I Enter into the Buddha’s Mind; the Buddha Enters into My Mind.
The Eighth Visualization in The Visualization Sutra says:
All Buddha Tathagatas have the body of Dharmakaya,
and so enter into the meditating mind of each sentient being.
Likewise, the Ninth Visualization says:
[Amitabha’s] lights permeates all worlds, always embracing those who recite his name.
Read together, these two passages show us that Amituofo’s compassion is boundless and unreserved. We learn that every Buddha Tathagata is one whose truth body (the Dharmakaya) is the essence of the universe: the unity of all things and beings, unmanifested. The Dharmakaya is the basis of the existence of all things including us, so that it is said that the Buddha may enter into the mind of all sentient beings. The Buddha’s Dharmakaya is beyond existence or non-existence; its essence is virtues and merits. We iniquitous ordinary beings are full of nothing but transgressions which entrap us in samsara. The Buddhas, however, are full of virtues and merits which can liberate us from samsara, enabling us to attain Buddhahood so that in turn we can deliver other sentient beings with the supernatural powers of a Buddha.
While “Amituofo’s mind fills our minds with his merits and virtues, his light also embraces the bodies of those who recite his name.” This is the so-called “With minds and bodies totally united, the Buddha and Amitabha-reciters are together as one though the nature of their respective minds is different. So we say [the aptitudes of] sentient beings are at one with [the teachings of] Amitabha.”
Of course, there is a huge difference between the Buddha’s pure mind and ordinary beings’ unwholesome minds. But that difference is nullified when we recite the name of Amituofo, resonating with the Buddha's primal vow. The reciter and the Buddha become one without any difference. The two are one entity and that is why it is said that the aptitudes of sentient beings are at one with the teachings of the Buddha. In the mundane world, when a man and a woman are in love, they say to each other, “there is me in you, and you in me.” However, once their relationship turns sour, they break up and may even hate each other. Therefore, there is no such thing as “there is me in you, and you in me” among ordinary beings. Only between Amitabha-reicters and the Buddha does such a relationship exist.
We can see that Amitabha's compassion is boundless and without reservation . As the saying goes:
Amituofo’s vast compassionate heart is filled with sentient beings who suffer from endless births and deaths, without hope of leaving samsara;
His physical and spiritual merits pervade those who recite his name.
And that is the connotation of “I enter into the Buddha’s mind; the Buddha enters into my mind.”
(Translated by the Pure Land School Translation Team;
edited by Householder Fojin)
Guiding Principles
Faith in, and acceptance of, Amitabha’s deliverance
Single-minded recitation of Amitabha’s name
Aspiration to rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land
Comprehensive deliverance of all sentient beings