There is a rising interest today in food free of harmful contamination. More and more people are turning to “natural farming,” which uses no pesticides and no fertilizers at all – chemical or organic –  relying purely on the natural vitality of the earth to bring vegetables, fruits, and grains to maturity.

       Produce grown this way is not only free of contaminants; it tastes wonderful and is nutritious.⠀

       Each of us, too, is a product of our own three karmic activities – what we do, what we say, and what we think. We too should live without causing harm. Yet the reality is otherwise.

       Our minds are filled with the three poisons of greed, anger, and delusion. As the Infinite Life Sutra exhorts:

“[One should avoid bringing] harm upon oneself or others or both.”

       When we ourselves have become the pollution, it hardly matters what we eat.

       How, then, can we live without causing harm?

       Amitabha Buddha’s compassion is like the earth itself, already holding everything we need. We have only to recite his name and rely entirely on his power, adding none of the “fertilizers” or “pesticides” of our own effort. Nourished by such soil, we too can live without causing harm – our hearts growing kind and loving, our days filled with happiness and joy.

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