Venerable Master Da’an’s Collected Teachings: Diligent Pure Land Cultivation

The Dharma is lived as it is taught, and taught as it is lived. A foot of talk is worth less than an inch of practice. It all comes down to how you practice: the Dharma only becomes real when you put it into action.

When a Pure Land practitioner encounters the Pure Land Dharma gate, they should immediately devote themselves to reciting the Buddha’s name with diligence. Ponder this: how much time do we really have in this life? Life flashes by like a spark struck from flint, or a flash of lightning—gone in the blink of an eye. While we are still healthy and whole, we should gather up our body and mind, cast aside all worldly affairs, and recite the Buddha’s name for every day we are given, and practice Pure Land cultivation for every spare moment we have. If we put this off, we will be caught off guard and overwhelmed when the end of our life comes, and regret will be of no use.

Anyone who truly seeks to escape the cycle of birth and death needs a courage that sets them apart: the willingness to stand alone, unafraid of others’ misunderstanding, disdain, or mockery. As a Pure Land practitioner seeking rebirth in the Pure Land, you must be willing to step to the margins, to let the world sideline you. Especially when your worldly career is at its peak, you must have the courage to step back while you are ahead, to quiet your life down, and to focus wholeheartedly on reciting the Buddha’s name. This is the spirit you need!

There is nothing wrong with a practitioner falling ill. Sickness is a process of burning off karmic obstacles; we can use the pain of illness as good medicine. Suffering makes us feel remorse for our past actions, and turns our minds away from the world’s attachments. The nature of illness is ultimately empty. If we use our sickness to vow for rebirth in the Pure Land, we can transform our ordinary karmic retribution body into the Buddha’s body. To take the eight sufferings as our teacher—these words are truly apt.

Contemplate the impermanence of life. Each of us must remember that death could come for us at any moment; we may never reach seventy or eighty, may never pass away peacefully in our sleep. Karmic force is unfathomable, which is why ancient practitioners felt such urgency in the face of death. As the old saying goes: “I take off my shoes and socks tonight, not knowing if I’ll be here to put them on tomorrow.” When we lie down to sleep tonight, we have no guarantee we will wake up tomorrow.

Even when you are surrounded by afflictions, if you can hold fast to the Buddha’s name, that is exactly the metaphor Master Shandao used: between a river of water and a river of fire, there is a narrow white path, only four or five inches wide. But as long as you recite the Buddha’s name single-mindedly, you are walking on that path. With the Buddha’s power supporting you, you can cross the river of greedy desire and the river of hatred, moving from the shore of this saha world to the other shore of nirvana: the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The metaphor of the white path between the two rivers of water and fire—if we reflect on its meaning often, it will strengthen our confidence in rebirth in the Pure Land. We especially have the promise of the two world-honored Buddhas—of our world and the Pure Land—to rely on. Don’t be afraid of deep-seated afflictions, don’t fear demonic obstacles. As long as we rely on the blessings and support of these two Buddhas, we can transcend all such hindrances.

Master Shaokang is known as the “Shandao of later times.” In his early years, he did not focus exclusively on Pure Land practice; he studied both the Chan school and the doctrinal teachings. One day, while he was in the main hall, he saw a scroll of text glowing with light. On closer inspection, he found it was Master Shandao’s Guide to the Pure Land for Guiding Sentient Beings. He silently prayed: if I have a karmic connection to the Pure Land, may this text glow once more. The moment he finished his prayer, the light shone again. Deeply moved, he made a vow never to change his course, and devoted himself solely to Pure Land practice.

Master Ouyi himself advocated counting one’s recitations. In one of his teachings, he said: “We should count our recitations, aiming for thirty thousand, fifty thousand, seventy thousand, or even one hundred thousand per day.” Ancient practitioners truly had an urgent mind to escape the cycle of birth and death—they practiced with complete sincerity. Thirty thousand is the minimum standard Master Ouyi set. In our busy modern world, ten thousand recitations a day is a reasonable minimum. But for monastics and retirees, the minimum should be thirty thousand; the more you recite, the better.

