However, the filthy land of the Sahā world is entirely the result of the defiled thoughts and karma of sentient beings and is purely filthy and evil; but to the Brahmā King wearing a bun crown, it is a pure land. Just like the Ganges, to humans it is clear and cold water, but to hungry ghosts it is fire. Therefore, when the Two Vehicles see the Sahā world as a filthy land, they feel deeply disgusted and troubled, because they do not understand that this filthy land is the pure land. Therefore, at the Lotus Sutra Assembly, the Buddha transformed the Sahā world into a pure land three times. This was to point out that every step and every movement in our daily life is in the pure land. In this way, how can it be ten trillion away?
However, the ten trillion mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures refers to the Vairocana Pure Land. To the west of the Sahā World, beyond ten trillion Buddha lands, is the Pure Land Sukhāvatī, the Land of Real Reward where Amitābha Buddha resides, which lets people know where to go.
If say only mind, then the Vairocana Pure Land World is also only mind, let alone the Pure Land Sukhāvatī?
A young man in the mountains listened to the "Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra" and heard that Mount Wutai had been covered with ice and snow for thousands of years. He wanted to live in this mountain very much, and thought about it day and night. After a long time, he only saw a snowy mountain in front of him. He could walk, sit or lie down in it. Even when he passed through a busy city, he did not see anyone, but he was walking in the snowy mountain. Later he went to Mount Wutai and everything was just as he had imagined. From this perspective, we can know whether the Pure Land is far or near. However, Mount Wutai still needs to be reached physically, but the Pure Land Sukhāvatī only needs to be reached with the mind.
If you concentrate on chanting the Buddha's name and visualize the Pure Land in every thought, you will become proficient in it over time. In your daily life, every step and every turn will be as if you are sitting, lying or walking in the Pure Land. All sounds you hear will be the sound of chanting the Buddha's name. If you recite in this way until the end of your life, all worldly distracting thoughts will not appear, and only the thought of Amitabha Buddha will remain, diligent and undisturbed.
At present, your mind only sees the Pure Land realm or a lotus appearing before you. Amitabha Buddha and the Bodhisattvas come personally to guide you, and your soul will be calm and immediately follow the Buddha to ascend to the Pure Land Sukhāvatī, just as you had dreamed before.
In this way, how could it be so far away as ten trillion countries? This so-called "If you want to be reborn in the Pure Land, you will definitely be reborn in the Pure Land; The literal "go" is not actually "action go" " is the true reality and not just a theory.
All you need to do is to cultivate a proficient pure thought to replace the impure thought, then the filthy country will naturally be transformed into a pure land. However, the saying that "birth in the Pure Land is like a dream" is not a metaphor but the truth.
Because Bodhisattvas have not yet broken the dream of Avidyā (ignorance) until they reach the seventh stage of practice, their efforts to teach sentient beings and attain the Pure Land Sukhāvatī are all are all done by practicing Buddhism in their dreams.
Therefore, the Bodhisattva of the Eighth Stage is like crossing a river in a dream; he is not yet awake. It is not until he becomes a Buddha that he is called the Great Awakener. This is a clear statement, which is fully recorded in the "Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra" and provides clear evidence.
But those who have ever spoken of it have never touched it. If the old layman understands this, then all doubts about whether the Pure Land is far or near will be completely cleared up.
