The Amitabha Sutra, Explained (1-4)
Passages 1 to 4: A deep understanding strengthens our belief and vow to reborn in the Western Pure Land
A Note on Sutra Recitation Practice
Sutra Recitation has long been common among practitioners. The practice here is to recite the sutra text in an uninterrupted flow without giving thoughts to the meaning of the words when eyes are on the sutra book, mouth is reading out loud, and ears are listening to the vocal sounds.
With such persistent practice (precept observation) every day, one keeps the name of Amitabha Buddha always in mind, as the Buddha-name chants keep the wandering thoughts in check and calm oneself. One will gradually develop meditative concentration, cultivate wisdom, and ultimately attain supreme, perfect enlightenment, that is Buddhahood.
Besides the recitation practice, one should set aside time to learn and study the meaning of this sutra text. The detailed sutra commentary below is excerpted from the book, Pure Mind, Compassionate Hearts: Lessons from the Amitabha Sutra by Venerable Wuling, and is divided into 48 passages offering a great introduction to the core Pure Land teachings.
A deep understanding of this sutra helps deepen one's belief in the inconceivable power of Amitabha Chanting practice and strengthen one's vow to reborn in the Western Pure Land (the Land of Ultimate Bliss).
Namo Amitabha!
The Amitabha Sutra, Explained
~Commentary passages credited from the book, Pure Mind, Compassionate Hearts: Lessons from the Amitabha Sutra (Venerable Wuling, 2017).
Passages: 1-4 | 5-8 | 9-12 | 13-16 | 17-20 | 21-24 | 25-28 | 29-32 | 33-36 | 37-40 | 41-44 | 45-48
PASSAGE 1: THE AMITABHA SUTRA
Almost three thousand years ago, Sakyamuni Buddha came to this world to teach the Dharma, the truth of life and the universe. To help us realize the truth of suffering and learn how to end that suffering, he compassionately taught 84,000 Dharma doors. It was necessary to speak so many methods because everyone has different capabilities. He knew that the best method for some people would not be the most suitable for others.
For example, in the Dharma-Perfect Age, a time that occurred after Sakyamuni Buddha entered parinirvana, those who practiced the teachings succeeded in their cultivation primarily by observing the precepts. Practitioners in the next age, the Dharma Semblance Age, succeeded in their cultivation mainly by practicing meditative concentration.
Both these ages have passed, and we are now in the Dharma-Ending Age, an era of declining spiritual abilities. In this current age, people lack both the self-discipline to observe precepts and the capacity to focus their minds through meditative concentration. Indeed, their afflictions, ignorance, and bad habits have increased. It is all too easy to regress in one's practice: advancing in one lifetime but losing ground in many more. These people need a different Dharma door.
Who are "these people"?
We are.
What is the Dharma door we need?
The Pure Land Dharma door.
To help us learn it, Sakyamuni spoke of it in various sutras and elaborated on it in the Infinite Life Sutra, the Visualization Sutra, and the Amitabha Sutra.
Of these three sutras, the Infinite Life Sutra provides a detailed description of that land. It tells of the time Amitabha Buddha was still a monk named Dharmakara and of the forty-eight vows Dharmakara made relating to the formation of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. The sutra then presents the principle of cause and effect, explaining how both moral behavior and chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha will result in being born in the Western Pure Land.
The Visualization Sutra contains sixteen meditations, also with the goal of being born in that land.
The Amitabha Sutra, while also describing some of the physical elements of the Pure Land, is the sutra in which Sakyamuni urged people three times to make the vow to seek birth in the Western Pure Land. The Amitabha Sutra is one of the rare sutras categorized as self-spoken. Self-spoken means that Sakyamuni Buddha himself introduced the teaching when no one asked the relevant questions. This is what happened with this sutra. Although no one asked about the Pure Land Dharma door, Sakyamuni Buddha knew that it would be ideal in our Dharma-Ending Age. Not only does it teach us how to be born in the Pure Land, it also assures us that we can bring along our residual karmas. These are karmas that have yet to bear fruit. Even with these karmas, once in the Pure Land, we will never again regress in our practice and learning.
The full title of the Amitabha Sutra is Buddha Speaks the Amitabha Sutra. There are two Buddhas in this title: Sakyamuni and Amitabha. Throughout the sutra, the speaker is Sakyamuni. He was born as Prince Siddhartha almost 3,000 years ago in present-day Nepal. As the young prince grew up, he became increasingly aware of the suffering that all beings undergo. In time, he renounced his position as the future king and became a wandering seeker searching for the way to end suffering. Siddhartha studied under well-known spiritual teachers including those of meditation and asceticism. He learned and excelled at all they had to teach him. But no one knew the way to end suffering permanently. And so he continued his search.
