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Primary Point, Vol 19 Num 3 RESPECTING OUR After us to Vairocana, the connects to Amitabul's We never ANCESTRAL �� 5 introducing great always light. cosmic Buddha ofthe Avatamsaka Sutra, the chant leave the golden form of the universe. Practicing PRACTICE: Arnitabul now brings forward another cosmic Buddha, with meditation beads-yomju-we perceive the MORNING Amitabha, the Buddha who established the dharma world, the world as it actually is, and WON A JIN SAENG MU BYOL LYOM Western Pure Land for the benefit of all beings. recognize that emptiness, the space of no BELL Vow exhaust life no other thought There will be more about the Western Pure Land hindrance, connects everything just as string I vow my whole life, without separate mind, CHANT for and Arnitabha's vows later in the chant. connects the beads we are holding. When we Arnitabha's name means "infinite light" ("a-" practice, repeating Namu Amitabul (the essential PART 1 A-MI-TA BUL DOK SANG SU in Sanskrit is a negative prefix like "un-" or "in-"; Pure Land practice) as we move the beads, each Arnita Buddha marked follow uniquely means a "rnita" means "measure"; "bha" "light.") bead corresponds to yom (a word also spelled to Amitabul, the Buddha with marks. onlyfollow unique The name is often shortened to "Arnita," with and in this a t­ Zen Master Hae Kwang lyom nyom section), though added to it to a moment of consciousness. In this Kansas Zen Center "bul," meaning "Buddha," produce moment, way, SHIM SHIM SANG GYE OK HO GWANG the form "Amitabul" in Chinese and Korean. Pure Land practice and Zen practice are not Mind mind always JOinS curl light jade Arnirabul's light comes from his urna, the curl of different. The Mind Minds connects to the wisdom's of always jewel of light. white hairs between his eyebrows (the "jade curl," This section begins with a vow to become one a kind of third eye, one of the thirty-two marks with Amitabul and ends with the practice-the YOM NYOM BUL LI GUM SAEK SANG of a Buddha) and illuminates the universe. repetition ofNamuAmitabul-that actualizes that not leave form marked Thought-moment thought-moment golden Amitabha and Vairocana, whose name means vow. I have always been struck by Zen Master Moment to moment, without this leaving golden form, "shining like the sun," have different origins, but Seung Sahn's translation of namu as "become one it is natural that these two luminous cosmic with." The meaning of the word in Sanskrit is A JIP YOM JU BOP KYE GWAN Buddhas are paired in this chant, or even identified given as "pay homage, venerate, praise" but also hold beads dharma world thought perceive with each other, as they seem to be in this section. as "take refuge with." Understanding it as "become I hold beads, this world. perceiving Equally noteworthy in this section is the one with" eliminates the subject-object separation blending of Pure Land teaching-constant implicit in the other translations. It is not that we HO GONG WI SUNG MU BUL GWAN devotion to Amitabul as the basis of practice and go to Amirabul, who then saves us, but that we is not Empty space string nothing strung liberation-with the Hwa Yen philosophy of become Arnitabul. This is the spirit of practice in is a that leaves Emptiness string nothing unstrung. emptiness and universal interconnection. The the Morning Bell Chant, and it will find poetic Mind of Minds, which is our ordinary mind, expression in the verses that begin the next section. PYONG DUNG SA-NA MU HA CHO continued next issue Equal rank Vairocana has no certain place Vairocana is everywhere, everything is equal. GWAN GU SO BANG A-MI-TA Perceive pray west region Amita Contemplate the western Amita. NA-MU SO BANG DAE GYO JU Namu west region great teaching master Become one with the Great western Master, MU RYANG SU YO RAE BUL No limit long life thus come Buddha Infinite Time, Infinite Space, Thus Come Buddha. NA-MU A-MI-TA BUL Namu Arnita Buddha Become One with Amitabul. PRIMARY POINT Fall 2001 15 14 P RIM A R Y POI NT F a II 200 1.
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