Chapter 32: Infinite Lifespan and Joy (8)

“Their minds will not weaken midway.”

To “not weaken” means not to regress. In other words, our belief is firm and we do not fall back. We must have sincere belief to achieve our goal. If we do not have strong, unwavering belief, we will have doubt and regret that we are practicing. It will be very difficult to achieve.

The sincere practitioner needs to practice from the root, which is the basis of our practice. In the full title of this sutra, Buddha Speaks the Mahayana, Infinite Life, Adornment, Purity, Impartiality, and Enlightenment Sutra, the root appears as two words: “Purity” and “Impartiality.” When we start our practice, we strive to first achieve a pure mind and then an impartial mind. Purity of mind is having good fortune, and impartiality is having meditative concentration. If we lack meditative concentration, our mind will be agitated rather than stable. We will not be impartial. When purity and impartiality function, we have wisdom. This wisdom is the “Enlightenment” also spoken of in the sutra title.

When our practice is effective, we will not regress. The power we receive from our effective practice will enable us to control our afflictions. Hence, not only will we not regress and regret, but we will also be diligent and resolute. From this, we can see that our goal in our practice is very important.

To better see why, let’s say someone asks what we are practicing, and we answer that we chant the buddha-name thousands of times a day. This is the wrong answer. It’s like being asked where we are going, and we answer that we are taking the bus.

The correct answer is that we are going to the Pure Land.

Our method is chanting the buddha-name.

What we are cultivating is purity of mind.

If we don’t know what we are cultivating, how could our cultivation be effective? Even if we chant every day, without aiming to obtain purity of mind, our practice will be ineffective. Our deluded, wandering thoughts will remain. If we practice like this, we will end up with regrets and regression. This is something we who want to work hard to succeed in our practice need to remember. Our goal of purity of mind is very clear. Our method is simple and powerful. As long as we practice diligently in the right way, we will definitely achieve this goal. In other words, if our mind is increasingly pure month after month, year after year, we will be confident of achieving birth in the Pure Land.

But, if despite our effort in chanting the buddha-name every day, we still have as many delusions and wandering thoughts as before, or even more, then we must be cultivating incorrectly. We need to know that our buddha-name chanting is to obtain purity of mind, which will enable us to be born in the Pure Land.

From "Commentary on the Infinite Life Sutra" Volume 3

Pure Land Translation Team

Contentment is born of the ability to laugh at oneself unaffectedly.

Chapter 32: Infinite Lifespan and Joy (7)

“They have unsurpassable talent and wisdom.”

This is like the earlier praise in the sutra for Amitabha Buddha, when he was still the monk Dharmakara: “a surpassingly wise and heroic sage.” Both phrases mean the same thing. Talent is also a virtue of and inherent in the true nature. The Buddha said that all sentient beings have the wisdom, abilities, and virtues of Buddhas. These attributes are the same and equal. But when they are covered by ignorance and afflictions, they are not revealed. When our minds are pure and our wisdom grows, our talent will be gradually revealed. 

“Unsurpassable” means to make courageous and vigorous, focused progress. This encourages us to practice diligently. “Unsurpassable talent” comes from wisdom. Many people today think that they are very intelligent. But this is not true wisdom. What they have is one of the eight difficulties in Buddhism: worldly intelligence and eloquence. These are not good for a Buddhist practitioner. Actually, they are deviated views and prejudice, discrimination, and attachments, which are obstacles and major impediments to true wisdom. Where does true wisdom come from? It comes from a pure mind.

From "Commentary on the Infinite Life Sutra" Volume 3

Pure Land Translation Team