The Urgency of Returning Home

This teaching was recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe, during the midday offering on September 1, 2024.

The Urgency of the Heart

What does it mean to have a heart that returns home like a flying arrow? It means that your desire to return to your true home is as swift, direct, and focused as an arrow in flight. To the fourfold assembly, I ask: is your heart truly set on returning to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss with such urgency?

If you possess this heart, you will naturally understand the need for diligent practice. You will not delay. You must fear the moment your breath stops, for if your practice of chanting the Buddha-name has not yet reached a state of maturity, you will be unprepared.

The Peril of Hesitation

If you cannot maintain a focused mind, free from confusion and distraction, at the time of your passing, you risk being reincarnated once more. If that happens, this precious human life will have been wasted. Therefore, you must practise with great diligence. Chant Namo Amituofo all the way. Do not stop. Keep chanting until you are certain of your rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

When your heart is set on returning home like a flying arrow, you are ready to return to the Western Land at any moment. If you lack this urgency, you must ask yourself: is your vow for rebirth in the Western Land truly firm? Are you simply letting the days pass by, failing to make progress in your practice, while allowing more karmic obstacles to manifest?

Awakening and the True Home

Those who truly wish to return home like a flying arrow know they must be diligent. They seek to become an awakened being and dare not slacken. They fear that if their breath stops before they have achieved this, their hope of returning to the Western Land will vanish, and they will be trapped in the cycle of reincarnation.

Many people go out into the world to save others but forget the way back home. They become lost and do not know how to return. One day, you may suddenly wake up and remember your true origin. You will realise that you are a child of the Western Land.

The Eternal Return

With a heart that returns home like a flying arrow, you will focus entirely on your practice. You will chant Namo Amituofo with diligence, striving to perfect your skills. You will hope for rebirth in the Western Land, and perhaps even reach the state of an awakened being, moving freely between this world and the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Namo Amituofo