After several years, Siddhartha came to realize that the way to end suffering was through a balanced approach that avoided the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. It was through practicing in this manner that he reached the point where he attained enlightenment and was finally free. Free from what? Free from delusion and suffering. Free from samsara--the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
Siddhartha was now Sakyamuni Buddha, the awakened one. He remained in this world for another forty-nine years, teaching others what he had realized. At the age of seventy-nine, he entered parinirvana, the passing away of the physical body of a Buddha.
The second Buddha spoken of in the sutra title is Amitabha Buddha. Many kalpas ago, a king named World Abundant heard a Buddha named Lokesvara teaching the Dharma. Delighted by Lokesvara's teaching, King World Abundant awakened. Resolving to seek the supreme truth, he relinquished his throne and became a monk called Dharmakara. He then asked Lokesvara Buddha how to attain Buddhahood and help all beings end suffering.
With Lokesvara Buddha guiding him, Dharmakara aspired to make supreme, wondrous vows, thoroughly contemplated what was good and bad about heavenly and human beings, and what was excellent and inferior about their lands. From these, he single-mindedly selected what he wanted and formed his great vows. For five kalpas, he sought and explored diligently, persevered respectfully, and cultivated merits and virtues.
Dharmakara made forty-eight great vows. He pledged that if his forty-eight vows were not accomplished, he would not attain Buddhahood. In the eighteenth great vow, Dharmakara promised to guide us to his land if we mindfully chant his name aloud or silently ten times as we breathe our last breaths.
With the accomplishment of these forty-eight great vows, Dharmakara became Amitabha Buddha--the Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life. Through his vows, he formed the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. An ideal land for us to learn and practice in, it is described in the sutra as having marvelous adornments including golden sand, jeweled trees, birds that sing the teachings, luminescent lotuses, flowers that float down from the sky.
But while these truly are wondrous physical attributes, they are also symbolic representations of the Pure Land principles and practice. The purpose of studying these principles and practicing them is to be born in the Western Pure Land--to be close to Amitabha Buddha and all the Bodhisattvas, and to complete our learning and cultivation there so that we too can become a Buddha.
What is the problem with simply studying and practicing in this world?
It does not offer a suitable learning environment. There are far too many distractions; opportunities to practice are rare. Our human life span is far too short for learning all that we need to. In the Western Pure Land, however, we have an ideal learning environment, one created for us by Amitabha Buddha. And if we want to go to the Western Pure Land--with unwavering belief, the vow to be born there, and mindful chanting of the Buddha-name--we can!
Sakyamuni told us that when we go there, all the Buddhas will be our teachers and beings of superior goodness will be our companions. Who are these beings? The beings of superior goodness in the lowest land, the Land Where Sages and Ordinary Beings Dwell Together, are practitioners of the ten virtuous karmas. Those in the Land of Real Reward are equal-enlightenment Bodhisattvas. For example, both Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva are equal-enlightenment Bodhisattvas. With them as our guides, and Amitabha Buddha as our teacher, how can we fail to attain supreme, perfect Buddhahood!
The Pure Land is the best possible learning environment for us. Once there, our greed, anger, and ignorance will not arise. There are several reasons for this.
First, objects we think of will immediately appear before us, thus eliminating those conditions in which the thought of something can quickly develop into greed.
Second, everyone in the Western Pure Land is a virtuous person. Even if we have not completely eradicated our anger, it will not arise because there are no conditions for us to become angry.
Third, our senses will always encounter the Dharma. We will not be ignorant. As we live there, we will no longer have to consciously work at ending our three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance like we do here. With the passage of time, without any deliberate effort on our part, they will naturally fade away.
When we begin to understand all that Sakyamuni and Amitabha have done for us, we will feel grateful to both Buddhas. We feel grateful to Sakyamuni Buddha for having had the compassion and wisdom to know how invaluable this sutra would be for the beings suffering in the cycle of rebirth and to have taught it. We feel grateful to Amitabha Buddha for having spent five kalpas both in learning and in accumulating merits and good fortune, and using them to create an ideal land where we can practice and advance to Buddhahood without falling back. A remarkable opportunity. How do we avail ourselves of this opportunity?