Master Yinguang once said: “Do you believe in the Pure Land Dharma gate? Don’t ask anyone else. Even if no one in the entire world believed in it, you must still believe! You need the spirit of ‘even if ten thousand people stand in my way, I will still move forward; not a thousand oxen could pull me back.’” If you have this kind of confidence, you will need to let go of all worldly affairs, let go of the mind that chases after the five desires and six sensory dusts, redirect your mental energy toward cultivating virtue, and devote your entire life to diligent, unwavering effort. Then you’ll attain true eternal life, merge into the inherent stillness of your true nature, and reach the state of non-birth and non-death.

For those of sharp capacity and keen faculties, when they hear that the Buddha’s path is long and arduous, they do not feel discouraged; instead, they see this path as a rare and precious opportunity, and practice with vigorous, unrelenting effort. To hear that the Buddha’s path is long and not lose heart—this is only possible for those who have awakened bodhicitta, the mind of awakening. Those who have not yet aroused bodhicitta will certainly feel afraid and want to give up.

How do you practice the steady, unglamorous work of foundational cultivation? Read and recite the scriptures every day. When you recite, do not add your own speculative thinking—just recite clearly, and listen clearly. Copy the scriptures: copy the five Pure Land sutras over and over, each stroke neat and precise, every character written with care. Bow to the five Pure Land sutras, bowing to each individual character one by one, three or five times over. Then focus on reciting the Buddha’s name well: ten thousand, thirty thousand recitations a day. Repeat this practice, over and over, without cease.

What blocks our practice? The first two “demon armies” are drowsiness and scattered thoughts. If a practitioner can’t overcome these two obstacles, they’ll make no progress in their practice for their entire life, and may even regress. So you have to push yourself to wage war against your habitual afflictions, and strive wholeheartedly to overcome drowsiness and scattered thoughts.

When you recite the Buddha’s name, you must overcome these two obstacles of drowsiness and scattered thoughts. Once you break through them, you’ll attain the joy of the Dharma. If you feel drowsy as soon as you start reciting, foggy-brained, unable to hear clearly what you’re saying, that’s drowsiness. If scattered thoughts arise, your mind flies off in a hundred directions, swept along by random thoughts—you may be mouthing “Amitabha Buddha” while your mind is somewhere else entirely. All of these must be overcome.

There are many ways to interpret the state of “single-minded, undivided attention.” According to the Tiantai school, this state falls into two levels: phenomenal-level single-mindedness, and principle-level single-mindedness. Phenomenal-level single-mindedness is attained when you hold fast to the Buddha’s name and are able to subdue and eliminate the delusions of views and thought. Principle-level single-mindedness is attained when you continue to hold the Buddha’s name and are able to break through fundamental ignorance.

Master Lianchi had the bearing of a virtuous elder, with an urgent mind to escape birth and death. He was the foremost of the four great Chan masters of the late Ming dynasty. When he was young, he wrote the four words “the matter of life and death is of utmost importance” on his desk. He ordained when he was middle-aged, studied both the Chan and doctrinal schools in depth, focused exclusively on the Pure Land path, integrated the teachings of all schools, emphasized the precepts, and studied the sutra teachings his entire life, devoting himself solely to reciting the six-character great name [of Amitabha Buddha]. Half a month before his passing, he foresaw the time of his death, bid farewell to his lay Dharma protectors, and gave his final instruction: “Recite the Buddha’s name with sincerity, and do not change the focus of your practice.”

