Original Enlightenment Pure Land and the Primal Vo
(Art by Nembutsu Art ) In the first volume of the Collection of Passages on the Land of it Peace and Bliss [by Tao-ch’o] we read: One might ask, “If all sentient beings have the Buddha nature, and as each of them from ancient times to the present must have encountered many Buddhas, why then do they still continue through cycles of birth and death and fail to escape from this burning house?” To such a question, I should answer that according to the holy teaching of the Mahayana, it is actually because they have been unable to cast aside birth and death through exercising one of the two kinds of the excellent Dharma, that they have not been able to escape from the burning house. One is called the Holy Path and the other is called Rebirth in the Pure Land. In these days it is difficult to attain Enlightenment through the Holy Path. One reason for this is that the Great Enlightened One’s passing has now receded far into the distant past. Another is that the ultimate principle is prof...