kstrosper
13 February 2011, 12:16 AM
hello,
as a Pure Land Buddhist does one seriously need to follow any formal practices beyond having faith in Amida Buddha and faithfully chanting the Namu Butsu, reading the sutras of Pure Land and faith in Amida Buddha?
I feel personally in my life having an altar and malas and other (IHO) things to tie myself down beyond mental agony into mental self abuse.
I figure it is about working on understanding as much as possible with reason and to the best of ones personal capacity and letting Amida Buddha into ones heart and the Buddha strengthening ones faith. not formalities beyond that. in other words letting Amida Buddha do what Amida Buddha does.
the sufferings i have endured in my life have left me with only the most simple of understandings of Buddha Dharma.
i find reading about buddhism confusing at this point in my life and inane and the simplisity of the 3 pure land sutras are all one would want to work with along with chanting the namu butsu.
my mother was a Pure Land Buddhist and she told me about Amida Buddha the best she could. she had lived in japan for 8 years and her way of faith and her way of being made it hard for me to understand Pure Land. A very long story. i was raised a Pure Land Buddhist but I am just now really starting to see it due to some strange events in my life now and in the past. i did not take it seriously and buried it in my mind and now as a 38 year old it is becoming something potent and serious in my life now.
thank you
Namu Amida Butsu
as a Pure Land Buddhist does one seriously need to follow any formal practices beyond having faith in Amida Buddha and faithfully chanting the Namu Butsu, reading the sutras of Pure Land and faith in Amida Buddha?
I feel personally in my life having an altar and malas and other (IHO) things to tie myself down beyond mental agony into mental self abuse.
I figure it is about working on understanding as much as possible with reason and to the best of ones personal capacity and letting Amida Buddha into ones heart and the Buddha strengthening ones faith. not formalities beyond that. in other words letting Amida Buddha do what Amida Buddha does.
the sufferings i have endured in my life have left me with only the most simple of understandings of Buddha Dharma.
i find reading about buddhism confusing at this point in my life and inane and the simplisity of the 3 pure land sutras are all one would want to work with along with chanting the namu butsu.
my mother was a Pure Land Buddhist and she told me about Amida Buddha the best she could. she had lived in japan for 8 years and her way of faith and her way of being made it hard for me to understand Pure Land. A very long story. i was raised a Pure Land Buddhist but I am just now really starting to see it due to some strange events in my life now and in the past. i did not take it seriously and buried it in my mind and now as a 38 year old it is becoming something potent and serious in my life now.
thank you
Namu Amida Butsu