Inviting the Buddha to Abide in the World

The Path of the Awakened One

A Buddha is one who has practised with fierce diligence and has perfected the Six Perfections. Through this unwavering commitment, they have achieved the ultimate goal of the spiritual path. A Buddha possesses the profound ability to encounter the disturbances of demons and, through their own clarity and power, subdue these demonic enemies. They cause the demon crowds to bow in respect, for the Buddha has successfully realised their true nature and attained Buddhahood. It is a rare and precious event when a Buddha appears in this world, specifically to rescue suffering beings from the vast ocean of birth and death, ensuring they no longer fall into the six realms of rebirth.

The Eight Difficulties of Existence

In this world, there exist what we call the Eight Difficulties—conditions that make it nearly impossible to encounter or practise the Buddha’s teachings. We must understand these clearly to appreciate the fortune we have today. The Three Evil Realms—the hells, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the animal realm—are filled with beings who suffer so intensely that they lack the opportunity to hear the Dharma. Even if they were to hear it, their deep delusion makes it difficult for them to comprehend or accept its meaning.

The inhabitants of the Northern Continent live in great wealth and pleasure. Because they do not know suffering, they lack the motivation to seek the truth, and they live in a place where the Buddha’s teachings are absent, leaving them trapped in the cycle of rebirth. Celestial beings in the Long-Life Heavens enjoy immense longevity, yet they are also without the opportunity to hear the Dharma. Those who are blind, deaf, or mute suffer from deficiencies in their Six Roots, which prevents them from hearing the teachings or learning the path of the Buddha.

Worldly intellectuals often cling to their own views and opinions. When they hear the Dharma, they generate doubt instead of faith, and some may even go so far as to slander the Buddha’s teachings. To be born before a Buddha appears in the world, or after a Buddha has entered Nirvana, means one has no chance to hear the Buddha’s direct guidance, making it impossible to practise correctly or escape the six realms of rebirth.

The Tragedy of a World Without the Buddha

To live in a time or place where no Buddha abides is a truly tragic and painful existence. Without the light of the Dharma, beings are left to sink into the long night of the ocean of karma, unable to find a way out. They drift aimlessly, bound by their own past actions, with no beacon to guide them toward liberation. It is a state of profound darkness, where the cycle of suffering continues without end.

A Rare Opportunity at Hsiang Kuang

My fellow practitioners, at this very moment, you have the incredible fortune to encounter Namo Amituofo, who truly abides at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Goombungee, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. This is an opportunity that is difficult to encounter even in millions of years. We must collectively invite the Buddha to remain in this world. By doing so, we ensure that more practitioners have the chance to receive the Buddha’s guidance, allowing them to resolve the long-standing delusions that have kept them trapped for aeons. This is how we help them rediscover their true nature and attain Buddhahood.

Let us join with the Buddha in the work of saving infinite suffering beings and even the demon crowds. We must offer them the opportunity to find rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, so they no longer need to enter the cycle of rebirth and endure suffering with no end in sight. We are deeply grateful for the boundless compassion of the Buddha. Namo Amituofo.