The Four Nevers (Samaya)

The Bodhi Mind (bodhicitta) is the cause.
Great Compassion is the root and foundation.
Skillful means are the ultimate. — Mahavairocana Sutra

Through skillful means, the view of enlightenment is fulfilled in compassion towards other sentient beings.

For all sentient beings, be they Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, gods and demons, humans, hungry ghosts, and all of suffering the hells are primordial pure.

Thus they were born basically good, but, due to conditioning, all beings appear to be sentient.

Like a mirror in a sandstorm, the mind is subject to mental and physical negativities as a result of conditioning. No matter how much we wipe the mirror clean, the dust of worldliness soon shall settle on it.

Thus, the disciple commits to the Four Nevers:

• Never to abandon the True Dharma.
  
• Never to negate bodhicitta.
  
• Never to withhold or be selective of Buddhist teachings toward others.
  
• Never to cause any sentient being any harm.

Holding the True Dharma dear, the disciple consistently remembers the Buddha. Holding the bodhicitta dear, the disciple is caused by it to become Buddha. Holding the Buddhist teachings dear, the disciple shares the wisdom of the Buddhadharma that he has gleaned only with his fellow disciples. Holding life dear, the disciple refrains from harming any sentient being.

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Reference:

Samaya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaya

Even Trangressors May Approach the Pure Land

They who promotes mental unrest
in all sentient beings is
destined for the Hells.
Let us hope when they depart
samsara, the loved ones
lefts behind are so devoted
to him that he escapes samsara
by practicing Buddha Recitation
of Amida's Name-that-calls accumulating
the good merits which result
in rebirth in the Pure Land.
All that sentient beings are
required do is Buddha Recitation,
with meditation providing
the set and setting conducive
to Buddha Remembrance.

The Buddha as Love: The Bodhisattva in Action

Free of the confines of ego, the love of the Buddha is due to the working of great compassion. Transcending the dualism of being and non-being, it rises from a heart of non-discrimination. It is purposeless, effortless, and ego-less.

As long as there is but one unsaved sentient being to enjoy single-minded bliss (Samadhi) to which she is entitled by her long spiritual discipline, the Tathagata's great love of all sentient beings is unending until everyone of them is happily led to Nirvana.

Empowered by boundless love and compassion, the Tathagata regards all sentient beings as if they were his only child. Were he to enter into Nirvana, no work will be done in the world where imaginative discrimination goes on and wonderful variety prevails. Because of this, he refuses to leave this world of birth-life-death. All his thoughts are directed towards the ignorant and suffering masses of sentient beings.

For them, he is willing to sacrifice his enjoyment of absolute reality and self-absorption.

Thus the Buddha as love is embodied in the Bodhisattva, who through her actions and desires in the realm of twofold egolessness works to save all sentient beings.

Sentient Beings

Zen master Dogen once said:
"Those who greatly enlighten illusion are Buddhas; those who are greatly deluded about enlightenment are sentient beings."

All sentient beings possess the six sense bases (ayatana) of eye and visible objects, ear and sound, nose and odor, tongue and taste, body and touch, mind and mental objects.

They include all beings, whether physical beings, spiritual entities, or metaphysical beings, even plant life and insects. These beings include divinities, humans, animals, ghosts, and hell beings.

However, humans and animals are especially respected in the material realm known as the physical world of material existence.

Since divinities, ghost and hell beings have no material existence, their influence on the physical world is limited.

Yet my mind is open to their metaphysical existence when illustrating a Buddhist teaching.

Enlightenment is Always With Us

From birth until death, the potential of Enlightenment is present within all sentient beings as Buddha Nature.

During life, mental and physical negativities arise as afflictions to distract us from it, due to the ego's grasping onto the illusion of permanence.

These negativities leads to suffering due to the Five Poisons of desirous attachment, aversive anger, and delusive ignorance, and their daughters, pride born out of ignorance and desire, and jealousy arising attachment and aggression.

