Originally posted by rokkie:
dealing with liberation is not just a matter of morality, yes, but if you even cannot fulfill the common morality conduct, don't talk about liberation, as least that's it for me, Kongzi said,�心所欲而�逾矩，he is talking about the relationship between morality and liberation, as he is in concern, he achieve both, liberated under rules, the rules actually mean morality, buddhism's morality is the highest, buddha said even there is a single person, haven't reside in paradise, i won't go before them, it's compassionate, so ignore, morality for the purpose of liberation is not right, real buddhist could achieve both. liberation is the highest form of morality, morality is the lower form of liberation.
Kongzi/Confucius teachings are fully 入世法, they are worldly teachings. They don't deal with Liberation from all Sufferings and from Birth and Death. So you cannot consider Confucius as being Enlightened or Liberated in the Buddhist sense, but of course he had contributed alot to the Chinese thought and life and should be appreciated as such.
The
teachings of Confucius and Mencius are within the boundary of the laws
of this secular world and are not considered to be religious. They constitute
a form of academic ideology. Confucius and Mencius dealt with the laws
of this secular world.
Next, you cannot consider liberation to be morality, because liberation is just liberation. It is not about morality.
What is morality? "of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical:"
Liberation is not about right and wrong, it is about realising the nature of reality (emptiness) and thus liberation from all suffering. It has nothing to do with following rules. You can't gain liberation by following rules. We cannot confuse the two.
You said, "buddhism's morality is the highest, buddha said even there is a single person, haven't reside in paradise, i won't go before them, it's compassionate,"
Well first of all, not reside in paradise, because Nirvana is not a place or a paradise. Even the highest heavens are still within the 31 planes of existence, still in Samsara. Nirvana (cessation) is simply the absence of all sufferings, all further samsaric births.
Also another thing is, being liberated does not mean you will become a Buddha and save all beings. You can become an Arhat, and just pass into Nirvana. The Buddha goes further and teaches all sentient beings the way to liberation. But the point is, being liberated has nothing to do with morality -- it is simply the freedom from all sufferings.
But that's besides the point. You are right that the Buddha is most compassionate. And of course he is perfect in morality. But his compassion for others is not bounded by rules of right conduct, i.e. when he acts he acts not because he is trying to conform to his principles of what is right or wrong, but rather he acts out of compassion for all beings, to save all beings from sufferings. This is way beyond following rules. Rules are man made, and btw, Buddha did not set any rules for a long time in his teaching career. It is only after some time that he sees the need to establish precepts so that his followers can abide.
But if the mind is free from afflictions, where is the need for all these rules? The Buddha only establish precepts gradually, when the need arises. But the precepts alone does not address the key issue that is the afflictions that causes the person to break the precept, and the mental afflictions come from the root ignorance of the nature of reality and hence giving rise to greed, hatred and ignorance.
The only way to truly save other beings from sufferings, is to show them the way to the end of suffering, to Nirvana. That is the ultimate way to help others, that is to end their cycle of endless samsaric sufferings. Otherwise even if you can make their lives temporarily better, he is still not freed from sufferings, and will still undergo endless cycles of rebirth. The Buddha could have remained as a King and served his country and make their lives better and exercised 'mundane compassion', but he wasn't satisfied with this and felt the need to find the final end to all sufferings.
Hence, the aim of a Bodhisattva is not simply to exercise mundane compassion, of course we must do our best to help others in whatever ways we can, but the ultimate purpose is to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings so that they can attain liberation from the cycle of samsara.
So, as a teacher said,
Whoever is attached to a result for this life, is not a Dharma person.
The purpose of Dharma is liberation, not feeling better
in this life. The purpose of Dharma is not the cultivation of
mundane compassion, and so on.
The purpose of Dharma is to control afflictions, then overcome
them, and finally, to attain a state of total omniscience and
freedom.
~ Loppon Namdrol
Originally posted by rokkie:
yes, i don't believe in rebirthing, i remember when i was in singapore , i read a sutra, said, people in the world are fool, they tend to do image worship, never go to the real dharma, so budha in order to saving them from suffering, he take this expedient way of teaching, saying there is hell and paradise, so that could scare the fool to do good in the life, and i once read an article, done by chinese scholar, said many of buddhism teaching actually 以事喻ç�†ï¼Œlike what is nirvana,贪嗔痴å�³ç�就是æ��盘，so i keep my opinion, some one said he remember his past life, but as some sutra said , some people have eye problem, they see something in the air, but actually there is no such thing, some people practice hard in meditation, so when they sleep, they dream about budha, they saw the imagine of buddha, but i don't think it's a good thing, so if you can actually prove there is past life, you will be the next nobel prize winner, i am not saying you guys are lying,but i don't believe, but as a matter of fact, what i think is not important, as long as you think what you do is right, keep going, since 过去，现在 未æ�¥ï¼Œéƒ½æ˜¯ç©ºï¼Œwhat the matter of remember the past lifes。
The doctrine of rebirth is central to Buddhism, and by disbelieving in rebirth, you become a materialist (consciousness has a material cause) and annihilist (consciousness ceases upon physical death) and hence your views are what Buddhism consider Wrong Views and hence not conformed to Buddhism and the Buddhist path. Not only is annihilationism an extreme view, it is even worse than eternalism (another extreme view). This much is clear from the first discourse of the Buddha, wherein as well as describing both these extreme views as "unprofitable and ingnoble", he describes annihilationism as "vulgar" as well. Hence someone who don't believe in rebirth can't really be considered a Buddhist and cannot fully comprehend the truth of Dependent Origination.
Furthermore Rebirth is a reality that is affirmed by countless practitioners and meditators who truly can remember their past lives. Everyone can remember their past lives if they practice, though of course this is not to be the ultimate aim by merely a sideproduct on the way to the end of suffering.
And there are much scientific research done and many studies done on the topic of rebirth, many cases that proves that rebirth is true. They have traced those with past life memories and confirmed that their memories are real, not made up. For example, the people the young children remember as their past life, the house they lived in, and so on, truly exists.
Not only rebirth, there are countless out of body experiences, near death experiences, described by yogis/meditators/etc and those who had close encounters with death. They experienced themselves floating above their bodies, watching their bodies, while the doctors are still performing their own activities. All these happened *while their body is clinically dead*. When they were revived later, they were able to describe everything that happened (what the doctors were doing, what was happening around them in the room and outside the room) while they were supposedly already *dead*.
This cannot be explained if we say that mind/consciousness is just a by product of matter and is reducible to matter and dies with the body. (i.e. materialist point of view)
I posted before:
http://www.sgforums.com/forums/2621/topics/247006
In deep meditation you can enter
deeper levels of your consciousness in such depths that you when
penetrate deeply into the subconscious, it is even possible to
're-live' the entire scene in the past life, as if
you are totally present there with your body, conscious, not like a
dream.. it is clearer than our usual recalling of past events and
leaves no doubts in one's mind. In some cases it can be even
traumatic because you 'relive' a traumatic part of past life.. such
as fighting in the war. Then you are really physically there -
fighting the war, not vague like in dreams but as if you are
watching a movie with your entire body present there... as real as
it can be. One of my highly enlightened friends (longchen.. he
talked to you in my forum before) had such a recalling of fighting
war in WW1 in France.
As for how to prove they are true.. simple.. like I said there are
many cases which are proven to be true, by tracing what you
recalled about the past life to the source.. like for example, you
remember worked in a company called "X" in Germany, your name was
Rainald von Dassel, you lived in a terrace house at Z Street. Then,
you do a search and found out there really was a company in Germany
called "X", there really was a worker there called "Rainald von
Dassel" who died in 1970, he lived in a terrace house at Z Street,
your ex family members etc, etc etc, that leaves no doubt.
There are many many such accounts. One guy who researched into such
accounts was Ian Stevensons, who died a few months ago. But he was
not the only one and more and more people in many countries even in
the Western countries like United States where the concept of
rebirth and reincarnation is not part of their judeo christian
traditions, are starting to believe in rebirth and reincarnation
because of what they've seen... and these guys aren't Buddhists or
Hindus or what. (Also see http://www.ial.goldthread.com/) Another thing is
sometimes you recall your past life and realise many things you
never knew before, and when you check it out, it turns out all that
you remembered is true. Anyway I posted this news article before
about a boy who fought in world war.. which I will post
subsequently.
Anyway here's some more to read...
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/qanda05.htm
Question:
You have talked a lot about rebirth but is there any proof that we are reborn when we die?
Answer:
Not only is there scientific evidence to support the Buddhist belief in rebirth, it is the only after-life theory that has any evidence to support it. There is not a scrap of evidence to prove the existence of heaven and of course evidence of annihilation at death must be lacking. But during the last 30 years parapsychologists have been studying reports that some people have vivid memories of their former lives. For example, in England, a 5 year-old girl said she could remember her "other mother and father" and she talked vividly about what sounded like the events in the life of another person. Parapsychologists were called in and they asked her hundreds of questions to which she gave answers. She spoke of living in a particular village in what appeared to be Spain, she gave the name of the village, the name of the street she lived in, her neighbors' names and details about her everyday life there. She also fearfully spoke of how she had been struck by a car and died of her injuries two days later. When these details were checked, they were found to be accurate. There was a village in Spain with the name the five-year-old girl had given. There was a house of the type she had described in the street she had named. What is more, it was found that a 23-year-old woman living in the house had been killed in a car accident five years before. Now how is it possible for a five year- old girl living in England and who had never been to Spain to know all these details? And of course, this is not the only case of this type. Professor Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia's Department of Psychology has described dozens of cases of this type in his books. He is an accredited scientist whose 25 year study of people who remember former lives is very strong evidence for the Buddhist teaching of rebirth.
