This morning, walking meditation on the fragrant path among the mountains and forests, between the moon and the mountains, with just two feet, two lungs, and mindfulness, one can enter the Pure Land right in the present moment. Meditation and the Pure Land become one; there is no need to wait for the future, for each step of walking meditation is already walking in the present Pure Land. The song “Taking Refuge in Amitabha” with its six words and pauses is used for walking meditation, with the rhythm of three steps per breath—expressing the joy and the capacity to nourish happiness right within body and mind.

1. Taking refuge in A 2. Mi-ta pause 3. In the wondrous ultimate dimension pause 4. The slope returns, the heart’s slope turns back pause

Building the sangha begins with our own joy and connecting brothers and sisters in the weekly “happy gathering.” This is not a meeting to solve work, but a milestone to nourish brotherhood and sisterhood, to enhance the quality of happiness, and to avoid the trap of formality. Novices, novice nuns, bhikshus, bhikshunis, and lay friends—all have the right to organize and participate—including on the day of “Upavasatha” (Uposatha) to purify the precepts body, maintain the order of practice, and keep the fourfold sangha strong. Walking in groups of five, seven, or ten in the Pure Land is not a dream, but the reality we are living.