3. How to purify our souls (one )Three steps to purify the mind.First of all, you must know what you want.An unhealthy mind causes inner pain because what you want is unhealthy.For example, if you want to make a lot of money, you can want it, but you must "a gentleman loves money and gets it well."In other words, if you make this money, it will definitely not harm the interests of the public and the country.Many young people nowadays mainly want to make money. After making money, they want a smooth family, a calm heart, a rich and colorful life, a healthier body, and a strong sense of happiness, so that they feel that life is meaningful.It can be seen that among the wonderful treasures of happiness that can purify our minds and told us by the Pure Land Dharma, a very important point is to be sure of what we want.Remember, the first point is the word "want" - what you want.For example, if your career is not going well or the negotiations fail, you calm down and think about it and determine the result you want.If you are unhealthy, such as back pain, back pain, or where you feel uncomfortable, or have too many delusions in meditation, you also need to make a very clear decision on what you want.Of course, you can have a lot of things to want.For example, if you want to be healthy and have peace of mind, practice hard and be able to be reborn at the end of your life;I want my children to be healthy, have a prosperous business, and everything goes well;I want the fellow Taoists you meet and the people around you to be good people, and it will be smooth when going out, with the right time, place and people;You want national stability, social peace, etc.Even what you want can be very small details. For example, if you want to go to the street to do something today, you think you can encounter this thing ideally and do it smoothly.You can have a lot of things you want, but be sure that what you want must not cause any harm to yourself and others.Don’t want to take advantage of others, think “I made this money and let others lose everything”, and you must not have such negative “want”.What you want must never hurt others or society.To make ourselves happy, we can only be well if the general public is good;If the public is not good, how good can we be?So what do we all want to practice Pure Land?It means that you want to be reborn in the Pure Land. This is the "wish", the "wish" of faith, vow and practice. You must establish this wish.
The second step is to be "confidence"."Confidence" is more important than "wanting"."Confidence" means in the Pure Land Dharma?It is the "faith" of faith, wish and practice.In other words, we must be sure that we will be able to be reborn in the Western Paradise.In life, you must be sure: I will meet good teachers, a good practice environment, and will make myself chant Buddha's name with one mind and keep my children safe and smooth.If your body is unhealthy or the people around you have difficulties, you must be sure that these difficulties will be improved reasonably, legally and as you wish. This "confidence" is more important than your "want".As much as you are sure, you can achieve as much as you can in practice;If you are not sure enough, you will not reach your goal.For example, if you tell your children that you can earn 100,000 yuan this year, you will definitely make money as long as you want;But if you say "how is this possible"!If you think it is impossible, it is impossible to make money.You said, “My back pain has been for many years, and it makes me convinced that it will be cured. How is this possible?I've been in pain for decades."It's impossible for you to think about it like this.If you are sure that your back pain can be cured, you will definitely cure.The effect of this kind of thought is very amazing, because our pure mind is the same as that of the Buddha.There is a lay Buddhist whose spine has become ill S” Typed.He has been to treat all major hospitals from Shanghai to Beijing. He usually lies there straight, like a coffin board, and cannot move. After more than ten years of treatment, no doctor can cure it.How serious is it?When he went to the toilet to urinate and defecate, he couldn't squat because of his back pain. People in their forties urinate and defecate all over their pants. This kind of pain is really something that cannot be told to outsiders!However, after he came into contact with Buddhism, he was very confident in meditation and insisted on meditation every day.According to common sense, people with spinal pain cannot sit still, and they will feel very painful as soon as they sit, but they have confidence in Buddhism and are sure that it will definitely be cured through meditation. He will persist even if he sits there.After sitting for less than a year, I once met him and asked, "How is your back pain recently?"He said: "It was originally painful every day, but now I have forgotten how it hurts."Later he went to the hospital for examination and the doctor saw him X After the film, look at him and say, “You can watch it manually.” He moved his left hand."Then you can watch it with your right hand.” He moved his right hand.The doctor said it was strange, X The film shows that he will definitely be a paralyzed person.But because he meditated every day, he had great faith in Buddhism. His nerves were completely oppressed, but his body was completely good and he had nothing to do.This is the great power generated by this belief in the mind.The mind can produce karma wind, and karma is wind.Our body and mind are composed of four elements: earth, water, fire and wind, among which strong wind plays a general role.When our heart arrives, the wind arrives.Therefore, among the three karmas of body, speech and mind, mind karma is the foundation.If you have faith and wishes, and are sure that you will be able to be reborn, your heart will have already reached;As long as your heart reaches where you are, your atmosphere, demeanor and style are already changing.What