Mindful Visualization of Trees, Grounds, and Lakes
A Mindfulness Practice Taught by Sakyamuni Buddha
Mindful Visualization of the Trees, Grounds, and Lakes is the 6th of the sixteen visualization practices directly extolled by Sakyamuni Buddha to Queen Vaidehi, the queen of the city of Rajagrha, some 2,500 years ago in response to her yearning for a place to be reborn that is free of afflictions and sufferings.
Queen Vaidehi requested the Buddha to teach her how to visualize such a place where she may hear no evil words, see no evil beings, and be reborn there. Among all the Buddha-lands revealed, the Queen chose to reborn in the Western Pure Land (the Land of Ultimate Bliss). This preaching, known as the Visualization Sutra, was then passed on to all of us sentient beings in this world.
What’s better than learning to practice mindfulness directly from our teacher, the Buddha? Let’s dive deep into the words of the Buddha for the practice of the Visualization of the Trees, Grounds, and Lakes.
The Buddha said to Ananda and Vaidehi,
“In every region of that land of myriad treasures there are five billion treasure palaces adorned with jewels, and in those palaces there are countless heavenly beings playing heavenly music.
“Like heavenly-jeweled banners, musical instruments are suspended in the sky, producing myriad sounds that proclaim the mindfulness of the Buddha, the mindfulness of the Dharma, and the mindfulness of the Sangha.
“When this visualization has been completed, it is called the general perception of the jeweled trees, the jeweled ground, and the jeweled lakes in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. This is the unified visualization of these images which is called the Sixth Visualization.
“For those who see this, the heavy and evil karma binding them to birth-and-death for measureless tens of millions of eons is eliminated, and when they take leave of this life, they will assuredly be born in that land. To do this visualization is called the right visualization; to do another is called an incorrect visualization.”
Consider it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come across and practice this method, as one will then achieve non-retrogression (no falling back to lower realms) to ultimately attain the Highest Perfect Enlightenment. If anyone is interested in learning the entire sixteen visualizations, one may read the full sutra text of the Visualization Sutra.
Set aside time to practice it everyday. Immerse your mind in this visualization to cultivate a pure state of mind.
[ Previous: Bodies of Water | Next: Visualization of Lotus Seat ]
Resources:
Visualization Sutra — Full sutra text
Five Pure Land Sutras
Amitabha Mindful Chanting Music Collection
