Rebirth in Pureland Mantra - story + video

[JustARandomPanda]

Thought I would share with the board this lovely video by Master Chin-Kung. While it's a talk about what to do if you're the sole person among your family and friends to follow the Buddha that's not why I am posting it.

 

The real gem of the story is appended from an article account of what happened to Lady Clara Lin Kok Yuen at the moment of her death. She practiced the Amitabha Rebirth in Pureland mantra regularly. Let's just say...if the account is really true - well, I was blown away and knew I had to post this video to the board.

 

If you want you can fast forward to 4 minutes. That's when Master Chin-Kung begins the story about Lady Clara and her family and friends. Don't exit the video after his talk because that's when the newspaper article begins. Read it. And if you're like me - be stunned at the power of this Pureland Mantra (and of Amitabha!).

 

Lady Clara Lin Kok Yuen and the Amitabha Pureland Rebirth mantra

Edited November 15, 2017 by JustARandomPanda

[Lost in Translation]

That was a very sweet video. I am glad there were subtitles. It's much easier to understand that way. 

[JustARandomPanda]

I include the following excerpt from a book I have. I do so because this excerpt deals directly with the Amrita (Amrto, Amrta - aka Nectar of Immortality, aka Sweet Dew) the Rebirth in Pureland mantra invokes.
The following comes from Kundalini: Aghora II by Robert Svoboda [ISBN: 978-0914732-31-0]
pp. 88-89

Svoboda 's Guru: "Ordinary Kundalini Yoga is difficult enough, but an Aghori makes it even more intense. Do you know how you feel when you are full of lust? You can't wait to enjoy sex; you will rip off your own clothes, and then rip the clothes off your partner. Likewise an Aghori, filled with the desire to experience Reality, rips the coverings, the clothes, off the Universe when he wishes to love it. If you really want to progress at Kundalini Yoga you must forget your body, that thing which is clothing your consciousness, and to do that you must first forget food and water. After 3 days without water you begin to feel dizzy, your blood thickens, and so on. After 5 days you begin to gasp, and unless you are really dedicated you will decide you don't want to die and you'll drink. Aghora is the fast, direct way, but it is too difficult for most people.

 

"If you don't want to force yourself to quit eating, and want to progress by stratagem instead, which is the way of the clever sadhaka, you must first understand the nature of food. To do this you must first thoroughly understand the nature of the 3 Coverings of the universe, which are----"

Svoboda: "The 3 Gunas, the 6 Tastes, and the 5 Great Elements."

Svoboda's Guru: "The 6 Tastes are within the body, not outside. Have they taught you this yet in the Ayurvedic college?"

Svoboda: "They have alluded to it."

Svoboda's Guru: "oh, they have alluded to it, have they? Anyway, if you want to do without food and drink entirely and live only on air you must manufacture all the tastes within the body; then there is no need to take them from outside. Amrita, the 'nectar of immortality,' is a glandular sustance created within the body which is necessary for this purpose."

Svoboda: "That too had been alluded to in Ayurveda, with little explanation."

Svoboda's Guru: "We exist only because of the 3 Gunas: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Most people do not know that Sattva and Tamas are two sides of the same coin. Sattva is Amrita, which is of the essence of the Fire Element. The Amrita in your head, this glandular substance, is the physical manifestation of pure Sattva. Tamas is Visha, deadly poison, which is of the essence of the Water Element. The metabolic toxins in your body poison both it and your mind. When you remove the bad qualities from poison it becomes nectar, and if you add bad qualities to nectar it will become poison. Ayurveda is full of examples of how poisonous plants and minerals can be used for medicine, and how improperly used medicines become poisons. I believe I am correct?"

Svoboda: "Yes, You are."

Svoboda's Guru: "Rajas is the bridge between the two. Rajas can transmute Tamas into Sattva, and it can degrade Sattva into Tamas. Rajas is pure shakti, energy, the very incarnation of illusion, of Maha Maya. Rajas does not know what it is doing; it just does it, so it must be well controlled. When Rajas is properly controlled almost anything can be achieved. And the only being Who knows how to control Shakti is Shaktiman: Lord Shiva.

