Search found 60 matches

by cj39
Tue Aug 02, 2022 2:31 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: What guarantees rebirth?
Replies: 8
Views: 746

Re: What guarantees rebirth?

What guarantees rebirth in Sukhavati? What is your lineage's opinion on this? I like the idea of phowa practice, but I'm scared that I won't be able to practice it at the time of my death (car accident, heart attack, mental illness, etc.). So is there any other way to guarantee rebirth in Sukhavati...
by cj39
Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:40 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: What school of Buddhism that is not a Pure Land school is closest to Jodo Shu in terms of philosophy and doctrine?
Replies: 6
Views: 2736

Re: What school of Buddhism that is not a Pure Land school is closest to Jodo Shu in terms of philosophy and doctrine?

My first thought is the Avatamsaka school at least as it is practiced in Korea. In Japan it is called Kegon. I don't know much about it there.
by cj39
Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:38 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Contradicting sutras
Replies: 26
Views: 8006

Re: Contradicting sutras

[/quote]
The last one is extremely easy to avoid since a schism in the Sangha (sanghabheda) can only be committed by a fully ordained bhikṣu.
[/quote]

I did not know that. In that case, I am all set.
by cj39
Sun Feb 04, 2018 5:51 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Contradicting sutras
Replies: 26
Views: 8006

Re: Contradicting sutras

The five grave offenses include things like killing ones parents, drawing the blood of a Buddha, causing a monk our nun to fall, or creating a schism within the Sangha. With the exception of the last one, these are fairly easy to avoid.
by cj39
Sun Feb 04, 2018 3:15 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Contradicting sutras
Replies: 26
Views: 8006

Re: Contradicting sutras

I take the 'exclusion' as something probably inserted to discourage 'licensed evil', the idea that we can do anything we want since we will be born in the Pure Land any way. It is also perhaps pertinent to point out that it is incosistent within the context of the rest of the Larger Sutra. For insta...
by cj39
Sun Feb 04, 2018 2:58 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Pureland in Thailand
Replies: 11
Views: 5953

Re: Pureland in Thailand

I actually saw this in Myamar of all places too. It was on Facebook. Someone had died and there was a picture of his deathbed and there at the head of it was an unmistakable poster of Amitabha Buddha. It looked like one of the ones given out by the Amitabha Society. I am guess maybe there had been s...
by cj39
Thu Mar 23, 2017 1:28 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Names of the Buddhas Diciples (Pronunciation)
Replies: 2
Views: 1424

Names of the Buddhas Diciples (Pronunciation)

The Amida Sutra is an amazingly easy read, depending on the translation. I generally prefer the ones that have the names of the Buddhas translated into English, in case you didn't guess. The hardest part though is the names of the Buddha's disciples at the beginning of the text. Does anyone know of ...
by cj39
Sat Mar 11, 2017 5:17 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Some questions on Pure Land Buddhism
Replies: 14
Views: 4177

Re: Some questions on Pure Land Buddhism

I would also suggest exploring the sangha in your area if you have such. I attend a Chinese temple here. I am Jodo Shu and Jodo Shin Shu but community is a big help. My Chinese friends know that my view of Buddhism is a little askew of theirs but we have no problem supporting each other in our pract...
by cj39
Sat Feb 18, 2017 11:55 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Is Māra a deva?
Replies: 39
Views: 6868

Re: Where does the Abrahamic God (יְהֹוָה) "fit" in Buddhist cosmology?

Since the dévas are at least partly comparable to the angelic hierarchies of the Abrahamic faiths, could māras, now in the special sense of a class of beings, possibly be considered as “fallen” dévas paralleling the “fallen angels”—dévas who become evil while retaining powers that give them a certa...
by cj39
Fri Feb 17, 2017 7:20 pm
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Sukhāvatī in the Lotus Sutra
Replies: 22
Views: 6339

Re: Sukhāvatī in the Lotus Sutra

I still think "purified abode of infinite life" is a terrible translation. Yes it's "technically" correct but it seems to downplay Amitábha's and Sukhavati's appearance. Ideally translators of Buddhist texts should be aware that most readers will be informed, but some won't. The...
by cj39
Thu Feb 09, 2017 6:06 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: two feminine deities beside Amida
Replies: 7
Views: 2345