does the "wind" mean in the whole country and society, the demeanor of each of us, the Taoist style of the temple, the Zen style of the people who have meditated, etc.It refers to our inner strong mental power, the power of faith.It can change the entire interpersonal relationships, the pattern of life, including your body.No matter how you want to die, you must be sure that you will die like that, and then you will definitely be able to die like that.If you think you may die of illness, then you will die of illness;If you think you may be hit by a car, you may be hit by a car.As long as you are sure that you will never die like that, and that you will never live very uncomfortable, you will live with peace of mind.This "confidence", especially the confidence that our hearts can be purified, is equally important for both young and old.If we use the three resources of faith, aspiration and practice that the Pure Land Dharma tells us in real society, our career and emotions can be greatly improved, and we can see the results in this period of life.Especially in today's society, for many young people, as long as they believe that their career can be 100% successful, they can be 100% successful;If he was only assured as ninety percent, he would only reach ninety percent;If his confidence is less than 60% and fails, he will not succeed.
Third, what is more important than confidence is that you have to "feel".The two words "feeling" refer to the "action" of faith, wish and action.What is "okay"?It is to chant "Amitabha", and everyone must have feelings for chanting "Amitabha".Because our ability to grasp our minds is too poor, and our minds are transformed with the circumstances and with troubles, pain, greed, anger and ignorance, so when you start chanting the Buddha's name and want to grasp this Buddha's name, you will feel very useful for a while.But after a period of time, you will find that your mind is still so messy, and it is difficult to control yourself and not have delusions.At this time, you must know that you can slowly discover your delusions, but in fact you have improved compared to before.At this stage, the only way we can continue to chant the Buddha's name with peace of mind.No matter how many delusions and troubles come, you must know: these seeds planted in the past, and now they are starting to be turned out. The more they are turned out, the more opportunities are there for these defiled seeds in the mind to be purified. Only by chanting Buddha's name can these seeds of troubles be purified one by one.Just like when you sweep the floor, you must see the garbage to have the chance to sweep the floor;If you don’t see the garbage, Hei Gu Longdong doesn’t see anything, even if you scan, it’s just a blind eye and it won’t be clean.Then at this time, you see these garbage and the troubles in your heart. Only by chanting "Amitabha", this "big broom" can smooth out all your troubles of greed, anger, ignorance, all the pains of birth, old age, sickness, and death, and all unsatisfactory and unhealthy conditions.In social life, you can tell your children, grandchildren, or very young children: you must feel what your mentality is after you practice it.For example, if a child gets into a very good middle school, everyone applauds and praises him;Or everyone is very satisfied with what you do, and everyone welcomes you no matter where you go.What does this mentality feel like? You have to tell him and let him continue to feel the joy of success.The joy of success is not to see that result, but to be happy about success.In addition, the happiness you obtain is based on everyone’s happiness, and this kind of happiness is true happiness.If a person succeeds, a large number of people fall down. This is not happiness, this is a disaster!Just like the victory in war, it is to make a large number of people die. This is a victory in worldly law, not a real victory.When you overcome your inner troubles, you can give them compassion and wisdom no matter which sentient being you treat.Those who are kind to help you, you should thank them;You should also thank the troubled sentient beings who need help because they give you the opportunity to help them.So we have to thank the good people;When a bad person comes, we must develop compassion for him.Because there are so many bad people, we should work harder to create a better human society.In this way, both good and bad people are driving us to make progress.As Confucius said, "When three people walk, there must be my teacher. Choose the good ones and follow them, and change the bad ones.”In other words, a good person appears, I learn from him, I have a role model to learn, and I want to thank him.I saw the bad people, and compared them to see if they have any problems like him. His bad things have been made for us to make negative teaching materials that need to be reformed, because everyone saw that he was not good. If I was the same, then I had to change it quickly. I can't let everyone live a bad life.So all good or bad things can be improved to us, so that your inner ability to withstand the environment and accept external objects will be greatly enhanced. (two )The revelation of the "three resources" of Pure Land This is an important revelation provided by Buddhism to us to understand life, namely faith, wishes, and practice.From the perspective of Pure Land Buddhism, it is our merit.What is merit?"Mainland" means road capital, and "grain" means food.Just like when we go out, we have to bring travel expenses and food: if there is no travel expenses, we cannot take a bus or reach our destination;We need to eat every day and starve to death without food.The "three resources" are capitals that we require to be born in the Pure Land so that we will not be "hungry" and will not give up halfway.In other words, the "three resources" refer to "want", "confidence", and "feeling".It is worth noting that you must feel the result you want, and never feel the result you don’t want.
