Lessons Learned

1. BE YOURSELF. Everything in the Universe has a purpose. God does not create mistakes. When you avoid, deny, or fear your special purpose, there is disharmony. When you embrace your unique talent and share it with others, there is harmony.

2. BE INCONSPICUOUS. Conflict seeks conflict. Being 'top dog' attracts competitors. The meek and humble survive. Do your thing but don't flaunt it. Be successful but don't seek fame. Blend in. Be like water and flow around obstacles.

3. BE SELFLESS. We exist in order to help others. All life depends on life, just as the flower depends on the earth, rain, sun, and bees. The Ego only wants happiness for my imagined 'self.' My True Nature wants happiness for myself and all beings. Don't grasp. Let go. Let be.

4. BE POSITIVE. I create my own reality, every moment. Negativity only attracts more negativity. The Past (memories) and Future (expectations) are also creations of the mind. Set aside negative thoughts. Trust karma, that everything will turn out all right. Believe in a positive, nurturing, compassionate Universe. It's okay to suffer a little, struggling is how we evolve. Enjoy the ride!

Lust

Lust is like a viper hiding in a flower garden;
it poisons those who come in search only of beauty.

-Mahaparinirvana-sutra

Not-doing

In studying, each day something is gained.
In following the Tao, each day something is lost.
Lost and again lost.
Until there is nothing left to do.
Not-doing, nothing is left undone.
You can possess the world by never manipulating it.
No matter how much you manipulate
You can never possess the world.

-Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching #42

Loss

Loss is not as bad as wanting more.

-Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

Intellect vs Faith

"Knowledge, like virtue or Deity, can mask egoism and pride... if faith reflects the realities of human experience, it never suffers from more intellectual insight"

-Alfred Bloom

Suffering from Suffering

Instead of asking: "Why do bad things happen?" ask: "What is it about me that attracts suffering?"

Instead of asking: "Did I make the right choice?" ask: "Can fear ever make the right choice?"

Suffering doesn't prove you are something, it proves you'd rather be a 'someone' who is miserable rather than be a 'no-one' who is free and happy.

Suffering doesn't validate others are wrong. It proves you'll do anything, including self-destruction, to think you are right.

Suffering from suffering doesn't prove you want to end suffering, it proves you are afraid of ending it.

-Guy Finley, "Letting Go"

Spirituality is a Paradox Big and Small

Spirituality is a Paradox
1) It makes me feel small
    I am just a speck in the timeless Universe.
2) It makes me feel big
    I am part of something much greater.

Delusions

Beliefs are the finger pointing to the moon.
They are the means, not the ends.
Just as delusions are compassionate means
to understanding.

Helping Others

Everything has its purpose.
When its purpose is fulfilled,
There is Harmony.

It is a symbiotic relationship.
We are here to help each other.
That is why it is so important to help one another,
Even those we dislike.

Helping others to grow
Is how I grow.

Others

"You can let go of trying to change other people, because you are what is bothering you about them."

-Guy Finley, "Letting Go"

Creativity

CREATIVITY = simultaneous   interdependent   co-arising
                                    |                         |                      |
                           unconditioned     conditioned       unity


-Adapted from Deepak Chopra

Evolution

Evolution is aided by Chaos and Quantum Leaps.

The purpose of Life is to EVOLVE.
The Universe does this through ME.
I can't evolve if I want to remain in Chaos forever.

-Adapted from Deepak Chopra

I Create My Own Reality

Who decides what is "good" or "bad"?
I do, not Man, God, rules, etc.
If I believe something is good,
   I will make myself feel good about it.
If I believe something is bad,
   I will make myself feel bad about it.

If I think I am good, I will reward myself.
If I think I am bad, I will punish myself.

If I rationalize or deny my true feelings,
I will find a way to reward or punish.

Rules are for those who don't trust themselves.
I stopped trusting myself when I feared my true emotions.
I stopped trusting myself when I caught my
   True Self passing judgment on my False Self.
   Not trusting, I cling to Rules.

It is up to me.
There is no good or bad. Just being.

The Four Worlds

THE FOUR WORLDS

Each is a layer of perception,

with Absolute Truth at the center:

      .d88888888b.

    .d888888888888b.

  .d8888Y'    `Y8888b.

 .d888'          `888b.

