Dharma StreamThe bhiksu Dharmakara collected the pure actions taken to adorn those 210 koti wonderful Buddha Lands. Having trained himself in this way, he went to that Buddha. He made obeisance at that Buddha’s feet and circled Him three times. Standing properly with his palms joined, he said to that Buddha, “World-Honored One, I have collected the pure actions to adorn my Buddha Land.”
That Buddha told the bhiksu, “You now may declare your vows. Know that now is the right time to delight all multitudes. After other Bodhisattvas have heard you, they too can train in the way that you have, and fulfill immeasurable great vows.”
The bhiksu said to that Buddha, “I pray that you will grant me your attention. I will declare my vows completely:
1. After I become a Buddha, if there should be hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, or animals in my land, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
2. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land, after their death, should take any of the three evil life-paths, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
3. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not be the color of gold, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
4. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should have varied shapes and forms, beautiful or ugly, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
5. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not have the power to know their past lives and the past events in 100,000 koti nayuta kalpas, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
6. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not have the god-eye to see everything in 100,000 koti nayuta Buddha Lands, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
7. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not have the god-ear to hear, accept, and uphold the words spoken by 100,000 koti nayuta Buddhas, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
8. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not have the power to know the thoughts of sentient beings in 100,000 koti nayuta Buddha Lands, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
9. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not have the power to travel, in the instant of a thought, to 100,000 koti nayuta Buddha Lands, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
10. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should imagine that they have embodied selves, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
11. After I become a Buddha, sentient beings that definitely progress on the right path to bodhi until their attainment of the great nirvana, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
12. After I become a Buddha, if my radiance should have a limit of illuminating 100,000 koti nayuta Buddha Lands, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
13. After I become a Buddha, if my lifespan should have a limit of 100,000 koti nayuta kalpas, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
14. After I become a Buddha, if the number of voice-hearers in my land should be known by calculation, and be obtained through calculating for 100,000 kalpas by sentient beings in the Three-Thousand Large Thousandfold World that all have become Pratyekabuddhas, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
15. After I become a Buddha, if the lifespan of gods in my land should have a limit, except being shortened by their own wish, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
16. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should ever hear of any wrongdoings there, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
17. After I become a Buddha, if innumerable Buddhas in worlds in the ten directions should not praise my name, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
18. After I become a Buddha, in worlds in the ten directions, there will be sentient beings that, with earnest faith and delight, sincerely aspire to be reborn in my land, even if by only thinking ten thoughts [of that wish]. If they should fail to be reborn there—excepting those who have committed any of the five rebellious sins or maligned the true Dharma—I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
19. After I become a Buddha, in worlds in the ten directions, there will be sentient beings that activate the bodhi mind, acquire merit, and earnestly wish to be reborn in my land. If I should not appear, surrounded by a holy multitude, before them at their death, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
20. After I become a Buddha, in worlds in the ten directions, there will be sentient beings that hear my name, intently think of my land, plant their roots of virtue and, with a wish for rebirth in my land, transfer their merits to others. If they should fail to be reborn in my land, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
21. After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not be complete with a great man’s thirty-two physical marks, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
22. After I become a Buddha, if Bodhisattvas from other Buddha Lands who are reborn in my land should eventually fail to be in the holy position of waiting to attain Buddhahood in their next life, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment. (Except for those who are not in that position because of their original vows. For the sake of delivering all sentient beings, they don their armor of great vows and develop their roots of virtue. They visit Buddha Lands, train in the Bodhisattva Way, and make offerings to Buddha-Tathagatas [in worlds] in the ten directions. They develop and transform as many sentient beings as the sands of the Ganges, setting them on the Way to the unsurpassed bodhi. Transcending the regular course through the Bodhisattva Grounds, they currently cultivate the virtues of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.)
23. After I become a Buddha, if Bodhisattvas in my land should fail to arrive, by virtue of my spiritual power, in the time of a meal in innumerable, countless kotis of nayutas of Buddha Lands to make offerings to those Buddhas, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
24. After I become a Buddha, Bodhisattvas in my land will demonstrate their roots of virtue before Buddhas. If they should fail to manifest at will their intended offerings to their satisfaction, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
25. After I become a Buddha, if Bodhisattvas in my land should be unable to expound [sarvajna] the overall wisdom-knowledge, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
26. After I become a Buddha, if Bodhisattvas in my land should not have the god Narayana’s adamantine body, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
27. After I become a Buddha, all things in my land will be radiant and splendid in extraordinary forms and colors, beyond description. If sentient beings in my land, including those with the god-eye, should know and distinguish them all by their names and numbers, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
28. After I become a Buddha, if Bodhisattvas in my land, including those with a meager store of merits, should fail to know and see in my bodhimanda the innumerable radiant colors of the [bodhi] tree, which is four million lis tall, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
29. After I become a Buddha, if Bodhisattvas in my land who read, recite, uphold, and expound sutras should fail to acquire eloquence and wisdom, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
30. After I become a Buddha, if Bodhisattvas in my land should have a limit in their eloquence and wisdom, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
31. After I become a Buddha, my land will be so pure that it illuminates and reflects innumerable, countless inconceivable Buddha Lands in the ten directions, like one’s own facial image seen in a clear mirror. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
32. After I become a Buddha, in my land, from the ground to the open sky, there will be palaces, towers, ponds, streams, flowers, and trees. Myriad things in my land will be made of innumerable varieties of treasures and 100,000 kinds of fragrances, and these wonderful adornments will surpass those of gods. As the fragrances suffuse all worlds in the ten directions, Bodhisattvas who smell them will all train in the Buddha Way. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
33. After I become a Buddha, in innumerable inconceivable Buddha Lands in the ten directions, all sentient beings touched by my radiance will become gentle in body and mind, surpassing gods. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
34. After I become a Buddha, in innumerable inconceivable Buddha Lands in the ten directions, if sentient beings that hear my name should fail to achieve the Bodhisattva Endurance in the Realization of the No Birth of Dharmas and to acquire profound dharanis, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
35. After I become a Buddha, in innumerable inconceivable Buddha Lands in the ten directions, women who hear my name will have faith and delight, activate the bodhi mind, and tire of their female form. If, after their death, they should be reborn in female form, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
36. After I become a Buddha, in innumerable inconceivable Buddha Lands in the ten directions, multitudes of Bodhisattvas who hear my name, after their death, will be reborn to train in the Brahma way of life until their attainment of Buddhahood. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
37. After I become a Buddha, in innumerable inconceivable Buddha Lands in the ten directions, Bodhisattvas who hear my name will prostrate themselves in obeisance and, with faith and delight, train in the Bodhisattva Way, and gods and humans will salute them. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
38. After I become a Buddha, gods in my land, by a single thought, will be able to make appear on their bodies garments, which are as wonderful as Buddhas say. If their garments should require sewing, dyeing, or laundering, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
39. After I become a Buddha, if the bliss experienced by gods in my land should be inferior to that of bhiksus with no more afflictions to discharge, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
40. After I become a Buddha, Bodhisattvas in my land who wish to see innumerable splendid, pure Buddha Lands in the ten directions will see them all displayed in the jeweled trees as they wish, like one’s facial image in a clear mirror. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
41. After I become a Buddha, if multitudes of Bodhisattvas in other lands who hear my name should remain incomplete in their faculties until their attainment of Buddhahood, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
42. After I become a Buddha, multitudes of Bodhisattvas in other lands who hear my name will all attain the Samadhi of Pure Liberation and abide in it. By a single thought, they will be able to make offerings to innumerable inconceivable Buddha-Bhagavans without losing their samadhi state. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
43. After I become a Buddha, multitudes of Bodhisattvas in other lands who hear my name will, after their death, be reborn into a noble family. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
44. After I become a Buddha, multitudes of Bodhisattvas in other lands who hear my name will, with delight and exuberance, train in the Bodhisattva Way and fully develop their roots of virtue. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
45. After I become a Buddha, multitudes of Bodhisattvas in other lands who hear my name will all attain the Samadhi of Universal Equality and abide in it until their attainment of Buddhahood. They will constantly see innumerable inconceivable Buddhas. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
46. After I become a Buddha, Bodhisattvas in my land will hear the Dharma according to their wishes and preferences. If this should not come true, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
47. After I become a Buddha, if multitudes of Bodhisattvas in other lands who hear my name should not soon attain [avinivartaniya] the spiritual level of no regress, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
48. After I become a Buddha, if multitudes of Bodhisattvas in other lands who hear my name should not achieve the first, second, or third of the Three Endurances in the Dharma, and thus fail to attain the level of no regress from the Buddha Dharma, I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.”
