Chapter 42 The practice method of the third section of the Pure Land Method

(1) Reality, Appreciation and Name-holding Mindfulness of Reality: Mindfulness of Buddha does not only refer to oral chanting, but also mindfulness of Buddhahood. Therefore, in addition to recitation of name, there are other methods of mindfulness of reality and visualization.Mindfulness of reality is to enter the first righteous heart, and observe the reality of the Buddha's dharma body. The samadhi obtained by this is the true samadhi, also known as the samadhi of one practice.This method originally belongs to Zen, but the state manifested by the Zen mind is the Pure Land, so it is also included in the Pure Land method.This dharma cannot be enlightened without the upper and upper faculties, so the middle and lower faculties cannot be universally accepted.Therefore, in the Pure Land method, few people advocate it, but return to Zen to advocate it.

Contemplation of Appearance: This is the sixteen methods of contemplation of Amitabha Buddha's state of bliss according to the Sutra of Contemplating Infinite Life.If you are proficient in contemplation and practice, you can open your eyes and close your eyes, which is nothing but bliss. You can immediately turn Saha into a pure land. Samadhi.It is also known as the Buddha's Standing Samadhi, but there are five kinds of difficulties in observing the Dharma: one is difficult to achieve if the root is blunt; the other is difficult to achieve if the heart is thick; the third is difficult to achieve without skillful means; One, it is difficult to achieve without a deep understanding; five, it is difficult to achieve without energy.If you want to be sharp, careful, and clever, plus impressive and energetic, this is absolutely necessary.Therefore, it cannot be popularized, and it is also difficult to practice.

Recitation of name: Recitation of Buddha by name is much easier than the above two kinds of recitation of Buddha.When one's mind remains undisturbed, one obtains samadhi, and the samadhi one obtains is the samadhi of reciting Buddha's name.The practice of reciting the name of the Buddha has become the most common and deeply rooted Buddhist method after two thousand years of continuous advocacy and practice by Buddhist great virtues.Just because it has a certain degree of success in cultivation, and the three universal quilts, all the sharpness and bluntness are absorbed, so the number of people saved by it is far beyond what other sects can match.It can be said that since the beginning of Buddhism, more than 70% to 80% of the total number of people have been saved. If it is calculated in terms of quantity alone, it is enough to make all sects eclipsed. It is not inferior to other sects, and all the essence of each sect is included, and it is the culmination of each sect.Therefore, in terms of effect, theory, and difficulty, they are all outstanding and unparalleled.It can be seen from this that some people look down on the Dharma door of reciting Buddha, saying that it is practiced by foolish men and women. This is really a kind of strict perception and misunderstanding.It can be said that I don't have a deep understanding of the principles contained in the method of reciting the Buddha's name.If he really knows it, then he will naturally admire the convenient method of the Pure Land.

(2) Various methods of reciting Buddha's name In order to adapt to the environment and state of mind when reciting the Buddha's name, and to adapt to the capacity of the person reciting the Buddha's name, there are various ways of reciting the Buddha's name. Each method has its function and special strengths. Choose the following appropriate method and practice it. If you feel that this method cannot calm your mind at that time after reading it for a while, you can change it to another method. Nothing is impossible, as long as you can calm down and eliminate delusions at this moment, it is a good method for this moment.For example, it is like treating a disease, but the one who cures the disease is a good medicine for the disease. The delusional thoughts of sentient beings are the disease, and the Buddha's name is the medicine, which can cure the chronic disease.The method of holding the name was originally the core of the path of pure land practice. Because of its importance, the various methods of thinking are described in detail below.

Recite loudly: When recited, the voice is loud, and all the energy of the whole body is concentrated on a single Buddha's name. The sound is as loud as gold and stone, and the sound fills the world.Although this method is a little exhausting and hoarse, it can't last long, but it can cure drowsiness and slackness, and get rid of continuous distracting thoughts. When you read aloud, you suddenly feel clear-headed and your righteous thoughts are restored. It still has infinite vitality and powerful effects, and it will also make others who hear the sound arouse the heart of Buddha-recitation.Zen master Xi Yongming, when he recited Buddha's name on the top of Nanping Mountain in Hangzhou, passers-by at the foot of the mountain felt that his voice was like the music of heaven and the sky, resonant and clear, and he used this method of recitation.

Meditative recitation: When reciting, from the outside, only the lips move, and no sound is made. Although the sound is silent, the six characters "Namo Amitabha" are still clear and clear in the practitioner's mind. Because of the understanding, the mind will not be lost, and the righteous thoughts will be condensed into one piece, so its effectiveness will not be reduced by the sound.This kind of thinking method can be used when lying down, when sick, bathing, when going to the toilet, or when it is inconvenient to speak out and in public places. Vajra Recitation: The sound is neither too loud nor too soft when recited, and it is very neutral. While reciting, the practitioner listens with his ears at the same time. Regardless of four-character recitation or six-character recitation, he can clearly hear every word without getting lost. It is natural. peace of mind.This kind of thinking method is extremely effective, so it is metaphorized by Vajra.Covering gold means its secret, and secret means that it will not be infiltrated by the outside world. Just means its firmness, and firmness means that all distracting thoughts will be broken. Among various methods of chanting Buddha, this is the most commonly used method.

Awareness and meditation: When reciting, one side calls the Buddha's name, and the other side reflects the self-nature, so the empty spirit in front of the eyes is transcendent, but I feel that my heart, the Buddha's heart, and my body, the Buddha's body, are condensed into one piece, radiant, perfect, and the realm is vast , filling the ten directions, all the mountains, rivers and land, houses and utensils, suddenly lost their location, and even my four false bodies did not know where they fell. , in the body of an ordinary person, there is no one who is more successful than this.

