Nianfo Sincerely and Don't Change the Subject!
"老实念佛，莫换题目！"
The "Infinite Life Sutra" says: "Because this Dharma has not been heard (referring to reciting the Name of Amitabha Buddha to seek rebirth in the Pure Land), there are 10 million Bodhisattvas have retreated from Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (The Unsurpassed Perfect Enlightenment)!" Or those who have heard the Dharma door but disbelieve, unwilling to seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, so retreated from Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. We can't help but wake up when we see this line from the sutra!
In the Dharma-ending Age, very few people can rely on their self-effort to achieve enlightenment. We ordinary people should clearly understand our own roots and capacities and our own cultivation! (Really no cultivation at all!) If one thinks one has good cultivation, then one does not have good cultivation (Anyone who has this kind of thoughts will give rise to ego and pride and can't continue to make progress).
Don't think that it is easy to realise enlightenment. Even if you think you understand the Dharma in theory, even if you can talk about it endlessly and be absolutely eloquent in conversing the Dharma, one can still be very far away from the fruition. Only by cutting off the attachment to the body, to the self, to one-sided views, to rites and rituals, to all the wrong views can one then realise the first stage of enlightenment, i.e. Stream-enterer (Sotapanna). In the Parinirvana Sutra, the Buddha said for a Sotapanna to cut off the confusion of views (all the wrong views), it's like cutting off a river forty miles in length and width（须陀洹断见惑，如截四十里流）! One can imagine how difficult it is to cut off all the wrong views to realise Sotapanna! To completely cut off all the wrong views and wrong thoughts (free from greed anger ignorance pride and doubt), then one can realise Arhat! How difficult is that!
Not to mention one has to let go of separation to become a Bodhisattva. However, even Bodhisattvas still have the habits of ignorance (their habitual tendency of ignorance has not completely been cut off yet), so to become a Bodhisattva one has to cut off the afflictions of dust 尘沙烦恼 (our afflictions are like dust, limitless and countless, although the major afflictions have been cut off, there are still some residual habits), and to realise Buddhahood one has to cut off afflictions of ignorance 无明烦恼 (i.e. all the habits of ignorance have been completely cut off).
To talk about the Dharma is easy, but to really practice and realise enlightenment is extremely extremely difficult, it is not just one lifetime's practice, to realise enlightenment it's countless eons of practices, countless lifetimes! (Shakyamuni Buddha realised enlightenment in one lifetime because he had already practised for countless eons, and not only that, he had already realised enlightenment countless eons ago as stated clearly by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra).
In the Mahayana sutras, the Buddha talked about how it will take three asamkhya kalpas minimum for one to realise Buddhahood. Also, this time starts from when one realises enlightenment to the first stage of dwelling (i.e. when one becomes a non-regressing Bodhisattva ie. an Avaivartika Bodhisattva); even for a highly enlightened bodhisattva, it will still take him a long time to realise Buddhahood, what says about us unenlightened ordinary beings? One must be realistic with one's limited abilities and not to boast about one's practice (even if one has practice)!
It's easy to talk about Sunyata (Emptiness), but how many in the world can actually realise Sunyata? What use does it have if one only talks about Sunyata in the mouth, but one's mind has yet to realise? That's why all the great masters and patriarchs have all persuaded us tirelessly: to recite the Buddha's name (Nianfo) sincerely and don't change the subject!
Ps. If anyone comes to me with any problem, my answer will most likely be "just Nianfo", so you can transform your thoughts and see there is no problem in the first place, just Nianfo and attain rebirth in Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land in this lifetime, then there will be no problem!
Ps. There are also some people think that if one attains rebirth in Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land, one still has to cultivate. Wouldn't it be the same if one stays in the Saha world and cultivate? This is really ignorant and does not understand the great vows of Amitabha Buddha, and has no knowledge of the Pure Land sutras. When one is in the Pure Land, relying on Amitabha Buddha's great vows and the superb guidance of all the enlightened Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, one will realise enlightenment much quicker (not to mention the environment in the Pure Land is completely conducive in a way to help us cultivate - even bathing in the water of the seven-jewelled lotus pond in the Pure Land one can realise enlightenment - how can it be compared with our polluted environment here? Like the sutra points out rightly, a world filled with much desire and ignorance is indeed "the world of five turbidities" (as stated in the sutras)!
So just Nianfo sincerely and don't change the subject!
Patriarch Yinguang (the 13th Patriarch of Chinese Pure Land Buddhism)’s sayings: Impermanence comes quickly, the path of Samsara (reincarnation) is risky, Nianfo honestly and don’t change the subject!
Namo Amituofo!
Namo Amitabha Buddha!
