The Amitabha Sutra, Explained (5-8)
Passages 5 to 8: A deep understanding strengthens our belief and vow to reborn in the Western Pure Land
The detailed explanation of this sutra is divided into forty-eight passages offering a great introduction to the core Pure Land teachings.
A strong understanding of the sutra text 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)
(…continued)
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 5: THE BODHISATTVA-MAHASATTVA
Also present were the Bodhisattvas-Mahasattvas: Manjushri, Prince of the Dharma; the Bodhisattva Ajita, the Invincible; the Bodhisattvas Gandhahastin and Nityodyukta, and other such great Bodhisattvas.
A bodhisattva is a sentient being who has developed the bodhi mind, the compassionate mind in which every thought is to attain enlightenment for self and all others. They can manifest as monastics or laypeople, male or female, and can be of any age, occupation, or social position.
Bodhisattvas go to the buddha-lands in the ten directions to teach and help all beings. Some of these lands are magnificently adorned with seven jewels, but others are very polluted or unpleasant. Where there is an affinity, the bodhisattvas will go there, whether a situation is favorable or not. Moreover, they do not like or dislike any situation. In other words, they travel around all the buddha-lands without feeling attachment or aversion. Neither do they give rise to any thought or discrimination. As the Infinite Life Sutra says, the bodhisattvas are "pure, firm, calm and joyous" and their vows are "steadfast and unmoving."
Bodhisattvas practice to eradicate their ignorance. As they do so, they progress in the cultivation through fifty-one levels of attainment. The first forty levels comprise ten level of faith, ten levels of abiding, ten levels of practice, and ten levels of dedication. Following these forty levels are the mahasattva levels of the great bodhisattvas, comprising any of the ten levels of ground or the highest bodhisattva level, that of equal enlightenment. Having progressed through these fifty-one levels, bodhisattvas realize the ultimate attainment—buddhahood.
To understand the difference between Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and ordinary people, consider an analogy of tightly wound metal coils. Buddhas, perfectly enlightened beings, are like coils that are completely unwound, perfectly straightened out. Bodhisattvas, partially enlightened beings, are like coils in the process of straightening out.
Ordinary people in this world, being totally unenlightened, are like stubborn coils that remain tightly wound. Not yet having eradicated the first erroneous view of the affliction of views—the view of self—they are still attached to their physical body, thinking of it as "self." Thus engrossed, ordinary sentient beings think of self-benefit before thinking of benefiting others. Such thinking leads them to harm others. What about bodhisattvas? Bodhisattvas have no thoughts of harming others. They selflessly come to this world to help beings awaken.
The first bodhisattva named in the sutra was Manjusri.
While the Buddha is known as the King of the Dharma, Manjusri is called the Prince of the Dharma. "King" refers to comfort and freedom. The Buddha, having mastered the Dharma, achieved absolute comfort and freedom. Thus, he is the King of the Dharma. Manjusri is the "Prince" because he continues the Buddha's work.
Of all the bodhisattvas at the Amitabha assembly, Manjusri was the foremost in wisdom. As we learned previously, of the arhats, Sariputra was the foremost in wisdom. So, among both the bodhisattvas and the arhats, those who were foremost in wisdom were named first in their respective sections of the sutra. This carries a very profound meaning: to choose and practice this Dharma door, one must have wisdom. What is our foremost wisdom? Being mindful of and chanting Amitabha Buddha's name.
(Listen to a sample of Amitabha Mindful Chanting music, and start your chanting practice today!)
The second bodhisattva named in the sutra was Ajita.
Known as Ajita in India, he is called Maitreya in China. His name is translated as "invincible," meaning that no one can surpass him in compassion. His compassion, based on wisdom, is sincere, pure, and impartial. It pervades the entire Dharma realm—all of time and space.
Sincerity is a mind without wandering thoughts, discriminations, and attachments.
Purity is a mind without attachments.
Impartiality is interacting with all phenomena without discriminatory thoughts, attachments, or expectations.