Question:
Well, have there been any scientists who believe in rebirth?
Answer:
Yes. Thomas Huxley, who was responsible for having science introduced into the 19th century British school system and who was the first scientist to defend Darwin's theories, believed that reincarnation was a very plausible idea. In his famous book 'Evolution and Ethics and other Essays', he says:
In the doctrine of transmigration, whatever its origin, Brahmanical and Buddhist speculation found, ready to hand, the means of constructing a plausible vindication of the ways of the Cosmos to man... Yet this plea of justification is not less plausible than others; and none but very hasty thinkers will reject it on the ground of inherent absurdity. Like the doctrine of evolution itself, that of transmigration has its roots in the world of reality; and it may claim such support as the great argument from analogy is capable of supplying.
Then, Professor Gustaf Stromberg, the famous Swedish astronomer, physicist and friend of Einstein also found the idea of rebirth appealing. Opinions differ whether human souls can be reincarnated on the earth or not. In 1936 a very interesting case was thoroughly investigated and reported by the government authorities in India. A girl (Shanti Devi from Delhi) could accurately describe her previous life (at Muttra, five hundred miles from Delhi) which ended about a year before her "second birth." She gave the name of her husband and child and described her home and life history. The investigating commission brought her to her former relatives, who verified all her statements. Among the people of India reincarnations are regarded as commonplace; the astonishing thing for them in this case was the great number of facts the girl remembered. This and similar cases can be regarded as additional evidence for the theory of the indestructibility of memory. Professor Julian Huxley, the distinguished British scientist who was Director General of UNESCO believed that rebirth was quite in harmony with scientific thinking. There is nothing against a permanently surviving spirit-individuality being in some way given off at death, as a definite wireless message is given off by a sending apparatus working in a particular way. But it must be remembered that the wireless message only becomes a message again when it comes in contact with a new, material structure - the receiver. So with our possible spirit-emanation. It... would never think or feel unless again 'embodied' in some way. Our per venalities are so based on body that it is really impossible to think of survival which would be in any true sense personal without a body of sorts... I can think of something being given off which would bear the same relation to men and women as a wireless message to the transmitting apparatus; but in that case 'the dead' would, so far as one can see, be nothing but disturbances of different patterns wandering through the universe until... they... came back to actuality of consciousness by making contact with something which could work as a receiving apparatus for mind. Even very practical and down-to-earth people like the American industrialist Henry Ford found the idea or rebirth acceptable. Ford was attracted to the idea of rebirth because, unlike the theistic idea or the materialistic idea, rebirth gives you a second chance to develop yourself. Henry Ford says: I adopted the theory of Reincarnation when I was twenty-six. Religion offered nothing to the point.. Even work could not give me complete satisfaction. Work is fume if we cannot utilize the experience we collect in one life in the next. When I discovered Reincarnation it was as if I had found a universal plan. I realized that there was a chance to work out my ideas. Time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of the clock...(continued in next post)
(continued from previous post) Genius is experience. Some seem to think that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives. Some are older souls than others, and so they know more... The discovery of Reincarnation put my mind at ease... If you preserve a record of this conversation, write it so that it puts men's minds at ease. I would like to communicate to others the calmness that the long view of life gives to us.
So the Buddhist teachings of rebirth does have some scientific evidence to support it. It is logically consistent and it goes a long way to answering questions that theistic and the materialistic theories fail to do. But it is also very comforting. What can be worse than a theory of life that gives you no second chance, no opportunity to amend the mistakes you have made in this life and no time to further develop the skills and abilities you have nurtured in this life. But according to the Buddha, if you fail to attain Nirvana in this life, you will have the opportunity to try again next time. If you have made mistakes in this life, you will be able to correct yourself in the next life. You will truly be able to learn from your mistakes. Things you were unable to do or achieve in this life may well become possible in the next life. What a wonderful teaching!
Anyway here's the boy's story.. Boy remembers Past Life Being Shot in WWII
About past lives ... Uniontown WW II flyer's memories in
Louisiana boy
By Judy Kroeger
DAILY COURIER
Thursday, April 15, 2004
James Leininger, 6, of Lafayette, La., loves airplanes.
"He has always been extraordinarily interested in airplanes," said
James' mother, Andrea Leininger, by telephone from their Louisiana
home.
Lots of kids love airplanes, but James' story is unique. He has
memories of being a World War II fighter pilot from Uniontown --
Lt. James McCready Huston, shot down near Iwo Jima in 1945.
At 18 months old, his father, Bruce Leininger, took James to the
Kavanaugh Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas, where the toddler
remained transfixed by World War II aircraft.
A few months later, the nightmares began.
"They were terrible, terrible," Andrea said. "He would scream,
'airplane crash, on fire, little man can't get out!' He'd be
kicking, with his hands pointing up at the ceiling."
When James was 2 1/2 years old, he and Andrea were shopping and he
wanted a toy airplane. "I said to him, 'Look, it has a bomb on the
bottom' and he told me, 'That's not a bomb, it's a drop tank.' I
had no idea what a drop tank was."
Neither of the Leiningers have ever served in the military, nor are
they involved with aviation. Until James began showing an interest
in planes, they had nothing aviation-related in their home.
Andrea's mother sent her a book by Pennsylvania author Carol
Bowman, called "Children's Past Lives." The Leiningers started
using Bowman's techniques of affirming James' nightmares and
assuring him that the experiences happened to a different person,
not the person he was now. "It helped. The nightmares stopped
almost immediately,"; Andrea said.
However, the memories did not stop, but they do not come up all the
time.
"I was reading him a story and he got a faraway look," she
recalled. "I asked what happened to your plane? 'Got shot,' he
said. Where? 'Engine.' Where did it crash? 'Water.' When I asked
him who shot the plane, he gave me a look like a teenager, rolling
his eyes, 'the Japanese,' like who else could it have been?
"What little kid knows about the Japanese," she asked. "He said he
knew it was a Japanese plane because of the red sun. My husband and
I were shell-shocked."
James provided other information. He said his earlier name was
James, he flew a Corsair and took off on a boat called the Natoma,
and he remembered a fellow flyer named Jack Larson.
Foods can set James' memories off, too.
"I hadn't made meatloaf in 10 years, so James had never had it,"
Andrea said. "When he sat down, he said, 'Meatloaf! I haven't had
that since I was on the Natoma.' When we were getting ice cream one
day, he told me that they could have ice cream every day on the
Natoma."
Bruce began researching his son's memories and discovered a small
escort carrier called the Natoma Bay, which was present at the
Battle of Iwo Jima. Twenty-one of its crew perished. Bruce also
discovered that only one of the Natoma's crew was named James,
James Huston.
James Huston's plane was hit in the engine by Japanese fire on
March 3, 1945, went down in flames and sank immediately. Flyer Jack
Larson witnessed the crash.
(continued from previous post)
James Huston was born Oct. 22, 1923, in South Bend, Ind., and lived
in Uniontown during the 1930s. His father was James McCready Huston
Sr., of Brownsville, and Daryl Green Huston, who was born in New
Geneva and grew up in Uniontown. James was the only son.
According to Lt. Huston's cousin, Bob Huston of Flatwoods, the
elder Huston started several newspapers and published 13 books. He
was living in Brownsville when two Navy officers informed Huston of
his son's death.
"I didn't know James," Bob Huston said. His parents were divorced,
"but I knew his father. He stayed with us in Brownsville. James was
on his 50th mission and would have come home if he'd lived another
five minutes."
The Leiningers have been in touch with Bob Huston.
"I knew what happened to James (Huston)," he said. "I was excited
to hear from them (the Leiningers). The boy's mother was
flabbergasted when all this happened."
Andrea believes that her son is the reincarnation of Lt. James
Huston. "There are so many little things. I believe in
reincarnation now."
Her husband, Bruce, remains skeptical. "He started researching to
disprove what James was telling us, and ended up proving it all,"
he said. "I think he believes that James Huston's spirit has
manifested itself in our son somehow."
The Leiningers have been in touch with Natoma Bay veterans,
too.
"We didn't tell the veterans for a long time," Andrea said, "but
everyone has a story about having had a spirit visit them. James'
sister, Anne Barron, was in California talking to him the day he
was killed. Anne believes James' story, because he has provided so
much information that only her brother could have known.
"Families of the 21 men who were killed are talking to each other,"
continued Andrea. "It's brought them together."
The Leiningers plan to attend this year's Natoma Bay reunion and
bring their son, James.
Andrea doesn't know why this has happened.
"If he did come back, why? Maybe it was so my husband could write
the book about the Natoma Bay," she said. "It helped turn the tide
of the war in the Pacific and was one of the most highly decorated
carriers, but it hasn't received much recognition.";
She said her husband has been working on a chronology of what's
happened to James and is researching the book. "He has flight plans
from the missions and has spent a year and a half on research. In
the introduction, he's writing about how he found out about the
ship."
That discovery, through a toddler's fascination with airplanes and
nightmares, has led to a segment on national television.
ABC contacted Carol Bowman about her work on children's past lives
and James Leininger's experience was the most verifiable, Andrea
said. "And we agreed to share his story."
Chris Cuomo will host the segment, which airs tonight at 10.
Judy Kroeger can be reached at [email protected] or (724)
626-3538.
------------------------
From : [email protected]
Sent : Friday, July 01, 2005 1:12:03 AM
Subject : ABC Primetime Special
Check your local listings for ABC --- Primetime - Thursday, June 30
at 10 p.m.
