lotusinthemud

Using a mala ~ Ananda

Ananda writes:

Aloha,

Here is piece I wrote for folks in our Sangha who were taking on the One Million Nembutsu practice. It contains suggestions for using a mala. I hope it helps. Ananda

Aloha All,

Thank you for joining me on this one million Nembutsu pilgrimage. There are lot’s of different types of pilgrimages. Most are familiar with the exterior pilgrimages that involve travel to far flung destinations.

Our year long pilgrimage is an inner pilgrimage towards the Buddha. We ill be traveling along the path of the Nembutsu. Like a physical pilgrimage, our journey will involve both hardship and periods of overwhelming joy. There will be times when you want to stop saying the Nembutsu and give up. At other times you will wish that the Nembutsu never ends.

Like with any pilgrimage, it is good to start off prepared.  Of course, there is no preparing for the true pilgrimage, but at least you can try to ensure that you have enough clothes to wear and dependable guide.

To start this pilgrimage, our supplies will be simple. You will want to have a mala (nenju) with 108 beads plus a “guru” bead where the threads come together in a knot on the mala. You might also want to have a smaller wrist mala of 27 beads. Four rounds of the smaller mala equals one full mala.

When using the mala it is good to train yourself to always move to the next bead on the same syllable. Personally, I move on the “Na” or first syllable of the Nembutsu. You, however, may decide that you prefer moving with the “Bu” or last syllable. The main thing is to be consistent. This consistency will prevent you from zoning out and losing you count on the mala.

When using the mala, you begin with one of the beads next to the “guru” bead. As you recite the Nembutsu, you move around the mala, one bead at a time, until you reach the bead on the other side of the “guru” bead from where you started. At this point you do not count the guru bead or cross the guru bead. Instead, you turn around and continue counting back down the mala. So you never actually make a full circuit of the mala. The need to stop and turn around will help jar you back into attention if I have drifted off into some reverie or train of thought.

Other useful items to have on your pilgrimage: A method for counting your accumulated recitations. You could jot them down in a journal or on the calendar or as little hash marks in a notebook. I have found a mechanical counter the most useful. Mine can count up to 9999. I use it to track each time I count a full mala. When it roles back over to 0000 I know that I have recited 1 million malas.

Sometimes, you will not have your counter with you so you will need another means for tracking the accumulation of recitations. As mentioned before, you can just make little notations in a notebook and add them to your totals later. Also, you can count them on your fingers. If you start with your finger tips you can count up to 16 on one hand. That is the four finger tips and the 3 sets of joints in the fingers. You count using the thumb on the same hand.

You can also buy bead counters to go on your mala. I have never gotten in the habit of using them, but I know practitioners — especially in the Vajrayana — that have used these reliably.

The main thing is to come up with a system that works for you and stick with it.

Finally, you will want to choose a good “route” for your pilgrimage.  Where and when will say the Nembutsu each day? As we all know, habits can be our friend. So figure out your daily Nembutsu habit? This is very important. Getting to the end of your day, exhausted, and realizing that you have not recited a single Nembutsu can be dispiriting. After several days, it is downright defeating!

I suggest that you try to have a few minutes at the beginning of your day and right before you go to bed. If possible, try to get a mala of Nembutsu in during the middle of your day.  If you plan to say the Nembutsu during your commute, don’t multi-task. Turn off the radio and just say the Nembutsu.

I am really looking forward to making this pilgrimage with you. Do reach out to me with any questions or issues that arise.

Namo Amida Bu!

Ananda

One Nembutsu and Universal Salvation ~ Ananda

In Pureland Buddhism it is often taught that a single recitation of Nembutsu — Namo Amida Bu — is sufficient to effect one’s salvation after death. As a result of reciting one Nembutsu, one will be reborn in Amida’ realm of love and bliss, instead of being swept along blindly by one’s karma toward an uncertain rebirth after death.

This is essentially a view of universal salvation through grace. It is an eschatology that places the realization of divine truth in the future — after death — and outside of this world. Our actions are unimportant. There is nothing good or ill that we can do that will affect or effect our salvation after death.

