“Amida” means “immeasurable,” “infinite” or“ eternal.” It is well known that Nagarjuna taught that theAbsolute can be expressed only in negative, not positive,terms. “Amida,” being a negative expression, may be one of such cases. In this connection Shinran says: “Amida’s Original Vow was meant for us in order that we might become the Supreme Buddha. The Supreme Buddha has no form; and because it has no form, it is called ‘Suchness.’ If it were shown to have form, it could not then be called the 'Supreme Nirvana.’ I learned from my master that Amida Buddha is so called, only to make known to us its formlessness. The name of ’ Amida Buddha’ is only a skillful means (upaya) of making 'Suchness’ known to us.”Consequently, the name, Amida, itself shows that it is already a limited, relative Buddha, for naming something inevitably qualifies it. Therefore, when we express in words the Infinite Buddha as Amida, it is only the Buddha objectified on the level of secondary truth. Therefore, Shinran called Amida “Dharmakaya as Upaya.” That which is pointed at with the name of Amida is, needless to say, unnamable, inexpressible,for it is Suchness itself.http://dl.ndl.go.jp/view/download/digidepo_9602325_po_CRJ-196.PDF?contentNo=1&alternativeNo=
When the Larger Sutra states that Dharmakara made The Forty-Eight Vows and attained Buddhahood some ten kalpas ago, it describes the transcendental activity of Thusness (Dharma-body) in terms of causality. On the other hand, when Shinran states in his Wasan,Since Amida became a BuddhaTen kalpas have passed. So (the Sutra) says.But He seems to be an old BuddhaOlder than the immeasurable mote-dot kalpas (Jodo Wasan 55).and also, when he states that Amida is the ‘Buddha from the eternal past’ (ibid. 88), he shows us the eternal presence of Amida Buddha.http://www.nembutsu.info/atpl.htm
The Pure Land tradition is renowned for recording the miraculous experiences of Amida Buddha and his attendants coming to guide the dying to the Pure Land. Some people say that these experiences are just hagiography, but the specificity of detail in such accounts gives prima facie reason for distinguishing them from adjacent fairy tales. Prof. Becker himself has identified some 100 such accounts from China and Japan.In the 1970s, Prof. Becker found other people studying near-death experiences in the United States. With hints from the renowned death specialist Dr. Elizabath Kubler-Ross, he helped to found the International Association of Near Death Studies. In the process of this study, researchers found the need to coin the new term “figure of light” which they found common across various cultures. Hospital research around the world has shown that this “figure of light” is experienced by many dying people. This is not just a belief, but has been well documented over the past 30 years worldwide and the last 15 years in Japan. This is hardly surprising, since Japan has a long tradition of this belief in Pure Land practice, but such studies have been slow to permeate modern Japanese medicine…Prof. Becker then showed a video on Near Death Experience (NDE) from Japanese television for which he acted as a consultant. In many NDEs, people speak of being (re)born through a tunnel of light, which image matches the Pure Land account of being (re)born through the calyx of the lotus into the Pure Land. There are many accounts of natural and flowery images as in the Pure Land. These are difficult to attribute solely to anaesthesic drugs, since such drugs tend to create architectural and geometrical images, and most experiencers had not received medication in the first place. Many NDEs in hospitals cannot be explained as delusions or dreams; there are many documented incidents of soldiers who were seen by their wives in their homes at the moment that they were mortally wounded on distant battlefields. We know that such phenomena can occur, but we don’t know how.http://www.jsri.jp/English/ojo/round1/day2morn.html
Do not think that the compassion of the Buddha is only for the present life; it is a manifestation of the timeless compassion of the eternal Buddha that has been operative since unknown time, when mankind went astray due to ignorance…Do not seek to know Buddha by His form or attributes; for neither the form nor the attributes are the real Buddha. The true Buddha is Enlightenment itself… If someone sees some excellent features of Buddha and then thinks he knows Buddha, his is the mistake of an ignorant eye, for the true Buddha can not be embodied in a form or seen by human eyes. Neither can one know Buddha by a faultless description of his attributes. It is not possible to describe His attributes in human words. Though we speak of His form, the Eternal Buddha has no set form, but can manifest Himself in any form. Though we describe His attributes, yet the Eternal Buddha has no set of