Having wisdom is having the ability to know the difference between true and false, proper and deviated, right and wrong, and beneficial and harmful, while still interacting with phenomena appropriately.
Could Maitreya's compassion be called love?
In light of the definitions just given, no, because compassion and love are not the same. Love, arising from emotions and not from wisdom, is capricious. Insincere, impure, and biased, love is what unawakened people feel for certain individuals.
Compassion, on the other hand, arises from wisdom, not emotions. Sincere, pure, and impartial, compassion is what Buddhas and bodhisattvas feel toward all beings. While love flows from attachments and discriminations, compassion flows from the true nature.
What is the true nature?
It is one of the terms that Sakyamuni Buddha used for buddha-nature, the true and immutable nature of all beings.
As Venerable Master Chin Kung said in his lectures on the Amitabha Sutra,
"When the Buddha spoke of the true nature, he only said 'inconceivable.' In other words, we cannot understand it with our mind or explain it with words. Words are too limited to describe the truth. There is a limit to our thinking and imagination. The limit is our store consciousness. The true nature is not the store consciousness, so it is beyond detection."
Maitreya Bodhisattva will become the next Buddha in our world. In the sutras, different terms and words such as world and buddha-land refer to a great galaxy in which one Buddha dwells and teaches. So saying that Maitreya will be the next Buddha in our world means he can do so anywhere in our great galaxy.
Where will beings in the Western Pure Land become a Buddha?
Wherever they have an affinity to do so.
When can they do so?
In one lifetime.
When we have belief, have made the vow, and mindfully chant Amitabha Buddha's name at the end of our life, as we are breathing our last breaths, we can see him come to guide us to the Western Pure Land. We will discard our physical body and go with him at that point. Then, in the Pure Land, we will continue our learning and practice. Gradually, degree by degree, our ignorance will be eliminated. When completely eliminated, we will then be able to become a Buddha in whatever buddha-land in which we have an affinity with the beings and when those beings' conditions have matured. In that same lifetime.
The third bodhisattva named in the sutra was Gandhahastin, whose name means "resting."
The fourth bodhisattva was Nityodyukta, whose name means "making constant progress."
These two bodhisattvas encourage us to practice. They teach us that when we learn and practice the Pure Land method, we should have no doubt, no interruption, and no intermingling with other teachings.
The presence in the Amitabha assembly of these four equal-enlightenment bodhisattvas is profoundly significant for us. Here are beings—one level below buddhahood—learning this teaching about the Pure Land. How can we fail to follow their example?
We need to believe in this Dharma door, vow to be born in the Western Pure Land, and be diligent in our practice. Nothing is more important to us than mindfully chanting Amitabha Buddha's name. Other practices, such as visualization, meditation, and mantra recitation are not necessary for us. We just mindfully chant the buddha-name. This chanting is the simplest and easiest method, a supreme method taught by all Buddhas.
(Check out a sample of Amitabha Mindful Chanting music and start your practice today!)
PASSAGE 6: SHAKRA, THE KING OF THE GODS
Also present was Shakra, the king of the gods, along with countless numbers of heavenly beings, making up a great assembly.
"Shakra, the king of the gods," is the king of the trayastrimsa heaven, the second lowest of the six heavens in the desire realm.
Although there are "countless numbers of heavenly beings," he is specifically named because his heaven is close to the human path. Most people are not aware of the higher heavens of the desire realm, much less those in the form and formless realms, because those heavens are too far away from us. Shakra, however, is known and respected in this world. Therefore, Sakyamuni Buddha used him to represent all heavenly beings.
Next in the sutra, we will learn about the Pure Land Dharma door, a teaching that Sakyamuni Buddha said, "all beings in all worlds find hard to believe."
Hard indeed, for as it is often said, this Dharma door is the "easiest to practice, but the most difficult to believe." Those who cannot believe in it but believe in other methods will need three asamkhyeya kalpas to attain buddhahood.
Those who believe in the Pure Land method and sincerely practice it will need only one lifetime. This achievement is the incredible result of belief. Very simply, there was not enough time for Sakyamuni to explain everything to us. Our life span here is just too short. Our birth in the Western Pure Land will give us all the time we need to learn and practice.
