南無阿彌陀佛

The Buddha Speaks of
Amitabha Sutra

The Buddha Speaks of
Amitabha Sutra
with commentaries of the
Venerable Master Hsuan Hua
English translation by the
Buddhist Text Translation Society
Buddhist Text Translation Society
Dharma Realm Buddhist University
Dharma Realm Buddhist Association
Burlingame, California U.S.A.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra
A General Explanation
Published and translated by:
Buddhist Text Translation Society
1777 Murchison Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010-4504
© 2002 Buddhist Text Translation Society
Dharma Realm Buddhist University
Dharma Realm Buddhist Association
First edition (USA) 1974
Second edition (USA) 2002
11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 0-88139-430-0
Printed in Malaysia.
Addresses of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association branches are
listed at the back of this book.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii
Why You Should Read This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Translator’s Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xv
The Land of Ultimate Bliss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
The Translation of the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Part I. The Five-fold Profound Meanings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Explaining the Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
The Special Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Common Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Seven Classifications of Sutra Titles . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Twelve Divisions of Sutra Texts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Describing The Substance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Clarifying the Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Vows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Practice: Holding The Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Discussing the Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Determining the Teaching Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Part II. The Translator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
Part III.The Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Ananda’s Four Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
The Four Applications Of Mindfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
The Six Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
The Benefactor’s Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
The Six Harmonious Unities of the Sangha . . . . . . . . . . .74
Contents
The Kasyapa Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The Assembly of Arhats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Shariputra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Mahamaudgalyayana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Mahakasyapa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Mahakatyayana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Mahakausthila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Revata. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Suddhipanthaka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Nanda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Sundarananda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Ananda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Rahula. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Gavampati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Pindola Bharadvaja . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Kalodayin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
MahaKapphina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Vakkula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Aniruddha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
The Assembly Of Bodhisattvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Manjushri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Ajita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Gandhahastin and Nityodyukta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Part IV.The Principle Proper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
The Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
vii
Introduction
by Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra belongs to the class of
Sutras spoken without formal request. It describes in detail the
supremely beautiful adornments of the Western Land of Ultimate
Bliss. Living beings of the ten directions need only recite Amitabha
Buddha's name, practicing even just the Dharma of Ten Recitations,
in order to be assured of rebirth in that land.
When the Buddhadharma becomes extinct in the Saha World,
this Sutra will be the last to disappear. The first to go will be the
Shurangama Sutra, the Sutra most feared by heavenly demons and
other religions, all of whom would like to see every existing copy
of it burned to ashes. The Shurangama Sutra catches the
reflections of the “li mei” and “wang liang” ghosts who, unable to
hide, hate it with vengeance. Scholars who are without sufficient
common sense fall in with the demons. This is truly pitiable.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra may be compared to a
great magnet, and the living beings of the ten directions are like
iron filings; all the filings, without exception, are drawn to the
magnet.
Now, upon the completion of the English translation, I have
added these words as a brief introduction.
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Why You Should Read This Book
Gold Mountain Shramana Tripitaka Master Hua explains the
path of self-cultivation as it has never been explained before.
Where other Buddhist Masters merely recite texts, the
Venerable Master illuminates the Way so that those who hear are
crystal clear about its meaning. Where other Buddhist Masters
explain texts with the intellectual juggling of manifold lists and
technical discriminations which easily confuse an audience, the
Venerable Master picks out the essentials which reveal the methods
to eradicate suffering. Where other Buddhist Masters repeat interpretations
learnd by rote, the Venerable Master speaks directly to
the conditions around him, showing one man how to free himself
from the grip of arrogance and conceit, instructing another how to
relieve the suffering of chronic illness; showing one how to shake
off the bonds of heavy emotional attachments, instructing others on
the way to recovver from the pain of loss; showing one how to be
patient and peaceful in the face of slander, scoldings, and beatings;
showing others how, ultimately, to put an end to the unbroken cycle
of birth and death. To the degree that those who seek his instruction
are capable of understanding, to that degree the Venerable Master
explains the Dharma, showing those of limited understanding how
to be free from the suffering of excessive greed and anger, or how
to transform stupidity into wisdom, and guiding those whose
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capacity is great to put an end to the last traces of birth and death.
Never trapped in convention, the Venerable Master’s teaching
covers the whole spectrum, leading beings from the hells, through
all the intermediate realms of mind, and establishing them in the
wonderful enlightenment of Buddhahood.
Where scholars worry about sources and chronology, discrimate
the goods and bads of secondary sources, and try to organize an
attendant host of biographical and bibliographical minutiae, the
Venerable Master deals directly with the ultimate meaning of the
primary texts. Although he teaches with unassuming simplicity,
when he speaks people spontaneously change for the good and
come to understand the profound and mysterious. His teaching is so
thorough that it affects everything, but none of those who seek his
instruction lans on him. When he seems to be doing nothing, his
influence is felt everywhere, and when no one is aware of him, he
fills everyone with happiness. His teaching transcends teaching.
How is it that he has come to be able to teach in a way that is so
unlike the ways of others? It is because he has cultivated the path to
enlightenment and because he has cultivated the path to tnlightenment
and has arrived at the goal that what he ways can be believed.
This is what makes him different from everyone else who talks
about self-cultivation, and this is why you should read this book.
You may wonder about the particulars of his cultivation of the
Way. There is much too much to present here, and so a general
summary will have to suffice.
Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua (also named An Tz’u and To Lun)
was born on the sixteenth day of the third month, lunar calendar, in
1908. His father, Pai Fu-hai was a farmer in the Shuang-ch’eng
District of Northeastern China. The Master was the youngest of
eight children. His mother often recited the name of Amitabha
Buddha, and in a dream one night shortly before the Master was
born, she saw amitabha Buddha emitting a light which illumined
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the entire world. When she awoke, her room was filled with a rare
fragrance.
Because the Master’s home was in the countryside where there
were few people, he did not become aware of death until he was
eleven years old. When he did, it stunned him. While walking with
some friends in a pasture, he came upon the body of a dead baby.
the Master did not understand why the baby was lying still on the
ground and asked his friends, who simply said, “She’s dead.”
Puzzled, he returned home and asked his mother what exactly death
was. “All people, whether rich or poor, must die,” she said, “either
from old age, sickness, or accidentally.”
“How does one free oneself from death?” the Master asked
insistently.
At that time there was a visitor in his home who answered the
Master’s question by saying, “It is only through cultivation of the
Way, awakening to one’s own mind and seeing one’s fundamental
nature that one can gain liberation from the continous cycle of birth
and death in the six paths.”
On hearing his the Master wished immediately to leave the
home-life and being cultivation, but his mother told him that he
must wait, for she needed him to care for her in her old age. He
complied with her wishes, serving both his parents with the greatest
devotion; his filial piety earned him the name “Filial Son Pai.” He
did, however, take refuge with the Triple Jewel, boring to the
Venerable Master Ch’ang Chih as his teacher.
Although the Master had but a few years of formal schooling,
he is extremely well-educated. Possessed of a photographics
memory, he was able to memorize the Four Books and the Five
Classics of Chinese lieterature in an amazingly short time.
Moreover, in addition to his mastery of the Buddhist Canon, he is
well versed in the study of medicine, physiognomy, and astrology.
xi
When he was nineteen years old his mother died. After
receiving the shramanera precepts from his master, he took up the
practice of sitting by his mother’s grave, observing a mourning
period of three years. He lived in an A-frame hut made from
sorghum stalks where he cultivated dhyana samadhi and recited the
name of Amitabha Buddha, ate only one meal a day, and never lay
down to sleep. Occasionally he would enter samadhi for weeks at a
time, never rising from his seat.
One night the residents of the nearlby village saw that the
Master’s hut was on fire. A blazing light shot up into the air for
some ten yards, making the area around the hut as bright as broad
daylight. Many people rushed to the graveyard, shouting as they
went, “The filial son’s hut has caught fire!” and soon there were
hundreds of people there to lend assistance with buckets of water.
When they arrived, however, they found the hut unburned; the
Master was sitting absorbed in meditation.
On one occasion, the Sixth Patriarch, Great Master Hui Neng of
the T’ang dynasty, came to the Master’s hut and told him that in the
future he would go to the West where he would meet many people
with whom he had affinities and thereby establish the Dharma,
causing it to flourish. After the Second World War the Master
travelled three thousand miles to Nan Hua Monastery in Canton
Province to pay his respects to the Venerable Master Hsu Yun, who
was then one hundred and nine years old. During his journey he
resided at P’u T’ou Mountain, the Bodhimanda of the Bodhisattva
Avalokiteshvara, where he received the complete bhikshu precepts.
When he arrived at Nan Hua the two masters greeted one another;
the Venerable Master Hsu Yun recognised the Master’s attainment
and transmitted the wonderful mind seal to him, making him the
Ninth patriarch of the Wei Yang Lineage, and asked him to serve as
the Director of the Nan Hua Institute for the Study of the Vinaya.
In 1950 he resigned his post at Nan Hua Monastery and
journeyed to Hong Kong where he lived in a mountain side cave in
xii
the New Territories. He stayed in the cave until the large influx of
Sangha members fleeing the mainland required his help in establishing
new monasteries and temples throughout Hong Kong. He
personally established two temples and a lecture hall and helped to
bring about the construction of many others. He dwelt in Hong
Kong for twelve years, during which many people were influenced
by his arduous cultivation and awesome manner to take refuge with
the Triple Jewel and support the propagation of the Buddhadharma.
In 1962 he carried the Buddha’s Dharma banner farther west to
the shores of America where he took up residence in San
Franscisco and patiently waited for past causes to ripen and bear
their fruit. In the beginning of the year 1968 the Master declared
that the flower of Buddhism would bloom that year in America with
five petals; in the summer of that year the Master conducted the
Shurangama Sutra Dharma Assembly which lasted 96 days – five
of the people who attended that session left the home-life and
became bhikshus and bhikshunis under the Master’s guidance.
Since that time the Master has conducted many Dharma
assemblies, and delivered lectures on the Heart Sutra, the
Diamond Sutra, the Sixth Patriarch’s Sutra, the Amitabha Sutra,
the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, the Great
Compassion Heart Dharani Sutra, and the Dharma Blossom
Sutra. In June 1971 the Master commenced a Dharma Assembly on
the king of sutras, the Avatamsaka Sutra. With such tireless vigor
the Master has firmly planted the roots of Dharma in western soil so
that it can become self-perpetuating. He has spent many hours
every day explaining the teachings and their application in cultivation,
steeping his disciples in the nectar of Dharma that they might
carry on the Buddha’s teaching.
The miraculous events that have taken place in the Master’s life
are far too numerous to relate in this brief sketch. He has freed
many from the burdens of disease and other afflictions, and his
followers number in the tens of thousands. His steadfast cultivation
xiii
of bitter practices, the moral prohibitions, and the six paramitas,
paired with his unwavering samadhi and profound knowledge of
the teachings serve as a model for living beings throughout the
entire Dharmarealm.
One of the best indications of a person’s character is the quality
of the people who surround him. Over a period of seven years
bhikshuni Heng Yin, who translated the Venerable Master’s
explanation of the Amitabha Sutra, has been one of the leading
disciples to study at the Venerable Master’s feet, and has been one
of his chief translators.
While translating the Master’s commentary to the Amitabha
Sutra, she made an exhaustive study of the Sutra’s Sanskrit text in
order to expand her frame of reference and to insure accuracy in her
work. She has already translated the Sixth Patriarch’s Sutra with a
commentary by the Venerable Master which has recently been
published. she has been one of the outstanding students to sit at the
Master’s feet, and she is exceptionally knowledgeable about all
aspects of the Buddhist doctrine; her ability to quickly memorize
whole books reveals an uncommonly penetrating intelligence
which she applies to this work. She has translated many shorter
works, and is currently completing work on two more sutras with
lengthy commentaries.
More than having attained a deep knowledge of the doctrine,
she actaully cultivates the principles contained therein. Her
meditation, mantric practices, and her in-depth study of the
teaching school, joined with the ascetice practices of never lying
down to sleep and taking only one meal a day, make her unique
even among Buddhist adepts.
Her accomplishments pay tribute to the Venerable Master, her
teacher, whose lofty example continues to be the standard and
guide for Buddhism as it expands and flourishes in the West.
xiv
The translator of the text of the Amitabha Sutra is Upasaka I
Kuo-jung, a senior lay disciple in the four-fold assembly of
cultivators at Gold Mountain Monastery. He has studied with the
Venerable Master daily for nearly a decade. Also one o fthe
Venerable Master’s chief translators, he has investigated a large
portion of the Buddhist canon under the Master’s tutelage, and has
been a guiding in fluence in the work of the Buddhist Text
Translation Society (BTTS). He has translated several other works,
among them the Heart Sutra with Verse Without a Stand by the
Venerable Master. He holds degrees from Harvard and the
University of Washington, and is a Candidate for Ph.D. at
University of California, Berkeley.
Bhiksu Heng Kuan
Gold Mountain
June, 1974.
xv
Translator’s Introduction
Shakyamuni Buddha spoke the Amitabha Sutra to let all oving
beings know of the power of Amitabha Buddha’s great vows to lead
all who recite his name with faith to rebirth in his Buddhaland, the
Land of Ultimate Bliss, where they may cultivate and quickly
realize Buddhahood.
Of the five great schools of Buddhism – the Ch’an (Zen)
School, the Teaching School, the Vinaya School, the Secret School,
and the Pure Land School – the Pure Land Dharma door of Buddharecitation
is the most suited for living beings of the Dharma-ending
Age, when beings are beset by external disasters and internal
obstacles. It is extremely direct and encompasses beings of all
dispositions.
For a true understanding of the Amitabha Sutra, the explanation
of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua is indispensable. In the fall of
1969, the Master delivered a series of lectures to his American
disciples, brilliantly revealing the essence of the Pure Land
Doctrine and causing his American listeners to bring forth deep and
sincere faith in the practice of the Pure Land. The lectures were
tape-recorded and have now been transcribed so that students of the
Dharma everywhere may study them, put them into practice, and
thus be filled with the joy of Dharma.
xvi
The Venerable Master Hua, through the power of his vows and
vast compassion, has come to the West, carrying the mind-seal of
all Buddhas as it has been passed in succession from Shakyamuni
buddha, through Patriarch Bodhidharma, the Great Master the
Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng, through the Venerable Master Hsu Yun
who in turn transmitted the Dharma to the Venerable Master Hua.
Thus, the Master is the 46th Patriarch from Shakyamuni Buddha,
the 18th Patriarch in China from Bodhidharma, the Ninth Patriarch
of the Wei Yang Lineage, and the First Patriarch in the West.
Although many claim that this is the Dharma-ending Age, the
Master upholds the Orthodox Dharma, having founded Gold
Mountain Monastery in San Francisco where that Dharma is taught
and practiced. [[[Under the Master’s guidance, many young
Americans have left the home-life; twelve of them have received
complete ordination as Bhikshus and Bhikshunis, forming the
first organized Sangha in the western world.]]] The Master has
said, “I have come to America to create living Bodhisattvas, living
Buddhas, and living Patriarchs.” Thus he has established the Gold
Mountain Doctrine, which his disciples reverently uphold:
Freezing, we do not scheme.
Starving, we do not beg.
Dying of poverty, we ask for nothing.
We accord with conditions, but do not change.
We do not change, yet accord with conditions.
These are our three great principles.
We renounce our lives to do the Buddha’s work.
We shape our lives to be capable
of making revolution in the Sangha Order.
In our actions we understand the principles,
So that our principles are revealed in our actions.
We carry out the pulse of
the Patriarch’s mind-transmission.
xvii
If you wish to comprehend the profound principles found within
the Sutras, it is essential that you attend Dharma Assemblies and
hear the Sutras explained by qualified teachers. The Venerable
Master Hua’s untiring vigor in lecturing on the Dharma is
unmatched. He has resolved that as long as he has a single breath of
air, he will continue to elucidate the Sutras, regardless of how many
people come to listen. If there is only one person, or when there are
hundreds, he lectures just the same. At Gold Mountain Monastery,
the Dharma is explained every day, seven days a week, 365 days a
year. Such intensive lecturing is unparalleled in the entire history of
Buddhism in the world.
On June 17th, 1968, at the Buddhist Lecture Hall in San
Francisco, the Master began a series of lectures on the Shurangama
Sutra to a group of 40 university students during a 96-day Sutra
Study and Meditation Session. Each lecture took a minimum of two
hours to deliver and translate. When it became evident that the
Sutra was too long to finish on schedule, the Master began lecturing
twice a day, once in the afternoon and once in the evening, and then
three times a day, adding a lecture in the mornings. Finally, by the
end of the summer, the Master was lecturing four times a day. The
session ended on September 22nd, 1968.
Following the Shurangama Sutra session, the gathering of
disciples great steadily. Many who had come from Seattle,
Washington to attend the session took up permanent residence in
San Francisco, drawn like filings to a magnet to the forthcoming
Lotus Sutra assembly which formally began November 10th, 1968.
The Master delivered lectures nightly on the Sutra. Two years, and
over 350 lectures later, the assembly was concluded on November
10th, 1970.
Shakyamuni Buddha taught the Dharma for 49 years, in over
300 Dharma Assemblies, and left limitless Dharma treasures in the
world. He taught 84,000 Dharma doors to counteract men’s 84,000
kinds of afflictions. The Master has labored to expose students to
xviii
the fullest possible range of the Buddha’s teaching. Thus, on
November 16th, 1968, he began expounding the Sutra of the Past
Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva at weekly Saturday afternoon
lectures which continued regularly until September 22nd, 1969.
At the request of his disciples, the Master also began lecturing
the Diamond Sutra weekly on sunday afternoons. The series ran
from November 17th, 1968 to April 6th, 1969. No sooner had he
finished lecturing the Diamond Sutra, than he agreed to explain the
Heart Sutra with his Verses Without a Stand. That series ran from
April 20th, 1969 to July 27th, 1969. As soon as the Heart Sutra
assembly was concluded, many eager disciples requested an
explanation of the Great Compassion Heart Dharani Sutra which
began on August 3rd, 1969 and ended on January 18th, 1970.
The second annual Summer Session began on June 16th, 1969.
During the session the Master lectured daily in the afternoons on
the Chapter on the Conduct and Vows of Samantabhadra, from the
Avatamsaka Sutra, in addition to nightly lectures on the Dharma
Flower Sutra. When the Chapter was finished on July 25th, 1969,
he then explained the Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform
Sutra daily from August 4th, 1969 to September 12th, 1969.
The Master’s tireless dedication inspired deep faith and
unwavering vigor in his disciples. Consequentially five of them
went to Asia where they received the full ordination in Keelung,
Taiwan, and returned as America’s first Bhikshus and Bhikshunis.
In their absence the Dharma Flower Sutra lectures were replaced
by nightlylectures on the Amitabha Sutra which ran from October
29th, 1969 to December 25th, 1969. Dharma Flower Sutra lectures
resumed in January, 1970, after one of the numerous intensive
Ch’an Meditation and Buddha Recitation Sessions hosted by the
Master at which he delivered lively and informative talks daily. The
number of disciples continued to grow. Between May 17th and June
7th, 1970, the Master delivered lectures on the Shastra to the Door
of Understanding the Hundred Dharmas. The third annual
xix
Summser Session in 1970 revolved around lectures on the Dharma
Flower which continued until autumn when the Assembly came to
a close. At that time the Great Hundred Day Meditation Session
was inaugurated. The session consisted of fourteen straight weeks
of Ch’an meditation, from three o’clock in the morning until twelve
midnight, beginning on November 15th, 1970. The Master
delivered nightly lectures on the Records of Eminent Monks (kao
seng chuan) along with meditation instruction. As usual, the
Master continued to lecture in the afternoons on weekends, making
a total of nine lectures a weekly. During this period the Master also
founded Gold Mountain Monastery and supervised its construction.
The Sino-American Buddhist Association took up headquarters
there. On April 18th, 1971, the Master began weekly Sunday
lectures on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana Shastra.
On June 13th, 1970, the first day of the fourth annual Summer
Session, the Master began lecturing on National Master Ch’ing
Liang’s preface to the Great Avatamsaka Sutra. The Master
lectured National Master Ch’ing Liang’s prologue to the
Avatamsaka as well. Lecturing daily for a year and five months, he
finished, 375 lectures later, on November 10th, 1972. On November
12th, 1972, the Master inaugurated the Great Avatamsaka Assemly,
and has continued to expound it daily, sometimes as often as nine
times a week. To date, he has delivered over 300 lectures on that
text.
At the time of this writing the Master’s schedule include nightly
lectures on the Avatamsaka, daily lectures on the Vinaya texts, and
weekly lectures on the Awakening of Faith.
The assembly of disciples, Bhikshus and Bhikshunis, laymen
and laywomen, scholars and professionals, who come to listen
often number in the hundreds. This is but a brief outline of how the
Master has worked with selfless devotion to lay the foundation of
the Buddha’s teaching on Western soil.
xx
The Dharma itself has no orthodox, resemblance, or Dharmaending
Age; it is living beings who create the distinctions. One who
cultivates the Orthodox Dharma lives in the Orthodox Dharma Age
and will obtain the orthodox enlightenment. In the Amitabha Sutra,
the Buddha says, “Shariputra, if there are people who have already
made the vow, who now make the vow, or who are about to make
the vow, ‘I desire to be born in Amitabha’s country,’ these people,
whether born in the past, now being born, or to be born in the
future, all will irreversibly attain Anuttarasamyaksambodhi.” The
Master’s commentary presents a most rare opportunity to study the
principles of the Pure Land, and those who have faith, who make
vows, and who actually practice this Dharma-door are assured of a
miraculous response.
Bhikshuni Heng Yin
American Citizen
Buddhist Text Translation Society
June 25, 1974.
xxi
The Land of Ultimate Bliss
Who would not like to end all suffering and enjoy every bliss?
This new translation tells exactly how it can be done. The Buddha
Speaks of Amitabha Sutra which sets forth the methods leading to
birth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, the Western Paradise of the
Buddha Amitabha, first appeared in the Vajra Bodhi Sea. A
complete translation of the Amitabha Sutra from the Chinese text
was printed in issue nine, and a Sanskrit language lesson based
upon its Sanskrit text appeared in each issue; and this translation of
the Venerable Master Hua’s explanation was first published there.
What had been lacking was a full explanation of just what this Sutra
is about gathered in one place for ready reference by students of the
Way.
The practice of mindfulness and recitation of the Buddha’s
name is widespread in the Orient, but even the only rarely is it fully
understood and cultivated. How much the more os is that ture in the
West, where the recollection of the Buddha’s name, is known at all,
is generally mistaken for an ecstatic devotional cult. Such a view is
a great mistake and results from a misunderstanding o fthe basic
principles of Buddhism, for recitation of the Buddha’s name is
actually an inconceivably wonderful Dharma door which includes
all other Buddhist practices. Now at last there has appeared the
authoritative explanation of this Sutra text, translated from the
xxii
lectures of the Most Venerable High Master Hua, which clarifies
this Dharma door and reveals the profound depths to which this
mindfulness of the Buddha extends.
Bhikshuni Heng Hsien
Candidate of Ph.D.
Acting Instructor in Indian Civilization
University of California
Berkeley.
January 2nd, 1973.
xxiii
The Translation of the Text
The present translation is of the small Sukhavati-vyuha. Two
sutras, the large and the small, have this title, both taking as subject
Amitabha Buddha, his pure Buddhaland to the West, and the means
to rebirth therein. Sukhavati, or, as translated from the Chinese,
Ultimate Bliss, is the name of this land.
A third sutra also describes Sukhavati: the Amitayurdhyanasutra.
Together, these three comprise the basic texts of the Pure
Land Sect.
The translated text, the small Sukhavati-vyuha, although it is
the shortest of the three, is by no means unimportant. Nor is it just
a summary recapitulation of the doctrine set forth in the other two.
The large Sukhavati-vyuha explains the causal connections
resulting in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. It deals with
Amitabha’s vows of former lives and their realization in Sukhavati.
The Amitayurdhyana-sutra is concerned with quite another
matter. It is a guide to cultivation and describes a series of sixteen
meditations which lead to various grades of transformational
rebirth in Sukhavati. Summaries of both sutras are readily found in
the literature and so are not given here.
Both sutras contain Dharmas preached in specific response to
the requests of sentient beings: the large Sukhavati-vyuha at the
xxiv
request of Ananda, “who had still to be advanced on the path of
disciples”; the Amitayurdhyana-sutra at the request of Vaidehi,
queen mother of the wicked Prince Ajatasatru:
“My only prayer,” she continued, “is this: O World
Honored One, mayest thou preach to me in detail of all the
places where there is no sorrow or trouble, and where I
ought to go to be born anew. I am not satisfied with this
world of depravities, with Jambudvipa which is full of hells,
full of hungry ghosts (pretas), and of the brute creation. In
this world of depravities there is many an assemblage of the
wicked. May I not hear, I pray, the voice of the wicked in the
future; and may I not see any wicked person.”
The small Sukhavati-vyuha, in contra-distinction, is unique
because the entire Sutra belongs to the “self-spoken” division. In
other words, the Buddha himself spontaneously preached the
Dharma, overstepping the usual practice of speaking Dharma on
request. The very fact that no one in the Great Assembly knew to
ask shows the extreme importance and inconceivability of this
specific Dharma. Thus, the Buddha clearly warns, “You should
know that I, in the evil time of the five turbidities… for all the
world speak this Dharma, difficult to believe, extremely difficult.”
The original draft of the translation was made as a text to be
used in conjunction with the spontaneous oral translations of
Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua’s sublime lectures on this Sutra. It was
felt that an accurate and fairly literal translation was needed to do
justice to the subtleties of the commentary.
Afterwards, it was decided to change the Sutra as part of the
daily activities at the Buddhist Lecture Hall. In order to produce an
English version suitable for chanting, some revision of the literal
translation was necessary; however, great care has been taken to
preserve the meaning, even at the cost of “chantability.” Although
the product is a long way from Kumarajiva’s pristine clarity, it is
xxv
hoped that a step has been made in that direction. And perhaps with
growing familiarity and cultivation, progress will be rapid.
Upasaka I Kuo-jung
Lecturer in Religious Studies
University of California
Davis
September 1st, 1974.

Namo Original Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha

Verse for Opening a Sutra
The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful Dharma,
Is difficult to encounter in hundreds of millions of eons,
I now see and hear it, receive and uphold it,
And I vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning.

1
P A R T I
THE FIVE-FOLD PROFOUND MEANINGS
According to the instructions of the T’ien T’ai School, Sutras
are outlined according to Five-fold Profound Meanings: Explaining
the Name, Describing the Substance, Clarifying the Principle,
Discussing the Function, and Determining the Teaching Mark. The
Five-fold Meanings are called “five-fold” because they unfold,
layer after layer.
2
Explaining the Name
The first is Explaining the Name. Only when you know the
Sutra’s name can you begin to understand its principles. Just as
when you meet a person you first learn his name, so it is with
Sutras, for each has its own particular name.
The titles of all Buddhist Sutras may be divided into two parts,
the common title and the special title. The special title of this Sutra
is the Buddha Speaks of Amitabha, and the word Sutra is the
common title, as all discourses spoken by the Buddha are called
Sutras.
Although five kinds of beings may speak Sutras,
1) The Buddhas,
2) The Buddha’s disciples,
3) Gods,
4) Immortals, and
5) Transformation beings, that is, gods or Buddhas who
transform into human form.
The disciples, gods, immortals, and transformation beings must
first receive the Buddha’s certification before they speak Sutra;
without certification, what they speak is not truly a Sutra. This
Sutra was spoken by the Buddha, not by those in the other four
categories; it came from Shakyamuni Buddha’s mouth.
The Special Title
3
Because its principles were too profound and wonderful for the
Sravakas or Bodhisattvas to comprehend, no one requested the Pure
Land Dharma-door. Nonetheless, it had to be revealed and so the
Buddha spontaneously spoke this very important Sutra, doubly
important because it will be the last to disappear in the Dharmaending
age.
In the future, the Buddhadharma will become extinct. Demon
Kings most fear the Shurangama mantra and so the Shurangama
Sutra will be the first to disappear, for without the Sutra, no one
will be able to recite the mantra. Then, one by one, the other Sutras
will disappear. We now have the black words of the text on white
paper, but in the future, when the Buddhadharma is on the verge of
extinction, the words will disappear from the page, as all the Sutras
vanish. The last to go will be the Amitabha Sutra. It will remain in
the world an additional hundred years and ferry limitless living
beings across the sea of suffering to the other shore, which is
Nirvana. When the Amitabha Sutra has been forgotten, only the
great phrase “Namo Amitabha Buddha” will remain among
mankind and save limitless beings. Next, the word “Namo” which
is Sanskrit and means “homage to” will be lost, and only
“Amitabha Buddha” will remain for another hundred years,
rescuing living beings. After that, the Buddhadharma will
completely disappear from the world. Because this Sutra will be the
last to disappear, it is extremely important.
The Special Title
Who is the Buddha? The Buddha is the Greatly Enlightened
One. His great enlightenment is an awakening to all things, without
a particle of confusion. A true Buddha has ended karma and
transcended emotions. He is without karmic obstacles and devoid
of emotional responses. On the other hand we find living beings,
who are attached to emotions and worldly love. Common men with
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
4
heavy karma and confused emotions are simply living beings. The
Buddha’s enlightenment may be said to be of three kinds:
1) Basic enlightenment, enlightenment at the root source.
2) Beginning enlightenment, the initial stages of enlightenment,
and
3) Ultimate enlightenment, complete enlightenment.
You can also say that he is
1) Self-enlightened, that he
2) Enlightens others, and that he is
3) Complete in enlightenment and practice.
Self-enlightenment. Common men are unenlightened. They
think themselves intelligent when they are actually quite dull. They
gamble thinking that they will win-who would have guessed that
they’d lose? Why are they so confused? It’s because they do things
which they clearly know are wrong. The more confused they are,
the deeper they sink into confusion; the deeper they sink, the more
confused they become.
Everyone should become enlightened. The Buddha is a part of
all living beings and is one of them himself, but because he is
enlightened instead of confused, he is said to be self-enlightened
and not like common men. Sravakas, the disciples of the Small
Vehicle, are “independents”; they are self-enlightened, but they do
not enlighten others.
Bodhisattvas enlighten others, unlike the Sravakas who think
only of themselves. Bodhisattvas choose to benefit all beings and
ask for nothing in return. Using their own methods of self-enlightenment,
they convert all beings causing them to realize the doctrine
of enlightenment and non-confusion. This is the practice of the
Bodhisattva conduct.
The Special Title
5
Sravakas, “sound-hearers”, awaken to the Way upon hearing
the sound of the Buddha’s voice. They cultivate the Four Holy
Truths,
1) Suffering,
2) Origination,
3) Extinction, and
4) The Way.
They also cultivate the Twelve Causes and Conditions:
1) Ignorance, which conditions…
2) Action, action which conditions…
3) Consciousness, consciousness which conditions…
4) Name and form, name and form which conditions…
5) The six sense organs, which condition…
6) Contact, contact which conditions…
7) Feeling, feeling which conditions…
8) Craving, craving which conditions…
9) Grasping, grasping which conditions…
10) Becoming, becoming which conditions…
11) Birth, and birth which conditions…
12) Old age and death.
The twelve all arise from ignorance, and ignorance is merely a
lack of understanding. Without ignorance, the Twelve Causes and
Conditions cease to operate. But if you flounder in ignorance, you
are caught in the remaining causes. Those of the Small Vehicle
cultivate the Dharma, but Bodhisattvas transcend all successive
stages, cultivating the Six Perfections and the Ten-thousand
conducts.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
6
The Six Perfections are:
1) Giving. Giving transforms those who are stingy. Greedy
people who can’t give should practice giving, for if they do not
learn to give they will never get rid of their stinginess.
2) Morality. The precepts are guides to perfect conduct and
eliminate offenses, transgressions, and evil deeds. Keep the
precepts.
3) Patience. Patience transforms those who are hateful. If you
have an unreasonable temper, cultivate being patient and bearing
with things. Don’t be an asura, a fighter who gets angry all day and
is not on speaking terms with anyone unless it’s to speak while
glaring with fierce, angry eyes. Be patient instead.
4) Vigor. Vigor transforms those who are lazy. If you’re lazy,
learn to be vigorous.
5) Dhyana meditation. Dhyana meditation transforms those
who are scattered and confused.
6) Wisdom. Prajna wisdom transforms those who are stupid;
the bright light of wisdom disperses the darkness of stupidity.
Bodhisattvas cultivate the Six Perfections and the Ten-thousand
conducts. Self-enlightened, they enlighten others, and are therefore
unlike those of the Small Vehicle.
Complete Enlightenment. This is wonderful enlightenment, the
enlightenment of the Buddha. The Buddha perfects self-enlightenment
and the enlightenment of others, and when his enlightenment
and practice are complete, he has realized Buddhahood.
“You keep talking about the Buddha,” you say, “but I still don’t
know who the Buddha is.”
You don’t know? I will tell you.
“You are the Buddha.”
“Then why don’t I know it?” you ask.
The Special Title
7
Your not knowing is just the Buddha! But this is not to say that
you have already reached Buddhahood. You are as yet an
unrealized Buddha. You should understand that the Buddha
became a Buddha from the stage of a common person. It is just
living beings who can cultivate to realize Buddhahood. The
Buddha is the Enlightened One, and when a human being becomes
enlightened, he’s a Buddha, too. Without enlightenment, he’s just a
living being. This is a general explanation of the word Buddha.
The Buddha has Three Bodies, Four Wisdoms, Five Eyes, and
Six Spiritual Penetrations. You may be a Buddha, but you are still
an unrealized Buddha, for you do not have these powers. The
Buddha cultivated from the stage of a common person to
Buddhahood, and has all the attributes of Buddhahood.
Some who haven’t become Buddhas claim to be Buddhas. This
is the height of stupidity; claiming to be what they are not, they
cheat themselves and cheat others. Isn’t this to be a “Greatly Stupid
One?” Everyone can become a Buddha, but cultivation is
necessary. If one has the Three Bodies and the Four Wisdoms one
may call oneself a Buddha. If one has just the Five Eyes, or a bit of
spiritual penetration, one may not.
The Three Bodies are:
1) The Dharma body,
2) The Reward body,
3) The Transformation body.
The Four Wisdoms are:
1) The Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom,
2) The Wonderful Observing Wisdom,
3) The Wisdom of Accomplishing What is Done, and
4) The Equality Wisdom.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
8
The Six Spiritual Penetrations are:
1) The Heavenly Eye.The Heavenly Eye can see the gods and
watch all their activities.
2) The Heavenly Ear.The Heavenly Ear can hear the speech
and sounds of the gods.
3) The Knowledge of Others’ Thoughts. Thoughts in the
minds of others which they have not yet spoken are
already known. This refers to the present.
4) The Knowledge of Past Lives. With this penetration one
can also know the past.
5) The Extinction of Outflows. To be without outflows is to
have no thoughts of greed, hate, stupidity, or sexual
desire. In general, once one gets rid of all one’s bad habits
and faults, one has no outflows. Outflows are like water
running through a leaky bottle; at the stage of no outflows
the leaks have been stopped up.
6) The Complete Spirit. Also called the Penetration of the
Spiritual Realm, this is an inconceivably wonderful state.
The Five Eyes are:
1) The Heavenly Eye,
2) The Buddha Eye,
3) The Wisdom Eye,
4) The Dharma Eye, and
5) The Flesh Eye.
A verse about the Five Eyes says,
The Heavenly Eye Penetrates without obstruction.
The Flesh Eye sees obstacles but does not penetrate.
The Dharma Eye only contemplates the mundane.
The Wisdom Eye understands True Emptiness.
