What is this Pure Land on Earth?

  Master Sheng Yen remarks, in Chan and Enlightenment, "The environment in which we live is actually a reflection of our mental state. Different individuals with divergent states of mind will experience the world differently." (p.115). Interestingly, he prefaces this remark by stating, "At the present time, our world cannot yet be called a pure land on earth." (ibid). Reading this, I begin to wonder, is this pure land school really about making the world itself a heavenly, Utopian world? Is Master Sheng Yen hinting at some future time period when everyone will live in peace and see things in much the same way?
   I most resonate with the following: "When we feel happy we perceive the world as a happier place. If we are psychologically unhappy, afflicted, or depressed, the world we perceive, as well as our immediate environment, will also fall short of our expectations." (ibid) Is the goal of all of this contemplation to make a 'happier' world, though? Or is the actual realization that of not being moved by either happiness or sadness?
   From what I gather in these passages, the Pure Land on earth isn't necessarily a feeling so much as it is the ability that is already inherent in awareness. When things are being reflected in a mirror, the mirror does not need to extend itself to reflect the things. In fact, both mirror and reflection are unified in that moment. As soon as there is a concept of a mirror 'reflecting' an object, the reflection metaphor starts to get lost again. In much the same way, things are already pure as they are, but the problem is that one approaches things in a certain way. It's the situation where a sad person goes to a happy party, and a happy person goes to a sad one. Even though my mood and emotion is not dependent on the environment, there is always a lack of resonance. I am 'over here' and the 'rest of the world' is 'over there'. But when there is no more experienced division or duality, there is neither a world nor a separate self inhabiting it.
   I can learn many skilful means to be happy in any environment, such as through visualization or loving kindness practice. But this is only one way. Even then, there is an even 'more pure' way and that has to do with seeing without the bias of 'happy' or 'sad'. It is just 'seeing' itself. And the interesting thing is that this 'just seeing' is the precondition for seeing and being right now, not some special state I need to attain. If it were not for the mind's ability to see, I could not even type these words. The function of pure seeing is already present. It's not about trying to reach anything , but it is more about simply being in a state of receiving and recognizing the mind that already is.


Sheng Yen (2014) Chan and Enlightenment. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publication