Amitabha's Vow

  I have been reflecting on the compassion of Amitabha and how it is inclusive of all beings. One of the amazing things about such kind of vow is how no sentient being is exempt from it. The point being that all thoughts dissolve into the power of such kind of a vow. We need only listen deeply into our hearts to find this positive message and let it sink into us, curing us of all the worries that we have about our life in this world.

  Mind can create any number of different thought patterns. There is no limit to its creations, and thus, we have people living in the same city having very different lives and occupying different mindsets. Whatever preoccupies a person the most is what defines their world and their actions within that world. This is known as "karma". Where Amitabha has the power to overcome karma lies in the infinite compassion that he has to save all sentient beings, and to provide a refuge through which they can realize awakened being. But this is none other than the fundamental mind itself. It is the mind that doesn't actually move with all these infinite creations. It's fundamental to these forms just like the water in the waves.

With such kind of an attitude, a person can take any situation and find a positive way of looking at it. The mind is not limited to the "inevitable" like a fixed outcome or a scientific law. Because of this infinite plasticity of the mind, it's possible to shape the waves into anything we so wish to have, or even see beyond the waves to peer into what's underneath.