The Buddha Eye shines like a thousand suns.
The Special Title
9
Although the illuminations differ,
Their substance is one.
The Heavenly Eye penetrates without obstruction and sees the
affairs of eighty-thousand great aeons. It cannot see beyond that.
The Flesh Eye can see those things which are obstructed; the
Heavenly Eye only sees those things which are not obstructed. The
Dharma Eye contemplates the “mundane truth”, all the affairs of
worldly existence. The Wisdom Eye comprehends the state of True
Emptiness, the “genuine truth.”
Not just the Buddha, but everyone has a Buddha Eye. Some
have opened their Buddha Eyes and some have not. The open
Buddha Eye shines with the blazing intensity of a thousand suns.
Although the Five Eyes differ in what they see, they are basically of
the same substance.
So the Buddha has Three Bodies, Four Wisdoms, Five Eyes,
and Six Spiritual Penetrations. If one has such talent, one may call
oneself a Buddha, but if not, one would be better off being a good
person instead of trying to cheat people.
In this Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha, the teacher of the Saha
world, speaks of the adornments of the Land of Ultimate Bliss and
of its teacher, Amitabha Buddha.
Saha is a Sanskrit term which mean “to be endured.”1 The
world in which we live has so much suffering that living beings
find it hard to endure, and so it is named Saha.
Shakyamuni Buddha’s name, also Sanskrit, is explained in two
parts. Sakya, his family name, means “able to be humane.”2 The
Buddha shows his humaneness as compassion which rel ieves
1. kan ren
2. neng ren
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
10
suffering, and kindness which bestows happiness by teaching and
transforming living beings.
There are three kinds of compassion:
1) An Attitude of Loving Compassion. Average men love and
sympathize with those close to them, but not with strangers. Seeing
relatives or friends in distress, they exhaust their strength to help
them, but when strangers are suffering, they pay them no heed.
Having compassion for those you love is called an Attitude of
Loving Compassion.
There is as well an Attitude of Loving Compassion which
extends to those of the same species, but not to those of other
species. For example, not only do people have no compassion for
animals such as oxen, pigs, chickens, geese, or ducks, but they even
go so far as to eat animals’ flesh! They snatch away animals’ lives
in order to nourish their own. This is not a true Attitude of Loving
Compassion. Fortunately, people rarely eat each other. They may
eat pork, mutton, beef, chicken, duck, and fish, but they don’t
catch, kill, and eat each other, and so they are a bit better off than
animals that turn on members of their own species for food. People
may not eat each other, but they certainly have no true Attitude of
Loving Compassion towards animals.
2) Compassion which comes from understanding conditioned
dharmas. Those of the Small Vehicle have compassion which
comes from understanding conditioned dharmas as well as the
attitude of loving compassion discussed above. They contemplate
all dharmas as arising from causes and conditions and they know
that:
Causes and conditions have no nature;
Their very substance is emptiness.
Contemplating the emptiness of conditioned dharmas, they
compassionately teach and transform living beings without
The Special Title
11
becoming attached to the teaching and transforming. They know
that everything is empty.
3) The Great Compassion which comes from understanding the
identical substance of all beings. Buddha and Bodhisattvas have yet
another kind of compassion. The Buddha’s Dharma body pervades
all places and so the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are of one
substance with all beings; the Buddha’s heart and nature are allpervasive
and all beings are contained within it. We are living
beings within the Buddha’s heart and he is the Buddha within our
hearts. Our hearts and the Buddha’s are the same, everywhere
throughout the ten directions, north, east, south, west, the directions
in between, above, and below. Therefore the Buddha and living
beings are of the same substance, without distinction. This is called
the Great Compassion.
Sakya, the Buddha’s family name, includes these three kinds of
compassion. If one chose to speak about it in more detail, there are
limitless and unbounded meanings.
Muni is the Buddha’s personal name. It means “still and
quiet.”3 Still and unmoving, he is silent. No words from the mouth,
no thoughts from the mind-this is an inconceivable state. The
Buddha speaks Dharma without speaking; he speaks and yet does
not speak, does not speak and yet he speaks. This is still and silent,
still, still, silent and unmoving, yet responding in accord;
responding in accord and yet always, always silent and still. This is
the meaning of the Buddha’s personal name, Muni. All Buddhas
have the name Buddha in common, but only this Buddha has the
special name Shakyamuni.
Continuing the explanation of the title, we shall now investigate
the meaning of speak. In Chinese, the word speak shuo is made
up of the radical yan which means “word,” and the element
3. ji mo
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
12
dui. Dui has two dots on the top which were originally the
word ren, person. The strokes below could also represent
the word person.
What does the Buddha say? Whatever he pleases, but happy to
say what he wants to say, he always speaks the Dharma.
Having already become Buddhas, Shakyamuni Buddha and the
Buddhas of the ten directions are called “already enlightened ones,”
as they have already understood and awakened from their dreams.
While we are still sound asleep and dreaming, the Buddha is greatly
enlightened, greatly awakened. With his Buddha-wisdom there is
nothing he does not know; using his Buddha-vision there is nothing
he does not see. This is the meaning of his great enlightenment
which came from cultivating, and this is the result to which he has
certified. He has walked the road, he has been through it, he is an
“already enlightened one.” The methods of cultivation he used to
attain the fruit of enlightenment he then teaches, to lead all living
beings to attain and certify to that ultimate, complete result of
Bodhi. That is why he speaks the Dharma, and why, having done
so, he is happy to have spoken.
What does he say?
Right now he speaks of Amitabha: the Buddha Speaks of
Amitabha Sutra.
The Special Title
13
Amitabha, the next word in the title, is a Sanskrit word which
means “limitless light.”4 Amitabha’s other name, Amitayus, means
“limitless life.”5
“But,” you might ask, “the Sutra says that it has been ten kalpas
since Amitabha realized Buddhahood. Ten kalpas is a definite
length of time. Why do you speak of ‘limitless life’ and then
measure it out in time?”
Amitayus, “limitless life,” refers to his blessings and virtue
“Limitless light” refers to his wisdom. His wisdom light is limitless
and bright. Limitless life, limitless light. Not only are his blessings,
virtues, and wisdom limitless but so are his spiritual powers, his
eloquence, his attributes, and his teachings. There is no way to
count them because they are infinite, nowhere present and nowhere
absent.
Where did the limitless come from? Mathematicians should
know that the limitless comes from the one. One is many and many
are one. A scholar once wrote a book and said, “Large numbers are
written by starting with one and then employing many place
holding zeros. Keep adding zeros until the space between heaven
and earth is filled. When you have written all over your walls and
covered your floors, can you determine the total? Couldn’t you still
add another zero? Numbers are endless.”
Amitabha Buddha’s life, wisdom, merit, virtue, and Way-power
are all infinite and unbounded. If you want a big figure, go ahead
and write columns of zeros.
Knowing that there can be no definite total, the Buddha, who is
the perfection of intelligence, just said, “Limitless and uncount-
4. wu liang guang , from the Sanskrit amita, “unmeasured” and
abha, “splendor, light.”
5. wu liang shou , from the Sanskrit amita and ayus, “life-span,
life.”
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
14
able.” Mathematics can explain infinity, and scientists have sent
men into space to study it, but having arrived in empty space,
there’s still more empty space beyond. There’s no end to it.
Numbers go on infinitely and in this way we can understand the
vast expanse of Amitabha Buddha’s blessedness, his virtue, and his
wisdom. Therefore he is called Amita.
Both Amitabha and Shakyamuni Buddha were people who
became Buddhas. They did not descend from the heavens or ascend
from the depths of the earth. As people they cultivated the Dharma
and now they are sages, people who have realized the result.
According to the classification of Sutra titles, this Sutra is
established by reference to a person, but not a person like us. He is
a Buddha, one who has realized the result. We are living beings; we
have not realized the result, but are cultivating the cause of
Buddhahood. Once Buddhahood is realized, we will be sages. This
sage’s name, Amitabha, is used to classify the title of the Sutra.
The Common Title
A Sutra is called a “tallying text.”6 It tallies with the wonderful
principles of all Buddhas above and with the opportunities for
teaching living beings below. Each time I explain a Sutra, I add
more meanings to the word. If I told you all of the meanings at
once, you would never remember them, or if you did, the next time
I spoke about it you would say, “I know all about it, a Sutra strings
together, attracts, is permanent, and is a method. The Master
certainly is repetitious.” So I explain the term “Sutra” bit by bit. In
this commentary on The Amitabha Sutra I will discuss five of its
meanings:
1) Basic Dharma. The Buddha reveals the origin of Dharma
with his teaching by means of Four Kinds of Complete Giving:
6. ji qing
The Common Title
15
a) Mundane Complete Giving, using ordinary methods of
expression,
b) Curative Complete Giving, curing each living being of his
particular problem,
c) Complete Giving that is for everyone, teaching for the
sake of all living beings.
d) The Complete Giving of the Primary Meaning, giving the
highest principle to all beings.
Ultimately, the Dharma cannot be spoken because there is no
Dharma to speak; but by practicing the Four Kinds of Complete
Giving, the Buddha reveals it. Thus the word Sutra has the meaning
of Basic Dharma.
2) Subtle Dharma. Unless the profound and wonderful
doctrines are elucidated in the Sutras, no one can know of them.
3) Bubbling Spring. Principles flow from Sutras like gushing
water from artesian wells.
4) Guideline. To make guidelines, ancient carpenters and
stonemasons used a string covered with black ink, held the string
taut, pulled it up, let it snap and made a straight, black line. A Sutra
is also like a compass and square, used for guiding people.
5) A Garland. The principles are linked together in the Sutras
like flowers woven into a garland.
The word Sutra also has four additional meanings:
1) Strings Together. Sutras string together the principles of the
Buddhadharma.
2) Attracts. Sutras attract living beings who are in need of the
teaching.
3) Method. The methods used in cultivation which have been
employed from ancient times right up until the present are set forth
in the Sutras.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
16
4) Permanent. Sutras are permanent and unchanging; not one
word can be left out or added to them, and heavenly demons and
non-Buddhist religions cannot harm them.
The word Sutra also means “a path.” If you wanted for example,
to go to New York and didn’t know the way, you might run west
instead of east. You could run all your life, but you would never get
to New York. Cultivating is also like this. Unless you know the
road, you may practice forever, but will never arrive at
Buddhahood.
Sutras are also a canon, fixed documents to rely upon when
cultivating according to Dharma. Sutras also explain worldly
dharmas. You can find any doctrine you wish in the Sutras.
Sutras are everyone’s breath; without them men are lost. We
should step outside of our stuffy rooms to breathe the fresh air of
the Sutras. People can’t live without air or Sutras.
You ask, “I don’t study Sutras or the Dharma, so I don’t breathe
that air, do I?”
Your breathe it, too, because the Dharma air fills the world, and
whether or not you study it, you breathe it all the same. Everyone
shares the air. Students of the Buddhadharma exhale
Buddhadharma air and non-students breathe it in. You can’t avoid
this relationship.
Sutras are also food for the spirit, and have many uses. When
you’re melancholy or depressed, recite Sutras, for they explain the
doctrines in a wonderful way, which dispels your gloom and opens
your heart.
Sutra is the common name of all Sutra; this Sutra’s particular
name is The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha . There are many Sutra
names, because the Buddha left limitless unbounded Dharmajewels
in the world; but of these hundreds and thousands of Sutras,
none go beyond the Seven Classifications.
The Seven Classifications of Sutra Titles
17
The Seven Classifications of Sutra Titles
In order to clarify their content, Sutra titles are divided into
seven types by their reference to person, dharma, and analogy.
1) Single Three. Three of the seven titles are established by
reference to either person, dharma, or analogy.
a) The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra7 refers only to
people. Shakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha are
both people who cultivated and became Buddhas.
b) The Great Parinirvana Sutra8 is an example of a title
classified by reference to a dharma. Nirvana is the dharma
of non-production and non-extinction.
c) The Net of Brahma Sutra9 is a title established only by
reference to analogy, the analogy of the net of the Great
Brahma King. The net in the Brahma heaven has many
holes in it, like a fish net, and there is a gem in every hole.
Each gem radiates more brilliantly than an electric light,
reflected through the interstices of the net. They interillumine,
without conflict. One light, for example, would
never say to another, “I hate your light, lamp. It’s terrible!
I’m the only one who can shine around here.” Lamps don’t
fight with each other like people. The net of Brahma is an
analogy for the precepts. Each precept is like a gem, and
those who have left home are one of the Three Jewels
because they keep the precepts purely. Members of the
Sangha cultivate to have no improper thoughts concerning
their environment. Thus they transcend the material
world, attain purity, and shine like gems in the net of
Brahma.
7. fo shuo a mi tuo jing , Sukhavativyuha-sutra
8. da ban nie pan jing , Mahaparinirvana-sutra
9. fan wan jing , Brahmajala-sutra
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
18
2) Double Three. Titles established by reference to a
combination of either person and dharma, person and analogy, or
dharma and analogy are called “double three.”
d) The Sutra of Questions of Manjushri10 is a title
established by reference to a person, the greatly wise
Bodhisattva Manjushri, and the Dharma he requested,
Prajna. Only the most intelligent Bodhisattva knew to ask
about the meaning of Prajna. One of great wisdom
requesting the dharma of great wisdom classifies the Sutra
title according to person and dharma.
e) The Lion Roar of the Thus Come One Sutra11 is a title
established by reference to a person, the Thus Come One,
and an analogy, the Lion Roar. The Buddha speaks
Dharma like the lion roars, and when the King of Beasts
roars, the wild beasts tremble. So, in his Song of
Certifying to the Way, the Great Master Yung Chia Wrote,
The roar of the lion is the fearless speaking;
When the wild beasts hear it,
their heads split wide open.
Elephants run wild and lose their decorum,
But gods and dragons, in silence,
hear it with delight.
The Buddha speaks the Dharma like the fearless lion
roars. When the lion roars, the other animals are frozen
with fright. Elephants are usually quite sedate, but they
lose their powerful authoritarian stance. Gods, dragons,
and the rest of the eight-fold division12, however, are
delighted.
10. wen shu shi li wen jing , Manjusripariprccha-sutra
11. ? ji hou jing , Simhanadika-sutra
The Twelve Divisions of Sutra Texts
19
f) The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Blossom Sutra13 is an
example of a title established by reference to a dharma and
an analogy, since the wonderful Dharma is analogous to a
lotus flower.
3) Complete in One. The seventh classification contains
references to all three subjects: person, dharma, and analogy.
g) The Great Means Expansive Buddha Flower Adornment
Sutra14. In this Sutra, Great, Means, and Expansive refer
to the wonderful Dharma of realizing Buddhahood;
Flower Adornment is an analogy-the causal flowers of the
ten thousand conducts are used to adorn the supreme
virtue of the fruit.
The Twelve Divisions of Sutra Texts
In addition to the Seven Classifications of Sutra Titles, the texts
comprising the entire Tripitaka, or Buddhist Canon, may be divided
into twelve categories:
1) Prose lines.
2) Repetition of the meanings presented in the prose lines in
short “verse lines” makes the text easy to remember.
3) Predictions of Buddhahood. Although future Buddhas have
not yet realized Buddhahood, the present Buddha predicts their
eventual accomplishment and gives them each a name.
12. The eight-fold division, or eight classes of supernatural beings are: gods,
dragons, yaksa ghosts, gandharvas (musical spirits), kinnaras (also musical
spirits), asuras (beings who like to fight), garudas (great-golden winged
birds), and mahoragas (giant snakes).
13. miao fa lian hua jing , Saddharmapundarika-sutra
14. da fang guang fwo hua yan jing , Mahavaipulyabuddhavatamsaka-
sutra
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
20
4) Interjections do not fit with the principles which come
before or after them. They arise alone, like the short verses in the
Vajra (Diamond) Sutra:
5) The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra belongs to the
category of Sutras “spoken without request.” The Sound Hearer
Disciples were not ready to understand the doctrines of the Pure
Land Dharma-door, and the Bodhisattvas hadn’t conceived of this
method or heard of Amitabha’s vow to save all beings. Everyone
said that reciting the Buddha’s name was an old woman’s pastime
and that those with wisdom did not need to study it. This is a
serious mistake because unless you recite the Buddha’s name you
continue to have useless scattered, lustful, desire-ridden thought.
Reciting the Buddha’s name gets rid of discursive thought. One
who recites the name all day long will have no discursive thought.
The absence of such thought is wonderful. The wonderful dharma
purges us of greed, hate, and stupidity. When I was seventeen I
wrote a verse:
The King of all Dharmas is
the one word “Amitabha.”
The five periods and the eight teachings15
are all contained within it.
One who singlemindedly remembers
and recites his name.
Will enter into the still, and bright,
and unmoving field.
15. The Tian Tai School divides the Buddha’s teachings into five periods: the
Avatamsaka, Agama, Vaipulya, Prajna, and Lotus-Nirvana. The teachings
are also arranged in eight categories, four according to methods of teaching:
sudden, gradual, secret, and unfixed, and four according tot he nature of the
teaching: the storehouse teaching, the connecting teaching, the separate
teaching, and the perfect teaching.
The Twelve Divisions of Sutra Texts
21
Reciting the Buddha’s name is much better than all of your
crazy ideas!
This Sutra describes the practices leading to the Buddha’s Pure
Land. Bodhisattvas didn’t ask for this dharma because they simply
did not understand the subtle advantages of reciting the Buddha’s
name. Since no one asked for this wonderful Dharma, Shakyamuni
Buddha spoke without request.
6) Causes and conditions are also spoken by the Buddhas.
7) Analogies.
8) Past events discuss the events in the lives of the Buddha’s
disciples.
9) Past lives discuss the events in the past lives of the Buddha.
10) Universal writings explain principle in an especially
expansive way.
11) New Sutras are those which have never been spoken before.
12) Commentaries.
The essential message of this Sutra teaches us to recite the name
“Namo Amitabha Buddha.” Amitabha Buddha has a great affinity
with living beings of the Saha world. Before realizing Buddhahood,
he made forty-eight vows and each one involved taking living
beings to Buddhahood. At that time, he was a Bhikshu named
Dharma Treasury. He said, “When I realize Buddhahood, I vow
that living beings who recite my name will also realize
Buddhahood. Otherwise, I won’t either.”
This is similar to the vow made by AvalokiteÇvara Bodhisattva
in The Great Compassion Heart Dharani Sutra: “If anyone who
recites this spiritual mantra does not obtain whatever he seeks, then
this cannot be the Great Compassion Dharani.”
By the power of his vows, Amitabha Buddha leads all beings to
rebirth in his country where they realize Buddhahood. This power
attracts living beings to the Land of Ultimate Bliss, just as a magnet
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
22
attracts iron filings. If living beings do not attain enlightenment, he
himself won’t realize Buddhahood. Therefore, all who recite his
name can realize Buddhahood.
The Dharma-door of reciting the Buddha’s name receives those
of all three faculties and accepts both the intelligent and the stupid.
People with wisdom have superior faculties, ordinary people have
average faculties, and stupid people have inferior faculties. But
whether one is intelligent, average, or stupid, if one recites the
Buddha’s name one will definitely be born transformationally from
a lotus in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. One will not pass through the
womb but will enter a lotus flower, live in it for a while, and then
realize Buddhahood. Whether you are stupid or wise, you can
realize Buddhahood.
You say, “I don’t believe you can realize Buddhahood simply
by reciting the Buddha’s name. It’s too easy. It’s like borrowing
Amitabha’s power to realize Buddhahood.”
You should not disbelieve this because a long time ago,
Amitabha signed an agreement with us which said, “after I realize
Buddhahood, you can recite my name and do so as well.” Since we
signed our names, if we recite, we are sure to become Buddhas.
Furthermore, reciting the Buddha’s name establishes a firm
foundation and plants good roots. For example, there was once an
old man who wanted to leave home. Although he was about seventy
or eighty years old, couldn’t get around well, and was aware of his
impending death, he thought he could easily leave home and be a
High Master of Buddhism. When he arrived at the Garden of the
Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary, he found that Shakyamuni
Buddha had gone out to receive offerings. His disciples, the Arhats,
opened their heavenly eyes and took a look at this man’s past
causes. Seeing that he hadn’t done a single good deed in the past
eighty-thousand great aeons, they told him that he couldn’t leave
home.
The Twelve Divisions of Sutra Texts
23
When he heard this, the old man’s heart turned cold and he ran,
thinking, “If I can’t leave home, I’ll kill myself.” Just as he was
about to throw himself into the ocean, Shakyamuni Buddha caught
him and said, “What are you doing?”
“I wanted to leave home,” cried the man, “but the Buddha
wasn’t at the Garden, and the great Bhikshus told me that I couldn’t
because I have no good roots. My life is meaningless. I’m too old
to work, and no one takes care of me. I might as well be dead.”
Shakyamuni Buddha said, “Don’t throw yourself into the
ocean. I’ll accept you.”
“You will?” said the man. “Who are you? Do you have the
authority?”
Shakyamuni Buddha said, “I am the Buddha, and those
Bhikshus are my disciples; none of them will object.”
The old man wiped his eyes and blew his nose. “There’s hope
for me,” he said.
The old man’s head was shaved. He became a monk and
immediately certified to the first stage of Arhatship. Why? When
he heard that he couldn’t leave home, he had decided to drown
himself; although he didn’t really die, he was as good as dead. “I’ve
already thrown myself into the sea,” he said, and relinquished all
his attachment to life. He saw right through everything, won his
independence, and certified to the first stage of Arhatship.
This bothered the Bhikshus. “How strange,” they murmured,
“the man has no good roots. We wouldn’t let him leave home, but
the Buddha accepted him and now he’s certified to Arhatship.
People without good roots can’t do that. Such a contradiction in the
Teaching will never do! Let’s go ask the Buddha.”
Then they went before the Buddha, bowed reverently, and
asked, “We are basically clear-minded. How could that old man
without good roots certify to Arhatship? How can the
Buddhadharma be so inconsistent?”
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
24
Shakyamuni Buddha said, “As Arhats, you see only the events
of the past eighty thousand aeons ago. More than eighty thousand
aeons ago, the old man was a firewood gatherer. One day in the
mountains he was attacked by a tiger and quickly climbed a tree.
The tiger leaped and snapped his jaws, but missed.
“This tiger, however, was smarter than the average tiger, ‘I’ll
show you,’ it said. ‘I’ll chew through the trunk of the tree and when
it falls I’ll eat you.’
“Now, if a mouse can gnaw through wood, how much the more
so can a tiger. Tigers can make powder out of human bones. It
chewed half way through the tree and terrified the old man whose
life was hanging by a thread. Then he remembered, ‘In times of
danger, people recite the Buddha’s name,’ and he called out, ‘Namo
Buddha!’ which scared the tiger away and saved his life. After that,
the old man forgot to recite, and so on this side of eighty thousand
great aeons, he failed to plant good roots. However, the one cry of
‘Namo Buddha’ was the good seed which has now ripened and
allowed him to leave home and certify to the fruit.”
25
Describing The Substance
The Second of the Five-fold Profound Meanings is Describing
the Substance. Once you know a person’s name, you learn to
recognize him on sight. “Is he fat or thin, tall or short?” You don’t
necessarily have to see his face, but can recognize him by his form.
“Oh, it’s him.”
This Sutra is a Mahayana Dharma, spoken without request, and
takes the Real Mark as its substance. The Real Mark is no mark.
There is no mark, nothing at all, and yet there is nothing which is
not marked. Unmarked, it is true emptiness, and with nothing
unmarked, it is wonderful existence.
All marks are the Real Mark:
The Real Mark is unmarked
With nothing unmarked.
It is without marks and also without any non-marks
It is neither without marks nor is it marked by no marks.
While in the midst of marks, one should not hold onto marks,
for they are not the Real Mark. True Suchness, the one true Dharma
Realm, the Thus Come One’s Store Nature, all are different names
for the Real Mark.
26
Clarifying the Principle
Unless you understand the Sutra’s doctrine and objective, you
will not understand its principles. So now we will examine the one
by means of the other. It is just like knowing a person’s name and
then discovering his occupation.
The principles of this Sutra are Faith, Vows, and Practice-
Holding the Buddha’s name; these are the three prerequisites of the
Pure Land Dharma-door. One who goes on a journey takes along
some food and a little money. One who wishes to go to the Land of
Ultimate Bliss needs faith, vows, and the practice of holding the
Buddha’s name.
Faith
Faith is the first prerequisite, for without it one will not make
the vow to be born with Amitabha in the Pure Land of Ultimate
Bliss, and thus will not realize the objective of this Sutra. You must
have faith in Yourself, The Land of Ultimate Bliss, Cause and
Effect, and Noumena and Phenomena.
What does it mean to believe in oneself? It is to believe that you
certainly have the qualifications necessary to be born in the Land of
Ultimate Bliss. You should not take yourself lightly and say, “I
have committed so many offenses, I can’t be born there.” If you
Faith
27
have heavy offense karma, you now have a good opportunity to
take it with you to the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Regardless of the
offenses you have committed in the past, if you change your mind
and reform your conduct, you may be born there, offenses and all.
Taking your karma to the Pure Land refers to past karma,
however, not to future karma. Once you have understood the
Dharma, offenses should cease. If you continue to offend, you will
absolutely not be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. You may
recite the Buddha’s name and bow to the Buddha, but you will only
be making investments in future Buddhahood. You will not, in this
life, be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss because you clearly
understood and yet deliberately violated the rules of the Dharma.
Before taking refuge with the Triple Jewel, doing things which
are not in accord with the Dharma may be excusable, but to
continue such behavior after taking refuge increases the gravity of
one’s offenses. Knowing your error, you must truly change your
faults and say, “I most certainly can be reborn in the Land of
Ultimate Bliss.”
Secondly, you must have faith in the Western Land of Ultimate
Bliss which is hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhalands
from here. Before he realized Buddhahood, Amitabha Buddha, as
the Bhikshu Dharma Treasury, vowed to create a land where living
beings who recited his name could be born. There’s no need to do
anything else; it’s easy, simple, and convenient. It doesn’t cost a
thing, and yet this Dharma-door is the highest and most supreme,
for if you just recite, “Namo Amitabha Buddha,” you will be born
in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
It is also necessary to believe in cause and effect, to believe that
in the past you have planted good roots which have caused you to
encounter this Dharma-door of Faith, Vows, and Holding the
Buddha’s Name. Without good roots, no one can encounter this, or
any other Dharma-door. But, just as in planting the fields, if a
farmer doesn’t nourish and irrigate the fields, he won’t reap the
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
28
fruit. So believe that in the past you have planted the causes of
Bodhi which in the future will bear the fruit of Bodhi if you just
nourish the root.
You may think, “You tell me to believe in cause and effect and
to believe that I have good roots, but, frankly, I don’t think I do.”
How can you tell whether or not you have good roots? People
often ask me to tell them whether or not they have good roots, but I
tell them to tell me if I have good roots. They say, “I don’t know if
you do,” and I answer them, “then how should I know about you?”
But I do have a method to teach you how to find out. You have met
the Buddhadharma because you have good roots; without them you
would not have had this opportunity.
“Granted, I have met the Buddhadharma,” you say, “but is it
possible that I have no good roots?”
If you lack them, plant them. If you don’t plant them you will
never have any! Whether or not you have good roots is no great
problem. The question is whether or not you will plant and nourish
them by cultivating according to Dharma.
For example, the Buddhadharma teaches you not to drink, but
you would risk your life to do it. Drunk, with your head confused
and your eyes bleary, your brain feels as if it were going to split
open. This is to walk down the road of stupidity.
The Buddhadharma teaches you not to steal, but even if your
life were not at stake, you’d steal. One who truly cultivates
according to Dharma does not lie, drink, steal, kill, or commit acts
of sexual misconduct. Obey the Buddha and refrain from evil. Do
not think that minor faults are unimportant, for it’s just the minor
faults that drag one into the hells or into the paths of hungry ghosts
or animals. Believe, then, that you have good roots and that in the
future you will reap the fruit of Bodhi.
Finally, one must have faith in the phenomena and the noumena
of the Amitabha Sutra. The specific phenomena is this: Amitabha
Faith
29
Buddha has a great affinity with us and will certainly guide us to
Buddhahood. The noumenal principle is this: We know the great
affinity exists because without it we would not have met the Pure
Land Dharma-door. Amitabha Buddha is all living beings and all
living beings are Amitabha Buddha. Amitabha Buddha became
Amitabha Buddha by reciting the Buddha’s name, and if we recite
the Buddha’s name, we, too, can become Amitabha Buddha.
We should cultivate according to the phenomenal and the
noumenal principles. The Avatamsaka Sutra speaks of four Dharma
Realms:
1) The Dharma Realm of Unobstructed Phenomena,
2) The Dharma Realm of Unobstructed Noumena,
3) The Dharma Realm of Noumena and Phenomena Unobstructed,
4) The Dharma Realm of All Phenomena Unobstructed.
Considering the four Dharma Realms, and speaking from the
standpoint of our self-nature, we and Amitabha Buddha are united
in one, and therefore we have the qualifications to realize
Buddhahood.
The phenomenon has a mark and a manifestation. It is
conditioned. The noumenon is the doctrine underlying any
phenomenal event. For example, in principle a tree has the potential
to become a house. Before the house is built, it has that noumenal
aspect. Once built, the house itself is the phenomenon, which
appears because of the noumenon. In principle, we can all realize
Buddhahood, but we have not phenomenally done so. If we have
Faith, Vows and Hold the Name, we will arrive at the phenomena
of Buddhahood, just as the tree can be made into a house.
Amitabha Buddha is contained within the hearts of all living
beings and living beings are contained within Amitabha’s heart.
This is the phenomenon and the noumenon. You must believe in the
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
30
doctrine and energetically practice it by reciting the Buddha’s name
more and more every day.
When one recites “Namo Amitabha Buddha,” in the Western
Land of Ultimate Bliss, in one of the pools of the seven jewels filled
with the eight waters of merit and virtue, a lotus flower grows. The
more one recites, the bigger it grows, but it won’t bloom until the
end of life, when one’s self-nature goes to be reborn in it. If you
wish to know whether you will be born in a superior, middle, or
inferior grade of lotus, you should ask yourself how often you
recite the Buddha’s name. The more you recite, the bigger the lotus;
the less you recite, the smaller. If you don’t recite at all, the lotus
withers and dies.
To be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, you must personally
give proof to the result with deep faith, firm vows, and actual
practice of recitation. It won’t work to think, “I’ll sleep-in today
and cultivate tomorrow.” If, however, you hold fast to the name and
cultivate vigorously, success is certain.
Vows
Having discussed faith, we will now discuss vows. What is a
vow? What you wish16, the tendency of your thoughts, is a vow. In
Buddhism there are four great vows:
I vow to save the limitless living beings.
I vow to cut off the inexhaustible afflictions.
I vow to study the immeasurable Dharma-doors.
I vow to realize the supreme Buddha Way.
All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the past, present, and future
practiced the Bodhisattva conduct and attained Buddhahood by
relying on these four great vows.
16. The Chinese word for vow, yuan , also means “to wish” or “to want.”
Vows
31
You may make the four great vows according to the Four Holy
Truths.
According to the truth of suffering,
I vow to save the limitless living beings.
According to the truth of origination,
I vow to cut off the inexhaustible afflictions.
According to the truth of the Way,
I vow to study the immeasurable Dharma-doors.
According to the truth of extinction,
I vow to realize the supreme Buddha Way.
The four great vows come from an awareness of the suffering of
living beings. For purposes of clarification, suffering is divided into
groups of the three, eight, and limitless sufferings.
According to the truth of origination, I vow to cut off the inexhaustible
afflictions:
The three sufferings are:
1) Suffering within suffering. This is the poverty and misery of
all living beings.
2) The suffering of decay. Living beings may enjoy wealth and
honor, but it eventually goes bad.
3) The suffering of process. Even without the sufferings of
poverty and decay, the bitterness of the life-process from birth, to
the prime of life, to old age and then to death is still suffering. The
shift and change of each passing thought is called the suffering of
process.
The eight sufferings are:
1) The suffering of birth.
2) The suffering of old age.
3) The suffering of sickness.
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32
4) The suffering of death.
It was because Shakyamuni Buddha met with these four
sufferings that he decided to leave the home-life and cultivate the
Way.
5) The suffering of separation from what you love.
6) The suffering of being joined with what you hate.
If people are not apart from loved ones, they are involved with
enemies. If you don’t like someone, you’ll find someone just like
him wherever you go.
7) The suffering of not realizing aspirations.
You worry about getting something and once you have it you
worry about losing it. This suffering is nothing compared to the
next:
8) The suffering of the raging blaze of the five skandhas: form,
feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness. The five
skandhas are like a raging fire. They are a constant shadow which
we cannot escape.
According to the truth of suffering, I vow to save the limitless
living beings:
Why are there limitless sufferings besides the eight?
In the past lives we planted the seeds of suffering as if they were
old friends with which we were loathe to part. Having established
causes and conditions for suffering in the past, in the present we
reap a bitter fruit.
From causes made in lives gone by
comes your present life;
Results you’ll get in lives to come
arise from this life’s deeds.
Plant good causes, reap good results;
Plant bad causes, reap bad results.
Vows
33
You fear the results. “Oh, I’m suffering too bitterly,” you say,
but you suffer because previously you planted the causes of
suffering.
Living beings fear the results, not the causes from which they
come, but Bodhisattvas fear the causes, not the results.
Bodhisattvas are extremely careful not to plant the causes of
suffering and so they do not reap the harvest of suffering. They
endure their present suffering gladly. So Bodhisattvas, too, must
sometimes suffer, but they do so willingly, knowing that
Enduring suffering ends suffering;
Enjoying blessings destroys blessings.
Living beings, on the other hand, are not afraid to plant the
causes of suffering. “Good causes, bad causes, it doesn’t matter,”
they say, “I’ll do it anyway. It’s not important.” But when the
results come, “Oh! I can’t stand it,” they moan. “How could this
happen to me? Such bitterness!”
If you fear suffering you should not plant the causes of
suffering, for if you do, you will certainly reap its bitter fruit.
Born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, one endures no suffering but
enjoys every bliss. None of the three sufferings, eight sufferings, or
the limitless sufferings are found there at all. The people are pure
and free of greed, hatred, and stupidity. Without the three poisons
there are no evil paths of rebirth because the evil paths are but
manifestations of the poisons.
The Buddha saves living beings, but in reality there is not a
single living being that he saves. He resolves to lead everyone to
understand the Buddhadharma in order to leave suffering, attain
bliss, and wake up. But when you take beings across, do not
become attached to the mark of taking beings across.
Take living beings across, but be apart from marks.
Leave marks, yet take beings across.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
34
Do not attach to some mark or sign of what you do and say,
“Let’s see, I’ve saved three, four….six, seven… at least ten living
beings!” If you keep count, you’ve still got attachments.
Save, yet do not save;
Do not save, yet save:
This is true crossing over.
You must save the living beings within your own self-nature as
well as those outside. There are eighty-four thousand living beings
in your self-nature. Teach them to cultivate, realize Buddhahood,
and enter Nirvana.
If you decide to save living beings, you will encounter
afflictions; if you don’t save them, you will also have afflictions.
Either way you will have afflictions because there are eighty-four
thousand kinds of affliction.
There are three delusions:
1) Delusions of views and thought.
2) Delusions like dust and sand.
3) Delusions of ignorance.
Living beings have all three types of delusions. Those of the
Small Vehicle have cut off the delusions of views and thought, but
retain the delusions like dust and sand and the delusions of
ignorance. Bodhisattvas have cut off both the delusions of views
and thought and the delusions like dust and sand, but they still have
delusions of ignorance. Even Bodhisattvas at the stage of Equal
Enlightenment who are just about to realize Buddhahood, still have
one particle of “production-mark” ignorance as fine as a hair which
they have not yet destroyed. This particle once destroyed, they
attain the Wonderful Enlightenment of Buddhahood.