Let’s first translate this part of the Sutra into the vernacular Chinese.
At the time, the Bhiksu Dharmakara collected the pure actions taken to adorn those 210 koti wonderful Buddha Lands. Having contemplated in this way, he went to the World Sovereign King Buddha. He made obeisance at that Buddha’s feet and circled Him three times. Standing properly with his palms joined, he said to that Buddha, “World-Honored One, I have collected the pure actions to adorn my Buddha Land.”
That World Sovereign King Buddha told the bhiksu, “You now may declare your vows. Know that now is the right time to delight all multitudes. After other Bodhisattvas have heard you, they too can train in the way that you have, and fulfill immeasurable great vows.”
The bhiksu Dharmakara said to that Buddha, “I pray that you will grant me your attention and appraisals. I will declare my vows completely before the multitude.”
This part of the Sutra states that after examining 210 koti wonderful Buddha Lands, the Bhiksu Dharmakara has gone through five Kalpas of contemplation, comparison and planning to form his own Pure Land. In fact, when Buddhas have perfected their merits, they reside in a state where both noumenal and phenomenal are interdependent and all phenomena exist in perfect harmony and do not obstruct each other. It is not difficult to form such a vast and beautiful world; however, it is really difficult to make every sentient being happy from the worlds in ten directions and quickly attain Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi, since every sentient being has his own distinctive hobbies, habits, and desires, and even these desires may vary over time. I think everyone can understand this point. If one day you become truly wealthy and build a Bodhimanda in majestic splendor, are you able to make every sentient being who enters the place live in rejoicing? Even if the Bodhimanda is filled with beautiful treasures, some people may become depraved because of their greed for personal possession of these material things.
Amitabha Buddha has achieved the goal of both satisfying all the desires of sentient beings and enabling them to become Buddhas while enjoying ease and comfort. Bhiksu Dharmakara examines 210 koti wonderful Buddha Lands in order to know about the needs, hobbies, habits, and desires of different beings and then makes 48 vows based on observations. If these 48 vows are fulfilled, then the world He forms will far surpass all the Buddhas’ Lands in the ten directions. In the worlds of Buddhas, whether it is the ease and comfort enjoyed by the sentient beings or the speed of becoming Buddha, the West Pure Land ranks first.
After he has a confident mind about the future Pure Land world, he goes to the World Sovereign King Buddha and says, “World-Honored One, I have collected the pure actions to adorn my Buddha Land.” The World Sovereign King Buddha tells the bhiksu to declare his vows to delight all multitudes and says that after other Bodhisattvas have heard his vows, they can learn from him and train in the way that he has. Bhiksu Dharmakara declares his 48 vows of the Pure Land completely before the World Sovereign King Buddha and the multitude. These vows are essentially concerned with the pure, solemn and wonderful aspects of the West Pure Land and all kinds of merits and benefits about what this Pure Land can bring to sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions.
All right, let’s listen to the 48 vows declared by Bhiksu Dharmakara. In the latter part of the Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha tells us that Bhiksu Dharmakara has successfully fulfilled every great vow he has made. Therefore, when we hear these vows one by one, we feel not only personally on the scene, but also fully aware of the advantages of the West Pure Land in comparison with our world. Some benefits can be directly obtained from the hearing of some of the great vows at the present moment, without the need for sentient beings to get reborn in the Western Pure Land.
The First Vow and the Second Vow
The First Vow: After I become a Buddha, if there should be hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, or animals in my land, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
The Second Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land, after their death, should take any of the three evil life-paths, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
The above two vows clearly state that in the Pure Land there will not be the three woeful paths which exist in our world. Moreover, sentient beings reborn in the Pure Land will not, after their death, meet the evil destinies of reincarnation—animals, hungry ghosts and hell beings in their former worlds because of recompense caused by their past evil doings. Even if one resolves to save sentient beings in other worlds and chooses to shorten his infinite life in the Pure Land, he will absolutely not fall into the three evil paths once again due to his past evils, unless he wishes to manifest his appearance there. These two vows show that Bhiksu Dharmakara hopes that all beings can stay away from sufferings and fears.
The world we live in is called the World of Saha, which can be classified into “the three regions and the six paths.” The three regions refer to “the realms of desire, of form, and of non-form,” while the six paths which only exist in the realm of desire refer to the three good paths, namely, asuras, men and devas, and the three evil states of existence, namely, the hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals. Only devas live in the realm of form and the realm of non-form. All sentient beings transmigrate in the three regions and six paths ceaselessly. We human beings belong to the realm of desire. If sexual passion does not cease to exist, we basically reincarnate in the six paths of the realm of desire, and it is beyond our ability to enter the realms of form and non-form.
Among the three evil paths, hell beings and hungry ghosts are invisible to us, but the miserable living state of animals is there for all to see. Except for pets kept by humans, other animals struggle daily to feed themselves and reproduce offspring. Moreover, if humans choose to eat meat, they are doomed to be pulled apart, skinned, fried and grilled at any time, becoming dishes on the table. In the World of Saha, humans are just a species in the realm of desire. Without the internal merits or Samadhibala (the power of meditation) and the external salvation of great Bodhisattvas, human beings defiled with bad habits and desires are bound to suffer continuous reincarnation in the six paths of the realm of desire. Furthermore, due to human beings’ desires and habits, the Three Evil Paths are places we often visit, which means we often end up in a tragic fate of being fried, steamed, and grilled by others. In fact, although human beings belong to the good path, they sometimes feel as painful as living in hell when they are seriously sick or suffer physical and mental anguish when their desires are thwarted.
