UNDER RE-CONSTRUCTION ;-)

Precious Jewel under the beggar's hearth

Namo Amitofo!

Homage and deep respect to Venerable Master Hui Re

Such a precious Master right in one's midst in the unusual surroundings of a place like Africa!?!  How much merit must each one of us collected over countless lifetimes? To share such a special bond and connection to a being so wise and compassionate.He bides his time in a land mostly bereft of Dharma where most beings don't even notice the precious jewel of dharma wisdom under our very noses...
Staying and living where no other masters have been willing to stay and teaching even if there are only a few willing to listen and learn.

Every opportunity is the teaching.

The dharma he teaches is profound and at times cuts like a knife.

The very way to wake one from the stupor we have long found so much comfort in.  Patiently he grinds away our obscurations and tempers our rigid minds.

Sitting back and just watching...observing him is a teaching.

He is like a smooth flowing stream confidently navigating its course, never dissuaded by floating debris or times of drought.  


Open minded, kind, loving and wise.

Persevering and standing his ground firmly when he has heartfelt trust that an action will yield a specific long term result.  Who knows what he envisions or what he might see when he looks into the eyes of a child or a lost being?  


Respecting all Dharma, knowing it liberates.  Shifu is by no means just an ordinary fellow seeker but a master who has been treading the path and following his dharma heart with all his heart.

If we patiently watch, listen and learn we will open our own hearts and minds just as a master does.

Blessed indeed!  May all his pure intentions bear fruit and no being ever go hungry for dharma again.

On Reciting the Name of the Buddha by Master Kuang-ch'in

Practice reciting the name of the Buddha to the extent that "flowers flourish and the Buddha comes into view."

We all have a Buddha immanent in our minds. When we practice recitation to the extent that our minds are pure and free of vexations, we will meet the buddha within ourselves. Therefore, only by the extinction of all vexations can we attain the stage where "flowers flourish and the Buddha comes into view."

We should practice compassion and forbearance in our daily lives while avoiding impulsiveness and petulance and controlling our temper. Be adroit and harmonious when dealing with people and handle everything with the help of reason.

Seek not the faults of others and do not be vexed by the rights or wrongs we perceive. Be gentle and kind to others, though not for the sake of building up connections. Treat everyone, be he/she moral or immoral, with equality and impartiality.

Do not turn others away with an icy face. With every move intended for the benefit of others and done with sympathetic compassion, not only will we foster good affinity with others but our minds will be purified and ourselves free of all vexations.

We are thereby attaining the stage where "flowers flourish and the Buddha comes into view."

~ The Analects of Master Kuang-ch'in

Excerpt of a talk on Amitabha and the Pureland of Dewachen (Sukhavati)
by
H.H.the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche
(look it up)

Q: "Is there any way in which one can be in the Pureland, aside from literally at the end of existence? On the other hand, is this something that can be reached in this present existence? Can the Pureland be accessed in this life?"

Rinpoche: "Yes, when the last breath has been exhaled, before the next breath is inhaled. At that moment, there is a death and a rebirth. You can experience the Pureland there in the interval between breaths."

Q: "Rinpoche, you say that you can experience the Pureland in that interval, in that case, what is the Pureland?"

Rinpoche: "What is the Pureland really? The Pureland is one's own stainless primordial awareness. If, from moment to moment, you regain and retain your own primordial enlightened nature: that is the Pureland. Everything comes from your own mind. Understand that, remain there: that is the Pureland."


It is very interesting to read about Tantric Pureland practice.
It would be interesting to get your ideas about the above excerpt with the 'nembutsu'/'nienfo' practice in mind.

Can I risk the statement that there are possibly two 'nembutsu'/'nienfo' resultants:
Similar to Shakyamuni Buddha's Nirvana and Parinirvana, there is 'this-moment-Pureland' and there is 'death-moment-Pureland'.
Both are really the same except the relinquishig of the mortal body.
Everytime we recite 'Namo Amitabha/Namo Amitofo/Namu Amida Bu' we are not just present in our own enlightened nature (illuminated by Amitabha) but our Amitabha-enlightend-minds are also and more so being illuminted from no specific designation but simply from sheer 'Namo Amitabha/Namo Amitofo/Namu Amida Bu'.

It is further interesting to see that the importance of breath-retention in yogic practices is the key to actualising the yogic goal - manifesting light body or moksha.
If you try become mindful of the breath and at the moment of breath retention (all while reciting 'nienfo'/'nembutsu' of course ~:)) you notice that you are between birth and death, or being between living and not living, or being neither between living nor not living at all, where are you then?

Mmm...where else but 'Namo Amitabha/Namo Amitofo/Namu Amida Bu'.

Any comments?
~:)