There are
some people who invest in time-share condominiums in Hawaii. But
usually, we each want to own our own home, not share or borrow it.
Although we may purchase a used car or previously owned home, we still
expect it to now belong solely to ourselves. We don't want it “on
loan.” Yet, this very life itself is on loan.
Throughout our life, we accumulate possessions, get married, and have
children. They are all impermanent. As we grow older or upon our
death, our possessions pass on to our children, our home is sold, and
our children themselves eventually die. Everything is revolving --
changing hands, you might say.
As is only natural, when we are admitted to the hospital we want to
return home as quickly as possible -- to our secure surroundings to
which we have grown accustomed. Even when we are fortunate to have
such loving and caring children who open their homes to care for us
when we are sick, it is still most natural for us to want to return to
our own comfortable home. How grand it feels to open the front door
even after being away for a while on vacation! Yet, in returning home
to Amida's Pure Land, we often feel apprehensive. It's a place we've
not yet been, although we may spiritually have visited many times
before.
Our human existence, in many ways, is like riding on a commuter train
-- we constantly are watching others come and go, until it is our turn
to disembark. We all take turns in leaving this life. What makes life
meaningful is not that we all “get on and off” life's train, but
whether or not we realize the deep significance of the journey before
we reach our exit.
If we should reach our destination “suddenly” while still reading
the newspaper or drinking a cup of coffee, for example, we're not
ready -- we don't yet want -- to leave. Some passengers on the other
hand, can't wait to leave this life. Others are entranced by the
journey itself and ride to the “end of the line.”
Perhaps entering the Pure Land is like reaching that final destination
-- not final as in an ending, for Amida's Pure Land continues to
evolve forever, but final in the sense of a place at which all
sentient beings finally arrive. Whether we ride Amida's train to the
end of the line or whether we get off somewhere in-between, our final
destination is the Pure Land.
Those who precede us did not exit somewhere along the line. Nor are
they merely waiting to greet us as we arrive in the Pure Land
ourselves. They have become Amida's train itself. They are not only
riding beside us, but together now as Amida's Vow of Great Compassion,
they are actually carrying us to the Pure Land. We don't have to reach
the station to be with them. Each step along the way they are here
with us. They are the very reason we are moving toward the Pure Land
ourselves.
Perhaps, no one exits at Amida's station. They merely become the train
itself, turning around for other passengers. There is no one in the
Pure Land to greet us. The Pure Land is not a place, but rather, it is
like a revolving department store door -- constantly turning to let
people in and out -- always moving in our direction.
Let us all please be mindful of Buddha's Truth, as we journey together
with our fellow travelers.
