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Buddha said that this world is “unattainable by all that we seek.” Why can’t we seek? Because our past sins appear, creating obstacles in our body, mind, and living conditions. Bodhisattvas deeply believe in cause and effect and only like to sow good seeds. Therefore, even though Bodhisattvas do not wish for happy results, happy results always appear. As for sentient beings, they are afraid of suffering and do not sow good seeds, so they cannot get whatever they wish for. Therefore, the sutra says: The sutra says: “Bodhisattvas fear causes, sentient beings fear effects.”

Currently, we are diligent in studying Buddhism, listening to the Dharma, cultivating, and training our minds and natures, with the goal of obtaining good results, a pure body and mind, and a peaceful life. Therefore, at any time, in any place, in favorable or unfavorable circumstances, we must be patient, let go of all views and private thoughts, and absolutely not be disturbed by external circumstances, then we can hope to reduce sins and afflictions and obtain a pure body and mind, and a peaceful life. The good and bad things of others have nothing to do with us, so why bother discussing them further, wasting time and energy, and also wasting merit. The Avatamsaka Sutra says: “Both sentient and insentient beings are both perfect in the Seed of Wisdom.” In the Western Pure Land, sentient beings such as birds and insentient beings such as houses, towers, railings, electricity, ponds, streams, forests, etc., can still harmonize their voices, together showing off their brilliant and fresh colors to praise Buddha's virtues and expound the miraculous Dharma. So can't we humans harmonize our voices to praise Buddha's virtues and expound and discuss Buddha's Dharma? Buddha's virtues are precepts that are inherent in each person's Self-nature. Studying Buddhism is to restore one's own Self-nature, that is, to restore one's own pure mind. As for the good or bad practice of others, it has nothing to do with us, so why do we need to know? Why do we need to argue about high or low? The sutra says, True nature is everywhere, all dharmas are one, dharmas are inherently equal, there is no place higher, nor is there any place lower, so what is there to discuss or argue about? Whoever speaks well of me learns good things that should be done, whoever speaks ill of me learns bad things that should be avoided, then that is truly knowing how to learn Buddhism, knowing how to practice correctly. Whoever has seen his nature, everything is the way, everywhere he meets the source. Whoever still clings to the ego and the dharma still has to practice longer to let go of that attachment. In the end, both the emotional and the indifferent will all attain Enlightenment!

In the chapter on Worshiping the Buddha's Present Light, the World-Honored One said: "If you want to be born there, you must wholeheartedly take refuge and contemplate." Master Yin Guang said: "Just sincerely and wholeheartedly recite the Buddha's name, without needing any other Dharma to assist in the path, then that is truly wholeheartedly taking refuge and contemplating." In the Shurangama Sutra, Great Strength Bodhisattva taught: "Restraining the six senses, pure mindfulness continues, without using any means, the mind will naturally open." Those who recite Buddha's name to seek rebirth in the Pure Land must let go of all attachments to good or bad circumstances, favorable or unfavorable, and should only rest their minds on the Buddha's name. They should not give rise to any other thoughts, nor should they rely on any other external dharma. Why? Because Amitabha Buddha is the Pure and Equal Abode, which is also the Abode of No Abode. If someone recites Buddha's name in accordance with both the name and meaning of the Buddha's name, then that person will be reborn in the Pure Land and attain the Dharma-Endurance of No Birth. If the person reciting Buddha's name still has a mind that creates, attaches, discriminates, fears, calculates, measures, and runs after the outside world to seek and grasp this or that, then he has already destroyed his own pure and equal mind.