 888P   .oooooo.   Y888

d88P   d88888888b   Y88b

888'  888P'  `Y888  `888

888   888      888   888__Creation

888   888b    d888   888

888.  `8888888888'  .888___Intention

888b   `Y888888P'   d888

`888b     ``''     d888     Cause & Effect

 `88888b        d88888'

   `8888888888888888'        Delusion

      `Y888888888P'

1. Creation

The world is created at every moment.

It is what it is, neither good nor bad.

Non-dualistic.

The Universal Mind, Buddha-Nature, is the center.

2. Intention

The world is how I perceive it.

My perception creates good and bad.

Dualistic.

Why do good intentions go bad?

Mind is the center.

3. Cause and Effect

Every event has a cause.

Good brings good, bad brings bad.

Dualistic.

Why do bad things happen?

Body is the center.

4. Delusion

Things appear to happen by chance or fate.

Good and bad things happen at random.

Dualistic.

Why isn’t life what I want it to be?

Ego is the center.

Evolve

The purpose of life is to evolve.
To live, adapt, change, grow.
The universe does this through me.
I can work with it or fight against it.
But evolve I will regardless.
 

Free being

I think I have 'free' will
But it is a delusion.
Everything is condtioned.
Unit I stop deciding and start being.
Even that choice is conditioned.
But once made, I am in harmony with the Tao.
There is no will, no free, just being.

Objects of compassion

We are the very objects of compassion,
For we live by the sacrifices of others,
Both known and unknown,
By those who love us and forgive our shortcomings.

-Taitestsu Unno

Amida Haiku

Embraced by the light of Amida
My life that is fragile
As the morning dew
Now lives forever

-Mitsuyo Makinudan

Jinen

Jinen is nature.
"To be made to become so"

Jinen Honi
Everything is just as it is in accord with the Dharma.
Reality just as it is.

New York translation:
"It is what it is."

Jinen: Enlightenment is an unenlightened ordinary man becomes an unenlightened ordinary man.
-Ichitaro

Forgiveness

When one is angry, it is close to impossible to forgive, resentment runs deep. So when one admits to the inability to forgive, one may become more tolerant of one's limitations and more accepting of the other. This open admission might lead to the further realization that one is always being forgiven by other people. I am shown kindness despite my faults and so am forgiven all the time.

-Taitetsu Unno

Respect

We show each other mutual respect
Because each of us is a Buddha.
When I respect the Buddha-Nature in others,
I am doing my part.
When others fail to respect the Buddha-Nature in me,
I have to tell them that they are causing me to suffer.

The Enemy

Human beings are not the enemy.

The enemy is the violence, ignorance, and injustice inside us.

-Thich Nhat Hanh

Seeing

What does a child
With his innocent eyes see
That I no longer see?

The mystery of life
All around me.

Anger

We think: "I want to make you suffer,
   because you have made me suffer.
   If I see you suffer, I will feel better."
Take care of your anger and let it end there.
                                                                                        -Thich Nhat Hanh

Anger is not caused by another.
The seed of anger is in me.
I can water the seeds of anger,
Or water the seeds of compassion.
They are my seeds and my water.

When people don't take care of their suffering
It spills out and causes others to suffer.
They don't need punishment, they need compassion.
When you understand the suffering of another,
You can transform your desire to punish
Into a desire to help.

Understanding transforms anger into compassion.
A person who harms me is suffering and angry,
That makes me angry.
But my suffering and anger are no different
from his.


"Anger is diminished when one realizes that
One is a foolish being,
   as the other might also be,
Both within boundless compassion."
                                                                                     -Taitetsu Unno

Choosing and Free Will

"Free will" is an illusion.

All choices are conditioned.
Until you let go of the outcome,
   let go of the need to choose,
   and just BE.

Let your Buddha-Nature decide.
There will be no "choices" to be made.
Life just flows.

When in doubt, wait.
If you can't wait, then act compassionately.
The closer you are to your Buddha-Nature,
   the more spontaneous life is.

Free from the shackles of samskara,
your True  Will is expressed.

Dealing with Emotions

1. Pause. Acknowledge.

2. Feel it fully. Give it room to be.

3. Let it end.

Practice Creating

1. You have to believe it.

2. Don't make it happen, let it happen.

3. Acknowledge when it happens.

Creation

Don't re-create, create.
Don't try to change things to make them right,
just have them BE right.
(Don't re-act, act.)