attributes, but can manifest Himself in any and all excellent attributes. Buddha’s body is Enlightenment itself. Being formless and without substance, it always has been and always will be. It is not a physical body that must be nourished by food. It is an eternal body whose substance is Wisdom. Buddha, therefore, has neither fear nor disease; He is eternally changeless.Therefore, Buddha will never disappear as long as Enlightenment exists. Enlightenment appears as the light of Wisdom that awakens people into a newness of life and causes them to be born into the world of Buddha (the Pure Land)…Dharmakaya is the substance of the Dharma; that is, it is the substance of Truth itself. In the aspect of Essence, Buddha has no shape or color, and since Buddha has no shape or color, He comes from nowhere and there is nowhere for Him to go. Like the blue sky, He arches over everything, and since He is all things, He lacks nothing…The work of Buddha is to manifest in all affairs and on all occasions the pure essence of Dharmakaya (the absolute nature of Buddha); so Buddha’s mercy and compassion flow out from this Dharmakaya in endless life and boundless light, bringing salvation to mankind. http://www.e4thai.com/e4e/images/pdf/theteachingofbuddha.pdf
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, popularly known as the Lotus Sutra, is revered by millions of Buddhists as containing the core and culmination of the Buddha’s teaching. …it is one of the most important scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism and indeed one of the major documents of world religion.The Lotus Sutra consists of a series of sermons delivered by the Buddha toward the end of his 45-year teaching ministry before a great multitude of disciples and countless others. The setting and scope are cosmic, but the sermons themselves, presented in both prose and verse, are replete with parables and graphic anecdotes.At the heart of the sutra are three major concepts of Mahayana Buddhism:All sentient beings can attain perfect enlightenment - that is, buddhahood - and nothing less than this is the appropriate final goal of believers;The Buddha is eternal, having existed from the infinite past and appearing in many forms throughout the ages to guide and succor beings through the teaching of the Wonderful Dharma; andThe noblest form of Buddhist practice is the way of the bodhisattvas, those who devote themselves to attaining enlightenment not only for themselves but for all sentient beings.https://rk-world.org/introlotussutra.aspx
While Zen is more well-known in the West, Jodo Shinshu is the largest sect of Buddhism in Japan. This sect was founded by Shinran Shonin, the most well-loved religious figure in Japanese history, who left the monastic life to marry and have children. Unlike other Buddhist sects, Jodo Shinshu doesn’t require abstinence from meat and alcohol. Ascetic practices are unnecessary (optional) if we are already Amida Buddha in our true nature. Reciting the Nembutsu is a way of acknowledging and awakening to our innately enlightened true self.It's not discouraged in Jodo Shinshu to be vegetarian or abstain from alcohol. It's just that Jodo Shinshu was one of the first Buddhist sects to accept people who had to kill meat to earn a living, like hunters and fishermen.Another thing is that many people aren't able to follow the traditional prohibition of intoxicants because they're chronically addicted, no matter how many times they try to stop. Jodo Shinshu gave these people a path to enlightenment as well.
Quote from: Dharma Flower on January 21, 2018, 06:33:35 pmWhile Zen is more well-known in the West, Jodo Shinshu is the largest sect of Buddhism in Japan. This sect was founded by Shinran Shonin, the most well-loved religious figure in Japanese history, who left the monastic life to marry and have children. Unlike other Buddhist sects, Jodo Shinshu doesn’t require abstinence from meat and alcohol. Ascetic practices are unnecessary (optional) if we are already Amida Buddha in our true nature. Reciting the Nembutsu is a way of acknowledging and awakening to our innately enlightened true self.It's not discouraged in Jodo Shinshu to be vegetarian or abstain from alcohol. It's just that Jodo Shinshu was one of the first Buddhist sects to accept people who had to kill meat to earn a living, like hunters and fishermen.Another thing is that many people aren't able to follow the traditional prohibition of intoxicants because they're chronically addicted, no matter how many times they try to stop. Jodo Shinshu gave these people a path to enlightenment as well.Can you tell us, specifically and by name, which sects prohibit meat and alchohol. It might be helpfull for newcomers to know what these sects are so if they have issues with such probibitions they can avoid contact or commitment with such groups.