With the three requisites of belief, vow, and practice, which are the guiding principles of the Amitabha Sutra.
As Great Master Ouyi wrote,
"Without faith [belief], we are not sufficiently equipped to take vows. Without vows, we are not sufficiently equipped to guide our practice. Without the wondrous practice of mindfully reciting the Buddha-name, we are not sufficiently equipped to fulfill our vows and bring our faith [belief] to fruition."
~Commentary on the Amitabha Sutra, Guiding Principle
Belief is to believe that we too have buddha-nature and that through mindful chanting, we will be born in the Pure Land. It is to believe that Sakyamuni Buddha did not lie when he taught of Amitabha Buddha and the Pure Land, and to believe that Amitabha Buddha did not fail to fulfill his vows. It is to believe in cause and effect, and that even if we chant with an unfocused mind, we are still planting the seeds for our future birth in the Pure Land. It is to believe that the Western Pure Land truly does exist far to the west. And deep within us.
Vow is the unwavering aspiration to be born in the Western Pure Land. We make the vow upon realizing that while the cycle of rebirth is filled with suffering, happiness abounds in the Pure Land.
Practice is to diligently and joyfully chant Amitabha's name, single-mindedly and without confusion. We can chant in any language. For example, in Chinese, we would chant "Amituofo." In English, since we do not have an established chant, we could simply repeat "Amitabha Buddha." This buddha-name chanting is the form of buddha-remembrance that Sakyamuni spoke of in the sutra.
(Check out a sample of Amitabha Mindful Chanting music and start your practice today!)
PASSAGE 2: THE GARDEN OF JETA AND ANATHAPINDIKA
Thus have I heard:
Once Buddha was in the land of Shravasti, in the garden of Jeta and Anathapindika.
Sakyamuni Buddha told Ananda, his attendant and also the person who heard all of Sakyamuni's teachings, that when he later repeated the sutras, he should always start with the words "Thus have I heard."
"Thus" means that Sakyamuni definitely spoke the sutra. "I" is Ananda referring to himself, and saying that he was indeed present at Sakyamuni Buddha's teaching. "Heard" refers to Ananda's having both understood and absorbed what Sakyamuni Buddha said. It is not a case of listening without comprehending.
"Once" refers to the time when Sakyamuni spoke this sutra. He said to use "once" instead of a particular time and date because these are not the same everywhere. We can see this when we consider a date. What is December 1st for one person can already be December 2nd for someone else. The use of various kinds of calendars such as Lunar, Gregorian, and others can also lead to further confusion. It may be the same point in time, but people use different dates and calendars to identify it.
"Once" also means that the conditions for people to hear a specific sutra had matured. If the necessary conditions had not existed, Sakyamuni Buddha would not have spoken the sutra. It would have been pointless. Therefore, "once" is when teacher and student are in accord. Students are willing, indeed happy, to learn from the teacher. The teacher is willing, and happy, to teach. It is a joyous coming together as the mind of the student and that of the teacher are in sync.
"Sravasti" was the capital city of a prosperous Indian kingdom. A prince named Jeta lived in Sravasti, as did a wealthy and respected merchant known for helping the poor. Due to his generosity, people called the merchant Anathapindika, which means "giving to orphans and the solitary elderly."
After hearing Sakyamuni speak the Dharma, Anathapindika decided to offer the Buddha a place in which to teach. Determining that the most suitable site was a park owned by Prince Jeta, he asked if he could buy the land. Initially, Prince Jeta declined, but eventually they came to an agreement.
Anathapindika then happily instructed that the gold in his warehouses be brought and used to cover all the ground in the park to fulfill their agreement. Moved by Anathapindika's generosity, Prince Jeta wondered what kind of person Sakyamuni was to elicit such respect. When Anathapindika told him about Sakyamuni, Prince Jeta wanted to join the merchant in making the offering.
The two benefactors decided they would jointly offer the park to Sakyamuni Buddha. They had living quarters and assembly halls built, ponds and wells dug, pathways put in, and an impressive gate built at the entrance to the park. In honor of these two benefactors, the monastery became known as the Garden of Jeta and Anathapindika.
(Listen to a sample of Amitabha Mindful Chanting music, and start your chanting practice today!)
PASSAGE 3: THE GREAT ARHATS
He was accompanied by twelve hundred and fifty great bhikshus, all of them great Arhats, well known to everyone.