I create my reality.
I create my future.
I create each moment.
I create this moment. And the next.

Waves

How does the ocean behave differently than a wave?
When you're a wave and you don't know you're also the ocean,
The other waves irritate you and you elbow them out of the way.
When you are the ocen,
You realize that all the wave are you.

-Deepak Chopra

Wonder

How often are we willing to accept that we don't know the answer to something? We'd rather know and be right than live in a state of wonder.

Like Alice, we waste our time trying to get others to make sense. Yet they won't. (Perhaps they are not here just to make me happy.)

-Danield Doen Silaverbuerg,
Wonderland

I am not my pain

I am not in the world.
The world is in me.

Everything I am experiencing
Reflects myself.
I create my own suffering.
I create the good
I create the bad

Suffering is pain that we hold onto.
I am not my pain.

Tao

Don't "Go With The Flow"

BE the Flow.

Finger Pointing at the Mirror

When I judge others
It is like looking into a mirror.
I treat others
The same as I treat myself.
The fault I see in others,
I see in myself.
I cannot change another,
I can only change myself.

Right Action

Sariputra said:
Right Action is to refrain from killing, stealing and adultery,
and to act with compassion 

-Majjhima-nikaya 141

Two Paths to Enlightenment

The Gradual Path (Tibet) Madhyamaka
Gradual cultivation followed by sudden Enlightenment.

The Sudden Path (China) Ch'an
Sudden Enlightenment followed by gradual cultivation.

Infinite

84,000 delusions
84,000 lights
84,000 joys abounding

-Saichi

Deep Hearing

A Shin Buddhist meditates
To develop Deep Hearing
Knowing the True Self
One with the Buddha-Dharma

Release

Recognizing suffering
Only affirms a fear of suffering.
Accepting suffering
Leads to release.

Give the Victory to Others

When winning is more important than peace,
I let go of winning, and embrace peace.

Under the Bodhi Tree

By rejecting asceticism and rigorous meditation, Siddhartha rejected self-power. By relying on the other-power of Amida and the Universe (sunjata) by touching the Earth (jinen), Enlightenment arose.

Meaning of the Nembutsu

Namu                        Amida Butsu

    |                                       |

myself                      true entrusting

foolishness   =>       compassion

Ripples

In this vast, infinite universe,
   I am but an insignificant speck.
But like a small stone
   dropped into water,
A single act of kindness
   can ripple out,
To touch an infinite number
   of people.
Yet; it is not a cause
   of my insignificant self;
But due to the nature of water
   to ripple.

Tariki (Other Power)

Other-Power means not just relying on the compassion of
   Amida Buddha,
But on the compassion and life offered by
   All Living Things.

Two Hands

Gratefulness and Joy
One is the cause of the other.
Gratefulness is the Lamp,
Joy is the Light.

Humility and Gratefulness
One enables the other.
Humility is the Handle,
That opens the door of Gratefulness.

Mindfulness and Gratefulness
One precedes the other.
Being Mindful provides room for Gratefulness.
Notice how miraculous life is! 

True Wisdom

We strive to follow the precepts,
Yet inevitably fall into foolishness.
But it is wiser to be a fool who knows he is a fool,
Then to be a fool who things he is wise.

Upaya (skillful means)

Upaya, skillful means, is giving a teaching that is perfectly suited to the needs of the listener. Sometimes, this requires tolerance of ignorant views, superstitions, or partial truths such as: relative understanding apart from absolute understanding, dualistic thinking apart from non-dualism, self-power apart from other-power. The story of the dying father and the mother who anointed her breast support this. Buddhism is not a dogma (when pointing to the moon, don't mistake the finger for the moon). Belief comes not from an outside view but from within, a personal confirmation must be developed.

Snow

Just existing
I exist....
Snow drifting down.

-Issa

Gift

Amida Buddha is the gift.
The Nembutsu is the hand that receives the gift.

(Nembutsu: "Namo Amida Butsu")

Amida

Amida is not a person, or a thing, spirit, god, or Buddha.

Amida is Light and Life.
Amida is Thusness and Emptiness.

