Amituofo teaches me to be mindful of Amituofo.
Chanting Amituofo while listening to Amituofo.
Amituofo, Amituofo… towards direct mindfulness.
Turns out that it is Amituofo who is mindful of Amituofo.
Notes: The first line reminds us that Shakyamuni Buddha is a manifestation of Amitabha Buddha (Amituofo), who personally encouraged us to be mindful of Amituofo. (See http://tinyurl.com/yhd8kn2 for details on how this is so.) The second line reminds us to chant the name of Amituofo clearly (even if it is only softly or ‘silently’), so as to be able to hear it clearly within our minds. This constant feedback loop ensures that we are practising mindfully. The third line reminds us of the importance of earnest and sincere practice of Buddha mindfulness, that should be plentiful, continuous and without distraction. This should be done simply and straightforwardly.
The fourth line reminds us that we all have Buddha-nature within us, as our true ‘self-nature’, that is not different from Amituofo’s Buddha-nature. Buddha mindfulness thus awakens our original nature within. Ultimately, it is actually Buddha-nature that is mindful of Buddha-nature. When this is realised fully, we attain Buddhahood. Before that, we can practise to align our Buddha-nature with the Buddha-nature of Amituofo, as we learn to dissolve our sense of self in the ocean of his selfless merits, immersing in his compassionate blessings, which enables us to be born in his Pure Land. (These verses are attributed to Xia Lianju.)