ET:
"Primetime Live" takes a look at "The Unexplainable":
ABC Primetime television will be rebroadcasting the story of James
Leininger,
age 6, of Lafayette, La. James remembers a life as a?World War II
fighter pilot
from Uniontown -- Lt. James McCready Huston, shot down near Iwo
Jima in 1945.
For more information about this fascinating case, click on the
following link
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/news/s_189477.html
Have a WONDERFUL DAY
Children's Past Lives
Forum Staff
Here's an interesting video:
---------
Dear Friends,
You should watch this 46 minute video. It is very
interesting. This is a case of a child in Scotland who
speaks of a previous life lived by him, which was
investigated and video-taped as the study progressed.
The url which gives access to the video in UTube is
given below:
http://www.guba.com/watch/2000869810
There have been thousands of such cases that have
been reported and verified by independent researchers
in Sri Lanka, India and eastern countries, where the
adherents of Buddhism and Hinduism find it acceptable
based on their teachings. Hindus believe in Reincarnation
whilst Buddhists believe in Rebirth.
With Mettha,
Shan
http://www.guba.com/watch/2000869810
Update: links updated.
Also see, Buddhism and Science by Ajahn Brahmavamso:
Excerpts: http://www.bswa.org/modules/icontent/index.php?page=105
Remembering Past Lives
Buddhism is founded on meditation, and meditation can reveal many, many things, especially deep memories from the past. Monks, nuns, and ordinary meditators can reach such deep meditations that they can not only levitate, but they can remember previous lives! Many people can actually do this. When you come out of a deep meditation you have incredible energy. Afterwards you won't be able to go to sleep, nor will you be able to go and watch TV, because the mind will be too full of its own joy and happiness. Moreover, the mind is so empowered that you can make suggestions to it, suggestions that you would not normally be able to fulfil. But empowered by deep meditation, you can follow the suggestions. I've actually taught this special meditation to people on meditation retreats, because on meditation retreats some get deep results. People sometimes get memories of when they were babies, and then of being in their mother's womb. If they are lucky they get memories of when they were a very old person, i.e. memories from a past life! One of the important things with those past life memories is that they are very real to the person experiencing them. It's as if you are back there experiencing it. Anyone who has had a memory like that has no doubt in their mind about past lives. It's not a theory any more. Such memories are like remembering where you were this morning when you had breakfast. You have no doubts that that was you this morning, having that breakfast. You didn't imagine it. With the same clarity, or even greater clarity, you remember that that very old person was you, only it wasn't a few hours ago, it was many decades ago. It was a different time, a different body and a different life. Now if people can do that on nine day meditation retreats, imagine what you would do if you were a monk or a nun, who meditates not just for a weekend, or for nine days, but nine years, twenty-nine, thirty-nine, or fifty-nine years. Imagine how much power you could generate in that meditation. Now imagine how much more power you could generate if you were a Buddha with an Enlightened mind.
Now you know what to do to discover for yourself if you've lived before. Meditate. I don't mean just meditating to get rid of stress and make your self calm. I mean really meditate, deeply. Meditate to get your mind into what we call the Jh�nas. Those are deep states of absorption, where the body disappears. You don't feel. You can't see. You can't hear. You're absolutely inside the mind. You have no thoughts but you are perfectly aware. You are blissed out. The method, the instructions for the experiment, are very clearly laid down. Even in my little book "The Basic Method of Meditation" all the steps are there. Follow them, and invest the resources necessary for doing that experiment not just one weekend retreat, but many weekend retreats, and sometimes many years of meditating. If you want to follow that 'scientific method', you have to enter into a Jh�na. And then, after you emerge from that state, you ask yourself, "What is my earliest memory?" You can keep going back in your mind, and eventually you will remember. You will see for yourself the experience of past lives. Then you know. Yes, it is true! You have had the experience for yourself.
The Buddha said he did remember past lives, many past lives, many aeons of past lives. He said specifically that he remembered ninety-one aeons. That's ninety big bangs, the time before and the time afterwards, huge spaces of time. That's why the Buddha said there was not just one universe, but many universes. We are not talking about parallel universes as some scientists say. We are talking about sequential universes, with what the Buddha called sanvattati vivattati. This is P�li, meaning the unfolding of the universe and the infolding of it, beginnings and endings.
The suttas even give a measure for the lifetime of a universe. When I was a theoretical physicist, my areas of expertise were the very small and the very large; fundamental particle physics and astrophysics. They were the two aspects that I liked the most, the big and the small. So I knew what was meant by the age of a universe and what a 'big bang' was all about. The age of a universe, the last time I looked in the journals, was somewhere about seventeen thousand million years. In the Buddhist suttas they say that about thirty seven thousand million years is a complete age. When I told that to the state astronomer he said yes, that estimate was in the ball park, it was acceptable. The person who was the convener of the Our Place in Space seminar made a joke about the fact that a hundred or two hundred years ago, Christianity said the universe was about seven thousand years old. That estimate certainly isn't acceptable, the Buddhist one is!
It is remarkable that there was a cosmology in Buddhism twenty-five centuries ago that doesn't conflict with modern physics. Even what astronomers say are galaxies, the Buddha called wheel systems. If any of you have ever seen a galaxy, you will know there are two types of galaxy. First, there is the spiral galaxy. The Milky Way is one of those. Have you seen a spiral galaxy? It is like a wheel! The other type is the globular cluster, which looks like a wheel with a big hub in the middle. 'Wheels' is a very accurate way of describing galaxies. This was explained by someone twenty five centuries ago, when they did not have telescopes! They didn't need them, they could go there themselves!
There is a lot of interesting stuff in the old suttas, even for those of you who like weird stuff. Some times people ask this question, "Do Buddhists believe in extra terrestrial beings, in aliens?" Would an alien landing here upset the very foundation of Buddhism? When I was reading through these old suttas I actually found a reference to aliens! It's only a very small sutta, which said that there are other world systems with other suns, other planets, and other beings on them. That's directly from the Anguttara Nik�ya. (AN X, 29)
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The Boy with No Brain
This is a well known case that throws a challenge to modern science. It's the case of Professor John Lorber and the student with no brain.[1] Professor Lorber was a neurologist at Sheffield University who held a research chair in paediatrics. He did a lot of research on hydrocephalus, or water on the brain. The student's physician at the university noticed that the youth had a slightly larger than normal head, and so referred him to Professor Lorber, simply out of interest. When they did a brain scan on the student they saw that his cranium was filled mainly with cerebrospinal fluid. The student had an IQ of 126, had gained a first-class honours degree in mathematics, and was socially completely normal. And yet the boy had virtually no brain. This is not just a fabrication; research has found other people with no brains. During the first world war, when there was such carnage in the trenches of Europe. Soldiers had their skulls literally blown apart by bullets and shrapnel. It is said that the doctors found that some of the shattered heads of those corpses were empty. There was no brain. The evidence of those doctors was put aside as being too difficult to understand. But Professor Lorber went forward with his findings, and published them, to the great disturbance of the scientific community. Billions of dollars are going into research on the brain. Current views hold that imbalances in the brain are causing your depressions, your lack of intelligence, or your emotional problems. And yet here is evidence that shows you don't need much of a brain to have an excellent mind.
A doctor friend in Sydney discussed this case with me once. He said he'd seen those CT scans, and confirmed that the case was well known in the medical community. He explained that that boy only had what was called a reptilian brain stem. Usually, any baby born with just a reptilian brain stem, without the cortex and the other stuff, will usually die straight away or within a few days after birth. A reptilian brain stem is not capable of maintaining basic bodily functions such as breathing, heart or liver. It's not enough to keep the higher brain functions going. It's not enough for speech, not enough for intelligence, certainly not enough for being an honours student in mathematics. This doctor said, "Ajahn Brahm, you wouldn't believe the problem that this is causing in my field of science. It shatters so much past research. It is challenging so many drug companies that are making billions of dollars in profits". Because dogmatic scientists can't understand how a person with virtually no brain can be intelligent, they are just burying the findings at the back of the filing cabinet, classifying it as an anomaly. But truth just won't go away.
The Mind and the Brain
As soon as you start to include the mind, this 'ghost in the machine', in the equations, scientists tend to become discomfited. They take refuge in dogma, and say, "No, that cannot exist". I really took the Sate Astronomer to task over such dogmatism in science.
As far as Buddhism is concerned there are six senses. Not just the five senses of science, namely sight, sound, smell, taste and touch but in addition the mind. From the very beginning in Buddhism, mind has been the sixth sense. Twenty-five centuries ago, the sixth sense was well recognised. So this is not changing things to keep up with modern times; this was so from the very beginning. The sixth sense, the mind, is independent of the other five senses. In particular the mind is independent of the brain. If you volunteer to have a brain transplant with me you take my brain and I take your brain I will still be Ajahn Brahm and you will still be you. Want to try it? If it was possible and it happened, you would still be yourself. The mind and the brain are two different things. The mind can make use of the brain but it doesn't have to.
Some of you may have had out of the body experiences. These out of the body experiences have recently been the subject of mainstream scientific research. Out of the body experiences are now a scientific fact! I like to stir people up by saying things like that. Recently I saw that Dr. Sam Parnia, a researcher from the University of Southampton Medical School, has given a paper, stating that consciousness survives death.[2] He said that he did not know how it happens, or why it happens, but, he says, it does happen. His evidence was gathered from people who have had out of the body experiences in his hospital. Dr Parnia, investigated and interviewed many, many patients. The information which they gave him, as a cool headed scientist, said yes, those people were conscious during the time they were dead. What was especially very convincing was that often they could actually describe to the doctor the medical procedures that were done during the time when they were clinically dead. They could describe it as if they were looking at their body from a position above the table. But how that happens Dr. Parnia can't explain. Why it happens he can't explain. But other medical findings also support the above. Finally, their findings replicated the work done earlier by Dr. Raymond A. Moody in the United States.[3]
The evidence proved to those hard nosed doctors that out of body experiences do happen. But how could they happen? If we agree that the mind can be independent of the body, then we have a plausible explanation. The brain doesn't need to be functioning for a mind to exist. The scientific facts are there, the evidence is there, but a lot of scientists don't like to admit those facts. They prefer to close their eyes because of dogmatism.