The delusion of views refers to greed and love for externals.
Because external objects are not viewed as empty, they are
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35
recognized as real. Clothing, food, and sleep seem very real. “It’s
true,” you say, “I’m all alone. I have no friends or relatives.” This
confused state is the delusion of views. Not understanding what
you see, you are greedy for comfort and “good” things. “I love this
and I love that,” you say, and your endless love keeps you
dissatisfied and greedy for externals. This is the delusion of views.
The delusion of thought consists in being confused about
principles and giving rise to discrimination. “I don’t know what’s
going on here,” someone says. “Is the Dharma Master right? If I do
what he says, what’s in it for me?” You constantly calculate about
personal advantage, and, if there’s nothing in it for you, you don’t
want to do it. You can’t see more than three inches beyond your
face. Anything four inches away you cannot see. Thought delusions
are unclear, muddled thoughts, taking what is wrong as right, and
what is right as wrong.
I just said that people with view delusions think clothing, food,
and sleep are real. Someone may ask if they are false, and, if so,
then what is true? These things are all necessities, but if you attach
no importance to them, you are relaxed and free. Whenever there is
attachment, there is pain. If you take it all as unreal, there will be no
greed or love, and you will see that your former greed and love
were nothing but confused actions in a dream. You should think of
them in this way; put everything down; let it all go. If you can’t put
it down, you’re attached, and nothing goes right.
There are eighty-eight parts to the delusion of views and eightyone
parts to the delusion of thought. When the delusion of views is
destroyed, you certify to the first fruit of Arhatship. If not, there is
no certification.
Do you have greed and love for externals? Are you greedy for
“good” things and repulsed by the bad?
“Absolutely not,” you say.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
36
How do you know you are not? If you really didn’t love the
good and hate the bad you wouldn’t know it. If you say, “I know for
certain that I have no greed or love,” then your greed and love is
greater than anyone else’s. Why? Because you know that you have
none. If you really had none you wouldn’t know that you didn’t. If
you say that you have no self, how do you know that you have no
self? Knowing that you have no self, you still have your “self.” If
you say that you have no greed or love, you still have a self and you
haven’t cut off the eighty-eight parts of the delusion of views and
you haven’t certified to the first fruit of Arhatship. It is not simply
a matter of saying it and making it so. You must truly attain this
state.
The delusion of views contains the five quick servants and the
delusions of thought contain the five dull servants. The five dull
servants are greed, hatred, stupidity, pride and doubt. The five
quick servants are said to be “quick” because they arrive very fast.
The five dull servants arrive more slowly.
The Five Quick Servants are:
1) The view of a body. Because one is attached, one thinks,
“This is my body, and I’m so thin! I’m not eating right, I’m not
properly dressed, and I don’t have a decent place to live. How can
I take care of my body?” Attached to the body and holding a view
of a body, one schemes for it all day long.
2) The view of extremes. To become attached to either of the
two extreme views of permanence or annihilation is to indulge in
this view. Attached to annihilation, one says, “People die, and that
is that. Everything returns to emptiness.”
Attached to permanence, one says, “Next life I’ll be a person
again. People are always people and dogs are always dogs. Cats are
always cats, horses are always horses, trees are always trees, grass
is always grass. People can’t become cats and cats can’t turn into
people. People can’t turn into animals or ghosts. This is the fixed,
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eternal, unchanging principle: permanence.” Annihilation and
permanence are extreme views; they are not the Middle Way.
3) Deviant views. Those with deviant views say that when one
does good there is no good retribution and when one does evil there
is no evil retribution. They deny cause and effect and do not believe
that by doing good deeds one obtains blessings and by doing evil
deeds one incurs disaster.
4) The views of restrictive morality. This is to take a nonexistent
cause for a true cause; for example, teaching others to
imitate the conduct of dogs and cats, or to imitate cows and eat
grass instead of food. Having seen a dog or cat reborn in the
heavens one may want to imitate a dog or cat and thereby hold
deviant knowledge and views.
Sometimes people who have left the home-life are attached to
keeping the precepts. “I hold the precepts,” they brag. “I am a
precept-holder and these are the precepts I hold.” Because there is
a “holder” and “that which is held” they do not understand that the
basic substance of morality is empty. They shouldn’t have
attachments, but they do, and this turns into this servant.
5) The view of grasping at views. Here, a non-existent effect is
taken to be a true effect. The non-ultimate is considered to be
ultimate. The four Dhyanas or the four stations of emptiness are
mistaken for Nirvana.
a) In the first Dhyana, the pulse stops.
b) In the second Dyana, the breath stops. One sits without
breathing, but if one thinks, “I’m not breathing,” then the
breath starts up again.
c) In the third Dhyana there is no thought. In the first and
second, although there is neither pulse nor breath, thinking
continues. In the third, there isn’t even any thought.
d) In the fourth Dhyana, there isn’t any fine thought, only
consciousness. In the third Dhyana, although there is no
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
38
coarse thought, fine thought remains. In the fourth, fine
thought is also cut off.
These are just states; they are not the ultimate goal of
cultivation, which is certification to the fruit. Even the four stations
of emptiness:
a) The station of infinite space,
b) The station of infinite consciousness,
c) The station of nothing whatever, and
d) The station of neither perception nor non-perception, are
not certification to the fruit. They are simply levels of
samadhi.
Those who hold the view of grasping at views think that the
above-mentioned states are Nirvana, like the untutored Bhikshu
who mistook the fourth Dhyana heaven for the fourth fruit of
Arhatship. When the merit which had enabled him to dwell there
was used up and he started to fall, he slandered the Dharma, and
because of this he fell into hell.
The five quick servants are the delusion of views and are called
“quick” because they arrive quickly.
Referring to the delusion of thought and arriving more slowly
are the Five Dull Servants:
1) Greed.
2) Hatred.
3) Stupidity.
4) Pride.
5) Doubt.
Afflictions come from ignorance. When the delusions of
ignorance arise, delusions like dust and sand follow. The delusions
like dust and sand are called the delusions of “I don’t know”
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39
because there is no genuine knowledge. The delusions of views and
thought are called the delusions of “I don’t see.”
Ignorance turns into the first of the five dull servants, greed.
When you want something, greed arises, and with it come all the
various afflictions. The afflictions turn into hatred, and you argue
on your own behalf, never seeing the other person’s side. You only
know yourself and are unaware that other people exist, except in
attempting to ruin them. In this way, reckless and unreasonable,
you become stupid, unable to tell black from white, right from
wrong.
Stupid people are arrogant, and no matter what you say they
doubt it. They doubt the truth and doubt the false even more. All
these doubts are the delusions of thought.
The three categories of delusions, those of views and thought,
dust and sand, and ignorance, all change into affliction. Afflictions
are inexhaustible and endless. Observing this, cultivators vow:
According to the truth of Origination, I Vow to cut off the inexhaustible
afflictions.
According to the truth of the Way, I vow to study the
immeasurable dharma doors:
To cultivate the Way, you must understand all of the limitless
and unbounded Dharma-doors, which are the methods of
cultivation. Unless you understand them, you cannot cultivate.
Relying on the third Holy Truth, the Way, vow to study them.
What is the origin of the Dharma-doors?
The Buddhas spoke all dharmas
for the minds of men.
If there were no minds,
What use would dharmas be?
All dharmas come from the minds of living beings, and each
mind is unique. Since no two minds are alike, all Dharma-doors
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
40
differ. Generally speaking, however, there are three classes of
dharmas:
1) Buddhadharma
2) Mind-dharma
3) Dharma of living beings.
Within the three classes arise the Four Holy Truths, the Six
Perfections, the Twelve Causes and Conditions, and the Thirty-
Seven Limbs of Enlightenment. So many Dharma-doors!
Take, for example, my explanations of the Sutras. When I finish
explaining one Sutra, I begin another, and no sooner have I finished
that one, than I start yet another. Isn’t this measureless? What we
now study is like a drop of water in the sea. We certainly haven’t
got the entire ocean. Vow to master the immeasurable Dharmadoors.
“What are the advantages of studying the Buddhadharma?” you
ask. “It’s a lot of trouble, you know.”
We study the Buddhadharma because we want to realize
Buddhahood.
“But isn’t wanting to realize Buddhahood just another false
thought?”
No, it’s not a false thought. Buddhahood was our position to
begin with; it is our origin. Consequently, everyone can realize
Buddhahood, and we should hurry up and do just that.
“But how?”
According to the truth of extinction, I vow to Realize the
supreme Buddha Way:
The truth of extinction is the attainment of Nirvana, a
realization which carries one beyond production and extinction. If
this attainment is your wish, resolve to cultivate the supreme
Buddha Way. Don’t be skeptical and ask, “Can I really become a
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41
Buddha?” Even if you have doubts, you can become a Buddha; it
will take a little longer, that’s all. Without doubts you can do it right
away. All living beings have the Buddha nature and all can realize
Buddhahood. But this does not mean that all beings are Buddhas.
To arrive at Buddhahood you must cultivate, for without cultivation
living beings are just living beings, not Buddhas. In principle,
everyone can become a Buddha, but unless you cultivate according
to Dharma and rid yourself of greed, hatred, stupidity, pride, and
doubt, you won’t become a Buddha very fast. This completes the
discussion of the four vast vows.
If you wish to accomplish something, you should first make a
vow. Then act upon it. In this way you will naturally attain your
aim. This principle is illustrated by the following story:
Once, Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciple Mahamaudgalyayana
went with a large gathering of followers to another county
to convert living beings. When the citizens saw the Buddha they
shut their doors and ignored him. When they saw Maudgalyayana,
however, they ran to greet him, and everyone, from the King and
ministers to the citizens, all bowed and competed to make offerings
to him. The Buddha’s disciples thought this most unfair. “World
Honored One,” they said, “your virtuous conduct is so lofty; why is
it they do not make offerings to you, but instead compete to make
offerings to Maudgalyayana?”
“This is because of past affinities,” said the Buddha. “I will tell
you…”
“…Limitless aeons ago, Maudgalyayana and I were fellow
countrymen. He gathered firewood in the mountains and I lived in
a hut below. A swarm of bees was bothering me and I decided to
smoke them out. But Maudgalyayana refused to help even though
they stung him until his hands were swollen and painful. Instead, he
made a vow, ‘It must be miserable to be a bee,’ he thought. ‘I vow
that when I attain the Way I will take these asura-like bees across
first thing!’
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
42
“Many lifetimes later the bees were reborn as the citizens of this
country. The queen bee became the King, the drones became the
ministers, and the workers became the citizens. Because I didn’t
like the bees, I now have no affinity with these people and therefore
no one makes offerings to me. But, because of his vows, all the
citizens revere Maudgalyayana.”
Considering this, we should certainly make vows to establish
affinities in order to benefit living creatures.
Practice: Holding The Name
When the water-clearing pearl
is tossed in muddy water,
The muddy water becomes clear.
When the Buddha’s name
enters a confused mind,
The confused mind attains to the Buddha.
This Sutra takes Faith, Vows, and Holding the Name as its
doctrine. Having discussed Faith and Vows, we shall now discuss
Holding the Name.
Reciting the Buddha’s name is like throwing a pearl into muddy
water so that the muddy water becomes clear. This clear-water
pearl can purify even the filthiest water. Recitation of the Buddha’s
name is like this pearl.
Who can count the false thoughts which fill our minds and
succeed one another endlessly like waves on the sea? When the
Buddha’s name enters a confused mind, the confused mind
becomes the Buddha. Recite the name once and there is one
Buddha in your mind; recite it ten times and there are ten Buddhas,
recite it a hundred times and there are a hundred Buddhas. The
more you recite, the more Buddhas there are.
Practice: Holding The Name
43
Say, “Namo Amitabha Buddha,” there’s a Buddha-thought in
your mind. When you are mindful of the Buddha, the Buddha is
mindful of you. It’s like communication by radio or radar. You
recite here, and it’s received there. But if you don’t recite, nothing
is received; so you must hold and recite the name.
In the Dharma-ending age, recitation of the Buddha’s name is a
most important Dharma-door. Don’t take it lightly. Everytime
Dhyana Master Yung Ming Shou, the Sixth Patriarch of the Pure
Land School, recited the Buddha’s name, a transformation Buddha
came out of his mouth. Those with the Five Eyes and Six Spiritual
Penetrations could see it. When you recite the Buddha’s name, you
emit a light which frightens all weird creatures and strange ghosts
away. They run far, far away and leave you alone. So the merit and
virtue of holding the Buddha’s name is inconceivable.
Holding and reciting the Buddha’s name, you should, as it says
in The Doctrine of the Mean, “grasp it tightly in your fist.” Do not
let it go. Thought after thought, recite the name. There are four
methods of reciting.
1) Contemplating and thinking Buddha-recitation.
2) Contemplating an image Buddha-recitation.
3) Real Mark Buddha-recitation.
4) Holding the name Buddha-recitation.
The first, contemplating and thinking Buddha recitation,
consists of the contemplation of Amitabha Buddha:
Amitabha Buddha’s body is of golden hue,
His fine marks radiant beyond compare.
His white light is as high as
five Mount Sumerus,
His purple eyes as clear and vast as
four great seas.
Countless transformation Buddhas
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
44
appear within the light,
With transformation Bodhisattvas,
also limitless.
His forty-eight vows take
living beings across;
In nine grades of lotuses they ascend
to the other shore.
Amitabha Buddha’s appearance is the result of the perfection of
his merit and virtue. He has all of the 32 marks and the 80 minor
characteristics of a Buddha and his bright light is incomparable.
Between his eyebrows there are fine white beams of light as big as
five Mount Sumerus, and his eyes are as large as four great seas.
How big do you think his body is?
There are nine grades of lotuses:
1) Superior superior
2) Superior middle
3) Superior inferior
4) Middle superior
5) Middle middle
6) Middle inferior
7) Inferior superior
8) Inferior middle
9) Inferior inferior
Each of the nine grades also has nine ranks, making 81 in all.
Living beings in all of these grades are led to the other shore-
Nirvana.
The second kind of Buddha-recitation, contemplating the
image, consists of making offerings to an image of Amitabha
Buddha and reciting his name while contemplating it. Contemplate,
and in time you will have success.
Practice: Holding The Name
45
When you achieve the third, Real Mark recitation, even if you
try, you cannot stop reciting the Buddha’s name. The recitation
flows like water and lives within you. This is the state of the
Buddha-recitation samadhi: reciting and yet not reciting, not
reciting and yet reciting.
The fourth kind of Buddha-recitation is that of holding the
name. Both moving and still, one recites, “Namo Amitabha
Buddha.” Recitation must be clear and distinct and the three karmas
of body, mouth, and mind must be pure. The mouth is free from the
four evil karmas of
1) abusive language,
2) profanity,
3) lying, and
4) gossip, and the body is without the three evil karmas of
5) killing,
6) stealing, or
7) sexual misconduct.
The minds has no
8) greed,
9) hatred, or
10) stupidity.
When one is free of the ten evil deeds, then the karma of body,
mouth, and mind is pure. In this way, one thought pure is one
thought of the Buddha; when every thought is pure, every thought
is of the Buddha.
The pure heart is like the moon in the water;
The mind in samadhi is like the cloudless sky.
If you can recite so completely that you enter the Buddharecitation
samadhi, then hearing the wind, it’s “Namo Amitabha
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
46
Buddha,” and hearing the rain, it’s “Namo Amitabha Buddha.”
Every sound you hear recites the Buddha’s name.
The water flows,
The wind blows,
Proclaiming the Mahayana…
The Chinese poet Su T’ung P’o said,
Of the colors of the mountain,
None are not his vast, long tongue.
Of the sounds of the streams,
All are the clear, pure sound.
All the mountain’s colors are the Buddha’s long tongue
proclaiming the wonderful Dharma. This is the attainment of the
Buddha-recitation samadhi.
So I wrote this verse:
If you recite the Buddha’s name,
reciting without cease,
The mouth recite “Amita”
and makes things of a piece.
Scattered thoughts do not arise,
samadhi you attain.
For rebirth in the Pure Land,
your hope is not in vain.
If all day you detest
the suffering Saha’s pain,
Make rebirth in Ultimate Bliss
your mind’s essential aim.
Cut off the red dust
thoughts within your mind.
Put down impure reflections,
and pure thoughts you will find.
Discussing the Function
47
Recite the Buddha’s name from morning to night and your
confused thoughts will not arise. You will naturally attain the
Buddha-recitation samadhi and be reborn in the Land of Ultimate
Bliss, according to your will. You know that the Saha world is full
of pain and suffering; so cut off worldly pleasures and have no
thoughts of sexual desire, craving, or struggling for fame and profit.
Put down all worldly concerns and view them as false. Seek rebirth,
ultimate bliss; this thought of rebirth is extremely important.
The verse clearly explains the principles of reciting the
Buddha’s name. Holding and reciting the name is like picking up
something in your hand and never letting it go. Recite “Namo
Amitabha Buddha” every day and chase out your scattered
thoughts.
This Dharma-door fights poison with poison. False thinking is
like poison, and unless you counter it with poison, you will never
cure it. Reciting the Buddha’s name is fighting false thinking with
false thinking. It is like sending out an army to defeat an army, to
fight a battle to end all battles. If you have a good defense, other
countries won’t attack. Constant recitation drives out false thinking
so that you may attain the Buddha-recitation samadhi.
The third of the Five-fold Profound Meanings, then, is to take
Faith, Vows, and Holding the Name as the doctrine.
Discussing the Function
Discussing the Function. The fourth of the Five-fold Profound
Meanings is to determine the Sutra’s power and use. Its power is
that of “non-retreat” and its use is rebirth. Reborn in the Land of
Ultimate Bliss, you attain to the stage of no retreat. Cultivators of
other Dharma-doors are somewhat insecure; no one insures them.
They may recite mantras or Sutras for several years and then retreat
with a feeling of no accomplishment or gain. If not in this life, they
may retreat in the next. Perhaps they are vigorous now, but later
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Five-fold Profound Meanings
48
they take a rest. To say nothing of common people, even Arhats
have the “confusion of dwelling in the womb” and forget their
spiritual penetrations. Bodhisattvas have the confusion called
“splitting the yin,” which means the same thing. If they meet a good
knowing advisor who teaches them to cultivate, they can wake up.
Otherwise, life after life, they retreat and find it very hard to bring
forth the Bodhi-heart again. It is easy to regress.
Born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, there is no back-sliding, just
vigorous progress. One attains the four kinds of Non-retreat:
1) Non-retreating position. Born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss,
you attain the Buddha-position. Born by transformation from a
lotus, when the flower blooms, you see the Buddha, hear the
Dharma, awaken to the unproduced dharma-patience, and never fall
again.
2) Non-retreating conduct. Most people cultivate vigorously
for one life, but in the next, they are lazy. In the Land of Ultimate
Bliss there is none of the suffering of the three evil paths. The
KalaviÒka birds and two-headed birds all help Amitabha Buddha
speak about the Dharma. Reborn there, one will no longer be lazy
in conduct but will only go forward with courage and vigor.
3) Non-retreating thought. In the Saha world we cultivate
vigorously, but after a time we feel it’s too bitter, too restrictive, too
uncomfortable, and so we are no longer vigorous. Lazy thoughts
arise and although we have not yet retreated in conduct, we have in
thought. Several decades pass quickly and thoughts of retreat
greatly out-number those of vigor. It’s difficult not to regress.
In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, one hears the Dharma spoken all
day and all night long. One has no thoughts of retreat from the
Bodhi-mind. All thoughts are irreversible.
4) Ultimate Non-retreat. Transformationally born from a lotus,
you will never, under any circumstances, retreat again either to the
level of a common person or to the Small Vehicle or Bodhisattva
Determining the Teaching Mark
49
level. Born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss you obtain these four
kinds of Non-retreat.
Determining the Teaching Mark
The Tripitaka is divided into three parts: Sutras, which deal
with samadhi, Sastras, which deal with wisdom, and Vinaya, which
deal with morality. This text belongs to the Sutra division, and as
such it is permanent and unchanging, two characteristics of Sutras.
When all other Buddhadharmas have become extinct, this Sutra
will remain in the world an additional hundred years and save
limitless living beings. For this reason, it differs from other Sutras.
Of the three vehicles, Sravakas, Conditionally Enlightened
Ones, and Bodhisattvas, this Sutra belongs to the Bodhisattva
Vehicle. It takes across Bodhisattvas suited to the Great Vehicle.
Knowing the Sutra’s title classification and its Five-fold
Profound Meanings, we now have a general understanding of The
Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra.
“Young Kumarajiva will certainly live to a great age.” One
could also say, “He is young in years, but mature in wisdom,
eloquence, and virtue.” He has the wisdom of an old, old man, and
so he is called “Youth of Long Life.”17
It was Kumarajiva, the youth with the virtuous conduct of an
elder, who translated The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra from
Sanskrit into Chinese.
17. tong shou
50
P A R T I I
THE TRANSLATOR
Sutra:
Translated by Tripitaka Master Kumarajiva of Yao
Ch’in.
Commentary:
Yao Ch’in is the name of the reign period of emperor Yao
Hsing. It is not the same period as that of Ch’in Shih Huang called
the Ying Ch’in, or that of Fu Chien, which is called Fu Ch’in.
Before the time of Emperor Yao Hsing, and during the time of
Fu Chien, a man named Ch’in T’ien Chien said to Fu Chien, “Now
one of great wisdom should come to China to aid our government.”
Fu Chien said, “It is probably Kumarajiva, for he is honored and
respected in India for his wisdom.”
Kumarajiva
Kumarajiva’s father, Kumarayana, was the son of a prime
minister. He should have succeeded his father, but instead he left
his home and went everywhere looking for a teacher. Although he
hadn’t left the home-life in the formal sense by taking the complete
precepts, he still cultivated the Way, and in his travels went to the
country of Kucha in central Asia. The King of Kucha had a little
The Translator
51
sister, and when she saw Kumarayana she said to the King, “I really
love this man.” The King gave his sister in marriage to Kumarayana
and she soon became pregnant.
When Kumarajiva was still in his mother’s womb, it was much
like the situation with Shariputra and his mother. Kumarajiva’s
mother could defeat everyone in debate. At that time an Arhat said,
“The child in this woman’s womb is certainly one of great
wisdom.”
When Kumarajiva was seven years old, his mother took him to
a temple to worship the Buddha. Kumarajiva picked up a large
bronze incense urn and effortlessly lifted it over his head. Then he
thought, “Hey, I’m just a child. How can I lift this heavy urn?”
With this one thought, the urn crashed to the ground. From this he
realized the meaning of the doctrine, “Everything is made from the
mind alone,” and he and his mother left the home-life.
Kumarajiva’s mother had difficulty leaving the home-life.
Although Kumarajiva’s father had previously cultivated the Way,
he was now too much in love with his wife to permit her to leave
home. Thereupon, she went on a strict fast. “Unless you allow me
to leave home,” she said, “I won’t eat or drink. I’ll starve myself.”
“Then don’t eat or drink, if that’s what you want,” said her
husband, “but I’ll never let you leave home.”
For six days she didn’t eat or drink, not even fruit juice, and she
became extremely weak. Finally, Kumarayana said, “This is too
dangerous. You’re going to starve to death. You may leave home,
but please eat something.”
“First call in a Dharma Master to cut off my hair,” she said,
“and then I’ll eat.” A Dharma Master came and shaved her head,
and then she ate. Shortly after leaving home, she certified to the
first fruit of Arhatship.
Soon after that, Kumarajiva, her son, also left the home-life.
Everyday he read and recited many Sutras, and once he read them,
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Translator
52
he never forgot them. He was not like some of you who have recited
the Shurangama Mantra for several months, but still need the book.
Because of his faultless memory he defeated all non-Buddhist
philosophers in India and became very well known.
His reputation spread to China, and when Fu Chien heard of
him he sent the great General Lu Kuang and seventy thousand
troops to Kucha to capture Kumarajiva and bring him back to
China. Kumarajiva said to the King of Kucha, “China is sending
troops, but do not oppose them. They don’t wish to take the
country. They have another purpose and you should grant them
their request.”
The King’s uncle wouldn’t listen to Kumarajiva and he went to
war with the general from China, Lu Kuang. As a result, the King
of Kucha was put to death, the country defeated, and Kumarajiva
captured.
On the way back to China, General Lu Kuang one day prepared
to camp in a low valley. Kumarajiva, who had spiritual powers,
knew a rain was coming which would flood the valley. He told the
General, “Don’t camp here tonight. This place is dangerous.”
But Lu Kuang had no faith in Kumarajiva. “You’re a monk,” he
said. “What do you know about military affairs?” That night there
was a deluge and many men and horses were drowned. General Lu
Kuang then knew that Kumarajiva was truly inconceivable.
They proceeded until they heard that there had been a change in
the Chinese government. Emperor Fu Chien had been deposed, and
Yao Ch’ang had seized the throne. General Lu Kuang maintained
his neutrality, and did not return to China. Yao Ch’ang was
Emperor for several years, and when he died, his nephew Yao
Hsing took the throne. It was Yao Hsing who dispatched a party to
invite Kumarajiva to China to translate Sutras. A gathering of over
eight-hundred Bhikshus assembled to assist him in this work.
The Translator
53
We have proof that Kumarajiva’s translations are extremely
accurate. When he was about to complete the stillness, that is, die,
he said, “I have translated numerous Sutras during my life-time,
and I personally don’t know if my translations are correct. If they
are, when I am cremated my tongue will not burn; but if there are
mistakes, it will.” When he died, his body was burned, but his
tongue remained intact.
The T’ang dynasty Vinaya Master Tao Hsuan once asked the
god Lu Hsuan Ch’ang, “Why does everyone prefer to read and
study Kumarajiva’s translations?” The god replied, “Kumarajiva
has been the Translation Master for the past seven Buddhas and so
his translations are accurate.”
The Tripitaka is the collection of Buddhist scriptures. It is
divided into three parts: Sutras, which deal with samadhi, Sastras,
which deal with wisdom, and the Vinaya, which is the study of
moral precepts.
A Dharma Master
1) takes the Dharma as his master and
2) gives the Dharma to others.
Some Dharma Masters chant Sutras, some maintain them in their
minds and practice them with their bodies, some write them out,
and some explain them to others.
The Dharma Master spoken of here is Kumarajiva. This
Sanskrit name means “youth of long life.” One could say, “Young
Kumarajiva will certainly live to a great age.” One could also say,
“He is young in years, but mature in wisdom, eloquence, and virtue.
He has the wisdom of an old, old man, and so he is called “Youth
of Long Life.”
It was Kumarajiva, the youth with the virtuous conduct of an
elder, who translated The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra from
Sanskrit into Chinese.
54
P A R T I I I
THE PREFACE
All Sutras may be divided into three parts:
1) the Preface,
2) the Principle Proper, and
3) the Transmission.
The Preface discusses the Sutra’s general meaning, the
Principle Proper discusses its doctrines, and the Transmission
instructs us to transmit the Sutra, to propagate it and make it flow,
like water, everywhere. The Preface is like a person’s head, and the
Principle Proper is like his body. Just as our organs are very clearly
arranged within our bodies, so are the doctrines clearly set forth
within the Sutras.
The Preface may also be called the “Afterword.” “Isn’t that a
contradiction,” you ask. It is not a contradiction because it wasn’t
spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha himself, but was added later when
Ananda and Mahakasyapa edited the Sutras. It may also be called
the “Arising of Dharma” Preface because it sets forth the reasons
the Sutra was spoken. It is also called the “Certification of Faith”
Preface because it proves that the Sutra can be believed.
In the Preface, Six Requirements are fulfilled. They are
1) faith,
The Preface
55
2) hearer,
3) time,
4) host,
5) place, and
6) audience.
Sutra:
Thus I have heard. At one time the Buddha dwelt at
Sravasti, in the Jeta Grove, in the Garden of the Benefactor
of Orphans and the Solitary, together with a gathering of
great Bhikshus, twelve hundred fifty in all, all great Arhats
whom the assembly knew and recognized.
Commentary:
Thus fulfills the requirement of faith. I have heard fulfills the
requirement of the hearer. At one time fulfills the requirement of
time and the Buddha is the host. Sravasti, in the Garden of the
Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary fulfills the requirement of
place, the gathering of great Bhikshus fulfills the audience
requirement. Because all six requirements are fulfilled, we know
that the Sutra can be believed.
Thus I have heard…
What does Thus mean? Thus fills the requirement of faith. You
can have faith in Dharma which is Thus, not in dharma which is not
Thus. Thus designates the text as orthodox Buddhadharma.
Thus means it is Thus..
Thus is stillness: it is denotes movement.
If it is Thus, it is; if it is not Thus, it is not.
Whatever is not non-existent, exists; whatever is without error
is correct.
Thus means “still and unmoving.”
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
56
Thus is true emptiness; ‘it is’ is wonderful existence.
Wonderful existence is not apart from true emptiness.
True emptiness is not apart from wonderful existence.
Emptiness and existence are non-dual:
Both empty and existing, neither empty nor existing.
This Dharma can be believed.
The four words ‘Thus I have heard’ begin all Buddhist Sutras.
It is Thus; if it were not Thus it would not be correct. This is the
doctrine, and Dharma which is Thus can be believed.
I have heard…
Ananda says that he himself personally heard this teaching. But,
having given proof to the fruit of Arhatship, basically Ananda has
no ego. How can he say, “I have heard?” This is the “self of noself.”
Ananda says, “I have heard” in order to be comprehensible to
ordinary people, who have a “self.”
Heard fills the accomplishment of the hearer. Why does one
have faith? Because one has heard. If one hadn’t heard, how could
one have faith?
57
Ananda’s Four Questions
The use of ‘Thus I have heard’ comes from instructions given to
Ananda by the Buddha just before the Buddha entered Nirvana:
One day Shakyamuni Buddha announced, “Tonight, in the
middle of the night, I am going to enter Nirvana!” When Ananda
heard this he was so distraught that he cried like a baby for its
mother and called, “Buddha, Buddha, please don’t enter Nirvana!
Please don’t cast us all aside!” He cried and pleaded until his brain
got addled, probably because he thought that this was what he
should be doing.
Just then a blind man came by, one unlike other blind men. His
ordinary eyes were blind, but his Heavenly Eye was open. Because
he was blind, he wasn’t burdened with a lot of false thinking, and
his mind was very clear. “Venerable One,” he said, addressing
Ananda, “Why are you crying?”
“The Buddha is about to enter Nirvana,” Ananda replied. “How
can I hold back my tears?”
The eyeless elder replied, “How can you do your work if you
cry? After the Buddha enters Nirvana, we will have to establish
many things. There is work to be done and questions to be asked.”
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
58
“What questions?” said Ananda. “The Buddha is going to
Nirvana. What is there left to do? What could be more important
than the Buddha’s Nirvana?”
The blind man, whose name was Aniruddha, and who was
foremost in the capacity of the Heavenly Eye, said, “There are four
extremely important matters which must be settled.”
“What are they?” asked Ananda.
“Compiling the Sutras is one,” he said. “With what words
should we begin each Sutra?”
“True!” said Ananda. “That is important. It’s a good thing you
brought it up. I never would have thought of it myself. All I can
think of is the Buddha going to Nirvana. What is the second
question I should ask?”
The Venerable Aniruddha said, “We have taken the Buddha as
our teacher, but when he goes to Nirvana, who will be our teacher?
Should we look for another teacher?”
“Right, right!” said Ananda. “We should find another good
teacher. You’re quite right. What is the third?”
Aniruddha said, “Now we live with the Buddha, but when he
goes to Nirvana, where will we live?”
“That is very important,” said Ananda. “Without a place to live,
how can we cultivate the Way? Should we find someplace else to
live? These three matters are extremely important. What is the
fourth?”
Aniruddha said, “The Buddha can discipline evil-natured
Bhikshus, but after he goes to Nirvana, how shall we take care of
them?”
“Now, an evil-natured Bhikshu does nothing but disturb other
people. If you meditate, he walks around, ‘Clomp! Clomp!’ making
a lot of noise so that no one can enter samadhi. When people are
walking, he sits to meditate. ‘Look at me!’ he says. ‘I sit much
Ananda’s Four Questions
59
better than all of you,’ and pretends to have entered samadhi. When
people are bowing to the Buddha, the evil-natured Bhikshu likes to
recite Sutras, and when people are reciting Sutras, he likes to bow
to the Buddha. In general, he’s got to have a special style—‘the
evil-natured-Bhikshu style’—and he does not follow the rules. If
everyone goes one way, he goes the opposite way. He has no
consideration for anyone else, but expects everyone to notice him.
‘He’s terrific,’ everyone says. ‘He really cultivates.’ He insists on
being special so that others will notice him and say that he is the
best. Fiercely competitive, he must be the strongest, outstanding
among the best. He stands like an asura with his hands on his hips
as if to say, ‘See what a great hero I am?’ He has to be different and
outdo everyone else.”
“When the Buddha was in the world, he could control such evil
natured Bhikshus, and they obeyed his instructions. But after he
entered Nirvana who would supervise them? And who could
control the evil-natured laymen who say, “Look at me. I’m more
dedicated than all you other laymen. Actually, it’s just because of
him and his special style that no one else is dedicated. Aniruddha
said. “When the Buddha goes to Nirvana, what are we going to do
with the evil-natured Bhikshus and evil-natured laymen?”
“These are important questions,” said Ananda. “I’ll go ask right
away.” He wiped his eyes, blew his nose, and ran off to the Buddha.
“Buddha, Great Master,” he said, “I have four questions which I
would like to ask you before you go to Nirvana. World Honored
One, won’t you be compassionate and answer them?”
“All right,” said the Buddha.
“Buddha,” said Ananda, “you have spoken many Sutras. When
we compile and edit them, with what words should they begin?”
The Buddha said, “All Sutras spoken by the Buddhas of the
past, present, and future begin with the words, ‘Thus I have heard,’
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
60
which means, ‘The Dharma which is Thus can be believed. I
personally heard it.’”
Ananda said, “Secondly, you are our Master, but when you
enter Nirvana, who will be our teacher? Please instruct us. Should
it be Mahakasyapa?”
The Buddha said, “No. When I go to Nirvana, take the
Pratimoksa, the precepts, as your teacher. To accord with the
Buddha’s instructions, those who leave home must first receive the
precepts.”
Then Ananda said, “We have always lived with you, Buddha,
but when you enter Nirvana, where are we going to live?”
Shakyamuni Buddha said, “When I go to Nirvana, all Bhikshus,
Bhikshunis, Upasakas, and Upasikas should dwell in the Four
Applications of Mindfulness: Mindfulness with regard to the body,
feelings, thoughts, and dharmas.
1) Contemplate the body as impure. If you know that the body
is impure, you won’t love it, and without love there will be no
attachment. Being without attachment is freedom. So first of all,
regard the body as impure.
2) Contemplate feelings as suffering. Feelings are all a kind of
suffering, whether they are pleasant or unpleasant, for pleasant
feelings are the cause of unpleasant feelings.
3) Contemplate thought as impermanent. Thoughts shift and
flow and are not permanent.
4) Contemplate dharmas as devoid of self.”
Ananda further asked, “How should we treat evil-natured
Bhikshus?”
The Buddha said, “That is no problem at all. Simply be silent
and they will go away. Fight evil people with concentration power.
Don’t be moved by them. If they are evil, don’t be evil in return. If
a mad dog bites you and you bite him back, you’re just a dog
Ananda’s Four Questions
61
yourself. Evil-natured people are born with a bad temper. All you
can do is ignore them and they will soon lose interest and leave.”
“Oh,” said Ananda, “it’s really very simple.”
