r/Mahayana

💭My Granddaughter's Journey to the Land of Ultimate Bliss in a Dream 💭 My five-year-old granddaughter seems to have some virtuous roots. She enjoys offering incense and paying homage to the Buddha at our family shrine. When taught basic Buddhist verses, she memorizes them quickly and recites them fluently. Whenever she visits temples with our family, she reverently bows before every Buddha statue with proper form. She also likes to chant along with the Buddha's Name whenever she hears verbal Amitabha-recitation in the car.

As a practitioner of verbal Amitabha-recitation, I often take the opportunity, while driving her home from kindergarten, to tell her about Amitabha Buddha and the splendid environment and beings of the Land of Ultimate Bliss. At home, I occasionally play animated videos depicting the Land of Ultimate Bliss for her. I also teach her to verbally recite "Namo Amituofo," explaining that by doing so, one can avert misfortune, enjoy peace and happiness in this life, and be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the next life, where there is no aging, sickness, or death, until one attains Buddhahood there.

One day, she asked me, "Grandpa! How can I go to the Land of Ultimate Bliss?"

I replied, "Only by verbally reciting Amitabha Buddha's Name can you go there. Grandpa is already old, so I single-mindedly recite Amitabha Buddha's Name every day. When the day comes for Grandpa to leave this world, Amitabha Buddha will come to receive me and guide me to the Land of Ultimate Bliss. You are still very young, so you can ask Amitabha Buddha to take you there for a visit. Every night before going to sleep, you can verbally recite Amitabha Buddha's Name. After you finish your verbal Amitabha-recitation, tell Amitabha Buddha your wish. Amitabha Buddha is very compassionate, and He will fulfill your wish."

From then on, she would occasionally tell me that she had verbally recited Amitabha Buddha's Name before going to bed. Unexpectedly, not long ago, she really dreamed that Amitabha Buddha had taken her to the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

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#Journey_to_the_Land_of_Ultimate_Bliss #in_a_Dream

Two days ago, while we were in the car, she voluntarily told me about it.

👧“Grandpa! Last night, while I was dreaming, Amitabha Buddha took me to the Land of Ultimate Bliss to play.”

👴“Really? That’s wonderful! How did you get there?” 👧“I went on a lotus flower. Amitabha Buddha came to receive me holding a pink lotus and a rainbow-colored lotus. The lotus flew very fast, but I wasn’t afraid at all. When we were almost there, Amitabha Buddha gave me a pink dress, a crown, a necklace, earrings, and a bracelet to wear. The dress was so long and beautiful that it trailed on the ground.”

👴“What did Amitabha Buddha look like?” 👧“Amitabha Buddha was very tall, golden in color, and shining brightly!”

👴“Besides Amitabha Buddha, whom else did you see in the Land of Ultimate Bliss?” 👧“Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva.”

👴“Did you see Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) Bodhisattva?” 👧“Yes! And there were many, many other Bodhisattvas whom I didn’t know.”

👴“Did you see or experience anything else there?” 👧“Amitabha Buddha gave me lots of candy, as well as grapes, mangoes, and strawberries to eat. They were all my favorites and tasted so good! I also saw many beautiful lotus flowers in a pond. On the lotus flowers were written the names of Grandpa, Grandma, me, and Daddy. I didn’t see Uncle’s name. Grandpa’s lotus was blue, Grandma’s was red, and mine was pink🪷. Grandpa’s lotus and mine were both very big. Daddy’s lotus was withered because he doesn’t verbally recite Amitabha Buddha’s Name.”

👴“Was your lotus written with your official name or with ‘Wanwan’ (her nickname)?” 👧“It had my official name on it. There was also a card attached that said: ‘Happy Birthday, Wanwan! Wishing you good health!’”

👴“What else did you see?” 👧“The whole Land of Ultimate Bliss was shining with golden light. There were many birds—parrots🦜, peacocks🦚, sparrows🐦… One sparrow even flew onto my hand (sparrows are commonly seen near our home). There were also many beautiful houses and many fruit trees, but the fruit grew so high that I couldn’t reach it! There was also pleasant music playing🎶.”

👴“How did you come back in the end?” 👧“Amitabha Buddha brought me back on a lotus flower as well.”

👴“#Did_Amitabha_Buddha_say_anything #to_you?” 👧“#Amitabha_Buddha_said_to_me, ‘#Verbally_recite_the_Buddha’s #Name (Namo Amituofo) #more_often! Happy Birthday, and I wish you good health!’”

Was my granddaughter truly taken to the Land of Ultimate Bliss for a visit through Amitabha Buddha’s compassion, or was it simply a dream caused by what occupied her thoughts during the day? We cannot know.

Regardless, what is truly heartening is that the seeds of Amitabha Buddha and the Land of Ultimate Bliss have clearly been planted in my granddaughter’s consciousness. I pray that these seeds may soon sprout, grow, flourish, blossom, and bear fruit.

Namo Amituofo.

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🙏Postscript

About half a month later, my granddaughter drew a picture of a birthday cake. She said that during her afternoon nap, Amitabha Buddha had taken her to the Land of Ultimate Bliss to celebrate her birthday (her birthday was approaching at that time) and gave her a beautiful birthday cake.

At the same time, Amitabha Buddha also invited Melody, Mario, Pikachu, Jigglypuff… (all cartoon characters) to celebrate her birthday together. It was a very lively occasion! After bringing her back, Amitabha Buddha also gave her many gifts, including chocolate sticks and delicious toast.

She said that anyone who eats the chocolate sticks will grow wings. After she grew wings, she flew off to the world of Pokémon to play…

Laypeople Guocheng

May 22, 2026 (Republic of China, Year 115).

Edit- the "9" is the title is a typo.

Since the Pali Canon, there is in Buddhism a very delusional figure.

Every time an Universe is born at the start of an Universal cycle, the first being born is Maha Brahma, a high hyperdimensional being who exists on a higher plane than the gods such as Mara and Indra.

He believes he created the Universe because when he opened his eyes the expansion of space and the flowing of time started. He believes his own Universe is the only one, and he reckons himself to be the supreme being.

But his delusion is reminiscent of the supposed powers, history and position of another character...

Do you think as a Mahayana Buddhist that Yahweh from the Bible is one and the same with Maha Brahma ? If not, who Yahweh is ?

I've been sitting with Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā lately, and this opening dedication to the Buddha just keeps echoing:

"I salute the Fully Enlightened One, who taught dependent origination

neither cessation nor origination,

neither annihilation nor the eternal,

neither singularity nor plurality,

neither coming nor going..."

Every time I read it, something clicks!

We're so used to thinking in opposites, but Nāgārjuna points to something else, something before all that mental splitting.

He's not denying that we experience coming and going, birth and death, of course we do, he is however saying to be careful and not mistake those illusory labels for the whole story.

It reminds me of the Buddha's ehipassiko "come and see", not "come and believe"!

Just look, investigate and see for yourself.

Anyway, just wanted to share, been finding a lot of freedom in this text lately.

Currently rereading the Siderits and Katsura translation "Nāgārjuna's Middle Way".

So very grateful for this gift of Dhammā

Some Mahayana texts appear to speak critically of arhats and even seem to lower the status of Shakyamuni's disciples. I am trying to understand how this is seen by Mahayana Buddhists today. Does Mahayana generally hold that arhats are inferior to bodhisattvas?

How did philosophers like Prajñākaragupta, Jitāri from the Indian Dharmakirtian tradition and the Chinese Huayan philosopher Fǎ Zàng explicate the idea of retrocausality in reasonable terms?