Come and See for Yourself
If you had just one person who had been confirmed as medically dead who could describe to the doctors, as soon as they were revived, what had been said, and done during that period of death, wouldn't that be pretty convincing? When I was doing elementary particle physics there was a theory that required for its proof the existence of what was called the 'W' particle. At the cyclotron in Geneva, CERN funded a huge research project, smashing atoms together with an enormous particle accelerator, to try and find one of these 'W' particles. They spent literally hundreds of millions of pounds on this project. They found one, just one 'W' particle. I don't think they have found another since. But once they found one 'W' particle, the researchers involved in that project were given Nobel prizes for physics. They had proved the theory by just finding the one 'W' particle. That's good science. Just one is enough to prove the theory.
When it comes to things we don't like to believe, they call just one experience, one clear factual undeniable experience, an anomaly. Anomaly is a word in science for disconcerting evidence that we can put in the back of a filing cabinet and not look at again, because it's threatens our worldview. It undermines what we want to believe. It is threatening to our dogma. However, an essential part of the scientific method is that theories have to be abandoned in favour of the evidence, in respect of the facts. The point is that the evidence for a mind independent of the brain is there. But once we admit that evidence, and follow the scientific method, then many cherished theories, what we call 'sacred cows' will have to be abandoned.
When we see something that challenges any theory, in science or in religion, we should not ignore the evidence. We have to change the theory to fit the facts. That is what we do in Buddhism. All the Dhamma of the Buddha, everything that he taught, if it does not fit the experience, then we should not accept it. We should not accept the Buddha's words in contradiction of experience. That is clearly stated in the K�l�ma Sutta. (AN III, 65) The Buddha said do not believe because it is written in the books, or even if I say it. Don't just believe because it is tradition, or because it sounds right, or because it's comforting to you. Make sure it fits your experience. The existence of mind, independent of the brain, fits experience. The facts are there.
Sometimes, however, we cannot trust the experts. You cannot trust Ajahn Brahm. You cannot trust the scientific journals. Because people are often biased. Buddhism gives you a scientific method for your practice. Buddhism says, do the experiment and find out for your self if what the Buddha said is true or not. Check out your experience. For example, develop the method to test the truth of past lives, rebirth and reincarnation. Don't just believe it with faith, find out for yourself. The Buddha has given a scientific experiment that you can repeat.
Until you understand the law of kamma, which is part of Buddhism, kamma is just a theory. Do you believe that there is a God 'up there' who decides when you can be happy or unhappy? Or is everything that happens to you just chance? Your happiness and your suffering in life, your joy, your pain and disappointments, are they deserved? Are you responsible or is it someone else's fault? Is it mere chance that we are rich or poor? Is it bad luck when we are sick and die at a young age? Why? You can find the true answer for yourself. You can experience the law of kamma through deep meditation. When the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, the two knowledge's he realized just before his Enlightenment were the knowledge from experience of the truth of rebirth, and the knowledge from experience of the Law of kamma. This was not theory, not just more thinking, not something worked out from discussions around the coffee table this was realization from deep experience of the nature of mind. You too can have that same experience.
All religions in the world except Buddhism maintain the existence of a soul. They affirm a real 'self', an 'essence of all being', a 'person', a 'me'. Buddhism says there is no self! Who is right? What is this 'ghost in the machine'? Is it a soul, is it a being, or is it a process? What is it? When the Buddha said that there is no one in here, he never meant that to be just believed, he meant that to be experienced. The Buddha said, as a scientific fact, that there is no 'self'. But like any scientific fact, it has to be experienced each one for themselves, paccattam veditabbo viññÅ«hÄ«. Many of you chant those PÄ�li words every day. It is basic scientific Buddhism. You have to keep an open mind. You don't believe there is 'no self', you don't believe there is a 'self' both beliefs are dogmatism. Keep an open mind until you complete the experiment. The experiment is the practice of sila, samÄ�dhi and pañña, (virtue, meditation and insight). The experiment is Buddhist practice. Do the same experimental procedures that the Buddha did under the Bodhi tree. Repeat it and see if you get the same results. The result is called Enlightenment.
Men and women have repeated that experiment many times over the centuries. It is in the laboratory of Buddhist practice that the Enlightened Ones, the Arahants, arise. The Arahants are the ones who have done the experiment and found the result. That's why Buddhism always has been the scientific way. It is the way of finding out for your self the truth of Enlightenment.
Buddhism is also the scientific way of discovering the truth about happiness, what most people are interested in. What is happiness? Some students from our local Islamic school came to visit our monastery a short while ago. I performed a little party trick for them, which was also an illuminating way to demonstrate the existence of the mind. I was trying to explain Buddhism, so I asked them:
"Are you happy? Put your hands up if you are happy now".
At first there was no response. Then one person responded and raised their hand.
"Oh! You're all miserable?" I said "Only one person, come on! Are you happy or not?"
More students put there hands up.
"Okay, all those people who put their hands up saying they are happy, with your index finger can you now point to that happiness? Can you give it coordinates in space?" They couldn't locate that happiness.
It's hard to locate happiness, isn't it? Have you ever been depressed? Next time you are depressed, try to point to that feeling with your index finger! You will find that you cannot locate depression, or happiness, in space. You cannot give it coordinates, because these things reside in the mind, not in the body, not in space. The mind is not located in space. That's why after a person dies, if they become a ghost they can appear all over the world immediately. People sometimes ask me, "How can that happen?" How can a person who dies, say in New York, appear immediately in Perth? It is because the mind is not located in space, that's why. This is why you cannot point to happiness, you cannot point to depression, but they are real. Are you imagining the happiness? Do you imagine the depression? It's real. You all know that. But you cannot locate it in three dimensional space. Happiness, depression, and many other real things, all live in mind-space.
The mind is not in the brain, it's not in the heart. We have seen that you could have no brain but still have a mind. You could take out your heart, and have a bionic heart, or a heart transplant, and you would still be you. This understanding of the mind is why Buddhists have no objection at all to cloning. You want to clone me, go for it! But don't think that if you clone Ajahn Brahm that you'll be able to have one Ajahn Brahm who goes to Singapore this evening, another one who stays in Perth for next Friday night's talk, plus one who can stay in Bodhinyana monastery, one who can go to Sydney, and one who can go to Melbourne. If you clone me, the person who looks like me will be completely different in personality, knowledge, inclination, and everything else. People clone Toyota cars in the same way. They look exactly the same but the performance really depends on the driver inside the car. That's all cloning is, it's just a replicating a body. Sure it looks the same, but is the body all that a person is? Haven't you seen identical twins? Are identical twins the same personality? Have they got the same intelligence? Have they got the identical inclinations? Do they even like the same food? The answer is usually no.
Why do people have this problem about cloning? Clone as much as you want. You are just creating more bodies for streams of consciousness to come into. Those streams of consciousness come from past lives. What's the problem? You would never be able to predict the result. Suppose you took Einstien's brain, extracted some of his DNA, and cloned a new Einstien. He might look the same, but I guarantee he won't be half as clever.
If people want to proceed with stem cell research, which is going to help humanity, then why not? In stem cell research there is no 'being' involved. The 'being' hasn't come in yet. In Buddhism, it is understood that the 'being' descends into the mother's womb at any time from conception until birth. Sometimes it doesn't even go into the womb at all and the foetus is stillborn. The objections to stem cell research are dogmatic, unscientific, and uncompassionate. They're foolish as far as I'm concerned. I think sometimes that I would tear my hair out if I weren't a monk.
If you want to look at the scientific evidence for rebirth, check out Professor Ian Stevenson. He spent his whole life researching rebirth on a solid scientific basis at the University of Virginia.[4] Chester Carlson, the inventor of xerography, (encouraged by his wife) offered funds for an endowed chair at the University to enabled Professor Stevenson to devote himself full-time to such research. If it weren't for the fact that people do not want to believe in rebirth, Dr. Ian Stevenson would be a world famous scientist now. He even spent a couple of years as a visiting fellow of Magdalene College in Oxford, so you can see that this is not just some weird professor; he has all of the credentials of a respected Western academic.
Dr. Stevenson has over 3000 cases on his files. One interesting example was the very clear case of a man who remembered many details from his past life, with no way of gaining that information from any other source. That person died only a few weeks before he was reborn! Which raises the question, for all those months that the foetus was in the womb, who was it? As far as Buddhism is concerned, the mother kept that foetus going with her own stream of consciousness. But when another stream of consciousness entered, then the foetus became the new person. That is one case where the stream of consciousness entered the mother's womb when the foetus was almost fully developed. That can happen. That was understood by Buddhism twenty five centuries ago. If the stream of consciousness doesn't enter the mother's womb, the child is a stillborn. There is a heap of evidence supporting that.