Consider the Buddha's response to a monk who asked him some metaphysical questions.
To help this monk focus on the immediate goal of his practice and not waste precious time, the Buddha posited a story of a man who was shot with a poisoned arrow. A doctor was found, but before the man would agree to the treatment he wanted to know certain things. What caste was the archer? What was his name and clan? Where was he from, what town or city? Was he tall or short, dark or fair? What kind of bow and style of shaft did he use? What kind of sinew was used on the arrow? What was the bowstring made of? What kind of bird were the feathers from? The wounded man would die before he could hear all the answers!
We are like this wounded man who was running out of time and should have just trusted the good doctor. We should believe Sakyamuni Buddha, whose life and attainment proved the validity of his teachings, and use the method he prescribed for us. When we are out of danger in the Pure Land, we will have all the time required to learn all that we wish—and need—to learn.
(Check out a sample of Amitabha Mindful Chanting music and start your practice today!)
PASSAGE 7: THE WESTERN PURE LAND OF ULTIMATE BLISS
At that time Buddha said to the Elder Shariputra:
"West of here, past a hundred billion Buddha-lands, there exists a world called Ultimate Bliss. In this land there is a Buddha called Amitabha, who is teaching the Dharma right now.
Sakyamuni Buddha spoke of a world "west of here" to help us understand where the Pure Land is in relation to our world. He further explained that it lies "past a hundred billion Buddha-lands." A Buddha-land is a great galaxy in which one Buddha dwells and teaches. And so, from the aspect of phenomenon, a hundred billion Buddha-lands is an inconceivable distance from us. Fortunately, from the aspect of noumenon, of principle, the Pure Land is already within our true nature.
Sakyamuni Buddha said, "there exists a world" to ensure that no doubt arises in the listener--this world does indeed exist. Telling us it is called "Ultimate Bliss" is done to encourage us to vow to be born there, not in our world that is called Endurance.
"In this land there is a Buddha called Amitabha." Saying that Amitabha Buddha is in that land is done to assure us that he is neither a figment of imagination nor a being who will come into existence sometime in the distant future. He is real, and he already exists in his Pure Land. By mindfully chanting his name--a cause--we will form a connection with him and be born in his land--the effect.
When we vow to be born in the Pure Land, he will know. He will be aware that we want to end our suffering. And with infinite patience, he will wait for us to form a connection with him. How do we do this? By single-mindedly chanting his name. And for how long? For the rest of our life—but most crucially when we are breathing our last breaths.
It is as if Amitabha is always reaching out to us with a perfectly steady hand. But our hand, moving erratically all the time, a symbol of our thoughts jumping from one thing to another, must first be stilled before we can take his. By single-mindedly repeating Amitabha's name as we are breathing our last breaths, our finally still mind will resonate with his and we will be as one. He will come, just as he vowed, to guide us to his land of Ultimate Bliss.
"Preaching the Dharma right now," tells us that in the Pure Land, Amitabha Buddha is currently teaching the Dharma. He has been doing so since he became a Buddha ten kalpas ago. In comparison, Sakyamuni Buddha taught the Dharma in this world for just forty-nine years. These forty-nine years of teaching were so difficult for him to do because our world has a terrible learning environment.
It is even worse today for we are now in the Dharma-Ending Age. People today have very short lives and little time to learn and practice. They have deep-seated bad habits and numerous afflictions, not the least of which are selfishness, greed, anger, ignorance, and arrogance. They have long-established worldly desires including those for food, sleep, sensory indulgence, fame, prestige, wealth.
Absorbed in all these afflictions and desires, people have not created the necessary conditions for Buddhas to come here often to teach. Maitreya Bodhisattva will not come to our world to become a Buddha for another 5,670 million years!
This multi-million-year gap between the two Buddhas, Sakyamuni and Maitreya, shows how incredibly rare it is in our world, our Buddha-land, to be able to learn directly from a Buddha.