In this next passage from the sutra, we learn of the various groups present in the Amitabha assembly and the order of their listing. This order is significant. The monastics were named first because they had renounced the world, they always accompanied Sakyamuni Buddha, and they were responsible for propagation of the Dharma.
The bodhisattvas, taking the form of either monastics or laypeople, were listed in the middle because they represented the Middle Way and they did not always accompany the Buddha. Heavenly beings were named last because they had the forms of those living in this world, that of ordinary people and sages, and they had the responsibility of supporting and protecting the Dharma out in the world.
Accompanying the Buddha were "twelve hundred and fifty great bhikshus." "Bhiksus" usually refers to ordained Buddhist monks of Theravada Buddhism. When the word "great" precedes bhiksu, it indicates that the person is a practitioner of Mahayana Buddhism. The great bhiksus were students of the Buddha who joined him shortly after he had attained enlightenment. They were the three Kasyapa brothers and their students, totaling one thousand people in all; Sariputra and his students, totaling one hundred people; Maudgalyayana and his students, totaling one hundred people; and the elder Yasa and his group, totaling fifty people.
No longer erring in their speech, thoughts, or judgment, arhats have no karmic causes to hold them in the cycle of rebirth, and so they transcend it. We can begin to see why transcending in this way is so difficult. To eliminate the affliction of thoughts, we must first control our wandering thoughts. But we always have wandering thoughts. All the time and everywhere! Even at night, for our dreams are also wandering thoughts. And day or night, our thoughts are so numerous that we have an incredible number of them in just one second! Little wonder it is so difficult to transcend samsara by eliminating these afflictions. Fortunately, we have another method—the Pure Land Dharma door—which enables us to transcend through our belief, vow, and practice.
The great arhats spoken of in the sutra were "well known to everyone." When people saw these arhats learning from the Buddha, they must have concluded that the Buddha was indeed virtuous and accomplished. Why else would these highly respected arhats be his students! The presence of the arhats in the assembly thus helped foster peoples' confidence in the Buddha, enabling more people to learn from and emulate him.
Now that Sakyamuni Buddha is no longer in this world, how do we learn from and emulate him?
We do so by adhering to the teachings of the sutras. While there are several Pure Land sutras for us to read, we should choose just one and then delve deeply into it, learning and chanting it for an extended length of time. Gradually, our thoughts and views will mirror the teachings in our selected sutra. When we can do this, we will be putting aside our views and ideas, and emulating Sakyamuni Buddha. We will live, work, and interact with people according to his teachings and, in doing so, help introduce the Dharma to others.
In his Commentary on the Amitabha Sutra, Great Master Ouyi wrote that propagation of the Dharma depends on the sangha. In other words, monastics are responsible for the transmission of Sakyamuni Buddha's teachings. To help them accomplish this, Sakyamuni taught the six principles of harmony for monastics in a sangha to follow in daily life.
Six Principles of Harmony
First is harmony in having the same viewpoints. It is important for sangha members to adhere to the same principles and methods for learning and practice. By closely following the teachings found in the sutras, members will gradually hold the same viewpoints—viewpoints that are the same as those embraced by awakened beings.
Second is harmony in observing the same precepts. These rules are the standards for daily life. The five precepts of no killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, or intoxicants are fundamental for all sanghas. When the members observe these precepts, their mental, verbal, and physical karmas will be correct, and they will become role models for others.
Third is harmony in living together. To succeed in their cultivation, members of a sangha need to get along. The way to do this is to build on the precepts with the ten virtuous karmas of no killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, divisive speech, harsh speech, enticing speech, greed, anger, or ignorance.
Fourth is harmony in speaking without conflict. This harmony adheres to the four verbal virtuous karmas of no false, divisive, harsh, or enticing speech. When people live and work together, bad verbal karma is easily committed, which brings about harmful consequences. For example, a speaker did not mean to hurt another's feelings, but was unmindful when uttering his words. Regrettably, the saying "more speech, more trouble" is too often true. It is better to speak mindfully and only when necessary. This will reduce painful regrets and worries of how to undo the harm that was done. Better yet, "speak one sentence less of chatter, chant once more the buddha-name."
Fifth is harmony in experiencing the Dharma bliss. The mind of a sangha member should be sincere, pure, and impartial. This pure mind is the mind of compassion. The principal achievement from practice is happiness. As sincerity and compassion increase, so does happiness. As happiness increases, worries and fear decrease, and the mind dwells on what the practitioner chooses. And the most wonderful--and happiest--thought for a Pure Land practitioner to dwell on is the name of Amitabha Buddha.