[my note: my own preference here would be to say the One Who Knows and Properly Controls, With Pervasive, Perfected Wisdom is a Samyak-Sambuddha / Tatagatha but since this book is from a Hindu perspective I want to keep the words exactly as published.]

Svoboda's Guru: "The name Rudra, which is another name for Lord Shiva, indicates the shedding of tears. Rudra brings you nothing but tears. Before the Rudra Granthi is pierced the sadhaka sheds tears of misery, of Maya, because he cannot be sure of himself, or of the existence of God. This doubt continues until that Knot is pierced, when all doubt is removed. The glands of the body then begin to secrete Amrita: they 'shed tears'. This Amrita causes the devotee to shed tears of joy.

Shiva drinks poison but he converts it into Amrita. In order to do this you must know the relation between Visha, which is poison, and Vishaya, which means sense object. The world of sense objects is the true poison because it is impermanent. People fleetingly regard it as permanent, and this leads to delusion. During sex, for instance, a man feels, "Oh! What bliss I am enjoying!' But suddenly, pfssst! - emission. Then he realizes, "No, it is no longer there.". His dream construction of heaven has evaporated.

"Everything Shiva takes in is converted into Amrita, which is called Amrita because it is permanent, not transitory. And that is why it is connected only with Lord Shiva, Who is your real Self, your soul. As long as you are in the world your consciousness is connected with sense objects; it is the state of transience, of ignorance. Only when you come to Shiva can you find Amrita.

 

"To obtain Amrita the grace of your guru is also necessary, at the very end when you are just on the threshold of progress. It is like a Rishi's goat sacrifice. The Rishi who kills the goat will send it into a higher womb, but the goat doesn't know that and feels great pain at first. The sadhaka who wants to do without food also suffers, but a good guru is relentless, and finally the Amrita is obtained. The disciple goes beyond food and becomes a Siddha, an immortal."

 

 

 

*****

edits: assorted typos

Edited November 15, 2017 by JustARandomPanda

[JustARandomPanda]

Combining the above information with the story from the video I now think at least one of the powers of the Pureland Rebirth mantra (in addition to what Lady Clara experienced!) is to open the way to becoming a Siddha. Amitabha Buddha at minimum is a Maha Siddha (as well as a Samyak-Sambuddha) imo.

 

Edit: after all... one of the titles given to Amitabha Buddha is the Buddha of Infinite Life and Shakyamuni taught one of the abilities of a Buddha is the ability to have one's lifespan be as long as one wishes. Amitabha Buddha's lifespan is said to be incalculable it's so long.

Edited November 15, 2017 by JustARandomPanda

[C T]

[JustARandomPanda]

Namo Amitabhaya  - Homage to Amitabha

Tathagataya tadyatha - Homage to the Thus Come One

Amrto Bhava - Nectar Occur (bhava = masc. sing. 'to get', 'to produce','turning into')

Amrta Siddhambhava  - Nectar (bhava - 'to produce') Siddha-accomplishment

Amrta Vikrante  - Nectar Go Beyond (vikrante masc. sing. - 'to step beyond, make mighty strides, to strive)

Amrta Vikranta - Nectar Go Beyond

Gamine - Glorious

Gagane - 'emptiness' (the actual Sanskrit word means 'up to open sky' - ie. the mantra is capturing via simile that all beings are ultimately like an empty sky via use of this one word)

kirtachare (sometimes spelled kirta kare) - Glorify (the) Name (some variants of this mantra add 'of the Nectar-Producing One)

Svaha! - Hail! (with the intent of 'execute these verses to achieve perfection') - energetically (ie Chi-wise) according to some mantra yoga books and videos Svaha acts on the meridians and chakras like hitting the Enter key to input the Execute command of a computer program.

Edited November 16, 2017 by JustARandomPanda