Amida Buddha the Inner Light

Amitabha, Sanskrit for infinite light, carries with it the essence of Shakyamuni's realization of the true self. Amitabha is that which illumines the unnamable and indefinable which is the essence of Buddha's universal understanding. There are no words that can adequately define its aspects. It is beyond all thought and all comprehension. Amitabha or Amida, its more common name, is the inner consciousness of the mind that has attained supreme reality of the true self. One lives in darkness which is the creation of a mind that exists in illusion. Illusion is identity and attachment to the concept of a separate self that exist as the one who thinks, compares and concludes. It is the self that is seeking security in that which it possesses, both the material and the spiritual. Darkness is the conditioned mind, the mind that is the product of its accumulated experiences. These accumulations become memory, which give definition and substance to the self.

The self or one who thinks or reasons is a product of the process of thought. One must have the realization that thought formulates the thinker as separate from the process in order to create the illusion of permanency and of a being that controls and creates destiny. The I or me becomes the refuge of thought and the center from which thought reacts. It is relatively easy to comprehend this on a conceptual level, but to have full realization of its implications requires an intuitive experience that is not the product of thought or thinking. One must become aware without the reference of self. Amida is the illumination of this realization.
Buddha said........."Yet when vast, uncountable, immeasurable numbers of beings have thus been liberated, verily not one being has been liberated. Why is this, Subuti? It is because no Bodhisattva who is real Bodhisattva cherishes the idea of an ego-entity, a personality, a being, or a separated individuality."*The Diamond Sutra, Section III (translation A.F. Price)

To have a clear understanding of the nature of thought, how it functions, and what are its limitations, is to open the door to something totally new; that which is not of the mind, that which avoids emotional attachment to the self (the known). It is a new-found freedom, which is not freedom from 'something', but that which stands alone. It is freedom that is not a goal or aspiration, but the natural outcome of a deep understanding of the self and its motivations.

To believe in Buddhist doctrine, recite mantras, or 'practice' meditation has no meaning whatsoever. But to realize and be aware of the movement of thought is to come upon that which is not of the mind, that which thought cannot fathom. It cannot be defined, so it cannot become the known or part of the self, yet it is the very essence of all that exists. Mind is engaged in comparative thought, the discriminatory activity of defining reality.

The process of thought is division. It divides and categorizes the not me, and determines what may be integrated into the image it has created of self. When one experiences the realization of the true self in the absolute present moment of consciousness, then mind intuitively senses its own movement, then that movement ceases. In that moment one is experiencing absolute reality (truth) without the distortion of the known which is the self.

This illumination is not a continuous phenomena. It cannot become memory, if it is artificially made part of memory then it has no validity. It is a moment to moment realization, which cannot be captured. It is not a movement of time (past through present to future). It is the very negation of time which is the movement of thought. One must be aware, without the practice of awareness (which is the self), of the singularity of thought. The duality of thought and thinker is the illusion of self.

Amida said,"Sir if you believe that one has taught you something to be retained, realize that only the self retains and seeks repetition. Truth is freedom from the known, which is the self."