My form at this temple shrine is not joyful. It is what those who die in grace see when their bodies drop away.
I am Amida of the Ancestors. I call souls away from their clinging to bodies and relationships that have died.
I am transcendence, not in ecstasy but in following the harmony of nature and spirit. I do not bind the soul and my paradise does not limit them.
They come to gain freedom, which can mean different things to different people.
It can mean freedom from debt, from obligation and responsibility.
It can mean freedom from the demands of others.
It can be freedom from disease and pain.
It can be freedom from fear, from pain, from guilt.
It is freedom to begin again, with bad karma left behind.
As Amida of the Ancestors, the dead are given a choice.
They can be reborn in the family line.
The can stay in my paradise of peace.
They can follow the true Buddha way, becoming liberated from past and future.
I represent the perfected self, with the Pure Land shining through every pore of my body.
Look beyond the universe of suffering and limitation.
I call all those who suffer to the land of limitless light.