I am learning to trust that the Buddhas send me whatever I need. In the Longer Amida Sutra, Dharmakara discovers the same thing.
The Longer Amida Sutra tells the story of how Dharmakara becomes Amida Buddha, and that can be seen as our story. Motivated by discomfort we seek the spiritual life and long for enlightenment. We follow the path that longing guides us to, which is the path to Buddhahood.
Dharmakara spent many lifetimes practicing the dharma before he became Amida and created the Pure Land. Describing these lifetimes the sutra says that, “Wherever he was born, an immeasurable store of treasure spontaneously appeared as he wished.”1
An immeasurable store of treasure! If Dharmakara’s story is our story what does this mean for our own lives?
Buddhism teaches that the more our lives are in tune with the dharma, the more likely treasure is to appear before us. (Or, perhaps, the more likely we are to notice that it is already there). That treasure is the three jewels which is whatever we need to help us on the path to enlightenment and to creating our own Pure Lands.
Dharmakara was reborn as, “a rich man, a lay devotee, a member of the highest caste or of noble family (brahman), a kṣatriya king, a wheel-turning monarch (cakravartin), a king of one of the six heavens in the world of desire, or even higher, as a Brahmā king”. In each lifetime he was gifted what he needed for his own practice, and what he needed to share the practice with others.
I am reminded of the life of Shakyamuni. Throughout his life he was gifted pieces of land for the Sangha to use, meals for himself and all of his followers and beautiful robes.
The Buddhas want us to be compassionate beings at work for the dharma, and when we entrust ourselves completely to them they will send us exactly what we need.
This isn’t magical thinking. It doesn’t change the fact that we are karmic beings, in a world of uncertainty. It doesn’t change the fact that some of us are born into more wealth than others, and that some of us will go through more suffering than others.
But alongside this there is something mysterious that happens.
The more we live in tune with the dharma, the more likely our needs are to be met in ways that mean we can continue to live in tune with the dharma.
What we need does not always match what we think we need, of course. The Buddhas are wiser than we are.
Trusting that our needs will be met is not an invitation into complacency, but an invitation to deepen our Buddhist faith. It is an invitation to pay attention to our daily lives, to make wise choices and to trust that the Buddha is alongside us, offering exactly the support we need.
Beautiful x
As I age I find this teaching to be true. As you point out it may not be what you thought - often it’s something better. I enjoyed this sharing very much. Love & light to you all in your new home.
Kim 🙏🪷