This is essentially a view of universal salvation through grace. It is an eschatology that places the realization of divine truth in the future — after death — and outside of this world. Our actions are unimportant. There is nothing good or ill that we can do that will affect or effect our salvation after death.

This is essentially a view of universal salvation through grace. It is an eschatology that places the realization of divine truth in the future — after death — and outside of this world. Our actions are unimportant. There is nothing good or ill that we can do that will affect or effect our salvation after death.

For those who are powerless, oppressed, and suffering tremendously, this eschatology is valuable, even hopeful! It offers an escape, an end to one’s  distress and grief. Since it it universal, the good and the wicked are save indiscriminately. This is particularly important. The powerless and oppressed are often forced into livelihoods that a society considers sinful and/or religiously tainted. For those who are marginalized by society, traditional religious salvation can be denied them because of their lack of status or the socially “impure” work that they perform. Thus salvation through grace, even after death, may be the only form of salvation available to them.

Those of us who have the good fortune to live in stable countries, with our basic needs met and some level of autonomy, security, and freedom, are the rich and powerful. For us, Salvation cannot come simply as a release from suffering and hardship at the end of life. We have already been saved from so much distress and deprivation that we cannot appreciate salvific grace. We still suffer, of course, but much of our suffering is existential. It is the suffering of affluence and not of deprivation.

Luxury and abundance are so normal for us that we have lost the ability to appreciation the simple and wondrous joys of life. Clean water is essential to life. We cannot go more than a few days without it. In fact, life on this planet would not exist without water. But we are so spoiled with fortune that we take for granted the water running through the pipes in our houses. For many people on the planet —even today — such easy access to water is nothing short of miraculous. Yet we are so accustomed to the availably of water that we cannot see the miracle that occurs every time we turn on a faucet. We, the materially fortunate, have lost Salvation though of our own discontent.

Therefore, we must work for our salvation. It cannot be found solely through quite meditation or great feats of spiritual discipline. Our lives have harmed too many for that. Salvation requires that we make amends for the wrongs that we have committed and for the atrocities from which we have benefited.

We must find Salvation through prayers that are active and engaged. Compassion is our act of contrition. It must be practiced daily. We begin by opening our hearts to the real pains and suffering of the people around us, as well as to those living across the globe. Once we have awoken to the suffering of others, our compassion will move us to action. Sometimes — most times — this is just offering human kindness and understanding. However, it can also motivate us to address some of the many social ills that cause people to suffer unnecessary pain and hardship. Institutionalized greed, hatred, and ignorance, are the source of much suffering. They must be challenged and resisted. The world is filled with many people who have too little, while we few, the fortunate ones, have so much!

In saving those around us, we ourselves are saved. This is the path of great compassion. In creating a better world — one that is more loving, compassionate, and kind — we begin to discover that Salvation lies in our very midst. It is found in the joys of others and the simple pleasures of living lovingly together. Amida’s Pureland of love and bliss, we realize, is both far away and present in all the ordinary moments of life.

One Nembutsu is all that is required to enter the Pureland. But that One Nembutsu must include all. None can be excluded. And we, the fortunate ones, must live that One Nembutsu with everyone.

Namo Amida Bu!

Peace, Paul (Reverend Ananda, an Amida Shu Minister, based in Hawaii)

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Saying Nembutsu, Practicing Metta ~ Ananda

Reverend Ananda, of Amida Hawai'i, writes this on the Friends of Amida Shu Virtual Temple site:

Metta is the Pali term for love. In Buddhism, love is not the sentimental emotion we are so familiar with in the West. It is simply the heartfelt desire for the wellbeing of another. For Pureland Buddhists, metta is also the salvific working of Amida’s Primal Vow in each moment, in all places, on all beings throughout the vast universe(s).

Extending love or metta to those around us has a long history in Buddhism. It is said that the Metta Sutta (Discourse on Love) was given by the Buddha Shakyamuni to a group of monks that were on retreat in a particularly dismal forest filled with thugs and criminals as well as evil spirits, ghosts, and demons. Naturally, the monks were scared. They sought out the Buddha and asked for permission to go to a different forest retreat, preferably one that was not haunted.

