At next week's meditation, I will give an introduction to nembutsu practice; our regular Lotus Sutra programming will return the following week.
If this is new to you, consider having a look at a post I wrote on it some years back, or perhaps at Thich Nhat Hanh's helpful book on the subject.
This is an accessible, joyful practice that anyone can take up and benefit from.
Enjoy!
Hi Jikan -
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I have mainly studied Tibetan Buddhism, and as you've seen by my questions on Tuesday nights, I'm often trying to link Tendai concepts and practices with their Tibetan equivalents. I am wondering if you could help me place Amitabha in the context of Padmasambhava, Green Tara and White Tara. Thank you!
Lisa (Tenpa)
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteGo back to the five Buddha families and the five Dhyani Buddhas, of which Amitabha is one. Amitabha belongs to the Padma family; according to the Nyingma school, Guru Padmasambhava is also a Padma-family emanation in addition to being a historical figure. Tara is usually understood as a Karma-family deity, although there are different explanations for different Taras depending on the system. This wiki gives a worthwhile overview, if this is unfamiliar to you--especially in that it shows some of the common basis between Tibetan and East Asian Buddhism. enjoy...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Dhyani_Buddhas