restrictions to entering the Pure Land

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peacewolfwm
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restrictions to entering the Pure Land

Post by peacewolfwm »

There are restrictions to both sentient beings and bodhisattvas in being reborn in Sukhavati. Hanging out in a lotus flower and maybe or maybe not hearing the dharma does not sound promising to me.
Is there a Pure Land in the East like Medicine Buddha that is not so restrictive? At the end of the Medicine Buddha sutra, it states that bodhisattvas accompany those to the Medicine Buddha's land if they did not make into Sukhavati.
Please respond w/ a text and reference so that I may gain some understanding and peace.
In gratitude,
peacewolfwm
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sinweiy
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Re: restrictions to entering the Pure Land

Post by sinweiy »

may I have the reference that said that there are restrictions to BOTH sentient beings and bodhisattvas in being reborn in Sukhavati? bodhisattvas included?
"Hanging out in a lotus flower/bud " I presume is those people who still have doubt in Amitabha PL. OR those that have committed some or great negative karma as stated in Contemplation Sutra that belong to the lower graded rebirth.
_/\_
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Hickersonia
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Re: restrictions to entering the Pure Land

Post by Hickersonia »

sinweiy wrote:"Hanging out in a lotus flower/bud " I presume is those people who still have doubt in Amitabha PL. OR those that have committed some or great negative karma as stated in Contemplation Sutra that belong to the lower graded rebirth.
This is how I understood it when I read it it. It seemed more like a time-out to wait for one's karma to extinguish itself than anything else. Maybe a little bit like taking rebirth as a tree or something...
:anjali:
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: restrictions to entering the Pure Land

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

peacewolfwm wrote:There are restrictions to both sentient beings and bodhisattvas in being reborn in Sukhavati. Hanging out in a lotus flower and maybe or maybe not hearing the dharma does not sound promising to me.
Is there a Pure Land in the East like Medicine Buddha that is not so restrictive? At the end of the Medicine Buddha sutra, it states that bodhisattvas accompany those to the Medicine Buddha's land if they did not make into Sukhavati.
Please respond w/ a text and reference so that I may gain some understanding and peace.
In gratitude,
peacewolfwm
There is no easier path than going to Amita's Blissful Land.

Maybe you should just accept Jesus - no karma, no worries, guaranteed eternity in Heaven. Or so we are told. :shrug:
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
M.G.
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Re: restrictions to entering the Pure Land

Post by M.G. »

peacewolfwm wrote:There are restrictions to both sentient beings and bodhisattvas in being reborn in Sukhavati. Hanging out in a lotus flower and maybe or maybe not hearing the dharma does not sound promising to me.
Is there a Pure Land in the East like Medicine Buddha that is not so restrictive? At the end of the Medicine Buddha sutra, it states that bodhisattvas accompany those to the Medicine Buddha's land if they did not make into Sukhavati.
Please respond w/ a text and reference so that I may gain some understanding and peace.
In gratitude,
peacewolfwm
I think a lot of the textual descriptions of Pure Lands are meant as metaphors to help readers understand the proximity to enlightenment experienced in such exalted realms of consciousness. In my understanding, it's not necessary to literally scrutinize the specifics of life as a lotus flower or in the various Pure Lands generally.
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yan kong
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Re: restrictions to entering the Pure Land

Post by yan kong »

Will wrote:
peacewolfwm wrote:There are restrictions to both sentient beings and bodhisattvas in being reborn in Sukhavati. Hanging out in a lotus flower and maybe or maybe not hearing the dharma does not sound promising to me.
Is there a Pure Land in the East like Medicine Buddha that is not so restrictive? At the end of the Medicine Buddha sutra, it states that bodhisattvas accompany those to the Medicine Buddha's land if they did not make into Sukhavati.
Please respond w/ a text and reference so that I may gain some understanding and peace.
In gratitude,
peacewolfwm
There is no easier path than going to Amita's Blissful Land.

Maybe you should just accept Jesus - no karma, no worries, guaranteed eternity in Heaven. Or so we are told. :shrug:
But then what makes you believe in the pure land instead of the Christian or Muslim paradise?
"Meditation is a spiritual exercise, not a therapeutic regime... Our intention is to enter Nirvana, not to make life in Samsara more tolerable." Chan Master Hsu Yun
Son of Buddha
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Re: restrictions to entering the Pure Land

Post by Son of Buddha »

The restrictions to the Pureland,means one will instead go to the border lands for 500 yrs.
(please look up the boarder lands,im on phone so I cant copy/paste information).

Essentially nobody is denied the Pure Land,if you are one of the restricted,you will have to spend time in the jewelled palace of the boarder Lands for 500 then they will go to the Pure Land.

Now it was asked whats the difference between Pure Land and the christian and muslim heaven?

The Pure Land is a pure place inside the mind of the Buddha(its "like" Nirvana)
There is no suffering there.
Both the christian heaven and muslim heaven are stuck in Samsara,they have wars and sex...ect its just like earth but more sensual.
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cj39
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Re: restrictions to entering the Pure Land

Post by cj39 »

Actually my copy of the Medicine Master Buddha Sutra (translated by the BTTS) clearly states that the Medicine Master Buddha and the eight great bodhisattvas will help the person who has doubt be born in Amitabha's pure land. In a time and age when most sicknesses could result in an untimely death, the link between the Medicine Master Buddha and Amitabha Buddha would have been more obvious than in this day and age of modern medicine. If I my suggest a book, read Heart of the Shin Buddhist Path by Takamaro Shigaraiki for an excellent exploration of what Shin Buddhism is and isn't.
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