In “Shurangama Sutra”, from the perspective of humanity, the Buddha reveals Ten Causes and Six Retributions leading to the hells. The Ten Causes refer to ten human habits, including: 1. The habit of sexual desire; 2. The habit of craving, which, when one is attracted to something, leads to incessant grasping, controlling and conquering; 3. The habit of hatred; 4. The habit of festering resentment; 5. The habit of arrogance, with haughty feelings of self-superiority; 6. The habit of enticement joined with a fondness for conniving to entrap others to obtain personal gains and happiness; 7. Predilection for concealment of one’s own faults leads to vociferous court proceedings to take revenge against others; 8. The habit of falsehood, which, when joined to deviousness, leads to insinuations and treachery to gain extra advantage by unfair means; 9. The habit of holding wrong views, which, when joined to a temperament that automatically rejects the opinions of others, leads to mistaken understandings; 10. The habit of blaming, which, when joined to a predilection for defamation, leads to making false accusations.
These ten bad habits have been widely found in humans. When a person is near death, all the things they do and say following these ten bad habits, and all the harm they cause to themselves and others, become the visions of the Antarabhava (the period between death and rebirth, a stage varying from seven to 49 days, when the karma-body will certainly be reborn) of this sentient being. These habitual causes result in the retributions of hells that involve one’s own sight, hearing, awareness and cognition. Sentient beings rotate in different hells and suffer extreme physical and mental pains. Once they have burned away their debts in the hells, they ascend to be reborn as hungry ghosts. Being hungry and thirsty all the time, with all their might, they are unable to obtain what they need for life. After finishing the karmic debt which he was due to pay as a ghost, he is born in the body of an animal to repay his debts from his previous lives. Once these animals pay the debts they incurred in previous lives, they can now return to their original status as humans.
It is easy for a person to fall into the three evil paths because once the circumstantial cause consummates, these bad habits and desires instantaneously flare up. No sentient beings would like to fall into the Three Evil Paths, or even bear to see the sight of them, for the Three Evil Paths are indeed the most distressful places for sentient beings in the Worlds of Ten Directions. Because He cannot bear to see the sufferings of all beings, Bhiksu Dharmakara makes the first great vow that there should not be three woeful paths of hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts and animals in His Land. There are no three evil paths in the West Pure Land. Even if we are born out of the lotus in the Pure Land with our usual habits and desires, we will be forever free from seeing and experiencing the three evil paths.
To fulfil this great vow in one’s own pure land, one needs to have none of these ten bad habits, even no definitions and cognition of these habits in one’s mental and physical world. Only when the Bodhisattva completely exhausts all defilements in his heart and erases all traces of harm and being harmed to the extent that even the cognition about exhaustion and elimination is void, can the Bodhisattva show no three evil paths in his Pure Land. However, in this World of Saha, it is difficult for Bodhisattvas to practice and perfectly achieve this path in extreme cases of killing, stealing and lustful desire.
In fact, there are no three evil paths in the worlds where all Buddhas reside. In “The Lotus Sutra”, Shakyamuni Buddha said that His World of realization within was also the Pure Land of Bliss free from the three evil paths. The evil world of five turbidities is the world where all sentient beings reside, which is a consequence of their own delusion in space and time created by the same karma of habits and desires. Shakyamuni Buddha enters our time and space to show the same way of life like ours and becomes a Buddha in the capacity of a human being. It is only for the convenience of enlightening the sentient beings and enabling all to see a person with the habits like ours, who through cultivation, is capable of liberating from the cycle of birth and death and obtaining eternal peace and freedom. So, all trust that following His example, they can also attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi with full confidence. Shakyamuni Buddha proclaims Triyana (the Three Vehicles) to deliver the sentient beings from all terrors and worries in this world and to help them no longer experience the sufferings of the three evil paths. It is the common aspiration of all Buddhas to deliver all sentient beings from sufferings and attain happiness. The difference only lies in the various methods of convenience They employ.
Another point commands our attention: at the end of every vow, there is a sentence pattern “if… (this vow is not fulfilled), I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.” Here, “I would not attain the perfect enlightenment” does not mean that I have attained the perfect enlightenment, yet I derecognize the fact; but means that if this vow is not fulfilled, I would forever feel the fruit of Buddhahood I have attained to be incomplete. Having practiced for a few years and having learned the knowledge about the truth of the immaterial nature, some people acquire the power of fixity in a measure and feel their minds somewhat free from delusion; however, they can hardly wait to announce that they have attained Buddhahood, earnestly looking forward to public recognition. And some, after cultivating patience under provocation for a few days and having done a little bit of meritorious work, would pour out their grievances by saying that they have already put in a lot of effort, but why haven’t they become Buddhas yet. But Amitabha Buddha says, if He cannot fulfill these great vows, He would feel that He has not yet fully achieved anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Similarly, the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva makes the great vow, “If Hell is not empty, I would not become a Buddha.” It is a fact that no matter how much has already been accomplished, all Great Bodhisattvas would not feel they have completed the fruit of Buddhahood if they feel they cannot give benefits to all living beings simultaneously. This is the reason why they do not manifest themselves as Buddhas in a particular world, but choose to appear as Bodhisattvas incessantly in the Worlds of Ten Directions to deliver sentient beings.
Take Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva for example, uncountable kalpas before, He had already been a Buddha named True Dharma Brightness Tathagata, but often manifests as a Bodhisattva of Samyak-sambodhi, who postpones His own Buddhahood until He perfects his merits and fulfils His vow to grant whatever is requested to release all from sufferings. Manjushri Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva are all such bodhisattvas. We shall learn from Amitabha Buddha and all these great bodhisattvas who resolve to attain the perfect enlightenment for the sake of benefiting every sentient being rather than just obtaining the ultimate happiness on their own. If they could not benefit boundless beings, they would not consider that they have fully achieved anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
However, we should not raise doubts about those Bodhisattvas who have already shown the Buddhas’ fruit, such as Shakyamuni Buddha who has become a Buddha in our world. There are altogether a thousand Buddhas appearing in the Bhadrakalpa (the present kalpa). They will in succession manifest themselves as Buddhas fully achieving anuttara-samyak-sambodhi in our world. To meet the needs of liberating the sentient beings, They appear as the founders of Buddhism and the original teachers in our world. We need Amitabha Buddha, and even more need Shakyamuni Buddha who, by His attainment of Buddhahood in the land of intense sufferings and bitterness, sets an example for all of us to follow and proclaims the right views to liberate us. If it were not for Shakyamuni Buddha to enter the time and space formed by our habits and desires and introduce Amitabha Buddha’s West Pure Land, we would have no knowledge of the Pure Land at all. We are currently listening to “The Sutra of Amitayus Buddha”, basking in both Amitabha Buddha’s merits and benefits and the dharma rain bestowed upon us by Shakyamuni Buddha. Similar to Shakyamuni Buddha, all Buddhas demonstrate to sentient beings the realization of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, which is none other than the supreme blessings and merits-giving to sentient beings. In addition, the meaning of “I would not attain the perfect enlightenment” at the end of each vow is similar to the first vow as I have explained above, so no more explanation will be made hereafter.