The nembutsu is not a pledge, a mantra, symbol, or name.

The nembutsu is a promise.
It is potential, shinjin, Buddha-Nature, satori.

Sincerity

"It is impossible to know one's own sincerity, because on reflection, we see our hidden agendas and ulterior motives that complicate our feelings. Sincerity is a value that becomes visible to others through consistent action. It is not something we can claim as a virtue."

-Alfred Bloom

Nembutsu

The first time I uttered the words
Na-Man-Da-Bu
I said them out of trust
In Amida's Vow.

There can be no other cause.
Therefore,
Amida has already planted
shinjin within me
And my rebirth in the
Pure Land
Is assured.

Don't let my habit energy speak for me

I argue with logic
That's my trap
Blessed with a strong intellect
Cursed with an arrogant mind.

Even without words
My eyes give me away
Listen to the moment
And let life circle me.

Calm confidence can
be mistaken for aloofness.
Nothing bothers me!
That upsets people.

Act, don't re-act
And they will learn
That nothing they do
Can upset the balance.

Fully Entrusting

If salvation by Amida Buddha is ensured,
Why follow the precepts?
Why meditate?
Why study the Dharma?
Why be concerned with suffering?

Because shinjin (deep trusting) comes from Amida,
But resides in my Mind.
It is unnecessary to convince Amida
My shinjin is True,
But it is necessary to convince myself.

I follow the precepts to exhaust self-power.
I meditate to exhaust self-power.
I study to exhaust self-power.
I suffer to exhaust self-power.

Having exhausted self-power,
I realize there is no other way for a foolish, defiled man
To experience nirvana
But to be born in the Pure Land
By the Power of Amida's Vow.

Fully entrusting Amida
Shedding the skin of self-power
Naked, my True Self is born
My Buddha Nature
Who's affinity for Amida is natural (jinen)

This boy is not my body, it is Amida's.
This mind is not my mind, it is Amida's.
This shinjin is not my shinjin, it is Amida's.

The Second Arrow

If one arrow strikes you, you will suffer.
But if a second arrow hits you in the same spot, you'll suffer one hundred times more.
An Enlightened person simply feels the original pain and lets it end there.

-Samyutta Nikaya V

Heart like a river

kshanti paramita (inclusiveness)
Paraphrased from "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh

A handful of salt makes a small bowl of water undrinkable. But pour the same amount of salt into a river, and the water is still drinkable. Due to its size, the river can receive and transform. If your heart is too small, one unjust word or act will have the power to make you suffer. But if your heart is large, if you have understanding and compassion, you can receive and transform suffering.

The Bodhisattva Never-Despising

Paraphrased from "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh

The Bodhisattva Never-Despising saw the potential Buddha in everyone, and would bow to every child and adult and would say, "I do not dare to underestimate you, you are a future Buddha."

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That is the message of suffering. Receive it and return what he needs- relief.

The Six Paramitas

1. dana paramita - giving
2. chila paramita - precepts
3. kshanti paramita - inclusiveness
4. virya paramita - dilligence
5. dhyana paramita - meditation
6. prjna paramita - wisdom

From "The Teaching of Buddha", BDK

Three Bodies of the Buddha

1. Dharamkaya, the Dharma Body (teachings)

2. Sambhogakaya, the Body of Bliss (compassion and wisdom)

3. Nirmanakaya, the Living Body (physical form)

Apranihita (wu-wei) Do-Nothing

Everything in nature has its purpose, its use.
When that purpose is fulfilled,
Everything is in harmony.
When it goes unfulfilled,
There is suffering.

Humans, too, have a purpose.
But due to our attachments,
We are unfulfilled.
We try to force Nature
To be pleasurable and permanent.

Better to "do nothing" (apraninita)
And like the clouds, we rain.

Two Worlds

From "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh

"Words and ideas are only useful if they are put into practice. When we stop discussing things and begin to realize the Dharma in our life, a moment comes when we realize that our life is the path, and we no longer rely merely on the forms of practice. Our action becomes "non-action", and our practice becomes "non-practice." We do not have to transcend the "world of dust" (saha) in order to go to some dust-free world (nirvana). Suffering and nirvana are one. If we throw away the dust, we have no nirvana."

