ECOLOGY AND LIFE IN THE PURE LAND

Central Monastery, 18-12-2005

SPIRITUALITY IN THE PURE LAND

The Pure Land under the spiritual view is described: “People in that realm no longer have

suffering”, even the word “suffering” is not present nor real. People always live happily with

tranquil body and mind, hence that realm is called The Pure Land”. The notion of suffering

which is not present in the flow of emotion, in mentality and in life is a notion and actual reality.

Some argues that suffering and happiness are highly relative and interdependence,

meaning that those who have never tasted the pain cannot comprehend the value of happiness.

Such logic fits the theory of dependent origination and karma of Buddhism, but it is wrong to

assume that where there is suffering, that place has happiness; because the suffering seeds

cannot produce the fruits of happiness.

In other words, there are two kinds of happiness, one happiness having conditionality

such as the opposition to the nature of suffering and the other happiness beyond the

conditionality. For instance, we feed a bird in a cage, and think that we love it, but the fact that

we bring more suffering because of the captivity. The nature of birds wants to fly high and far in

the sky, to live in green forest and befriend with greenfields. Due to compassion teaching, we

open the cage so the bird can spread its wings and fly away, as we bring the infinite happiness

to it. Of course, after living in the cage for many years, the bird now is free and feels the great

happiness with the blue sky; but that is a relative happiness as opposite to the unhappiness.

The value of life is indefinite and unbounded. Animal even the smallest still need happiness like

human. Do not buy birds for captivity, nor buy fish for display. Practice liberating lives is to

create unconditional happiness for animals. The happiness dependent on conditions is relative

happiness.

“One day in jail is equal to thousand years outside” is a common saying among prisoners,

measuring the value of leisure, comfort, unconstrained among four surrounding walls. The

moods of the captives in jail are the exaggerations of emotions. They count every hours, every

minutes, and every kalapas, which is the smallest time unit. The more they yearn time by

emotions, the more exaggerating emotions erupt and finally they feel that time is being

stretched; but in fact time still flows by consistently, every day is still twenty-four hours, not

faster nor slower. Those who have used herbal medicine for treatment must abstain dining for a

long period of time and when they are back to normal diet, their tastes will have more appetite.

That good appetite is conditional. Nevertheless, the attribute of conditional happiness stills bring

in the value of happiness.

Majority of people often seek happiness based on those similar conditions. After a tired 1

working day, when we are back to family life, we will feel happier because of no more stress

from workplace, business matters, partner conflicts, or hatreds. The changing environment

makes us feel comfortable, at that moment spiritual perception grows correspondingly. Family

life is necessary to resolve the impasse in life. People who work too much but forget to care

their families, and miss the family living habits are difficult to maintain happiness. Always bring

the stress from workplace to home, said Buddhism is to bring traumatic fire and tiring from

workplace, and fire from public relations to burn down the family love.

The description of the spiritual nature in the Pure Land lies in the phrase “suffering is not

present”, meaning people in the Pure Land already severed suffering and its roots. That are

good ethical conduct and practice. When having a wish to be born in the Pure Land, the

practitioner must achieve a certain spiritual level. With that spiritual level, the practitioner no

longer recall past memories. Recalling past memories makes people heat up suffering. The

chains of lives are measured and connected by many emotions of suffering, in which very little

happy emotion is contained, and whenever we recall the past, the suffering is present.

Let’s cut off the past so that hatreds cannot exist and grow. Regret can destroy positive

energy in the present; following that, passiveness, boredom, or disappointment can have

chances to emerge, conquer and subjugate our spiritual lives.

People of the Pure Land on account of “suffering is not present” essence cut off past

notion of suffering. The flows of their minds are the calm comfort, and the tranquil body and

mind. In the nature of suffering, there is suffering from the past experience and human

imagination. For instance, when we are living in war period, death, and hatred, so the vision of

that life are death, hunger, destruction, annihilation, injury, separation and demolition; that is the

total vision of suffering.

Amitabha Sutra describes the nature of happiness in the Pure Land as the non-existence

of the notion of suffering yet the manifestation of suffering. That manifestation must be put on a

notion, and that notion must connect to a vision in the future. Meanwhile, people of the Pure

Land have no worry, fear or concern of a vision consist of how ecological environment, living

regimen, communication manner occur and how to confront those.

There are people from the moment of birth until death never fell into poverty. They live

with immense heart of gold, loving people, contribution and sharing many things in this life, so

they never had a notion of scarcity. That contribution and devotion to serving and sharing

suffering in the community has brought a vision of joy and happiness.

Thus, we find that people living in an environment of relative realm still has a chance to

live and gift such happiness; let alone the practitioner following the formula “Being mindfulness”

and achieving high spiritual level shall not have fear nor worry.

We often worry about how our future will be, and fear unsolved problem. Those impasses

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keep following us, carry out day by day increasingly in size and with complicated scope. Anxiety

and fear are the offspring of ignorance. When insight is not present, people have more fears.

Many people have the attitude to worry too much, it can be called the hyper responsibility

symptom. There are jobs which need just only two hours enough to be solved thoroughly, still

there are people keeping being restless, anxious, and worried about everything … fear that

relatives or loved ones of ours are not able to perform those jobs. This is what create hyper

anxiety symptom, makes nervous tension and brain fatigue. Individuals who have hyper anxiety

symptom always premature aging and decrease lifespan. Because they do not have the look of

insight nor be able to see what their future prospects are. Living with mindfulness and insight,

certainly we will have thorough behaviour, confidence and will achieve positive results.

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