The Western Pure Land, however, has an excellent learning environment. Amitabha has been teaching there for kalpas. In that time, uncountable beings in that land have eradicated their afflictions and allowed none to develop. They have erased all bad habits and strengthened their good habits. From this, we can see why a superior learning environment is so important.
While there are uncountable beings in the Pure Land now, initially there were none. Where did they come from? These beings with their abundance of good roots, good fortune, and causal connections came from worlds in all the ten directions.
Having good roots means that they believed and comprehended the teachings in this sutra. We can too.
Having good fortune means that they were willing to practice according to the teachings and were able to succeed in that practice. We can too.
They developed good roots and good fortune within themselves. We can too.
Causal connections are external factors and refer to favorable conditions. The most significant favorable condition is to meet a genuinely good teacher who introduces and teaches this Dharma door to us.
It is an incredibly rare opportunity to hear of such an ideal land for learning and practice. If we want to be born there, we too must have abundant good roots, good fortune, and favorable causal connections. We may be able to rely on others to help us where favorable connections are concerned, but we have to cultivate good roots and good fortune ourselves.
(Listen to a sample of Amitabha Mindful Chanting music, and start your chanting practice today!)
PASSAGE 8: A LAND OF JOY WITHOUT SUFFERING
Why is this land called Ultimate Bliss?
It is called "Ultimate Bliss" because the sentient beings in this land are free from the myriad sufferings common to mankind, and only know every kind of joy.
Although Sakyamuni Buddha was talking to Sariputra, he was addressing all those in the assembly and those of us to come. Throughout the Amitabha Sutra, Sakyamuni Buddha asked several questions and then proceeded to answer every one himself while Sariputra remained silent. For him, the wisest of the Arhats, to not even attempt an answer to any of Sakyamuni's questions indicates how profound this sutra is.
"Why is this land called Ultimate Bliss?" is the first question Sakyamuni Buddha posed.
When Sariputra respectfully did not respond, Sakyamuni began to describe the myriad wonders in the Pure Land, starting with its name. The name of the land is Ultimate Bliss because the sentient beings there have overcome their afflictions through mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha. No longer acting from greed, anger, and ignorance or from a mind that has wandering thoughts, discriminations, and attachments, the beings are always blissful. The name of the land reflects this great joy. Thus, the beings in that land are "free from the myriad sufferings common to mankind."Buddhism summarizes these as eight types of suffering.
Eight Types of Suffering
The first suffering is birth. An unborn baby not only has form but also feelings and consciousness. Sakyamuni explained that due to feelings and consciousness, the baby feels pain while in the womb. At birth, the baby finds itself being expelled from the womb and pushed through the narrow birth canal. Thrust from the only environment that it knows, it suddenly encounters one that is very different: air instead of fluid, light instead of darkness, coolness instead of warmth. First pain, then shock. Little wonder babies cry at birth.
The second suffering is old age. As we age, we find that our energy is not what it used to be. Experiencing aches and pains, we are most sensitive to heat and cold. Wanting to remember a name, we cannot. Wanting to see or hear something, we realize that these senses have weakened with time. Wishing to move hurriedly, we fail to do so for our legs are not as strong nor our reflexes as quick as they once were. Suffering from the deterioration of these and other faculties, we fear they will worsen even more in the future.
The third suffering is sickness, both mental and physical. We may cry out for help, but no one comes. Given our favorite food, we may find that we have no appetite. We may be in pain and need medicine, but be unable to obtain it. When we do get the medication, we may become dependent upon it or find that it no longer helps us. Severely troubled mentally and emotionally, we find that others, unable to relate to our pain, are not always sympathetic. Their inability to empathize just adds to our suffering.
The fourth suffering is death. When we are dying, our body is weak, and we are unable to control it. We want to sleep, but our sleep is erratic. Or we want to stay awake, but invariably find ourselves drifting off. We may slip into unconsciousness and be unable to chant. At that point, even if others are chanting for us, it will be hard for us to be born in the Western Pure Land. If we are still conscious, we may want to die because our pain is unbearable or we are utterly exhausted. But still, we live. Fearful of what will happen to us when we die, we do not know which suffering is greater: life or death. So we cling to the former in fear of the latter.
