Master Da'an's Blog Quotations — Responsive Communion

The sacred name of Amitabha Buddha emerges from a mind of utmost sincerity and from ultimate reality itself. Only "truth" can resonate with "truth"; a false mind cannot bring forth a response. As the world often says, "utter sincerity moves all things; without sincerity, nothing is accomplished." Therefore, when reciting the Buddha's name, one must have a sincere heart. Amitabha's Dharma body pervades all places, and His vow-power also flows forth from a sincere heart. To resonate with Amitabha's great compassionate vows, we too must have a sincere heart.

When we read through the entire Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra, it may seem to contain little in the way of profound or mysterious principles; most of it discusses concrete matters and phenomena. Yet the principles embodied within this sutra are extraordinarily profound. All of these phenomenal expressions reflect one overarching theme: the principle of resonant communion. Such resonant communion is the hallmark of the perfectly sudden Great Vehicle teachings of the Buddha. The Pure Land method likewise embodies the principle of resonant communion at every turn. The marvel of name-recitation, in terms of principle, is precisely this resonant communion. This represents the most profound study of mind and nature within the world and throughout the Dharma realm. It belongs to the realm of awakened understanding, not to the realm of the sixth-consciousness thinking mind.

Holding fast to Amitabha's name means connecting with, resonating with, and mutually resonating with Amitabha's light. The light-waves of Amitabha's Forty-Eight Vows possess their own specific frequency. How can we attune ourselves to this frequency? Only through faithful vow-power and single-minded recitation—through the utmost sincerity that brings forth resonance. Once the mind of recitation aligns with this frequency, our whole being is bathed in the light-waves of Amitabha Buddha.

Whether in conducting our lives or in cultivating the Dharma, we must have a sincere heart. In matters of human conduct, Confucius, fully aware of sentient beings' deeply rooted tendency toward hypocrisy and false feelings, included "making the will sincere" among the eight steps—"investigating things, extending knowledge, making the will sincere, rectifying the mind, cultivating the person, regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world." "Making the will sincere" means "not deceiving oneself." Only through sincerity can one "assist in the creative and nurturing transformations of Heaven and Earth"; "without sincerity, there is nothing." In cultivating the Dharma, sincerity is even more essential. Among the three minds required for rebirth in the Pure Land, one is the "mind of utmost sincerity."

Practitioners of the pure karma must first be sincere with themselves, attending to the subtle movements within their own hearts. Being sincere with oneself enables one to "firmly believe that one is presently an ordinary being of evil and subject to the rounds of birth and death, having drifted through countless kalpas without the conditions for liberation." Through this recognition, one subdues self-grasping and self-arrogance, casting one's whole being upon Amitabha Buddha, yearning for rescue and deliverance. With profound faith and vow, one holds fast to the sacred name. If one can do this, one will surely resonate with Amitabha's great compassionate vow-power, receive the Buddha's empowerment, and attain rebirth with karma still remaining.

When we recite with utmost sincerity and earnestness, that becomes the faculty capable of responding. Within the Dharma realm there exists a power capable of responding—and that power is the vow-force of Amitabha's Forty-Eight Vows. This is the Dharma that responds. The "Way"—the present moment of our own mind-nature—is of one essence with the substance of Amitabha's Forty-Eight Vows. This is the profound Way, what may be called the pure Way. Through this channel of shared essence, we merge and intermingle with Amitabha's compassionate vow-power; we interact and communicate. This is what is meant by resonant communion.

When we recite the Buddha's name, the sacred name arouses within us a sense of shame, of sorrow, and of gratitude. These are all manifestations of Amitabha's vow-power revealing the wholesome force of our own nature through mind and essence. This is resonant communion. This is the ordinary, common-sense way of understanding resonant communion.

A distinctive feature of the name-recitation method is resonant communion. The "responding" here refers to the level of ordinary sentient beings. Profound faith, earnest vow, and holding the name—this is the faculty through which we can respond. Amitabha's compassionate Forty-Eight Vows constitute the Dharma that responds. The utmost sincerity of sentient beings and the already-accomplished saving power of Amitabha's great vows communicate with one another.

For ordinary beings, rebirth depends on faith and vow bringing about resonant communion. This is the correct understanding, the correct view. The patriarchs throughout the ages have all taught in this way; none of them spoke in terms of meditative attainment. Resonant communion is a profound teaching—yet it is exceedingly difficult to believe in. What is "responding"? It is the faculty through which ordinary sentient beings can respond: faith and vow. What is "correspondence"? It is Amitabha's already-accomplished great compassionate vow-power. "Communion"—the essence of our one moment of mind and the essential nature of Amitabha's compassionate heart—is non-dual, perfectly interfused, of one body. On this level we can communicate with Amitabha's mind, and thus we merge with and mutually contain one another.

