Elements of genuine faith: 6)To accept that birth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha takes place after death

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Birth in the Pure Land through the Gate of the Primal Vow means the attainment of Buddhahood and acquiring the special transcendental qualities of the Enlightened Ones, which cannot be found in our present samsaric minds and bodies[1].

                     

Shakyamuni Buddha said:

“However hard you may practice in this life, it can only be for a short while. In the life to come you will be born in the land of Amitayus (Amida) and enjoy endless bliss there. Being forever in accord with the Way, you will no longer be subject to birth and death and be free of the afflictions caused by greed, anger and ignorance.”[2]

Honen Shonin said:

“When they lay aside their present lives, they will enter into the dwelling of the Buddhas, the Pure Land”.[3]

Shinran Shonin said:

"At the end of your life you will enter the family of the Buddhas, that is, the Pure Land".[4]

"At the moment our karmic bonds to this saha world run out and helplessly we die, we shall go to that land."[5]

“We read in the commentary of the Master of Kuang-ming Temple:

‘[…]We should sincerely devote ourselves to this teaching until the end of our life and, after abandoning our defiled bodies, realize the eternal bliss of Dharma-nature.’”[6]

„Those who have been born first [in the Pure Land] guide those who come later, and those who are born later join those who were born before. This is so that the boundless ocean of birth and death be exhausted”.[7]

“When ordinary beings reach the Western Land,

Their karmic evils, countless as particles, from long past

kalpas will perish.

Endowed with the six supernatural powers, they attain

unrestricted freedom in action;

Forever freed of old age and sickness, they are liberated from impermanence.”[8]

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[1] Please reffer to the chapter "A collection of passages on the true meaning of birth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha", from my book against wrong views - The True Teaching on Amida Buddha and His Pure Land, Dharma Lion Publications, Craiova, 2015, p.113

[2] Shakyamuni Buddha, The Larger Sutra, The Three Pure Land Sutras, translated by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, revised second edition, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, California, 2003, p. 53

[3] Honen’s Senchakushu – Passages on the Selection of the Nembutsu in the Original Vow (Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu), translated and edited by Senchakushu English Translation Project, Kuroda Institute, University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu and Sogo Bukkyo Kenkujo, Taisho University, Tokyo, p.121

[4] Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 132.

[5] Shinran Shonin, Tannisho, chapter 9, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p. 666.

[6] Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho, chapter IV, Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 175.

[7] Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho, chapter VI, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.291

[8] The hymns by Fa-chao, based on the Sutra in Praise of the Pure Land (Sukhavativyuha), quoted by Shinran in his Kyogyoshinsho, chapter II,   Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, Idem, p. 41-41.