The Third Vow and the Fourth Vow
The Third Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not be the color of gold, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
The Fourth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should have varied shapes and forms, beautiful or ugly, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
These two vows are concerned with the physical appearances of gods in the West Pure Land. The gods born there are of one color, that is, a golden color, which only comes after the completion of Buddha’s merits. These two vows are made for satisfying sentient beings’ love for beauty. In our world, there are white people, black people, yellow people, and so on. In the West Pure Land, gods are of the same color, that is, the color of gold. Racial discrimination no longer exists there. Even gods are the same in physique, so there is no need for making differentiation between beauty and ugliness, good and bad in the Pure Land. In this way, everyone does not have to be jealous of others, and each of them radiates a golden light like Buddha.
In the “Shurangama Sutra”, the reason for Ananda’s adoption of the monastic practice by abstaining from worldly love and desires is that he saw the Buddha’s body shining with a wondrous brilliant concentration of golden light. He felt that it was so majestic, supremely wonderous and incomparable that a body with such hallmarks could not be the consequence of an act of sexual love. Ananda believed that through cultivation he could assume such a dignified appearance. That is why Ananda let the hair fall from his head so he could follow Buddha.
All beings are entitled to having golden-colored bodies after their birth in the West Pure Land. Sentient beings in many worlds attach much importance to their appearances. For example, as humans, we tend to be unsure of ourselves due to our ugly looks, let alone those born disabled or postnatal disabled, to whom deformity causes severe pain. The third and fourth vows show Bhiksu Dharmakara’s hope that all beings can attain the perfect physical marks of a Buddha. Not just that they have no regrets about their appearances, but also that they feel in their hearts that they are no different from the Buddhas in terms of form and color.
Although gods in the Western Pure Land all have the same golden-colored body, a perfect physical mark of a Buddha, beings in our world are still inclined to make a distinction of the brilliance and the range of the light gods shed, since in our world the sentient beings keep a jealousy and comparison mentality that defiles the sight, the hearing, the awareness and the cognition. So, in a sense, in the Pure Land, in order to enable gods there to have no discrimination over beautiful and ugly or wholesome and unwholesome states, it is not enough to let them have the same appearance. To start with, besides his own perfection of merits and attainment of the wonderous golden-colored body, Bhiksu Dharmakara must treat all the sentient beings equally in the Bodhisattva path. No discrimination shall arise and no preference or disgust shall be activated over the beauty and the ugliness of the various forms of the sentient beings. In dealing with various beings from the three regions and the six paths, Bodhisattvas have nothing but infinite compassion and loving kindness in their hearts, their minds being pure and free from defilements, never jealous of or competing with others. Only with the blessing of these perfect merits can all living beings in the Pure Land look exactly the same.
The Fifth Vow, the Sixth Vow, the Seventh Vow, the Eighth Vow and the Ninth Vow
The Fifth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not have the power to know their past lives and the past events in 100,000 koti nayuta kalpas, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
The Sixth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not have the god-eye to see everything in 100,000 koti nayuta Buddha Lands, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
The Seventh Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not have the god-ear to hear, accept, and uphold the words spoken by 100,000 koti nayuta Buddhas, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
The Eighth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not have the power to know the thoughts of sentient beings in 100,000 koti nayuta Buddha Lands, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
The Ninth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not have the power to travel, in the instant of a thought, to 100,000 koti nayuta Buddha Lands, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
The above five vows make clear that gods in the Pure Land all possess five perfect supernatural powers. These five vows are made to meet with all beings’ aspiration to be free and unrestrained as well as to help beings to acquire Buddha’s wisdom. To possess the miraculous divine powers also caters to the natural desire of sentient beings in this world. Many among the beings transmigrating in “the three regions and the six paths” in this world of Saha have five kinds of supernatural powers. Human beings through practice can also acquire these five divine powers, but their powers are not as great as those of beings in the Pure Land. For example, Arhats have purvanivasanusmriti-jnana, the power to know former existences of selves and others over 500 lifetimes, while gods in the Pure Land have the power to know their past lives and the past events in 100,000 koti nayuta kalpas. Similarly, the other four divine powers—divyachaksus (celestial eye), divyashrotra (celestial ear), parachitta-jnana (the ability to know the thoughts of others’ minds) and Riddhi-saksatkriya (deva-foot ubiquity to appear at will in any place without hindrance)—they can exercise these supernatural powers in 100,000 koti nayuta worlds at will, and it can be said that the application of their divine powers in time and space has no limit. The supernatural powers possessed by devas and immortals in our world cannot be compared with those of gods in the Pure Land.
For human beings who want to possess these five divine powers, sometimes even with diligent cultivation they cannot accomplish the goal. To make it worse, due to their preference and longing for these divine powers, they often encounter disturbances caused by Mara-hindrances or are possessed by spirits and ghosts, which will obstruct the practitioners in the process of cultivation. These five vows made by Bhiksu Dharmakara meet the needs of all beings who long for divine powers.
With purvanivasanusmriti-jnana, gods in the Pure Land can have access to all the past events. Imagine, if we also had purvanivasanusmriti-jnana possessed by the gods in the Pure Land, we could know everything that happened before Infinite Kalpas. In this way, everyone would know about reincarnation and chain of cause and effect, and no one would doubt the Buddha’s teachings. If we had divyachaksus (celestial eye), we would see that in addition to humans, there are countless advanced life forms in time and space that we can communicate with. If we had divyashrotra (celestial ear), we could hear the teachings of the Buddhas in the Worlds of Ten Directions, and we would no longer lament it difficult to encounter a wise teacher. If we had parachitta-jnana, we could understand the thoughts and minds of all sentient beings, and we would no longer have to worry about being unable to communicate with others or to find a kindred spirit. With parachitta-jnana, we will no longer generate mutual suspicion or deception because our hearts and minds are crystal clear to each other. If we all had Riddhi-saksatkriya, we could appear in the countless Buddhas’ worlds in the instant of a thought, and then we don’t need to invent transportation vehicles such as cars, airplanes, and ships, etc. We just need to initiate a thought to reach the place, and the spatiotemporal movement is completed immediately. It is not necessary for us to worry about environmental pollution any more.