Originally posted by rokkie:yes, i don't believe in rebirthing, i remember when i was in singapore , i read a sutra, said, people in the world are fool, they tend to do image worship, never go to the real dharma, so budha in order to saving them from suffering, he take this expedient way of teaching, saying there is hell and paradise, so that could scare the fool to do good in the life, and i once read an article, done by chinese scholar, said many of buddhism teaching actually 以事喻ç�†ï¼Œlike what is nirvana,贪嗔痴å�³ç�就是æ��盘，so i keep my opinion, some one said he remember his past life, but as some sutra said , some people have eye problem, they see something in the air, but actually there is no such thing, some people practice hard in meditation, so when they sleep, they dream about budha, they saw the imagine of buddha, but i don't think it's a good thing, so if you can actually prove there is past life, you will be the next nobel prize winner, i am not saying you guys are lying,but i don't believe, but as a matter of fact, what i think is not important, as long as you think what you do is right, keep going, since 过去，现在 未æ�¥ï¼Œéƒ½æ˜¯ç©ºï¼Œwhat the matter of remember the past lifes。
If you believe in sutra, how can you not believe in rebirth? Buddha taught the concept of rebirth to his disciplies, and was written in sutra.
There are many cases of people recalling their past lives. May be you want to tell us what kind of proof you want to have.
To clarify, no one said want to remember past life, but since you said there is no rebirth, of coz we will tell you that there is rebirth by citing some examples of people recalling past life.
Originally posted by rokkie:
dealing with liberation is not just a matter of morality, yes, but if you even cannot fulfill the common morality conduct, don't talk about liberation, as least that's it for me, Kongzi said,�心所欲而�逾矩，he is talking about the relationship between morality and liberation, as he is in concern, he achieve both, liberated under rules, the rules actually mean morality, buddhism's morality is the highest, buddha said even there is a single person, haven't reside in paradise, i won't go before them, it's compassionate, so ignore, morality for the purpose of liberation is not right, real buddhist could achieve both. liberation is the highest form of morality, morality is the lower form of liberation.
I don't think buddha said before that "there is a single person, haven't
reside in paradise, i won't go before them". Where did you hear this from. In the first place, paradise is not a liberation at all.
I agree with you that morality is important, but believing in rebirth doesn't go against morality.
BTW, no sutra has ever said that heaven and hell, rebirth and so on are expedient teachings. This is absolutely nonsense.
Again, there are many meditators and practitioners (even today) who have experienced other realms in their meditation. Buddha himself have encountered and taught many devas in his lifetime. Regarding rebirth, Buddha remember 91 aeons of past lives, many practitioners and non-practitioners continue to remember past lives without doubt to this date.
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如何解读这些“故事” 是佛教ç»�å…¸è¯ é‡Šä¸çš„关键问题，一般æ�¥è¯´ï¼Œå…¶è§£è¯»æ–¹æ³•å�¯åˆ†ä¸ºä»¥äº‹è§£äº‹ã€�以ç�†è§£äº‹ä¸¤å¤§ç±»ï¼Œä»¥æ³•é‡Šç›¸æ˜¯ä»¥ç�†è§£äº‹çš„特殊形å¼�。“以事解事”是指将ç»�å…¸ä¸çš„人物ã€�事件当作真实ä¸�虚的å˜åœ¨åŠ 以ç�†è§£ï¼Œã€Šç»´æ‘©è¯˜æ‰€è¯´ç»�》ä¸çš„文殊和维摩诘被解读为实实在在的è�©è�¨ã€�外化的å�¶åƒ�。 “以ç�†è§£äº‹”是指将ç»�å…¸ä¸çš„故事在作为寓言æ�¥è§£è¯»ï¼Œç»�å…¸ä¸çš„人ã€�物å�Šæ‰€å�‘生的事件ã€�对è¯�都是为了é˜�明“ä½›ç�†”，“以法释相”特指ç»�å…¸ä¸çš„人或物具有æŸ�ç§�具体的象å¾�æ„�义；用“以法释相ã€�以ç�†è§£äº‹”的方法解读，《维摩诘所说ç»�》ä¸çš„文殊è�©è�¨è±¡å¾�“æ ¹æœ¬æ™ºæ…§”，维摩诘象å¾�“ä¸�å�¯æ€�议解脱力”，借二者之问ç”展现“统万行以æ�ƒæ™ºä¸ºé¦–ï¼Œæ ‘å¾·æœ¬ä»¥å…åº¦ä¸ºæ ¹ï¼ŒæµŽæœ¦æƒ‘åˆ™ä»¥æ…ˆæ‚²ä¸ºé¦–ï¼Œè¯å®—æž�则以ä¸�二为言”的大乘教ç�†ã€‚
1�以法释相
在《维摩诘所说ç»�通论》的开篇，程俱就指出《维摩诘所说ç»�》ä¸çš„çš„ä½›ã€�è�©è�¨å�Šè¯¸å¤§å¼Ÿå�都是一ç§�象å¾�。“æ–‡æ®Šå¸ˆåˆ©æ˜¯æ ¹æœ¬æ™ºï¼Œç»´æ‘©è¯˜æ˜¯ä¸�å�¯æ€�议解脱力；文殊师利是法而如然，维摩诘是神通妙用。”文殊是智慧的象å¾�，而维摩诘则是ä¸�å�¯æ€�议解脱力的象å¾�，文殊表“体”，维摩诘表“用”。他还指出“文殊师利与维摩诘，å�ˆå�³æ˜¯ä½›ã€‚”佛也是一ç§�象å¾�ï¼Œæ ¹æœ¬æ™ºæ…§ä¹‹“体”å’Œä¸�å�¯æ€�议解脱力之“用”å�ˆè€Œä¸ºä¸€å°±æ˜¯“ä½›”，代表ç�€ä½“用一如的境界。