In other words, if the person reciting Buddha's name does not clearly understand that the four words "Amitabha Buddha" fully and completely contain the tenets of the Buddha Recitation method, which are "Pure, equal, free, following conditions, single-mindedly reciting Buddha's name, seeking rebirth in the Pure Land," then even though he recites Buddha's name with his mouth, his mind will still run wildly looking for other places to rely on, not purely abiding in Amitabha Buddha, so it will not correspond to the Buddha's vow and he will not be reborn. Because in the Buddha Recitation method, the main practice is to recite Buddha's name, the supporting practice is also to recite Buddha's name, the practitioner does not need to bother to use any other supporting methods but will quickly attain One-pointedness. Why? Because if any other supporting practice is added, it is a mixture, so we cannot attain One Mind. At all times, in all places, we only have to rest our minds on the Buddha's name, without having to worry or plan anything, then one day we will naturally attain enlightenment. In fact, no matter how well we plan and plan, we cannot avoid karma. Moreover, the mind that discriminates, worries, and plans is just crazy delusion, doubts are not yet ended, precepts and samadhi are not yet established, and there is no wisdom to understand clearly: "If one cultivates virtue, the fruit of virtue will naturally appear, it cannot be created."

In the Pure Land chapter, after Venerable Ananda heard the Buddha praise the Pure Land, he immediately told the World-Honored One: "If that land does not have Mount Sumeru, where would the Four Heavenly Kings and the Trayastrimsa Heaven rely on to stay?"

The Buddha did not answer Ananda, but instead asked: “From the Tushita Heaven to the Form Realm, the Formless Realm, all the Heavens, where do they rely on to reside?”

Ananda told the Buddha: “Depends on the power of karma, it is inconceivable.”

First of all, we should know that the gods in the Desire Realm heavens such as the Four Heavenly Kings and the Trayastrimsa Heaven all reside on Mount Sumeru, so they are called Earthly Dwelling Heavens. Although the Tushita Heaven and the Tushita Heaven are the third and fourth heavens of the Desire Realm, they reside in the sky, not on Mount Sumeru, so they are called Empty Dwelling Heavens. The Form and Formless Heavens are the heavens above the Desire Realm heavens, and they also reside in the void, that is, they do not reside on Mount Sumeru. Now, because Ananda heard the Buddha say that the Pure Land does not have Mount Sumeru, he immediately wondered and asked the Buddha, where do the gods like Trayastrimsa and the Four Heavenly Kings of the Earthly Abode Heaven rely on to stay? The Buddha heard Ananda ask this and asked back, if because there is no Mount Sumeru, it is said that the gods have no place to stay, then where do the gods from the Yama realm up, such as the Tusita heaven, the Form Realm and Formless Realm rely on to stay? The Buddha's meaning is that the gods from the Yama realm up, to the Form Realm and Formless Realm, all reside in space, so why do they need Mount Sumeru as a place to stay? Even if the gods of the Empty Abode Heaven, when manifesting in the Saha world, do not need to rely on Mount Sumeru to stay, then why do the holy beings in the Pure Land need Mount Sumeru to have a place to stay! When Ananda heard the Buddha's question, he immediately understood the Buddha's intention and replied that it was because the devas of the Form and Formless Realms had inconceivable karma that they could stay in the void without needing Mount Sumeru.

The Buddha and Venerable Ananda opened this question and answer scene to awaken sentient beings, to make them realize the logic of the Dharma of Mind Without Abiding and to know that: The holy beings in the Pure Land, by relying on the power of Amitabha's great vows and the inconceivable influence of the Pure Land, naturally stay in the Pure and Equal Dharma Realm, so why do they need any other place to stay to attain this inconceivable realm. Having said this, we must think for ourselves, apart from the Buddha's name and the Pure Land, do we need to stay our minds anywhere else to be reborn? Furthermore, from the questions and answers of the Buddha and Venerable Ananda, we also realize that creation is karma, the arising of thoughts and ideas is karma. The actions of the body, mouth, and mind create karma. Doing evil is evil karma, doing good is good karma. Good karma has the ability to produce happy results, bad karma has the ability to produce bitter results. The power of karma is immeasurable! If we create evil karma, we cannot escape even if we go to heaven. If we create good karma, we have nothing to fear even if we go to hell. If we sincerely recite Buddha's name and completely rely on Amitabha Buddha as our place of refuge, then why should we fear not being reborn? Why do we need to create, worry, and arrange things, wasting our time and energy, and causing more troubles and insecurities? If we want to be reborn in the Pure Land freely, we only need to place our three karmas of body, speech and mind together on the phrase Amitabha Buddha, without relying on any other dharma or any other place, then we will have a pure and equal mind like empty space, corresponding to the solemn, pure and equal nature of Amitabha Buddha.