The Five Poisons are the destructive emotions.

Through meditation and mindful practice of wisdom, the charitable acts of kindness to help, and the loving sacrifice in service to other sentient beings aid in satisfying the ego, pacifying it.

Once the ego is pacified, the mental and physical negativities are replaced with the antidotes of love, compassion and insight,which are strengthened through practice and training.

Buddha Nature represents the essential nature of the mind, which is pure and undefiled by the destructive emotions.

When joy comes easily, and the mind is easily calmed through meditation, the antidotes have succeeded in curing it of the Five Poisons.

For that joy arises due to Buddha Nature, the seed of Enlightenment itself.

Thus Enlightenment is always with us, like the pure white light of freedom.

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References:

The Gandavyuha Sutra: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatamsaka_Sutra#The_Gandavyuha_Sutra
Five poisons:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleshas_%28Buddhism%29#Five_poisons
  
• http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Five_poisons
  wli>http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Disturbing_emotions
  

遭受我悄悄/ Suffering in Silence (poem)

坐在這老不死
等待耐心
出現的那一刻
克服懶惰。
遭受我悄悄嗎？

翻譯 / Translation (EN)

here sits this old fool
awaiting patiently
the moment to arise
and conquer sloth.
Why do I Suffer quietly?

Sentient Beings Are No Substitute for the Buddha

If all sentient beings are potential Buddhas, then why can't a sentient being replace the Buddha during Buddha Remembrance chanting and visualization?

Because the Buddha is usually an idealized form of Amida, recitation to Amida while visualizing Amida Buddha will help promote Buddhist Remembrance Samadhi.

However, a picture of the Buddha like the Daishi Buddha will sufice during Buuddha Remembrance practice.

Replacing the Buddha's image with that of a sentient being would introduce distraction to the recitation of Amida's name. For the purpose of visualization is to become one with the Buddha, not with a sentient being.

As well, it is a picture of a celebrity, desire could distract the practitioner from having the right mind to visualize correctly.

Therefore, substituting the image of a sentient being for Amida Buddha will hinder spiritual progress towards samadhi.

It would be like using paper cups and plate to eat dinner when you have regular dinnerware available.

For it is not respect to the Buddha nor is it respectful to sentient beings to visualize a sentient being instead of Amida Buddha, even though all sentient beings are potential Buddhas.

Who Knows the Way to the Pure Land?

"Buddhist thought may be considered to have followed this order of human thinking; from the scientific form to the religious through the philosophic. The ultimate end of Buddhism is perfect self-realization, enlightenment. For the attainment of this purpose two basic principles are to be recognized. Firstly, the individual self must be negated. Secondly, the universal self and the oneness of all life must be affirmed." — Ryuchi Fujii, The True Meaning of Buddhism - Muryoko, Journal of Shin Buddhism

Buddhist psychology affirms that the individual self is a social fiction which arises out of the interconnection of all sentient life.

"Self exists in mutual relationship to all things, to the totality of all things and to the oneness of all life. Self-realization is achieved through the mutual understanding of the nothingness of all selves." — ibid.

Thus, self is reflected in all things.

Just as I have a mind, so too do other people. Furthermore, so do all sentient beings have a mind. Since a mind is conscious of the six senses (ear, eye, smell, taste, touch, and cognition), thus is it the same as consciousness. For only in the mind does consciouness arise for each of the senses.

Buddhist philosophy holds that conflict, fights and war between sentient beings are due to the illusion of ignorance.

Yet Buddha Nature is reflected in all things nd is known as the oneness of all things.

"Self-realization is attained through the wisdom of self-effort." — ibid.

In Buddhist practice, each sentient being is limited and ignorant by nature when it remains an individual.

This is why people have a community and when why the most inquisitive of them seek the truth both through their interaction with other sentient beings and through solitude.