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“是ç»�所说法，真俗凡圣凈秽平ç‰ï¼Œä¸�作异观。故在会è�©è�¨ï¼Œè‡ªç‰è§‚è�©è�¨ä»¥ä¸‹äº”å��è�©è�¨å�Šå¼¥å‹’文殊五å��二也。ç‰è§‚ã€�ä¸�ç‰è§‚ã€�ç‰ä¸�ç‰è§‚所以为ç‰è§‚，亦去ç‰è§‚之ç�€ä¹Ÿï¼›æ˜¯ç¥žé€šè‡ªåœ¨å¿…自三昧ä¸èµ·ï¼Œä¸‰æ˜§è€…æ£å®šä¹Ÿï¼Œæ˜¯æ‰€è°“神通妙用亦法而如然，故有定自在è�©è�¨ã€�法自在è�©è�¨ã€�法相è�©è�¨ä¹Ÿï¼›è§£è„±ç¥žé€šäº¦æ˜¯æ¤èº«å…‰æ˜Žå�‘现，故有光相è�©è�¨ã€�光严è�©è�¨ã€�大严è�©è�¨ï¼›æ˜¯ä¸€åˆ‡ä½›è�šä¸€åˆ‡ä¹‰æµ·ï¼Œæ•…有å®�积è�©è�¨ã€�辨积è�©è�¨ï¼›æ‰‹æœ‰æ‹¯æ‹”引接之义，è�©è�¨å¸¸ä»¥æ³•å®�ã€�法å�°æ‹¯æ‹”众生，上至å��地è�©è�¨ã€�四果诸天，下至地狱畜生饿鬼，高下平ç‰ï¼Œä¸€ä»¥æ³•å®�法å�°è€Œæ‹¯æ‹”之，故有å®�手è�©è�¨ã€�常举手è�©è�¨ã€�常下手è�©è�¨ï¼›……；于是终之以弥勒è�©è�¨ã€�文殊师利法王å�者，如诸è�©è�¨å…·è¶³æ˜¯ç‰æ³•ï¼Œå�³æˆ�佛果。弥勒è�©è�¨ï¼Œæ˜¯è¡¥å¤„å·²å�—佛记者故，然ä¸�ç¦»æ–‡æ®Šå¸ˆåˆ©æ¸…å‡€æ ¹æœ¬æ™ºä¹Ÿã€‚”在程æ°�看æ�¥ï¼Œè¿™éƒ¨ä½›ç»�开篇列举的这些è�©è�¨å��å�·éƒ½æ˜¯è±¡å¾�ç�€åœ†æ»¡è§‰æ‚Ÿè€…çš„å¾·è¡Œã€�愿力和能力的。诸è�©è�¨æŽ’列的顺åº�也有起寓æ„�所在：具足了å‰�é�¢äº”å��ä½�è�©è�¨æ‰€è±¡å¾�çš„å¾·è¡Œã€�愿力和能力，就å�¯ä»¥è¾¾åˆ°åœ†æ»¡è§‰æ‚Ÿçš„佛境界，而第五å��一ä½�弥勒è�©è�¨ä»£è¡¨å€™è¡¥å�—记之未æ�¥ä½›ï¼Œæ¸…é�™æ ¹æœ¬æ™ºæ…§æ˜¯ä½›ä¹‹“体”，所以文殊è�©è�¨æœ‰æŽ’在弥勒之å�Žã€‚
在《佛国å“�》ä¸ï¼Œç”±é•¿è€…å�å®�积首先å�‘ä½›å�‘问，请佛介ç»�如æ�¥å‡€åœŸä¹‹è¡Œã€‚程俱认为“长者å�å®�积”代表“çœŸä¿—æ— å¼‚”。《通论》云：“ä¸�以佛è�©è�¨ä¸ºè¯´æ³•ç¼˜èµ·ï¼Œè€Œä»¥é•¿è€…å�è€…ï¼ŒçœŸä¿—æ— å¼‚ï¼Œå‡¡åœ£ä¸€å¦‚ï¼Œåœ¨å®¶çŠ¹å‡ºå®¶ä¹Ÿã€‚” 而在长者å�者å®�积å�‘问以å�Žï¼Œä½›å‘ŠçŸ¥ä»¥éš�其心凈则佛土凈者。而佛的弟å�èˆ�利弗产生疑问，“èˆ�利弗”则是未离声闻的å°�乘佛法的代表，《通论》云：“而èˆ�利弗以声闻知è§�，ä¸�达是ç�†ï¼Œæ•…ç–‘æ¤åœŸä¸˜é™µã€�å�‘å�Žã€�è�†æ£˜ã€�æ²™ç ¾ã€�土石诸山，秽æ�¶å……满也。”
《维摩诘所说ç»�观众生å“�第七》ä¸ï¼Œå¤©å¥³ä»¥ç¥žé€šåŠ›å�˜èˆ�利弗如天女，å�ˆä½¿å¤©å¥³è‡ªåŒ–身如èˆ�利弗。《通论》从“天女”这一概念引å�‘出对所有大乘ç»�å…¸ä¸çš„“女人”çš„æ„�义的论述，“观佛è�©è�¨è¯´ä¸€ä¹˜æ³•ï¼Œå¿…有女人以为缘起。故《法å�Žç»�》说龙女七å²�，文殊渡之，于众会å‰�化为男å�，å�³å¾€ç”Ÿè¥¿æ–¹æˆ�佛。而《å�Žä¸¥ç»�》婆须密多天主光女ã€�慈行童女乃至æˆ�神ã€�夜神ã€�林神ç‰ï¼Œçš†ä»¥å¥³äººç”Ÿï¼Œå–„è´¢è§�之得解脱门。å�ˆå¦‚ã€Šæ— åž¢æ–½ç»�ã€‹æ‰€è¯´æ— åž¢æ–½ç»�女，《月上女ç»�》所说月上女，皆辨æ‰�神通与大弟å�å¾€å¤�辩论，诃æ¯�å°�乘，说微妙法，亲å�—佛记。维摩诘室ä¸æ‰€åŒ–天女亦犹是也，其义有五：一者示平ç‰æ³•æ— ç”·å¥³ç›¸ï¼›äºŒè€…æ³•æ— å‡€ç§½ï¼›ä¸‰è€…ç¤ºä¸–ä¿—è°›å�³å‡ºä¸–谛；四者一念之间å�Šä¸‰é˜¿åƒ§è¢›åŠ«æ— å»¶ä¿ƒç›¸ï¼›äº”è€…ä¸€åˆ‡è¯¸æ³•çš†å¦‚å¹»åŒ–ã€‚å¦‚ç»´æ‘©è¯˜ç¤ºå±…å£«èº«ï¼Œå¤©å¥³ä¹ƒå…¶çœ·å±žï¼Œç„¶è€ŒçœŸä¿—æ— äºŒã€�世出世一如也。” 《观众生å“�》ä¸ï¼Œè¿˜æœ‰ä¸€ä½�普现色身è�©è�¨å�‘维摩诘å�‘问，《通论》ä¸è®¤ä¸ºï¼Œ“普现色身è�©è�¨è€…，亦明于一切色相而常普现ä¸�æ€�义法也。”
在《维摩诘所说ç»�通论》ä¸ï¼Œä¸€åˆ‡ä½›è�©è�¨å�Šç½—汉ã€�天女ã€�诸大弟å�都是象å¾�性的而é�žå®žåœ¨æ€§çš„。而对于一些é�žäººæ ¼åŒ–的事物，程俱在《通论》ä¸ä¹Ÿç»™äºˆè±¡å¾�æ„�ä¹‰çš„è¯ é‡Šã€‚åœ¨ã€Šç»´æ‘©è¯˜æ‰€è¯´ç»�佛国å“�第一》ä¸ï¼Œå¯¹äºŽæ¯—è€¶ç¦»åŸŽåºµç½—æ ‘å›çš„情景有如下的æ��述：“有长者å�，å��æ›°å®�积，与五百长者å�，俱æŒ�七å®�盖，æ�¥è¯£ä½›æ‰€ï¼Œå¤´é�¢ç¤¼è¶³ï¼Œå�„以其盖，共供养佛。佛之å¨�神，令诸å®�ç›–å�ˆæˆ�一盖，é��覆三å�ƒå¤§å�ƒä¸–界。”《通论》指出，七å®�ç›–ç‰æ˜¯å…·æœ‰è±¡å¾�æ„�义的比喻，表示一切法å�³ä¸€æ³•ï¼Œä½›è¯´ä¹‹æ³•æ— ä¸�周é��，“以七å®�盖供养佛，而佛å�ˆä¸ºä¸€ï¼Œç›–言一切法å�³ä¸€æ³•ã€‚以法å®�æ™®è¦†ä¸€åˆ‡ï¼Œæ— æ‰€ä¸�æœ‰ï¼Œæ— æ‰€ä¸�é��也。……有一ä¸�毫ä¸�至处，是佛法界有所ä¸�é��，有所ä¸�é��则是有ç¢�é�žæ— ç¢�也。” 《通论》还进一æ¥è®ºè¿°äº†å¤§ä¹˜ä½›æ•™ä¸ä»¥å®�喻法的特点，“大è—�æ•™ä¸ï¼Œå¸¸ä»¥å®�喻法。如云å®�所ã€�å®�å·žã€�衣裹ç� ã€�é¢�上ç� ã€�æ‘©å°¼ç� ã€�长者å®�è—�之类，皆以喻法。”
2� 以�解事
既然诸佛è�©è�¨å�Šä½›å›½ã€�å®�ç›–ã€�ç� å®�ç‰å�‡æ˜¯“以法释相”，那么ç»�å…¸ä¸çš„神奇故事和对è¯�自然也是一ç§�寓言，是“以ç�†è§£äº‹”。
在《维摩诘所说ç»�佛国å“�第一》ä¸ï¼Œä½›è¯´“心净å�³ä½›åœŸå‡€”，代表声闻乘的èˆ�利弗认为世间秽æ�¶å……满，释迦牟尼就显示神异，以足指按地，使三å�ƒå¤§å�ƒä¸–ç•Œå�˜æˆ�æ— é‡�功德å®�庄严土，“佛告èˆ�利弗，我佛国土常敬净若æ¤ï¼Œä¸ºæ¬²åº¦æ–¯ä¸‹åŠ£äººæ•…，示是众æ�¶ä¸�净土耳。”对于这段故事，程俱认为这是为了说明迷与悟ã€�净与秽的转æ�¢å�ªåœ¨é¡·åˆ»çš„é�“ç�†ã€‚《通论》云：“佛以足指按地，而三å�ƒå¤§å�ƒä¸–界皆以清凈庄严者，言迷悟净秽之å��，一足指按地顷耳。”
在《维摩诘所说ç»�文殊è�©è�¨é—®ç–¾å“�第五》ä¸ï¼Œæ–‡æ®Šå¸ˆåˆ©è�©è�¨å¥‰å‘½å‰�往问疾，诸大弟å�éš�行。程俱指出其象å¾�æ„�义在于清净法身ã€�æœ¬æ ¹æœ¬æ™ºç”Ÿèµ·ä¸�å�¯æ€�议解脱力，表示由体å�‘用ã€�体用一如之æ„�。《通论》云：“文殊师利从佛所æ�¥è§�维摩诘，å�³æ˜¯æ¸…净法身ã€�æœ¬æ ¹æœ¬æ™ºè€Œèµ·ä¸�å�¯æ€�议解脱力。神通皆ä¸�æ�¥è€Œæ�¥ã€�ä¸�è§�而è§�。ä¸�æ�¥è€Œæ�¥å²‚有æ�¥ç›¸ï¼Ÿä¸�è§�而è§�岂有è§�相？若æ�¥å·²æ›´ä¸�æ�¥ï¼Œæ˜¯å®žæ— æ�¥ï¼Œæ�¥æ— 所从故。若去已更ä¸�åŽ»ï¼Œæ˜¯å®žæ— åŽ»ï¼ŒåŽ»æ— æ‰€è‡³æ•…ã€‚æ‰€å�¯è§�者更ä¸�å�¯è§�，拟议å�³å·®æ•…。”《文殊师利问疾å“�》ä¸ï¼Œç»´æ‘©è¯˜å¿ƒå¿µæ–‡æ®Šä¸Žè¯¸å¤§ä¼—å°†æ�¥ï¼ŒäºŽæ˜¯ç©ºå…¶å®¤å†…ï¼Œæ— æœ‰åºŠåº§å�Šä¾�者。代表å°�乘声闻的èˆ�利弗心念大众当于何å��，维摩诘在应ç”ä¸å¼¹æ–¥å°�乘，弘扬大乘佛法。《通论》释云：“诸佛è�©è�¨ä»¥å¹¿å¤§å¿ƒã€�æ— ä½�心ã€�æ— åˆ†åˆ«å¿ƒã€�æ— ç¢�心故，一心å…用，皆为ä¸�å�¯æ€�è®®ç¥žé€šï¼Œäº¦å¸¸æ”¾æ— é‡�光明é��照三å�ƒå¤§å�ƒä¸–界，所谓‘父æ¯�所生眼，悉è§�三å�ƒç•Œ’。以至鼻舌耳身æ„�ã€�色声香味触法，皆为清净如æ�¥å¤§æ ¹æœ¬æ™ºä¸Žä¸�å�¯æ€�议解脱神通之力。故云空其室内，除外所有，å�Šè¯¸ä¾�è€…ï¼Œæ— æœ‰åºŠåº§ã€‚æ¤æ‰€ä»¥èƒ½å®¹é¡»å¼¥ç›¸ä¸–界三万二å�ƒç‹®å�座å�Šé¦™ç§¯ä¸–ç•Œä¹�百万狮å�座也。言须弥世界者，如ç»�所言，有解脱å��ä¸�å�¯æ€�议者，è�©è�¨ä½�世解脱者，以须弥之高广，内芥å�ä¸æ— 所增å‡�，须弥山王本相如故，表是法也。”æ¤ä¸ä¹‹ç�†åœ¨äºŽå¤§ä¹˜è�©è�¨å�–消分别心，以广大心ã€�æ— ä½�心ã€�æ— åˆ†åˆ«å¿ƒã€�æ— ç¢�å¿ƒè€Œæ— æ‰€ä¸�容。
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Originally posted by Display Name:I don't think buddha said before that "there is a single person, haven't reside in paradise, i won't go before them". Where did you hear this from. In the first place, paradise is not a liberation at all.