Contemplating thoughts: While reciting the Buddha's name, visualize the Buddha's body in such a state of dignity, standing in front of me, or rubbing my head with hands, or covering my body with clothes, or visualize Guanyin, Shizhi, standing beside the Buddha, all Saints and sages, surround me, or visualize the treasure pool of the golden land in the Paradise of Paradise, the flowers blooming and the birds singing, the treasure trees and nets, glorious and majestic, if the visualization is real, you can swim in the land of Paradise, if it is not real, it can also be used as a chanting Buddha The help of fate makes it easy to complete the clean karma.If you have been watching for a long time, you will have a deep impression in your mind at ordinary times. Once the body weakens, this world will no longer be burdened, and the bliss and beauty will appear together.

Chasing the top: When reading, use the above-mentioned Vajra reading method, but the words and the words, and the sentences are connected extremely closely, forming a word after a word, a sentence for a sentence, without leaving a gap in the middle, so it is called In order to catch up.Because the chasing is close and there is no gap, distracting thoughts cannot take advantage of the opportunity to wedge in; because the emotion is tense when thinking, the heart and mouth are advancing together, and the power of righteous thoughts overrides everything, so ignorance and delusions can be temporarily returned to silence. The method of reciting is most effective, and people who purify their karma should use it more.

Prayer recitation: When recitation, pray while praying, or pray after saying a sentence, or regardless of the number of words, but pray while praying, pray while praying, become a parallel, body and mouth are one, plus the mind The Buddha is the concentration of the three karma, and the six roots are captured.In this way, all the functional organs of our body are used for chanting, and there is no free time to involve in things other than chanting, or thoughts other than chanting.Therefore, this method is particularly diligent and effective, but praying for a long time will cause physical fatigue and shortness of breath, so it should only be used concurrently, not exclusively.

Remembering the ten thoughts: use the rosary to count the number when chanting. Every time you recite ten lines of the Buddha's name, turn a rosary, or use the three-three-three-one system to form three-two-three-two system. After the tenth sentence is finished, turn a rosary .In this way, the mind should not only chant the Buddha, but also remember the number, and if it is not concentrated, it must be concentrated. If you do not concentrate, the number will be confused. Therefore, this method can be regarded as a convenient method to force concentration, so it is very effective in treating distracting thoughts. Ten breaths of recitation: When reciting, use the chasing method to recite. Regardless of the number of Buddha's name, but take one breath out. Tone, if it is ten times, it is called ten breaths.This is a special convenient method specially designed for people who are busy with their daily work. It only takes about five minutes to recite ten breaths. You only need to recite ten breaths once a day, and you can be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, so even if you are very busy. People can do it too.This is based on the eighteenth vow of Amitabha: "All living beings in the ten directions want to be born in our country, and even ten thoughts, if they are not born, they will not attain enlightenment"; according to the results of ancient research, the so-called ten thoughts are ten breaths , because the Buddha's vows are very broad, and the Pure Land Dharma is the most practical, so even if it is only ten thoughts, the dying Buddha will come to welcome him. Regular class recitation: The most feared thing about recitation of Buddha is that you will be diligent from the beginning to the end and have no perseverance. Therefore, people in ancient and modern times have made recitation of Buddha a daily homework. As long as you practice it every day, your Taoist heart will never retreat.The number of the Buddha's name can be set at any time. The ancients used to recite one hundred thousand, seventy thousand, or fifty thousand Buddha's names every day.In short, this matter should be considered as a homework according to the environment and one's own strength. After the decision is made, no matter how busy you are, you must finish reading it, otherwise you should make it up the next day and form a habit.If you borrow a lot of courage at the beginning, you will set too much.If you can't do it later, it's not good. If you set too little, you will be close to slack, and it's not good, so when you make a decision, you must carefully consider it. All of the four prestige rituals are recited: if the practitioner is proficient in the pure seed, he will be diligent in reciting the Buddha's name. Because of the result of going forward bravely, he will not be satisfied with the fixed lesson. Outside the fixed lesson, no matter day or night, except for sleeping, he will recite almost all the time. This is to walk, stand, sit and lie down, and recite all the four majestic rituals. After a long time, it becomes a habit, and one sentence of Amitabha will never leave the mouth!This can be seen everywhere in the legends of the ancients. Some karma is forging iron, while beating and reciting;Most of this can be used as a reference for us. If we can achieve this level, then there will be no problem with fixed or non-fixed courses. Recite whether you read it or not: in the above-mentioned four prestige rituals, recite it with your mouth, and the last word "recite whether you read it or not" here refers to your mind. According to the title, it means: whether you recite it with your mouth or not, you can read it with your mouth. And all of them are chanting Buddha in their hearts.In this way, when you say it with your mouth, you are certainly thinking of the Buddha in your heart, even when you don’t say it, you are still thinking of the Buddha in your heart. It is different for those who only think about Buddha when they recite with their mouths.If a practitioner can do it, no matter when and where, no matter what he or she says, he will always think about the Buddha in his mind. In this way, his pure thoughts will be firm, his heart will be like a copper wall and an iron wall, and the wind will not blow in, his feet will not break it, and there will be no trace of the world. Thoughts of miscellaneous thoughts can break through, but at this time, reciting Buddha's samadhi will not be self-contained, and rebirth in the other country is like a promise.The ancients said: "Recite without recitation, recite without recitation, this is the state. If you don't recite the Buddha for a long time, you will never be able to do it, so it is not for beginners.