"Self is ever perfectible, but it cannot be perfectly realized in this world. Self is perfectly realized only in the Pure Land through the aid of Amida Buddha." —

On hearing the Buddha's Teaching, the practitioner comes to realize that, like a bodhisattva, one gains the truths about Amida Buddha through practice to realize the purpose in life is to be of service to others.

In this way is the path to rebirth in the afterlife is the Pure Land of Bliss.

For only Amida Buddha knows the way to the Pure Land.

Buddha Nature and Enlightenment

In Mahayana Buddhism, the true nature in each person is Buddha Nature, which represents the potential in each and every one of us to reach full enlightenment. This is an intrinsic and immortal potential which exists in the mind of every sentient being. Such a potential is actualized through meditation.

First, through breath meditation, one clears the mind of defilements so that it becomes the pure mind that is essential to experience and show compassion for other sentient beings. Second, insightful meditation requires the clear mind to validate the Four Noble Truths and dependent arising in one's life through mindful practice.

"Sentient" is derived from the word "sentience" which means "the ability to feel and/or perceive". Thus "every sentient being" means "all living beings which are able to feel and/or perceive". Furthermore, Eastern thought views sentience as "the metaphysical quality of all things that require care and respect." Even nonhuman lifeforms are sentient.

In Buddhism, sentient beings made of pure consciousness are possible. Hence, the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and other gods exist in their respective Buddha-fields.

Each one of these Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Buddhist deities represent various states of minds i.e. Amida represents wisdom and compassion, Sakyamuni Buddha represents enlightenment and/or spiritual awakening, Kuan Yin represents compassion, the devas represent aspects of enlightenment, and so on.

Indeed, the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhist deities also also have a spiritual existence where they exist within the heart-mind of each and every sentient being.

Buddhists who practice meditation will then realize these internalized sentient beings as various aspects of their mind.

For each Buddha, Bodhisattva and Buddhist deity represents the pure form of each mental and emotional quality of the mind, the qualities of enlightenment such as overt and latent power ( the deities Agyo and Ugyo), latent might (Naraen / Ugyo), day and night (the Bodhisattvas known as White Tara and Blue Tara), the pure mind and body (Kuan Yin), and the power aspect of complete enlightenment (Vajrapani / Mahasthamaprapta).

Thus, the sentient beings made of pure consciousness are reflections of that intrinsic potential to reach enlightenment known as Buddha Nature .

Buddha Nature itself also is empty of defining characteristics related to sunyata and nondualism. Insightful meditation helps in understanding sunyata and nondualism.

Sunyata is known as suchness, nothingness, emptiness, and voidness, and refers to the impermanent nature of reality within context of egolessness, the concept of non-self that all things perceived by the senses including the mind are not really "I" or "mine".

Buddhist nondualism is reflected in that concept of non-self, which is the nonduality of subject and object. Thus is self and other an illusion. Nondualism is also reflected in the concept of two truths, the ultimate reality that there is no self in contrast to the conventional reality where each person speaks of himself. As well, the view of nonduality is known as wisdom while the experience of duality is known as compassion.

In this way is our ordinary dualistic experience, full of all living beings, nurtured with care always experienced as "now". Thus the Mahayana path tempers wisdom with compassion to cut through the confusions of duality.

Therefore, wisdom helps one to transform one's growing understanding of nonduality into compassion for all sentient beings in the present moment.

My own personal understanding of nonduality is that egolessness is the ultimate reality of the pure mind, which is a reflection of Buddha Nature. With the pure mind attained through meditation, I experience compassion for other people by listening to them. This is known as mindful practice.

Thus, breath meditation helps clear the mind and realize the pure mind. With the pure mind, one is able to use insightful meditation to validate the Four Noble Truths and dependent arising by experiencing one's life fully. Through insights derived from meditation, one is inspired to experience compassion for other living beings. By experiencing compassion for others, one develops mindful practice.