I agree with you that morality is important, but believing in rebirth doesn't go against morality.
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i think this answer your question
for more information, help urself read 地��
What it is talking about is that all rebirth in hell and heaven realms come from karma, and karma comes from volition so of course they arise due to the mind.
Bodhidharma has never said that karma and rebirth does not exist nor is it an expedient teaching, to the contrary he always talk about it.
And Bodhidharma mentioned something which I have been trying to say just now, that following precepts and rules does not lead to liberation. One will still be trapped in the cycle of rebirth in samsara, birth and death, until one wakes up to his true nature. He said:
ä½›ä¸�度佛，将心觅佛ä¸�识佛。但是外觅佛者，尽是ä¸�识自心是佛。亦ä¸�得将佛礼佛，ä¸�得将心念佛。佛ä¸�诵ç»�，佛ä¸�æŒ�戒，佛ä¸�犯戒ã€�ä½›æ— æŒ�犯，亦ä¸�é€ å–„æ�¶ã€‚
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Originally posted by rokkie:
Even though some teachers use heaven and hell as metaphor of states of minds, there is nothing which shows that they do not believe or know from direct experience that these states of mind persists beyond physical death and leads to rebirth in various realms in an unending cycle until one truly realises one's true nature and thus end all suffering and all bondage to samsara and rebirth.
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--- this is talking about our Buddha-Nature. Of course, everything is the manifestation of Mind, including what you are experiencing now, and what you will experience in your next life, and what you have experienced in your past life. The Buddha-Nature/Big Mind (with capital 'M') or One Mind is like a mirror, which is ever-present and reflects everything perfectly and is inseparable from all reflections. And the 'Mind' here is talking about Buddha Nature, not to be mistaken as just 'mental perception' or 'thoughts'. It is not saying that everything is just mental perception. This is the understanding of philosophers, not one who has realised his true nature.
But all karma/volition are caused by mental volition/action, which is the mind (no capital 'M'), which has a different meaning from the Big Mind or Buddha Mind. When karma/volition arises from mental/speech/action, these karma will continue even after this life, and will result in many different kinds of karmic ripenings.
All these does not deny the fact that rebirth will continue to happen until one is liberated from all delusions.
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I have read all these before. Western Pure Land has 4 types.
There is:
「凡圣�居土�方便有余土�实报庄严土�常寂光土�
If you are not yet enlightened, after you die you will be reborn in the 1st type of pure land and you will still have a ä¸é˜´ç”Ÿ to reborn there.
If you realise your Buddha Nature, you can simply enter into 寂光净土 immediately. In fact if you realise your Buddha Nature then 寂光净土 which is equivalent to your self-nature (自性) and your Dharmakaya (法身) is available right here. This is the Pure Land that Zen Master Hui-Neng is talking about. For such a person after death there is no ä¸é˜´ç”Ÿ to take rebirth, there is simply the recognition of Buddha Nature, one's 法身. One immediately recognises and abides in 寂光净土.
But it does not mean there is no expedient pure land for unenlightened beings. Amitabha with his vows manifested an expedient place for unenlightened beings to be reborn in.
Sinweiy should be able to answer you better.
Noble Eightfold Path
Wisdom
1. Right View
2. RIght intention
Ethical Conduct
3. Right speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
Mental Development
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right concentration
The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism. Great emphasis is put on the practical aspect, because it is only through practice that one can attain a higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of the path are not to be understood as a sequence of single steps, instead they are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other.
http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/eightfoldpath.html
Note the underlined.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html
Originally posted by rokkie:
dealing with liberation is not just a matter of morality, yes, but if you even cannot fulfill the common morality conduct, don't talk about liberation, as least that's it for me, Kongzi said,�心所欲而�逾矩，he is talking about the relationship between morality and liberation, as he is in concern, he achieve both, liberated under rules, the rules actually mean morality, buddhism's morality is the highest, buddha said even there is a single person, haven't reside in paradise, i won't go before them, it's compassionate, so ignore, morality for the purpose of liberation is not right, real buddhist could achieve both. liberation is the highest form of morality, morality is the lower form of liberation.
After reading your post more carefully, I suppose what you're saying is not 'liberated under rules', but rather doing what one intends to do freely without breaking the rules, right? That means going beyond following rules.
And this cannot be possible without the liberation from our afflictions, which is caused by our root ignorance. But before the liberation of our afflictions we can transform and control our afflictions, for example, greed can be transformed by generosity, anger can be transformed by loving kindness, and so on.
More importantly change comes about through the awareness of habitual, mechanical movements, thoughts, behaviors, emotions, and the physical sensations linked to the emotions. Because in truly seeing what is happening in this moment, we stop entertaining our habitual/karmic propensities through further reaction, further thinking.
Everything is simply revealed for what it is. There is just a silent watching, open, spacious listening. Not trying to suppress or get rid of the arising thought, emotion, not trying to suppress it through rules (e.g. I must not be feeling angry), but simply to give it attention and care and patience. This embracing awareness interrupts the mechanical patterns and then these habitual patterns do not create deeper imprints in our minds and can dissolve in their own accord.
Normally, we do not even notice when these habitual patterns arise in us, we start to react habitually, and hence we are back in the same old ways. But whatever awareness touches, like the energy of the habitual pattern, becomes the energy of awareness. Then actions that arise, arises out of clear seeing, not unconscious conditioned patterns of behavior.
Anyway, clear seeing transcends the common notion of morality as following the rules of 'shoulds' and 'should-nots', it is not following rules or doing anything, it simply throws light on What Is without any judgement of good and bad, like a clear mirror reflecting everything perfectly as it is. Our Buddha-Nature is just like that, it is likened to a mirror, and the mirror does not judge what is good or bad, it is Just As It Is. Hui-neng said, "Not thinking of good, not thinking of evil, tell me what was your original face before your mother and father were born?"
In observing our every moment reality this way we also gradually we begin to unwind the core sense of a separate self. In seeing naked reality as it is moment to moment, any sense of separation is seen through in direct experience. There is just a recognition of oneness in clarity. In thinking there is just thoughts and tendencies, but no separate thinker. In hearing, there is just sounds, no hearer. The sense of a separate 'me', a permanent center that is 'who we are' is too seen to be part of our deep conditioning, our karmic propensity that becomes a fundamental knot of perception. It is a conditioned tendency of perceiving through a reference point, a center, but apart from that it is not real. When the tendency to think of 'myself' arise, that too, arise without a center... in the thinking there is just the thought, the self-luminous expression of Buddha-Nature spontaneously manifesting without a center, a location, a support, and then self-liberates.
There must be the deepening insight into our reality and the nature of reality in order to uproot all traces of ignorance and thus all afflictions causing greed, hatred, ignorance. Until then, one cannot say that one has achieved liberation.
Without Awareness, whatever we do, whether it is following rules, or even chanting or meditating, or reading sutras, or anything at all, provides no insights or wisdom. Whatever we do simply becomes mechanical behavior, following tradition, conditioned way of behavior and thoughts... but no Seeing, no freedom.
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Kongzi/Confucius teachings are fully 入世法, they are worldly teachings. They don't deal with Liberation from all Sufferings and from Birth and Death. So you cannot consider Confucius as being Enlightened or Liberated in the Buddhist sense, but of course he had contributed alot to the Chinese thought and life and should be appreciated as such.
The teachings of Confucius and Mencius are within the boundary of the laws of this secular world and are not considered to be religious. They constitute a form of academic ideology. Confucius and Mencius dealt with the laws of this secular world.
Next, you cannot consider liberation to be morality, because liberation is just liberation. It is not about morality.
What is morality? "of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical:"
Liberation is not about right and wrong, it is about realising the nature of reality (emptiness) and thus liberation from all suffering. It has nothing to do with following rules. You can't gain liberation by following rules. We cannot confuse the two.
You said, "buddhism's morality is the highest, buddha said even there is a single person, haven't reside in paradise, i won't go before them, it's compassionate,"
Well first of all, not reside in paradise, because Nirvana is not a place or a paradise. Even the highest heavens are still within the 31 planes of existence, still in Samsara. Nirvana (cessation) is simply the absence of all sufferings, all further samsaric births.
Also another thing is, being liberated does not mean you will become a Buddha and save all beings. You can become an Arhat, and just pass into Nirvana. The Buddha goes further and teaches all sentient beings the way to liberation. But the point is, being liberated has nothing to do with morality -- it is simply the freedom from all sufferings.
But that's besides the point. You are right that the Buddha is most compassionate. And of course he is perfect in morality. But his compassion for others is not bounded by rules of right conduct, i.e. when he acts he acts not because he is trying to conform to his principles of what is right or wrong, but rather he acts out of compassion for all beings, to save all beings from sufferings. This is way beyond following rules. Rules are man made, and btw, Buddha did not set any rules for a long time in his teaching career. It is only after some time that he sees the need to establish precepts so that his followers can abide.
