hua.

My grandmother is now safe and healthy again and practicing Buddhism even more vigorously since the incident.

What is a hai qing?.. .

[plwk]

What is a hai qing?.. .

In Chinese Mahayana Tradition, a 海青/ hǎi qīng is... (comparable to the similar Japanese rakusu)
i. a Chinese designed long gown like, black colored (in contrast with the ancient Indian tradition of the white robed laity) and has butterfly sleeves that has inner sleeve pockets and it is said to have dated back to the time of the Han, Sui and especially Tang Dynasty (some even claim it's the Song Dynasty) to accomodate the Chinese culture when Buddhism arrived there on robe wearing, especially for monastics. (there are some long stories about it omitted here)
ii. it is worn as a formal ritual robe during Dharma religious services for both laity and monastics alike (in some temples and centres, they mandate the wearing of this robe for all to create a consistent image of adornment for the Way Place but in others, it is not mandated and the laity/monastics are free to don it on or not unless the lay person and/or monastic are leading the Dharma ritual session)
iii.it is also worn by:
a. those who are aspirants during the Refuge Ceremony
b. those who have taken Refuge and above (and Precepts)
iv. it is worn only in temples/centers or at home for ritual chanting purposes
v. there are commentaries (mainly in Chinese on the meaning), one of the brief explainations I have heard on the meaning of hǎi qīng:
a. the former meaning an ocean/sea denoting an immeasurable / vast mind /attitude, embracing all, excluding none
b. the latter is the green/blue color denoting excellence, tolerance, inner purity, hope of advancement in life and generation [today, the black color (also known as solid color) denotes the mind of reverencing the Triple Gem]
vi. From the Mahayana Brahma Net Sutra (one source for the Bodhisattva Vows)

http://www.ymba.org/bns/bnsframe.htm
Buddhist disciples should be instructed to wear robes and sleep on cloth of a neutral color, formed by blending blue, yellow, red, black and purple dyes all together.
The clothing of monks and nuns should, in all countries, be different from those worn by ordinary persons. (96)
96. The Buddha taught that monks and nuns should wear garments of a different hue from those worn by ordinary persons. Their clothes should also be different in cut and appearance and their heads should be shaved. However, these distinctive features are also found among other people. For instance, some convicts shave their heads in American prisons, while in China, certain groups of religious people wear robes similar in appearance and color to those of Buddhist monks and nuns. The truly distinguishing features of a Buddhist cleric could be the marks on the top of his head, the result of voluntarily burning dots with incense on the day of his full ordination.

How it looks like, worn and taken off, see below

[lobster]

. . . had Tara (one of the names of my shrine/computer) chanting to Amitaba all night.

Now I am experimenting with meeting points for a cyber retreat I am preparing for. One place might be this thread another might be here . . .
<a href="https://amitaba.jux.com/">https://amitaba.jux.com/</a>

Anyway for those intertested in the Amitaba cyber retreat I suggest thinking about times you were happy (if ever) or what would make you happy (if anything) and getting a pic (at least) of amitaba.
Also learn the Amitaba mantra . . . let me know of any good links for youtube, wallpaper, sound files devoted to Amitaba

Namo Amitaba

[Kaji]

Also learn the Amitaba mantra . . . let me know of any good links for youtube, wallpaper, sound files devoted to Amitaba

Namo Amitaba

The Amitabha Dharani:
http://www.dharanipitaka.net/2011/2008/ ... antras.pdf (the bottommost dharani on page 3, the rest of the PDF file contains the other Ten Short Mantra)

Audio file of the dharani:
http://www.dharanipitaka.net/2011/2008/ ... BenTLN.mp3 (ignore the Chinese at the beginning; he was just saying the Chinese name of the dharani)

The dharani in ASCII:

Namo ratna-trayāya. Nama ārya amitābhāya tathāgatāya arhate samyak-saṃbuddhāya. Tadyathā, om, amṛte, amṛtod-bhave, amṛtasaṃbhave, amṛta-garbhe, amṛta-siddhe, amṛta-teje, amṛta vi-krānte, amṛta vi-krānta gamini, amṛta gagana kīrti-kare, amṛta dundubhi-svare, sarva-artha sādhane, sarva karma-kleśa kṣayaṃ-kare svāhā.