Metaphysics Q&A 124- The Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha

Metaphysics Q&A 124 – The Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha

Q124: Hi Master Lu. From your radio programs, it seems like the highest realm that a deceased person can reach as a result of the transferring of merits would be the Deva realm (known as “Heaven” in English). However, we are cultivating with the hope that we would be able to be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. We would like to ask, by cultivating under Master Lu’s Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door, would there be any conflicts with going to the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha?

A124:

First of all, regarding your question about performing the transferring of merits for the deceased:

Some Dharma cultivators under Master Lu’s Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door have successfully helped their deceased relatives to be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha by transferring merits to them. However, this is very rare. A rebirth into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha not only depends on a large quantity of Little Houses being burnt, it also depends on the amount of karmic obstacles due to negative karmas this person has, as well as the level of cultivation that this person has achieved in the present life.
First of all, this person must be very kind and benevolent in the past, and has not committed wrongdoings. In other words, the foundation for this person’s true nature must be good. Secondly, having the right consciousness is also very important. For example, during this person’s life time, or just before this person passes away, if the person is determined, “I want to be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha”, then it would be possible for this person to proceed to the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha.
Then you can recite Little Houses for this person to increase their spiritual power. Together with the mercy and compassion of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, even if this person has already passed away, you can still perform the transferring of merits to this person and help this person to be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha.
However, for many deceased people, because they did not know how to perform recitations and cultivate their minds in the past, they are full of karmic obstacles. Even if you recite a large quantity of Little Houses to transfer merits to them, the best you could do is to help them to be reborn into the Deva Realm.
If you would like to cultivate for a rebirth into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha:

In fact, all Dharma Doors are the same, as they all teach us to cultivate our minds and to eliminate karmic obstacles so that we would be able to proceed to higher realms.
Please remember that, the foundation for cultivating our minds is very important. We are all ordinary humans, and we carry with us many karmic obstacles, as well as ignorance and bad habits accumulated from numerous previous lives. If we would like to be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha, we must first cultivate and purify our body and mind. We need to cultivate our minds and practise Buddhism, perform recitations, and perform virtuous deeds. It is said that we could be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha with karma remaining in us. However, this karma must be very insignificant. It does not mean that we could do so with all of our negative karmas. It refers to the remaining minor negative karmas after we have corrected and resolved our previous negative karmas through learning Buddhism and cultivating our minds. The remaining karmic obstacles should only be ones that were generated in the past, not ones that are newly generated. It is the mark that is left behind during the process of eliminating our previous karmas. This mark results from previous karmic obstacles that have not been completely eliminated. For example, you write something on a piece of paper, and then later you erase what you wrote. The remaining mark on this piece of paper is similar to the remaining karma that we are able to take with us when we are reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. It does not mean that we can continuously generate new karma after we have started learning Buddhism and have attained awakening, or just before we are about to pass away. Only when we are not generating new karma, and have successfully eliminated previous karma, then we can be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha by reciting in the name of Amitabha Buddha (A Mi To Fo) in our minds, and/or by reciting the Amitabha Sutra (A Mi To Ching) during the period before we pass away.
Master Lu is constantly teaching us that, when our foundation is not yet strong, our karmic obstacles are still numerous, and foreign spirits are countless, we need to first eliminate our own afflictions and karmic obstacles through cultivation. Then we are able to pray to be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. If a person has dementia, Meniere’s disease, fall into a stroke induced coma, or with limited consciousness, it would be impossible to be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha by merely reciting in the name of Amitabha Buddha (A Mi To Fo) at the end of life. This is the reason why Master Lu always teaches us to eliminate karmic obstacles and afflictions from daily life. If we eliminate our karmic obstacles, perform the transferring of merits for the deceased, improve our level of cultivation, and purify our body and mind, then when we reach the end of life, we could be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha by reciting in the name of Amitabha Buddha. This is one of the most important foundations for our true nature. Therefore, Master Lu’s Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door has no conflict with proceeding to the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. The requirement is that before we can be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha, we must completely eliminate the karmic obstacles in our body and our mind.
In fact, the ultimate goal for Master Lu is to help everyone to surpass the six realms of rebirth. Therefore, the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha is also one of the destinations that Master Lu hopes that all of us can reach through cultivation.
Guan Yin Bodhisattva is one of the Three Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. We can cultivate our minds and practise Buddhism under the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door. When we have attained the Right Fruit and we would like to be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha, not only Guan Yin Bodhisattva would come and receive us, Amitabha Buddha would also come and receive us.