About the same time the Sixth Patriarch was born, the Pure Land school arose. This idea of the Pure Land came from India, from Nagarjuna. As Zen developed, Pure Land also developed, in the same society, in the same period. A strange thing happened recently. As I was reading this a phone call came from the Palo Alto Buddhist church, wanting me to speak at their anniversary ceremony for Buddha’s birthday. I thought, “Oh, how shall I?” They wanted me to speak in Japanese. About 150 of the Japanese congregation came, first and second generation. So I know why this kind of thing happens, I know! As you read, you see Amitabha Buddha, who is not different from Sakyamuni Buddha. The ability to be pure is the same as Sakyamuni. I have a different translation, “The ability to purify is the same as Sakyamuni.” The part about the passage way refers to the belief in the Pure Land, that this world is tainted and only Amitabha Buddha can reach to this Pure Land, in this life, and also in the after life. I, myself, feel that I am a very good Pure Land believer, too. It’s just a different style of belief. Like when I face to you, one side looks like a Zen priest and when I show my backside, Pure Land appears! Zen and Pure Land as social phenomena, as expressions of belief, are different. But actually, the source, the one which is expressed, is the same thing. I also feel this way about Buddhism and Christianity. It becomes more and more clear…The view that the self exists is the same as Mount Meru. A perverse mind is the same as a great ocean… These metaphors are explaining our inner world, the very many forms of mind. For instance, “If man cannot reach to Pure Land, or “If man cannot enter into the Kingdom of God…” or “If we don’t reach to the Amitabha Buddha,” we cannot be saved. If it takes infinite time to realize the Pure Land, or the Kingdom of God, when our individual being is finite, even if you add a million billion finite beings together, it’s impossible to reach the infinite. There is no number that is infinite. That is why the Sixth Patriarch said that the Pure Land is not a far place, but is above, below, and everywhere. So when compassion, itself, is Avalokiteshvara, purification itself is Shakyamuni Buddha, and what “Buddha” means is enlightened self nature, it’s not becoming ideal, it’s essentially so. All living beings are buddhas. By daily deeds, by action, we realize it. That is the Zen view of Pure Land, according to the Sixth Patriarch. And when it’s realized, the passageway suddenly disappears. It isn’t logical, it’s faith. We have to feel it. The Pure Land believers are not looking for Zen. They speak of guilt and helplessness. The practice of zazen doesn’t help them. They feel they have nothing to do with what happens. Their idea is that when light shines in the darkness, and there is helplessness, the light cannot go through. Their practice is very hard. Pure Land people believe in perfection. They believe, “When something wrong happens, it is because I’m imperfect.” I always stop in that place. The Sixth Patriarch did not have the same idea as Pure Land, but his feeling was the same. He says, … straightforward mind is the same as Maitreya, not just attitude, but whole life direction. So when the dewdrop of morning evaporates in the warm sunshine, to the Sixth Patriarch it looks like Maitreya. At home has a double meaning here. It is where one takes the master’s position. There is no hierarchy.