Why did the Buddha tell Ananda to use the four words “Thus I
have heard?” These four words have three meanings:
1) To distinguish Buddhist Sutras from the writings of other
religions. Non-Buddhist religions in India began their texts with the
words “A” or “O” which means “non-existence” or “existence.” As
these opposing religions see it, all dharmas in heaven and earth
either exist or do not exist. “If it is not non-existent,” they say,
“then it exists, and if it doesn’t exist, then it’s non-existent.” In
general, as far as they can see, nothing goes beyond existence and
non-existence. “In the beginning there wasn’t anything,” they
write, “but now there is.” None of these religions speaks of true
emptiness and wonderful existence. Their doctrines may resemble
them somewhat, but they don’t explain them in detail.
Buddhist Sutras are “Thus.” They are just that way. The
Dharma is just that way. You ask, “What is not that way?”
Everything is that way. If you question it and say, ‘What is that
way?’ then nothing is that way. “Thus” is extremely wonderful.
The words “Thus I have heard” distinguish Buddhist Sutras from
the writings of other religions.
2) To resolve the doubts of the assembly. The Buddha knew
that everyone would have doubts. After the Buddha’s Nirvana,
while Ananda and Mahakasyapa were editing the Sutras, Ananda
sat on the Dharma-seat to speak the Dharma. Seeing him sitting on
the Buddha’s seat, the members of the assembly suddenly gave rise
to three doubts:
a) Some thought, “Shakyamuni Buddha hasn’t completed
the stillness! He hasn’t gone to Nirvana. Our Master
lives!” They thought Ananda was Shakyamuni Buddha
come back to life.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
62
b) Others thought, “Shakyamuni Buddha has already entered
Nirvana. This must be a Buddha from another direction:
north, east, south, or west.”
c) “No,” said others, “the Great Master has gone to Nirvana.
He hasn’t come back to life, and the Buddhas of the other
directions teach people in other directions. They would
never come all the way to the Saha world. Why, Ananda
himself must have realized Buddhahood!”
The assembly held these three doubts until Ananda said, “Thus
I have heard.” As soon as he said them, everyone knew that
Shakyamuni Buddha hadn’t come back. They knew it was not a
Buddha from another direction, and that Ananda had not become a
Buddha. The Dharma which is ‘Thus” is that which Ananda
personally heard from Shakyamuni Buddha. Three doubts suddenly
arose and four words resolved them.
3) To end the assembly’s debates. Of all the great Bhikshus,
Ananda was the youngest. He was born on the day Shakyamuni
Buddha realized Buddhahood, and when the Buddha went to
Nirvana, Ananda was only forty-nine years old. Why was Ananda
selected to explain and edit the Sutras? Old Kasyapa was the eldest,
and Maudgalyayana and Shariputra were both of higher status than
Ananda. There were many others in the assembly with more Wayvirtue
and learning than him.
He was the youngest and it was likely that no one would believe
in him and that many would try to be first. One might say, “I’ve
heard more Sutras than you so I should explain them.” But when
Ananda said, “Thus I have heard,” everyone knew that these were
not Ananda’s principles, or the principles of the Great Assembly.
“This is the Dharma which I, Ananda, personally heard the Buddha
speak. It is not your teaching and not my teaching; it is our Master’s
teaching. You are not first and I am not first.” This silenced the
assembly’s debates.
63
The Four Applications Of Mindfulness
1) Contemplation of the body as impure. Everyone sees his
body as extremely precious. Because you think it is real, you are
selfish and profit-seeking. Without a body, there would be no
selfishness.
We think our bodies are real and actual. Being selfish, we create
offenses and commit evil deeds. We cannot let go of the affairs of
the world and calculate on behalf of our bodies all day long,
looking for good food, beautiful clothes, and a nice place to live—
a little happiness for the body. On the day we die, we are still
unclear. “My body is dying,” we moan. “How can it do this to me?”
At that time we know that our bodies are unreal, but it’s too late, too
late for our regrets.
Ultimately, is the body real? Stupid people think so, but wise
people see it merely as a combination of the four elements: earth,
air, fire, and water. It is not ultimate.
“Then,” you ask, “what is ultimate?”
Our own self-nature is
bright and all-illumining;
Our own-self-nature is
perfect and unimpeded.
It is nowhere and nowhere is it not;
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
64
to the end of empty space,
it exhausts the Dharma Realm.
Our bodies are temporary dwellings where our self-nature
comes to live for a time. But the person dwelling in the hotel is not
the hotel, and in the same way, his body is not him. The traveller
who thinks that he is the hotel is mistaken. If you know that the
body is just like a hotel, you should seek that which dwells within
it, for once you have found it, you will recognize your true self.
From the time of birth, the body is impure—a combination of its
father’s semen and its mother’s blood. The child grows up with
greed, hate, stupidity, pride, and doubt. He commits offenses,
creating the karma of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying
and taking intoxicants and drugs. Offense-karma is created because
of the body. But is the body such a precious thing after all? No.
A precious jewel is pure and undefiled, without stain or the
slightest trace of filth. Our bodies, on the other hand, have nine
apertures which constantly secrete impure substances: tears from
the eyes, wax from the ears, mucus from the nose…
There are religions whose members eat mucus. They say that
they are “smelting the cinnabar.” They also eat tears and ear wax
thinking that these filthy substances are precious jewels. Isn’t that
pitiful?
Two ears, two eyes, and two nostrils make six holes. The mouth
is full of phlegm and saliva. That’s seven holes. Add the anus and
urinary tract and you have nine. Would you call this pure?
Everyone knows that excrement and urine are unclean and, if you
don’t believe it, just try seasoning some fine food with a tiny pinch
of excrement. No one will eat it. People will want to vomit instead
because it is unclean. Would you call this body, dribbling filth from
nine holes, a jewel? If it’s a jewel, why do such vile things flow
from it?
The Four Applications Of Mindfulness
65
If you don’t bathe for a week, you itch and squirm and a thick
crust forms on your body. Where did it come from? Soon you stink
with an odor even a dog finds repulsive. What is the advantage of
having a body? Contemplate the body as impure. If you see how
filthy it is, do you still love it? Are you still attached? What’s the
use of loving such a dirty thing?
“Then can I stab myself? Can I kill myself?” you ask.
No. That’s not necessary. You must borrow this false body and
use it to cultivate the Truth. The self-nature dwells within the body.
You entered the body of five skandhas and the yin and yang merged
in a combination of purity and filth which is your body. If you
cultivate, you can go up, and attain purity. If you do not cultivate
you will go down, create offense karma, unite with the filth, and
turn into a ghost.
Go up. Become a Buddha. Whether or not you cultivate is up to
you, however. Nobody can force you to cultivate.
The Venerable Ananda thought that because he was the
Buddha’s cousin, he didn’t need to cultivate. He thought that the
Buddha would just give him samadhi. But the Buddha couldn’t do
that, and so it was not until after the Buddha’s Nirvana, when
Ananda was about to edit the Sutras, that he finally certified to the
fourth Stage of Arhatship and realized that he could not neglect
cultivation.
Be mindful that the body is impure, don’t be so fond of it, and
don’t take it as a treasure.
You say, “I can’t stand criticism. I can’t stand it.”
Who are you?
“If they hit me, I can’t bear it. It hurts!”
Really? If you put your attachments down and see through
them, there is neither pain nor not pain. Who is in pain? What,
exactly, hurts? If someone hits you, pretend that you bumped into a
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
66
wall. If someone scolds you, pretend that they are singing a song or
speaking Japanese. How can they scold you if you don’t understand
them?
“Are they speaking Spanish or Portugese? French? German?
I’ve never studied languages so I don’t understand…” They can
scold you, but it’s nothing. In general, once you see through, break,
and put down the attachment to your body, you win your independence.
Contemplate your body as impure. Don’t regard it with so much
importance. It’s not important.
Contemplate feelings, thoughts, and dharmas as impure also.
2) Contemplate feelings as suffering. Feelings may be pleasant,
unpleasant or neutral; from the point of view of the three sufferings,
unpleasant feelings are the suffering within suffering, pleasant
feelings are caught up in the suffering of decay, and neutral feelings
are the suffering of process. Wake up! Everything you enjoy is a
form of suffering. If you know that pleasure is suffering, you will
not be attached to it. I often say:
Enduring suffering puts an end to suffering;
Enjoying blessings destroys blessings.
If you endure your suffering, it will pass. If you enjoy your
blessings, they, too, will pass. Contemplate feelings as suffering.
The body, thought, and dharmas are also suffering. Although
there are Four Applications of Mindfulness, you can divide them
up; each of the four characteristic qualities, impurity, suffering,
impermanence, and the absence of self, can be applied to the body,
to feelings, to thoughts, and to dharmas, making sixteen
applications in all.
3) Contemplate thoughts as impermanent. The Vajra Sutra
says, “Past thought cannot be obtained, present thought cannot be
obtained, and future thought cannot be obtained.”
The Four Applications Of Mindfulness
67
All your thoughts are unobtainable. They flow without stopping
and so they are impermanent. The body, feelings and dharmas are
also impermanent.
4) Contemplate dharmas as without self. Basically, since there
are no dharmas, from whence cometh the self? The self is a
combination of four elements and the five skandhas—a creation of
form dharmas. Outside of the four elements and the five skandhas
there is no self. So contemplate dharmas as being without a self.
The Four Applications of Mindfulness are very wonderful. If
you investigate them thoroughly, understand and dwell on them,
you will be unattached and will attain true freedom. If you’re
attached, you can’t be free. Why? Because you’re attached! So
dwell in the Four Applications of Mindfulness. Dwell and yet do
not dwell.
68
The Six Requirements
Ananda’s fourth question concerned evil-natured Bhikshus.
The Buddha said, “Be silent and they will leave.” Even while the
Buddha was in the world, there were evil-natured Bhikshus,
laymen, and ordinary people. “If you ignore them.” The Buddha
said, “they will get bored and leave.”
Thus I have heard. Thus fills the requirement of 1) faith. The
Dharma which is Thus can be believed. Dharma, which is not Thus,
cannot be believed. I have heard fills the requirement of 2) hearing.
“Since the ears do the hearing, “you may ask, “why does it say I
have heard?” This is because whereas the ears are just a small part
of the body, I refers to the whole person. At one time fills the
requirement of 3) time.
“Why,” you may ask, “doesn’t the Sutra give the month, day,
and year?”
Calendars differ from nation to nation. Some countries begin
the year in the first month, some in the second or third month of
another country’s calendar. There is no one way to indicate the
date, and, what is more, if the date were given, people would start
doing research to determine if it was correct. Because the Sutra
only states, At one time, there is no demand for historical verification.
The Six Requirements
69
In order to speak the Dharma, there must be an 4) audience; in
this case it was the gathering of great Bhikshus. The audience must
also have the time to come and listen, for if they don’t stay, of what
use is their faith? They must have the time to listen, they must want
to hear the Dharma, and they must believe in it. Then there must
also be a Dharma-speaking host. In this case, the Buddha is the 5)
host, and the 6) place is Sravasti, in the Garden of the Benefactor of
Orphans and the Solitary. Therefore, in the opening sentences of
the Sutra, all six requirements are fulfilled.
Sravasti is the name of a city in India. Translated, it means
“abundance and virtue,”18 because the seven jewels, gold, silver,
lapiz lazuli, crystal, mother-of- pearl, red pearls, and carnelian, and
the objects of the five desires, beauty, wealth, fame, food, and
sleep, were in abundance there. The people of Sravasti were very
intelligent and had the virtue of great learning and liberation.
You could also say that the objects of the five desires are forms,
sounds, smells, tastes, and tangibles. The states connected with the
objects of the five desires turn people’s wisdom upside-down. The
eyes run off after forms, the ears after sounds, the nose after smell,
the tongue after tastes, and the body after tangibles. Deluded people
spin around and around in pursuit of the objects of the five desires.
The people of Sravasti had great learning and refinement. They
were also liberated free, and unfettered, and were only slightly
attached.
18. feng de
70
The Benefactor’s Garden
In the Jeta Grove, in the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans
and the Solitary… Anathapindada, whose name means “benefactor
of orphans and the solitary,”19 was a wealthy elder who lived in the
city of Sravasti. He was also known as Sudatta, which means
“joyous giving.”20 He was a rich man, but he didn’t understand the
Buddhadharma. In fact, he had never even heard the Buddha’s
name. One day, while arranging for his son’s marriage, he visited a
friend, the wealthy elder Shan T’an No. That night Shan T’an No
rose and began to decorate his house. Sudatta asked, “You’re
adorning the house so beautifully, is there to be a celebration? Is
your son going to be married?”
“No,” said Shan T’an No. “I have invited the Buddha to receive
offerings.”
When Sudatta heard the word “Buddha,” every hair on his body
stood straight up on end. “Who is the Buddha?” he gasped.
“The Buddha is the Crown Prince, son of King Suddhodana. He
would have been the king, but he left home to cultivate the Way and
became a Buddha instead. I have invited him here to receive
offerings.”
19. ji gu du
20. le shi
The Benefactor’s Garden
71
Having heard the word “Buddha,” Sudatta couldn’t get back to
sleep. Shakyamuni Buddha knew that Sudatta’s heart was sincere
and he emitted a light which shone so brightly that Sudatta thought
it was dawn, got out of bed, and went out of the city. The city gate
was locked, but the Buddha opened it with his spiritual powers and
Sudatta proceeded to the Buddha’s dwelling in the Bamboo Grove.
Just as Sudatta arrived, four gods descended, circumambulated
the Buddha three times, and then bowed in order to show Sudatta
the proper gestures of respect. Because Sudatta had never seen the
Buddha or heard the Dharma, he followed the gods’ example and
the Buddha explained the Dharma to him. Sudatta was delighted
and said, “Buddha, you have so many followers, you really need a
big place to live. I shall prepare one and invite you to live there.”
“Fine,” said the Buddha.
Sudatta looked, but he couldn’t find the right land. Finally, he
saw Prince Jeta’s garden. It was big enough, but Prince Jeta refused
to sell. “If you want to buy my garden,” he laughed, “first cover it
with gold coins. That’s my price.”
Sudatta didn’t stay to bargain with him, he just said “Okay,”
and moved his treasury, piece by piece, to the garden and covered
the entire grove. “Now your garden belongs to me,” he said to
Prince Jeta.
“I was only joking,” said the Prince, annoyed. “I’m keeping it
for myself. How could I sell it to you?”
“You told me that you would sell if I covered it with gold, and
I took you at your word,” Sudatta said. “If you plan to be a king,
you really shouldn’t joke with people. A king’s word must stand.”
“Very well,” said the Prince, “you covered the ground with
gold, so the park is yours. But you didn’t cover the trees. The trees
are mine! But I’ll give them as a donation…”
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
72
Because the trees belonged to Prince Jeta, it is called the Jeta
Grove, and because the garden was Sudatta’s, it’s called the Garden
of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary.
In China, when Keng Wen established the nation, he assisted
four kinds of poor people: widows, widowers, orphans, and the
childless, or solitary. Sudatta also gave aid to these four kinds of
people, and so he is known as the Benefactor of Orphans and the
Solitary, that is, Anathapindada.
Together with a gathering of great Bhikshus, twelve hundred
and fifty in all… This phrase fulfills the audience requirement.
Together means that they studied under the same teacher, lived in
the same place, and investigated the Buddhadharma together. They
all had the same Bodhi mind and had opened the same wisdom,
attained the same result, and would together realize Buddhahood.
Because they had so much in common, the text reads, together.
The Sutra text first lists the assembly of Sound Hearers because
they are sages who have transcended the world. The Bodhisattvas
are listed next because they are sometimes Bhikshus and sometimes
laymen. They cultivate the Middle Way and so they are listed in the
middle. The gods and dragons of the eight-fold division are listed
last because they are in the world and represent the common
people. Sometimes the Bodhisattvas are present in the Dharma
assembly, and sometimes they travel to other worlds. The
Bhikshus, on the other hand, were the Buddha’s constant followers.
They always listened to the Sutras and the Dharma, and so they are
listed first.
Great has three meanings: 1) great, 2) many, and 3) victorious.
Bhikshus are respected by kings and “great” men and so they are
“great.” They have cut off afflictions and destroyed the “many”
evils. They are different from, and “victorious” over all external
religions.
The Benefactor’s Garden
73
Bhikshu also has three meanings: 1) seeker of almsfood, 2) one
who frightens Mara, and 3) destroyer of evil.
When one ascends the precept platform to be ordained, one’s
request for ordination may be granted after three appeals. An earthbound
yakËa ghost informs a space-travelling yakËa, who flies up
to inform the heavenly demons. The heavenly demons are terrified
and tell Mara, the king of the sixth desire heaven, “The Buddha’s
retinue has increased by one and ours has decreased by one!” At
this, Mara’s palace quakes. Thus a Bhikshu is one who frightens
Mara.
He also destroys the evils of the eighty-four thousand afflictions
because he has resolved his mind on Bodhi.
74
The Six Harmonious Unities of the Sangha
These Bhikshus were assembled together as a Sangha. Sangha
is a Sanskrit word which means “harmoniously united assembly.”21
They live together without bickering or fighting and are united in
terms of phenomena and noumena. In terms of the noumenal
aspect, they have given proof to liberation and to the unconditioned.
In terms of the phenomenal, they are united in six ways:
1) As a harmonious group, they dwell together. They don’t look
at one another’s faults and fight among themselves. No one has a
special style. There are, for example, no solitary drinkers or
smokers out of harmony with the rest. Everyone who lives with the
Sangha must abide by the Sangha’s rules.
2) With harmonious speech, they do not quarrel. They don’t
gossip. They don’t say, “So and so has such and such an asset, and
so and so has such and such a fault…three frogs have six eyes.”
Their speech is harmonious and what they talk about is important
and has principle. They don’t argue.
3) With harmonious thoughts, they enjoy the same things. One
person likes to study the Buddhadharma and so does the next. One
is vigorous and the next is even more so. The more one person
cultivates, the more the next cultivates. Everyone makes vigorous
21. huo he zhong
The Six Harmonious Unities of the Sangha
75
progress. Every day they are more energetic, not more lazy.
Cultivating more and speaking less, their minds are in harmony.
4) With harmonious views, they have the same liberation.
5) With the same precepts, they cultivate together.
6) In harmony, they mutually share their benefits.
…Twelve hundred fifty in all… These were the Buddha’s
constant followers, his retainers. When the Buddha went to lecture
Sutras, these Arhats always went along, even if they had already
heard the Sutra.
There were actually twelve hundred fifty-five disciples, but for
the sake of convenience the number was rounded off to twelve
hundred fifty. Where did the disciples come from? In the Deer
Park, the Buddha first taught the five Bhikshus. Then YaÇas, the
son of an Elder, and his forty-nine disciples took refuge. The
Venerable Shariputra and the Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana each
had a hundred disciples who took refuge. That makes two hundred
fifty-five. The Kasyapa Brothers had a thousand disciples, making
twelve hundred fifty-five, and, rounded off, twelve hundred fifty in
all.
76
The Kasyapa Brothers
The three Kasyapa brothers had a thousand disciples. Five
hundred were with Uruvilva Kasyapa. Uruvilva means “papaya
grove,”22 for it is said that he cultivated in a papaya grove. Some
accounts claim that he had a lump on his chest which resembled a
papaya, some describing it as concave, and some as convex! What
is probable is that, liking to eat papayas, he cultivated in a papaya
grove and in time a papaya grew on his chest. Papayas are good for
curing illnesses of the lungs.
Uruvilva Kasyapa had two brothers, Gaya, meaning “city”23 or
“elephant head mountain,”24 and Nadi, meaning “river.”25 The two
brothers had five hundred disciples between them, and so the three
brothers had a total of one thousand disciples.
The Buddha first taught and crossed over the five Bhikshus in
the Deer Park. Then he considered who to cross over next. Seeing
that the potential of the three Kasyapa brothers had matured, he
went to the dwelling of Uruvilva Kasyapa. He could not, however,
simply say, “I have come to save you, Uruvilva Kasyapa. Do you
22. mu gua lin
23. cheng
24. xiang tou shan
25. he
The Kasyapa Brothers
77
believe that?” He had to employ a clever expedient device and so he
said, “It’s late and I can’t travel any farther. May I stay on here?”
Uruvilva Kasyapa, a powerful fire worshipper, saw the Buddha
and thought, “Why is he so special?” Try as he might, he couldn’t
figure the Buddha out. “Strange,” he thought, “I can see anyone
else’s background just by looking. Why can’t I see his?” Finally he
said to the Buddha, “Very well, you may stay here,” and he put him
in a cave where Uruvilva Kasyapa’s protector, a dragon, lived. The
dragon was extremely fierce and scorched to death anyone who
came near him. In the middle of the night, the dragon tried to burn
the Buddha, but the Buddha had entered the fire-light samadhi and
couldn’t be burned. The Buddha put the dragon in his bowl. More
than likely, he didn’t have to trick him by saying, “You can only
make fire, you can’t jump into my bowl,” as the Sixth Patriarch
would later speak to another dragon: “You can only manifest a big
body, not a small one.” The Buddha used a very natural dharma to
get the dragon into his bowl. Then he explained the dharma to him
and the dragon took refuge.
Seeing such spiritual penetrations and transformation, Kasyapa
knew that his own virtue was not as great as the Buddha’s.
Thereupon, he took refuge and instructed his five hundred disciples
to do the same. Soon after leaving home, they gave proof to the
sagely fruit.
Kasyapa’s two brothers were also fire-worshippers, but when
they saw that their brother had become a Bhikshu, they wanted to
leave home as well. They did, and, along with their five hundred
disciples, they soon gave proof to the sagely fruit.
That makes one thousand two hundred and fifty-five disciples.
Out of gratitude for the Buddha’s deep kindness and his teaching,
they were the Buddha’s constant followers. No matter where the
Buddha went, they accompanied him and protected the assembly.
For example, here we lecture on the Sutras and those who come to
listen protect the assembly. Even though they already understand
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
78
the doctrines, they still take time from their busy schedules to come
and listen.
…all great Arhats whom the assembly knew and recognized...
Arhat, a Sanskrit word, has three meanings which
correspond to the three meanings of the word Bhikshu, because
being a Bhikshu is the cause of attaining Arhatship, and Arhatship
is the result of cultivation as a Bhikshu. It’s a matter of cause and
effect.
An Arhat is:
1) Worthy of offerings. On the causal ground, a Bhikshu is a
seeker of alms food, and in the result he is worthy of the offerings
of gods and men.
2) One without birth. A Bhikshu frightens Mara, and in the
result, as an Arhat, he undergoes no further birth.
3) A slayer of thieves. On the causal ground, a Bhikshu
destroys evil, and in the result, as an Arhat, he has slain the thieves
of ignorance and affliction.
On the causal ground, the Bhikshu frightens the demons of the
five skandhas, the afflictions, and death. Death is also a demon.
Some cultivators practice diligently, yet when they fall sick and
confront death, they are afraid. “I’m going to die!” they cry, turned
by the demon of death. Real cultivators fear nothing. They are not
afraid of life and they are not afraid of death. Life and death are the
same. Death and life are not different. There is no distinction
between them. If while alive cultivators can be as if dead, they will
have no thoughts of desire. How can one have desire, greed, hate,
stupidity, pride, or doubt as a dead man? When one arrives at this
state there are no afflictions, no troubles at all. This is true
happiness.
This state is not easy to attain, however, on the other hand, it is
not difficult either. If you want to, you can do it.
The Kasyapa Brothers
79
For example, when one of my disciples became extremely sick,
he said to me repeatedly, “I’m really suffering.”
I said, “The more suffering you undergo, the better. The more
you suffer the more you will understand.”
One day it seemed as if he had died. He went to a happy place
full of people. “Happiness is happiness,” he said, “but I want to see
my teacher.”
“Who is your teacher?” the people asked.
As soon as they heard his teacher’s name they were unhappy.
“You can’t see your teacher here,” they said.
“Then I’m leaving,” he said, and came back; he didn’t die after
all. You might say he has conquered the demon of death. Subsequently,
his skill has increased greatly.
…whom the assembly knew and recognized…These arhats
were all very famous and their virtue was respected by the entire
population. Everyone knew their names and recognized their faces.
80
The Assembly of Arhats
Sutra:
…Elders Shariputra, Mahamaudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa,
Mahakatyayana, Mahakausthila, Revata, Suddhipanthaka,
Nanda, Ananda, Rahula, Gavampati, Pindola Bharadvaja,
Kalodayin, Mahakapphina, Vakkula, Aniruddha, and others
such as these, all great disciples;
Commentary:
Elder is a term used to show respect for another’s position.
There are three kinds of elders:
1) Elders in age,
2) Elders in the Dharma Nature,
3) Elders in blessings and virtue,
An elder in age has lived for many years. A Dharma Nature
elder understands the Buddhadharma and comprehends his selfnature;
regardless of his age, he is nonetheless an elder in terms of
his wisdom and intelligence. One such as this may be young in
years, but he can lecture on Sutras and speak the Dharma. His
wisdom is limitless and his eloquence is unobstructed. Elders in
blessings and virtue are fortunate because people like to make
offerings to them. Because of their virtuous conduct they are fields
Shariputra
81
where, by making offerings, one plants the causes of future
blessings.
Shariputra
Shariputra was a Dharma Nature elder. At the age of eight he
studied and mastered all the Buddhadharma in only seven days, and
he could out-debate all the Indian philosophers. His name is
Sanskrit. His father’s name was Tisya and his mother’s name was
Sarika. Hence he was known as UpaTisya, “Little Tisya,” and as
Shariputra, the Son (putra) of Sari.
The word Shariputra may be translated three ways,
1) “body son”26 because his mother’s body was extremely
beautiful, and her features very refined;
2) “egret son”27 due to his mother’s eyes which were as
beautiful as an egret’s and
3) “jewel son”28 because her eyes shone like jewels.
Shariputra’s mother’s eyes were beautiful, and when she
bore this jewel-eyed son, his eyes were beautiful, too.
He was the foremost of the Sravakas in wisdom. While still in
the womb, he helped his mother debate, and she always won. In the
past, whenever she had debated with her brother, she had always
lost; but while she was pregnant with Shariputra, her brother
always lost.
“This isn’t your own power,” he said. “The child in your womb
must be incredibly intelligent. He is helping you debate and that’s
26. shen zi
27. ? lu chi
28. zhu zi
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
82
why I lost.” Thereupon he decided to study logic and travelled to
Southern India where he studied for many years.
There was no electricity at that time yet, but he studied by day
and by night. He mastered the Four Vedas, the classics of Indian
knowledge, without wasting a moment. He didn’t take time to
mend his tattered clothing, wash his face, or even cut his nails
which grew so long that everyone called him “The Long-Nailed
Brahmin.”
Having mastered various philosophical theories, he returned to
debate with his sister’s son. He had spent a great deal of time
preparing for the event, and felt that if he lost it would be the height
of disgrace. “Where is your son?” he asked his sister.
“Shariputra has left the home-life under the Buddha,” she said.
The Long-Nailed Brahmin was displeased. “How could he?’ he
said. “What virtue does the Buddha have? He’s just a ÆramaÊa.
Why should anyone follow him? I’m going to go bring my nephew
back.”
He went to the Buddha and demanded his nephew, but the
Buddha said, “Why do you want him back? You can’t just casually
walk off with him. Establish your principles and I’ll consider your
request.”
“I take non-accepting as my doctrine,” said the uncle.
“Really?” said the Buddha. “Do you accept your view of nonaccepting?
Do you accept your doctrine or not?”
Now the uncle had just said that he didn’t accept anything. But
when the Buddha asked him whether or not he accepted his own
view of non-accepting, he could hardly admit he accepted it for that
would invalidated his doctrine of non-acceptance. But if he said
that he didn’t accept it, he would contradict his own statement of
his doctrine and his view. He was therefore unable to answer either
way.
Shariputra
83
Before the debate, he had made an agreement with the Buddha
that if he won he would take his nephew, but if he lost, he said that
he would cut off his head and give it to the Buddha.
The uncle had bet his head and lost. So what did he do? He ran!
About four miles down the road he stopped and thought, “I
can’t run away. I told the Buddha that if I lost he could have my
head. I’m a man, after all, and I should keep my word. It’s unmanly
to run away.” Then he returned to Shakyamuni Buddha and said,
“Give me a knife, I’m going to cut off my head!”
“What for?” said the Buddha.
“I lost, didn’t I? I owe you my head, don’t I?” he said.
“There’s no such principle in my Dharma,” said the Buddha.
“Had you won, you could have taken your nephew, but since you
lost, why don’t you leave home instead?”
“Will you accept me?” he said.
“Yes,” replied the Buddha.
So not only did the nephew not return, but the uncle didn’t
return home either.
At age eight, the Great, Wise Shariputra had penetrated the Real
Mark of all dharmas in only seven days, and defeated all the
philosophers in India. When Shakyamuni Buddha spoke The
Amitabha Sutra without request, Shariputra was at the head of the
assembly, because only wisdom such as his could comprehend the
deep, wonderful doctrine of the Pure Land Dharma Door.
Not only was he foremost in wisdom, he was not second in
spiritual penetrations either. Once a layman invited the Buddha to
receive offerings. Shariputra had entered samadhi, and no matter
how they called to him, he wouldn’t come out. He wasn’t being
obnoxious by showing off, thinking, “I hear them, but I’m not
moving, that’s all there is to it.” No, he had really entered samadhi.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
84
When he didn’t respond to the bell, Maudgalyayana, foremost
in spiritual powers, applied every bit of strength he had, but
couldn’t move him. He couldn’t even ruffle the corner of his robe.
This proves that Shariputra was not only number one in wisdom,
but also in spiritual penetrations. He wasn’t like us. If someone
bumps us while we sit in meditation, we know it. Shariputra had
real samadhi.
We should look into this: Why was Shariputra foremost in
wisdom? Why was he called “The Greatly Wise Shariputra?” It’s a
matter of cause and effect. In a former life, in the causal ground,
when he first decided to study, he met a teacher who asked him,
“Would you like to be intelligent?”
“Yes I would,” said Shariputra.
“Then study the Dharma-door of Prajna wisdom. Recite the
Great Compassion Mantra, the Shurangama Mantra, the Ten Small
Mantras, and the Heart Sutra.29 Recite them every day and your
wisdom will unfold.”
Shariputra followed his teacher’s instructions and recited day
and night, while standing, sitting, walking, and reclining. He didn’t
recite for just one day, but made a vow to recite continuously, to
bow to his teacher, and to study the Buddhadharma life after life.
Life after life, he studied Prajna, and life after life his wisdom
increased until, when Shakyamuni Buddha appeared in the world,
Shariputra was able to penetrate the Real Mark of all Dharmas” in
only seven days.
Who was his former teacher? Just Shakyamuni Buddha! When
Shakyamuni Buddha realized Buddhahood, Shariputra became an
Arhat, and because he obeyed his teacher, he had great wisdom. He
never forgot the doctrines his teacher taught him, and so, in seven
days, he mastered all the Buddha’s dharmas.
29. These are recited daily in Buddhist temples for morning recitation.
Mahamaudgalyayana
85
When one has not studied very much Buddhadharma in the past,
one learns mantras and Sutras slowly. One may recite the
Shurangama mantra for months and still be unable to recite it from
memory. It is most important, however, not to be lazy. Be vigorous
and diligent. Like Shariputra, don’t relax day or night. Those who
can’t remember should study hard, and those who can should
increase their efforts and enlarge their wisdom. You should
consider, “Why is my wisdom so much less than everyone else’s?
Why is his wisdom so lofty and mine so unclear? Why do I
understand so little? It’s because I haven’t studied the Buddhadharma.”
Now that we have met the Dharma we should vow to study
it. Then in the future we can run right past Shariputra and study
with the Greatly Wise Bodhisattva Manjushri, who is far, far wiser
than the Arhat Shariputra. This is the cause behind Shariputra’s
wisdom, a useful bit of information.
Three American Shramanera and two American Shramanerika
have now received the complete precepts: Shramanera, Bhikshu,
and Bodhisattva Precepts. You could say that they are new
Bodhisattvas returning to America. People who have received the
Bodhisattva precepts cultivate the Bodhisattva Way, and people
who have received the Bhikshu precepts uphold the Buddhadharma
and teach living beings. When these five return from Taiwan, we
Americans should protect them as precious treasures. All of you
should be their Dharma protectors for they are returning to America
to establish American Buddhism so that in the future, Americans
will be able to cultivate and realize Buddhahood. This is my hope.
Mahamaudgalyayana
The Sanskrit word Maha has three meanings:
1) great,
2) many, and
3) victorious.
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86
As an elder, one is respected by many kings and great ministers.
Having studied the Sutras in the Tripitaka, an elder has
victoriously transcended all non-Buddhist religions.
Maudgalyayana is Sanskrit and means “descendent of a family
of bean gatherers.”30 His name also means “turnip root”31 because
his ancestors ate turnips when they cultivated the Way. He is also
called “Kolita” after the tree where his father and mother prayed to
the spirit of the tree for a son.
This Venerable One was the foremost in spiritual penetrations.
In his cultivation of the Way, when he first certified to Arhatship,
he obtained six kinds of spiritual penetrations: the heavenly eye, the
heavenly ear, the knowledge of others’ thoughts, the knowledge of
past lives, the extinction of outflows, and the complete spirit. With
he heavenly eye, one sees not only the affairs of men, but every
action of the gods as well. With the heavenly ear, one hears the
gods speaking. With the knowledge of others’ thoughts, one knows
what others are thinking and planning before they speak. With the
knowledge of past lives, not only does one know what they are
thinking, but one clearly knows their causes and effects from
former lives.
As to the extinction of outflows, all people have outflows. They
are like leaky bottles: pour something in the top and it flows out the
bottom. The bigger the hole, the faster the flow. The smaller the
hole, the slower the flow. If there are no holes, there are no leaks,
no outflows. The extinction of outflows is the absence of leaks.
What outflows do people have? Food and drink become the
outflows of feces and urine. If you like to get angry, that’s an
outflow. If you are greedy, hateful, or stupid, you have outflows.
Pride and doubt are outflows, too.
30. cai shu shi
31. lai fu
Mahamaudgalyayana
87
With outflows, nothing can be retained, but without them, all
leaks disappear. Outflows are simply our faults. People! If we don’t
have big sicknesses, we have small sicknesses, and if we don’t have
small sicknesses, we have little faults. If we don’t have big
outflows, we have small outflows, and if we don’t have small
outflows, we have slow leaks, little bad habits. A lot can be said
about outflows. The absence of them is called the Penetration of the
Extinction of Outflows.
The Penetration of the Complete Spirit is also called the
“penetration of the realm of the spirit” and the “spiritual
penetration of everything as you will it to be.” The complete spirit
means that you have an inconceivable power. Not even the ghosts
and spirits can know of your thousand changes and ten thousand
transformations, for you have penetrated all realms and states
without obstruction. “As you will” means that everything is the
way you want it. If you want to go to the heavens, you go; if you
want to go down into the earth, you go. You can walk into the water
without drowning, and into the fire without burning. If you’re in
your room and think, “I’d rather not go out the door,” you can walk
right through the wall. How can this be? It’s “as you will”
according to your thought. However you think you would like it to
be, that’s the way it is. You just have to make a wish and you attain
your aim. These are the Six Spiritual Penetrations.
When Mahamaudgalyayana first obtained these penetrations,
he looked for his father and mother. Not so much his father,
actually, as his mother. Where was she? His mother was in hell.
Why? Because she had not believed in the Triple Jewel: the
Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha; and what is more, she had
slandered them. She had also eaten fish eggs and flesh, and thereby
had killed many beings.
Seeing her in hell, Maudgalyayana sent her a bowl of food. She
took it in one hand and hid it with the other because she was afraid
the other hungry ghosts would see it and try to steal it from her.