If you only accumulate learning without applying yourself to mental cultivation, you will inevitably fall prey to demonic obstacles. In the Shurangama Sutra, even Venerable Ananda, who was foremost in hearing and learning the Dharma, could not avoid the trial of Matangi’s daughter. Venerable Ananda grieved and regretted that he had only focused on learning, without cultivating his mind; his spiritual power was incomplete, and this very situation is what gave rise to the teaching of the great Shurangama Dharma. So those who love to amass knowledge and have sharp memories would do well to take Venerable Ananda as a cautionary example, and recite the Buddha’s name to seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Of all offerings, the Dharma offering is the highest. Of the six kinds of Dharma offerings, the first is the offering of practicing in accordance with the Dharma. So if we generate faith from the Sutra of Amitabha Buddha, awaken the great vow [for rebirth in the Pure Land], and hold the Buddha’s name with sincerity, we will receive the protection and blessings of all the Buddhas of the ten directions. Sakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha, smiling radiantly from the Land of Eternal Stillness and Light, will bless and support us, so that we may attain full perfection in this very life.

Many people who study the scriptures say they feel energized and fully immersed when they read the sutras, but as soon as they start reciting the Buddha’s name, they feel drowsy and want to sleep. This is a sign of deeply ingrained karmic obstacles! The relationship between reciting the Buddha’s name and reading the scriptures is like this: reading the scriptures is like reading a prescription, reciting the Buddha’s name is like taking the medicine. If you are eager to read the prescription but refuse to take the medicine, how can you ever be cured?

“Whether you attain rebirth or not depends entirely on whether you have faith and vow; the level of your rebirth depends entirely on the depth of your recitation.” Faith and vow belong to the realm of prajna wisdom, while holding the Buddha’s name is the core of proper practice. Faith and vow are like eyes that set your destination; reciting the name is like feet that carry you there. Only when eyes and feet work in tandem can you reach the jeweled treasure land. Faith, vow, and recitation are all indispensable; none can be left out.

If you have truly developed a deep love and longing for the Western Pure Land, you will inevitably feel a strong desire to go there. If you have this desire, you will naturally turn to reciting the Buddha’s name. If you claim to love the Pure Land but do not feel this desire, it is not true love at all. If you long for the Pure Land but do not recite the Buddha’s name, it is not true longing either. These three—love, desire, and practice—are inextricably linked. True love always gives rise to true desire, and true desire always leads to true practice.

To accomplish rebirth in the Pure Land, devote every moment of your life to this goal. Even if you have to practice with diligence and effort your entire life, compared to the endless eons of samsara, that entire lifetime is but a flicker of the fingers. To complete the great task of escaping birth and death in the space of a single finger-snap is more than worth it. You must see this clearly!

The Five Practices established by Bodhisattva Vasubandhu in his Treatise on Rebirth in the Pure Land form the core of proper Pure Land practice. First, the practice of bodily homage: bowing exclusively to Amitabha Buddha. Second, the practice of verbal praise: reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name exclusively. Third, the practice of mental contemplation: visualizing exclusively the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss and all its perfect, majestic features. Fourth, the practice of vow: dedicating all the merit from the previous practices to the vow for rebirth in the Pure Land. Fifth, the practice of transfer of merit: transferring merit not only to the Pure Land, but also vowing to return to the Land of Ultimate Bliss after rebirth to guide all sentient beings to liberation.

Why did Master Chewu practice the Pure Land Dharma gate with such single-minded devotion? Because he had studied every school and tradition, he summed up his realization in two lines: “I have pondered every worldly and transcendental teaching, who else is there to recite but Amitabha Buddha?” After engaging with all worldly philosophies and classics, as well as all transcendental Buddhist teachings, his final conclusion was simple: there is nothing but reciting “Namo Amituofo”!

Every Pure Land practitioner should practice five exclusive practices: When you practice physical homage, bow only to Amitabha Buddha. When you practice verbal praise, recite only Amitabha Buddha’s name. When you practice scriptural recitation, recite only the five Pure Land sutras. When you practice visualization, visualize only the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss and all its majestic features. When you practice offering, offer only to the Western Three Sages [Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, and Mahasthamaprapta].