Amitabha Buddha helps sentient beings in the Worlds of Ten Directions to fulfil their aspiration to naturally possess these five divine powers once they get reborn in the West Pure Land, and the divine powers they possess surpass almost all the heavenly beings in the Worlds of Ten Directions.
In our world, almost all Buddhist masters prohibit their disciples from using divine powers because the six sense-organs of the disciples are still defiled and they are lacking in Samadhibala (the power of fixity). They play with supernatural powers out of curiosity or various desires and habits so much so that they even pursue non-Buddhist ways to cultivate the supernatural powers instead of aspiring to pursue the supreme enlightenment to fully understand the absolute reality of life and all phenomena. These disciples will all lose the greater for the less and be lost in the illusion of supernatural powers. In the course of such cultivation, a slight deviation will result in going into the devil way. After the practitioners perfect their cultivation achievements, they can have access to the supernatural powers since they know all phenomena are fundamentally void. Therefore, the practitioners shall neither easily play with the supernatural powers, nor turn pale at the mere mention of these powers. Don’t readily label those who talk about divine powers as being possessed by Maras. It is important to have a correct view of the Five Eyes and Six Divine Powers. If the practitioner’s six sense-organs are not pure and the concentration power is inadequate, the divine powers he attains will definitely be limited. Sometimes, such practitioners cannot even subjugate ghosts with less blessings because ghosts also have limited Five Divine Powers. So, when maras come, it is better for this kind of practitioners to recite the Shurangama Mantra. Moreover, when using divine powers to destroy karma and retribution, those who exercise divine powers are required to have the ability to settle old scores and solve debts between sentient beings occurring in many past lives. Otherwise, the practitioners with supernatural powers will not only be unable to help others, but also may be caught in the karmic consequences of others and be powerless to extricate themselves.
The Tenth Vow and the Eleventh Vow
The Tenth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should form an attachment to or a reluctance to parting with their own bodies, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
The Eleventh Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not abide in correct Samadhi and not progress on the right path to bodhi until their attainment of the great nirvana, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
These two vows are made to be directed against the difficulties practitioners often meet with in our world, whereas gods in the Pure Land avoid entirely. Due to our obsession with our bodies, the decay and the death of our bodies and the parting with our beloved are the two major sufferings for human beings. Even gods in the Realm of Desire have to face this kind of misfortune. Whether we assume the material body or the emanation body of clear light, as long as we recognize it as ourselves, there will always be discrimination of you, me, and him. The attachment to the body leads to bitterness and sufferings of longing-for, form declines and dies, reluctance of leaving and unwillingness to lose it. It is a very painful and frightening affair to see one’s physical form declines and dies. Bhiksu Dharmakara makes the vow that in His Pure Land, all beings will never be attached to their bodies; hence, there will be no sufferings of clinging to and leaving the body and the dread of physical pains and death.
The Eleventh Vow makes clear that all beings in the Pure Land abide in correct Samadhi and attain the great nirvana in which nothing has been created and nothing can be destroyed. The correct Samadhi will enable beings to see clearly the reality of all phenomena in the universe, which will lead to the liberation from the bondage of time and space. If we human beings want to enter into the correct Samadhi, we shall first of all put an end to citta of killing, stealing and lust. Bhiksu Dharmakara makes the vow that once all sentient beings get reborn in the Pure Land, they can all abide in the correct Samadhi and attain the Buddha’s nirvana state, which is equivalent to proclaiming that all sentient beings in the Pure Land will become Buddhas in their lifetime.
Someone once asked me if all sentient beings in this world learn Buddhism and become Buddhas, what would the world be like? I said that our world would be what the West Pure Land looked like.
The Twelfth Vow and the Thirteenth Vow
The Twelfth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if my radiance should have a limit of illuminating 100,000 koti nayuta Buddha Lands, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
The Thirteenth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if my lifespan should have a limit of 100,000 koti nayuta kalpas, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
These two vows clearly point out the immeasurable brilliance and the infinite lifespan of Amitabha Buddha in the Pure Land, which indicates the limitlessness of Amitabha Buddha’s power to save all sentient beings respecting time and space. Living in the blissful West Pure Land and savoring boundless radiance and infinite lifespan may be the wish of all sentient beings in the Worlds of Ten Directions, especially those celestial beings who are enjoying their good karma. Because of Amitabha Buddha’s immeasurable brilliance and the infinite lifespan and His firm willpower, everything in the West Pure Land is close-to-eternal in sharp contrast to our world’s impermanence that finds expression in the four kalpas of formation, abiding, destruction and annihilation. In our world, people often lament that “good things are not firm, just like colorful clouds are easily scattered and glazed glassware is liable to breaking.” It is the firm willpower of Bhiksu Dharmakara that renders everything beautiful in the West Pure Land everlasting. The sentient beings in the Worlds of Ten Directions afflicted by a deep sadness caused by impermanence of everything in their life find solace and a sense of complete liberation.
Moreover, Amitabha Buddha’s boundless radiance illuminates all the lands of Buddhas without obstacles, making it convenient for Amitabha Buddha to guide sentient beings from the Worlds of Ten Directions to His Land. With the blessings of Amitabha Buddha’s incomparable radiance and infinite lifespan, all celestial beings in the Pure Land are endowed with a radiance and infinite lifespan far surpassing those beings in other worlds. Because of the infinite lifespan, the celestial beings in the Pure Land can readily awaken to the fact that in nature they are no different from a Buddha.
In this world, Shakyamuni Buddha does not manifest an ageless image and immortality in the Path of Humans. It is not that he cannot, but rather that sentient beings love their own physical forms so deeply and dread death so much that they are unable to comprehend the great Nirvana in death. Another reason is that these human disciples love their teacher so much that they just depend on Him, unwilling to practice on their own and failing to cherish the precious Buddhist teachings as they should. In the eyes of Buddha, the transformation of the vast sea into the farm land is completed in the blink of an eye. In order to awaken sentient beings to the transience of life and imminent death and to make sentient beings cherish Buddhism, Our Buddha manifests aging and death, which is a convenient way for promoting Dharma and ferrying over His disciples. However, now in the Pure Land, Amitabha Buddha, in order to fulfill all beings’ wish to have an eternal life and not to grow old or die, he primarily adorns himself with immeasurable brightness and longevity because the celestial beings have emanation bodies of clear light and their permanent existence relies on immeasurable light.
Amitabha Buddha truly dotes on all beings and satisfies all their desires, for first of all, He closes the door to the three evil paths, where sentient beings who have desires and bad habits may fall. Trying every means possible to satisfy the desires of sentient beings, He at the same time avoids various dangers and the possibilities of their falling. Secondly, He guarantees the Correct Samadhi with which all beings in the Pure Land can achieve the enlightenment. I often think that if Shakyamuni Buddha is compared to a strict father, then Amitabha Buddha is a wise and loving mother who dotes on all beings.