Sixth is harmony in sharing benefits. In a sangha, all members have the same standard of living and sharing offerings equitably.
Through successful implementation of the six principles of harmony, a sangha will meet its responsibility of propagating the teachings. By studying their selected Pure Land sutra, the members will learn how awakened beings think and act. They will then know how to emulate these beings. As the sutra is chanted, the words describing the speech and actions of the Buddhas will fall like Dharma rain and be absorbed by each individual's consciousness, watering the awaiting seeds of goodness.
(Pick a sample of Amitabha Mindful Chanting music from this collection, and get started with your chanting practice today!)
PASSAGE 4: THE LEADING DISCIPLES
Among them were his leading disciples, such figures as the Elders Shariputra, Mahamaudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, Mahakatyayana, and Mahakausthila, Revata, Suddhipanthaka, Nanda, Ananda, Rahula, Gavampati, Pindola-bharadvaja, Kalodayin, Mahakapphina, Vakula, and Aniruddha... (and others such as these), all great disciples.
Next in the sutra, we learn of the leading Arhats in the assembly who stayed by Sakyamuni Buddha's side. Each of them had a special ability that was well known. Learning more about who these Arhats were and what they accomplished, or sometimes failed at, in their various lifetimes is in itself a teaching. Some Arhats represented cause and effect, while others symbolized various aspects of cultivation including humility, patience, open-mindedness, filial piety, compassion, perseverance.
The first Arhat named was the Elder Sariputra.
To be considered an elder in the Buddhist community, one had to be virtuous and learned, have a good reputation, and have been a monastic for a long time. The first two Arhat elders named in the sutra, Sariputra and Mahamaudgalyayana, were the Buddha's chief students.
Among the Arhat students, Sariputra was the foremost in wisdom. Wisdom is not the same as intelligence. While we can use intelligence in both good and bad ways, with wisdom, we will naturally know what is good and what is bad.
As readers of a sutra, our confidence in its principles and methods can increase as we learn which highly respected Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and others were present in a particular assembly. For example, just as Sariputra was the foremost of the Arhats in wisdom, Manjusri was the foremost among the Bodhisattvas in wisdom. So, among the Arhats and the Bodhisattvas, those who were foremost in wisdom were named first in their respective sections of the sutra. This order of the names carries a very profound meaning: to choose and practice this sutra--this Dharma door--a practitioner must have wisdom.
Sariputra was also known for his patience and self-control. We read in the sutras that one time in Sravasti, a group of men were speaking in praise of Sariputra. A man passing by overheard them say that Sariputra had great patience and was always calm, never angry. The passer-by interjected that this must be because no one had ever irritated the Arhat!
Determined to test this, the man went off in search of Sariputra. Finding him on his alms round, the man came up behind Sariputra and struck him. Sariputra calmly continued walking without even looking back. It was as if nothing had happened. Feeling ashamed, the man caught up with Sariputra and begged for his pardon. When mildly asked the reason, the man admitted that he had intentionally struck Sariputra to test his patience.
Sariputra forgave the man, who then invited Sariputra to his home to eat. When they came out of the house afterward, they found that a crowd had gathered. Having heard of the incident, people wanted to punish the man. Sariputra asked the crowd who had been struck. Himself? Or those in the crowd? They answered that it was Sariputra. Sariputra replied that he had already forgiven the man. And with that, he dispersed the crowd.
The second Arhat named in the sutra was Mahamaudgalyayana, who was the foremost in extraordinary powers.
A Sanskrit word, Maha means "great". We learn in the Ullambana Sutra how Mahamaudgalyayana, wishing to repay the kindness of his parents for giving him life, used his power to learn where his deceased mother had been reborn. Finding that she was reborn as a hungry ghost, he brought her food. But when she tried to place it in her mouth, the food turned into burning coals.
In anguish, Mahamaudgalyayana went to the Buddha and asked him how to help his mother. The Buddha told Mahamaudgalyayana that his mother's rebirth as a hungry ghost was due to her past karmas. He then taught Mahamaudgalyayana how she and other parents, living and deceased, could be helped. The teaching put into practice, Mahamaudgalyayana's tears and grief faded away when he saw his mother released from her rebirth as a hungry ghost.