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88
Being greedy herself, she knew that other hungry ghosts were
greedy too, and so she covered it over stealthily.
Although it was good food, her heavy karmic obstacles
prevented her from eating it. When the food reached her mouth it
turned into flaming coals which burned her lips. Maudgalyayana’s
spiritual powers could not prevent the food from turning into fire,
so he asked the Buddha to help him.
The Buddha told him to save his mother by arranging an
Ullambana offering. Ullambana means, “releasing those who are
hanging upside down.” The Buddha told Maudgalyayana that, on
the fifteenth day of the seventh (lunar) month, the day of the
Buddha’s delight and the monks’ Pravarana he should offer all
varieties of food and drink to the Sangha of the ten directions. In
this way he could rescue his mother so she could leave suffering
and obtain bliss.
Maudgalyayana followed these instructions and his mother was
reborn in the heavens. Not only was his mother saved, but all the
hungry ghosts in the hells simultaneously left suffering and attained
bliss.
Now, you may say, “I don’t believe that food and drink become
fire when hungry ghosts eat them “Of course you don’t believe it!
But the world is full of strange, strange things. It would be hard to
speak about them all. How much the less can one be clear about
those things beyond this world. Let’s take water, for example.
People and animals see water as water, but the gods see it as lapis
lazuli and the hungry ghosts see it as fire. It’s all a question of
individual karmic manifestations. Gods have the karmic retribution
of gods, men of men, and ghosts of ghosts.
This is how, with the Buddha’s help, Maudgalyayana saved his
mother.
Mahakasyapa
89
Mahakasyapa
Again, Maha means great, many, and victorious. The Sanskrit
word Kasyapa means “great turtle clan,”32 because Mahakasyapa’s
ancestors saw the pattern on the back of a giant turtle and used it to
cultivate the Way.
Kasyapa also means, “light drinking clan,”33 because his body
shone with a light which was so bright it seemed to “drink up” all
other light.
Why did his body shine? Seven Buddhas ago, in the time of the
Buddha Vipasyin, there was a poor woman who decided to repair a
ruined temple. The roof of the temple had been blown off and the
images inside were exposed to the wind and rain. The woman went
everywhere and asked for help, and when she had collected enough
money she commissioned a goldsmith to regild the images. By the
time he was finished, the goldsmith fell in love with her and said,
“You have attained great merit from this work, but we should share
it. You may supply the gold and I will furnish the labour, free.” So
the temple was rebuilt and the images regilded. The goldsmith
asked the woman to marry him and, in every life, for ninety-one
kalpas, they were husband and wife and their bodies shone with
purple and golden light.
Mahakasyapa was born in India, in Magadha. When he was
twenty his father and mother wanted him to marry, but he said, ‘The
woman I marry must shine with golden light. Unless you find such
a woman, I won’t marry.” Eventually they found one, and they
were married. As a result of their good karma their bodies shone
with gold light and they cultivated together and investigated the
doctrines of the Way. When Mahakasyapa left home to become a
32. da gui shi
33. yin guang shi
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Bhikshu, his wife became a Bhikshuni called “Purple and Golden
Light.”
Mahakasyapa’s personal name was “Pippala,” because his
parents prayed to the spirit of a pippala tree to grant them a son.
As the First Patriarch, Mahakasyapa holds an important
position in Buddhism. When Shakyamuni Buddha spoke the
Dharma, the Great Brahma Heaven King presented him with a
golden lotus and Shakyamuni Buddha held up the flower before the
assembly. At that time, hundreds of thousands of gods and men
were present, but no one responded except Mahakasyapa, who
simply smiled. Then the Buddha said, “I have the Right Dharma-
Eye Treasury. The wonderful Nirvanic mind, the Real Mark which
is unmarked. This Dharma-door of mind to mind transmission has
been transmitted to Kasyapa.” Thus Mahakasyapa received the
transmission of Dharma and became the first Buddhist Patriarch.
Venerable Mahakasyapa is still present in the world. When he
left home under the Buddha he was already one hundred and sixty
years old. By the time Shakyamuni Buddha had spoken Dharma for
forty-nine years in over three hundred Dharma assemblies,
Kasyapa was already over two hundred years old. After
Shakyamuni Buddha entered Nirvana, Kasyapa went to
Southwestern China, to Chicken Foot Mountain in Yunnan
Province. It has been over three thousand years since the Buddha’s
Nirvana, but Mahakasyapa is still sitting in samadhi in Chicken
Foot Mountain waiting for Maitreya Buddha to appear in the world.
At that time he will give Maitreya the bowl which the Four
Heavenly Kings gave Shakyamuni Buddha and which Shakyamuni
Buddha gave him, and his work in this world will be finished.
Many cultivators travel to Chicken Foot Mountain to worship
the Patriarch Kasyapa, and on the mountain there are always three
kinds of light: Buddha light, gold light, and silver light. Those with
sincere hearts can hear a big bell ringing inside the mountain. It
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rings by itself, and although you can’t see it, you can hear it for
several hundred miles. It’s an inconceivable state.
Mahakasyapa was the foremost of the Buddha’s disciples both
in ascetic practices and in age. None of the Buddha’s disciples was
older and none of them endured more suffering.
The term “ascetic practice”34 means, “making an effort, raising
up one’s spirits with courage and vigor.” The cultivation of the
twelve kinds of ascetic practices is a sign that the Buddhadharma is
being maintained, for as long as they are practiced, the Dharma will
remain in the world. If they are not practiced, the Buddhadharma
will disappear. Of the twelve ascetic practices, the first two deal
with clothing:
1) Wearing rag-robes. One gathers unwanted cloth from
garbage heaps, washes it, and sews it into a robe. There are many
advantages in wearing rag-robes. First of all, they decrease greed.
When you wear them, your heart is peaceful and calm. They also
prevent others from being greedy. If you wear fine, expensive
clothes, others may become envious and may even try to steal them.
But no one wants to steal rag-robes. So the first ascetic practice
benefits you and others. Those who have left home are called
“tattered sons” because they wear rag-robes.
2) Wearing only three robes. One’s only possessions are three
robes, a bowl, and a sitting cloth. The first robe is the great robe, the
samghati, made of 25 strips of cloth in 108 patches, which is worn
when lecturing Sutras or visiting the king. The second is the outer
robe, the uttarasanga, made of seven pieces, which is worn when
bowing repentance ceremonies and worshipping the Buddha. The
third is the inner robe in five pieces, the antarvasaka, which is worn
at all times, to work in, to travel in, and to entertain guests. With
34. ku hang , duskara-carya
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only three robes, a bowl, and a sitting cloth, one teaches others to
be content and not be greedy for a lot of possessions.
3) Always begging for food. One always takes one’s bowl to
beg, and does not cook for oneself.
4) Begging in succession. One begs from house to house in
regular order without discriminating between the rich and the poor.
If, by the seventh house, no food is obtained, one doesn’t eat on that
day. One doesn’t think, “I want to beg from the poor, not the rich,”
or “I want to beg from the rich and not the poor.”
Mahakasyapa once said, “Poor people are to be pitied. If they
don’t plant blessings now, in the future they will be even poorer.”
He begged exclusively from the poor.
Subhuti, on the other hand, begged only from the rich. “If they
are rich,” he reasoned, “we should help them continue to plant
blessings and meritorious virtue. If they don’t make offerings to the
Triple Jewel, next life they’ll have no money,” and so he begged
only from the rich.
But the Buddha scolded both of them. “You two have the hearts
of Arhats,” he said, “because you discriminate in your begging.” To
beg properly, one should go from house to house, without discrimination.
5) Eating only once in the middle of the day. This means that
you do not eat in the morning or in the evening, but only between
the hours of eleven and twelve o’clock in the morning. Some who
don’t understand the Buddhadharma think that “eating once in the
middle of the day” means simply eating only one lunch. It actually
means that one doesn’t eat in the morning or in the evening, but
only once in the middle of the day. In China, when one receives the
precepts, they ask, “Neng ch’ih?” which means “Can you keep
them?” the preceptee answers, “Neng ch’ih!” which means “I can”
If one eats in the morning, noon, and evening, however, one can
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answer “Neng ch’ih!” which sounds the same, but means “I can
eat!”
Eating once a day at noon is one of the Buddha’s rules, because
the Buddha only responded to offerings of food at noon. Gods eat
in the morning, animals eat in the afternoon, and ghosts eat at night.
Those who have left home do not eat at night because when ghosts
come out at night to look for food and hear the sound of chopsticks
they run to steal the food. The food the people are eating turns into
fire in the ghosts’ mouths and they get angry and take revenge by
making people sick.
6) Reducing the measure of what you eat. If you can eat three
bowls, then eat only two and a half. If you can eat two bowls, then
eat only one and a half. Always eat a little less. If you eat too much
your stomach can’t hold it and you’ll have to do a lot of work on the
toilet. Eat less.
7) Not drinking juices after noon. After twelve, you don’t drink
apple juice, orange juice, milk, or any kind of juice at all, how much
the less bean curd broth! True ascetics don’t drink juice after noon.
Some people cultivate one or two of these practices and some
cultivate more; some cultivate only one and some cultivate all
twelve. It’s not fixed; it depends upon how strong you are.
Since cultivators can’t avoid the questions of clothing, food,
and dwelling, these twelve ascetic practices have been established
to deal with them. The five which concern dwelling are:
8) Dwelling in an aranya. Aranya is a Sanskrit word which
means “still and quiet place.”35 In an aranya, one is left alone and
there are no distracting noises. It is said,
What the eyes don’t see
won’t cause the mouth to water;
35. ji jing chu
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94
What the ears don’t hear
won’t cause the mind to transgress.
When people see food, they give rise to desire for it and their
mouths water. If your ears don’t hear confusing sounds, there is no
affliction in your mind. In a still, quiet place, it is easy to cultivate
diligently and enter samadhi.
9) Dwelling at the foot of a tree. You live beneath a tree, but not
under any one tree for more than three nights. After two nights, you
move for fear that someone might come and make offerings to you.
Cultivating ascetics don’t like to have such Dharma affinities or a
lot of food and drink, and so they live under a tree.
10) Dwelling under the open sky. You don’t live in a house or
even under a tree, but right out in the open, meditating.
11) Dwelling in a graveyard. Living here, one in always on the
alert. “Look at them! They’re dead. In the future I’ll be just like
them. If I don’t cultivate the Way, what will I do when it’s time to
die? I’ll die all muddled.” Dwelling in a graveyard is a good cure
for laziness.
12) Ribs not touching the mat. This means always sitting and
never lying down, cultivating vigorously and not fearing suffering.
These are the five ascetic practices which deal with dwelling.
Mahakasyapa cultivated not only one ascetic practice, but all
twelve of them very thoroughly. Once, the Buddha moved over and
asked him to sit beside him. The Buddha couldn’t bear to see him
cultivating ascetic practices at his age. “Kasyapa,” he said, “you are
over two hundred years old, too old for ascetic practices. Take it
easy. You can’t endure them.”
The Venerable Kasyapa smiled. He didin’t say whether or not
he would obey the Buddha’s instructions, but he returned and
continued to practices just as before. The Buddha knew this and
was extremely pleased. “Because, within my Dharma,
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95
Mahakasyapa cultivates ascetic practices,” the Dharma will remain
long in the world. He’s a great asset, formost in asceticism.”
The twelve ascetic practices are cultivated by those who have
left the home-life.
“I haven’t left the home-life,” someone says. “Why are you
explaining them to me?”
This seems like a good question, but if you look into it, it’s
really irrelevant. Why? Perhaps you have not left home in this life,
but how do you know that you did not leave home in a past life and
cultivate these practices? Perhaps you have just forgotten, and so I
am reminding you.
Even if you did not leave home in past lives, perhaps next life
the opportunity will arise, and the Bodhi seeds planted in this life
will mature. Then your merit and virtue will be perfected and you
will feel very comfortable practicing asceticism. Because you
heard about it in this life, next life you will enjoy cultivating it.
Perhaps in the past you planted good causes, and now you reap the
good fruit; or perhaps in this life you plant good causes, and in a
future life will reap the good fruit. No one can say that someone
will always leave home, or that someone else will always be at
home, or that someone will always be a common person. Common
people all have the opportunity to realize Buddhahood. In the future
these twelve ascetic practices will be of great use.
Mahakatyayana
Maha has been explained. Katyayana means “literary
elegance,”36 because of all the Buddha’s disciples, this Venerable
One was the foremost in debate. No one could defeat him. On one
occasion a non-Buddhist who believed in annihilationism said,
36. wen shi
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“Buddhists speak of the revolving wheel of the six paths of rebirth
and maintain that after death one may be reborn again as a person,
but this principle is incorrect. Why? If people can come back as
people, why hasn’t anyone ever died and then returned home, or
sent a letter to his family? There’s no basis for such a view. When
people die, they go out like a lamp and they can’t be born again.
Buddhists imagine that there’s rebirth, but actually there is none.”
Mahakatyayana replied, “You’ve asked why those who die do
not return. Before I answer first let me ask you a question. If
someone were put in jail for a crime, could he return home at his
convenience?”
“No,” said the non-Buddhist, “of course not.”
Katyayana continued, “When people descend to rebirth in the
hells, it’s just the same and they can’t return; in fact, they are even
less free to leave.”
The non-Buddhist said, “Granted that those born in the hells
cannot return, still, those born in the heavens are very free. Why has
none of them ever sent a letter home informing his family of his
whereabouts?”
Katyayana said, “What you say has principle, but, by way of
analogy, suppose someone slipped and fell into a toilet, not a flush
toilet—obviously no one could fall into a flush toilet—but into a pit
toilet about as big as a bedroom. Once he got out, would he decide
he liked the aroma there and jump back in again?”
“Heavens no,” exclaimed the non-Buddhist.
“The world of men,” said Katyayana, “is just like a toilet, and
birth in the heavens is like getting out. That’s why no one comes
back. Even if they did, there’s the time difference to consider. For
example, one day and night in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three is
equal to one hundred years in the world of men. Born there, it
would take a couple of days to find a place to stay and get settled,
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97
and by the time one returned on the third day, one’s friends would
have long been dead.”
Thus, Mahakatyayana’s eloquence defeated non-Buddhists who
were attached to the idea of annihilation or permanence; they lost
every time.
Katyayana’s name also means “fan cord.”37 Soon after he was
born his father died and his mother wanted to remarry, but the child
was a tie, like a fan cord, which prevented her from doing so. He is
also called “good shoulders”38 because his shoulders were
beautiful, and “victorious thinker”39 because his eloquence was
unobstructed.
There are four kinds of unobstructed eloquence:
1) With “unobstructed eloquence in Dharma” one can
explain the Dharma without obstacle.
2) With “unobstructed eloquence in meaning” one can
explain the Dharma’s limitless meanings.
3) With “unobstructed eloquence in phrasing” one’s rhetoric
is effective.
4) With “the eloquence of unobstructed delight in speech”
one takes delight in explaining the Dharma.
Because he had these four kinds of unobstructed eloquence,
Mahakatyayana was the foremost of the Buddha’s disciples in
debate.
37. shan sheng
38. hao jian
39. si sheng
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Mahakausthila
Mahakausthila was Shariputra’s maternal uncle. His name
means “big knees,”40 because big knees ran in the family. He, too,
was gifted in debate. In order to defeat his nephew, he went to
Southern India to study non-Buddhist debating theories, rushing
through his meals and gulping down water, studying so hard that he
didn’t even take time to wash his face or cut his nails. His nails
grew so long, in fact, that he was nick-named, “The big-nailed
Brahmin.”
Revata
Revata means “constellation.”41 He was named after the fourth
of the twenty-eight constellations, “the house, the rabbit, and the
sun,”42 because his parents prayed to this constellation in order to
have their son.
Revata also means “false unity.”43 One day he went walking.
When it got dark, he was far from home and decided to spend the
night in a shack beside the road. Just as he was about to fall asleep
two ghosts walked in, a big ghost and a small ghost. The big ghost
was really big, with a green face, red hair, and a huge mouth with
six teeth hanging like elephants’ tusks from it. One look at him
would have scared you to death! The little ghost was even uglier.
His eyes, ears, nose, and mouth had all moved to the middle of his
face.
The two came in dragging a corpse, and asked Revata, “What
do you think? Should we eat this corpse or not?” What they meant
40. da xi
41. xing su
42. fang ri tu
43. jia huo he
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was, “If you tell us to eat the corpse, we’ll eat you instead. If you
tell us not to eat the corpse, we won’t have anything to eat, and so
we’ll have to eat you.” The ghosts were going to eat him no matter
what he said.
Revata didn’t say a word. The big ghost bit off the corpse’s legs
and the little ghost ripped off Revata’s legs and stuck them on the
corpse. Then the ghost ate the corpse’s arms and the little ghost
ripped off Revata’s arms and stuck them on the corpse. The big
ghost ate the entire corpse and the little ghost replaced its parts, one
by one, with parts of Revata’s body.
Revata then thoughts, “My body has been used to repair the
corpse and so now I don’t have a body!” The next day he ran
screaming down the road asking everyone he met, “Hey! Take a
look. Do I have a body?”
“What?” they said. The townspeople had no idea what he was
talking about, but he kept pestering them until, finally, no one
would come near him. “He’s nuts,” they said.
Finally Revata met two High Masters. “Shramanas,” he asked,
“do I have a body?”
The two High Masters happened to be Arhats. Seeing that
Revata’s potential for enlightenment was nearly mature, and that he
would soon certify to the Dharmabody, they instructed him saying,
“The body is basically created by a combination of causes and
conditions. When the causes and conditions separate, the body is
destroyed. There is nothing that is you and nothing that is not you.”
Just as they said this, “Ah!” Revata was enlightened. He left home
and certified to the fruit and thus his name means, “false unity.” Of
the Buddha’s disciples he is foremost in being “not upset or
confused.”
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Suddhipanthaka
Suddhipanthaka and Mahapanthaka were brothers. Suddhipanthaka’s
name means “little roadside,”44 and his big brother’s name
means “big roadside.” In India it is the custom for women who are
about to give birth to return to their parents’ home. But Mahapanthaka’s
mother didn’t want to go home and so she waited until the
last minute to leave. Consequently, her son was born on the side of
the road.
When the time came to give birth to her second child, she
should have known better, but again she waited. It happened again,
and the second child was called “Little Roadside.”
Although born in similar circumstances, the two brothers were
very different in nature. The older brother was remarkably
intelligent, but the younger one was remarkably… stupid. He was
so stupid that he couldn’t even remember half a line of verse.
The Buddha had instructed five hundred Arhats to teach him a
verse, and they took turns day and night trying to teach him:
Guard your mouth, unite your mind,
With your body, don’t offend.
Do not annoy a single living being.
Stay far away from non-beneficial bitter practices.
Conduct like this can surely save the world.
The three karmas of body, mouth, and mind should be pure. Do
not cause others to be afflicted, and don’t cultivate ascetic practices
which are not in accord with Dharma. These non-beneficial bitter
practices include maintaining the morality of dogs or cows,
worshipping fire, sleeping in ashes, and sleeping or sitting on beds
of nails, which, of course, hurts a lot. One who cultivates virtue and
44. xiao ji lu , “Suddhi”, apparently represents ksudra, “small.”
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101
at the same time avoids these meaningless practices can truly save
the world.
For many days, the five hundred Arhats combined their great
spiritual powers trying to teach Little Roadside the verse. They
taught him over and over, over and over, and he forgot it. “Recite
the verse,” they would say.
“But I can’t remember it,” Little Roadside would answer.
Finally his brother scolded him. “You’re good for nothing.” He
shouted. “You can’t leave home. You’re useless!” and he chased
him away.
Little Roadside may not have had much of a memory, but he
certainly had a temper. “If you won’t let me leave home,” he
shouted, “I’ll show you! I’ll kill myself!” He grabbed a rope, ran to
the back yard, and climbed a tree, ready to hang himself.
At that moment Shakyamuni Buddha transformed himself into
a tree spirit and explained the Dharma to him. “Your brother is your
brother,” he said, “and you are you. He says you can’t leave home,
but you don’t have to listen. You can cultivate right here. Why
should you kill yourself?”
“That makes sense,” sniffed Little Roadside. “He’s he and I’m
me. He has no right to tell me I can’t leave home.”
“Right!” said Shakyamuni Buddha. “Since you can’t remember
half a line, I’ll give you two words, ‘sweep clean.’ Remember these
two words, and use them to sweep your heart clean. Sweep the floor
and sweep your heart free from dust.”
Little Roadside said, “Yes, I’ll sweep my heart.
Sweep…what?”
“Clean,”said the Buddha, “sweep clean.”
“Oh yes,” said Little Roadside. “Clean…what was the first
word again?”
“Sweep,” smiled the Buddha.
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“Sweep clean!” said Little Roadside and he recited and swept
remembering the Buddha’s instructions to sweep his heart clean. In
less than a week all of a sudden he was enlightened, understood
everything very clearly, penetrated the Real Mark of all Dharmas,
and was even more intelligent than his brother.
Little Roadside wasn’t like us. We recite “Namo Amitabha
Buddha” everyday, but the more we recite the more false thinking
we have. If stupid people work hard and cultivate, they also can
become enlightened. Don’t say, “I’m too stupid to understand the
Sutras.” If you don’t understand them, don’t read them; it will
suffice to contemplate your heart, for when you have seen it clearly
you will be enlightened. How should you contemplate your own
heart? Watch for false thinking, and sweep it out of your heart.
Then you can be enlightened.
Little Roadside, stupid as he was, became enlightened. We are
all much more intelligent than he, and could no doubt remember
“sweep clean” hearing it only once. So don’t cheat yourself or take
yourself lightly. Go forward bravely and study the Buddhadharma.
Were I to speak the most wonderful Dharma, unless you
believed it, it would be of no use to you. But were I to speak utter
nonsense, should you actually practice, it would be wonderful
Dharma. If you don’t practice the wonderful Dharma, it is not
wonderful for you. You must always make vigorous progress.
Don’t fall behind or get lazy. This is most important, for if you can
always make progress, the day will certainly come when you will
recognize your original face.
Nanda
There were three disciples with the name “Nanda:” Ananda,
Sundarananda, and Nanda. Nanda, whose name means “wholesome
bliss”45 was a cow-herd before he heard the Buddha speak and
decided to leave the home life. He is to be distinguished from
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103
Ananda, the Buddha’s first cousin, and Sundarananda, the
Buddha’s little brother.
Before leaving the home-life, Nanda was a cow-herd. When he
listened to the Buddha preach the Eleven Matters of Tending Cows,
using the tending of cows as an analogy for cultivation of the Way,
Nanda knew that the Buddha was possessed of All-Knowledge and
he resolved to leave home and soon attained the fruit of Arhatship.
On one occasion the Buddha instructed Nanda to preach to a
group of five hundred Bhikshunis. Hearing him speak, they all
attained Arhatship. In the past, the five hundred Bhikshunis had
been the concubines of a king. The king was a great Dharma
protector and he built a large pagoda in honor of a Buddha. The
concubines believed in the Buddha and made daily offerings at the
pagoda, vowing that they would in the future all obtain liberation
with the king. The king was a former incarnation of Nanda.
Sundarananda
Sundarananda was the Buddha’s little brother. He loved his
wife, Sundara, more than anything. The two of them were as if
glued together; walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, they
were never apart. One day as the Buddha returned from the palace
where he had gone to collect alms, he passed Sundara and Nanda
who were having lunch. When he saw the Buddha, he went out to
fill his bowl. As he left, Sundara spit on the floor and said, “You
may give the Buddha food, but if you don’t return before that dries,
you’re in trouble.”
“Okay,” said Sundarananda, and off he went. What do you think
the Buddha did? Every time Sundarananda took a step forward to
hand the Buddha his bowl, the Buddha moved away with his
spiritual powers so that, in what seemed like just a few steps,
45. shan huan xi
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Sundarananda suddenly found himself in the Jeta Grove, five miles
from home. As soon as they arrived, the Buddha shaved
Sundarananda’s head. Sundarananda had no desire to leave the
home-life because he did not want to give up his wife. But the
Buddha was his older brother and so he complied. “You can cut off
my hair,” he thought, “but the first chance I get, I’m going to run
away.”
As day after day went by, Sundarananda got more and more
nervous. The Buddha and the Arhats were staying in the Jeta
Grove, and Sundarananda had no chance to escape. One day the
Buddha and his Arhats went out for lunch and left Sundarananda to
watch the door. “Today is the day.” thought Sundarananda. “I’m
definitely going home.”
Before the Buddha left, however, he had instructed
Sundarananda to sweep the floor. Eager to be on his way, he went
right to work, but every time he got the dust together, a gust of wind
blew it all over the room. He tried closing the window, but when he
closed one, the other blew open. Strange. This went on for two or
three hours. “The Buddha will be back any minute,” he thought.
“Dust or no dust, I’m leaving!” He threw the broom down and ran.
“The Buddha uses the main road,” he thought, “so I’ll take to
the side road.” He ran for a couple of miles when suddenly he saw
the Buddha walking toward him. He hid behind a tree to wait for
him to pass, moving slowly around in back of the tree so that he
would not be seen. Who would have guessed that the Buddha
would follow him around the tree, step by step? Sundarananda
walked in one direction and the Buddha followed him.
Sundarananda reversed his steps and so did the Buddha. A collision
was inevitable; there was no place to hide.
“What are you doing?” asked the Buddha. “I thought you were
watching the door?”
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105
“I waited and waited,” said the embarrassed Sundarananda,
“but you didn’t return so I came to welcome you. I thought that
your bowl might be too heavy…I..I came to help you carry your
bowl!”
“Wonderful,” said the Buddha. “What a good little brother.
Now, let’s go back to the Jeta Grove.”
The Buddha knew that Sundarananda wasn’t happy, and one
day he said, “Sundarananda, come with me for a hike in the
mountains.”
“All right,” said Sundarananda thinking, “If I get the chance,
I’ll surely run away.”
The mountains were full of monkeys, five or six hundred of
them. “Sundarananda,” said the Buddha, “compare these monkeys
with your wife. Are they more beautiful than she?”
Sundarananda said, “Why Buddha, of course Sundara is more
beautiful. Monkeys are ugly; how can you compare them with
Sundara?”
“You’re quite intelligent,” said the Buddha. “You know that
your wife is prettier than the monkeys.”
When they had returned to the Jeta Grove, the Buddha said,
“Sundarananda, you have never been to the heavens. Want to go?”
“First the mountains, now the heavens. I wonder what they’re
like?”
Sundarananda and the Buddha sat in meditation and the Buddha
used his spiritual powers to take him to the heavens where they
visited a palace where five hundred goddesses and many servants
were working. The heavens were a million times more beautiful
than the world of men, and Sundarananda had never seen such
beautiful women. Naturally, he fell in love. “Don’t you have a
leader?” he asked. “Who is your master?”
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“Our master hasn’t arrived,” they said. “He’s Shakyamuni
Buddha’s little brother, Sundarananda. He’s left home to cultivate
the Way and in the future he will be reborn with these five hundred
goddesses as his wives.”
Sundarananda was delighted. “I don’t think I’ll run away after
all,” he thought. “I’ll cultivate diligently and get reborn in heaven
instead.”
“Sundarananda,” said the Buddha, “are the goddesses more
beautiful than Sundara, or is she more beautiful than they?”
“Compared to the goddesses, Sundara is as ugly as a monkey,”
said Sundarananda.
“Which would you prefer?” said the Buddha.
“The goddesses!” said Sundarananda. “Sundara is beautiful, but
the goddesses are out of this world.”
“In the future you’ll be born here,” said the Buddha. “Now let’s
go back and cultivate.”
Sundarananda meditated day and night, cultivating to be a
heavenly lord. The Buddha knew that heavenly blessings have
outflows, are not ultimate, and that those who enjoy them can still
fall to lower realms. Wishing to wake Sundarananda up, he said,
“There’s nothing going on today. Would you like to visit the hells?”
“I’ve heard that they aren’t very scenic,” said Sundarananda,
“but if you want to take me there, I’ll go.”
They visited the hells of the mountain of knives, the sword-tree
hell, the fire-sea hell, the ice hell, and many others. Finally, they
came to a hell where two ghosts were boiling a pot of oil. The lazy
ghosts had let the fire go out and the oil wasn’t even simmering.
“What are you two doing,” said Sundarananda, “fooling around and
going to sleep?”
Sundarananda
107
The two ghosts opened their eyes and stared. “What do you
care?” they said. “We’re in no hurry. We’re waiting for someone
who isn’t due for a long, long time.”
“Who? said Sundarananda.
“Shakyamuni Buddha’s little brother, Sundarananda, if you
must know,” they said. “He left home, but seeks only the blessings
of the heavens and the five hundred goddesses. He’ll be living in
heaven for a thousand years, but in his confusion he will forget how
to cultivate and will commit many offenses. This will create evil
karma and drag him into the hells to be deep-fried in this very pot.”
Every hair on Sundarananda’s body stood straight up on end,
and every pore ran with cold sweat. “How could this happen to
me?” he moaned. From that moment on, he stopped cultivating for
rebirth in the heavens and resolved to end birth and death. Soon he
certified to Arhatship.
Sundarananda was extremely handsome. The Buddha had the
thirty-two marks of a superman and Sundarananda had thirty. Some
people even mistook him for the Buddha. One day Shariputra was
debating with some non-Buddhists who were even more extreme
than many hippies; they didn’t wear any clothes at all. “This is our
original face,” they said. “Why disguise yourself by wearing
clothes?”
Shariputra, although not very tall, was extremely intelligent; his
replies left them speechless, as if they had no mouths at all. Later,
when Sundarananda, who was tall and handsome, happened along,
the nudists said, “If that short little Bhikshu beat us, how could we
possibly out-talk this tall one?” They bowed to Sundarananda as
their teacher and left the home life. Sundarananda had a lot of
faithful disciples, and their cultivation was very successful.
This is the story of Sundarananda, who gave up his wife for the
goddesses and then, fearing the hells, cultivated the Way.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
108
Ananda
Ananda was the Buddha’s cousin. His name means
“rejoicing,”46 and was chosen because he was born on the day the
Buddha awoke to the unsurpassed enlightenment. Both his birth
and the Buddha’s realization were causes for rejoicing.
Of all the great disciples, the Venerable Ananda was foremost
in learning. He edited and compiled all the Buddha’s Sutras, and
remembered clearly, without ever forgetting, all the Dharma the
Buddha spoke. Ananda’s memory was extremely accurate and his
samadhi was firm. In fact, Ananda had eight inconceivable states:
1) He never accepted special invitations. In the Shurangama
Sutra we read that, because he accepted a special lunch invitation,
Ananda became involved in an unfortunate encounter with
Matangi’s daughter. Matangi used a Brahma Heaven mantra to lure
Ananda into a house of prostitution. Then the Buddha spoke the
Shurangama mantra and ordered Manjushri Bodhisattva to take the
mantra to rescue him. Ananda never accepted another special
invitation. They’re too dangerous!
For a member of the Sangha to go out alone to receive offerings
from Dharma protecting laymen is called “accepting special
invitation,” and is against the Buddha’s rules. If there are ten
Bhikshus, but a layman favors only one with an invitation, he may
not go; all ten must go. The Venerable Ananda realized his mistake
and never made it again.
2) He never wore the Buddha’s old clothes. The Bhikshus liked
to wear the Buddha’s old clothing. Some even fought over it,
feeling that wearing the Buddha’s clothes would increase their
wisdom and wipe away their offenses. Actually they were just
greedy Ananda never wore them.
46. qing xi
Rahula
109
3) He did not look at what he should not look at. What he was
supposed to see, he looked at; what he was not supposed to see, he
avoided. He did not look at what violated the code of morality, but
looked only at what was in accord with it.
4) He did not give rise to defiled thoughts. The Venerable
Ananda followed the Buddha to the heavens, to the palace of the
asuras, and to the palace of the dragons. He saw the heavenly
women, the asura women, and the dragon women, the most
beautiful women in all of creation, but felt no sexual desire.
5) He knew which samadhi the Buddha had entered. The other
Bhikshus didn’t know.
6) He knew the benefits received by the beings who were
taught and transformed by the Buddha in samadhi.
7) He understood completely all the Dharma the Buddha spoke.
8) He never had to ask to have a Dharma repeated. He
remembered it all and never needed to hear one twice. No one but
Ananda had these eight inconceivable states.
Concerning not accepting special invitations, Shramaneras
cannot eat or drink when they please, but must eat with the
assembly. Novices and Bhikshus alike cannot live with the group
and yet eat separately. Even a cup of tea should be taken with the
group without assuming a special style. If everyone doesn’t receive
an apple, an orange, or even a piece of candy, no single person is
allowed to eat them on his own.
Rahula
The Buddha’s father, King Suddhodana, was afraid that his son
the prince would leave the home-life. When the prince was still
quite young, his father told him to marry, and he wed Yasodhara.
When he was nineteen, he left home and, so he was about to go, his
wife told him she wanted a son. The prince thereupon pointed his
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
110
finger at her, and she became pregnant. Then he left for the Snow
Mountains to meditate for six years, and for six years Rahula, his
son, lay in his mother’s womb.
Rahula means “obstacle.”47 He had plugged up a mousehole for
six days in a past life, and so received six years of retribution,
suffering in the womb. When he was finally born, he caused a lot of
trouble for his mother. King Suddhodana and the whole family
were upset. “Well, I never!” they said. “Without a husband, she
gives birth to a son. Yasodhara has obviously been running around.
She must have a boyfriend.”
“She’s a bad women,” pronounced the entire clan. One servant
spoke in her defense. “You’re wrong,” she said. “She is pure. She
stays home all day long and doesn’t flirt with men. The child really
is the Prince’s.”
No one believed the servant, and they wanted to kill Yasodhara,
to beat her to death. Finally, they dug a pit, built a fire in it, and
prepared to throw Yasodhara and her baby in. Yasodhara stepped
forward and made a vow. “Heaven spirits! Earth spirits! Bear
witness! If the child belongs to the Prince, my son and I will not be
burned. If I did transgress, we both will burn!” Then she jumped
into the pit. What do you think happened? The pit turned into a pool
of water, and a golden lotus grew out of it to catch them. Everyone
then knew that the child was truly the son of the Buddha.
When the Buddha returned tot he palace, Yasodhara took
Rahula to meet him. If the child had been illegitimate, she certainly
would have feared the Buddha. But she sent the child out to meet
him and the Buddha hugged the child.
Rahula sought the true Way and worked hard. Among the great
disciples he was foremost in secret practices. He worked
everywhere, at all times, but no one knew he was working because
47. fu zhang
Gavampati
111
he never advertised his cultivation. His work was so secret that he
could enter samadhi any place at all, even on the toilet, and no one
knew.
Although Rahula was the Buddha’s son, the Buddha doesn’t
have only one son; he has Three Kinds of Sons:
1) True Sons. One often reads in the Sutras, “…headed by the
Dharma Prince Manjushri…” The Buddha is the Dharma King, and
the Bodhisattvas are the Buddha’s genuine sons.
2) Initiate Sons. These are the Arhats who, out of ignorance,
hold to the principle of one-sided emptiness and have not attained
the principle of the Middle Way.
3) Uninitiate Sons. Common men who do not know how to
cultivate are upside-down, but they are still the Buddha’s sons, for
the Buddha is the great compassionate father of all living beings.
The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Blossom Sutra speaks of us as poor,
lost sons. We should quickly return to our great compassionate
father. We all have a share in the Buddha’s family.
Gavampati
This Venerable One’s very strange name means “cow cud.”48
Far in the distant past, he had insulted a Bhikshu who couldn’t eat
hard things and had to slurp his food because his teeth were no
good. “You eat like a cow!” said Gavampati. The old Bhikshu
happened to be a Pratyeka Buddha, and because of Gavampati’s
careless slander, Gavampati was reborn for five hundred lifetimes
as a cow and got to know the real bitterness that it involved.