“A single mind contains all Ten Realms.” An ordinary being’s thoughts always land in one realm or another: if they do not fall into the realm of the Four Holy Ones, they will certainly fall into the realm of the Six Ordinary Beings; if they do not fall into the Three Good Realms, they will certainly fall into the Three Evil Realms. Only by reciting the Buddha’s name can we abide in the Buddha’s realm.

Ask yourselves honestly: how much of the day do you actually keep the Buddha’s name in your mind? How much of the day is taken up by thoughts of the five desires and six sensory dusts? From this, you can tell whether you are truly practicing, or just paying lip service to the Dharma. Remembering the Buddha and reciting his name must permeate every moment of your day, every day of your year, from birth until the end of your life.

Contemplating death means being prepared for it at all times. But without a certain degree of mental cultivation, it is very hard not to fear death. Our deep-seated attachment to the self and the body, our clinging to life and terror of death, is more deeply rooted than we can even imagine! When our life is in danger, the very first thought that arises is often “How can I survive?” So we must practice reciting the Buddha’s name diligently in ordinary times, training ourselves in every way, so that we will not be caught off guard, panicked and calling out for our parents, when the end of our life comes or when disaster strikes.

The chapters on the lowest and second-lowest levels of rebirth in the Sutra of Visualizing Amitabha Buddha reveal the utmost compassion of Amitabha Buddha. But we must not use this compassion as an excuse to be lax, or as a shield to excuse our evil deeds. What is ambrosia in itself can turn to poison if we misinterpret it in this way. When a being who has committed evil deeds meets a wise teacher at the end of their life, this is no accident: it is the fruit of the good roots they planted in past lives. Through the intense suffering of the dying process, the seed of Pure Land practice is stirred awake, and a wise teacher who teaches the recitation of the Buddha’s name is led to their side. If they had no such good roots, how could a teacher of rebirth in the Pure Land appear at this critical juncture, and the dying person immediately believe and accept the teaching the moment they hear it? Such cases are rarer than one in ten thousand!

When an evil person is on their deathbed and the realms of hell appear before them, if they recite Amitabha Buddha’s name with a mind of fear and remorse, it is like a soldier surrounded on all sides by enemy troops: their only chance of survival is to break through the lines, cut a path through bloodshed, to save their own life. It is like burning your boats and smashing your cooking pots after crossing a river—there is no path of retreat, so all attachment is cast aside. When they recite the Buddha’s name with their whole being in this way—“the entire mind is the Buddha, the entire Buddha is the mind”—they can tap into the power of Amitabha Buddha’s great compassionate vow. The hell realms transform into lotus flowers, and they are reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Why do we practice in community? If you practice alone at home, all kinds of laziness and laxity tend to arise. But in a group practice setting, everyone keeps watch over, encourages, and exhorts each other; this is what we mean by relying on the Sangha, depending on the community. Practicing together in a Dharma center, nourished by the collective practice of the group, is extremely beneficial.

We humans take suffering as pleasure, unable to stir even a single thought of wanting to escape the cycle of rebirth. We cannot let go of so many attachments. What is even more tragic is that we do not even recognize the bonds of the afflictions that have bound us since birth. As the old saying goes, “the human mind is precarious, the mind of the Dao is subtle and easily lost.” To act and create karmic causes while immersed in the darkness of ignorance is extremely dangerous. So we must repeatedly study and absorb the teachings of the ancestral masters. Above all, recite the Buddha’s name with sincerity, settle this sacred name firmly within our ordinary, deluded views, and use it to transform our ordinary views into the Buddha’s wisdom.

The Twentieth Vow [of Amitabha Buddha] centers on the effort of reciting the Buddha’s name. It teaches that we should practice diligently without abandoning the broader path of Buddhist teachings, and dedicate all the merit from this practice in hopes of enhancing the level of our rebirth in the Pure Land.

