COMMENTARY ON THE SUTRA ON THE VISUALISATION OF THE BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIFE (CONTEMPLATION SUTRA)

It is a few years since I completed my extensive commentary on the Larger Sutra, I have now completed my commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. Although it’s much shorter than the previous one, it took me a long time to finish it because I struggled to find the easiest way to explain it in the context of Shinran’s view of the Pure Land teaching.

I could, if I wanted to, insist on many details and offer a more scholarly approach to it. However, as my readers already know, I only care about the religious understanding that can be useful for guiding people to faith in Amida, and I write to clear any possible misunderstandings and obstacles that those sincerely interested in being born in the Pure Land might encounter when reading this sutra. As I am not a Buddha or a wise Master, my commentary is limited, but with all its limitations it contains everything that an ordinary person needs to know to put an end to the cycle of birth and death forever by aspiring to be born in the center (fulfilled land) of the Pure Land. 

 

For this book I used the English translation of the Contemplation Sutra from Chinese[1] by Rev Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart and published under the title The Three Pure Land Sutras by Numata Centre for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003.

Master Shinran’s view of the characters in the Contemplation Sutra

 

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

As we have seen in the last chapter, Master Rennyo considered that “Shakyamuni used the five grave offenses in which Vaidehi, Devadatta, and Ajatasatru were involved, as compassionate means to cause women and those who have committed the five grave offenses in the last Dharma age to aspire to birth in the Land of Serene Sustenance (the Pure Land of Amida); He assured us that even such people would unfailingly attain birth in the Land of Serene Sustenance if they took refuge in the inconceivable Primal Vow. This you should know.”[1]
 
Master Shinran already went even further than Rennyo in this matter and considered that all the events presented in the Contemplation Sutra were a play by enlightened actors to create the proper conditions for the teaching on Amida Buddha in its implicit and explicit aspect to appear in our world. In chapter I of his Kyogyoshinsho, he said,
 
“I reflect within myself: The universal Vow difficult to fathom is indeed a great vessel bearing us across the ocean difficult to cross. The unhindered Light is the sun of wisdom dispersing the darkness of our ignorance. Thus it is that, when conditions for the teaching of birth in the Pure Land had matured, Devadatta provoked Ajatasatru to commit grave crimes. And when the opportunity arose for explaining the pure act by which Birth (in the Pure Land) is settled, Shakyamuni led Vaidehi to select the land of peace. In their selfless love, these incarnated ones - Devadatta, Ajatasatru, Vaidehi - all aspired to save the multitudes of beings from pain and affliction, and in His compassion, Shakyamuni, the great hero, sought indeed to bless those committing the five grave offenses, those slandering the Dharma, and those lacking the seed of Buddhahood. We know, therefore, that the auspicious Name embodying the perfectly fulfilled supreme virtues is true wisdom that transforms our evil into virtue, and that the diamond-like shinjin so difficult to accept is true reality that sweeps away doubt and brings us to attainment of Enlightenment”.[2]
 
He also explained in the Hymns of the Pure Land (On the Contemplation Sutra),
 
“Amida and Sakyamuni, employing compassionate means,
And Ananda, Maudgalyayana, Purna, Vaidehi,
Devadatta, King Ajatasatru, Bimbisara,
Jivaka[3], Candraprabha[4], Varsakara, and others –
 
All of them great sages –
By various means, brought the most foolish and lowest
Of evil people to enter the Vow
That does not neglect people of grave offenses and transgressions.
Of evil people to enter the Vow
That does not neglect people of grave offenses and transgressions.
 
Since conditions for the Pure Land teaching had matured,
Shakyamuni and Vaidehi, manifesting compassionate means,
Led the minister Varsakara to bear witness
And King Ajatasatru to commit grave offenses.
 
Let us overturn the three minds of self-power, whether meditative or nonmeditative,
Which vary with each practicer;
Let us aspire to enter into shinjin (faith)
That arises from Amida’s benefiting of others.
Shinjin: the true and real shinjin of the Primal Vow.”[5]
 
This interpretation by Shinran may seem shocking for many, so I don’t think my readers will easily accept it, and there is absolutely NO problem if they don’t, especially because it’s not important for their birth in the Pure Land where they go only through a simple faith in Amida.
 
