In the Buddhist tradition, Amitābha is a very well known Buddha. Many people think of a Buddha as a being, who is sitting somewhere and watching over us. In fact, a Buddha is only a symbol for a state of being. Each Buddha is a symbol for a particular aspect of the eternal and only true reality, which is the same in all religions and mystical paths.
Pictures illustrate the different aspects or qualities of this reality more clearly. For this reason, Buddha images and sculptures have emerged. To understand the light of Amitābha more deeply, we look at how the Amitābha Buddha is represented: He usually sits in the West, at the gateway to the Pure Land. From the East the sun rises, in the West it sets and returns to its origin. Amitābha, therefore, helps us to return to our true origin, to the pure, eternal light.
We can compare the eternal light with the sun where every human is a beam of light from the sun. Each sunbeam is part of the Sun. The light of the sun permeates the entire sunbeam, which is also permanently connected with the sun. The same applies to us. We are imbued with the eternal light, we always have been a part of it. We just do not know it. Just like the sunbeam we cannot recognize our own origin. The sunbeam shines away from the sun into the darkness. It c
annot see the sun behind it. Similarly, we look into the infinity of the darkness and we move further and further away from the source of the eternal light. We do not anticipate that we are part of the eternal light. Some of us do not even believe anymore that the eternal light of reality exists. To realize the light again, we need a mirror. Amitābha is such a mirror. With its help we can rediscover our origin.
The mantra Namo Amitābhaya is the oldest available key in the world that can lead us back to the light. For almost three thousand years, many people have gone the way of Amitābha. They have provided proof that this path is true and they paved the way for us. They made this way stable and secure. Now, with help of the Amitābha mantra we can also find our way back to our true being, the eternal light. We can experience that this light shines forever, that it permeates everything and is always there. We can experience that we too are part of it and always will be. That way we can discover a new, pure form of life: A Buddha-like life or a Jesus-like life. A life of profound peace and happiness, a life of absolute freedom, a life we have not known until now. The life of our true nature.