All the practice methods advocated in Buddhism tell us to think about the right place.For example, the "Amitabha" we recite means "immortal light and infinite life".The infinite light will make a person live a sunny, bright and wise life, and it is the light of wisdom;Amitabha will make a person live a healthy, stable and blessed life: you feel the word "Amitabha" in your heart, which is a very perfect concept.For example, if you ask you to recite sutras, whether it is the Diamond Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, or the Amitabha Sutra, it always talks about the compassion and wisdom of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, which is very touching.Even the horrors of the three evil realms described in the "Ksitigarbha Sutra" reveal the causal concept of "good will be rewarded, and evil will be rewarded", making us admit that all troubles in reality have causes and consequences, and it is still to let us feel it in a good place.The Heart Sutra we often recite tells us: "Saving all sufferings" and "can eliminate all sufferings, and it is true and true";Even the literal meaning of "Jie Di Jie Di, Pola Jie Di, Pola Monk Jie Di, Bodhi Sabaha" is "Go, go, go quickly, go quickly, go quickly, go to the other shore, go to the Pure Land of the Pure Land in the Pure Land of the Pure Land in the Pure Land of Bliss", let us gain great wisdom.Tiantai's meditation is also used to allow us to feel the emptiness of the mind as nothing as the void, and the solemn world of dependent origination like the Pure Land of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, so as to return to the middle way of emptiness and non-duality and harmony and freedom.Zen Buddhism says "the mind is the Buddha". Whether it is a delusional mind or a mind without delusional mind, the mind that ordinary people have thoughts and actions is the Buddha's mind, that is, "the three no differences between mind, Buddha, and sentient beings."If you dare to take responsibility, whether it is delusion or not, this heart must be the same as the Buddha;Of course, we dare not take responsibility or feel it now, so we are still worried and upside down here.Only through our beliefs and beliefs in Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, can we be willing to change our existing quality of life and change this status quo, and then we can develop the same qualities as Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in our hearts and enjoy the joy of life without suffering.At the same time, we also hope that all sentient beings can enjoy the joy of life without suffering.The happiness of no suffering is true happiness, and the happiness of suffering will be lost.For example, some people do "red and white" weddings without so much money, so they do it by borrowing money.On the surface, he was very happy and radiant in a happy event. He also thanked everyone for supporting him, but he knew that he had owed debts and needed to pay them back slowly. At this time, he actually did not have real happiness in his heart.The five desires we pursue in life are wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. No matter how much wealth you have, how famous you have, how high your status, how great your power you have, you are always changing in the direction of old age, sickness and death. One day you will say goodbye to your loved ones, happiness and pain are always impermanent, and all happiness is temporary, not permanent, so the root of suffering behind you has not been pulled out.This temporary happiness is called the joy of suffering, it is not a true sense of happiness.We see that there is an important force behind the people of some countries with a strong sense of happiness. What force is it?It is the power of faith!Bhutan is basically all Buddhists. It is a country that believes in Buddhism. Although there are other religions, Buddhists account for the vast majority.There is a saying: "The Vajra's wonderful wisdom eye swept away all false thoughts and obsessions, and will surely see through the world of body and mind at a glance."That's because we look at society and life through the eyes of the Buddha, and you can see through it at a glance.After learning Buddhism, everyone should also have this vision.Birth, old age, sickness and death are no big deal, everyone is responsible;The wisdom and light in the heart, and even becoming a Buddha and a ancestor, are also our duty. (three )The greatness of Pure Land Dharma: the wonderful use of opening the mind with a sentence "Amitabha"
