Saturday, December 28, 2013

It is difficult...

"Most difficult of all difficulties is to hear this sutra [the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha’s salvation], have faith in it with joy and hold fast to it. Nothing is more difficult than this.”
 -Shakyamuni  Buddha in the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha –

“It is difficult to meet true teachers
And difficult for them to instruct.
It is difficult to hear the teaching well,
And more difficult still to accept it.”
Shinran Shonin

It is difficult for somebody to realize he is an incapable person, forever lost in the sea of samsara and with no possibility to attain Enlightenment by his own power.
It is difficult to realize that one has actually no time for the so called spiritual advancement and research, that death is near and another human birth might not be found in many kalpas.
It is difficult for materialists to accept the existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land, even if Shakyamuni himself taught about them and showed them to Ananda and the audience gathered on Vulture Peak:
"I have expounded this teaching for the sake of sentient beings and enabled you to see Amida and all in His land. “ 
It is difficult to accept this teaching in faith even if Shakyamuni used so many beautiful and exuberant words to describe Amida and His Pure Land, and even if He said that all Buddhas give testimony to this wonderful Dharma.
It is difficult not to fall under the influence of false teachers who wrap dangerous heresies in beautiful and attractive words.
It is difficult to meet true teachers who do not teach their own opinions, but rely wholeheartedly on the sutras and commentaries of the Masters.

It is difficult, although the Pure Land of Amida is so easy to reach....

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