Right after Ananda said, “Relying on the power of karma and concentration is inconceivable,” the Buddha continued: “Karma is inconceivable, do you know? The retribution of your body is inconceivable, the retribution of sentient beings is also inconceivable, the good roots of sentient beings are inconceivable, the holy power of the Buddhas and the world of Buddhas is also inconceivable. The power of good merit for the sentient beings in that land comes from the practice of karma, together with the supernatural power of the Buddha, so it is like that.”

The above passage clearly shows the merit of enlightenment due to relying on the power of karma and concentration of Amitabha Buddha and the Pure Land is inconceivable, so even if we have Countless sins can also be put aside and freely reborn. We only need to generate the Bodhi mind, recite the Buddha's name with all our heart, and use a copy of the Unsurpassed Life Sutra as a guide, without needing any other method, then it will be in accordance with the Buddha's teaching of "single-mindedly taking refuge and contemplating." If we analyze this sutra sentence in detail, the circumstances and conditions that we encounter and are living in now are all the results of the karmic causes that we created in the past. The consequences corresponding to the karmic causes that have been created are called "retribution." Thus, retribution is the result of our own good and evil actions in the past, not caused by someone else. For example: the rice seed is the cause; the farmer plowing and harrowing, the rain and dew watering are the causes; the rice harvested this year is the result. If compared to conditions such as the farmer's strength, rain, dew, fertilizer, etc., then this year's rice is the "retribution" of those conditions. The result of the rice we harvest this year, whether it is good or bad, much or little, depends entirely on the seeds we sow, whether they are good or bad, much or little, and conditions such as the farmer's strength, rain, dew, fertilizer, etc.

The karma and retribution of living beings are the same! Because the karma is good or bad, we encounter happy or miserable retribution. Karma and retribution are self-received, there is no merit or sin of ours that can be added or subtracted from by others. When the retribution comes to maturity, that is, when it is time for retribution, we must bear it ourselves, no one can take it for us. Cultivation is the same, those who recite the name of Amitabha Buddha use the name of Amitabha Buddha as a seed to plant, hoping that one day they will attain Bodhi. They take the practice of the Infinite Life Sutra as a cause to nurture the Bodhi seed, making it grow quickly. All the wonderful merits they reap are the results of causes such as the practice of the Buddha's sutra, reciting the Buddha's name, practicing the Six Paramitas, cultivating the Ten Good Deeds, etc., helping the Bodhi seed to quickly mature and bear fruit. Therefore, if a practitioner does not know how to use these good causes and conditions, it will be very difficult for him to achieve his path. It is like a person with two strong legs, that is, he has good causes and conditions to go to the place he wants to go; a person with two crippled legs can also crawl to the place, but it is very difficult and slow.