How can we cut through such deep attachment? Even after we have severed it, we must make our aspiration to recite the Buddha’s name and seek rebirth in the Pure Land as solid and unbreakable as cast iron, unmoved by any force. We must break free from the iron net of samsara in this Five Turbid Evil World like a warrior breaking through enemy lines. This requires real backbone!

To be born into this rare human body in this life, to encounter this rare and precious Dharma, and this profound, hard-to-believe Pure Land gate—these three “rarities” stacked together make this path extremely arduous. Even Sakyamuni Buddha sighed with emotion, saying, “Of all difficult things, none is more difficult than this.” Reading these words in the sutra, I sometimes feel a deep sorrow: it truly is that difficult. Not to mention how few people hear of the Pure Land, believe in it, and take up recitation in earnest. Even among those who have heard of the Pure Land Dharma, how many recite the Buddha’s name with true sincerity? And even those who do may hold impure views, or think they know better, and end up regressing in their practice.

Practice is nothing more than working to overcome your own afflictions, waging war against your own delusions. It is like putting on armor and going into battle alone against ten thousand enemies; it takes the courage of a warrior facing a duel. You can’t be cowardly and desert the field when you face your afflictions, nor can you be defeated the moment you clash with them.

If we hold our attention to the four immeasurables—loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity—and fix it on the pure name of Amitabha Buddha, the longer we sustain this focus, the stronger its power becomes. This naturally leads to rebirth in the Land of Bliss; this is what we call perfuming—the habitual cultivation of the mind. The entire path of practice, the very act of doing the work, is the process of perfuming the mind.

The full merit of Amitabha Buddha’s three bodies—his Dharma body, reward body, and transformation body—dwells within our own mind. When we are about to commit a wrong act, the Buddha warns us; when we are about to do good, the Buddha encourages us. This very mind we inhabit is so full of dignity! Our connection to Amitabha is this intimate. Only this intimate bond is submerged beneath our afflictions and discriminative thinking. This is why we must turn to Buddha-recitation to bring this connection to light.

The mind is made up of thoughts. When it runs wild, the boundless, inexhaustible treasure we are inherently endowed with cannot come to light. Only by cutting through the unending stream of discriminative consciousness can we hold all of creation, and allow the three karmic actions of body, speech, and mind to follow wisdom. Buddha-recitation is like a mighty elephant cutting through a rushing stream, severing the flow of deluded thought.

When Master Sheng’an was 48 years old, he told many of his disciples, “I will pass away and be reborn in the Pure Land on the 14th of April next year.” The next year, he announced to the assembly that the time for his rebirth in the Pure Land had arrived. Throughout his life, the Master recited the Buddha-name with utmost sincerity, and had fully realized the true reality of no coming or going, no birth or death. His aspiration for rebirth in the Pure Land was deeply earnest. He led by example, practicing the single method of Buddha-recitation with diligence, and ultimately fulfilled his Pure Land practice long before his expected passing.

The practice of walking and reciting the Buddha-name day and night is rooted in the principles of the Sutra of the Buddha’s Discourse on the Infinite Life. It is a slightly challenging but accessible practice: walking continuously for 24 hours while reciting the Buddha-name. Years of experience with this practice have shown it to be remarkably effective. Since this method pushes beyond the ordinary physical and mental limits of sentient beings, during these 24 hours of walking recitation, if you can stay free of drowsiness, recite each Buddha-name clearly, and hear each one distinctly, you can dissolve karmic obstacles and open wisdom.

It is easy to fall into the habit of thinking this Dharma gate is sublime, that one is sublime, and jump from practicing one today to another tomorrow. This undermines the power of the concentrated perfuming that comes from exclusive Buddha-recitation. We recite again and again, billions and billions of times, all to perfect the very last thought we hold at the moment of death.