Finally he met Shakyamuni Buddha, learned to cultivate, and
attained Arhatship. Although he had certified to the fruit, his habits
from so many lives remained unchanged, and all day he snorted like
48. niu ?
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
112
a cow chewing its cud. Shakyamuni Buddha was afraid that
someone might slander him and reap the same reward, and so he
sent the Venerable Gavampati to heaven to live. There he became
the foremost of those who receive the offerings of the gods.
We should take care not to speak rashly or to scold others. If
you berate others, others will berate you.
Pindola Bharadvaja
Pindola Bharadvaja means “unmoving sharp roots.”49 To the
present day he has not entered Nirvana because he broke a rule.
Although the Arhats around the Buddha had spiritual powers,
they were not allowed to display them casually. Once an elder
called JyotiËka carved a bowl out of sandalwood, put it on top of a
high pole, and said, “Whoever can use his spiritual powers to get
the bowl down can have it.” Pindola Bharadvaja couldn’t resist the
temptation, and used his powers to get the bowl down.
“Since you’re so greedy for sandalwood bowls that you display
your spiritual powers,” said the Buddha, “you will not be allowed
to enter Nirvana. Instead, you must stay here and be a field of
blessedness for living beings.”
Pindola Bharadvaja is still in the world, but no one knows
where. Whenever people make offerings to the Triple Jewel,
however, he comes to receive them, acting as a field of blessedness
for beings in the Dharma-ending age.
Kalodayin
Kalodayin means “black light.”50 His skin was black but his
body glowed, and his eyes emitted light. One night as he was out
49. bu dong li ken
50. hei guang
MahaKapphina
113
walking, a pregnant woman was so startled to see his two bright
eyes and black-lit body that she had a miscarriage and died.
Because of this the Buddha set up a precept forbidding Shramanas
to take walks at night.
Black Light served the Buddha as an attendant and a Dharma
Protector. He was the foremost teacher who taught and transformed
the greatest number of people, creating over one thousand certified
sages.
MahaKapphina
Maha means “great” and Kapphina means “constellation.”51
His father and mother prayed to one of the 28 constellations in
order to have their son. He was foremost in knowledge of astrology.
Vakkula
Vakkula means “good bearing.”52 He was extremely handsome.
In the past, during the time of Vipasyin Buddha, he made offerings
of the Indian haritaki fruit to a Pratyeka Buddha, a sage enlightened
to conditions. Because of this he received the retribution of long
life in every life for ninety-one aeons. Foremost of the disciples in
age, he lived to be a hundred and sixty.
In past lives, Vakkula kept the precept against killing so conscientiously
that he never killed a single creature, not even grass or
trees. Thus he obtained “five kinds of death-free retribution.”
Vakkula was a strange child. He was not born crying like most
children, but entered the world smiling. Not only was he smiling, he
was sitting upright in full lotus. Seeing this, his mother exclaimed,
“He’s a monster!” and threw him on the brazier to burn. After three
51. fang su
52. shan rong
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
114
or four hours, he hadn’t burned; he just sat there in full lotus
laughing. Fully convinced that he was a monster, she then tried to
boil him. When she took the cover off the pot several hours later, he
just smiled back at her. “Oh no!” she cried, and threw him into the
ocean. He did not drown, however, because a big fish swam up and
swallowed him whole. Then a man netted the fist and cut it open.
Vakkula stepped out, unharmed by the knife. So the fire didn’t burn
him, the water didn’t boil him, the ocean didn’t drown him, the fish
didn’t chomp him to death, and the fisherman’s knife didn’t cut
him. Because he kept the precept against killing in every life, he
obtained these “five kinds of death-free retribution.”
Aniruddha
Aniruddha means “not poor.”53 Long ago, during the time of
Pusya Buddha, a famine starved the people and reduced them to
eating grass, roots, and leaves. It was the practice of a Pratyeka
Buddha who lived at that time to go out begging only once every
two weeks. If he received no offerings, he simply didn’t eat. Once
day he went down the mountain to beg and, having received no
offerings, was returning with his empty bowl when he was seen by
a poor farmer—Aniruddha. The poor farmer addressed the
Pratyeka Buddha most respectfully. “Holy Master,” he said, “you
received no offerings. Won’t you please accept my lunch? As I am
very poor, I can only offer you this cheap grade of rice, but if you
want it, you can have it.” Seeing his sincerity, the Pratyeka Buddha
accepted. After eating, he ascended into empty space, manifested
the 18 miraculous changes, and left.
Just then the poor farmer saw a rabbit running towards him. The
rabbit jumped up on his back, and no matter how the farmer tried to
knock, brush, or shake it off, it wouldn’t budge. All alone in the
53. wu pin
Aniruddha
115
field and terrified, he ran home. When he got there the rabbit had
turned into a gold statue. He asked his wife to knock the rabbit off,
but she couldn’t move it either. When they broke a gold leg off the
rabbit, another would grow back in its place. In this way, the gold
statue was never exhausted, and for ninety-one kalpas Aniruddha
was “not poor.”
During the time of Shakyamuni Buddha he was the son of the
Buddha’s father’s brother, the Red Rice King. He was the Buddha’s
first cousin.
Although he wasn’t poor, Aniruddha liked to sleep when the
Buddha lectured on the Sutras. One day the Buddha scolded him:
Hey! Hey! How can you sleep,
Like an oyster or a clam?
Sleep, sleep for a thousand years,
But you’ll never hear the Buddha’s name!
Hearing this, Aniruddha became extremely vigorous and didn’t
sleep for seven days. As a consequence, he went blind. The Buddha
took pity on him and taught him how to cultivate the “vajra
illuminating bright samadhi.” He immediately obtained the
penetration of the Heavenly Eye; he could see the great trichiliocosm
as clearly as seeing an apple held in his hand, and was
foremost of the disciples in possessing the Heavenly Eye.
116
The Assembly Of Bodhisattvas
Sutra:
…together with all the Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas:
Dharma Prince Manjushri, Ajita Bodhisattva, Gandhahastin
Bodhisattva, Nityodyukta Bodhisattva, and others such as
these, all great Bodhisattvas, and together with Shakra, chief
among gods, and the numberless great multitudes from all
the heavens.
Commentary:
Not only were the sixteen venerable Arhats present in the
assembly, but there were also all the Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas, the
great Bodhisattvas.
What is a Bodhisattva? Bodhisattva is a Sanskrit word. Bodhi
means “enlightenment” and sattva means “being.” The word means
“to enlighten those with sentience,” that is, to cause living beings to
wake up.
Bodhisattva also means “enlightened among beings” because
Bodhisattvas themselves are awake. Enlightenment is simply the
opposite of confusion; confusion is simply non-enlightenment.
With one enlightened thought, you are a Buddha. With one
confused thought, you are a living being. With every thought
Manjushri
117
enlightened, in every thought you are a Buddha. With every
thought confused, in every thought you are a living being.
Bodhisattvas are beings who can wake themselves up. Every
day they are more enlightened, not more confused.
Manjushri, also Sanskrit, means “wonderfully lucky,”54 or
“wonderful virtue.”55 Of the Bodhisattvas, he is foremost in
wisdom and is also known as “The Great and Wise Manjushri.”
Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings and living beings are
confused beings. Enlightened beings are those who are enlightened
among all the confused living beings. In all situations, they are
awake. And so it is said,
If you see affairs and are awake,
You can transcend the world.
If you see affairs and are confused,
You fall beneath the wheel.
Bodhisattvas transcend the world; living beings fall beneath the
grinding wheel of sense objects. The difference between
Bodhisattvas and living beings is that of enlightenment and
confusion. We say, “enlightened, you’re a Buddha.” Enlightened,
too, you are a Bodhisattva. Confused, you’re a living being.
Manjushri
When the Bodhisattva Manjushri was born, ten auspicious signs
manifested to indicate that his merit and virtue were complete and
his wisdom foremost:
1) The room was filled with bright light. When Manjushri was
born, a bright light filled the room. It was not the light of the sun,
54. miao ji xiang
55. miao de
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
118
moon, stars or lamps. It represented Manjushri’s great Prajna
wisdom and great intelligence which can disperse all darkness.
2) The vessels were filled with sweet dew. Sweet dew56 is the
heavenly medicine of immortality which nourishes you and
satisfies your hunger so that you don’t need to eat. Sweet dew
satisfies, purifies, and refreshes. Hungry ghosts who have sweet
dew poured over their heads immediately get rid of their offense
karma and obtain a good rebirth. This is called ‘opening the sweet
dew door.” When it opens, the hungry ghosts run in and obtain their
fill. Sweet dew filling the vessels represents Manjushri’s use of the
sweet dew of Dharma to rescue living beings.
3) The seven jewels came forth from the earth. When
Manjushri was born, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, mother-ofpearl,
red pearls, and carnelian came forth from the earth.
Why are they called “jewels?” Because they are rare. Whatever
is scarce is precious. Earth, for example, is actually very precious.
Without it we couldn’t sustain our lives, and yet no one thinks it is
special because there is a lot of it. If you tried to give people a
handful of dirt, they wouldn’t want it; they’d just throw it away.
Water, too, is essential for life, but no one prizes it because it’s
everywhere. All living things depend on water for survival.
Therefore Lao Tzu said,
“The highest goodness, like water, benefits all things
and yet does not contend. It goes to places men despise
and so it is close to the Way.”57
Water benefits all things, but doesn’t struggle. It would never
say, “Hey, flower! Fortunately for you there is me, water, and so
you have grown so big and bloomed so beautifully. Without me,
56. gan lu
57. Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, “Classics of the Way and its Virtue.”
Manjushri
119
flower, would this day have come for you? You really should be
grateful.” It doesn’t think in this way and it doesn’t wrangle.
Travellers will notice that water gathers in the lowlands, in places
where men do not like to go. It lives where no one else wants to live
and so it is close in its nature to the Way.
Water, fire, metal, wood, and earth benefit all things but
because of their abundance, no one considers them precious. Trees
are everywhere and so no one values them, but gold is a treasure
because it is rare. In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, where the ground
is made of gold, dirt would be valuable. If you gave a clod of Saha
dirt to someone in the Land of Ultimate Bliss…Ah!….it would be
as precious as those rocks they are now bringing back from the
moon. They are just rocks, but because they came from the moon
they are very valuable. If you sent a worthless clod of dirt to the
Land of Ultimate Bliss everyone would exclaim, “Rare indeed!”
So, the seven precious gems are called “jewels” because they are
hard to find.
Manjushri Bodhisattva has limitless treasuries of jewels. When
he was born, the seven jewels welled up from the earth—endless
for the taking and inexhaustible in their use.
“Where are these treasuries?” you ask.
They are in the place where Manjushri was born.
“Can I go there?”
Don’t be so greedy. The travel expenses would cost more than
the jewels you’d bring back. So don’t have this false thought
4) The gods opened the treasuries. Wheel-turning Sage Kings58
have seven treasures: a golden disc, white elephants, jade women,
horse, pearls, ministers of the army, and gods to guard his
treasuries. These treasuries were buried in the earth long ago and
58. Skt. cakravarti-raja
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
120
then forgotten, but when Manjushri was born, the guardian gods
opened the treasuries so that the jewels could be obtained.
5) Chickens gave birth to phoenixes. Chickens usually give
birth to chickens, but when Manjushri was born they gave birth to
Phoenixes. Phoenixes are auspicious birds, and seeing one is a
lucky sign.
In The Analects, Confucius wrote, “The phoenix hasn’t come
and the river sends no map; I am finished.” The phoenix appears
when a wise man rules and things are right in the world, as during
the time of Emperor Shun (2255 B.C.) when these birds were
commonly seen. During the time of Fu Hsi (2852 B.C.) a turtle rose
out of the river with a chart on its back. The chart gave Fu Hsi the
idea for the eight trigrams which combine to make the sixty-four
hexagrams of the I Ching, the Book of Changes. “But now,” said
Confucius, “one no longer sees such auspicious signs. Thus I know
that it’s all over. To expound the Way and its virtue is of no use.”
6) Pigs gave birth to dragons. Dragons ordinarily give birth to
dragons and phoenixes ordinarily give birth to phoenixes. It’s not
too strange for chickens to hatch phoenixes, but then pigs gave
birth to dragons—dragon pigs, with scales.
7) Horses gave birth to unicorns. Horses usually beget horses,
but they had unicorns. Unicorns, lions, and tigers are all called the
“kings of beasts.”
The unicorn is also an auspicious animal. In China, during the
time of the benevolent Emperor T’ang Ti Yao (2356 B.C.), there
were many phoenixes and unicorns, and they were often seen.
Later, when people’s karmic retribution grew too heavy, these
auspicious creatures no longer appeared. Confucius wrote,
In the time of Emperor T’ang Yao
the unicorn and phoenix abounded.
That time, however, is not the present,
Manjushri
121
so what have you come to seek?
Unicorn! Unicorn! How my heart grieves…
“During the time of Emperor T’ang Yao, unicorns and
phoenixes often came into the world to roam around; everyone saw
them. But that time is not now, so what have you come to seek?” he
said.
When the Sage Confucius was born, a unicorn appeared. When
his mother saw it, she tied a string around its neck. Near the end of
Confucius’ live, some hunters killed a unicorn. When Confucius
saw it, he noticed that it had the string around its neck; it was the
same unicorn. Seeing this sign, he sighed deeply, for he knew that
it would not be long before he died. “Unicorn! Unicorn! How my
heart grieves…” he said.
When Manjushri was born, horses gave birth to unicorns.
8) Cows gave birth to white tsai. The white tsai is an extremely
rare and auspicious animal. It’s not like an ox and it’s not like a
horse; it’s not like a deer or a mule. It’s not like anything at all. It
looks like a horse, but has the hooves of an ox.
9) The grain in the granaries turned to gold. What use is golden
grain? Can you eat it?
“You can exchange it for money and buy a lot of grain,” you
may say.
I agree. A grain of gold is very valuable.
10) Elephants with six tusks appeared. Elephants usually have
only two tusks, but when Manjushri was born they had six.
These are the ten auspicious signs which appeared at
Manjushri’s birth. They represent the Ten Paramitas: giving,
morality, patience, vigor, concentration, wisdom, skill in means,
vows, determination, and knowledge. They show that Manjushri is
not like other Bodhisattvas.
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra – The Preface
122
If you would like to meet Manjushri Bodhisattva, you must first
remember these ten signs. Then when you see him you will know,
“This is my old friend and closest good knowing advisor.”
Manjushri will be very pleased. “Yes! You are my old friend,
my very good friend,” he will say. Although he doesn’t discriminate,
if you don’t know him, he won’t approach you. The better you
know him, the closer he comes. Therefore we should know the
states of the Bodhisattvas so that we can be their brothers and
friends. All the Bodhisattvas are our good knowing advisors, and in
the future we will be Bodhisattvas, too. So don’t take yourselves
lightly.
Ajita
Ajita is Sanskrit for “invincible.”59 Ajita Bodhisattva is none
other than Maitreya, “compassionate clan,”60 Bodhisattva. He
specializes in cultivating the “compassionate heart samadhi” and is
compassionate toward all living beings. Scolded, beaten, cheated,
insulted, no matter how badly he is treated, he is compassionate in
return. No matter how obnoxious living beings are, he protects
them all even more lovingly than he would protect his own sons or
daughters. His compassion and loving concern are limitless and
boundless.
In order to cultivate the compassionate heart samadhi, you must
first practice patience, and so Ajita Bodhisattva wrote this verse:
The Old Fool wrapped in ragged clothes,
His belly filled with gruel,
He mends old sacks to keep him warm
And lives on chance, Old Fool.
59. wu neng sheng
60. ci shi
Ajita
123
A scolding makes the Fool smile sweetly,
While a beating makes him sleepy;
Spit on his face, he lets it dry
And saves his strength and energy.
His calm, a peace past ridicule
Gets him the jewel within the wonderful;
Now that you’ve heard this song today
Why worry about not perfecting the Way?
The song is about a stupid old man who wears a patched robe
and eats his food plain, without soy sauce, hot sauce, or sesame oil.
It doesn’t taste like much, but it fills his stomach. He mends his
robes to stay warm and whatever happens, just happens:
Something happens and he reflects it;
When it passes, he is still.
Everywhere according with conditions
as the years and months go by;
Minding your own business
as the time passes.
When it happens, it happens; when it’s over, it’s gone. He
accords with conditions and does not change, does not change and
yet accords with conditions. For him,
In movement, there is stillness,
In stillness, movement;
Both movement and stillness
Are still and moving.
But we won’t speak about it too deeply. If we did, it would be
difficult to understand.
Scolded, the Old Fool says, “Great!” If someone hits him, he
falls asleep. Now isn’t that stupid? If ordinary people were hit, they
would glare and shout, “Why did you hit me!” But the Old fool just
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falls asleep. Isn’t this wonderful? If you can master this, you’re
doing pretty well; you have truly gained some genuine cultivation.
“Spit in my face,” says the stupid old man, “and I just let it dry.
If you spit in someone else’s face, the fire of ignorance would blaze
thirty thousand feet into the air. “How can you insult me like that?”
he’d say. But the old man doesn’t even wipe if off. He just lets it
dry. Although it’s not much effort to wipe it away, he still saves his
strength and gives others no affliction.
This is Paramita. If you can sleep when people hit you and let
their spit dry on your face, this is ksanti-Paramita, the perfection of
patience. If you do not understand this, what Buddhadharma do you
study? You study day in and day out, but when this happens, you
don’t know what dharma it is. If someone hit you to test your skill,
you’d probably end up saying, “I’ve studied the Buddhadharma for
so long. Why can’t I use it when the time comes?”
The Paramita is the wonderful within the wonderful, the jewel
within the jewel. If you’ve heard this news, how can you worry
about not perfecting the Way? The Buddha and Bodhisattvas would
never deceive you.
This, then, is what Ajita Bodhisattva had to say about the
perfection of patience, and if we practice accordingly we shall
certainly realize the Way.
Gandhahastin and Nityodyukta
Gandhahastin is a Sanskrit word which is interpreted as ‘never
resting.”61 Nityodyukta, also Sanskrit, means “ever-vigorous.”62
“Ever-vigorous” and “Never-resting” competed with each other.
One was vigorous and the other never rested; one never rested and
61. bu xiu xi
62. chang jing jin
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the other was vigorous. They watched each other: “If you don’t
rest,” said one, “then I’ll be constantly vigorous.”
“If you’re ever vigorous,” replied the other, “then I won’t rest.”
In the six periods of the day and night they practiced the Way, each
acting as the other’s Dharma protector. They raced every step of the
way, and neither would let himself fall behind. Thus Gandhahastin
is just Nityodyukta; Ever-vigorous is just Never-resting.
These two have cultivated together as Dharma friends for
limitless kalpas. “If you work hard, I’ll work harder! If you increase
your efforts, I’ll double mine.” They are genuine cultivators, evervigorous
and never-resting, Nityodyukta and Gandhahastin.
Shakra, chief among gods, and the numberless great multitudes
from all the heavens.
Shakra, or Sakro Devanam Indra, is the ruler of the
TrayastriÌÇa Heaven, the Heaven of the Thirty-three. He is
referred to in the Shurangama mantra as “Yin T’o La Ye.” Those
who understand the Buddhadharma know that all gods, ghosts, and
spirit kings, as well as all the great Bodhisattvas are contained
within the Shurangama mantra. Those who do not understand the
Buddhadharma say, “Buddhism does not include the heavens, the
twenty-eight constellations…” They say this because they don’t
understand that the heavens and the constellations, everything is
within the Shurangama mantra. Shakra is Sanskrit; it means “the
able heavenly ruler.”63
Numberless great multitudes from all the heavens. Numberless,
the heavens cannot be counted. In general there are thirty-three, but
if you were to describe them in detail, you would speak of the
limitless heavens within each heaven, just as there are also limitless
worlds within each world and limitless countries within each
country. Thus, many heavenly beings were present in the assembly.
63. neng tian zhu
126
P A R T I V
THE PRINCIPLE PROPER
Sutra:
At that time the Buddha told the elder Sariputra,
“passing from here through hundreds of thousands of
millions of Buddhalands to the west, there is a world called
ultimate bliss. In this land a Buddha called Amitabha right
now teaches the dharma.”
Commentary:
At that time refers to the time when all the gods, Bodhisattvas,
sravakas, bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, and upasikas had gathered
together to listen to Sakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha spoke to the
wise elder Sariputra saying, “if you travel westward from here,
from the pure abode in the jeta grove in the garden of the benefactor
of orphans and the solitary, sravasti, india, and go through hundreds
of thousands of millions of Buddhalands, you will find a world
system called ‘the Land of Ultimate Bliss’. This is the happiest land
there is. Nothing surpasses the happiness there, it is ultimate.
“In this land, there is a Buddha. His name is Amitabha,
‘limitless light’. He is also called amitayus, ‘limitless life’. His
light is measureless, illumining the lands of the ten directions
everywhere without obstruction, and his lifespan extends for
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hundreds of thousands of tens of thousands of millions of great
kalpas without end.” After realising Buddhahood, this Buddha did
not rest, but right now he speaks the dharma. He is not an
unemployed Buddha; teaching the dharma is the Buddha’s job.
Whoever teaches the dharma does the Buddha’s work; whoever
doesn’t, does the demons’ work. So it is said,
“Unless I teach the dharma to save living beings, I will have
passed through my entire life in vain.”
If you don’t teach the dharma and convert living beings, you
will have wasted your life and obtained no benefit.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, for what reason is this land called ultimate
bliss?”
Commentary:
“Sariputra!” Said the Buddha, “Why is this land called ultimate
bliss?”.
Although he had great wisdom, Sariputra didn’t know enough
to ask this question, and so the Buddha asked it himself. This is like
yesterday when I asked you if you had any questions and you didn’t
answer because you didn’t know what to ask. So I said, “Very well,
I have a question for you. Do you like the rain?”.
Thieves hate the rain. Why? If they go out to steal, they get all
wet. “I want to steal something,” they say, “but it is raining. I will
have to carry an umbrella. How inconvenient!”
Travellers say, “I came here for a vacation and I haven’t seen a
thing. Detestable rain!” Travellers and thieves don’t care for the
rain.
But the farmer says, “Rain! My flowers will sell for thousands
of dollars. Isn’t this fine?” The fruit growers say, “The rain will
make my apples big, fat and sweet, my oranges too.”
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Now, would you say that lecturing sutras and speaking about
the dharma is a good thing or not? Those who believe in the
Buddhadharma say it is good, but those who are jealous of it say it
is not.
Why is this land called ultimate bliss? Basically, Sariputra
should have asked this question, but he didn’t, and so Sakyamuni
Buddha said, “Sariputra, why is Amitabha’s country called ultimate
bliss? Speak up!”.
The Buddha waited about five minutes. Sariputra said nothing,
such great wisdom and yet he didn’t know what to say! He just
stared blankly as you do when I ask you a question. But time is
precious. Sakyamuni Buddha waited until he could wait no more.
“All right,” he said, “I will answer it myself.”
Sutra:
“All living beings of this country endure none of the
sufferings, but enjoy every bliss. Therefore it is called
‘ultimate bliss’.”
Commentary:
In Amitabha Buddha’s land, living beings are born by transformation
from lotus flowers. Their birth is pure, not one of desire and
emotions, and so their bodies are pure and are not the result of
sexual desire and the lustful thoughts of men and women. This is
why they endure none of the sufferings, but enjoy every bliss. Why
do we suffer? We suffer because our bodies are created from
unclean substances of the father’s semen and the mother’s blood.
We continually think of unclean things. Men usually think of
women, women of men. People eat their fill and, since there’s
nothing else to do, sexual desire is foremost. When the time comes,
men and women want to marry. If they don’t, they feel as if they
have a great illness which has not been cured. Because the basis,
the seed, is impure, the thoughts are impure, and those impure
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thoughts bring about all kinds of suffering. Why is there suffering?
For no reason other than this. Sutras are lectured and dharma is
taught only to teach you one thing, have no unclean, impure
thoughts, have no sexual desire. Without sexual desire you are one
of the clear, pure, ocean-wide assembly of Bodhisattvas. With
sexual desire, you are a ghostly living being of the five turbid
realms. Cultivation and non-cultivation are right here. If you can
purify your mind, your merit and virtue are limitless. If you cannot
purify your mind, your offences are limitless. Offences are created
from impure thoughts. Such thoughts are causes planted in your
self-nature and they result in the manifestation of offences and evil.
But if your self-nature is pure, outwardly there will be no evil
karmic retribution.
Therefore, you may study the Buddhadharma for several tens of
thousands of great kalpas, but unless you understand the genuine
doctrine you won’t get off the revolving wheel. If you understand
the essential message of the Buddhadharma, however, you will
know, “Oh! It is simply a matter of purifying my mind and will.”
The Buddhadharma teaches you to purify your mind and will. If
you understand the Buddhadharma you can become enlightened,
and once enlightened, you will never have unclean thoughts again.
Why do people suffer? It is because of unclean thoughts. Why is
there no suffering in the Land of Ultimate Bliss? It is because the
people there have no impure thoughts. Thus, they endure none of
the sufferings, but enjoy every bliss.
As we recite “Namo Amitabha Buddha” we each create and
adorn our own Land of Ultimate Bliss. We each accomplish our
own Land of Ultimate Bliss which is certainly not hundreds of
thousands of millions of Buddhalands from here. Although it is far
away, it doesn’t go beyond one thought. It is not hundreds of
thousands of millions of Buddhalands from here, it is right in our
hearts. The Land of Ultimate Bliss is the original true heart, you
will be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. If you don’t understand
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your own original true heart, you will not. The Land of Ultimate
Bliss is defiled and so is that one thought of the mind and nature. It
is just that now, as common people, we are defiled by attachment.
If you can empty yourself of attachments, you will immediately see
Amitabha Buddha, that is the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Amitabha
Buddha and living beings, do not discriminate between this and
that, turn the light within. Know that originally you are the Buddha,
and your original Buddhahood is just the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
For this reason, you should cast out your defiled thoughts, your
lustful desires, your confusion, jealousy, contrariness, and selfish
thoughts of personal gain. Be like the Bodhisattvas who benefit
everyone and enlighten all beings. Just that is the Land of Ultimate
Bliss. Don’t you agree that the absence of confusion and false
thoughts is the Land of Ultimate Bliss? If it isn’t, what is?
Good knowing advisors, you are all ones of great wisdom and
great intelligence. You are all more clever than I, and in the future
you will explain the dharma better than I do. But now, because you
don’t know chinese, I am introducing you to this old-fashioned
tradition. In the future you will transform it and make it
unspeakably wonderful.
Sutra:
“Moreover, Sariputra, this Land of Ultimate Bliss is
everywhere surrounded by seven tiers of railings, seven
layers of netting, and seven rows of trees, all formed from
the four treasures and for this reason named ‘ultimate
bliss’.”
Commentary:
After explaining why this land is called ultimate bliss,
Sakyamuni Buddha waited for Sariputra to ask about the limitless
principles which remained but, as intelligent as he was, Sariputra
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simply didn’t know enough to ask. Why? It was because the pure
land dharma door is simply too wonderful.
Unable to wait any longer, the Buddha said, “Sariputra, I will
tell you something else. In the most happy land there are seven
railings which run horizontally like fences and are arranged
vertically in seven tiers.” The railings represent the precepts, the
netting represents concentration, and the trees represent wisdom.
The number seven is used for the “seven classes,” the classification
of the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment into seven groups:
1. The four applications of mindfulness
2. The four right efforts
3. The four bases of supernatural power
4. The five roots
5. The five powers
6. The seven limbs of enlightenment
7. The proper eight-fold path
How do the tiers of railings represent the precepts? Precepts
prohibit evil and prevent error. Morality is simply
all evil not done and
all good conduct respectfully practised.
Once you have taken the precepts, you cannot entertain
confused false thinking. You must purify your mind and will. If you
find yourself caught up in false thinking, rub your head and say, “I
have left the home-life, I am hairless. I am no longer a layman and
so I can’t be casual and think unclean thoughts. I must stop.” In this
way the precepts are like a fence. It is illegal to jump it, you have to
go through the gate. Thus, the seven tiers of railings represent the
precepts.
How do the seven layers of netting represent concentration?
One does not enter or emerge from true concentration. With “naga
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concentration” you don’t need to meditate because no external state
will move your heart. You are always concentrated.
Suppose you see something good to eat and think, “Not bad. I
will try it out.” This displays a lack of concentration power, to say
nothing of stealing food, which is a violation of the precepts!
“Oh, a little thing like that is not important,” you think.
It’s just because you transgress in minor ways, that, when
something major comes along you slip up. People who transgress in
little matters will transgress even more easily in big ones. It may be
a small matter, but it is just the small matters which are difficult to
change. If you change your small faults, you have concentration
power. Always in concentration,
The eyes see forms outside,
but inside there is nothing.
The ears hear external sounds,
but the mind does not know.
Concentration is the state of being unmoved by situations. For
example, when a woman sees a handsome man but has no thought
of sexual desire, she is said to possess concentration power. When
a man sees a beautiful woman but has no thoughts of sexual desire,
that, too, is concentration. Seeing as if not seeing and hearing as if
not hearing,
The eyes see forms outside,
but inside there is nothing.
The ears hear external sounds,
but the mind does not know.
The seven layers of netting represent concentration. Now do
you understand the Amitabha sutra? If you don’t understand it
completely, perhaps you understand a little. That’s why I am
explaining it.
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...and seven rows of very tall trees. The trees represent wisdom.
If you have wisdom, you are tall, without it, you are short. It’s not
a question of how tall or short your body is. With wisdom you are
like seven rows of tall trees; without wisdom you are like seven
rows of grass! The grass has smothered your heart and you grow
stupider and stupider.
...all formed from the four treasures and for this reason called
‘ultimate bliss.’ the four treasures are gold, silver, lapis lazuli and
crystal.
“Is the Land of Ultimate Bliss made out of only four treasures?”
You may wonder.
The treasures in the Land of Ultimate Bliss are limitless and
measureless, nothing in this world compares with them. We of this
world have never seen anything like the treasures which fill that
land.
“Then why do you only mention four?” You ask.
The four treasures represent the four virtues of nirvana:
permanence, bliss, true self, and purity.
1. Permanence.
Amitabha Buddha’s life span is limitless. Not only does
Amitabha Buddha have a limitless life span, but when we are born
in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, we will, too. If you would like to
transcend death, seek rebirth in the pure land, because everyone
there has limitless life. This is the virtue of permanence.
2. Bliss.
Those born in the pure land endure none of the sufferings, but
enjoy every bliss.
3. True self.
In this land, the self has eight great freedoms, eight functions,
eight kinds of strength, and eight spiritual penetrations. These are
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the eight kinds of wonderful function and are called the eight great
freedoms of the self.
a) One body can manifest limitless bodies. If a hundred people
invite you to lunch, you can accept all their invitations and go to
every dharma protector’s house to eat. One dharma protector might
say, “He came to lunch at my house on such and such a day,” and
another will say, “but he also had lunch at my house on that day!”
They don’t know that you are able to respond to limitless offerings
in a single day.
b) One body the size of a dust mote can completely fill the great
thousand world systems. Isn’t this wonderful? In one mote of dust,
Buddha-fields appear; in a Buddha-field, motes of dust appear. One
country becomes as small as a mote of dust and one mote of dust
becomes as large as a country.
c) The great body can lightly float to a distant place. It can fly.
The body is big and awkward, yet it can gently float far away.
d) One manifests limitless kinds of living beings which always
dwell together in one land. We see mountains as mountains when
actually they contain the palaces of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
You see mountains and oceans but do not see the Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas within them who are teaching the dharma. A layman
has mentioned such a place where there are many people
cultivating the way, he can see it and you can’t. This is to cause
limitless kinds of living beings to dwell in one place.
e) All the organs are used interchangeably. The eyes can speak;
the ears can see; the nose can eat. How can this happen? The six
sense organs, the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind are interchangeable.
Each of them has the function of the other six. Sages
who have given proof to the fruit may speak with Bodhisattvas, but
you wouldn’t know it if they were talking with their ears!
“I don’t believe it,” you say.
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Of course you don’t. If you did, you did have this talent
yourself. But because you don’t believe, you don’t have it. How can
you obtain that in which you do not even believe?
f) The suchness of all dharmas without the thought of dharmas
is obtained. Although one who realised true self obtains all
dharmas, he has no thought of attainment. This is mentioned in the
heart sutra as “no wisdom and no attainment.”
g) The meaning of one verse may be explained throughout
limitless aeons. The meaning of a single line, a single word, cannot
be fully explained even in limitless aeons. Why? Because he has
free and unobstructed eloquence so that speaking in any place or in
any dimension he always rests in the way and speaks the dharma.
Speaking dharma in Buddha-fields and in motes of dust, any
dharma he selects contains limitless meanings. Having rightly
attained the eight great freedoms, he does what he pleases and says
what he likes. He can scold people, but they like to hear it. “He
scolds very well,” they say. He may teach dharma by doing nothing
but scolding people, and yet they say it is very nice to hear. Why?
Because he has attained the eight great freedoms of the self.
Because he himself is free, when you hear him speak, you too feel
free.
h) The body pervades all places, like space. One body fills
Buddha-fields in number as many as dust motes, but, like empty
space, there is really nothing there. Although there is nothing there,
it fills Buddha-fields in number as many as dust motes. What
doctrine is this? That of freedom, the eight great freedoms of the
self.
The sutra text below says, “...and throughout the clear morning
each living being of that land, with sacks full of the myriads of
wonderful flowers, makes offerings to the hundreds of thousands of
millions of Buddhas of the other directions. At mealtime they
return to their own country and having eaten they stroll around.”
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They can do this because they have obtained the eight great
freedoms of the self.
4. Purity.
The last of the four virtues of nirvana is that of purity. This land
is pure. It is adorned with the four treasures which represent the
four virtues of nirvana in unobstructed interpenetration. Thus it is
named “ultimate bliss”.
Sutra:
“Moreover, Sariputra, this Land of Ultimate Bliss has
pools of the seven jewels, filled with the waters of eight
meritorious virtues. The bottom of each pool is pure, spread
over with golden sand. On the four sides are stairs of gold,
silver, lapis lazuli, and crystal, above are raised pavilions
adorned with gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, mother-ofpearl,
red pearls, and carnelian.”
“In the pools are lotuses as large as carriage wheels,
green coloured of green light, yellow coloured of yellow
light, red coloured of red light, white coloured of white
light, subtly, wonderfully, fragrant and pure.”
“Sariputra, the realisation of the Land of Ultimate Bliss
is thus meritoriously adorned.”
Commentary:
The previous passage of text described the exquisite beauty of
the Land of Ultimate Bliss. This passage praises the subtle wonder
of its water-pools. Having spoken of the seven rows of trees, the
seven layers of netting, and the seven tiers of railing, Sakyamuni
Buddha was waiting for Sariputra to ask further about that land. But
the great, wise Sariputra, the Buddha’s most intelligent disciple,
still did not know where to begin and probably hesitated for several
minutes until the Buddha himself said, “Moreover, Sariputra, this
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Land of Ultimate Bliss has pools of the seven jewels.” There are
pools in the saha world, but they are made of mud or cement. No
one makes pools out of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, mother-ofpearl,
red pearls, or carnelian.
Lapis lazuli is an opaque, blue semi-precious stone. It could be
found near the country of magadha, in central india. Crystal is also
called “water jade”. Mother-of-pearl has what looks like cart tracks
running across it. Translated form the chinese it is “great shells”.