The Pure Land Dharma starts at a low level, but its goal is high.A low start means that even if you don’t understand any doctrine, you only know that there is the Western Pure Land. You are convinced and you know that there is birth, old age, sickness and death in life. The Saha world is a sea of suffering of reincarnation, life and death. If you want to go to the Pure Land, you make a vow and chant "Namo Amitabha", it’s that simple.Its starting threshold is too low!Whether you have converted or not, as long as you understand and believe in this, you can do it, and no one can do it.But its goal is high, where is it?It is so high that the four words "Amitabha" contain all the merits of all Buddhas in the ten directions. This is amazing!So I often sigh that I am grateful to the Pure Land Dharma. Only after you understand the perfect teaching of Tiantai Sect and even the Mahayana Buddhism - the most complete Buddhist thought, will you know that the Pure Land Dharma is truly amazing!Because it is difficult to achieve the goal corresponding to the Buddha's perfect merits at such a low starting point.For example, Zen Buddhism’s “points directly to the human heart, sees the nature and becomes a Buddha” is a person who is smart and intelligent with the highest level, and this finger must be pointed to the mind and the Buddha, “The Buddha comes to kill the Buddha, and the demon comes to kill the demon”, “It is the mind and the Buddha.”This requires you to understand the principle of "the mind is the Buddha" in order to understand that our mind has the same perfect merit as the Buddha.For example, the Southern Chinese meditation method is to first practice breathing, let oneself feel the touch of the body and feel pleasure, and guide the worldly meditation method step by step, and cultivate concentration and wisdom step by step. This does not perfectly fulfill the merits of the Buddha, and this signal and correspondence have not reached perfection.Only the Pure Land Sect’s phrase “Amitabha”, even if you don’t understand anything, the moment you recite the Buddha’s name will correspond to the Buddha.
We don’t know much about our hearts, but in fact our hearts are really wonderful.You can feel that when your heart wants to bloom, your heart corresponds to the flower.In other words, as long as we think of whatever we think of, our hearts will present.For example, when you think of a car outside the door, the car appears in your heart;When you think of someone in your family, you will show this person in your heart;When you think of Amitabha Buddha, what you present in your heart is Amitabha Buddha.Think about it, your heart has no image, your heart is not dead, it is not dead like steel bars, cement, or bricks, your heart is alive.Now you have a delusion and say "I miss the pillar", and then you can have a delusion and say "I miss Amitabha".The mind can be opened and closed at any time like the void.When you open, you can think of the Himalayas, the world, the moon, the space, the boundless;When I gathered, I didn't think about anything and looked like nothing.Therefore, our mind is originally perfect and complete, but because we often grasp and cling to a simple delusion, for example, because someone scolds me for this matter, how could he do this? You always think of this matter, tie a knot in your heart, and then tie it up.In fact, your mind already contains the universe and Dharma realm, and you can be free from whatever you want.But when you think of something that makes you suffer, you are bound by this little knot.In fact, it is also fake to be tied up by this knot, because your previous thought is tied up, and you can immediately let go of the later thoughts, and all the knots in your heart can be put down immediately.Therefore, Master Sixth Patriarch said: "The first thought of being confused is sentient beings, and the next thought of being awakened is Buddha."When your mind is attached to a certain appearance or a knot, it doesn’t matter whether to let go or not, because your mind is like the void, and the void will not lock anything.You just need to admit that this thing happened in your life, this thing is like this, it is a law of dependent origination.He was in pain when he deserved pain. He had been scolded. He had already said what he should say, and he had said what he shouldn't say.That's it.As long as you admit that "this is it", your heart will immediately be like void. The void can accommodate the earth, and the earth can carry all things.Beautiful flowers and solemn Buddha statues can carry the earth, and the garbage, feces, and even dirtier things that people hate;And your heart is more perfect and ethereal than the earth!The "King of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva" mentioned