How can we be Buddhists? Just take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. The Triratna (Three Jewels) are an integral whole: without Buddha, there will be no Dharma, without Dharma, no Sangha. What, then, is Dharma? Dharma represents the truth realised by the Buddha. It is what the Buddha learned from His practice and He taught it to us for our salvation. We can practice according to the Dharma to attain enlightenment. As we know, “Those unenlightened are ordinary beings; the enlightened ones are Buddhas.” If we constantly keep our minds in the state of reciting the name of the Buddha, we will be “enlightened” and therefore be “Buddhas”. In other words, if each and every thought of ours is a recitation of the Buddha’s name, then we are constantly in the state of “enlightenment”.
Amitabha Buddha made forty-eight grand vows to deliver sentient beings while Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha vowed not to attain Buddhahood until the hells are empty. However, despite all the grand vows Buddhas and Bodhisattvas made to assist us breaking free of the cycle of birthday and death, all beings remained unenlightened, roaming among the six divisions of rebirth. We keep on our pursuit of sensual satisfaction, clinging to our greed, anger, and ignorance as well as other pains such as parting from the beloved. As we mistake all these illusions for reality, we can not be enlightened. That is why the compassionate Amitabha Buddha made His forty-eight grand vows to deliver all beings, hoping that we will be able to transcend the six divisions of rebirth, shake off our misery, and attain eternal happiness. Now, if our vows correspond with these forty-eight vows, Amitabha Buddha will guide us along the way; and when we die, we will be reborn in the Pure Land.
Things do not happen to us by accident. Rather, they all have their roots in the karmic affinities in we created in the past. If we fostered good affinities in previous lives, we will enjoy this life; otherwise, we will be dissatisfied, even troubled or pained. A practitioner should understand that things arise according to conditions and have no inherent existences of their own. When we feel distressed or dissatisfied, we should know that the ways things are are merely the results of certain conditions, not reality in itself. Hence, there is no need to cling to disconcerting sentiments, or be perturbed by them. Such a change of perception according to Buddhadharma will free us from the grip of pain.
- Analects of Master Kuang-ch’in
