Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

meditation.
There are two good foundations employed in Pure Land
meditation: Hinayana renunciation and Mahayana
bodhicitta. To gain good results in these practices, one
must cultivate a mind of renunciation freed from
attachment to things of daily life. If one is without
repulsion for this world, one will never get to that one
(Sukhavati). At least the renunciation must be
established firmly in the mind, even if not manifested
outwardly.
Because of this strong emphasis on giving up and also
the decided tendency to think of obtaining nirvana
without returning to this world, this school has been
labeled by some as "Hinayana." This is quite wrong, but
we see here that the second foundation is needed. The
followers of the Pure Land School should have good
bodhicitta and so desire to come back to this world.
Without bodhicitta and realization in sunyata, a person
cannot in any case receive birth there. (We say "birth"
but the Pure Land is not within the three realms; it is in
sunyata and one can get there only if one thoroughly
practices the voidness meditations.) Further, Amitabha
is a Buddha of goodwill and it is only possible to see
him if one has a well-developed bodhicitta. Notice that
all this is based upon the Mahayana. Nowadays, many
persons who seek for birth there have not practiced
bodhicitta sufficiently. In fact, this school has often
been taken too lightly—as an easy way. What has been
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