However, such things are very common in Mahayana and Vajrayana vehicles of Buddhism. For example, in the Lotus Sutra that was taught by Shakyamuni at the same time with the Contemplation Sutra, He discloses the deep truth that the whole story about Him leaving the royal palace of the Sakya clan followed by the attainment of perfect Enlightenment was just a play, because He actually became a Buddha many kalpas ago (check the footnote to read the respective passage[6])! So, to play various roles, appearing in disguise and pretending to be unenlightened is something that Buddhas and Enlightened Bodhisattvas do all the time in many samsaric universes for the sake of guiding sentient beings and for creating the best conditions for certain teachings to appear in the world. I explain this in detail in section two of my Commentary on the Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite  Life (Larger Sutra), so please also refer to that book.
Just to give you another example – the King Anala, who was a Bodhisattva in disguise, admitted in the Gandavyuha Sutra (final part of the Avatamsaka Sutra) that He sometimes manifests illusory evil people who experience the effect of their bad karma to help existing samsaric beings to avoid evil and aspire for Enlightenment,
 
“Noble one, I have attained the Bodhisattva liberation called the attainment of illusions. Noble one, most of the inhabitants of my kingdom kill, steal, practice sexual misconduct, lie, slander, abuse, indulge in idle talk, are avaricious, are malicious, hold false views, commit bad actions, and are fierce, aggressive, and cruel, and they maintain a behavior consisting of all kinds of bad actions. There is no other way to instruct them to turn away, to desist, from that sinful behavior.
 
Noble one, in order to guide, ripen, control, and benefit these beings, motivated by great compassion I manifest the illusory images of executioners, through which I execute the illusory images of the condemned. I make the illusions of those who punish and execute in various ways the illusions of those who have followed a path of bad actions. I also emanate those who experience the unendurable sufferings of having their feet, hands, noses, ears, limbs, smaller parts, and heads cut off. When the beings who live in my realm see that, they become distressed, afraid, and terrified. After that, they are careful to avoid committing bad actions.
Noble one, when in that way I have used that method and see that these beings are distressed, terrified, and alarmed, I then turn them away from the path of the ten bad actions, cause them to possess the path of the ten good actions, and establish them in the path to omniscience, which is the ultimate attainment of joy and happiness and the cessation of all suffering.”[7]
 
However, in manifesting under the appearance of evil beings Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not actually harm anybody, as it is also the case with the Contemplation Sutra where all those involved, including the characters who apparently hurt each other, were Enlightened beings in disguise, and thus, beyond illusion and suffering. Bodhisattva King Anala explained,
 
“Noble one, I do not cause harm to any being with my body, speech, or mind. “Noble one, I would wander in the most extreme suffering of the Avici hell, but I would not even once have arisen in my mind the wish to cause harm to even the smallest being, a minute insect seen on the tip of a blade of grass, existing in the realm of stupidity, which is rebirth as an animal, let alone to a human being in my realm, who has the ability to develop the path of good actions.
Noble one, I do not generate the qualities of a bad action in my dreams, let alone deliberately.”[8]
 
So, the opinion of Shinran that all the characters in the Contemplation Sutra, including Devadata, Ajatasatru, Bimbisara and Vaidehi, were enlightened beings in disguise setting up a play to create the proper conditions for the teaching on Amida Buddha to be promoted in the world did not appear out of thin air but was rooted in the Mahayana teaching.
 
No matter if you, the reader of these lines, are able or not to have such a vision of the characters in the Contemplation Sutra, you should accept its explicit and implicit meaning as explained in our lineage and in this book.

 

(source of the image in the upper left https://erichuntington.org/?da_image=taima-mandala-denver) 

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[1] Rennyo Shonin Ofumi IV-3, BDK English Tripitaka 105-II, 106-I, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 1996, Berkeley USA, p.104-105
[2] The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.3
[3] Jivaka was a nephew of king Bimbisara who served as a royal minister. Also, a famous and skilled physician who once cured the Buddha of a serious illness. The Three Pure Land Sutras - A Study and Translation from Chinese by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata Centre for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p.129
[4] Candraprabha (“Moonlight”): the name of one of King Bimbisara’s ministers. The Three Pure Land Sutras - A Study and Translation from Chinese by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata Centre for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p.123
[5] The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.346
[6] “The devas, humans, and asuras in all the worlds all think that the present Buddha, Śhakyamuni, left the palace of the Sakyas, sat on the terrace of Enlightenment not far from the city of Gaya, and attained highest, complete Enlightenment. However, O sons of a virtuous family, immeasurable, limitless, hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of nayutas of kalpas have passed since I actually attained Buddhahood. […]Since then I have constantly been residing in the Saha world, teaching the Dharma and inspiring sentient beings. I have also been leading and benefiting sentient beings in incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of nayutas of other worlds”
The Lotus Sutra, chapter 16  (Taishō Volume 9, Number 262), translated from the Chinese of Kumarajiva by Tsugunari Kubo and Akira Yuyama, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research,  2007, p223-224 
[7] Gaṇḍa­vyūha (The Stem Array), Translated by Peter Alan Roberts under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, https://84000.co/translation/toh44-45#UT22084-037-007-4236
[8] Gaṇḍa­vyūha (The Stem Array), Translated by Peter Alan Roberts under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, https://84000.co/translation/toh44-45#UT22084-037-007-4236

The Contemplation Sutra was taught in the same time with the Lotus Sutra (in reference to sections 1 and section 33)