Animitta (labels)

When I declare a "self"
That infers that there are things
That are "not-self"
But there exists neither
"self" nor "not-self"
There is only Sunyata (emptiness)
 And Tathata (thusness)
Discard the label (animatta)
To see things as they really are.

In Every Moment

Where is the Joy?
It is everywhere
In Every Moment.

Where is Amida?
He is everywhere
In Every Moment.

Where is the Pure Land?
It is everywhere
In Every Moment.

In This Breath.

The Other Four Noble Truths

Adapted from "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh

The Four Noble Truths:
 1. The Truth of suffering
 2. The Truth of the cause of suffering.
 3. The Truth of the cessation of suffering.
 4. The Truth of the means of cessation of suffering.

The Other Four Noble Truths:
 1. The Truth of Well-Being.
 2. The Truth of the cause of Well-Being.
 3. The Truth of the cultivation of Well-Being.
 4. The Truth of the means of cultivation of Well-Being.

Understanding

Adapted from "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh

We may be motivated by the desire to make others happy.
But without understanding (prajna),
   the more we do,
   the more problems we create.
Unless our love is made of understanding,
   it is not True Love.
Mindfulness makes our minds Buddha-Minds,
And makes our love Buddha-Love.

Conditioned/Unconditioned

Adapted from "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh

When we form a Mental Formation
There is an object
(I am angry at something)
And there is a subject:
Our Mind.
Because mental formations
are created in our minds.
They become "us."
Subject and Object are One (InterBeing)
(When I hate someone,
 I hate myself.
 I hate the Universe.)

The Empty Eightfold Path

Adapted from "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh

Right View. All views are wrong.
Right Thought. All thoughts are wrong.
Right Speech. All speech is wrong.
Right Action. All actions are wrong.
Right Livelihood. All works are wrong.
Right Effort. All effort is wrong.
Right Mindfulness. All mindfulness is wrong.
Right Concentration. All concentration is wrong.

Right View is the absence of all views.
Right Thought is the absence of all thought.
Right Speech is the absence of all speech.
Right Action is the absence of all action.
Right Livelihood is the absence of all work.
Right Effort is the absence of all effort.
Right Mindfulness is the absence of all mindfulness.
Right Concentration is the absence of all concentration.

Practicing the Path is Doing, not Judging.
Living in the moment (dhamma)
Not in the dualistic mind.

Our learned behaviors are delusional.
It is better to do NOTHING
Then to rely on a delusion!

Don't TRY.
Just BE. Now.

Don't just let go,
LET BE.

Realizing Well Being

Recognizing joy is just as vital as
Recognizing suffering
Watering the seeds of joy is just as vital as
Starving the seeds of suffering
Being mindful of suffering,
We need also be mindful of job.
For joy is in the moment
Suffering is outside the moment.
Be mindful of suffering and its passing
And be mindful of joy in every moment.
Even within suffering, there is joy.

-Thich Nhat Hanh

The Five Hindrances (nivarana)

Hindrances Mental Counters 1. sensuous lust (desire, sensual indulgence) one-pointedness 2. ill-will (aversion) rapture 3. physical/mental stupor & languor (apathy) appreciation 4. restlessness & worry (anxiety) happiness 5. doubt (vicikiccha) sustaining

The Four Establishments of Mindfulness

1. The body in the body.
2. The feelings in the feelings.
3. The mind in the mind.
4. Objects in the mind.

Moral Discipline

Monks still experience suffering from attachments. But being renunciants, they have fewer objects of attachment. Thus it is simpler to recognize them. It is the recognition that brings wisdom. Laymen with their busy, complex lives, have a much more difficult time being mindful of their attachments.

Morality for morality's sake, or for another goal: to be perceived as "good"; or to earn something like grace, is delusional. Morality gives one the opportunity to step back, and see attachments for what they are, and give rise to wisdom.

Dewdrop

This dewdrop world....

is but a dewdrop,

and yet... and yet....


-Issa

Free

Those who have freed themselves of greed, anger, and ignorance will not be the victims of their greed, anger, and ignorance.

-Kesaputilla Sutra

Eliminate the Mind of Greed

It is through practicing the moral precepts that one keeps his mind in control; by way of the moral precepts, one develops the capacity in the discipline of meditation; and finally by way of meditation, one opens the ultimate insight.