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Reference:
Buddha Nature: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha_Nature
Japanese Buddhist Photo Dictionary: http://www.onmarkproductions.com
Sunyata: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunyata
Nondualism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondualism

May All Living Beings Be Buddha

All living beings are Buddha,
for karmic merit plants the seed
of Buddha Nature in us all.
May all living beings be Buddha,
in teaching each of us of love
as root of kindness, and spreading
compassion far and wide until
all beings are reborn again
in the Pure Land of Bliss, only
to be reborn as a human,
so that she may help awaken
others to follow Amida. O!
Namu Amida Butsu!

To Live Fully (Affirmation)

To live fully as a sentient being, each one of us directly experiences life within the limits of one's own culture. When he shares with a trusted one, the one who has practiced mindfulness will be tactfully honest with the other.

Indeed, both parties shall be mindful of the trust they share so as to sustain it. In sustaining that trust, each of us may be able to extend the limits of her culture.

When each one of us is open to change, given time, all things are possible.

Thus is one able to live fully.

Meditation on The Nembutsu

By calling to Amida as He simultaneously calls to her, the devotee consistently affirms one's gratitude through the Name-that-calls.

With consistent affirmation, the Name-that-calls helps her uncover the precious treasure known as Buddha Nature.

Uncovering Buddha Nature, the devotee realizes that she is a sentient being, subject to the limits of existence.

Knowing these limits helps the devotee to devote herself to the Buddha.

In devoting herself to the Buddha, she deepens her faith in Him, His teachings, and the Buddhist community.

In deepening her faith, she continues her affirmation through gratitude to Amida.

This affirmation through gratitude to Amida Buddha is called Buddha Remembrance

Buddha Remembrance helps the devotee to listen with her heartmind.

Listening with her heartmind, she is able to hear Amida Buddha calling, and simultaneously call to Him.

Clear Mind, Awakened Mind (poem)

I. The Heartmind

Heart of compassion,
mind of wisdom:
where these two qualities
intersect is the heartmind.

For the heartmind is contained
in all sentient beings,
ripening in the musk and mire
of worldly experience
by the foolish one who hears the Buddha's call.

Once he hears the Buddha's call,
this foolish one is the clear heartmind;
and as he simultaneously replies
with the Name-that-calls
the awakened heartmind is this foolish one.

II. Awakened by the Buddha's Call

Awakened by the Buddha's call,
this foolish one utters the Name-that-calls,
which is the Buddha calling.

Awakened by the Name-that-calls,
this foolish one becomes serene and tranquil,
with unwavering faith in Amida Buddha.

Awakened by Amida Buddha,
this foolish one is clear about the Primal Vow,
truly entrusting in the Name-that-calls.

No Buddha Apart from Beings

All beings are by nature Buddha,
as ice by nature is water.
Apart from water there is no ice;
apart from beings, no Buddha.
— Hakuin Zenji, "Song of Zazen"

Get to know others (poem)

Though life is full of suffering,
the ideal way to develop compassion
is to transcend human love,
and share unconditional love
with another sentient being.
Knowing myself very well,
when I get to know others,
I share unconditional love.
Even when I fear being hurt,
by getting to know someone
I am developing compassion.
In sharing our lives,
we treasure each other
as true friends forever.

Great Compassion Meditation

In Shin Buddhism, "all beings have the potential of becoming Buddha" means that all beings in the universe are embraced and enfolded in the Great Compassion of Amida Buddha. — Takamaro Shigaraki

Empowered by Amida's Great Compassion, all beings realize Pure Mind. Realizing Pure Mind, they compassionately share loving-kindness with all other beings. Sharing loving-kindness, all beings are of the same mind empowered by Amida's Great Compassion.

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Notes:
"Shin Buddhism" is also known as Jodo Shinsu or True Pure Land School.
"all beings" refers to all sentient beings.
"the same mind" refers to Bodhi Mind.

Takamaro Shigaraki, What is Shin Buddhism, Chapter VII Great Compassion: http://www.bffct.net/id58.html