In another sutra, we read of a time when the Buddha, accompanied by Mahamaudgalyayana and other monastics, visited a kingdom to teach. The citizens ignored the Buddha, but bowed and made offerings to Mahamaudgalyayana! When the other monastics declared that it was not right, the Buddha calmly explained that in a past lifetime, he and Mahamaudgalyayana had lived close to one another. When bothered by bees, the future Buddha wanted to smoke them out from their nest. The future Mahamaudgalyayana not only declined to assist in this but also spoke of the suffering of the bees. He vowed to help them when he attained awakening.
Now the Buddha and Mahamaudgalyayana were together again. They found themselves in a kingdom where the queen bee of the former hive was the king, the drones were ministers, and the workers citizens. Having no affinity with the Buddha, these people ignored him. But due to their affinity with Mahamaudgalyayana, they revered the Arhat and were happy to learn from him.
The next Arhat named in the sutra was Mahakasyapa, who was foremost in ascetic practice.
Kasyapa came from a very wealthy family, so his becoming an ascetic was noteworthy. Why would he give up everything and adopt such a rigorous method of practice? After all, ascetics lead lives of austere self-discipline, forgoing physical comfort and material enjoyment, and relinquishing personal viewpoints.
Learning how Mahakasyapa lived, we conclude that his life was one of suffering. What we cannot imagine is that he was filled with joy, the joy that he found in his meditation. We may think that our life is happy or at least more comfortable than his was, but what Mahakasyapa saw was ordinary people, with all their desires, emotions, and expectations, living in a world of self-inflicted suffering.
By renouncing craving and attachments, Mahakasyapa found that his mind became more tranquil and unobstructed, able to realize what ordinary people could not. We learn of an example of this when the Buddha once silently held up a flower in an assembly. While others merely looked on, Mahakasyapa alone smiled. The Buddha explained that he had just conveyed the Dharma door of unspoken direct transmission to Mahakasyapa.
We also learn in the sutras that Mahakasyapa's body radiated a golden light. What was the cause of this light? In a previous lifetime, Mahakasyapa was a goldsmith. A girl brought a statue of a Buddha to him and requested that he cover it with gold leaf. He happily did so but declined the girl's offer of payment. Thus, they both accumulated the merits from adorning the image of a Buddha with gold. Their karmic reward for many lifetimes was that each of them had a good physical appearance that radiated golden light.
The next Arhat, Mahakatyayana, was foremost in debate. Due to his understanding and great eloquence, he skillfully expounded the teachings.
The Arhat named after him, Mahakausthila was foremost in question-and-answer discourse.
A prominent figure who was rather self-confident, Kausthila liked to debate. When he debated his sister, he won every time. But after she became pregnant with the child who would later become the Arhat Sariputra, Kausthila began losing debates to her, one after another. He decided that since his sister had previously always lost, it must be the unborn baby who was causing her to win. Kausthila, feeling that it would look bad if he were to lose a debate to his sister's child in the future, went in search of teachers to learn from.
Years later, he returned and heard that Sariputra had become a student of the Buddha. Convinced that this was a mistake, Kausthila went to the Buddha with the goal of winning a debate with him and getting Sariputra to return home. Instead, not only was Kausthila won over by the Buddha's answers, he became the Buddha's student as well!
The Arhat Revata was "foremost in remaining free of error and confusion."
The Amitabha Sutra talks about "single-mindedly and without confusion" and of "minds being unified and not chaotic." Revata represented this clear, calm state of mind. He genuinely fulfilled the three refuges. He was awakened, not deluded; held correct views, not deviated ones; and maintained a pure mind, not a corrupted one.
The Arhat Suddhipanthaka was named next.
In his earlier days with the sangha, Suddhipanthaka was the slowest of the Buddha's students. His memory was so poor that he could not even remember a four-line verse that the Arhats tried to teach him. His older brother, also a monastic, told Suddhipanthaka that he was too "stupid" to learn from the Buddha and that he should leave the sangha.
Encountering the greatly distressed Suddhipanthaka, the Buddha asked him what had happened. When Suddhipanthaka replied that his brother had told him to leave, the Buddha gave Suddhipanthaka a broom and told him to sweep the grounds every day and to focus on the words "sweep clean" while he swept.
Following the Buddha's instructions, Suddhipanthaka swept the grounds and kept repeating "sweep clean, sweep clean." Soon, not only was his mind swept clean, it was free of the affliction of views and thoughts. Thus, he attained the level of Arhat. When the other Arhats wondered how he accomplished this, the Buddha explained that Suddhipanthaka had been a highly accomplished Dharma master in a previous lifetime. But fearing that others would surpass him if he taught wholeheartedly, he always held back when teaching. This holding back resulted in his slow-wittedness in his current lifetime.