The Fourteenth Vow
The Fourteenth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if the number of voice-hearers in my land should be known by calculation, and be obtained through calculating for 100,000 kalpas by sentient beings in the Three-Thousand Large Thousandfold World that all have become Pratyekabuddhas, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
This vow indicates that the voice-hearers of Amitabha Buddha are innumerable. In this world, when Shakyamuni Buddha in His first turning of the wheel of the doctrine, He has only five disciples present on the scene. Bhiksu Dharmakara vows that when he preaches Dharma, there will be countless voice-hearers assembled at the Dharma-meeting. This vow is a vow to ferry all sentient beings over the sea of mortal life of reincarnations to the other shore of nirvana.
When we see Shakyamuni Buddha attain Buddhahood in this world and first turn the Dharma wheel, there are only a few disciples, and later on there are 1250 constant followers. In “Welling Forth From The Earth” section of “The Lotus Sutra”, we find that Shakyamuni Buddha has delivered innumerable disciples ever since he has attained Buddhahood. In order to protect and assist the spreading of “The Lotus Sutra”, limitless thousands of tens of thousands of millions of these disciples simultaneously welled forth from the Earth. All of these Bodhisattvas possessed golden-hued bodies, the thirty-two marks, and limitless light, who are exactly like the celestial beings in the West Pure Land that we will talk about later. In truth, whenever Shakyamuni Buddha preaches Mahayana classics, limitless sentient beings are present to attend the meeting. It is just that the human disciples cannot see without divine power. Even the Arhats abiding in the fruit of a foe-destroyer know little about the pure worlds of Buddhas, but it is within their capabilities to know that when Shakyamuni Buddha preaches the Dharma, not only human disciples, but also sentient beings in the Worlds of Ten Directions benefit from these Dharma teachings.
The Fifteenth Vow
The Fifteenth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if the lifespan of gods in my land should have a limit, except being shortened by their own wish, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
This vow means that although celestial beings in the West Pure Land have infinite lifespan, they are entitled to decide on their own whether to shorten their life or not. Although living in blissful peace and having an infinite lifespan is the desire of all beings, some beings do not want to have such a long lifespan on account of various reasons. For example, some Bodhisattvas may wish to be reborn in other worlds to help sentient beings, so the vow is made for the sake of this kind of Bodhisattvas, allowing them to decide their own lifespan. This vow is carefully worked out. Being very considerate and thoughtful, Amitabha Buddha sets an example for human parents who shall take their children’s wish into consideration and learn not to force what they think is good onto their children. Buddha loves all sentient beings, just like parents love their children.
Infinite brilliance and longevity are what each and every sentient being in all worlds hopes for. However, Amitabha Buddha still respects the wishes of each Bodhisattva. When He initiates His vows to form the Pure Land, he takes each being’s wish into consideration to let them decide whether to enjoy happiness in the Pure Land until they attain enlightenment or to sacrifice infinite happiness and lifespan to woeful worlds to help saving sentient beings. Each Bodhisattva in the Pure Land has the option of deciding his way of practicing Bodhisattva’s path on his own. Of course, sacrificing one’s lifespan in the Pure Land is not as painful as committing suicide in our world. When the idea comes up in mind, a bodhisattva naturally fulfills his wish; otherwise, the West Pure Land will not be called a world of blissful happiness. Of course, this vow is made by Amitabha Buddha for the sake of those Bodhisattvas who want to deliver sentient beings in the Worlds of Ten Directions.
The Sixteenth Vow
The Sixteenth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should even the name of sin exist, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
This vow lays bare that even the name of sin does not exist in the West Pure Land. The celestial beings in the West Pure Land have no evil thoughts and evil doings, and even have never heard about the name of sin. In our world of Saha, though it may be small, and not doing something wicked even though it may be tiny” in the course of practicing the Bodhisattva’s path. On the one hand, at the beginning of doing good deeds, Bodhisattvas sometimes feel it dangerous practicing the Path, for they have to face the ugly side of human nature and learn to discern the false from the genuine. On the other hand, they shall rely on the Buddhist teaching about “not grasping at all marks” and “all conditioned dharmas are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows” to protect and assist their practice.
Some people in our world are incapable of having gratitude and understanding; instead, they may be envious and deceptive and even use your kindness to commit all sorts of evils so seriously that endanger the life of a Bodhisattva. In this situation, if a Bodhisattva cannot cultivate all good dharmas with no attachment to the good or the evil, he can hardly feel the blessings and rewards from good deeds, but rather he will constantly feel being betrayed and taken advantage of and experience sometimes the ugly and evil sides of human nature that know no bounds. Many beginners lack Samadhi and are unable to maintain the right view of the nature of the Void. Once they are treated unfairly while doing good deeds, they become disheartened and sink into the depths of despair. World-weariness and disappointment with both others and themselves envelope them. It is not uncommon for them to stop pursuing the way of Bodhi.
In the West Pure Land, all living beings are good. Even the name of sin is not heard of, and no comparison between good and evil is made, for no goodness can be grasped as goodness. With contentment, happiness and peace, every celestial being is imbued with the qualities of great bodhisattvas, ready to help others at any time. And all of this is achieved because Amitabha Buddha has perfectly fulfilled His vows made on the causal ground.
In the human world, even if a kind-hearted person has not encountered any evil things or committed any wrongdoings, but due to their definition and cognition of evil phenomena and their strong inclination to reject the evil, they have been already hurt both physically and mentally by the world’s evil phenomena. Holding these definitions deeply in their hearts, even when enjoying their good karma, they feel scared and often remain vigilant against possible dangers in times of peace. As long as evil phenomena and the name of evil exist, it is impossible for people not to suffer. In the Internet era, we can see a large number of news and films about violence, murder, deception, etc. Nowadays, there is cyber violence, with which some people out of ulterior motives list false charges to slander someone, while many people ignorant of the truth are misled and join the torrent of verbal abuse online. A kind and upright person under such accusations may feel so desperate that they commit suicide. To some extent, it is not necessary for villains inflicting harm to the kind-hearted beings; only the notion of “evil” may cause them harm. In the West Pure Land, even the name of sin does not exist. All beings there dwell in happiness, ease and comfort, without knowing what “evil” is.
Someone once asked me about the difference between being merciful and compassionate and clinging to goodness. I said those who cling to goodness had the cognition of “evil” in their eyes and hearts, and would be hurt by the evil they saw and perceived, while those who were compassionate did not have the cognition of “evil”. That was the reason why great compassion had no enemies. In the Pure Land, there is no such thing as the name of sin existing, which represents the perfect realization of Amitabha’s great mercy and compassion.
The Seventeenth Vow
The Seventeenth Vow: After I become a Buddha, if innumerable Buddhas in worlds in the ten directions should not praise my name, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
This vow made by Bhiksu Dharmakara shows that all the Buddhas in the worlds in ten directions will praise and spread His name together. Bhiksu Dharmakara makes this vow that all the Buddhas in the worlds in ten directions will glorify and spread his name together not because he seeks the attention and extolment out of vanity. Just like when Shakyamuni Buddha was first born, he pointed to the sky and said, “In heaven and earth, I am the only one.” This is not an utterance of arrogance or self-conceit. All Buddhas can represent the perfect original nature of all beings, and the purpose for all their manifestations in this world is to deliver sentient beings, enabling them to recognize their Buddha-nature within and to enter the great Nirvana of “nothing has been created, nothing can be destroyed”.