No matter how much one has practiced meditation and cultivated insight, unless one is free from greed he will be bound to fall into the path of Maras and disturb others also. One who has not realized Enlightenment himself but speaks as if he had, and misleads others, is of this ilk. Therefore, to teach the practice of meditation, it is essential first to teach how to eliminate the mind of greed.

-Surangama Sutra

Tri-siksa

The Noble Eightfold Path, The Three Pillars, and the Three Defilements.

Step Pillar Defilement (Right) Speech, Action, Mortal Discipline  removes Greed Work (silla) Effort, Mindfulness,  Mindfulness removes Anger Concentration (dhyana) View, Thought Wisdom removes Ignorance (prajna)

Emptiness: Sunyata

Because all things are interconnected, they are not really "empty", they are infinite.

As a rainbow is connected to sun and rain.
As the moon's reflection is connected to water and moon.
All things are devoid of independent self.
Thus they are empty.
Being composed of a combination
Of innumerable causes and conditions
All things are interconnected
Thus they are infinite.

The infinite combinations of elemets
Create infinite forms
Thus everything is thusness: tathata.

Tathata is Sunyata, Sunyata is Tathata.

Consciousness

There is no independent, separate consciousness.
Consciousness arises out of conditions.
Without conditions, there is no consciousness.
Eye and visual forms = visual consciousness.
Ear and sounds = auditory consciousness.
Nose and odors = olfactory consciousness.
Tongue and tastes = gustatory consciousness.
Body and tangible objects = tactile consciousness.
Mind and ideas/thoughts = mental consciousness.

There is no Thinker behind the Thought.
Thought itself is the Thinker.
If you remove the Thought,
there is no Thinker.

Consciousness depends on matter, sensation, perception, and mental formation (samskara) and can not exist independently of them.

"I" "self" and "ego" are just names.

-Waipola Rahula, "What the Buddha Taught"

Just be

There can be no justification for Ego.
Not justice, logic, goodness, correctness.
It is all a delusion to justify the Ego.
Which does not exist.

So how to be?
Don't think. Just be.
Compassionate. Always.

No I

There is no I.
There is only Amida.

Dhammapada

(03) The ignorant person who knows that he is ignorant is still wise; the ignorant one who thinks that he is wise is indeed a fool.

(76) If one meets a person who points out his faults and scolds him, he should associate with such a wise person as though he were the revealer of great treasure.

(103) Better than conquering a thousand in battle is to conquer oneself.

(221) Discard anger, abandon pride, and leave fetters.

Seeds

Seeds will not grow when planted in the sky; planted in dirt and manure, they sprout forth vigorously. All defilements are seeds that rouse the mind that aspires to to attain Buddhahood.

-Vimalakirti Sutra

Skillful Means

Skillful means without wisdom is bondage; skillful means with wisdom is liberation. Though the body may be in the world of delusion and diseased, if one gives tirelessly and abundantly, that is called skillful means. The body cannot be separated from the disease; if the disease and the body are seen as neither new or old, that is wisdom. Though the body ma be diseased, if one does not forsake the world and does not intend to enter nirvana, that is skillful means. A sick person should not adhere too closely to the though of controlling the mind. But this does not mean that the control of the mind is not necessary. Too much stress on control is putting too much importance on the virtues, but to neglect control is being foolish. The bodhisattva way is free from the two extremes; it is the Middle Path.

Vimalakirti Sutra

True Meditation

"Sariputra, sitting is not necessarily true meditation. When one is totally free from the notion of body and mind, this is true meditation. True meditation is the state in which the mind is quiet and unmoving while being engaged in various activities. True meditation is following the way of the sages while living a common ordinary life. Listen to various non-Buddhist doctrines yet not being confused and practicing the way to Enlightenment is true meditation. Attaining nirvana without severing defilement is true meditation. This is the kind of meditation that the World-Honored One acknowledges."

-Vimalakiri Sutra

Contemplation Sutra (Amitayus Dhyana Sutra)

Spurned by the Buddha after attempting to disrupt the Sangha, Devadatta conspired with Prince Ajatasatru to usurp King Bimbisara and appoint himself King of the Dharma. The prince seized the King and imprisoned him in the royal palace, denying him food. But he did not die, because loyal Queen Vaidehi covered her body with barley and honey and snuck it to the King. Upon hearing of this, Prince Ajatasatru threatened to kill his only mother, but fearing the karmic consequences instead imprisoned her also.

