Our lives in this world, whether you know it or not, are affected by various forces all the time, including our weight, friction upon contact with something, and different other kinds, both named and unnamed, as well as gravity.

       It’s as if we live in a world where all kinds of forces cross paths to obstruct or protect us.

      Inquisitive people, good at research, can discover the principle of forces between elementary particles or neutrons, precisely calculate the motion of a molecule, even the magnitude and direction of the forces interacting with each other, and build a ship to go into outer space.

       However, there are two ubiquitous forces that people are normally unaware of, which, even with the most advanced research, precise instruments and formulas cannot measure.  These two are the karma of ordinary beings and Amitabha’s vow.

       We all live amongst karmic forces.  Everything that happens to us, every person we meet, every thought that arises in our mind, and every emotion are attributed to karmic forces and lead to new ones.  The old and new interweave and produce even stronger karma, leading us to a deeper sea of suffering and prolonging our cycle of birth and death.

       We are pulled by karma and, intentionally or not, create karma, leading to afflictions, deep or shallow.  But we always place the blame on others or things around us, instead of looking for reasons within ourselves.

       After all, our joys and sorrows have nothing to do with anyone else.  They are attributed to our own karma, which, if left unchecked, leads to more karma.  The cycle then repeats itself, becoming more and more intense.

       Our karma is inconceivable and boundless.  The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

If our evil karma took form, then all the empty space in the universe could not contain it.

       As stated in The Sutra of the Earth Store Bodhisattva:

The power of karma is so enormous that it can rival Mt. Sumeru, being
deeper than the deepest ocean and obstructive to the Dharma path.

       Master Tan Luan said:

The karma created by every single thought in every single moment is enough for me
To be firmly bound in the six realms and three domains.

       The karma is so vast that it can obstruct the Dharma path of sages.  Its forces hold us back, preventing us from hearing the Dharma and leaving this house on fire.

       During the time that Shakyamuni Buddha was in our world, there was an elderly lady residing in the east side of the city.  Blinded herself by karmic forces, she refused to hear the Dharma and see the Enlightened One.  Even when he appeared in front of her, she turned away, and when he manifested himself from the eight directions, she closed her eyes.

        Even the Venerable Maudgalyayana would not be able to overcome the karmic forces of his mother with his supernatural powers.

       After attaining enlightenment, Venerable Maudgalyayana observed the circumstances of his deceased mother.  He saw that she had fallen into one of the three wretched realms, as a result of the karma she created while still in the human realm.  Not only was her face pale and thin, but she was lying halfway on the ground, unable to sit up.

       Saddened upon seeing the state she was in, he used his powers to materialize a bowl of delicious food and brought it to her.  His hungry mother stretched out her withered hand to pick up the food and put it in her mouth, but the fragrant rice instantly turned to red burning charcoal.  Because of her karmic forces, she now suffered starvation as retribution, so she was unable to have the magically manifested rice.  This only goes to show that the law of cause and effect is without even the slightest error.

       Unable to bear the suffering of his parents, he asked the World-Honored One for any wonderful method to eliminate the karmic forces causing his mother’s suffering from starvation.  Shakyamuni Buddha said that only by offering the merit and virtue of the Sangha to his mother at the end of the summer retreat can her suffering from hunger be eliminated.

       Even though, with help from the power of the Sangha’s merit, she could finally escape from the suffering of starvation and be born as a celestial being, she would still be transmigrating and pulled by the karma in the three domains because she still hasn’t eliminated the karma of birth and death.  Once all of the pleasures of heaven were depleted, she would suffer again.

       The karma created in a single moment within a single thought is enough to keep one tied up in the three wretched realms, not to mention the boundless kalpas of karma that create the deepest suffering, from which ordinary forces cannot go deep enough to rescue us.  Even the one thousand and four Buddhas sighed, shook their heads, and deserted us because of how heavy and thick our karma was.

       Fortunately, there is Amitabha Buddha, our loving father, who never forsakes us sentient beings in the ten directions.  He proclaimed the great vow and cultivated for kalpas to achieve the six-character name.  By the karmic force of his great vow, he embraces us all, and his light, supernatural power, and his merits are inconceivable.  It is the true power that can eliminate our countless karmic offenses binding us to birth and death.

       Of all inconceivable forces there are, the karmic force of our compassionate father’s great vow is the greatest.  All Buddhas of the ten directions protrude their long, wide tongues, which cover the three thousand great worlds[1], to praise Amitabha’s inconceivable merits.

       This shows how powerful and merciful his vow is - to make ordinary beings transform into sages, thereby attaining the state of non-arising[2].

       As The Commentary on The Contemplation Sutra states:

All ordinary beings, good and bad, who are born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, rely on Amitabha’s vow as the primary factor.

       We are fortunate to have encountered Amitabha’s name in this life and break free from the shackles of the karmic forces in the three domains.  It is like breaking free from the gravitational pull of the Earth, the solar system, and even the Milky Way, and stepping on a lotus flower which heads to our home in the West with great speed.

       Within the invisible void, amidst the time and space of infinite karmic forces, Amitabha’s great vow has been constantly cutting off our karmic pulls with only that of his vow left to pull us back home.

       In the bustling void of the sky are lotus flowers drifting westward and sounds of Amitabha’s name echoing for a long time.  However, some people, too bound by their karmic forces, are unable to hear or see any of it.  This truly is an example of “extraordinary words do not enter the ears of ordinary people.”

       May all friends who are drawn by karmic forces also take advantage of Amitabha’s great vow, recite his name, use the name’s sword to cut off all birth and death karma, forever leave the three domains, and return to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

(Translated by the Pure Land School Translation Team;
edited by Eddie Cao)