..續本文上一頁 practical realities and swift self-emancipation, leading to the fruits of the Arhats or Pratyeka Buddhas. The Northern tradition (Mahayana, or Great Vehicle) teaches all-encompassing truths and stresses the goal of liberating all sentient beings, leading to the complete Enlightenment of the Tathagatas. Pure Land is a Mahayana teaching and therefore is not only directed toward the goal of self- enlightenment, but stresses the enlightenment of others at the same time.

　　When Buddhism spread to China [around the first century A. D.], it evolved, through the teachings of the Patriarchs, into ten schools. Among them are two schools which belong to the Southern (Theravada) tradition, the Satysiddhi School and the Abhidharma School. However, the faculties and temperament of the Chinese people did not correspond to the Southern tradition, and, therefore, within a short period of time it faded away. The other eight schools, are all Mahayana: the T”ien T”ai (Tendai) School, the Avatamsaka School, the Madyamika (Three Treatises) School, the Mind- Only (Yogacara) School, the Vinaya (Discipline) School, the Zen School, the Esoteric School and the Pure Land School. The vehicle for popularizing the Pure Land School is the Buddha Recitation method.

　　Pure Land being a Mahayana teaching, if the practitioner, in addition, develops the Supreme Bodhi Mind, m ind and method will be perfect. This leads to Buddhahood, which encompasses both “self-benefit” and “other benefit.” If he recites the Buddha”s name seeking rebirth in the celestial or human realms, Buddha Recitation becomes a celestial or human method. A practitioner who develops such a m ind will receive only the blessings of the celestial or human realms. When such blessings are exhausted, he will sink into a lower realm. If the practitioner is interested first and foremost in self-enlightenment, he will receive only the less exalted, incomplete fruits of the Sravakas and Pratyeka Buddhas.

　　Therefore, when reciting the Buddha”s name, we should develop the supreme Bodhi Mind. There is a saying, “if you are off by a thousandth of an inch, you are off by a thousand miles.” This being the case, Pure Land practitioners should pay particular attention to developing a proper Bodhi Mind.

　　The Practices of the Bodhi Mind

　　3) How to Develop the Bodhi Mind

　　Awakening the Bodhi Mind, as indicated earlier, can be summarized in the four Bodhisattva vows:

　　Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them all; Afflictions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them all; Dharma doors are boundless, I vow to master them all; Buddhahood is unsurpassable, I vow to attain it.

　　However, it is not enough simply to say “I have developed the Bodhi Mind,” or to recite the above verses every day. To rea ly develop the Bodhi Mind, the practitioner should, in his cultivation, meditate on and act in accordance with the essence of the vows. There are cultivators, clergy and lay people alike, who, each day, after reciting the sutras and the Buddha”s name, kneel down to read the transference verses: “I wish to rid myself of the three obstructions and sever afflictions…” However, their actual behavior is different: today they are greedy, tomorrow they become angry

　　and bear grudges, the day after tomorrow it is delusion and laziness, the day after that it is belittling, criticizing and slandering others. The next day they are involved in arguments and disputes, leading to sadness and resentment on both sides. Under these circumstances, how can they rid themselves of the three obstructions and sever afflictions

　　In general, most of us merely engage in external forms of cultivation, while paying lip service to “opening the mind.” Thus, the fires of greed, anger and delusion continue to flare up, preventing us from tasting the pure an…

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