The Buddha denied their request. Instead he gave them instruction on how to practice love. Admonished, the monks returned to the forest and practiced metta as instructed. Over time, the thugs either left the forest or converted to Buddhism. The demons and spirits were pacified and became protectors of the Dharma.

In the centuries after the historical Buddha’s death, the practice of metta was formalized and systematized. Today we encounter a simple practice in which love is methodically extended first towards oneself, then loved ones, then neutrals, then antagonists, and finally to all beings.

Having practiced metta in retreat and in daily life, I can report that the practice is transformative. Raised in a home and a religion that was “heavy on the guilt,” I initially found extending love towards myself the most difficult. It was also the most healing. However, now, as a more mature practitioner, I see how difficult it is to truly extend love toward “antagonists.” The mind clings to little hurts and grudges, despite my continued practice of metta.

I also understand that metta can be practiced in either a relative or an ultimate way. The relative practice of metta is aspirational. We, as unenlightened individuals who are caught up in the delusion of separateness, exert ourselves  to extend love towards others. This effort is dualistic in nature. It is me — in here — extending love to you — out there. This is fine. It does not diminish the benefits of this practice. However, this relative practice of love is still conditioned and limited. It is very human and often does not root out the deep hurts of human interactions.

Ultimate metta is unconditional. It does not flow from us to an other who is separate from ourselves. In ultimate metta there is neither me nor other. There is just love. This is the direct and immediate expression of Amida Buddha’s unconditional love and compassion — the Primal Vow.

For most of us ultimate metta, or unconditional love, is an exceptional experience. Amida breaks into our normal deluded thinking and overwhelms us. Love fills us and spills over into the people and situations around us. It is effortless. We are powerless against love in these moments. We cannot notlove.

For Pureland Buddhists, Nembutsu (Namo Amida Bu) is both a reminder and the working of Amida’s unconditional love, which is none other than the Primal Vow. To remember the Buddha is to open oneself to possibility of experiencing unconditional love and acceptance.

Nembutsu is the Pureland practice of metta in both the relative and ultimate forms. Through the Nembutsu we express our prayers that all beings find happiness, peace, and well-being. The Nembutsu may even inspire us to work to create a better world, one in which it is easier to do good and to love. However, in the Nembutsu we also recognize that it is not “we” who are the source of love. Rather it is Amida Buddha, the Measureless and Unconditioned Buddha, whose measureless light — love, compassion, and wisdom — reaches everywhere. The Buddha whose vow, simply stated, is to save all of us from suffering.

Our practice of metta, therefore, is  to remember Amida Buddha, rely upon Amida Buddha, and do what we can in this life to alleviate pain and suffering and offer hope to the world.

Namo Amida Bu!

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Do Good Anyway ~ Reverend Ananda

On a recent Thursday, the non-profit that I run received a call from an older woman who needed help. She said she was living in a house without power or water, which is not that uncommon where we live. Like many others, she did not have a car. Most distressing, she said she did not have any food. I believe her exact answer, when I asked her if she had any food was, “I have a can of beans.”

There was more to her story and I spent quite a bit of time listening to all the twists and turns of how she came to be in her current situation. Whenever possible, I tried to connect her with resources or agencies that might be able to help. Mostly, I just listened. There was not much we or anyone else could do in the way of concrete action. Once someone has fallen deeply into poverty, the climb out – if it is even possible – is slow and long. This woman had, by her own admission, significant unpaid utility bills and no real way to pay them off. She was stuck.

The one thing we could do is get her some food. I called several food pantries, including one that was just a mile away from this woman’s home. None of them were willing or able to deliver food to the woman’s house. In the end, I decided that we would take food from our pantry and deliver it ourselves, though her house was some distance away.

Unfortunately, when we arrived at her house with the emergency food assistance, no one was home. We tried her phone but there was no answer. We checked with her neighbors, who told us the woman had not been around in weeks. They all spoke ill of her.