Amitabha Buddha hopes that the Buddhas in the Worlds of Ten Directions can recite and spread His name in order to welcome all beings to get reborn in His Land, to share the fruits and achievements of a Buddha when He eventually attains fruition state, and quickly become Buddhas in peace and comfort. All beings in darkness without illumination have no ability to verify the authenticity of the West Pure Land. But if all Buddhas in the Worlds of Ten Directions preach His fame and proclaim His praise in unison and His Pure Land and utter it together, then it must be true. Since sentient beings trust that Buddhas never speak false words, and because of such a strong faith in the words of Buddhas, they do not need to examine in person whether the Land really exists or whether it is so good or not. This vow provides an everlasting advertising effect for sentient beings to know about and wish to be reborn in the West Pure Land. It is through the praise and proclamation of Shakyamuni Buddha that we know everything about the Pure Land and about the benefits of chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha, so that the hearers with earnest faith wish to be reborn in the Pure Land. The importance of this vow is evident.
The Eighteenth Vow
The Eighteenth Vow: After I become a Buddha, in worlds in the ten directions, there will be sentient beings that, with earnest faith and delight, sincerely aspire to be reborn in my land, even if by only thinking ten thoughts [of that wish]. If they should fail to be reborn there—excepting those who have committed any of the five deadly sins or maligned the true Dharma—I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
Bhiksu Dharmakara vows, if those beings who, after having heard about everything of the Pure Land, with earnest faith and delight, sincerely aspiring to be reborn in the Pure Land, even if only thinking ten thoughts of that wish, they will definitely fulfill the wish. This vow is aimed at those beings in the worlds in ten directions who wish to get reborn in the blissful West Pure Land. There are two points in this vow worthy of our attention respecting the methods of going to the West Pure Land. One is “earnest faith”, the other is “sincere aspiration”.
“Earnest faith” comes from understanding. Without deep understanding of everything about the blissful West Pure Land, how could one have admiration and delight at the thought of this world? Even if one chants the name of Amitabha Buddha, all that comes to mind is one’s own sufferings, annoyances and boredom. But if you have earnest faith and delight in the Pure Land, when you chant the name of Amitabha Buddha, you will feel happy and all smiles thinking about the extraordinary loftiness of the Land and the boundless radiance and infinite lifespan that all beings enjoy there. Just like in our world, if you admire someone or a beautiful landscape, whenever you chant his/her name or think of the place, the person’s image, lovely voice and happy countenance, words and deeds will swim immediately in your mind. If you admire a place deeply, the mere mention of the place will present itself visually in your mind—the picturesque scenery of green hills and clear waters, mild climate and the simple countrymen, etc. So, you will miss this place and want to travel or live there again.
Nowadays, many people keep reciting the name of Amitabha Buddha with a wish to be reborn in the West Pure Land. The key issue here is when they recite the name, what do they think in their minds? What are the inner images presented before their eyes? If there is just a blankness in mind while chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha, he/she is far from being in earnest faith and admiration.
As for “sincere aspiration”, it means a firm belief and delight in Amitabha Buddha and the blissful West Pure Land and a cherished firm and unwavering aspiration to get reborn in the West Pure Land. In fact, the basis for “sincere aspiration” is the deep understanding and admiration for the blissful West Pure Land. Just think, if you suffer from hardships of life and happen to hear that one can be free from sufferings and enjoy eternal happiness in the Pure Land, then you decide to recite the name Amitabha Buddha and want to be reborn in this world. But will you change your mind if someone says that the Tushita heaven is also a good place to live, since it is in our world of Saha, belonging to the path of devas in the realm of desire and it is very close to the human path. Besides, Maitreya Bodhisattva, the future Buddha, is preaching Dharma in the Tushita heaven. And you are told that you can make a resolution to get reborn in Tushita heaven to enjoy the fine happiness of celestial beings. If you are hesitating between going to the West Pure Land and going to the Tushita Heaven, your idea about going to the West Pure Land may become less certain. This kind of vacillation results from little understanding about the difference between pure worlds formed by perfect merits of Buddhas and karmic worlds formed by common habits and desires of sentient beings. Besides, we know too little about the truth that celestial beings in our world will still fall into reincarnation when their good karma is exhausted, and know too little about the Pure Land formed by a Buddha’s perfect merits and virtues.
Some people, due to their lack of understanding of the wisdom and merits of the Buddhas and the state of interdependence of the phenomenal and the noumenal of the Buddhas, may recite the name of Amitabha Buddha in their mouths, but in their hearts they are skeptical of or have an attitude of taking chance, thinking that reciting a Buddha’s name will not cause any loss anyhow. If it turns out that the West Pure Land truly exists, it would be wonderful to go there. These sentient beings have no sincere faith in and admiration of the Pure Land.
Some other people have heard about all the Buddhist scriptures of the West Pure Land proclaimed by Shakyamuni Buddha, such as “Buddha Pronounces the Sutra of Amitayus Buddha”, “Amitabha Sutra”, “Contemplation Sutra of Buddha Amitayus”, etc. They know about the lofty beauty of the Pure Land and have gained some understanding of the compassion and merits of Amitabha Buddha. They have an earnest wish to be reborn in the Pure Land, yet when they chant the name of Amitabha Buddha, the very important secret password for getting reborn in the Pure Land, they just do it verbally. Amitabha Buddha becomes word of mouth instead of word of heart. They chant the Buddha’s name, but in their minds they think about the trivial matters of daily life in this world. This is what we say “chanting the Buddha’s name with a distracted mind”. During the Antarabhava (the period between death and rebirth, a stage varying from seven to 49 days, when the karma-body will certainly be reborn), scenes of daily life will naturally be presented before them, while the name of Amitabha Buddha is totally forgotten, because there is no trace of Buddha’s name in their hearts since at ordinary times they often chant the name of Buddha with distractions.
In this vow, Bhiksu Dharmakara clearly points out that there are two kinds of people who are not welcomed by the Pure Land—those who have committed the five deadly sins and those who have maligned the true Dharma. The five deadly sins refer to patricide, matricide, murder of an arhat, injury of a Buddha, and the attempt to bring about a schism in the Buddhist monastic community. These five deadly sins are extremely wicked that go against human common sense and heavenly principles. In our world, the five deadly sins are also called the five hellish deeds, for they are the causes of falling into the inferno. Those who have committed the five heinous sins cannot be reborn in the West Pure Land. And those who have defamed true Dharma cannot be reborn in the West Pure Land either.
