Many people come seeking Buddhism as a way of coping with stress and the undercurrent of quiet discontent that infects many of us in the West. Many more are drawn to Buddhist meditation as a means of finding relaxation.
There are many forms of Buddhist meditation. The seeker needs to find one style that suits their life-style and personality.
I write in this article about Pure Land (Jing Tu) Buddhist meditation. In Pure Land practise the reciting of the name of Amida Buddha is central. Amida Buddha is the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life. Through the constant recitation of his name we gradually become one with his quality of light and life. There is nothing extraordinary about this. It is common psychology. Repeat a concept or thought often enough and one becomes cognitively fused with that thought especially if there are strong emotions attached.
The practise of reciting the name of Amida Buddha is called "nien-fo" in Chinese. The Chinese character "nien" conveys the meaning of bringing our heart/mind into the present moment and of being "mindful" of this present moment. In Chinese Buddhism we chant : "Namo Amitofuo" meaning "homage to Amida Buddha" or simply "amitofuo".
For new comers to Pure Land Buddhism this is a rather curious practice as it seems at first to be quite boring and repetitive. Do not be deceived. This is a precious gem. Firstly it is a big mistake that many make that meditation is about relaxation. This is not the point of Buddhist meditation and it is not the goal of Pure Land meditation. A sense of relaxation is very often a by-product of meditating but we must not make it our aim as we can be very disappointed. There will be many times when our meditations are quite irritating as we struggle with the mind. The aim of Pure Land meditation or "nien-fo" is to attain single pointedness and purity of mind.
Nien-fo is done either aloud, silently, whispering or within one's mind (often called Diamond Meditation). In nien-fo we accept our transient thoughts like cars passing by our window without becoming attached to them while all the time holding on or reverting our attention to the name "amitofuo". In terms of psychology this is the essence of mindfulness practice.
In Buddhism we understand the mind to be the source of much suffering as we become fused with our thinking. A simple example is anxiety. If while meditating we have an anxious thought the tendency is often to struggle with that thought and thus become anxious about being anxious! In Pure Land nien-fo, we accept the thought of anxiety even perhaps naming it: "My mind is having an anxious thought". Then we move on ever repeating "amitofuo". The thirteenth Patriarch of Pure Land the Venerable Yin Kuang tells us that it does not matter if we have all types of thoughts. "Amitofuo goes before them and Amitofuo goes after them. That is all that matters."
With much practise the "monkey thoughts" become less and less. As I have said, meditation is not about relaxing. It is about mindfulness. Of course we will have many times when we will feel relaxed and peaceful after a meditation but this is NOT to be the goal.
Over many life times we have built up an accumulation of evil karma (and good karma as well). The evil karma is like a giant glass of muddy water. We could try to tip the water out and refill the glass with fresh, clean water but the glass is so huge we are unable to lift it or move it. The only way is through the law of displacement. Each time we recite the name of Amida Buddha it is like a small droplet of pure water released from a dropper into the muddy water. Eventually the water will overflow from the glass and gradually the muddy water will be replaced by fresh crystal clear water. Let the glass of water on your altar be a reminder of that as you single mindedly hold the thought "amitofuo". With regular practice a sense of deep contentment will gradually replace the discontent.
Amitofuo
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