What is the Presence?

We hope to know and express the Name, and we hope to touch the Presence. For our own liberation, and for the benefit of other sentient beings. But what is it like to know the Name? Can anybody say with confidence that they know exactly what the Presence is whispering to their heart?

The Buddha is always present, everywhere. But how are we to be more aware of it? Let us recall that the mind is the basis for all thoughts, speech, and actions. The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras state that the mind that realizes emptiness is “purely luminous.” And what else is Amitabha, the Name, except Infinite Light? Therefore, the Buddha’s Presence is the energy of the awakened mind within you. As Thich Nhat Hanh writes:

“Whatever has happened, this problem or that event, should not cause you to lose your happiness and peace, because you have the Buddha, the energy of awakening, within you. The Buddha is with you when you smile mindfully. The Buddha is with you when you walk mindfully. The Buddha is with you when you drink tea peacefully. You know you’re capable of drinking your tea that way. You’re capable of walking that way, and you’re capable of breathing that way. Don’t think that the Buddha is abstract. The Buddha is very concrete” (Thich Nhat Hanh, 2007, p. 184).

When you are aware of yourself and your thoughts, speech, and actions, the Buddha’s Presence becomes easier to abide in. And if they are good thoughts, speech, and actions, then you are dwelling in the Name, in the Buddha. All it requires is a cultivation of mindfulness, awareness, and compassion for oneself and for others. It is about facing reality, for reality is Buddha, the Name. But the practice that attunes us to the Name most powerfully is the Buddha-invocation, or to recite “Namo Amitabha Buddha.” For it unites the revealed Name and mindfulness together, awakening the enlightened mind in a single liturgical tradition.