From Sifu:

“Now, I want to expand on the meditation technique to reaching Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land.

Sometimes when I do this method, it works immediately — so quickly, so deeply — but it’s also not easy to do.

The philosophy behind this practice is that our true nature is not this body, nor the world surrounding us. But because we are already so deeply connected to illusion, we’ve forgotten that truth.

So the method teaches: Become aware that your awareness is separate from illusion.

When you separate from illusion, a sense of emptiness arises. You realize all illusion is empty. But we don’t experience it as empty — because our heart is still grasping. It’s like a monkey holding a banana — we can’t let go, so we can’t be empty.

If we open our hands, we can release the illusion. But we don’t — because of habitual clinging. So we make what is naturally empty, seem solid.

Illusion is empty because it arises from causes and conditions — it doesn’t exist on its own.

So the practice is to observe deeply and realize: whatever you’re aware of is illusion. All illusions — no matter what form — come from and end in, emptiness.

Before it arises, it’s empty. When it ends, it returns to emptiness. So even while it appears, it’s already empty.

When you see this, you begin to free yourself from connection. You loosen the attachment to the body, to thoughts, to identity.

But even then, there’s a subtle clinging — the idea that “emptiness” itself is something to hold onto.

The next step is to empty even the concept of emptiness — and then, what’s left is truly formless.

That’s when I began to feel I wasn’t this human “I” anymore. The sense of “I” — the ego — started dissolving. The “I” disappeared. The world of light and form also began to fade.

At that moment, there was no intention — not even the thought “I want to reach the Pure Land.” There was only emptiness, purity, peace.

When this “I” is gone, everything connected to “I” disappears. And your pure essence appears.

It’s light, joy, freedom. Everything — even the Buddha smile — dissolves into this radiance.

In that moment, if you sincerely call upon Amitabha Buddha, it is the purest calling possible. There is no other intention. No split heart. All blind-karmic illusions vanish.

That’s the moment of sincere connection. You return to your pure essence, and from that essence, joyfully choose to go to the Pure Land.

If you maintain this will — from your heart — Amitabha’s vow responds. That’s the Double Will: your pure heart + Amitabha’s infinite vow.

And when those two align — you will be received into the Pure Land.

Your Buddha nature shines through.”