Queen Vaidehi bowed down in the direction of the World-Honored One, who remained afar on Vulture Peak, and pleaded for the right Dharma. The World-Honored One perceived Vaidehi's mind, and striding across the sky, descended upon the royal palace attended by Maudyalyayana on his left side and Ananda at his right. Bursting into tears Vaidehi bowed and said, "World-Honored One, what evil deeds did I commit that I must bear the fruit of giving birth to such an evil child as this, and by what conditions did the World-Honored One become a relative of Devadatta? For my sake, please show me the path that is free of sorrow; I have grown weary of this wretched, evil world."

At that time the World-Honored One emitted a light from the center of his forehead, manifesting innumerable Buddha-lands, and shining upon King Bimbisara even from a distance as well as Queen Vaidehi. He said, "Are you not aware that Amitays Buddha does not dwell far from this place? You ought to think upon Amitays Buddha's land of Sukhavati, which was created by virtuous deeds. If you want to be born in his country, you must perform the three kinds of virtuous deeds: practice ethical conduct, take refuge in the Three Treasures, and aspire to follow the right Dharma. Your mind is both feeble and defective. Because you have not yet acquired the divine eye, you are unable to see afar. However, the Buddha possesses wondrous skillful means: therefore, with a Buddha's power, I shall show the Pure Land as clearly as one's face shows in a bright mirror. When people gaze upon the wondrous bliss of that land, they will rejoice and immediately acquire the insight into the non-origination of all existence."

Vaidehi said, "Would-Honored One, by the power of the Buddha, I gaze upon you Amitayus' land called Sukhavati. However, in the worlds to come, in which the Buddha's light will have been lost, in which all will have been muddled by evil, how will sentient beings be able to see the Buddha's lands?"

The World-Honored One said, "Listen carefully and contemplate well: for your sake, I shall now expound the Dharma that puts an end to suffering. First of all, contemplate the physical form of Amitayus Buddha. By seeing the body of this Buddha, one sees the mind of the Buddha. The mind of the Buddha is none other than his great compassion. By virtue of myriad conditions, he saves all sentient beings. Therefore contemplate the Buddha; the Buddha's light fills the whole universe, and therefore it also fills the minds of all sentient beings. Therefore when one contemplates the Buddha, one's mind becomes a Buddha; one's mind is, as it is, a Buddha. Therefore, make your mind one with the Buddha, and with clarity contemplate Amitayus Buddha.

When your life draws to a close, Amitayus Buddha, accompanied by the two Bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprata will manifest to lead you to the Pure Land. Those who, out of ignorance, have committed a host of evil deeds, and are so burdened by suffering and are unable to contemplate the Buddha, simply utter the nae of the Buddha 'Namo Amitayus Buddha' and thereby destroy the evil deeds that bind them to transmigration. In one moment of thought, they are born into the land of Sukhavati.

If a person hears the name of Amitayus Buddha, evils that lead to endless transmigration are destroyed. Should they contemplate his name, all the more so will this be true. Truly those who contemplate the Buddha are lotuses among evil people."

Just as Prince Ajatasatru was having a change of heart, his father, King Bimbisara,  died. Boils appeared all over Ajatasatru's body and he feared it was karmic retribution for having killed his father. Fearing descent into the Avici Hell for having committed one of the grave offenses, he saught the aid of the Buddha.

Watching from afar, the World-Honored One said to Kasyapa at his side, "For Ajatasatru's sake I shall prolong my life and refrain from entering the final Nirvana. Ksyapa, in case you don't understand my hidden meaning, when I say 'for Ajatasatru's sake' I mean 'for the sake of all sentient beings.'  I merely use Ajatasatru as an example to take the place of all those who had committed the Five Grave Offenses. I do not remain in this world for the sake of those who have attained Enlightenment."

Ajatasatru took refuge in the Buddha, and with a mind of contrition, pledged to destroy people's evil intentions through his own suffering. Thus he aroused the aspiration for Enlightenment in many Magadhans and was able to mitigate his grave offenses. Then the King Ajatasatru made great offerings to the Buddha and invited him and his disciples to his palace, and banished Devadatta.