But if the mind is free from afflictions, where is the need for all these rules? The Buddha only establish precepts gradually, when the need arises. But the precepts alone does not address the key issue that is the afflictions that causes the person to break the precept, and the mental afflictions come from the root ignorance of the nature of reality and hence giving rise to greed, hatred and ignorance.
The only way to truly save other beings from sufferings, is to show them the way to the end of suffering, to Nirvana. That is the ultimate way to help others, that is to end their cycle of endless samsaric sufferings. Otherwise even if you can make their lives temporarily better, he is still not freed from sufferings, and will still undergo endless cycles of rebirth. The Buddha could have remained as a King and served his country and make their lives better and exercised 'mundane compassion', but he wasn't satisfied with this and felt the need to find the final end to all sufferings.
Hence, the aim of a Bodhisattva is not simply to exercise mundane compassion, of course we must do our best to help others in whatever ways we can, but the ultimate purpose is to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings so that they can attain liberation from the cycle of samsara.
So, as a teacher said,
Whoever is attached to a result for this life, is not a Dharma person.
The purpose of Dharma is liberation, not feeling better in this life. The purpose of Dharma is not the cultivation of mundane compassion, and so on.
The purpose of Dharma is to control afflictions, then overcome them, and finally, to attain a state of total omniscience and freedom.~ Loppon Namdrol
yes, confucius is 世间法，but �世间法，能增长佛法
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:I have read all these before. Western Pure Land has 4 types.
There is:
「凡圣�居土�方便有余土�实报庄严土�常寂光土�
If you are not yet enlightened, after you die you will be reborn in the 1st type of pure land and you will still have a ä¸é˜´ç”Ÿ to reborn there.
If you realise your Buddha Nature, you can simply enter into 寂光净土 immediately. In fact if you realise your Buddha Nature then 寂光净土 which is equivalent to your self-nature (自性) and your Dharmakaya (法身) is available right here. This is the Pure Land that Zen Master Hui-Neng is talking about. For such a person after death there is no ä¸é˜´ç”Ÿ to take rebirth, there is simply the recognition of Buddha Nature, one's 法身. One immediately recognises and abides in 寂光净土.
But it does not mean there is no expedient pure land for unenlightened beings. Amitabha with his vows manifested an expedient place for unenlightened beings to be reborn in.
Sinweiy should be able to answer you better.
you really think there is such buddhism paradise exist, in somewhere, some say it's beneath the ground ,some say it's above the sky, and there is so many holy jewelry decorating the paradise, the ground is full covered with gold, the holy river is very where, and holy bird singing, there definitely no such thing, from chinese buddhism point of view, hell or paradise only exist in people mind, sometimes you experience hell and suddenly from hell to paradise, buddhism teaching empty, not attach, å¦‚ä»¥è‰²æ±‚æˆ‘ï¼Œä»¥éŸ³é—»æˆ‘ï¼Œçš†å •å…¥é”é�“，ä¸�å�¯è§�如æ�¥ï¼Œif you really think paradise exist in the out there form you are attached to it, it's not paradise, i think it's more likely where ET come from.
Some buddhist, tend to think it's real, but it's your bussiness, i don't want to changing someone's thinking,
And for a real buddhist, there are so many thing is wrong, even a lot what u think right, is wrong.
And some book is not with me right now, they are in singapore, so i cannot show your where some of my word come from,that's it
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:BTW, no sutra has ever said that heaven and hell, rebirth and so on are expedient teachings. This is absolutely nonsense.
Again, there are many meditators and practitioners (even today) who have experienced other realms in their meditation. Buddha himself have encountered and taught many devas in his lifetime. Regarding rebirth, Buddha remember 91 aeons of past lives, many practitioners and non-practitioners continue to remember past lives without doubt to this date.
Nonsense, you r using big word, i will show u, if i got the books with me, i sometimes, think rebirth maybe true, but anyway, it may not change what i am thinking, yes we have many suffering in this life, but that does not deny the happiness, if you only have suffering without happiness, it called depression, if you magnify the suffering, yes it's very huge, but i believe most of people still have a good life, death is unavoidable, beside that, every pain is also impermanent,
Are the Mind-only Pure Land and the Self-nature Amitabha the same as or different from the Western Pure Land and Amitabha in the Pure Land ?
It is because the Mind-only Pure Land exists that we are reborn in the Pure Land of the West. If the mind is not pure, it is impossible to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land. Even when those who have committed cardinal transgressions achieve rebirth through ten recitations, such rebirth is due to their reciting the Buddha's name with a pure mind, thus eliciting a response from Amitabha Buddha. Ordinary people generally think that if the Pure Land is Mind-Only, then it does not exist. This is the understanding of demons and externalists. Such a deluded view, which appears correct but is in reality wrong, affects more than half of all people and causes practitioners to forfeit true benefits.
It is precisely because of the Self-Nature Amitabha that the practitioner must recite the name of Buddha Amitabha of the West seeking rebirth in the Pure Land - so as to achieve the Self-Nature Amitabha through gradual cultivation. If he merely grasps at the Self-Nature Amitabha but does not recite the name of Buddha Amitabha of the West, he cannot achieve immediate escape from Birth and death - not even if he is truly awakened, much less if (like most people who ask this question) he is pretentious and just indulges in empty talk without engaging in practice.
Thus the answer to your question [are the mind-Only Pure Land and the Self-Nature Amitabha the same as or different from the Western Pure Land and Amitabha in the Pure Land?] is that they are one yet two before Buddhahood is attained, two yet one after Buddhahood is attained.
(From Pure-Land Zen ,Zen Pure-Land, Letters from Patriarch Yin Kuang. Page 108 - 111)
http://www.amtbweb.org/tchet262.htm
Both the Lankavatara and Esoteric Adornment Sutras Stated:
"It is better to be attached to Existence, though the attachment may be as big as Mount Sumeru, than to be attached to Emptiness, though the attachment may be as small as a mustard seed."
also By Tien Tai Patriarch Chih I
Question 2
All phenomena are by nature empty, always unborn (Non-Birth), equal and still. Are we not going against this truth when we abandon this world, seeking rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss? The (Vimalakirti) Sutra teaches that "to be reborn in the Pure Land, you should first purify your own Mind; only when the Mind is pure, will the Buddha lands be pure." Are not Pure Land followers going against this truth?
Answer
This question involves two principles and can be answered on two levels.
a) On the level of generality, if you think that seeking rebirth in the Pure Land means "leaving here and seeking there", and is therefore incompatible with the Truth of Equal Thusness, are you not committing the same mistake by grasping at this Saha World and not seeking rebirth in the Pure Land, i.e., "leaving there and grasping here"? If, on the other hand, you say, "I am neither seeking rebirth there, nor do I wish to remain here," you fall into the error of nihilism.
The Diamond Sutra states in this connection:
"Subhuti, ... do not have such a thought. Why? Because one who develops the Supreme Enlightened Mind does not advocate the (total) annihilation (of the marks of the dharmas.)" (Bilingual Buddhist Series, Vol. 1. Taipei: Buddhist Cultural Service, 1962, p. 130.)
b ) On the level of Specifics, since you have brought up the truth of Non-Birth and the Pure Mind, I would like to give the following explanation.
Non-Birth is precisely the truth of No-Birth and No-Death. No-Birth means that all dharmas are false aggregates, born of causes and conditions, with no Self-Nature. Therefore, they have no real "birth nature" or "time of birth". Upon analysis, they do not really come from anywhere.
Therefore, they are said to have No-Birth.
No-Death means that, since phenomena have no Self-Nature, when they are extinguished, they cannot be considered dead. Because they have no real place to return to, they are said to be not extinct (No-Death).
For this reason, the truth of Non-Birth (or No-Birth No-Death) cannot exist outside of ordinary phenomena, which are subject to birth and death. Therefore, Non-Birth does not mean not seeking rebirth in the Pure Land.
The Treatise on the Middle Way states:
"Dharmas (phenomena) are born of causes and conditions. I say they are thus empty. They are also called false and fictitious, and that is also the truth of the Middle Way."
It also states:
"Dharmas are neither born spontaneously nor do they arise from others. They are born neither together with nor apart from causes and conditions. They are therefore said to have Non-Birth."
The Vimalakirti Sutra states:
"Although he knows that Buddha Lands / Are void like living beings / He goes on practicing the Pure Land (Dharma) / to teach and convert men." (Charles Luk, The Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra, p. 88.)
It also states:
"We can build mansions at will on empty land, but it is impossible to build in the middle of empty space."
When the Buddhas preach, they usually rely on the Two Truths (ultimate and conventional). They do not destroy the fictitious, provisional identities of phenomena while revealing their true characteristics.
That is why the wise, while earnestly striving for rebirth in the Pure Land, also understand that the nature of rebirth is intrinsically empty. This is true Non-Birth, and also the meaning of "only when the Mind is pure, will the Buddha Lands be pure".
The dull and ignorant, on the other hand, are caught up in the concept of birth. Upon hearing the term "Birth", they understand it as actual birth; hearing of "Non-Birth", they (cling to its literal meaning) and think that there is no rebirth anywhere. Little do they realize that "Birth is precisely Non-Birth, and Non-Birth does not hinder Birth."
Because they do not understand this principle, they provoke arguments, slandering and deprecating those who seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land. What a great mistake! They are guilty of vilifying the Dharma and belong to the ranks of deluded externalists (non-Buddhists).