Some may ask themselves this: if Amitabha Buddha’s light shines across the entire universe, without obstruction, why can’t we see it?

       Master Tanluan offers insight:

“The problem is not the light - the problem is within sentient beings. We know that sunlight reaches everywhere. The fact that the blind cannot see it does not mean the light isn’t there.”

       This issue is entirely ours. As ordinary beings weighed down by ignorance, afflictions, and heavy karmic burdens, we fail to perceive Amitabha’s light - just like a blind person who cannot see the sun illuminating the entire world.

       Here’s a quote by Master Genshin that is deeply illuminating and reassuring:

“For those weighed down by deep karmic offenses, there is no way that leads to liberation from samsara except reciting Amitabha’s name - assuring rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. I, too, am among those embraced by Amitabha’s compassionate light. Though my afflictions blind me and I cannot see that light, the Buddha’s boundless radiance never ceases to shine upon me.”

       In this defiled world, we are all ordinary beings weighed down by heavy karma. Were it not so, we would not have been born into the Saha world, enduring great sufferings, nor would we be among those forsaken by countless Buddhas.

       For those burdened with such deep karmic offenses, there are only two paths: recite Amitabha’s name and be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, or fall into the three wretched realms. Thus, the master said “there is no way that leads to liberation from samsara except reciting Amitabha’s name.”

       He goes on to say “I, too, am among those embraced by Amitabha’s compassionate light.” Here, Master Genshin acknowledges that he’s just an ordinary being bound by karma and affliction. Yet because he recites Amitabha’s name, he is surely protected by the Buddha’s light.      

       Master Genshin offers us a profound truth to carry in our hearts: though afflictions cloud our vision, Amitabha’s boundless, compassionate radiance never ceases to embrace us - it is tireless and unwavering.

(Translated by the Pure Land School Translation Team;
edited by Householder Fojin)