Practice
312 articles in category.
Professor Lin Chongan: Q&A on the Āgama
The term "Āgama" (also rendered by the alternate Chinese transliteration 阿笈摩, Āqímó) is the foundational body of teachings transmitted by Śākyamuni Buddha. At the First Council held the year after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, four collectio...
ReadYou Must Cultivate This Inner Ideal and Purpose
If we don’t practice, it’s hard to grasp the full depth of Master Tiantai Zhi’s teaching on not sparing one’s life for the Dharma. But if you’re truly committed to the path of practice, you must build a foundation of pure merit even as y...
ReadDivine Foot Power Has Three Types
This divine foot power is the supernatural ability that enables free, unobstructed travel to any place one desires.
ReadMaster 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 mo...
ReadCollected Sayings of Master Da'an — The Three Grades and Nine Levels of Rebirth
The Contemplation Sutra on Amitayus (Sutra of the Visualization of the Buddha of Infinite Life) discusses the conditions for rebirth in the highest grade as the study and recitation of the great Mahayana scriptures, and the realization o...
ReadHow vast is the range of the Trichiliocosm?
To understand this sutra, one must first grasp the concept of a Buddha-land. When texts refer to hundreds of billions of Buddha-lands, you must first understand what a single Buddha-land is: a trichiliocosm, the realm taught and guided b...
ReadIn the Eyes of the Buddha, All Sentient Beings Are Buddhas; There Is No Mark of Sentient Beings to Be Grasped
We ordinary beings are entirely mired in delusion and confusion. Whatever we perceive and understand manifests through the lens of our unenlightened minds. When looking at Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and all sentient beings, we see only ordin...
ReadTreat Samsara as a Mundane Everyday Matter, Take Liberation as a Trivial Matter
“The people of this world are shallow and vulgar, all competing over trivial, non-urgent matters,” this saying sums up the ever-intensifying state of the Five Defilements in the Saha World.
ReadDo Not Hate Evil People
There are many people in this world whom we consider to be evil, yet every one of them has a kind side. They only ever show their cruel side to you. What should we do about these people? We must not repay evil with evil, nor answer viole...
ReadMaster Shandao's Two Kinds of Deep Faith
Master Shandao inherited the Pure Land thought of Tanluan and Daochuo, fusing it with the enlightenment he himself had attained through Pure Land practice. He authored the Five Works in Nine Fascicles, elaborating a system of Lotus Schoo...
ReadWhy Is Reciting the Buddha's Name the Most Supreme Among All Repentance Practices?
Let us contemplate the immeasurable eons we have spent trapped in samsara: our body, speech, and mind have been driven by greed, hatred, and delusion, giving rise to boundless evil karma. If this karma had physical volume, it would be to...
ReadWhat Does the Bardo Body Look Like?
The bardo body looks much like the deceased did while alive—similar in appearance, and it also possesses the six sense faculties, just like this five-year-old child here. There's a saying that when it walks, it moves like a fashion model...
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