Some of us may feel that we have limited abilities and a poor memory, and consequently cannot learn Buddhism. Suddhipanthaka set an example for us. Comparing ourselves to him, we will realize that our abilities are not nearly as limited as his were. So if he was able to succeed, surely we can as well!
At the other extreme, those considering how profound Sariputra's wisdom was will likely conclude that their wisdom does not come close to his. And yet, as wise as he was, Sariputra mindfully chanted the name of Amitabha Buddha. Isn't it only logical for us to follow his example and also chant the Buddha-name?
The Arhat Nanda, the Buddha's younger half-brother, was foremost in comportment. Not only handsome, Nanda also had an excellent demeanor and a pleasing voice.
After Nanda was the Arhat Ananda. One of the Buddha's cousins, Ananda was foremost in remembering the Buddha's teachings. Ananda was also his personal attendant. Contrary to the slow Suddhipanthaka, Ananda needed to hear the Buddha's teaching only once to remember and repeat it. He did so at the first council of five hundred great Arhats, held shortly after the Buddha's parinirvana. What Ananda recited had to be acknowledged by everyone as having been said by the Buddha. Thus approved, the teachings were recited and later written down.
This method of repeating the teachers' lectures is how the Buddha's teachings have been passed down till today. Dharma masters continue to give their teachers' lectures, just as Ananda did. This ensures that the lecturer will not make mistakes because the teachings will have been transmitted, through generations of monastics, from teacher to student.
We can see an example of the gravity of saying something incorrect in the following account of a Dharma master who gave a wrong answer. The master had been asked, "Is an accomplished practitioner still governed by the law of cause and effect?"
To this he answered incorrectly, "No, an accomplished practitioner is not governed by the law of cause and effect."
This wrong answer misled the questioner and resulted in the Dharma master's negative karmic consequence of being reborn as a fox for 500 lifetimes. The fox, however, was diligent in its cultivation, and succeeded in acquiring extraordinary powers, even the ability to appear as a human. Although it knew the karmic cause of why it was a fox, it could do nothing to change this karmic result.
After encountering Master Baizhang, an awakened Zen Master, the fox in the form of an elderly man came to listen to Master Baizhang's lectures every day. Others at the lectures became familiar with the man, but only Master Baizhang knew that he was actually a fox.
One day, the fox told Master Baizhang its story and requested his help. Master Baizhang instructed it to return the next day and ask the same question.
The following day, the fox came back and asked, "Is an accomplished practitioner still governed by the law of cause and effect?"
Master Baizhang replied, "An accomplished practitioner is not ignorant of the law of cause and effect."
The master's answer, "an accomplished practitioner is not ignorant of the law of cause and effect," means the practitioner still has karmic retributions and is clear about these without any confusion. With the answer thus changed from "not governed by" to "not ignorant of," the fox was able to end his lifetimes of being reborn as a fox. He died the next day. Master Baizhang, knowing the fox was now dead, retold its story and took some people to the mountain to bury the fox.
If a lecturer says something wrong and this results in misleading people, the retribution is severe. Therefore, Dharma lecturers give their teachers' lectures without interjecting personal opinions, a tradition passed down from Ananda till today.
The Arhat Rahula was foremost in never calling attention to his cultivation.
The Buddha's son, Rahula became a novice monk when he was very young. While it looked as though he was playing every day, the Buddha knew that his young son was practicing self-discipline, meditative concentration, and wisdom. Rahula is an excellent example of the Buddhist principle that substance is far more important than formality.
The Arhat Gavampati, whose name means "ruminating ox," was foremost in receiving offerings from heavenly beings.
The Buddha explained that in a past lifetime when Gavampati was a novice monk, he saw an old monk chanting a sutra. Due to his advanced age and the loss of many of his teeth, the old monk chanted very unclearly. The novice laughed, "When you chant a sutra, you look like an ox eating!"
The old monk warned him to quickly repent. He explained, "I have attained arhatship. Because of your words, you will fall into the hells."
Terrified, the novice monk immediately repented, but he still suffered the karmic retribution of being reborn as an ox for several hundred lifetimes.
Although Gavampati was now an Arhat, he still had the habit of moving his mouth like an ox eating. If people laughed at him when he went on alms round, they would plant the same negative causes he had planted. Thus, out of compassion for those who would make offerings to Gavampati, the Buddha told him not to go on alms round with the others. Heavenly beings, because they knew that Gavampati was a great Arhat, respected him. They would never ridicule him. And so, the Buddha told Gavampati to go to the heavens to receive offerings.