Those who are disappointed with life shall not commit suicide in order to be reborn in the West Pure Land. Ancients said, “no damage shall be caused to one’s body, hair and skin, for they are given by one’s parents”. One’s pessimism and suicide will give too much pain to one’s beloved, especially to his/her parents. Therefore, committing suicide is equivalent to indirect killing of one’s parents and loved ones, and the crime is quite serious, which will cause obstacles in getting reborn in the West Pure Land. Besides, since you decide to commit suicide in order to go to the Pure Land on account of having heard the Buddha’s teachings, your action will bring about some people’s slandering Buddhism. Having euthanasia due to torment of serious illness is not regarded as committing suicide. But there must also be a strong wish in one’s heart to go to the West Pure Land. During the Antarabhava, if one is able to utter the name of Amitabha Buddha, no matter inaudibly in one’s heart or in a loud voice, which represents one’s wish for rebirth in the Pure Land, he will receive the guidance of Amitabha Buddha.
The Nineteenth Vow
The Nineteenth Vow: After I become a Buddha, in worlds in the ten directions, there will be sentient beings that activate the bodhi mind, acquire merits, and earnestly wish to be reborn in my land. If I should not appear, surrounded by a holy multitude, before them at their death, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
This vow is aimed at Bodhisattvas who have activated the bodhi mind to attain Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi, that is, to become a Buddha, and also have acquired various merits and virtues. If this kind of sentient beings wish to be reborn in the blissful Pure Land, Amitabha Buddha will appear before them at their death, surrounded by a holy multitude of Bodhisattvas from the Pure Land, in great solemnity to give them guidance. It is completely in accord with Buddhas’ teachings in worlds in ten directions for their disciples to activate Bodhi mind and acquire various merits and virtues. These Buddhist disciples will be praised and protected by all Buddhas. Bhiksu Dharmakara likewise among his original vows makes the vow in particular for this kind of Bodhisattvas, wishing that when these Bodhisattvas are reborn in the Pure Land, he will respectfully surround them with the voice-hearers and the Bodhisattvas and welcome them to the Western Pure Land.
From here we can see that even though all sentient beings in the West Pure Land can become Bodhisattvas of Samyak-sambodhi (the 51st stage of a Bodhisattva’s practice) and there are countless great Bodhisattvas, a Bodhisattva who activates the bodhi mind accompanied with acquiring merits is so unique and precious in the heart of Amitabha Buddha. Such a Bodhisattva is cherished, respected and treated with kindness by Amitabha Buddha. Because these bodhisattvas are brave warriors in the whole armor (of the Dharma), in the worlds in ten directions, pursuing the Bodhisattvas’ path for self-benefit and the benefit of others. All Buddhas will never abandon sentient beings who are still in ignorance and will at all times and places protect the Bodhisattvas in worlds in ten directions, highly praising their Bodhi mind and merits.
I hope that all of us can activate the Bodhi mind in the hope of attaining full enlightenment for the benefit of all beings and acquire various merits, sincerely aspiring for getting reborn in the West Pure Land. In the future, when we get reborn, we can stand in front of Amitabha Buddha and the voice-hearers and Bodhisattvas with pride during the period of the Antarabhava, because we also have acquired some merits for altruistic purpose rather than just for the individual purpose of escaping sufferings and seeking enjoyment in the Pure Land. Moreover, having a Bodhi mind and practicing various good deeds to accumulate merits and virtues will powerfully guarantee a smooth rebirth into the Pure Land.
The Twentieth Vow
The Twentieth Vow: After I become a Buddha, in worlds in the ten directions, there will be sentient beings that hear my name, intently think of my land, plant their roots of virtue and, with a wish for rebirth in my land, transfer their merits to others. If they should fail to be reborn in my land, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
This vow is aimed at sentient beings who have heard of the name Amitabha Buddha and yet have no intention of becoming a Buddha, but yearn to go to the West Pure Land and, to this end, do good works to accumulate merits. They are bent wholeheartedly on going to the West Pure Land. The previous vow is aimed at the Bodhisattvas in the worlds in ten directions who have activated Bodhi mind. This vow is made for devout men and women in the worlds in ten directions. Although they have not made a resolve to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, they have heard the name of Amitabha Buddha and do only good in their own worlds, accumulating a wealth of merits, determined to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. This kind of sentient beings will definitely be able to get reborn. This vow makes it more extensive the range of sentient beings who will get reborn in the West Pure Land. Because some sentient beings may know little about Buddhism and have not thought about becoming Buddhas, and some others do not believe in Buddhism. For example, they believe in other religions, but have done good deeds and accumulated merits by helping many people. Such sentient beings, upon hearing the name of Amitabha Buddha in their last moments, wish to be reborn in the West Pure Land. Amitabha Buddha will fulfill their wishes equally. From this vow, we can see mercy and compassion and power of Bhiksu Dharmakara, as well as the tolerance and vision of Buddhist wisdom.
The Twenty-First Vow
The Twenty-First Vow: After I become a Buddha, if gods in my land should not be complete with a great man’s thirty-two physical marks, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.
This vow shows the physical features of celestial beings in the West Pure Land. In our world, the 32 physical marks are only visible on the body of a Buddha and Chakravartin, a ruler the wheels of whose chariot roll everywhere without obstruction, which are formed by innumerable merits and blessings. The 32 physical marks are what sentient beings desire to have. All celestial beings after their rebirth in the Pure Land are complete with these 32 signs of a great man on their physical bodies. This vow, along with the third vow made by Bhiksu Dharmakara, which states that all beings in the Pure Land should be of one color, that is, a golden color, are all related to the physical forms of beings in the Pure Land. If such beings should appear before us displaying all the physical marks promised in these two vows, I believe that even celestial beings would think that these sentient beings are not far from the perfect fruition state of Buddhas.
Every being in the Pure Land will attain such physical marks and experience everything second only to Buddhas’ great Nirvana state through their faculties of sight, hearing, and perception. If Amitabha Buddha reveals the supreme truth that there is no difference between sentient beings and Buddha, then all beings in the Pure Land will directly perceive through their vision and sense, admitting that they are exactly the same as Buddha, except for their merits. Just like a child in our world, who believes his/her color of skin and six roots are the same as those of adults, as long as he/she grows up, he/she will naturally have the power of adults. It is an easy and joyful thing in the Pure Land for celestial beings to become Buddhas, just like a child growing up into an adult or seeds bearing fruits. What’s more, all beings in the West Pure Land are fully confident about their final attainment of Buddhahood, just as in “The Lotus Sutra”, Shakyamuni Buddha predicts that every disciple will achieve Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
In our world, those who lead an ascetic life and are prepared for an austere cultivation lasting for many kalpas will hardly believe that with the blessings of the original vows and His merits of Amitabha Buddha, the attainment of Buddhahood could be such an easy thing. Those who get reborn in the Pure Land are truly the rich second generation in the circle of Buddhist practitioners in worlds in the ten directions.