If one immerses themselves in other scriptures yet hopes to end birth‑and‑death in this very life, they won’t manage it even in their dreams. | by Venerable Jingben
Master Yin Guang once struck straight to the heart of the matter: “If one immerses themselves in other scriptures yet hopes to end birth‑and‑death in this very life, they won’t manage it even in their dreams.” His words thunder in our ears—should we spend this lifetime poring over tomes outside the Pure‑Land canon, the hope of escaping saṁsāra becomes a fantasy we cannot even dream of. Think about it: can chanting the Heart Sutra instantly make us Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva? Can reciting the Diamond Sutra immediately grant us the realization of Śākyamuni Buddha? Clearly not. Those teachings require beings to rely on their own effort, sever afflictions, and cultivate over countless eons. It is like a bank clerk counting immense sums every day—the money is never his. However fluently we recite other profound treatises, the wisdom attained is still that of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, not our own realization. Master Yin Guang’s warning is therefore piercingly clear.
Yet the practice of Name‑recitation is entirely different. With a single “Namo Amitābha Buddha,” even if one is dull‑witted, is held day and night in the compassionate embrace of Amitābha, the loving Father, together with the Buddhas of the ten directions. Like a disabled child who, though unable to care for himself, is tenderly looked after by his parents. Master Tanluan offers a marvelous analogy: “It is as if a feeble man, unable even to mount a donkey, joins the procession of a Wheel‑Turning King and is borne through the sky, roaming the four continents.” Such is the supremacy of the Other‑Power path—no need to climb laboriously by our own strength; by relying on the Buddha’s vow‑power, liberation is assured.
⧉ Excerpt from Venerable Jingben’s Commentary on the Buddha Speaks of Amitābha Sutra
⧉ Pure Land Buddhism ⧉
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｜Namo Amitabha Buddha｜