in the "Sutra of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva". Why is it called "King of Ksitigarbha"?"Earth" means the heart, and "hidden" means the treasure;The treasure of the heart controls everything, and the one who controls everything is called "king", and the king controls a country."King of Ksitigarbha" refers to our heart, which is full of infinite treasures and can control all dharmas.So don’t just be obsessed with your family. In fact, everyone is your children and your parents.All sentient beings in the nine realms are sentient beings in your heart, and there are no Buddhas outside your heart, and there are no sentient beings.So when you unfold this heart, it is originally so pure and full of treasures, which is the treasure of the heart.Our hearts have infinite worlds and infinite wonderful methods, but we are very pitiful and attached to our own selfishness, a concept of delusion, and completely forget the infinite wonderful uses of this heart.Our mind is as broad as the universe Dharma Realm. To put it more specifically, the entire universe Dharma Realm is actually the treasure in our hearts.The world you see and feel, whether it is wealth or fame, wealth or status you gain, all of this is in our inner warehouse.If you want to get something in the warehouse, you must meet three conditions.The first is what you want and what you go to get.The second is to be sure that this is your warehouse before you can get it.If you say that the warehouse is not sure it is yours, you won’t get it. Even if it is your warehouse, the things can only be locked in the warehouse and are useless.So you have to be sure that you can get what you want in this world.The third is that only when you feel it means that you have taken this thing and you can use it.Those who know how to take things can use it if they take it.But from feeling that implementation is a process, just as it takes time to remove the things from the warehouse.You said that I want to make one million today and I will get one million tomorrow. This is unlikely and it is not in line with the facts.But if you really have such confidence, the ability to be sure can really reach 100%, and it can be realized. The so-called "pie falling from the sky" is because the sky is in your heart.You must believe 100% of what you want and feel the feeling after you get it, but generally speaking, there is a process from feeling.
If we can now be sure that our hearts are in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha, we will now feel the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and the Pure Land;When this feeling arises, in fact, from our body to our hearts, we feel exactly the same as the sentient beings on the lotus platform in the Pure Land.We should not underestimate this feeling.What would it feel if we went to the Pure Land?As long as you feel the purity, no defilement, and light of wisdom in the Pure Land, you will feel the feeling of sitting on the lotus platform now. The feeling after you arrive in the Pure Land is exactly the same as the feeling now, and you will meet the previous number.Now is the cause, and then in the future it is the result, and cause and effect are simultaneously in the heart.It can be seen that the great thing about the Pure Land Dharma is that it integrates the word "Amitabha" into our delusions, "The Buddha's name is cast into a disordered mind, and the disordered mind has to be a Buddha."A confusing mind is your delusional mind. Because the Pure Buddha Name is added, the delusional mind can actually be transformed into exactly the same as the Buddha. The cause and the same cause and the same result are completely matched.From the perspective of studying Buddhism, if the public is under pressure and has sub-health, we can use the faith, aspirations and practices of the Pure Land.Those who know how to practice can directly use faith, wishes and actions reasonably, which is the three steps mentioned above, namely six words: "want", "confidence", and "feeling".As long as you keep feeling that everything is going well with your children and the people around you is, even if you only spend three days feeling it, even if they are experiencing unhappiness, they will immediately change and get closer to you.If you have someone around you who is in poor health, you can use this method to feel that "his body must be good", and his illness will definitely be relieved and will change in the direction of health.Especially when someone has troubles and defilements in his mind, you should tell him that he must use these three steps and six words to improve himself.