The pools were not man-made. On the contrary, they appeared
naturally. Within the pools, one finds the waters of eight
meritorious virtues:
1. Tepid. It is warm and yet it is cool. In other words, once you
get in the pool, if you want it a little warmer, it becomes so. If you
think, “It is too hot. A little cooler, please,” then it becomes cooler.
The quality of the water is inconceivable.
2. Pure. No matter how many times you wash with this water,
it doesn’t get dirty. Unlike the water in our world, the more you
wash with the water of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, the cleaner it
gets. It feels like milk running over your body, smooth,
comfortable, and extremely fine and subtle to the touch. The more
you wash with it, the nicer you feel, there is no better feeling than
this.
3. Sweet. You don’t have to drink it. Just wash with it, and you
will know that it is very, very sweet. My disciple She Kuo Man in
Hong Kong came to Gwan Yin cave where I was living once and
ate noodles and drank water from my pool. Then she said, “Ah!
This water is so sweet! Does it have sugar in it?”
“No,” I replied, “It is just plain water.”
“But it is so sweet!” She said.
“Perhaps Gwan Yin Bodhisattva has given you some sweet
dew,” I said.
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“Oh!” She exclaimed, and was really delighted. At that time I
was wearing rags and you could see my flesh through the holes in
them. What do you think she did? She made me two sets of clothes,
because she like the sweet water. The water in the Land of Ultimate
Bliss is also sweet and delicious.
4. Soft. The water is not hard. It is very light and soft.
5. Moistening. When dirty people wash with it, they become
clean. This water will wash any filth right off your body and leave
you bright and clean.
6. Harmonising. If you wash with his water, your heart and
mind will be at peace, without the slightest trace of bad temper.
Without a hot temper, without the fire of ignorance, and without
affliction, you will be in harmony with everyone. If they scold you,
you won’t get angry, and if they knock you over, it won’t create a
problem. “So what if they hit me?” You will say. You will be at
peace with everyone. See how fine this is?
7. Banishes hunger and thirst. This is most important. After
bathing in the waters of eight meritorious virtues, when it’s time to
eat, you are not hungry and when it is time to drink, you are not
thirsty. No milk and no bread and yet no hunger or thirst. The Land
of Ultimate Bliss is unspeakably wonderful.
8. Nourishes all roots. It gives sustenance to all your sense
organs. Your eyes become bright and light and your ears, if once
deaf, now can hear. If your nose is topped up, wash with the water
of eight meritorious virtues and it will get to work again whatever
you eat tastes good, and your hands and feet work without feeling
tired. Not only that, the water also nourishes your good roots and
gets rid of your bad karma. How great would you say this merit and
virtue is? We should quickly seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate
Bliss so that we may bathe in the pools of the waters of eight
meritorious virtues, and have our good roots nourished.
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This has been a general explanation of the waters of eight
meritorious virtues. Were I to speak in detail, I wouldn’t finish by
the end of a great aeon. These waters have eight independent merits
and virtues, eight happy merits and virtues, eight subtle, wonderful,
inconceivable merits and virtues, and more. No matter what karmic
obstacles you have, they all dissolve when you get into these pools.
What are karmic obstacles? They are those things which you
dislike, the things which cause you to become afflicted. Without
karmic obstacles there is no affliction and this is like a covering of
golden sand. When we go to the Land of Ultimate Bliss, the pools
of the seven jewels melt away our karmic obstacles.
On the four sides are stairs of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and
crystal. We may think our stairways of marble are splendid, but
those in the Land of Ultimate Bliss are inlaid with gold, silver, lapis
lazuli, and crystal, and the pathways emit multicoloured rays of
light.
Above are raised pavilions adorned with gold, silver, lapis
lazuli, crystal, mother-of-pearl, red pearls and carnelian. Why are
they adorned with so many treasures? To make them beautiful to
look at! The seven jewels used to adorn the pavilions represent the
perfection of Amitabha Buddha’s ten thousand virtues. The great
adornments are the measure of his great virtuous practices, for
without virtuous practice, there can be no seven jewelled
adornments.
In the pools are lotuses as large as carriage wheel. Then how big
are the pools? Each is as big as a hundred great seas. One great sea
is big indeed, how big would you say a hundred great seas are?
The lotuses in these pools are as large as carriage wheels, which
are much bigger than automobile tires. The carriage wheels on the
chariot of the wheel turning sage king are one yojana in diameter.
A small yojana is forty miles, a middle-sized one is sixty miles, and
a large one is eighty miles. This lotus, then, is eighty miles in
diameter. Lotuses growing in pools as large as a hundred great seas
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would have to be at least that big. Tiny flowers in such big pools
wouldn’t look right.
A song about Amitabha Buddha goes like this;
Amita, the great sage and master.
Serene, subtle, wonderful, beyond all others…
Pools of seven gems.
Flowers of four colours and waves of solid gold.
Amitabha Buddha is the great sage and master. His countenance
is sedate, serene, and very wonderful. There is no image as fine as
that of Amitabha Buddha.
The flowers in the pools are green coloured of green light,
yellow coloured of yellow light, red coloured of red light, white
coloured of white light. Light, bright light, subtly, wonderfully,
fragrant and pure. The water is subtle and soft. It looks like water,
but when you reach out to touch it, it feels as if nothing were there.
It feels like water, but it is so fine that you can’t grab a hold of it. It
is like there’s nothing there, but still it is there. It is just that subtle.
“Wonderful” means ineffable. There is no way you can even
think about it. The water is also fragrant. Once you get in it you
won’t want to get out. As soon as you smell its fragrance you will
bring forth the bodhi mind. In this world, we chase after good
smells, but in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, the fragrances cause one
to say, “Too fine! I did better hurry up and cultivate the way.”
The smells of this world cause you to think, “Not bad...it is
really bitter at the temple. Cultivation isn’t as good as...” But smells
are defiled dharmas. Forms, sounds, smells, tastes and tangible
objects are the five sense objects, and cultivators of the way must
certainly see through and break all attachment to them. First of all,
do not become attached to beautiful form. Beauty is only skip deep,
beneath the skin there is just pus, blood, and flesh. In the surangama
sutra we read of matangi’s daughter, who couldn’t give up her love
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for ananda. The Buddha asked her, “What is it about ananda that
you love?”.
“I love his eyes,” she said.
“All right,” said the Buddha, “I will pluck out his eyes and you
may have them.”
“Oh no,” she said. “If you do that, they won’t be of any use.”
“If they are of no use, then what are you doing loving them?”
Asked Sakyamuni Buddha. Hearing this, she immediately certified
to the fruit of arhatship.
So you should not become attached to forms. In order to
cultivate, you should borrow forms and sounds and yet not become
attached to them. Don’t say, “Ah, this music is so beautiful. When
I hear it, I...get all confused and don’t know what I am doing.” If
you must sing, sing in praise of Amitabha Buddha. Don’t become
attached to smells either.
When I was in hong kong people used to follow me around.
They said I smelled good. I really disliked this and so I put some
smelly stuff on myself to keep them away. Everything is made from
the mind alone. If you have samadhi power, then fragrances aren’t
fragrant and bad smells don’t stink, good sounds aren’t good
sounds, and bad sounds aren’t bad, beauty isn’t beautiful, and
ugliness isn’t ugly. Samadhi power is the skill one derives from
cultivation. If you have this skill, when people are good to you, you
are not happy and when they are bad, you don’t become afflicted.
With samadhi power, you won’t listen to the talk of your tongue
when it says to you, “Take a taste of this and see if it tastes better
than...” I often tell you that when I eat, I don’t know if the food is
good or not. It is not that I don’t know. If I didn’t know I would be
like wood or stone. I am just not affected by the taste. I eat the same
amount, whether it tastes good or not, without discrimination.
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In the same way, greed for the objects of touch indicates a lack
of samadhi power and shows that one has been turned by external
states.
The lotuses of four colours in the Land of Ultimate Bliss shine
with four colours of light which represent the four applications of
mindfulness, the four right efforts, and the four bases of
supernatural power. In reciting and studying the Amitabha sutra,
we should cultivate samadhi power. If you have samadhi power,
then the Land of Ultimate Bliss is right here. If you don’t, even if
you went to the Land of Ultimate Bliss, you did run right off to the
land of ultimate misery. With samadhi power, the land of ultimate
misery is the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Without affliction, you can
say, “everything is okay.” If that is not the Land of Ultimate Bliss,
what is?
Sutra:
“Moreover, Sariputra, in that Buddhaland there is
always heavenly music and the ground is yellow gold. In the
six periods of the day and night a heavenly rain of
mandarava flowers falls, and throughout the clear morning,
each living being of that land, with sacks full of the myriads
of wonderful flowers, makes offerings to the hundreds of
thousands of millions of Buddhas of the other directions. At
mealtime they return to their own country, and having
eaten, they stroll around.”
“Sariputra, the realisation of the Land of Ultimate Bliss
is thus meritoriously adorned.”
Commentary:
Sakyamuni Buddha told Sariputra, “In Amitabha’s country, the
gods play music all day and all night,” throughout the six periods:
the beginning of the day, the middle of the day, the end of the day,
the beginning of the night, the middle of the night, and the end of
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the night. Mandarava, a Sanskrit word, may be interpreted as,
“according to your wish,”64 or “white flower”65. However you
would like them to be, that’s the way these flowers are.
At dawn when the sun is just rising, the living beings of his
land, with sacks full of the myriads of wonderful flowers, make
offering to the hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhas of the
other directions. How long does it take? Not long, just the time it
takes to eat a meal, half and hour or so. These living beings can
travel to billions of Buddhalands in a very short space of time
because they have obtained the eight great freedoms of the self,
they are free and independent, and everything accords with their
wishes. Having obtained the “as you will” spiritual penetrations, if
they want to go somewhere, they arrive there immediately.
When we bow to the Buddha, we should envision our bodies
filling the limitless Buddhalands of the ten directions, personally
bowing to all the Buddhas. If you can contemplate the dharma
realm in this way, then your body is as big as the dharma realm. The
avatamsaka sutra says,
if one wishes to understand completely.
the Buddhas of the three periods of time.
he should contemplate the nature of the dharma realm.
everything is made from the mind alone.
At mealtime they return to the Land of Ultimate Bliss and
having eaten, they go for a walk.
Sutra:
“Moreover Sariputra, in this country there are always
rare and wonderful vari-coloured birds; white geese,
64. shi yi hua
65. bai hua
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peacocks, parrots, and egret, kalavinkas, and two-headed
birds. In the six periods of the day and night the flocks of
birds sing forth harmonious and elegant sounds; their clear
and joyful sounds proclaim the five roots, the five powers,
the seven bodhi shares, the eight sagely way shares, and
dharmas such as these. When living beings of this land hear
these sounds, they are altogether mindful of the Buddha,
mindful of the dharma, and mindful of the sangha.”
Commentary:
Since Sariputra still had no questions, Sakyamuni Buddha said
“I will tell you a little more, Sariputra. In the Land of Ultimate Bliss
there are many kinds of multi-coloured birds.” They are most
unusual and beautiful. White geese are found in our world, too.
Peacocks are especially beautiful. Parrots can talk! They may see
you and say, “Hello!” Some chinese parrots say, “A guest is
coming, a guest is coming.” Some people even teach their parrots to
recite the Buddha’s name so that they can be born in the Land of
Ultimate Bliss. Egrets are the kind of bird which Sariputra’s mother
was named after. They are also very beautiful.
Kalavinka is a Sanskrit word which means “good sounding
bird.”66 Before it has even hatched from its egg, it sings more
melodiously than any other bird. Two-headed birds67 have two
heads on one body. Have you ever seen such a bird? Living beings
are born this way as karmic retribution for too much sexual activity.
Because the husband’s and wife’s sexual desire was so heavy that
they indulged in intercourse day and night, they fell and turned into
a bird-body with two heads. They have different consciousness, but
the same karmic retribution. So be careful! If your sexual desire is
too intense you may become a two-headed bird.
66. miao sheng niao
67. gong ming niao
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Someone says, “I did like very much to become one of those
birds. People would watch over me and feed me and take care of
me.”
Perhaps. But the birds are animals just the same, and when their
lives are over, they fall into the hells. It is dangerous. Don’t think
that being a bird is a lot of fun, even though they can fly when they
want to fly and perch when they want to perch. A bird’s retribution
is incredible, it’s wisdom decreases life after life. But if you have
wisdom, you won’t fall.
In the six periods of the day and night, these birds sing forth
harmonious and elegant sounds, like a chorale, very fine music.
The birds in the Land of Ultimate Bliss are not born as a result of
their karmic offences, they are manifestations of Amitabha Buddha
merit and virtue. In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, the three evil ways
of rebirth do not exist.
“If there are no animals,” you may ask, “then where did all the
birds come from?”.
They are manifestations of Amitabha Buddha’s merit and virtue
and their songs are dharma sounds which help him speak the
dharma.
Their clear and joyful sounds sound good to everyone.
Everyone who hears them becomes happy because the sounds
penetrate right into the heart. What is heard in the clear and joyful
sounds? The sounds of the birds are the sounds of dharma:
The five roots:
1. The root of faith.
2. The root of vigour.
3. The root of mindfulness.
4. The root of samadhi.
5. The root of wisdom.
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The five roots germinate bodhi seeds and cause your bodhi
heart to grow until it fully matures into...
The five powers:
1. The power of faith.
2. The power of vigour.
3. The power of mindfulness.
4. The power of samadhi.
5. The power of wisdom.
The seven bodhi shares, also called the seven limbs of enlightenment,
are:
1. Selecting a dharma.
2. Vigorously cultivating it.
3. Joy, derived from cultivation.
4. Casting out coarse delusions.
5. Renouncing subtle delusions.
6. Samadhi.
7. Mindfulness.
These seven are very important and all buddhist disciples
should know them.
The eight sagely way shares, also known as the proper eightfold
path are:
1. Proper views.
This refers to your manner of regarding something, you mental
outlook and your opinions, not to what you view with your eyes.
You practice the non-outflow conduct in contemplating yourself.
Your own views and understanding must be proper. But you may
also explain proper views as the view you see with your eyes, that
is, you may view what is proper, but not what is improper.
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Improper means “deviant”, as when people see something that
causes them to give rise to deviant thoughts. The “view” is one’s
vision of external manifestations. For example, if a bhiksu sees an
improper person, he should not continue to look at him, if he looks,
that is called an improper view. The sramanera precepts say, “Don’t
sing or dance, use popular instruments, or attend or listen to such
events.” Improper thoughts are also improper views. But if you can
“see without seeing,” although it is improper, you don’t think of it
as such, you may then be said to have proper views.
2. Proper thought.
Internally, where people cannot see, you use non-outflow
wisdom. It is most important to be without outflows. I have
explained this many times, but it seems that the more I explain it,
the more outflows you have! Outflows flow out, you have a tiny bit
of the water of wisdom, but you let it flow right out and use instead
the fire of ignorance. There is nothing more wonderful in heaven
and earth than the dharma door of no-outflows, and yet you still
take no notice of it. Even if Sakyamuni Buddha himself appeared,
if you had outflows, he couldn’t take you across.
To be without outflows, you must be free from improper
knowledge, be without improper views and have no sexual desire.
If you have sexual desire, you have outflows. With no sexual
desire, you have no outflows, just this is proper thought. If you have
desire, you have outflows, if you have no desire, you have no
outflows. Proper thought belong to the mind, do not give rise to evil
thoughts in the mind.
3. Proper speech.
With proper speech what you say is not the slightest bit offcolour.
Your speech is completely correct.
If someone speaks improperly to you, you should think of it as
proper. This is pure mouth karma. Worldly men are of many kinds,
and when they speak improperly, do not criticise them saying “Ah!
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He is speaking incorrectly!” On the other hand, be careful not to get
too close to such people either. Proper thought is pure mind karma
and proper speech is pure mouth karma.
4. Proper action.
Proper action refers to pure bodily karma. Use non-outflow
wisdom do discard improper bodily karma, specifically sexual
desires. I can’t make it too clear, I can’t say it too frankly. Many
people say, “Oh well, emptiness is form and form is emptiness,”
and they casually play around. This is improper action.
When you use non-outflow wisdom, your behaviour is never
improper. People with improper wisdom are not intelligent enough
to behave properly, but they can do evil things, things involving
men and women, miraculously well, better than anyone else.
Proper action is purity of the body. Proper action, proper
speech, proper thought mean purity of the karmas of body, mouth
and mind.
5. Proper livelihood.
Proper livelihood refers to any livelihood which does not fall
within the five kinds of improper livelihood:-
a) Manifesting a strange style. “Look at me,” says the great
vehicle monk dressed in small vehicle robes. “I am special. You
should make offerings to me.”
“He is special,” say the blind followers. “He is probably a
Buddha or a Bodhisattva,” taking the gaudy rick-rack for a treasure.
b) Speaking of your own merit and virtue. “Do you know me? I
have done many good deeds. I put a whole lot of money into
building that bridge over there, and people walk back and forth on
it because of my merit and virtue. I built a home for the aged and a
school and I established scholarships as well. I built a temple where
I support several hundred dharma masters, and I am acting as their
dharma protector. The merit and virtue is mine, all mine!”. They
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can get away with telling such stories to stupid people, but people
with wisdom don’t even have to hear what they are saying, they can
tell by looking at them that they are just telling stories.
c) Fortune telling. People consult an oracle. “You should give
me a million dollars,” he says, “and do good deeds. If you don’t,
you will die tomorrow.”
“A million dollars isn’t too much to pay for my life,” the victim
thinks, and so he gives, and the next day he doesn’t die. Of course
he wouldn’t have anyway, but still he believes that he might have.
“Tomorrow,” says the fortune-teller, “a very lucky thing will
happen if you do a good deed today. Give fifty pounds of gold
today and tomorrow you will get five hundred.”
“Ten to one is not a bad ratio,” the man says handing him fifty
pounds of gold. But the next day there is no gold, and he can’t find
the fortune-teller either! “And I thought I did met an immortal,” he
says.
d) Shouting and bragging. When it isn’t necessary, why shout?
A certain dharma master used to startle people by bellowing at
them. People were impressed even though they had no idea what he
was saying. His voice was very resonant, but what is the point of
yelling? With many people present, you can speak a little louder.
Otherwise you shouldn’t yell. Why does a dharma master shout?
He doesn’t know that it is one of the five improper means of
livelihood.
e) Speaking of your own offerings. “I had the best lunch at
layman so and so’s house,” he says, reciting the “lunch mantra.” “I
had white fungus, mushrooms...”
Another layman hears the mantra and can’t take it. “I did better
borrow a hundred dollars and offer some vegetable to the dharma
master.” He doesn’t know that the dharma master has transgressed
the boundaries of proper livelihood by reciting the “lunch mantra”
to move the layman’s mind and obtain good offerings.
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6. Proper vigour.
This means bowing to the Buddha, reciting the Buddha’s name
from morning to night, without resting. Strangely enough, if you go
to chat with someone, the more you chat, the more energy you have
talking, talking, too much talking. But of what use is all your
vigorous talking? It is improper vigour.
Proper vigour means doing that which is beneficial, improper
vigour involves doing that which is not beneficial, such as being
lazy with respect to the Buddhadharma, but chatting more
vigorously than anyone else. A person with proper vigour comes to
listen to the sutras when they are being lectured, no matter how
busy he is. One with improper vigour doesn’t come, even though he
has nothing else to do. Going to the movies, going sight-seeing,
going everywhere but to the temple to listen to sutras is called
improper vigour. Hunting for the best place to go gambling is also
improper vigour.
7. Proper samadhi.
Samadhi, a Sanskrit word, means “right reception,”68 or “right
concentration”69. Use non-outflow wisdom to cultivate samadhi
and no improper states will move you. If you could remember even
one sentence of the sutras I have explained to you, then when the
time comes you could use it. But you forget, and so you meet the
state, are turned by it, and run after it. This is because you have no
proper concentration, no proper samadhi.
“I know, I know,” you say, “I know I don’t have the proper
samadhi.”
If you know you don’t have it, then why don’t you find a way to
obtain it? People! If you tell them that they have made a mistake,
68. zheng shou
69. zheng ding
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they say, “I know, I know.” If they know, why do they make such
mistakes?
8. Proper mindfulness.
Be mindful of non-outflow wisdom. Do not have outflows. No
matter what, don’t indulge in the slightest sexual desire. Having no
sexual desire is proper mindfulness. Any thoughts of sexual desire
is improper mindfulness. Someone once said, “That person is
attracted to me. I can tell by the look in his eyes.”
If you didn’t have sexual desire yourself, you wouldn’t be
looking into his eyes in the first place. Just what kind of thoughts
are you having when you look into his eyes? If you didn’t have
sexual desire, you wouldn’t know that he did. If you were clear,
clear, pure, pure, spotless, and undefiled, how would you detect his
desire? Speak up! If you know that others have desire, then you
have it too, and, not having cut it off, your mindfulness is improper.
You may explain these eight sagely way shares any way you
wish, as long as it is with principle. However, you can’t just open
your mouth and not know what to say. In explaining the dharma
you must speak correctly and not deviate from the principle in the
least bit.
And dharmas such as these refers to the four applications of
mindfulness, the five roots, the five powers, the seven bodhi shares,
the eight sagely way shares, the four right efforts, and the four
bases of supernatural power, thirty-seven in all, the thirty-seven
wings of enlightenment.
The four right efforts are:
1. Putting an end to evil which already exists.
2. Preventing evil not yet arisen from arising.
3. Bringing goodness which does not yet exist into existence.
4. Developing the good which already exists.
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The four bases of supernatural power are:
1. Zeal.
2. Vigour.
3. Mindfulness.
4. Thought.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, do not say that these birds are born as
retribution for their karmic offences. For what reason? In
this Buddhaland there are no three evil ways of rebirth.
Sariputra, in this Buddhaland not even the names of the
three evil ways exist, how much the less their actuality!
Desiring that the dharma-sound be widely proclaimed,
Amitabha Buddha by transformation made this multitude
of birds.”
Commentary:
Do not say that these birds came from one of the three evil
realms. Why? In the Land of Ultimate Bliss there are not even the
names of the hells, the realm of animals, or the realm of the hungry
ghosts. How much the less could such creatures actually exist!
“Then where did the birds come from?”.
Wishing to spread the dharma-sound far and wide, with his vow
power Amitabha created the kalavinkas and all the other birds to
help him. They come from his spiritual penetrations and transformations,
not from the three evil paths. Unlike the birds in this world
which are born in the realms of animals, they are transformations of
Amitabha Buddha’s dharma power.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, in that Buddhaland when the soft wind
blows, the rows of jewelled trees and jewelled nets give forth
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subtle and wonderful sounds, like one hundred thousand
kinds of music played at the same time. All those who hear
these sounds naturally bring forth in their hearts
mindfulness of the Buddha, mindfulness of the dharma, and
mindfulness of the sangha.”
“Sariputra, the realisation of the Land of Ultimate Bliss
is thus meritoriously adorned.”
Commentary:
“Sariputra,” said Sakyamuni Buddha, “I’ll tell you how it is in
the Land of Ultimate Bliss. The gentle breezes blow through small
bells hanging from the seven layers of netting on the seven rows of
trees. Their sound helps us recollect the Buddha, the dharma, and
the sangha and is like a hundred thousand kinds of subtle music
playing harmoniously all at once. Those who hear these sounds
have no defiled thoughts but instead naturally recite,
Namo Amitabha Buddha;
Namo Amitabha Dharma;
Namo Amitabha Sangha.”
You ask, “Namo Amitabha Buddha”, perhaps, but how can they
recite “Namo Amitabha Dharma?”
It’s the dharma which Amitabha Buddha taught, how can you
not say “Namo Amitabha Dharma?”. This is also the sangha which
Amitabha Buddha taught and transformed, so how can you not say,
“Namo Amitabha Sangha?”. Don’t be so unimaginative. My
explanation is a new explanation for an old meaning, just like my
explanation of nirvana.
“Nir” means “not produced” and
“Vana” means “not destroyed”.
What is not produced? Sexual desire.
What is not destroyed? Wisdom.
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In the realm of nirvana, the Buddha has no sexual desire, he is
clear, pure, and undefiled. He is without improper thoughts of
desire. His self-nature constantly gives rise to wisdom which is
never destroyed.
“Sariputra!” Sakyamuni Buddha called again. He is especially
fond of his great disciple and thinks to himself, “Sariputra has a
little wisdom, but he doesn’t know what to ask. I will have to tell
him.”
Sutra:
“Sariputra, what do you think? Why is this Buddha
called Amitabha? Sariputra, the brilliance of that Buddha’s
light is measureless, illumining the lands of the ten
directions everywhere without obstruction, for this reason
he is called Amitabha.”
Commentary:
Sariputra should have asked this question himself, but just like
you, he had gone off to samadhi. Whenever I ask you a question,
you just stare at me blankly.
Why is this Buddha called Amitabha? Amitabha means
“limitless light”. This Buddha’s light is immeasurable so that not a
single land in the ten directions is screened from it. For this reason
he is called Amitabha.
Sutra:
“Moreover, Sariputra, the life of that Buddha and that
of his people extends for measureless, limitless asamkhyeya
kalpas; for this reason he is called amitayus. And Sariputra,
since Amitabha realised Buddhahood ten kalpas have
passed.”
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Commentary:
Asankhyeya, a Sanskrit word, means “limitless number.”70
Amitayus means “limitless life”. It’s been ten great kalpas, or
aeons, since he became a Buddha and how many great kalpas he
will live in the future is uncertain, but boundless, measureless,
asankheyaya kalpas they will be.
Sutra:
“Moreover, Sariputra, that Buddha has measureless,
limitless ‘sound-hearer’ disciples, all arhats, their number
incalculable; thus also is the assembly of Bodhisattvas.”
“Sariputra, the realisation of the Land of Ultimate Bliss
is thus meritoriously adorned.”
Commentary:
In Amitabha Buddha’s Land of Ultimate Bliss, there are many
sravakas, ‘sound-hearer’ disciples who have certified to the
attainment of non-outflows and are all arhats without desire. You
can’t count them. The assembly of Bodhisattvas is just as big.
Sutra:
“Moreover, Sariputra, those living beings born in the
land of the ultimate bliss are all avaivartika. Among them
are many who in this very life will dwell in Buddhahood.
Their number is extremely many; it is incalculable and only
in measureless, limitless asamkhyeya kalpas could it be
spoken.”
70. wu liang shu
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Commentary:
Avaivartika is Sanskrit. It means “not retreating or turning
away.”71 Those beings who are avaivartika do not retreat in
position, conduct, or thought.
Not retreating in thought means that every day their thoughts to
cultivate increase. Not retreating in conduct means that day by day
they work harder and never say, “I have cultivated for quite a while,
it is time to take a rest.” Taking a rest is simply retreating and
turning away from annuttarasamyaksambodhi, “the utmost right
and perfect enlightenment.” Those who are avaivartika do not
retreat in their quest for bodhi.
There are many living beings in the Land of Ultimate Bliss who
in this very life can step into the position of Buddhahood. Born in a
lotus flower, in one life they can realise Buddhahood. How many
such beings are there? You could never count them all. They can’t
be calculated or even estimated. All you can say is that, in limitless,
measureless asamkhyeya kalpas, you could not name them all.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, those living beings who hear should vow, ‘I
wish to be born in that country.’ and why? Those who thus
attain are all superior and good people, all gathered
together in one place. Sariputra, one cannot have few good
roots, blessings, virtues, and causal connections to attain
birth in that land.”
Commentary:
Sakyamuni Buddha said, “All those living beings who hear the
doctrine I teach should vow to the born in the Land of Ultimate
71. bu tui zhuan
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Bliss. Why? Because the sravakas and Bodhisattvas born there are
all superior and good people.”
Although you may express the desire to the born in the Land of
Ultimate Bliss, unless you have good roots, blessings, and virtuous
conduct, you won’t be able to be reborn there. You must have
cultivated all the paramita doors for many lifetimes and in this way
obtained great good roots, great blessings, and great virtue, in order
to have the opportunity to meet this wonderful dharma.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, if there is a good man or a good woman who
hears spoken ‘Amitabha’ and holds the name, whether for
one day, two days, three days, four, five days, six days, as
long as seven days, with one heart unconfused, when this
person approaches the end of life, before him will appear
Amitabha and all the assembly of holy ones. When the end
comes, his heart is without inversion. In Amitabha’s Land
of Ultimate Bliss he will attain rebirth. Sariputra, because I
see this benefit, I speak these words. If living beings hear
this spoken they should make the vow, ‘I will be born in that
land’.”
Commentary:
“Sariputra,” said the Buddha, “If a good man or woman, that is
one who holds the five precepts and cultivates the ten good deeds,
hears the name ‘Amitabha Buddha’, that person should hold to the
recitation of Amitabha Buddha’s name, just like holding something
tightly in the hand.” Recite the name, “Namo Amitabha Buddha,
Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha...”
Whether for one day. In chinese, the word “whether” looks
like this (). If you move the stroke in the middle, it changes into the
word “suffering”, which looks like this: (). So you could say,
“...suffering for one day, two days, three, four, five days, six
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days...” If you recite the Buddha’s name from four o’clock in the
morning until ten at night for seven days, you can reach the level of
one heart unconfused. When your life is about to end, Amitabha
Buddha thinks, “That living being suffered for seven days reciting
my name, and so now I will guide him to the Land of Ultimate
Bliss. The time has come!”. Then, Amitabha with avalokitesvara
Bodhisattva, mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva, and the entire clear,
pure, ocean-wide assembly of Bodhisattvas appear before you, and
lead you to the Land of Ultimate Bliss. If you think you can escape,
you can’t. You are surrounded. At this time, your heart is without
inversion. You won’t say, “I don’t want to go! It’s too boring
there!’. It would never occur to you to refuse Amitabha’s
invitation, and so you are born at once in the western land.
“Sariputra,” the Buddha continues, “I see the advantages and so
I am explaining them to you. If other living beings in the saha world
hear these doctrines, they should make the vow to be born in that
land.”
Previously, the text said, “...those living beings who hear
should vow, ‘I wish to be born in that country.’” this passage says,
“I will be born in that land,” that is “I vow that I shall certainly be
born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.”
Sutra:
“Sariputra, as I now praise the inconceivable benefit
from the merit and virtue of Amitabha, thus in the east are
also aksobhya Buddha, sumeru appearance Buddha, great
sumeru Buddha, sumeru light Buddha, wonderful sound
Buddha, all Buddhas such as these, numberless as ganges
sands. In his own country each brings forth the appearance
of a vast and long tongue, everywhere covering the three
thousand great thousand worlds, and speaks the sincere and
actual words, ‘all you living beings should believe, praise,
and hold in reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of
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this sutra of the mindful one of whom all Buddhas are
protective.’”
Commentary:
“Not only do I praise the subtle wonderful, inconceivable merit
and virtue of Amitabha Buddha’s beneficial deeds,” said
Sakyamuni Buddha, “but so does Aksobhya Buddha in the east.”
Aksobhya Buddha of the vajra division in the east is the Buddha
who eradicates disaster and lengthens life. His name means,
“unmoving and eternally dwelling dharma body.”72 His dharma
body does not move, and it eternally dwells.
Sumeru appearance Buddha. Sumeru means “wonderfully
high.”73 This Buddha’s marks are as lofty as mount sumeru. Great
sumeru Buddha, that is, great wonderfully high Buddha. Sumeru
light Buddha, wonderfully high light Buddha. All Buddhas such as
these. The names of a few of the eastern Buddhas have been
mentioned. If one were to speak of them in detail, they would be as
numberless as ganges sands.
In his own country, each brings forth the appearance of a vast
and long tongue, everywhere covering the three thousand great
thousand worlds. How can one speak with a tongue like that?
This represents the Buddhadharma circulating to all places, and
the Buddha’s sincere and actual words, “All of you should believe,
praise, and hold in reverence, the inconceivable merit and virtue of
this sutra of the mindful one of whom all Buddhas are protective.”
The Buddhas are mindful and protective of the sutra, just as they
are mindful and protective of the wonderful dharma lotus blossom
sutra. If you read or recite the Amitabha sutra, the Buddhas of the
ten directions will happily come to your aid, and in the future, when
72. bu dong fa shen chang zhu
73. miao gao
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your life is over, they will witness your rebirth in the Land of
Ultimate Bliss.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, in the southern world are sun moon lamp
Buddha, well-known light Buddha, great blazing shoulders
Buddha, sumeru lamp Buddha, measureless vigour
Buddha, all Buddhas such as these, numberless as ganges
sands. In his own country each brings forth the appearance
of a vast and long tongue, everywhere covering the three
thousand great thousand worlds, and speaks the sincere and
actual words, ‘all you living beings should believe, praise,
and hold in reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of
this sutra of the mindful one of whom all Buddhas are
protective.’”
Commentary:
After speaking of the Buddhas in the east who praise Amitabha
Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha spoke of the Buddhas in the south.
“Sariputra,” he said, “in the south as well there are many, many
Buddhas who extend their vast and long tongues to speak about the
dharma.” Who are they?
They are sun moon lamp Buddha, well-known light Buddha,
great blazing shoulders Buddha, who emits light from his
shoulders, sumeru lamp Buddha, that is wonderfully high lamp
Buddha, and measureless vigour Buddha who is energetic in the six
periods of the day and night, as well as other Buddhas in number as
grains of sand in the ganges river. They all extend their vast and
long tongues to cover the three thousand great thousand worlds and
speak the truth, speak of what is, and do not speak falsely.
“All living beings,” they say, “in all lands and all countries and
in all the limitless worlds, should believe, praise, and hold in
reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of this sutra.” You
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must bring forth hearts of real faith, real vows, and real practice.
Praise the inconceivable merit and virtue of this sutra which
Sakyamuni Buddha spoke without request. If you believe, accept,
praise, and recite it, all the Buddhas will protect you. Resolve to
revere Amitabha Buddha and the Amitabha sutra.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, in the western world are measureless life
Buddha, measureless appearance Buddha, measureless
curtain Buddha, great light Buddha, great brightness
Buddha, jewelled appearance Buddha, pure light Buddha,
all Buddhas such as these, numberless as ganges sands. In
his own country each brings forth the appearance of a vast
and long tongue, everywhere covering the three thousand
great thousand worlds, and speaks the sincere and actual
words, ‘all you living beings should believe, praise, and hold
in reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of this sutra
of the mindful one of whom all Buddhas are protective.’”
Commentary:
After speaking to the Buddhas in the east and south who praise
Amitabha Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha spoke of the Buddhas in the
west, for example measureless life Buddha, who is just Amitabha,
the Buddha of limitless life. You would recognise him right away.
However, there are many Buddhas who have the same name.
Measureless life Buddha might be Amitabha, the teacher in the
western Land of Ultimate Bliss, or it might be some other Buddha.
It might be Amitabha Buddha or it might not be. What if it is? What
if it isn’t? Don’t by attached one way or the other, because there
really isn’t any “is” or “is not”. The Buddhadharma is just that
wonderful.
Which “is”? Which “isn’t”? Is and is not are your discriminations.
For the Buddha there is one substance, one unity, and no
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division between this and that. The Buddha is identical with the
way, and each Buddha is identical with every other. Although all
Buddhas are the same, they are each adorned with their own
individual dharma characteristics. In spite of the differing
adornments, they are not like people who become jealous and
obstruct each other saying, “Hey! How can you be so mean to
me?”. The Buddha has none of this. “You are just me,” he says,
“And I am just you, with no division.” Why? Because the Buddha
has attained the state of no-self, where “is” and “is not” are the
same.
Those who wish to become Buddhas must not have discriminative
thoughts, false thoughts, desires, or longings. They must have
nothing at all. This is truly wonderful to the extreme. Do not be
attached. If you actually recognise Amitabha Buddha, you won’t
waste your energy trying to discriminate one limitless life Buddha
from another.
