Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

towards one's guru—this will compress one's practice of
the Vajrayana. This is one way of accomplishing the
whole system of practice in one lifetime.
Another way: if one wants to practice meditation and at
the same time has the idea of gaining a good birth in the
next life, one should not deceive oneself. Be quite sure
what it is you are aiming to achieve and then ask for a
suitable meditation to attain that goal and resolutely
practice it. If one's renunciation is thorough and one
finds a good guru—and both these conditions must be
accomplished—then one may directly take up the
Mahayana or Vajrayana meditations.
If one's renunciation is not strong enough, one cannot
take instructions of the Pure Land School. Though one
has in fact not renounced worldly surroundings, it is
very necessary to have made a thorough renunciation in
the mind (but be warned: the latter is never easy without
the former). One must have renounced one's dependence
on worldly mental states to gain the great faith essential
if one is to see Amitabha. Although the sutra talks of a
short time of practice, only ten repetitions of his name
being sufficient, still I do not emphasize this, as the
conditions under which those ten must be made are
certainly exacting. If one is to gain the Pure Land, both
sunyata and bodhicitta are necessary realizations.
However, much may be done with the repetition of the
Holy Name and this way of practice does ensure a good
rebirth.
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