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The Pureland
Good practitioners naturally wish to create a “mini-Pure Land”—a practice center or Sangha—much as Amitābha Buddha did. To be reborn in Amitābha’s Pure Land you need only know his name and “address” and express the desire to go; you may even bring your suffering with you, up to the capacity of the teacher and Sangha—just as airlines limit baggage, a Pure Land community can receive only as much “luggage” of pain as its healing capacity allows.
In the Pure Land life unfolds as both delight and practice. Residents are countless (asaṅkhya), yet to transform jealousy, anger, and other habit energies they engage in daily, pleasant practices:
- Hear celestial music and gather flowers in the morning
- Visit other Buddha-lands to offer those flowers
- Return in time for lunch and practice walking meditation (phạn thực kinh hành)
- Recollect the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha
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Cultivate root-Buddhism through:
- the four foundations of mindfulness
- the five faculties
- the five powers
- the seven factors of enlightenment
- the Noble Eightfold Path
Amitābha’s limitless light (Vô Lượng Quang) radiates mindfulness, concentration, and compassion, transforming all who “allow a beam” to strike them. As his bodhisattvas, we too emit light through every mindful act—sitting, walking, eating, serving without complaint—and help build Sangha. Contentment, joy, and non-discrimination in the present moment reveal that this very place, like Sukhāvatī, offers all the conditions needed for awakening.
