Notes
by Van Hien Study Group
1. Sundry good/ bad actions : In t he Meditation Sutra, good actions are pided into pure and sundry actions. Sundry good actions are those that require effort and are carried out with an expectation of benefit, merits or virtues. Pure actions are those which are performed in order to transcend Birth and Death, namely, meditation, visualization or Buddha Recitation. Sundry bad actions are actions influenced by impure thoughts. (Master Suddhisukha) Sundry thoughts : deluded, impure thoughts.
2. Parable: In a time long past. Maitreya was in his incarnation as a laughing, big- bellied monk with a sack perpetua ly on his back. He used to travel about the countryside seeking alms and sharing them with whom-ever happened to be nearby. He would customarily sit under a tree, surrounded by young children, to whom he would tell stories to illustrate Buddhist teachings. Seeing this, an elder monk of the time became annoyed at what he perceived as untoward conduct on the part of Maitreya. One day, he cornered Maitreya and tried to test him with the fo lowing question: “Old monk, pray tell me, just what do you think is the essence of the Buddha”s teachings
” Maitreya stopped for a moment, looked him in the eye, and just let his sack fall to the ground. As the puzzled monk wondered what to make of this singular action, Maitreya bent down, picked up his sack and walked away. Dropping the sack, “letting go”, forgive and forget – that is the teaching of M a i tr e ya. t he Buddha o f t he future.
3. See the fo lowing verse found in the Avatamsaka Sutra, Ch. 20. It expresses one of the key teachings of Mahayana Buddhism:
“If people want to rea ly know/ All Buddhas of all time, / They should contemplate the nature of the cosmos:/ All is but mental construction (i. e., Everything is made from M ind alone.)” (T. Cleary, tr., The Flower Ornament Sutra/ Avatamsaka Sutra,
Vol I, p. 452)
Borrowing and repaying:
In Buddhism, everything is governed by the law of Cause and Effect. Life is an unending cycle of transgression and retribution, borrowing and repaying.
4. Not to kill, steal, engage in sexual misconduct or false speech are the four cardinal precepts or injunctions taught by the Buddhas. Not only must you not break any of these precepts through words, you must also refrain from all other unwholesome speech. (Master Suddhisukha)
5. Brahma Net Sutra: This is a sutra of major significance in Mahayana Buddhism. In addition to containing ten major Mahayana precepts, the sutra also contains forty- eight less important injunctions. These 58 major and minor precepts constitute the Bodhisattva Precepts, taken by most Mahayana monks and nuns and certain advanced lay practitioners. It is believed that the current version of the Brahma Net Sutra is only a fraction of the original sutra, most of the rest having been lost. An Englis h version of this sutra is available from the Sutra Translation Committee (Bronx, NY) and the Buddha Educational Foundation (Taiwan).
6. Pure karma of the body: to refrain from killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. Moreover, all actions and gestures should be upright, undefiled, unsoiled by worldly dusts. (Master Suddhisukha)
7. This is because Diamond Recitation, while silent, still involves moving the lips.
8. The expression “Self-Nature Amitabha. Mind-Only Pure Land” represents the quintessence of Pure Land/Buddha Recitation Practice. At the noumenon level (i. e., at the lev el of principle), Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life, is our Self-Nature, always bright and everlasting – thus the expression Self-Nature Amitabha. Rebirth in the Pure Land is rebirth in our mind, which is intrinsica ly pure, like the Pure Land – thus the expression Mind-Only Pure Land.
9. Thr…
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