Question:
You said
in one of your recent posts that as long as you
still harbor in your mind the smallest thought of personal merit or “maybe I
can attain Buddhahood by myself” kind of thinking, you cannot see and enter the
Dharma gate of birth in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land. Please explain in more detail.
Answer:
People
don't really understand what is meant by becoming a Buddha in this life, and in
this very body. This is perhaps due to the bad influence of many fancy Buddhist
magazines which talk about Enlightenment like it’s some kind of calmness or
stillness of mind which can be attained by everybody. They use a language which
makes Enlightenment seem a normal human experience if you are good, and
meditate, and they also describe Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, like a
normal human being who proved that spiritual calmness can be attained by
anybody.