Every day of practice should include time for prostrating to the Buddha. On one hand, this practice subdues our arrogance; on the other, from a worldly standpoint, it is also an excellent form of physical exercise: the mind is still, the body is in motion, and both body and mind remain healthy and at peace. In the Song Dynasty, there was a great lay practitioner named Wang Longshu, who performed 1,000 full prostrations to the Buddha every day. In the end, he left this world standing upright, and was reborn in the Pure Land.

The practice of Buddha-recitation is also a process of perfuming. We use the Buddha-name to perfume a seed that yearns to escape the mundane world and attain joy free from suffering. We use the Buddha-name, which is true thusness and our original nature, to perfume the alaya-vijnana (storehouse consciousness), turning it into a seed of Pure Land karma. When this seed matures and manifests as karmic action at the moment of death, rebirth in the Land of Bliss can happen in an instant. This is why we must all practice with diligence and consistency, perfuming our Pure Land practice and nourishing this seed of Buddha-recitation within us.

In the Land of Bliss, each Buddha-reciter has a lotus flower marked with their name, growing in the jeweled ponds there. If we practice Buddha-recitation diligently, this lotus grows larger and larger, its radiance growing ever more brilliant. If we grow lazy, the lotus will wither; if we even lose faith and regress in our practice, the lotus will wither completely. This lotus is directly linked to the quality of our thoughts and the consistency of our practice. At the moment of death, it is this very lotus that comes to guide our consciousness to rebirth in the Western Land of Bliss.

In the human realm, it is easy to set one’s sights on the goal of attaining nirvana. Human beings have strong willpower, and can endure austere practice. Take Mahakasyapa, for example: he was able to let go of everything, concentrate all his energy on overcoming the two fundamental delusions (delusion of views and delusion of thought), and in this very life attained liberation, cutting off these delusions and escaping the three realms. This is why all Buddhas appear in the human realm to teach the Dharma, and never in the heavenly realms: the human body is precious, and human life is the finest opportunity for spiritual practice.

Many things fail to succeed simply because of half-hearted, inconsistent effort—like leaving a seed out in the sun for one day then storing it in the cold for ten, or fishing for three days then leaving the nets to dry for two, slacking off and letting the mind wander. If this kind of attitude cannot even lead to success in worldly affairs, how much less can it lead to success on the transcendent path of spiritual practice?

Doing bad things in dreams shows that the karmic seeds of our afflictions and habitual tendencies are still very strong. Sometimes we cannot control ourselves even during the day, and end up committing unwholesome deeds. So how do we transform these negative karmic seeds of habit? The only way is to recite the name “Amitabha Buddha” again and again, as much as possible. The name of Amitabha Buddha is true thusness; through true thusness we perfume and transform ignorance. If we do not recite the Buddha-name, what we are perfuming are instead the five desires and six dusts of the mundane world, and our ignorant karmic consciousness grows only darker and more entrenched.

If we practice Buddha-recitation with faith and aspiration in our daily lives, and our practice bears fruit, we can foreknow the time of our rebirth. To foreknow the time of rebirth means that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will reveal to the Buddha-reciter, either in meditative contemplation or in a dream, exactly when they will be reborn in the Pure Land. In the Record of the Sages and Worthies of the Pure Land, many practitioners who had attained results in their practice were able to know the exact day of their rebirth, and would tell others, “Come see me off when that time comes.” They could foreknow their departure three days, seven days, a month, or even longer in advance.

What should you do if you feel drowsy during practice? Use walking meditation to counteract it: walk while reciting the Buddha-name. You can also perform prostrations to the Buddha; movement of this kind can counteract drowsiness. Above all, do not sit down—sitting only makes you more comfortable, and you will end up sleeping rather than reciting the Buddha.

Human beings need challenges: it is only in the process of facing and overcoming difficulties that we can unlock our latent potential, and grow stronger in the face of adversity. A blade is only sharpened on a rough whetstone; gold is only purified in raging fire. So when we find ourselves in hardship, surrounded by hostile people and difficult circumstances, staying calm and responding with equanimity will help us grow all the more.

