Wonderful Metaphors in the Pure Land School
淨土宗妙喻
Amitabha-Recitation and False Thoughts
3. Analogy of Clouds Blown by the Wind
What do our afflictions look like? They look like clouds moving with the wind. We recite the Buddha’s Name and ignore the clouds passing by. At times we may think, the cloud is white, this means I can be reborn. However, if the cloud is dark, it is not likely that I can be reborn. These are complete misunderstandings of the teaching.
The clouds in our minds are free to come and go; but, they are not related to our rebirth. If we pause our recitation of Amitabha’s Name and pay attention to the clouds, as soon as we realize it, we need only return to our recitation.
We should try to ignore our scattered thoughts and simply return to our recitations as soon as we realize we’re chasing these thoughts. The more attention we pay to them, the more vigorously they bother us. The more thoroughly we ignore these thoughts, the more peaceful our minds will be.
This is similar to a grandma hearing her grandchild crying. The grandma tries to comfort him; but, he cries even louder. However, if the grandma leaves the grandchild alone, the grandkid stops crying after a while. It is similar for our afflictions.
These afflictions(thoughts) are created by us. Everyone has a baby with afflictions. We should simply ignore them. How should we ignore them? The most effective way is to keep returning to our exclusive recitation of Namo Amituofo.
3.念佛與妄想 - 隨風雲彩喻
煩惱對我們來講像什麼?就好像空中隨風而過的一片雲彩。我們念佛就念佛,何必管這片雲彩呢?它來了,我們想這塊雲彩是白的,白雲彩來了,我念佛大概能往生;又來了一朵黑雲彩,黑雲彩來了,我大概不能往生⋯⋯錯了!
這些「雲彩」在我們心中了無障礙,來了就來了,去了就去了,跟我們的往生毫無關係。我們停下了念佛的腳步,停止了念佛的心來關注它們,就錯了!
所以,不要管我們這個心。我們再怎麼管它,它都不能替我們爭口氣,而且我們會被它騙。我們越管它,它越得勢,它越是覺得自己了不起,我們就越拿它沒辦法;我們徹底地看透它,徹底地拋棄它,徹底地冷落它,它就乖了,它就聽話了。
像老奶奶帶小孫子:小孫子在那裏哭,奶奶去哄他,越哄,他就越哭,越哭,她就越哄;後來奶奶就沒辦法了,乾脆不管他,小孫子哭一會兒也就不哭了。我們的煩惱也是這樣。
其實,我們的煩惱是我們自己養大的:我們每個人都養著一個胖胖的煩惱娃娃,天天養它,洗它,摸它⋯⋯我們應該拋棄它,不要理它。怎麼不理它呢?我們有阿彌陀佛,我們專念「南無阿彌陀佛」,就是不理它,這個叫「一向專念」。
Namo Amituofo!