Measureless appearance Buddha has limitless marks. It is not
known how many Buddha-marks he has. Measureless curtain
Buddha is covered and sheltered by many jewelled curtains. Great
light Buddha’s light shines everywhere. Great brightness Buddha,
jewelled appearance Buddha, and pure light Buddha, all have a
clear, pure, bright light. Were we to speak of all the Buddhas who
are such as these in detail, they would be as numerous as the grains
of sand in the ganges river.
All the Buddhas in the western Land of Ultimate Bliss and in
the many Buddha-worlds extend their gigantic tongues. Now, when
we extend our tongues, they can’t even cover a room, but the
tongues of the Buddhas cover the entire three thousand great
thousand world systems. Why? For them, the three thousand great
thousand world systems are just one thought, and one thought is
just the three thousand great thousand worlds. Three thousand great
thousand worlds are not beyond one thought, and the Buddha’s
tongue covers them all.
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Don’t be attached to the idea that the Buddha’s tongue is
actually that big. If it were, his speech would be clumsy. The
appearance of the Buddha’s vast and long tongue indicates that,
wherever there is dharma, the Buddha’s tongue is there, too. It is
not for certain that our tongues are small. We too, can extend our
vast and long tongues and cover the three thousand great thousand
worlds, speaking the dharma and causing it to circulate.
When you hear the Buddhadharma, don’t be attached. Although
a tongue covers the three thousand great thousand worlds, there is
not even a mote of dust, there is basically nothing at all.
“Nothing?” You ask. “Then was the Buddha lying?”.
If the Buddha did not lie, how could you believe him! From the
point of view of living beings, it seems to be a lie, but from the
point of view of the Buddha, it is true, real speech, not false speech,
not a lie. Living beings see it as a lie and the Buddha sees it as the
truth. It’s the same speech, but when the Buddha speaks it, it’s true
and when living beings speak it, it’s a lie. This point is not easy to
understand. If you want to be clear about this doctrine, do not fear
suffering or difficulty. Work hard! You can’t just study for two and
a half days and then think that you have mastered the work. You
can’t stop listening to sutras or reciting the Buddha’s name. Don’t
pretend to be investigating dhyana by doing nothing at all and
saying, “I know what the Buddha said. There’s not much to it,
really. I have studied for about five years and it is all like that, not
very interesting. So now I study nothing at all and it’s a great
improvement. I don’t have nearly so many problems.” Such talk is
not very principled, wouldn’t you say?
You should know that Sakyamuni Buddha cultivated blessings
and wisdom for three asamkhyeya kalpas by practising giving and
studying the Buddhadharma. He cultivated his fine characteristics
for a hundred great kalpas and as a consequence he has the thirty
two marks and eighty minor characteristics of a Buddha. Why don’t
we have a single mark? Why do people look at you and say, “He is
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so ugly. Keep away from him. He is no good, you can tell by
looking at him?”. Some people make you angry on sight. Why? It
is because they don’t cultivate and they have no virtuous conduct,
and it shows up in their appearance.
The Buddha’s tongue, then, covers the entire universe and
speaks the truth. The Buddha does not cheat and he does not lit. Do
not try to fathom the sage’s wisdom with your ordinary opinions,
don’t try to measure the sage’s mind with your common mind.
Haven’t I always told you that the first level Bodhisattvas, and
tenth level Bodhisattvas don’t know the realm of equal enlightenment
Bodhisattvas? First stage arhats don’t know the realms of
second stage arhats, and second stage arhats don’t know the realm
of third stage arhats. First stage arhats may think that they are doing
things correctly, but from the point of view of second stage arhats
they may be wrong. Second stage arhats may think they are right,
but the third stage arhats may look at them and say, “You are off
just a little bit.”
I am your teacher, and you can’t know my realm. If you knew,
you wouldn’t need a teacher. So reflect upon what I say. Don’t
complain, “He is just talking.” This world is very dangerous. The
only reason you haven’t disintegrated in the sea of suffering is
because the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are protecting you.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, in the northern world are blazing shoulders
Buddha, most victorious sound Buddha, hard to injure
Buddha, sun birth Buddha, net brightness Buddha, all
Buddhas such as these, numberless as ganges sands. In his
own country each brings forth the appearance of a vast and
long tongue, everywhere covering the three thousand great
thousand worlds, and speaks the sincere and actual words,
‘all you living beings should believe, praise, and hold in
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reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of this sutra of
the mindful one of whom all Buddhas are protective.’”
Commentary:
Not only are the Buddhas in the east, south and west are
praising Amitabha Buddha, but those in the north praise him as
well.
Great blazing shoulders Buddha emits light from his shoulders.
Most victorious sound Buddha has a spectacular sound which is
heard throughout the three thousand great thousand worlds.
“Then why haven’t I heard it?” You ask.
You aren’t in that world system of three thousand great
thousand worlds. If you were, of course you did hear it. But you are
in this world system, not that one.
Hard to injure Buddha cannot be destroyed. No one can defame
his Buddhadharma. You should hold in reverence the inconceivable
merit and virtue, for it is most wonderful. Were the merit and virtue
conceivable, it would have a limit. The sutra’s merit and virtue is
without a limit and so it is the sutra of the mindful one of whom all
Buddhas are protective. Because its merit and virtue is very
wonderful, it is the sutra of which all Buddhas are mindful and
protective. Because it is a sutra of which all Buddha’s are mindful
and protective, its meritorious virtue is extremely wonderful.
Now I shall quit speaking and that is also wonderful. Were I to
keep talking, it wouldn’t be wonderful.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, in the world below are lion Buddha, wellknown
Buddha, famous light Buddha, dharma Buddha,
dharma curtain Buddha, dharma maintaining Buddha, all
Buddhas such as these, numberless as ganges sands. In his
own country each brings forth the appearance of a vast and
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long tongue, everywhere covering the three thousand great
thousand worlds, and speaks the sincere and actual words,
‘All you living beings should believe, praise, and hold in
reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of this sutra of
the mindful one of whom all Buddhas are protective.’”
Commentary:
Having spoken of the Buddhas in the north, east, south, and
west, Sakyamuni Buddha again says to Sariputra, “In the world
below there is a Buddha named lion who speaks the dharma with a
lion’s roar.”
Well-known light Buddha’s name has been heard by everyone
in the triple world. Famous light Buddha’s light as well as his fame
shines everywhere within the triple world. Dharma maintaining
Buddha exclusively upholds the Buddhadharma. You can explain
his name in two ways. The first is that there is such a Buddha in the
world below; the second is that you who now receive, maintain, and
recite the Amitabha sutra will in the future become dharma
maintaining Buddhas.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, in the world above are pure sound Buddha,
king of past lifes Buddha, superior fragrance Buddha,
fragrant light Buddha, great blazing shoulders Buddha,
vari-coloured jewels and flower adornment body Buddha,
sala tree king Buddha, jewelled flower virtue Buddha,
vision of all meaning Buddha, such as mount sumeru
Buddha, all Buddhas such as these, numberless as ganges
sands. In his own country each brings forth the appearance
of a vast and long tongue, everywhere covering the three
thousand great thousand worlds and speaks the sincere and
actual words, ‘All you living beings should believe, praise,
and hold in reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of
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this sutra of the mindful one of whom all Buddhas are
protective.’”
Commentary:
Pure sound Buddha’s sound is clear, pure, and resonant. King of
past lifes Buddha in past lifes made great and powerful vows. If you
light incense, superior fragrance Buddha will appear and in the
world above there is also a Buddha called great blazing shoulders.
This light from his shoulders represents the two kinds of wisdom,
provisional and real. Vari-coloured jewels and flower adornment
body Buddha adorns the virtue of his supreme attainment with the
causal flowers of the ten thousand practices. Sala tree king Buddha:
the sala tree is found in india. Sala means “solid and durable”. No
water can wash this tree away just as nothing can destroy the
Buddha’s dharma body. The Buddha, then is like the sala tree.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, what do you think? Why is it called ‘sutra of
the mindful one of whom all Buddhas are protective?’.
Sariputra, if a good man or good woman hears this sutra
and holds to it, and hears the names of all these Buddhas,
this good man or woman will be the mindful one of whom all
Buddhas are protective, and will irreversibly attain to anuttarasamyaksambodhi.
Therefore, Sariputra, all of you
should believe and accept my words and those which all
Buddhas speak.”
Commentary:
Having praised the Buddhas of the six directions, Sakyamuni
Buddha asks, “Sariputra, in your opinion, why is this sutra called
‘the sutra of the mindful one of whom all Buddhas are protective’?”.
This section of the sutra, then, discusses the sutra’s name.
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Sariputra just stared blankly. Sakyamuni Buddha waited in
silence for about five minutes, and then he said, “I will tell you.
Sariputra, if there is a good man or a good woman, one who
maintains the five precepts and cultivates the ten good deeds, who
can receive, maintain, recite from memory, and not forget the
names of the Buddhas just mentioned, that good man or woman
will be the mindful one of whom all Buddhas are protective. Not
only will the Buddhas of the six directions come to his aid, but the
Buddhas of all ten directions will support him.. He will further
attain to irreversibility of position, thought, and conduct with
respect to the attainment of the utmost right and perfect enlightenment,
anuttarasamyaksambodhi.
“Therefore, Sariputra, all of you should believe and accept my
words and those which all Buddhas speak. Do you see how
extremely compassionate the Buddha is? We should be grateful to
the point of tears and pay attention when the Buddha says, “All of
you, adults and children as well, should believe and accept what I
tell you.”
You should also believe and accept what I explain to you now.
Don’t have doubts. Don’t say, “When it comes right down to it, I
don’t know if the chinese dharma master’s doctrines are correct.”
You should believe what I say. You should also believe what
Sakyamuni Buddha says and what all the Buddhas praise as the
inconceivable merit and virtue of this sutra of the mindful one of
whom all Buddhas are protective. Believe me when I say that his
sutra’s doctrines are true, real, and not false. You are certainly not
being cheated, so vow to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, if there are people who have already made
the vow, who now make the vow, or who are about to make
the vow, ‘I desire to be born in Amitabha’s country,’ these
people, whether born in the past, now being born, or to be
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born in the future, all will irreversibly attain to anuttarasamyaksambodhi.
Therefore, Sariputra, all good men
and good women, if they are among those who have faith,
should make the vow, ‘I will be born in that country.’”
Commentary:
There sat Sariputra, sound asleep!
“Sariputra! Sariputra! Wake up!” Said the Buddha. “Those who
have already vowed to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss have
most certainly been born there. Those who now vow to be born
there, and those who make the vow in the future will be born there
in the future.” But in order to make vows you must have faith.
Faith, vows, and practice are the three prerequisites for cultivation
of the pure land dharma door. First, believe there is a Land of
Ultimate Bliss. Secondly, have faith in Amitabha Buddha. Thirdly,
believe that you and Amitabha Buddha have a great karmic affinity,
and that you can certainly be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
With faith in these three things, you may then make the vow, “I
desire to be born in Amitabha’s country.” There is a saying,
“I want to be born in the pure western land.”
“I want to be born there. Nobody’s forcing me to go, nobody’s
dragging me there. Although Amitabha Buddha has come to guide
me, I am going as a volunteer because I want to be close to him. I
want to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss and to see Amitabha
Buddha when my lotus flower opens. I want to meet the Buddha
and hear the dharma.” These are the vows you need.
Then you must practice. How? Recite the Buddha’s name,
saying “Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha...” As
if you were trying to save your head from the executioner, running
ahead to keep your head, like the sixth patriarch. He knew that after
his death someone would try to steal his head, and so he told his
disciples to take precautions. When he died, they wrapped his neck
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with sheets of iron. When the thief tried to cut off his head, he
couldn’t do it. The great master the sixth patriarch protected his
head, even after he had entered the stillness of nirvana. How much
the more should we who have not entered the stillness “protect our
heads” by cultivating the recitation of the Buddha’s name. Reciting
the Buddha’s name is actual practice.
Faith, vows, and practice are the travel expenses for rebirth in
the Land of Ultimate Bliss. They are your ticket.
All those who vow to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss can
attain irreversible position, thought, and conduct with respect to the
utmost right and perfect enlightenment. All those who believe
should make the vow, and this is an order! No kidding around. “I
will be born in that country.” If you make this vow, you can be born
in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Sutra:
“Sariputra, just as I now praise the inconceivable merit
and virtue of all Buddhas, all those Buddhas equally praise
my inconceivable merit and virtue saying these words,
‘Sakyamuni Buddha can complete extremely rare and
difficult deeds. In the saha land, in the evil time of the five
turbidities, in the midst of the kalpa turbidity, the view
turbidity, the affliction turbidity, the living beings turbidity,
and the life turbidity, he can attain anuttarasamyaksambodhi
and for the sake of living beings, speak this dharma
which in the whole world is hard to believe.’”
Commentary:
“Sariputra,” said the Buddha, “I will tell you some more good
news. As I now praise the Buddhas in the six directions and the
inconceivable merit and virtue of this sutra, all the Buddhas also
praise me and my inconceivable merit and virtue.”
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“Sakyamuni Buddha,” they say, “can complete extremely rare
and difficult deeds. He’s truly outstanding, truly rare. Why? He can
do what men cannot do, deeds which are extremely rare and
wonderful.”
Sakya means “able to be humane,” and muni means “still and
silent”. The Buddha humanely teaches and converts living beings,
and silently returns the light within to cultivate samadhi. The
humaneness is movement and the silence is stillness. He moves and
yet is always still. He accords with conditions and yet never
changes. For him there is nothing conditioned, nothing unconditioned,
nothing done and nothing left undone. Sakyamuni Buddha
is inconceivable.
In the saha world, where one enjoys no bliss but endures every
kind of suffering, living beings endure a great deal. They undergo
the bitterness unaware that they are suffering.
In the evil time of the five turbidities. There are five turbidities
in the saha world and they are just terrible! The reason we don’t
realise Buddhahood is because we are stuck in the five turbidities,
as if in quicksand, and can’t pull ourselves out. When we lift one
leg, the other leg sinks deeper, and when we lift that leg, the first
goes down. There’s really no escape.
But Sakyamuni Buddha is talented. With his great spiritual
powers he can teach you to leap right out of the five turbidities, in
a ksana, a mere instant of time. At night, when we recite the great
transference of merit, we say, “Leaving the five turbidities in a
ksana, and arriving at the lotus pool in the flick of a wrist.” Like a
talented magician, Sakyamuni Buddha leaves the five turbidities,
which are:
1. The kalpa turbidity.
Kalpa, that is, time, is turbid. It arises dependent upon the four
other turbidities which increase daily, growing bigger and more
extreme. That is to say, the turbidity of time is created with the help
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of the view turbidity, the affliction turbidity, the living beings
turbidity, and the life turbidity, and takes the growth of the first four
as its basic substance. It takes unceasing flaming as its mark, for,
like flaming fuel, the more it burns, the higher it blazes.
2. The view turbidity.
The view turbidity takes the five quick servants as it’s basic
substance. The five quick servants are the view of a body, the view
of extremes, deviant views, the view of grasping at views, and the
view of prohibitive morality. It takes mistaken wisdom and cattle
morality as its mark. Seeing a dog, a cat, or a cow reborn in the
heavens, some people imitate their conduct so that they may be
reborn there too. With deviant knowledge and views, they take the
genuine doctrine to extremes.
3. The affliction turbidity.
The affliction turbidity takes the five dull servants, greed,
hatred, stupidity, pride and doubt, as it’s basic substance, and the
irritation of afflictions as it’s mark.
4. The living beings turbidity.
The living beings turbidity takes the combination of the three
conditions of father, mother, and one’s own karma as it’s basic
substance. It takes the unceasing turning of the wheel of rebirth as
its mark. After the three conditions combine, the wheel revolves
without stopping, back and forth. This life you are named john and
next life, lee. This life you are a bhiksu and next life you are a
bhiksuni. Bhiksus become bhiksunis and bhiksunis turn into
bhiksus. Isn’t this amazing? It really is!
5. The life turbidity.
The life turbidity takes the reception of warmth as its basic
substance and the decline and extinction of the life span as it’s
mark. From youth to middle age on to old age and death, this is the
mark of life.
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Sutra:
“Sariputra, you should know that I, in the evil time of
the five turbidities, practice these difficult deeds, attain
anuttarasamyaksambodhi, and for all the world speak this
dharma, difficult to believe, extremely difficult!”
174
The Transmission
Sutra:
After the Buddha spoke this sutra, Sariputra and all the
bhiksus, all the gods, men, and asuras, and others from all
the worlds, hearing what the Buddha had said, joyously
welcomed, faithful accepted, bowed and withdrew.
End of the Buddha speaks of Amitabha sutra.
Commentary:
You should know that, in the midst of the five turbidities,
Sakyamuni Buddha attains the utmost right and perfect enlightenment
and then speaks about the dharma which people find very
difficult to believe. “This dharma is most difficult to believe,
extremely difficult, really hard to believe,” says Sakyamuni
Buddha.
Sakyamuni Buddha says it’s hard, but I say it’s easy.
Sakyamuni Buddha just said it’s hard. It’s not hard, really. All you
need to do is recite, “Namo Amitabha Buddha”. Just go ahead and
recite. Wouldn’t you say that is easy? No trouble at all. It doesn’t
cost a thing and it takes no effort or time. It’s an extremely easy
Buddhadharma.
The Transmission
175
After the Buddha spoke the Amitabha sutra, the greatly wise
Sariputra and all the great bhiksus, all the world with its gods and
men, as well as the eight classes of supernatural beings, gods,
dragons, yaksa ghosts, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras and
mahoragas, hearing what the Buddha had said, joyously welcomed,
faithfully accepted, bowed and withdrew. They bowed reverently
to Sakyamuni Buddha to thank him for speaking the Amitabha
sutra, and for teaching and transforming living beings. At that time
all the great arhats bowed to the Buddha out of gratitude for having
heard this dharma.
We now, hearing this supreme, deep, subtle, and wonderful
dharma, have certainly planted great good roots in ages past.
Consequently, we have a great affinity with Amitabha Buddha, and
as a result have been fortunate enough to hear the Amitabha sutra
and to recite the Buddha’s name. This is very rare.

177
Index
178
Buddhist Text Translation Society Publication
Buddhist Text Translation Society
International Translation Institute
http://www.bttsonline.org
1777 Murchison Drive,
Burlingame, California 94010-4504 USA
Phone: 650-692-5912 Fax: 650-692-5056
When Buddhism first came to China from India, one of the most important
tasks required for its establishment was the translation of the Buddhist
scriptures from Sanskrit into Chinese. This work involved a great many people,
such as the renowned monk National Master Kumarajiva (fifth century), who
led an assembly of over 800 people to work on the translation of the Tripitaka
(Buddhist canon) for over a decade. Because of the work of individuals such as
these, nearly the entire Buddhist Tripitaka of over a thousand texts exists to the
present day in Chinese.
Now the banner of the Buddha’s Teachings is being firmly planted in
Western soil, and the same translation work is being done from Chinese into
English. Since 1970, the Buddhist Text Translation Society (BTTS) has been
making a paramount contribution toward this goal. Aware that the Buddhist
Tripitaka is a work of such magnitude that its translation could never be
entrusted to a single person, the BTTS, emulating the translation assemblies of
ancient times, does not publish a work until it has passed through four
committees for primary translation, revision, editing, and certification. The
leaders of these committees are Bhikshus (monks) and Bhikshunis (nuns) who
have devoted their lives to the study and practice of the Buddha’s teachings.
For this reason, all of the works of the BTTS put an emphasis on what the
principles of the Buddha’s teachings mean in terms of actual practice and not
simply hypothetical conjecture.
The translations of canonical works by the Buddhist Text Translation
Society are accompanied by extensive commentaries by the Venerable
Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua.
BTTS Publications
Buddhist Sutras. Amitabha Sutra, Dharma Flower (Lotus) Sutra, Flower
Adornment (Avatamsaka) Sutra, Heart Sutra & Verses without a Stand,
Shurangama Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Sutra, Sutra in Forty-two Sections, Sutra of
the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, Vajra Prajna Paramita (Diamond)
Sutra.
Commentarial Literature. Buddha Root Farm, City of 10000 Buddhas
Recitation Handbook, Filiality: The Human Source, Herein Lies the Treasuretrove,
Listen to Yourself Think Everything Over, Shastra on the Door to
Understanding the Hundred Dharmas, Song of Enlightenment, The Ten
Dharma Realms Are Not beyond a Single Thought, Venerable Master Hua’s
Talks on Dharma, Venerable Master Hua’s Talks on Dharma during the 1993
Trip to Taiwan, Water Mirror Reflecting Heaven.
Biographical. In Memory of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, Pictorial
Biography of the Venerable Master Hsü Yün, Records of High Sanghans,
Records of the Life of the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua, Three Steps One Bow,
World Peace Gathering, News from True Cultivators, Open Your Eyes Take a
Look at the World, With One Heart Bowing to the City of 10000 Buddhas.
Children’s Books. Cherishing Life, Human Roots: Buddhist Stories for
Young Readers.
Musics, Novels and Brochures. Songs for Awakening, Awakening, The
Three Cart Patriarch, City of 10000 Buddhas Color Brochure, Celebrisi’s
Journey, Heng Ch’au’s Journal.
The Buddhist Monthly–Vajra Bodhi Sea is a monthly journal of
orthodox Buddhism which has been published by the Dharma Realm Buddhist
Association, formerly known as the Sino-American Buddhist Association,
since 1970. Each issue contains the most recent translations of the Buddhist
canon by the Buddhist Text Translation Society. Also included in each issue
are a biography of a great Patriarch of Buddhism from the ancient past,
sketches of the lives of contemporary monastics and lay-followers around the
world, articles on practice, and other material. The journal is bilingual, Chinese
and English
Please visit our web-site at www.bttsonline.org for the latest
publications and for ordering information.
The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association
Mission
The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association (formerly the Sino-American
Buddhist Association) was founded by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua in the
United States of America in 1959. Taking the Dharma Realm as its scope, the
Association aims to disseminate the genuine teachings of the Buddha
throughout the world. The Association is dedicated to translating the Buddhist
canon, propagating the Orthodox Dharma, promoting ethical education, and
bringing benefit and happiness to all beings. Its hope is that individuals,
families, the society, the nation, and the entire world will, under the
transforming influence of the Buddhadharma, gradually reach the state of
ultimate truth and goodness.
The Founder
The Venerable Master, whose names were An Tse and To Lun, received the
Dharma name Hsuan Hua and the transmission of Dharma from Venerable
Master Hsu Yun in the lineage of the Wei Yang Sect. He was born in
Manchuria, China, at the beginning of the century. At nineteen, he entered the
monastic order and dwelt in a hut by his mother’s grave to practice filial piety.
He meditated, studied the teachings, ate only one meal a day, and slept sitting
up. In 1948 he went to Hong Kong, where he established the Buddhist Lecture
Hall and other Way-places. In 1962 he brought the Proper Dharma to the West,
lecturing on several dozen Mahayana Sutras in the United States. Over the
years, the Master established more than twenty monasteries of Proper Dharma
under the auspices of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association and the City of
Ten Thousand Buddhas. He also founded centers for the translation of the
Buddhist canon and for education to spread the influence of the Dharma in the
East and West. The Master manifested the stillness in the United States in
1995. Through his lifelong, selfless dedication to teaching living beings with
wisdom and compassion, he influenced countless people to change their faults
and to walk upon the pure, bright path to enlightenment.
Dharma Propagation, Buddhist Text Translation, and Education
The Venerable Master Hua’s three great vows after leaving the home-life
were (1) to propagate the Dharma, (2) to translate the Buddhist Canon, and (3)
to promote education. In order to make these vows a reality, the Venerable
Master based himself on the Three Principles and the Six Guidelines.
Courageously facing every hardship, he founded monasteries, schools, and
centers in the West, drawing in living beings and teaching them on a vast scale.
Over the years, he founded the following institutions:
The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and Its Branches
In propagating the Proper Dharma, the Venerable Master not only trained
people but also founded Way-places where the Dharma wheel could turn and
living beings could be saved. He wanted to provide cultivators with pure places
to practice in accord with the Buddha’s regulations. Over the years, he founded
many Way-places of Proper Dharma. In the United States and Canada, these
include the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas; Gold Mountain Monastery; Gold
Sage Monastery; Gold Wheel Monastery; Gold Summit Monastery; Gold
Buddha Monastery; Avatamsaka Monastery; Long Beach Monastery; the City
of the Dharma Realm; Berkeley Buddhist Monastery; Avatamsaka Hermitage;
and Blessings, Prosperity, and Longevity Monastery. In Taiwan, there are the
Dharma Realm Buddhist Books Distribution Association, Dharma Realm
Monastery, and Amitabha Monastery. In Malaysia, there are Zi Yun Dong
Monastery, Deng Bi An Monastery, and Lotus Vihara. In Hong Kong, there are
the Buddhist Lecture Hall and Cixing Monastery.
Purchased in 1974, the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is the hub of the
Dharma Realm Buddhist Association. The City is located in Talmage,
Mendocino County, California, 110 miles north of San Francisco. Eighty of the
488 acres of land are in active use. The remaining acreage consists of
meadows, orchards, and woods. With over seventy large buildings containing
over 2,000 rooms, blessed with serenity and fresh, clean air, it is the first large
Buddhist monastic community in the United States. It is also an international
center for the Proper Dharma.
Although the Venerable Master Hua was the Ninth Patriarch in the
Weiyang Sect of the Chan School, the monasteries he founded emphasize all of
the five main practices of Mahayana Buddhism (Chan meditation, Pure Land,
esoteric, Vinaya (moral discipline), and doctrinal studies). This accords with
the Buddha’s words: “The Dharma is level and equal, with no high or low.” At
the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, the rules of purity are rigorously observed.
Residents of the City strive to regulate their own conduct and to cultivate with
vigor. Taking refuge in the Proper Dharma, they lead pure and selfless lives,
and attain peace in body and mind. The Sutras are expounded and the Dharma
wheel is turned daily. Residents dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to making
Buddhism flourish. Monks and nuns in all the monasteries take one meal a day,
always wear their precept sash, and follow the Three Principles:
Freezing, we do not scheme.
Starving, we do not beg.
Dying of poverty, we ask for nothing.
According with conditions, we do not change.
Not changing, we accord with conditions.
We adhere firmly to our three great principles.
We renounce our lives to do the Buddha’s work.
We take the responsibility to mold our own destinies.
We rectify our lives to fulfill the Sanghan’s role.
Encountering specific matters,
we understand the principles.
Understanding the principles,
we apply them in specific matters.
We carry on the single pulse of
the Patriarchs’ mind-transmission.
The monasteries also follow the Six Guidelines: not contending, not being
greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not pursuing personal advantage, and not
lying.
International Translation Institute
The Venerable Master vowed to translate the Buddhist Canon (Tripitaka)
into Western languages so that it would be widely accessible throughout the
world. In 1973, he founded the International Translation Institute on
Washington Street in San Francisco for the purpose of translating Buddhist
scriptures into English and other languages. In 1977, the Institute was merged
into Dharma Realm Buddhist University as the Institute for the Translation of
Buddhist Texts. In 1991, the Venerable Master purchased a large building in
Burlingame (south of San Francisco) and established the International
Translation Institute there for the purpose of translating and publishing
Buddhist texts. To date, in addition to publishing over one hundred volumes of
Buddhist texts in Chinese, the Association has published more than one
hundred volumes of English, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Japanese
translations of Buddhist texts, as well as bilingual (Chinese and English)
editions. Audio and video tapes also continue to be produced. The monthly
journal Vajra Bodhi Sea, which has been in circulation for nearly thirty years,
has been published in bilingual (Chinese and English) format in recent years.
In the past, the difficult and vast mission of translating the Buddhist canon
in China was sponsored and supported by the emperors and kings themselves.
In our time, the Venerable Master encouraged his disciples to cooperatively
shoulder this heavy responsibility, producing books and audio tapes and using
the medium of language to turn the wheel of Proper Dharma and do the great
work of the Buddha. All those who aspire to devote themselves to this work of
sages should uphold the Eight Guidelines of the International Translation
Institute:
1. One must free oneself from the motives of personal fame and
profit.
2. One must cultivate a respectful and sincere attitude free from arrogance
and conceit.
3. One must refrain from aggrandizing one’s work and denigrating
that of others.
4. One must not establish oneself as the standard of correctness and
suppress the work of others with one’s fault-finding.
5. One must take the Buddha-mind as one’s own mind.
6. One must use the wisdom of Dharma-Selecting Vision to determine
true principles.
7. One must request Virtuous Elders of the ten directions to certify
one’s translations.
8. One must endeavor to propagate the teachings by printing Sutras,
Shastra texts, and Vinaya texts when the translations are certified as
being correct.
These are the Venerable Master’s vows, and participants in the work of
translation should strive to realize them.
Instilling Goodness Elementary School, Developing Virtue
Secondary School, Dharma Realm Buddhist University
“Education is the best national defense.” The Venerable Master Hua saw
clearly that in order to save the world, it is essential to promote good education.
If we want to save the world, we have to bring about a complete change in
people’s minds and guide them to cast out unwholesomeness and to pursue
goodness. To this end the Master founded Instilling Goodness Elementary
School in 1974, and Developing Virtue Secondary School and Dharma Realm
Buddhist University in 1976.
In an education embodying the spirit of Buddhism, the elementary school
teaches students to be filial to parents, the secondary school teaches students to
be good citizens, and the university teaches such virtues as humaneness and
righteousness. Instilling Goodness Elementary School and Developing Virtue
Secondary School combine the best of contemporary and traditional methods
and of Western and Eastern cultures. They emphasize moral virtue and spiritual
development, and aim to guide students to become good and capable citizens
who will benefit humankind. The schools offer a bilingual (Chinese/English)
program where boys and girls study separately. In addition to standard
academic courses, the curriculum includes ethics, meditation, Buddhist studies,
and so on, giving students a foundation in virtue and guiding them to
understand themselves and explore the truths of the universe. Branches of the
schools (Sunday schools) have been established at branch monasteries with the
aim of propagating filial piety and ethical education.
Dharma Realm Buddhist University, whose curriculum focuses on the
Proper Dharma, does not merely transmit academic knowledge. It emphasizes
a foundation in virtue, which expands into the study of how to help all living
beings discover their inherent nature. Thus, Dharma Realm Buddhist
University advocates a spirit of shared inquiry and free exchange of ideas,
encouraging students to study various canonical texts and use different
experiences and learning styles to tap their inherent wisdom and fathom the
meanings of those texts. Students are encouraged to practice the principles they
have understood and apply the Buddhadharma in their lives, thereby nurturing
their wisdom and virtue. The University aims to produce outstanding
individuals of high moral character who will be able to bring benefit to all
sentient beings.
Sangha and Laity Training Programs
In the Dharma-ending Age, in both Eastern and Western societies there are
very few monasteries that actually practice the Buddha’s regulations and
strictly uphold the precepts. Teachers with genuine wisdom and understanding,
capable of guiding those who aspire to pursue careers in Buddhism, are very
rare. The Venerable Master founded the Sangha and Laity Training Programs
in 1982 with the goals of raising the caliber of the Sangha, perpetuating the
Proper Dharma, providing professional training for Buddhists around the world
on both practical and theoretical levels, and transmitting the wisdom of the
Buddha.
The Sangha Training Program gives monastics a solid foundation in
Buddhist studies and practice, training them in the practical affairs of
Buddhism and Sangha management. After graduation, students will be able to
assume various responsibilities related to Buddhism in monasteries,
institutions, and other settings. The program emphasizes a thorough knowledge
of Buddhism, under-standing of the scriptures, earnest cultivation, strict
observance of precepts, and the development of a virtuous character, so that
students will be able to propagate the Proper Dharma and perpetuate the
Buddha’s wisdom. The Laity Training Program offers courses to help
laypeople develop correct views, study and practice the teachings, and
understand monastic regulations and ceremonies, so that they will be able to
contribute their abilities in Buddhist organizations.
Let Us Go Forward Together
In this Dharma-ending Age when the world is becoming increasingly
dangerous and evil, the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, in consonance
with its guiding principles, opens the doors of its monasteries and centers to
those of all religions and nationalities. Anyone who is devoted to humaneness,
righteousness, virtue, and the pursuit of truth, and who wishes to understand
him or herself and help humankind, is welcome to come study and practice
with us. May we together bring benefit and happiness to all living beings.
Dharma Realm Buddhist Association Branches
Home Page: http:\\www.drba.org
Main Branch:
The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas
P.O. Box 217, 2001 Talmage Road, Talmage, CA 95481-0217 USA
Tel: (707) 462-0939 Fax: (707) 462-0949
The City of the Dharma Realm
1029 West Capitol Avenue, West Sacramento, CA 95691 USA
Tel: (916) 374-8268
The International Translation Institute
1777 Murchison Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010-4504 USA
Tel: (650) 692-5912 Fax: (650) 692-5056
Institute for World Religions (Berkeley Buddhist Monastery)
2304 McKinley Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703 USA
Tel: (510) 848-3440 Fax: (510) 548-4551
Gold Mountain Monastery
800 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA 94108 USA
Tel: (415) 421-6117 Fax: (415) 788-6001
Gold Sage Monastery
11455 Clayton Road, San Jose, CA 95127 USA
Tel: (408) 923-7243 Fax: (408) 923-1064
Gold Summit Monastery
233-1st Avenue, West Seattle, WA 98119 USA
Tel: (206) 284-6690 Fax: (206) 284-6918
Gold Wheel Monastery
235 North Avenue 58, Los Angeles, CA 90042 USA
Tel: (213) 258-6668
Blessings, Prosperity, & Longevity Monastery
4140 Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90807 USA
Tel: (562) 595-4966
Long Beach Moaastery
3361 East Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90803 USA
Tel: (562) 438-8902
Avatamsaka Hermitage
11721 Beall Mountain Road, Potomac, MD 20854-1128 USA
Tel: (301) 299-3693
Avatamsaka Monastery
1009-4th Avenue, S.W. Calgary, AB T2P OK8 Canada
Tel: (403) 269-2960
Gold Buddha Monastery
248 E. 11th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5T 2C3 Canada
Tel: (604) 709-0248 Fax: (604) 684-3754
Dharma Realm Buddhist Books Distribution Society
11th Floor, 85 Chung-hsiao E. Road, Sec. 6, Taipei, R.O.C.
Tel: (02) 2786-3022, 2786-2474
Fax: (02) 2786-2674
Dharma Realm Sagely Monastery
20, Tong-hsi Shan-chuang, Hsing-lung Village, Liu-kuei
Kaohsiung County, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel: (07) 689-3717 Fax: (07) 689-3870
Amitabha Monastery
7, Su-chien-hui, Chih-nan Village, Shou-feng,
Hualien Country, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel: (07) 865-1956 Fax: (07) 865-3426
Tze Yun Tung Temple
Batu 5½, Jalan Sungai Besi,
Salak Selatan 57100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (03) 7982-6560 Fax: (03) 7980-1272
Kun Yam Thong Temple
161, Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (03) 2164-8055 Fax: (03) 2163-7118
Lotus Vihara
136, Jalan Sekolah, 45600 Batang Berjuntai,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Tel: (03) 3271-9439
Buddhist Lecture Hall
31 Wong Nei Chong Road, Top Floor Happy Valley,
Hong Kong, China
Tel/Fax: 2572-7644
Verse of Transference
May the merit and virtue accrued from this work,
Adorn the Buddha’s Pure Lands,
Repaying four kinds of kindness above,
And aiding those suffering in the paths below.
May those who see and hear of this,
All bring forth the resolve for Bodhi,
And when this retribution body is over,
Be born together in ultimate bliss.
Dharma Protector Wei T’o Bodhisattva