zen and pureland views

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Zenshin 善心
Posts: 86
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2010 7:29 pm
Location: Fukuoka

Re: zen and pureland views

Post by Zenshin 善心 »

a story and a quote -

this zen monk is walking along the road when he sees an old lady coming the other way. knowing her to be a nembutsu-sha, he thinks he'll have some fun. "morning grandma, off to the Pure Land are we?" the old lady says nothing but nods her head. "and Amida is there waiting for you?" again, she says nothing but vigorously shakes her head. "what? Amida not in his Western Pure Land? well then where is he??" the old lady smiles and taps her chest right where her heart is, then continues on her way. "wow!" thinks the monk, "there goes a true nembutsu-sha"
this small I is embraced by the immeasurable and boundless Amitabha Buddha. This has nothing to do with my small limited thoughts of whether I think it is so or not. It does not depend on whether I believe it or not. I am, in fact, embraced and saved by the boundless Amitabha. Being thankful for this, I chant Namu Amida Butsu. When we say this with our mouths, we are expressing our deep sense of gratitude. When we perform it with our whole body, it is zazen as the activity of the reality of life...When people of the Pure Land School chant Namu Amida Butsu they are doing zazen with their mouths, and when we do zazen, we are performing Namu Amida Butsu with our whole body
~ Kosho Uchiyama
All beings since their first aspiration till the attainment of Buddhahood are sheltered under the guardianship of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who, responding to the requirements of the occasion, transform themselves and assume the actual forms of personality.

Thus for the sake of all beings Buddhas and Bodhisattvas become sometimes their parents, sometimes their wives and children, sometimes their kinsmen, sometimes their servants, sometimes their friends, sometimes their enemies, sometimes reveal themselves as devas or in some other forms.


- Ashvaghosa, The Awakening of Faith

oroka
Shutoku
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2010 8:50 pm
Location: BC, Canada

Re: zen and pureland views

Post by Shutoku »

That was a fantastic post!!! Thank you so much dumbbombu!!!
Namo Amida Butsu
cheondo
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:48 pm

Re: zen and pureland views

Post by cheondo »

I've recently read Dr. Jeffrey Long's book "Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near Death Experiences."

It's convinced me that the Pure Land is either real or certainly could be.

He's collected thousands of stories of folks who died and came back. Many of these, like 50%, have visited a place that appears to be similar to a Pure Land. There are sights, sounds, etc all which resemble the Amitabha Sutra. People speak of a light that's so bright like a "million suns" but doesn't blind your eyes. There's heavenly music so amazing that they can't put it into words. One even saw a being 30 ft tall, surrounded by a lake, who was emitting pure compassion and love. She said when she waded into the waters, she lost all sense of self.

Regarding being "far away", many near death experiencers go super fast through a tunnel. Some talk about going through space.

Not only that, but they are greeted by a number of powerful, super-compassionate beings at the end of the tunnel.

See any similarities to Pure Land here??

The website is http://www.nderf.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In my mind, these represent a real bridge to doubters, myself included, to help people realize that there is or definitely could be a pure land.

PS: I'm going to post this as a new topic because I think it's so important for Pure Land folks.

Amitoufo,

Cheondo
http://purelandway.wordpress.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Mr. G
Posts: 4080
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:36 am
Location: Spaceship Earth

Re: zen and pureland views

Post by Mr. G »

cheondo wrote:I've recently read Dr. Jeffrey Long's book "Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near Death Experiences."

It's convinced me that the Pure Land is either real or certainly could be.

He's collected thousands of stories of folks who died and came back. Many of these, like 50%, have visited a place that appears to be similar to a Pure Land. There are sights, sounds, etc all which resemble the Amitabha Sutra. People speak of a light that's so bright like a "million suns" but doesn't blind your eyes. There's heavenly music so amazing that they can't put it into words. One even saw a being 30 ft tall, surrounded by a lake, who was emitting pure compassion and love. She said when she waded into the waters, she lost all sense of self.

Regarding being "far away", many near death experiencers go super fast through a tunnel. Some talk about going through space.

Not only that, but they are greeted by a number of powerful, super-compassionate beings at the end of the tunnel.

See any similarities to Pure Land here??

The website is http://www.nderf.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In my mind, these represent a real bridge to doubters, myself included, to help people realize that there is or definitely could be a pure land.

PS: I'm going to post this as a new topic because I think it's so important for Pure Land folks.

Amitoufo,

Cheondo
http://purelandway.wordpress.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You may enjoy this thread:

http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=3485" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And some of these posts:

http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.ph ... 857#p75751" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
  • How foolish you are,
    grasping the letter of the text and ignoring its intention!
    - Vasubandhu
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