Many people find reading scriptures deeply engaging, but the moment they start reciting the Buddha-name, they find it dull and tedious, and start to doze off. As a result, they go all day without reciting the Buddha-name. But without Buddha-recitation, it is hard to receive the Buddha’s power and blessings; without that support, it is almost impossible to truly understand the Pure Land Dharma gate. In fact, being able to believe in the Pure Land teaching, understand it, spread it, or even follow Dharma teachings with understanding—all of this is the result of the Buddha’s power and blessings. Without that support, we would be utterly at a loss.

Once we have set our intention on rebirth in the Pure Land, we must vow: “For the rest of this life, I will recite the Buddha-name and seek rebirth in the Pure Land.” As we engage in various practices, we must not waver, and keep only the goal of rebirth in the Pure Land before us.

Buddhist scriptures often use the parable of the blind turtle and the yoke to illustrate how rare it is to obtain a human body: A blind turtle in the ocean surfaces once every hundred years. Floating on the vast ocean is a wooden yoke with a single hole in it. The turtle, which only sticks its head out once a century, happens to poke its head exactly through the hole in the yoke. What are the odds of this happening? Gaining a human body is even more rare.

Confucius once said, “To learn and to practice what one has learned, often and consistently.” “Learning” here refers to awakening; “practicing what one has learned often and consistently” means taking the truths we have awakened to and putting them into action, while repeatedly reinforcing them through sustained practice. “Practice” is the very process of cultivation. All of us carry many habitual afflictions. To transform these habits, to shift our views, we must repeatedly and consistently work to overcome our afflictions, eliminate selfish desires, and allow the path of sincerity and wisdom to come to light.

If we contemplate the suffering of the hell realms, we will naturally set our mind on diligent practice, for if we do not practice, we will end up there. In fact, why do we instinctively avoid looking at depictions of hellish suffering? On some level, we may already know: this is likely where we are headed, where we will ultimately end up. It is just like how people avoid talking about death, even though death is certain to come. This is why we should still make a point of reading accounts of hellish suffering: a wholesome fear will arise in our minds.

Of the six paramitas, generosity, moral discipline, and patience are the three that accumulate merit and blessings. The fourth paramita is diligent effort. Once we have accumulated a sufficient amount of merit and blessings, if we wish to attain transcendent, supramundane merit, we must turn to meditation and wisdom. It is impossible to succeed in cultivating meditation and wisdom without diligence. After arousing the bodhicitta (the mind of awakening), the most essential qualities are diligence and heedfulness.

We should rid ourselves of all lazy, half-hearted thoughts, and recite the Buddha-name with sincerity and steadfastness. It’s no small feat to truly sustain recitation of a single Buddha-name! We are filled with random thoughts, always looking for an excuse to quit, like a deserter. If we were at home with no one to hold us accountable, we would have given in to laziness long ago. Our karmic obstacles are far too heavy, which is why we rely on group practice: being in a community where everyone keeps an eye on each other, no one feels comfortable slacking off. If we can grit our teeth and recite, and recite, and recite, until we find our stride and our hearts are filled with the joy of the Dharma, we will find we can’t stop even if we wanted to, and will naturally practice on our own accord.

Aim to recite at least 10,000 times a day, or 30,000, or 50,000—the more the better. Why do we place so much emphasis on quantity? Because reciting the Buddha-name in large numbers gradually purifies our defiled, clouded minds. This is the real work of practice. Buddha-recitation requires real effort, and we must strive to do this work, for only then can we subdue our active, present afflictions, and at the moment of death, foreknow the time of our rebirth and remain clear and calm, without confusion.

If we arouse a sincere mind, hold faith and aspiration, and practice Buddha-recitation, a lotus flower marked with our name will immediately bloom in the seven-jeweled pool of eight-merit water in the Western Land of Bliss. If we keep reciting the Buddha-name consistently, that lotus will grow increasingly radiant, and larger and larger. But the moment we slack off and stop reciting, turning back to the five desires and six dusts of the mundane world, our practice is severed. Once severed, that lotus will wither away.