When we recite with faith and vow, we enter into resonant communion with Amitabha's great vows, and the holy assembly of Amitabha comes to welcome us. Amitabha Buddha abides in the Dharma body, beyond coming and going, yet through resonant communion, though He neither comes nor goes, He comes to welcome us in person. Our consciousness likewise shows no sign of traveling, yet without traveling, it travels—the spirit-consciousness is entrusted within the lotus flower. This is what is meant by the unfathomable mystery of resonant communion.

The principal characteristic of the name-recitation method is the unfathomable mystery of resonant communion. Then, how can we attune ourselves to Amitabha's long-ago accomplished compassionate vow-power? Through faith and vow. Without faith and vow, no matter how austere our practice or how hard we try, there is simply no way.

The realm of unfathomable resonant communion is not artificially contrived; it appears naturally. At the moment of its appearance, it is like the moon reflected in water, an event within a dream, an image in a mirror. Yet regarding the moon in the water, we cannot say it exists—we cannot scoop it out; nor can we say it does not exist—it casts a shadow. Neither existent nor empty, both existent and empty simultaneously—this must be grasped, in both principle and phenomenon, as the truth of rebirth in the Pure Land.

The name-recitation method is easy—easy as turning over one's hand—because once the resonance is established, great matters are settled. Yet it is also difficult precisely in this regard: if resonance cannot be established, it is harder than reaching the heavens, and one finds no door of entry. Neither difficult nor easy; difficult and easy at once.

In the Vimalakirti Sutra, it is taught that "an upright mind is the very place of the Way." An upright mind, a simple and unadorned mind, a sincere mind—only these can approach the Way and accord with it. A mind of flattery and deceit, a false and hypocritical mind, is far from the Way. If one carries a falsified mind throughout a lifetime of cultivation, in the end it is like "a clay ox entering the sea, never to be heard from again." This is especially true in the Pure Land method. Pure karma practitioners depend upon resonant communion to receive the Buddha's empowerment and attain rebirth with karma still remaining. If this single aspiration toward rebirth is insincere, they cannot resonate with the Buddha's power.

When a virtuous person recites the Buddha's name, he or she can attain accord. If such a person but aspires in a single thought to be born in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, then at the moment of death Amitabha Buddha will certainly come to welcome him or her into the Pure Land. Why is this? It is because the heart of such a virtuous person accords with the Buddha's heart. What is the Buddha's heart? It is the great compassionate heart. A virtuous person embodies a benevolent, loving heart—a heart of kindness. When this accords with the Buddha's heart of kindness, it resonates with Amitabha's great compassionate heart, which comes forth to welcome him or her.

Without a self-power capable of responding, how could any other-power take effect upon you? From this perspective, reciting the Buddha's name involves the interaction of self-power and other-power from beginning to end—a resonance between self and other. In the most fundamental sense, self and other are non-dual; the entirety of other-power is self-power. One cannot draw a clear boundary between self-power and other-power. This is because we sentient beings are already within the Buddha's mind, and the Buddha is already within our mind—mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are all equal and undifferentiated.

When pure karma practitioners reverently bow to Amitabha Buddha with utmost sincerity through the three karmas of body, speech, and mind, they resonate with the Buddha's vow-power. The Buddha, pleased, emits light to empower them. At the moment of death, the Buddha welcomes the practitioner's consciousness to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The method of name-recitation, through the threefold wisdom of hearing, contemplation, and cultivation, resolves the matter of faith. By hearing the Dharma and the teachings of the patriarchs, one can bring forth, to the greatest extent, the wisdom inherent in one's own nature. Using this wisdom to illuminate the principle, phenomena, causes, conditions, and characteristics of the name-recitation method, one understands the unfolding of Amitabha's vow-construction and the subsequent inauguration of the vast liberation of sentient beings throughout the nine Dharma realms. Throughout the Dharma realm, the countless examples of rebirth and the manifold auspicious signs in this life and at the moment of death are all products of resonant communion.

The matter of rebirth does not depend on meditative attainment; it depends on resonance—on resonant communion. Once resonance is achieved, even if the mind is scattered and chaotic, even if one's karmic obstacles are heavy, even one who has committed the five heinous offenses and ten evil deeds can still attain rebirth with karma remaining. If resonance is not achieved, even one who has attained the first, second, third, or fourth dhyana, or the four formless absorptions, still cannot be reborn. An Arhat who has severed the cognitive and emotional afflictions, without Amitabha's compassionate welcoming, cannot reach the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

In the Sutra of Praise of the Pure Land Buddha's Reception, Master Xuanzang did not translate the phrase as "one-mind undisturbed" but rather as "single-mindedly mindful." "Single-mindedly mindful" is something still attainable at the level of karma-bound ordinary beings. It means single-heartedly keeping the Buddha's name in mind—the heart does not depart from the Buddha, and the Buddha does not depart from the heart—although scattered thoughts may still arise and a pure mind may not be reached. Yet even amid scattered thoughts, if one can firmly grasp this Buddha-name, then even within a scattered mind, possessing faith and vow in name-recitation, one can still resonate with the Buddha's power and be reborn in the Pure Land.