The fifth suffering is separation from loved ones. A person we love no longer returns our love and leaves us. Our children grow up and, having busy lives, no longer come to visit. We want to care for our parents, but find ourselves forced to leave them when our work takes us elsewhere. When we are dying, we have to leave all those we love. Worried about their futures, we realize there is nothing we can do, and we suffer even more.
The sixth suffering is association with those that one dislikes. This suffering also includes things and situations we dislike. We no longer love the person we once did, but find ourselves trapped in the relationship. Required to work with people who always speak ill of us and who we mistrust, we are fearful and ill at ease. Feeling trapped in lives we cannot control, in families whose members are our karmic enemies, in situations with people who hold very different views and goals, we see no end to our suffering.
The seventh suffering is unfulfilled desires. We strain against our fate. Those without power crave it, the childless yearn for children, the impoverished dream of wealth. Rarely are our hopes fulfilled and our expectations realized. When we do attain what we want, things change, and we lose what we have. The suffering seems interminable.
The eighth suffering is due to the five aggregates of form, feeling, conception, impulse, and consciousness. Simply put, the suffering due to the five aggregates is the absence of both physical and mental well-being.
Form, the first aggregate, refers to matter, our physical body.
Feeling, the second aggregate, while usually associated with our body, is actually mental phenomena. Feeling includes pain, happiness, and so on.
Conception, the third aggregate, refers to the sixth, or mental awareness, consciousness.
Impulse, the fourth aggregate, refers to the seventh, or thinking mind, consciousness. Impulse describes the continuous, uninterrupted flow of thoughts that examines and considers. As soon as one such thought ceases, the next arises immediately, streaming through our mind at an incredible rate. The vast majority of these thoughts are too subtle for us to notice, but we are nonetheless affected by their vibrations. And no matter how subtle the thoughts may be, they are mental karmas and, as such, will bring about their related karmic effects.
Consciousness, the fifth aggregate, refers to the eight, or store consciousness. Consciousness means "storing" and is indestructible. Our actions are karmic. They all sow their own seeds and these accumulate in our store consciousness. When certain seeds in this store consciousness encounter the right conditions, they mature. This maturation leads to the next rebirth and its ensuing life, which with few exceptions will be subject to the eight types of suffering. At the end of this new life, again, some seeds in the store consciousness encounter the right conditions and mature. Once more we are reborn. And once more we suffer. The suffering thus continues like a never-ending spiral.
Hoping to help us end our suffering, Sakyamuni Buddha encouraged us to seek birth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Once there, we will break out of this cycle of death and rebirth, and "only know every kind of joy." How so?
There is no suffering from the process of birth because beings in the Pure Land are born from lotuses, not from the womb. There is no suffering from old age or sickness because the body is not composed of flesh, blood, and bones. There is no suffering from death for the lifetime in the Pure Land is infinite and concludes in buddhahood. Neither is there suffering of separation from loved ones because beings in that land have no attachments. There is no association with those that one dislikes because everyone is awakened. And there is no suffering from unfulfilled desires because should a being have the thought of something, it will appear naturally.
As we now know, when seeds in our store consciousness encounter the right conditions, they mature. This process of the seeds ripening causes us to undergo endless rebirths and suffering in samsara because, far too often, it is our bad seeds that will develop.
In the Pure Land, however, the bad seeds in the beings' store consciousnesses do not have the conditions to mature. Why?
Because everything the beings see and hear helps them to give rise to pure thoughts, to chant Amitabha Buddha's name. With only the seeds for goodness and for attaining buddhahood maturing, the beings no longer give rise to form, feeling, conception, impulse, and consciousness, the five aggregates that had previously kept them trapped in the cycle of rebirth.
All these are just some of the reasons why Sakyamuni Buddha assured us that the beings in that land "are free from the myriad sufferings common to mankind, and only know every kind of joy."
» Next: Passages 9-12 … 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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