-3 upvotes, 3 direct replies (showing 3)
I have no difficulty understanding the Diamond Sutra at all. It is natural and easy to me. And Mahayana is supposed to be teaching or give guidance about attaining the wisdom of understanding reality. I found the Amitayurdhyana Sutra unnecessary because it does not teach us anything about "wisdom" and reality. In fact, I found it contradicting the basic principle of not to contemplate reality using our human senses and perceptions. All the descriptions about the so-called contemplation of the things in the so-called pure land of bliss are based on human perceptions, like the sounds and the colors of different objects. BTW, separating and classifying the totality of our reality into "individual" objects as if we can actually "differentiate" these so-called objects of contemplation is against Buddha's teaching. The only reason why we "think" the totality of reality can be "separated" and "divided" into separable "objects" is because of "discriminating mind" aka "vikalpa".
Comment by FUNY18 at 04/02/2025 at 03:17 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Hmmm, those are words, but I don't see meaning. Sorry.
Comment by CassandrasxComplex at 04/02/2025 at 10:04 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
84,000 Dharma doors - that's how the various schools of Buddhism are described. Everyone has their talents, but some are better at visualizing the Pure Land as Buddha Amitabha recommended, with the objective of gaining Enlightenment and carrying out Bodhisattva activities for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Comment by genivelo at 04/02/2025 at 13:43 UTC*
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I have no difficulty understanding the Diamond Sutra at all. It is natural and easy to me.
It might be useful for you to consider at some point that your understanding of the Diamond sutra might not be as accurate as you think it is, and that you will need to let go of some of your mistaken views to get better insight into its teachings. Maybe you could be confusing a natural interest and resonance in that type of sutras with an actual understanding of the meaning they are conveying. Studying these teachings within a community and with a legitimate teacher might be helpful, instead of trying to figure them out on your own.
I think many of the replies here have tried to point you in the proper direction that should help you understand how the two sutras you quoted are fundamentally teaching the same thing, even though they go at it from distinct perspectives.
In the excerpt you posted, the Amitayurdhyana Sutra is even directly explicit about it when it says: "Seeing the utmost beauty and bliss of that land, they will rejoice and immediately attain the insight into the non-arising of all dharmas".