I sauntered, yes i was traveling to holy land, pure land to welcome visitors to my beloved garden on this most auspicious day with clear sight of three of the cascading mountains encircling portalandia as we are graced by yet another day of sun…

so, yes, i came to welcome wayfarers, sojourners along the spirit path and experienced a magical encounter with a pure sweet being of light and love who may well have been the buddha or a bodhisattva… he told me how he misses his temple home in Japan where for eighteen generations his family have been monks…he started chanting The Name for me which reminds me of an old story…

An old woman, who practiced the recitation of the Buddha`s name, made a vow
to recite the name of Amitabha Buddha 500 billion times before she was willing to gain rebirth in his Pure Land.

The old woman recited the Buddha`s name by counting beans. However, she fell sick one day, and she also did not have enough beans to count with, and she was far from the goal of 500 billion recitations. What should she do? The old woman was worried, and the more she became worried, the more she felt helpless.

Then, two major bodhisattvas, who were touched by her conviction, manifested themselves as two monks who came by her house. After they found out about the old woman`s plight, they told her, `You can simply recite `Namo the 36 trillion, 119 thousand, 500 Amitabha Buddhas.` ` Once this was recited, it would immediately fulfill her goal, with plenty to spare. Haha!

So the old woman recited: `Namo the 36 trillion, 119 thousand, 500 Amitabha Buddhas.` With this single recitation, all the beans fell to the ground, and the old woman passed away instantly, gaining rebirth in the Pure Land. The two monks transformed back into bodhisattvas, and vanished.

~

Travel with us now as this sweet, pure being transports us into the Pure Land…

Japanese Garden Welcome 2-16-15 017