Some people visit a monastery, see that monastics rise at 4 a.m. every day, have no television to watch, no newspapers to read, are not allowed to visit each other’s quarters freely, and keep to this schedule all year round, and think the monastics must have a very hard life. But for true practitioners who are determined to escape the cycle of birth and death, this way of living is the greatest possible gift. Without it, it is almost impossible to attain spiritual realization. On the surface it may seem harsh, but in reality it is the cause of ultimate, lasting peace and joy.

When it comes to allocating time between Buddha-recitation and studying the scriptures and teachings, Master Yinguang once proposed a “nine to one” ratio: nine parts of the day for reciting the Buddha-name, one part for studying the teachings. But this guideline was likely intended for those with sharp, capable faculties. For ordinary practitioners, if you have a strong love for the sutras and want to deepen your understanding to strengthen your faith and aspiration, a “three to seven” split works as well: three parts for in-depth study of the teachings, seven parts for Buddha-recitation. In any case, the bulk of your time should be spent reciting the Buddha-name.

Master Sheng’an taught that if we prioritize trivial worldly good deeds over the urgent practice of Buddha-recitation, or prioritize heavenly and human blessings over the great matter of escaping birth and death, we simply do not grasp the order of priorities: what is important and what is trivial, what is urgent and what can wait. Rebirth in the Western Pure Land is no small matter. It cannot be attained through casual, scattered good deeds, nor can the endless cycle of birth and death across eons be escaped through complacency and laziness. Impermanence moves swiftly; it can arrive by evening or by morning. We must urgently attend to the great task of reciting the Buddha-name and seeking rebirth in the Pure Land.

The Buddha earnestly warned practitioners: “Those who love to amass knowledge and chase after teachings will find it hard to meet the Way. Those who hold fast to their aspiration and follow the Way will find it infinitely vast.” Cultivation of the path must involve working on the mind, but most people love to amass knowledge and memorize vast numbers of scriptures. If they have no direct, personal experience of the nature of mind, studying all these texts is like counting someone else’s money! If we only focus on the words and language of the scriptures, and fail to develop our own mind-nature, this supreme, unexcelled path will be almost impossible to truly realize. Only by following the teachings and putting them into practice, developing our inherent Buddha-nature, can the ultimate, vast path as boundless as space come to light.

The patriarchs often taught that if a person could bring the same drive they have for pursuing sensual pleasure or profit to their Buddha-recitation, they would attain the samadhi of Buddha-recitation in no time at all. But the drive people have for sensual pleasure and profit is usually very strong; ask them to recite the Buddha-name, and after a few recitations they will complain of being tired, their back aches, their mouth is dry—they have no motivation, their resolve to escape the cycle of birth and death is not urgent at all!

Practice means moving against the current of afflictions, so of course it seems difficult and painful in ordinary terms. Worldly people think spiritual practice is hard, but they have no idea that slacking off and letting the mind wander is far more painful! They may enjoy the few decades of life they have, but after death they will fall into the three lower realms, cycling through suffering for eon after eon, all because they sought comfort for a single lifetime and did not diligently pursue the path. For beings in the Dharma-ending age, not practicing means certain downfall: there is no middle path, no third option, only advance or fall back.

Life hangs by a breath; impermanence can arrive at any moment. This is why we must hold every day, every hour, every thought as if it were our final moment of life. Only when we live this way can we be said to have a truly urgent resolve to escape the cycle of birth and death.

Practicing the path in this saha world also has its own unique virtue. One day and night of practice here is worth a hundred years of practice in the Land of Bliss. Why is this? Because practice in this world is extremely difficult. Being able to practice at all in such a hard place is truly rare and precious. It is precisely because it is hard that it is so valuable.