Re: two feminine deities beside Amida

As to why this happened you might want to check out Buddhist Goddesses of India by Miranda Shaw. There were a great number of feminine faces of enlightenment before Buddhism reached China but many of these were either lost or transitioned genders. For instance Dridha was the Earth Goddess present a...
by cj39
Thu Feb 09, 2017 12:33 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: two feminine deities beside Amida
Replies: 7
Views: 2345

Re: two feminine deities beside Amida

As to why this happened you might want to check out Buddhist Goddesses of India by Miranda Shaw. There were a great number of feminine faces of enlightenment before Buddhism reached China but many of these were either lost or transitioned genders. For instance Dridha was the Earth Goddess present at...
by cj39
Thu Jan 12, 2017 4:11 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Is Amida Buddha a real buddha?
Replies: 64
Views: 15386

Re: Is Amida Buddha a real buddha?

However this shift within the Jodo Shin Shu was not all at once or ever complete. Suye Mura: A Japanese Villiage for example is glimse of Japanese village life in 1939 (just before the events of the Meiji 'Restoration' culminated for the US in the bombing of Pearl Harbor) includes a Dharma talk of ...
by cj39
Tue Jan 03, 2017 6:10 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: What can Buddhas do and not do?
Replies: 29
Views: 6934

Re: What can Buddhas do and not do?

I am not sure how to square this with passages like this one from the Casket Seal Dharani Sutra (best translation I could find): "At that time, The Buddha told Varjrapani: “ Listen, listen, this important Dharma has immeasurable spiritual power and uncountable benefit. It is like the precious g...
by cj39
Tue Jan 03, 2017 5:52 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Is Amida Buddha a real buddha?
Replies: 64
Views: 15386

Re: Is Amida Buddha a real buddha?

Hi, I am new to Shin Buddhism, but I am a bit confused by the concept of Amida Buddha. When I read the sutras & the writings of Master Shinran & Master Honen, it seems to me that Amida is a real sambhogakaya buddha that exists in the Western Pure Land. However, I have had some Shin Buddhist...
by cj39
Tue Jan 03, 2017 5:23 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Did Mahayana influence Theravada Buddhism?
Replies: 79
Views: 15444

Re: Did Mahayana influence Theravada Buddhism?

There is a lot I don't know so take my two cents with a grain of salt but my understanding is that both the Theravada and the Mahayana began as protest movements within the Mahasanghika. The Theravada pretty much went their own way but as the Mahayana traditions developed, the Mahasanghika gave up t...
by cj39
Sat Dec 31, 2016 5:07 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Vietnamese: Sitting meditation over Pure Land practice?
Replies: 13
Views: 3374

Re: Vietnamese: Sitting meditation over Pure Land practice?

There was a wonderful nun at the Vietnamese temple in Pensacola who went in the opposite direction. Even her sitting meditation was Pure Land practice. She instructed us to recite "A Di Đà Phật" silently as we followed the breath, two syllables on the in breath, two on the out breath. She ...
by cj39
Sat Dec 31, 2016 5:01 pm
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Is the Awakening of all Buddha's identical?
Replies: 8
Views: 2319

Re: Is the Awakening of all Buddha's identical?

If I was forced to take a stab at this, I would suggest that maybe the Buddhas exist in a place in which numbers do not apply. Not one, not not one, not many, not not many... We like to be able to categorize things. Our minds are like the bed of Procrustes. We are always chopping off things that are...
by cj39
Wed Sep 21, 2016 9:18 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Different Pure Lands
Replies: 14
Views: 3549

Re: Different Pure Lands

Also according to traditions there can only be one Buddha per world system at a time. The Mahayana therefore needed multiple world systems to accomadate the various Buddhas, with each one residing in their own Buddha-land. Here is a thread about it from Dhamma Wheel.com Only one supreme nirmanakaya...
by cj39
Tue Sep 20, 2016 10:41 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Different Pure Lands
Replies: 14
Views: 3549

Re: Different Pure Lands

Also according to traditions there can only be one Buddha per world system at a time. The Mahayana therefore needed multiple world systems to accomadate the various Buddhas, with each one residing in their own Buddha-land. Here is a thread about it from Dhamma Wheel.com: http://www.dhammawheel.com/v...

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