Commentary on the Sutra on Amitayus Buddha (Smaller Amida Sutra) - free edition and printed edition for sale

For this commentary on the Smaller Amida Sutra I used the English translation made 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. 

It is a section-by-section explanation in which I tried my best to convey in simple language the message of the sutra in both its explicit and implicit meanings. As the sutras in general have many layers of interpretation and were explained in various ways according to different lineages and schools, I relied in my commentary on Master Shinran’s interpretation[2] and read it through the eyes of faith in the Primal Vow of Amida. Honestly speaking, without Master Shinran Shonin I could never understand the deep meaning of the Three Pure Land sutras and could not transmit it to others, so my gratitude to him is impossible to express in words.
 
Whatever I say that is true and useful to others awakening to faith arises in my mind due to Amida’s influence and the benevolence of my Master Shinran, and whatever I say wrong is due to my limited spiritual capacities. Thus, I ask the reader to always pray to Amida for guidance whenever he or she engages in the study of this sutra and the three Pure Land sutras in general.

The method for birth in the Pure Land – commentary on section 5 (part2) of the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amidakyo)

This is a fragment from my 

Commentary on the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amidakyo) 

- work in progress and under constant revision - 

 “Śāriputra, those sentient beings who hear of that land should aspire to be born there. Why? Because they will be able to meet such sages of supreme virtue. Śāriputra, one cannot attain birth in that land with few roots of good or a small store of merit. 

Śāriputra, if a good man or woman who hears of Amitāyus holds fast to His Name even for one day, two days, three, four, five, six, or seven days with a concentrated and undistracted mind, then, at the hour of death, Amitāyus will appear with a host of holy ones. Consequently, when their life comes to an end, the aspirants’ minds will not fall into confusion and so they will be born immediately in the Land of Utmost Bliss of Amitāyus. Śāriputra, perceiving these benefits, I say: ‘All sentient beings who hear this teaching should aspire to birth in that land.’”[1] 

We must notice these words “sages of supreme virtue (merit)” and “one cannot attain birth in that land with few roots of good or a small store of merit (virtue)”.

Outline of the Smaller Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life

This is a fragment from my 

   Commentary on the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amidakyo) 

 - work in progress and under constant revision - 

The sutra begins with Shakyamuni Buddha in the Jeta Grove monastery situated in Anathapindada’s garden in the city of Sravasti with an assembly of twelve hundred and fifty arhat monks and some Enlightened Bodhisattvas, including Manjushri.
The Buddha starts delivering this sutra spontaneous to Sariputra and all those present, without being asked a question, thus showing how important the teaching about Amida is.
(section 1 and section 2)
 
*

The Path of the 20th Vow and the explicit and implicit meaning of the Smaller Amida Sutra according to Master Shinran

Clay statue of Amida (Amitayus) made by me
and offered to visitors at the temple

This is a fragment from my 

   Commentary on the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amidakyo) 

 - work in progress and under constant revision - 

 According to Shinran Shonin, the Smaller Amida   Sutra  is explicitly guiding people to the 20^th Vow[1]   because the saying of Amida’s Name is selected   among all practices and is apparently (explicitly) used   as a method to gather merits for birth in the Pure   Land,  while implicitly the sutra indicates that the   merits for birth there actually belong to Amida. Many   people who wish to be born in the Pure Land chose   among all practices the exclusive saying of Nembutsu   but still cling to their self-power and think that the   Name is effective because of them - like the more they say it, or the more focused they are when they say it the better it is for Birth, etc, when in truth the saying of the Name works due to the infinite merits and Power Amida manifested in it.
Thus, while the Nembutsu is encouraged and some tend to see it as their own practice and merit (the explicit/apparent meaning), the saying of the Name is nothing else but the expression of faith in the salvific Power of Amida Buddha (implicit/true meaning).  
In this book I give some examples of the explicit and implicit meanings within the Smaller Amida Sutra when I comment on section 5 part 2 – the method for birth in the Pure Land and on section 14. Please read them carefully.
 
Shinran Shonin said:

All Buddhas praise the Name of Amida and encourage beings to accept in faith the teaching about Him – commentary on sections 6-12 of the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amidakyo)

This is a fragment from my 

Commentary on the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amidakyo) 

- work in progress and under constant revision - 

In sections 6-11, Shakyamuni invokes the witness of all Buddhas in the eastern direction, southern, western, northern, nadir and zenith who all praise “the inconceivable virtues of Amitayus (Amida)” that He himself praises:
 
“Śāriputra, just as I praise the inconceivable virtue of Amitāyus, so do the Buddhas in the eastern direction […]southern direction […] western direction […] northern direction […] in the nadir […] in the zenith as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River […] While dwelling in their own lands, they extend their long, broad tongues and, encompassing with them the universe of a thousand million worlds, pronounce these words of truth: Sentient beings should accept this sutra entitled ‘Praise of the Inconceivable Virtue and Protection by All Buddhas.’”[1]
 
The inconceivable virtues belong to the Name of Amida Buddha (Amitayus/Amitabha) and the above passages are in harmony with His 17^th Vow in which He promised that all Buddhas will praise His Name:

The identity of Amida Buddha and those born in His Pure Land – commentary on section 4 of the Smaller Amida Sutra

 

This is a fragment from my 

Commentary on the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amidakyo) 

- work in progress and under constant revision - 

       Shakyamuni Buddha said: 

“For what reason, Śāriputra, do you think that Buddha is called Amitābha? Śāriputra, the Buddha’s light shines boundlessly and without hindrance over all the worlds of the ten directions. It is for this reason that He is called Amitābha. Again, Śāriputra, the lives of the Buddha and the people of His land last for innumerable, unlimited, and incalculable kalpas. It is for this reason that the Buddha is called Amitāyus.

 Śāriputra, ten kalpas have passed since Amitāyus attained Enlightenment. Moreover, Śāriputra, He has an immeasurable and unlimited number of śrāvaka disciples, all of them arhats, whose number cannot be reckoned by any means. His assembly of Bodhisattvas

is similarly vast. Śāriputra, that Buddha land is filled with such splendid adornments.”[1]

As Shakyamuni confirms, Amida (Amitabha/Amitayus) is now a Buddha because “ten kalpas have passed” since He attained Enlightenment (Buddhahood). This is why in the Larger Sutra or the Smaller Sutra and Contemplation Sutra, He no longer calls Him Bodhisattva Dharmakara which was His name when He was in the causal stage, but “Amitayus”, which means Infinite Life, or “Amitabha” - “Infinite Light”. These two aspects, “Infinite Life” (Amitayus) and “Infinite Light” (Amitabha) are merged in Japanese Buddhism into the word “Amida”[2], which means the Buddha of Infinite Life and Infinite Light. His Infinite Life is the effect of the 13^th Vow He made when He was Dharmakara Bodhisattva, while the Infinite Light is the effect of His 12^th Vow[3]. So, we cannot separate Amitayus (Infinite/unlimited Life) from Amitabha (Infinite/Boundless Light) because these are the two aspects of the same Buddha as Shakyamuni explained in section 4 of this sutra.