The Universal Worthy Conduct and Vows chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra records: “The Bodhisattva thought to himself: In the beginningless past, due to greed, anger, and ignorance, I created limitless and boundless evil karma from my body, mouth, and mind. If those evil karma had a form, the entire void would not be able to contain them all.” Because each of the ten evil karmas: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, fabrication, harsh speech, double-tongued speech, greed, anger, and ignorance, are obstacles that prevent us from being reborn in the Pure Land, in addition to reciting the Infinite Life Sutra to clearly understand the Dharma we practice, the Buddha also taught us to practice the ten wholesome karmas to eliminate the ten evil karmas of body, mouth, and mind. However, because sentient beings create boundless karma, the retribution is also boundless, and because the power of karma is extremely strong, even the World-Honored Ones have no way to prevent it. Therefore, the Buddha said: “The retribution of your body is inconceivable, the retribution of sentient beings is also inconceivable” (Karma is the abbreviation of karma cause and retribution). In the past, when the Buddha was still alive, the entire Shakya clan of the World-Honored One was exterminated by King Vimalakirti, leaving not a single survivor, due to their killing karma in their previous lives. The Buddha tried to stop King Vimalakirti twice, but the third time he could no longer stop him because at that time the karmic cause had already come to fruition, so the Shakya clan had to pay off this debt. The Buddha also knew clearly that because the Shakya clan cultivated good karma in this life, after death they would be born in heaven to enjoy blessings. This story clearly states: “The karma of living beings is also beyond thought.”

The Great Collection Sutra teaches: “The conduct of living beings is beyond thought, the realm of living beings is beyond thought.” Thus, if we want to see and know the wisdom of the Buddha, the mind of the Buddha, and the realm of the Buddhas, then we should start diligently studying the sutras, listening to the Dharma, firmly upholding the precepts without breaking them, cultivating concentration and reciting the Buddha’s name. These are all causes and conditions to meet the Buddha, why? Because studying sutras, listening to the Dharma, keeping precepts, and cultivating concentration and reciting the Buddha's name are inconceivable causes and virtues that lead to the inconceivable result of being reborn in the Pure Land, seeing Amitabha Buddha, and realizing the Dharma-Endurance of Non-Birth. If in our daily activities such as eating, drinking, bathing, walking, sitting, lying down, sleeping, etc., we always maintain a pure body and mind, with the supreme and true aspiration to recite the Buddha's name without interruption, or to contemplate the Prajnaparamita texts in the Buddhist sutras, then our divine light will always be bright and never interrupted, dispelling all darkness in the six paths of suffering. The realms of the six paths will no longer exist in our minds, and only the One True Dharma Realm of the Western Pure Land will appear. Thus, how is the holy power of the Buddhas and the realms of the Buddhas different from our daily activities such as eating, drinking, bathing, walking, sitting, lying down, sleeping, etc.? The ordinary actions of daily mindfulness are all things that cannot be thought of, so the sutra says: “The good roots of sentient beings cannot be thought of.”

The Lotus Sutra says: “Even if a person’s mind is scattered, if he enters a pagoda or temple and recites Namo Buddha once, he will all attain Buddhahood.” These words truly show profoundly that the good roots of sentient beings cannot be thought of, cannot be comprehended by reasoning or discrimination, only the Buddha’s wisdom of Suchness can understand this principle. Only then can we know: “The holy powers of the Buddhas and the world of Buddhas are also beyond thought.” “The holy powers of the Buddhas” here refers to the five powers of the Buddhas; they are: the power of concentration, the power of insight, the power of assisting consciousness, the power of great vows, and the power of the mighty virtue of the Buddha Dharma. The power of the mind also means the power of borrowing the power of consciousness, which means that although the Buddha has left all consciousnesses, he can still borrow the consciousnesses of living beings in all the realms of Desire, Form, and Formlessness to manifest the scenes of Form and Formlessness, in order to benefit all living beings in those realms. The Buddhas entering the bodies of the ten directions of the Dharma realms also reside right in the depths of the minds of living beings, so they understand the origin of their delusions. The Buddha's mind is in our minds, so the Buddha understands our delusions, but our minds are not in the Buddha's mind, so we do not understand the Buddha's wisdom and the Buddha's mind. So, what must we do to be able to settle our minds in the Buddha's mind? The sutras teach us to constantly receive, uphold, read, recite the Buddhist sutras, and recite the Buddha's name, then we will gradually understand the Buddha's wisdom and understand the Buddha's mind. When we understand the Buddha's wisdom and understand the Buddha's mind, then our minds are in the Buddha's mind, the Buddha's mind is in our minds, and the spiritual response is unimaginable.

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