The Arhat Pindola-Bharadvaja was foremost for being a field of good fortune.
Just as a well-planted field will yield crops, a field of good fortune will yield good karmic results to those who make offerings to deserving beings.
One day, Pindola-Bharadvaja exhibited his extraordinary powers by ascending into the air to retrieve a sandalwood alms bowl that had been placed atop a high pole. As a result, the Buddha rebuked him for his exhibitionism and told him to remain in this world to enable people to gain good fortune by making offerings to him. And so, Pindola-Bharadvaja is still in this world serving as a field of good fortune.
The Arhat Kalodayin was foremost in propagating the teachings.
Kalodayin possessed both wisdom and the knowledge of the methods most suitable for the circumstances and capabilities of those he helped. He was thus able to assist countless people to advance on the path to enlightenment.
The Arhat Mahakapphina was foremost in knowledge of the stars.
When he was a layperson, he decided that he wanted to become a monastic student of the Buddha. On his way to visit the Buddha, he stayed overnight at a potter's home, where he shared a room with a monk. That night the monk taught him about the Dharma. Due to this teaching, Mahakapphina attained the level of Arhat. The monk was actually a manifestation of the Buddha who, upon perceiving Mahakapphina's sincerity in becoming a monk, taught him the Dharma.
The Arhat Vakula was foremost in longevity.
His long life was the result of his having made offerings to a gravely ill monk in a past lifetime, as well as having kept the precept of no killing for many lifetimes. In keeping this precept, Vakula had another outcome, a very rare one of having numerous rebirths as a human being.
Health and longevity are karmic results from giving. Other outcomes are wealth and wisdom. The giving of wealth, material and non-material, will result in wealth. The giving of teachings will result in wisdom, and the giving of fearlessness will result in health and longevity. To be foremost in longevity among all the accomplished Arhats at the assembly, Vakula must have extensively practiced the giving of fearlessness.
Understanding the importance of good karmic outcomes, the Buddha encouraged the cultivation of both good fortune and wisdom. We can see the importance of cultivating both in the saying "Cultivating wisdom but not good fortune will result in an arhat not receiving any offerings. Cultivating good fortune but not wisdom will result in a royal elephant wearing precious jewels."
The first part describes a person who nurtured wisdom, but not good fortune. He attained arhatship, but because he had not cultivated good fortune, no one made offerings to him when he went on alms round. The second part describes a person who nurtured good fortune, but not wisdom. Having good fortune, he was reborn as a royal elephant, who when ridden by the king, wore many precious jewels.
The Arhat Aniruddha was foremost in the heavenly eye.
While still a relatively new student of the Buddha, Aniruddha, who was another of the Buddha's cousins, was admonished by him for sleeping too much. Aniruddha then applied himself so diligently that he did not sleep at all and thus became blind. As a result of this, the Buddha taught him a meditation that enabled him to attain the heavenly eye. Aniruddha was thus able to see a thousandfold world system.
Additionally, a long, long time ago, during one of Aniruddha's past lives, there was a famine. Seeing an alms-seeker and realizing that no one was offering him any food, Aniruddha offered his own to the man. The man was actually a pratyekabuddha. As a result of his offering, Aniruddha received the karmic reward of being free from poverty for ninety-one kalpas.
By learning about these members of the Buddha's sangha, it is clear that they represented the cultural and intellectual elite of that time. They were respected for their wisdom and practice, as well as for their ability to clearly explain the profound teachings of the Buddha. Their presence in this Amitabha assembly, listening to the teaching on the Pure Land, demonstrates to people how invaluable this beautiful and utterly profound Pure Land Dharma door is. If one can believe, learn, and practice this Dharma door, the results will be beyond imagination.
Sixteen arhats are named in the sutra--from the wise Sariputra to the slow Suddhipanthaka; from the young Rahula to the oldest Arhat, Vakula; from the confident debater Mahakausthila to the ascetic Mahakasyapa. They all "rejoiced and faithfully accepted" this Pure Land sutra, which shows that all people--intelligent or dull, young or old, outgoing or contemplative--can accept and practice this teaching.
» Next: Passages 5 to 8 … continued
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Note: These 48 commentary passages are extracted from the book Pure Mind, Compassionate Heart: Lessons from the Amitabha Sutra, which is available for download on eLibrary, Amitabha Gallery.
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