Most people would be disheartened by this turn of events. Indeed, back at the office the staff challenged my decision to take food to this woman. They said that I was too nice and that people take advantage of me.

I disagreed. “Goodness” is not diminished by the harmful or unwholesome actions of others. Our job, individually and as an organization, is simply to do good. We help people by trying to alleviate their suffering in whatever way we can.  How people respond is not our concern. We simply work on adding more good into the world, in as many ways as we can.

Of course some people do deceive and “take advantage” of us. They are in the minority, but it happens. Often, such deceit is more a cause for compassion than anger. These people’s lives are in such a sad state that they feel that they need to lie or manipulate us to get something that we would freely give them.

Doing good is an expression of love. It is an act of generosity. It is nottransactional. It does not seek a reward or payment, which is easy to forget in our world permeated by buying and selling. Doing good simply adds love and good into the world; nothing is taken away or lost. We are not diminished in any way through our kind and loving actions. However, the world around is improved a little with each act of generosity, of good, of love.

Peace, Paul

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Is the term "meditation" clear or confusing? ~ Ananda

Meditation is a very important part of my religious life. It is the path through which I was able to move from religious belief to experiential religious knowledge. This is what drew me to Buddhism. I was deeply religious, but needed a practical path in which to test my religious beliefs.  Buddhism, in the form of Zen, offered me that path – the Christian church of my upbringing did not.

Having said that, I find the term meditation itself to be totally inadequate. By and large the term meditation, when uttered in the West, is usually associated with samatha or calm abiding. Zen, having good name recognition, is probably what many think of when they hear the word meditation. And, of course, now there is a lot of talk and excitement about mindfulness as a form of meditation. In the yoga class I attend with my wife, meditation, when it is mentioned, is either synonyms with relaxation or single pointed concentration.

However, in Buddhism there are a vast and varied number of contemplative, yogic and tantric practices and techniques. In all cases, these techniques, are just that – techniques. They are not ends in themselves. Some cultivate beneficial mind states or help settle the mind. Others can help us deconstruct our understanding of our “self.” Still others awaken – liberate - subtle energies in the mind/body complex. Many are preliminary practices that can be used by an experienced teacher to help a student mature in their spiritual life. All of them are intended to be practiced as part of the larger Buddhist path that includes: Ethics, a firm understanding of the Buddha’s teachings, and proper intention or motivation.

Without the larger Buddhist context for the practice of meditation we may find ourselves like the yogis in the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, who have obtained great powers (siddhis) through the practice of austerities and meditation. Often these yogis use their powers to serve their own selfish ends and are, to a great extent, amoral. Which feels, at least to me, a lot like the way meditation and mindfulness are being marketed today. The practice of meditation becomes a tool to make one a better “stock broker” or “sales person” or achieve whatever worldly success we seek. (Financial success being the siddhi of the modern world.)

Obviously, the historical Buddha was aware of these epic stories and likely studied with yogis who had the cultivation of Siddhis as their goal. Gotama, the Buddha, recognized the danger, or perhaps the futility, of such practice and laid out a curriculum that was broader than just the cultivation of elevated spiritual states or spiritual powers. He offered a complete way of life.

The questions I am toying with here is: Can Buddhist meditation that is divorced from the larger Buddhist context, still be considered Buddhist? And how do we clarify and minimize confusion when we use of the term meditation, since the term can refer to such a wide range of practices in Buddhism?

Namo Amida Bu!

Ananda

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Refuge is the Heart of Buddhist Practice

Peace Paul (Reverend Ananda of the Amida Order) writes:

If you have an interest in Buddhism, then you have some sort of karmic connection with the Buddha. Those who do not have such a karmic connection, simply will not encounter the Buddha or the teachings of the Buddha.

Even individuals who have a strong karmic connection with the Buddha Dharma may not become practitioners. They may instead be in a situation where they are near the Dharma. They may live close to a Buddhist temple. Perhaps they have a relative or spouse who is a practitioners, or maybe they have met Buddhists teachers or read Buddhist books.