Out of the Darkness and Embracing the Light

My spiritual journey has been a long and sometimes turbulent one. I have studied many different disciplines in my 33 year long journey for truth and self realization. I have been disappointed and some times even spiritually crushed by insincere teachers and a fellow seekers on the long and arduous path called "The Search for Truth." Never the less, I have learned to carry on and to become dauntless in my search because giving up would only lead to falling into darkness. Every religion makes the claim that their religion is the true and only one and so many religious leaders make the claim that their interpretation is the true interpretation. So, how can we know for certain know which teaching is true?

The Buddha was faced with this question in the village of the Kalamas and he replied to their uncertainty this way in the Kalama Sutta :

"Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, 'The monk is our teacher.' Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,' enter on and abide in them."

There are certain common threads that all beneficent religions accept as core values: honesty, compassion, kindness, charity, respect and non-violence. The core values that make us human as opposed to simply animals are the basis of a positive human existence. We become our thoughts and actions, in short we are the sum total of our choices. So, how can we overcome the torrents of negativity and darkness in our lives in this modern age?

This question confronted Honen and Shinran Shonin in medieval Japan in the 13th century when their people and country was in the grips of almost unbearable conditions of perpetual war, famine and natural disasters. Both Honen and Shinran Shonin were greatly dedicated to finding a solution in the Buddhist scriptures to the elimination of suffering of everyday people who are leading every day lives and are engaged in trying to make a living for their families. Honen and Shinran found their answer in the Pure Land Sutras of the Amida Buddha who took on forty-eight vows to save all sentient beings in the three worlds by simply reciting his name (the Nembutsu) in sincere faith, Namu Amida Butsu (I pay homage to tthe Buddha of Infinite Light.) 

By reciting the Nembutsu with sincerity and faith Namu Amida Butsu the fires of the senses, mind and the material world are extinguished and the mind rests naturally in non-duality and the mind becomes the Pure Land. The Nembutsu Practice is the easiest way for everyday people to practice the Buddhist Dharma. Chant Namu Amida Butsu and illuminate your life.