Many people cannot develop confidence in rebirth, thinking that rebirth absolutely requires a continuous state of meditative absorption, a pure mind, the cutting off of discriminative grasping. However, the sutras say that even those who have committed the five heinous offenses and ten evil deeds can attain rebirth—they rely on Amitabha's utmost compassion and supreme power. If we but cast our lives upon Amitabha, Amitabha will certainly grant us rebirth. The Contemplation of Amitayus Sutra presents the teaching of ten-recitation rebirth without any other conditions. One need only adorn the Buddha-name with faith and vow, and resonance is established.

Amitabha's great vow is like a great magnet radiating its force throughout the entire Dharma realm. One who does not generate the vow is like a piece of straw—this straw does not interact with the magnetic field and cannot be drawn in. Therefore, generating the vow of rebirth is like transforming that straw into a needle. This needle, aligned with the magnetic field, is effortlessly drawn in. Even a great cultivator, if he or she does not vow to seek rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, is like a piece of jade—though most precious, it cannot interact with the magnetic field, and therefore cannot attain rebirth.

When the mind that recites and the Buddha who is recited merge into one, it is like space sealing space, like water mingling with water, like mother and child reuniting. The Buddha-name, by virtue of its essential-object realm, calls forth the image-realm of our own nature. This resonance, this interaction, is truly the most profound, the most transcendent, and also the most ordinary teaching within the Dharma realm and within all learning.

As long as faith and vow are firm, even ten recitations, or a single recitation, at the moment of death will certainly enable rebirth. Without faith and vow, even if one's meditative attainment in recitation is excellent—even if one recites to the point of being invulnerable to wind and rain, like walls of silver and iron—one still cannot be reborn. Why is this? It is because whether one is reborn depends not on one's own meditative attainment, but on establishing resonance with Amitabha's long-ago accomplished great vows. When our vow as practitioners of name-recitation enters into resonant communion with Amitabha's great vows, rebirth is possible. Without resonance, absolute rebirth is impossible.

When discussing resonance, one often uses the metaphor of "the great bell awaiting the striking." A bell hangs there in place. Strike it with great force, and the sound is great; strike it with little force, and the sound is small; do not strike it at all, and there is no sound.

The compassionate power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to save us is ever-present. Whether we can receive the empowerment of this power depends on whether we possess the sincere heart capable of responding. If we have it, response is certain.

We recite the Buddha's name in order to become a Buddha, not to seek the blessings of human and heavenly realms. If the bodhicitta aspiring to Buddhahood is not generated, even though one can recite the Buddha's name, what will the outcome be? The very purpose for which Amitabha established the sacred name is to enable us to be reborn in the Pure Land and become Buddhas—and we become Buddhas in order to liberate sentient beings. Such is the inherent content within the sacred name. Therefore, the mind with which we recite must accord with the merit and virtue of the sacred name. If it does not accord, then truly "shouting until one's throat is hoarse is all in vain"—resonance cannot be established. Ah, for karma-bound ordinary beings burdened with cognitive and emotional afflictions, no matter how deep the evils they have committed, nor how great the merits they have cultivated, these have little bearing on rebirth in the Pure Land. The Pure Land method is a special method that transcends such considerations of good and evil karma. It speaks only of faith, vow, and recitation of the name. The condition for rebirth is faith, vow, and holding the name—resonating with the Buddha's power.

Rebirth does not depend on meditative attainment; it depends on the welcoming power of Amitabha's vows. How does this welcoming power manifest in us? Through faith, vow, and recitation of the name. That is, faith, vow, and recitation constitute the faculty that can respond; Amitabha's welcoming is the Dharma that responds. In this way, rebirth is attained.

We should constantly set the suffering of the Saha World in vivid contrast with the bliss of the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Through recognition of the manifold sufferings of the Saha World, we arouse a mind of weariness and detachment. Through recognition of the peace, happiness, and freedom of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, we arouse a mind of joyful longing. If the vow-mind of weary detachment from the Saha World and joyful seeking of the Pure Land is established, then relying on this vow-mind one can be reborn. It is because this single thought of vow precisely enters into resonant communion with Amitabha's great vow to gather in sentient beings and bring them to rebirth in the Pure Land.

When a habit becomes second nature, even our own minds of flattery and hypocrisy can deceive us. Many practitioners of name-recitation diligently recite in daily life and feel that they are earnestly seeking rebirth with profound faith and vow. Yet at the moment of death, they do not wish to board Amitabha's great vow-ship. Only then do they realize how deep their attachments to the mundane world remain.

Practitioners of the pure karma must first accomplish what is called "dedication toward going"—meaning that all recitation of the Buddha's name, all sutra-chanting, and all varieties of merit should be dedicated toward rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. At the same time, there must also be "dedication toward returning"—meaning that upon reaching the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss and seeing Amitabha Buddha, one must return once more to this sea of birth and death, this dense forest of afflictions, to rescue sentient beings. The integration of these two dedications—toward going and toward returning—accomplishes the great compassionate heart, and makes resonance and communion with Amitabha's vows all the easier.