Quote from: IdleChater on January 22, 2018, 03:28:55 amQuote from: Dharma Flower on January 21, 2018, 06:33:35 pmWhile Zen is more well-known in the West, Jodo Shinshu is the largest sect of Buddhism in Japan. This sect was founded by Shinran Shonin, the most well-loved religious figure in Japanese history, who left the monastic life to marry and have children. Unlike other Buddhist sects, Jodo Shinshu doesn’t require abstinence from meat and alcohol. Ascetic practices are unnecessary (optional) if we are already Amida Buddha in our true nature. Reciting the Nembutsu is a way of acknowledging and awakening to our innately enlightened true self.It's not discouraged in Jodo Shinshu to be vegetarian or abstain from alcohol. It's just that Jodo Shinshu was one of the first Buddhist sects to accept people who had to kill meat to earn a living, like hunters and fishermen.Another thing is that many people aren't able to follow the traditional prohibition of intoxicants because they're chronically addicted, no matter how many times they try to stop. Jodo Shinshu gave these people a path to enlightenment as well.Can you tell us, specifically and by name, which sects prohibit meat and alchohol. It might be helpfull for newcomers to know what these sects are so if they have issues with such probibitions they can avoid contact or commitment with such groups.Perhaps Taiwanese, Chinese and Vietnamese Pure Land Buddhism? Then again, it's only optional that lay people observe the five precepts in these traditions, though strongly encouraged.
Quote from: Dharma Flower on January 22, 2018, 09:22:34 pmQuote from: IdleChater on January 22, 2018, 03:28:55 amQuote from: Dharma Flower on January 21, 2018, 06:33:35 pmWhile Zen is more well-known in the West, Jodo Shinshu is the largest sect of Buddhism in Japan. This sect was founded by Shinran Shonin, the most well-loved religious figure in Japanese history, who left the monastic life to marry and have children. Unlike other Buddhist sects, Jodo Shinshu doesn’t require abstinence from meat and alcohol. Ascetic practices are unnecessary (optional) if we are already Amida Buddha in our true nature. Reciting the Nembutsu is a way of acknowledging and awakening to our innately enlightened true self.It's not discouraged in Jodo Shinshu to be vegetarian or abstain from alcohol. It's just that Jodo Shinshu was one of the first Buddhist sects to accept people who had to kill meat to earn a living, like hunters and fishermen.Another thing is that many people aren't able to follow the traditional prohibition of intoxicants because they're chronically addicted, no matter how many times they try to stop. Jodo Shinshu gave these people a path to enlightenment as well.Can you tell us, specifically and by name, which sects prohibit meat and alchohol. It might be helpfull for newcomers to know what these sects are so if they have issues with such probibitions they can avoid contact or commitment with such groups.Perhaps Taiwanese, Chinese and Vietnamese Pure Land Buddhism? Then again, it's only optional that lay people observe the five precepts in these traditions, though strongly encouraged.Perhaps? Really? You made a raqther positive statement that there were Buddhist sects that actively prohibit meat and alcohol. To say "perhaps" is a direct contradiction to that. Then you say it's optional. Seems like you're coming up short on facts and such.Y'know, if you're going to activly promote Jodo Shinshu by pointing to specific shortcomings in certain, unnamed sects, you should be prepared to name them specifically, when asked for clarification.
It is precisely because of the Self-Nature Amitabha that the practitioner must recite the name of Buddha Amitabha of the West seeking rebirth in the Pure Land – so as to achieve the Self-Nature Amitabha through gradual cultivation. If he merely grasps at the Self-Nature Amitabha but does not recite the name of Buddha Amitabha of the West, he cannot achieve immediate escape from birth and death – not even if he is truly awakened, much less if (like most people who ask this question) he is pretentious and just indulges in empty talk without engaging in practice.https://purelanders.com/2011/12/11/mind-only-pure-land-self-nature-amitabha-western-pure-land-amitabha-buddha/
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Topic: The Ultimate Truth of Amida Buddha (Read 2027 times)