 

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

“Then the World-honored One returned to Vulture Peak through the air. There Ananda fully explained to the assembly what had happened. Innumerable humans, devas, nagas, yakṣas, and all other beings greatly rejoiced to hear the Buddha’s teaching. Having worshiped the World-honored One, they departed.”[1]
 
The last section reminds us of the beginning of the Contemplation Sutra where we are told that Shakyamuni was already teaching another sutra on Vulture Peak when Vaidehi asked for His help:
 
“Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying on Vulture Peak in Rajagṛha with a great assembly of twelve hundred and fifty monks. He was also accompanied by thirty-two thousand Bodhisattvas led by Manjusri, the Dharma Prince.”[2]
 
After these first lines, we are told about the events related with Ajatasatru, king Bimbisara and Queen Vaidehi who, while she was confined in the palace by her son, turned her attention to the direction of Vulture Peak:

The transmission of the teaching of the Contemplation Sutra (section 32)

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. This is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

“Then Ananda rose from his seat, stepped forward, and said to the Buddha, ‘World-honoured One, what should we call this sutra and how should we receive and retain the essentials of its teaching?’

The Buddha answered, ‘Ananda, this sutra is called the ‘Visualization of the Land of Utmost Bliss of Buddha Amitayus and of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta.’ It is also called the ‘Purification and Elimination of Karmic Hindrances for Attaining Birth in the Presence of All Buddhas.’ Hold fast to this sutra and do not forget it. Those who practice this samadhi will be able to see, during their lifetime, Buddha Amitayus and the two Mahasattvas. If good men or women simply hear the Name of this Buddha or the names of those two Bodhisattvas, the evil karma that would bind them to birth and death for innumerable kalpas will be extinguished.

And so, how much more merit will they acquire if they concentrate on them! You should know that all who are mindful of that Buddha are like white lotus flowers among humankind; Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta become their good friends. They will sit in the seat of Enlightenment and be born into the family of the Buddhas.’ 

The Buddha further said to Ananda, ‘Bear these words well in mind. To bear these words in mind means to hold fast to the Name of Buddha Amitayus (Amida).”

When the Buddha had spoken thus, Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana, Venerable Ananda, Vaidehi, and all the others greatly rejoiced to hear the Buddha’s discourse.”[1] 

Benefits gained by the audience of the Contemplation Sutra (section 31)

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

“As the Buddha delivered these words, Vaidehi and her five hundred female attendants listened to His teaching. Having envisioned the boundless features of the Land of Utmost Bliss, of Buddha Amitayus (Amida), and of the two Bodhisattvas, Vaidehi rejoiced in her heart. Wonder-struck at this revelation, she attained great awakening with clarity of mind and insight into the non-arising of all dharmas (phenomena). Her five hundred female attendants awakened aspiration for highest, perfect Enlightenment and desired to be born in that land.
The World-honored One gave them all assurances that they would be born there and that they would then gain the samadhi of being in the presence of all the Buddhas. Innumerable devas (gods) also awakened aspiration for highest Enlightenment”.[1]
 
As I mentioned previously, Vaidehi entrusted herself to Amida and was helped by His and Shakyamuni’s Power to attain various spiritual realisations. This time it’s mentioned that “she attained great awakening with clarity of mind and insight into the non-arising of all dharmas (phenomena)”. Also, her five hundred female attendants received faith(shinjin) which is itself the Bodhi Mind - aspiration to attain Enlightenment for oneself and all beings. Thus, they entered the stage of definite assurance, also called the stage of non-retrogression for birth in the centre of the Pure Land – this is the meaning of “the World-honored One gave them all assurances that they would be born there and that they would then gain the samadhi of being in the presence of all the Buddhas”. In this case, to be in the presence of all Buddhas means to become one of the Buddhas. Innumerable devas who listened to this sutra were either able to entrust to Amida and entered the same stage of non-retrogression for birth in the centre of the Pure Land or they started to create the karmic connections for birth into one of the various levels and grades of the border land.

to be continued 

(source of the image in the upper left https://erichuntington.org/?da_image=taima-mandala-denver) 

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[1] The Three Pure Land Sutras - A Study and Translation from Chinese by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p.99

On the nine grades of birth in the border land of the Pure Land (sections 22 – 30)

            

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

(last revised October 5th, 2025)

 As I previously explained based on Shinran Shonin’s reading of the Contemplation Sutra, those who reach the Pure Land through the 19^th Vow of Amida Buddha[1], that is, through the practices mentioned in this sutra, are born in the borderland of the Pure Land. This is because they still cling to their self-power and the idea of personal merits and personal transference of merits, while the followers of the Primal Vow (18^th Vow ) are born in the center of the Pure Land (Fulfilled Pure Land) due to their complete faith in the Power of Amida Buddha which makes them understand that all the merits necessary for birth in the Pure Land belong only to Amida.