Wednesday, February 20, 2019

The meaning of praising or glorifying Amida’s Light – commentary on the third part of section 11 of the Larger Sutra


Shakyamuni Buddha said:

“The light of Amitayus (Amida) shines brilliantly, illuminating all the Buddha lands of the ten directions. There is no place where it is not perceived. I am not the only one who now praises His light. All the Buddhas, Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas praise and glorify it in the same way. If sentient beings, having heard of the majestic virtue of His light, glorify it continually, day and night, with sincerity of heart, they will be able to attain Birth in His land as they wish. Then the multitudes of Bodhisattvas and Sravakas will praise their excellent virtue. Later, when they attain Buddhahood, all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the ten directions will praise their light, just as I now praise the light of Amitayus.’

The Buddha continued, ‘The majestic glory of the light of Amitayus (Amida) could not be exhaustively described even if I praised it continually, day and night, for a period of one kalpa.’”[1]

This fragment is clearly related with the 17th Vow of Amida where He promised that His Name will be praised and glorified by all Buddhas in the ten directions. I already explained this Vow in the section on the 48 Vows.

To praise Amida’s Name is to praise Him and His method of salvation. Amida’s Light is His Name because He is called the Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life. Thus, Amida’s Light and Name are one, and so to praise His Name is to praise His Light. The majestic glory of this Name and Light is impossible to described even by Shakyamuni himself.

Because the goal of all Buddhas is to save (bring to Buddhahood) all beings, they realize that the only one among them who has the best method to fulfil this goal is Amida, and so they all bear witness to Him, praise His Name and encourage us to say it in faith.

“Illuminating all the Buddha lands of the ten directions” means that all beings, no matter their spiritual capacities (even the lowest of the low), the karmic situation they are in, or the samsaric plane of existence they were born into, can be saved if they entrust to Amida. The Light of this Buddha is so infinitely powerful that no physical or karmic obstacle can resist it.

“There is no place where it is not perceived” means that there is no plane of existence where beings cannot entrust to Amida and be saved if they become open to Him. Unlike other Buddhas, Amida’s method makes absolutely NO distinction between the good and evil. The only thing we should do is hear about this easy method of salvation from a good teacher (“having heard of the majestic virtue of His light”), entrust to Amida, say His Name in faith (“glorify it continually, day and night, with sincerity of heart”) and wish to be born in His Pure Land (“as they wish”) and the result will be that we will actually be born there after death (“will be able to attain Birth as they wish”).

“To glorify it continually, day and night” means that we should say the Nembutsu all our life, in any circumstance, without regard to place, time (“day and night”) or state of mind.

“With sincerity of heart” means that the basis of our saying of the Name should be the entrusting heart (shinjin) or faith.

Saying the Nembutsu of faith (the Nembutsu of the Primal Vow) is to praise Amida’s Light because Namo Amida Butsu means “I entrust/I pay homage to Amida Buddha”, who is the Buddha of Infinite Light ( Amitabha) and Infinite Life (Amitayus). As I already explained the word “Amida” is the combination of Amitabha and Amitayus.
Besides using the six character Name (Namo Amida Butsu), Shinran also used two other versions of the Nembutsu:  with nine characters - 'Na-mo-fu-ka-shi-gi-ko-nyo-rai' (Homage to the Tathagata of Inconceivable Light) and with ten characters - 'Ki-myo-jin-ji-po-mu-ge-ko-nyo-rai' (Homage to the Tathagata of Unhindered Light Pervading the Ten Quarters). So, it is clear that saying Amida’s Name is actually praising or glorifying His Light.

Because we entrust and say Amida’s Name in faith  we will be praised by all the Enlightened Ones   - “then the multitudes of Bodhisattvas and Sravakas will praise their excellent virtue” .
The Bodhisattvas mentioned here are in fact, Buddhas who manifest as Bodhisattvas. I already explained this category of Bodhisattvas in the second chapter – “The qualities of Bodhisattvas in the audience”, so please check that again if you need it.

We don’t have special virtues accumulated through personal power, but by entrusting ourselves to Amida we receive His karmic merits which makes us capable to be born in His Pure Land. These merits or virtues will always belong to Amida, but they work within us and push us irreversibly towards His Pure Land. We are praised by all the Enlightened Ones because they see that we follow their encouragement: “we the Buddhas of the ten directions praise Amida’s Name, and you should too say it in faith and aspire to be born in His Pure Land”. So, after seeing us doing what they told us to do, they praise us and are happy with our dedication.
If one has a great Master and faithfully follows His instructions, then the Master’s glory and virtue will reflect on the disciple even if the disciple is not the same with the Master. It is the case with us who follow exclusively the requirements of Amida’s Primal Vow and say His Name in faith.  We are not Buddhas yet, but all Buddhas praise our dedication towards Amida.
Shinran explained:

“Amida’s Seventeenth Vow declares that He will not enter into perfect Enlightenment if those who say the Name are not praised by all the countless Buddhas throughout the worlds in the ten quarters. The passage declaring the fulfilment of the [Seventeenth] Vow states: ‚such people are praised by all the Buddhas.’’’[2]

Clearly, “such people are praised by all the Buddhas” is Shinran’s reading of “ the multitudes of Bodhisattvas and Sravakas will praise their excellent virtue” which shows that the term Bodhisattva here actually means Enlightened Bodhisattvas or Buddhas who manifest as Bodhisattvas.

He also explained:

“Those who realize shinjin (faith), which is Other Power,
'Revere the Dharma and greatly rejoice in it,
And therefore are my true companions'.
Such is the praise of the World Honored One,
the Master of the teaching".[3]

"Sakyamuni rejoices in persons of shinjin, saying, 'They are my true companions'”.[4]

This makes reference to another of Shakyamuni’s statements in the Larger Sutra about those who entrust to His teaching (Dharma) on Amida:

“If you have heard the Dharma (Amida Dharma) and do not forget it
But adore and revere it with great joy,
You are my good friend.”[5]

This is another proof that the way Shinran understood this as the praising of all Buddhas is accurate. What one Buddha (Shakyamuni) praises, all Buddhas praise.
Shinran also said:

„Persons of shinjin are the true disciples of the Buddha[6]; they are the ones who abide in right-mindedness. Since they have been grasped never to be abandoned, they are said to have attained the diamondlike mind. They are called 'the best among the best', 'excellent persons', 'wondrous, excellent persons', 'the very finest persons', 'rare persons'."[7]

"Practitioners of the Nembutsu are 'excellent people' among human beings, 'wonderful, excellent people' among human beings, 'the very best people' among human beings,'rare people' among human beings, and 'the most excellent people' among human beings."[8]

„If ordinary people, whether good or evil,
Hear the Dharma and trust Amida’s Universal Vow,
Shakyamuni praises them as ‘humans of great and superior understanding’;
Such people are called “white lotus flowers.”[9]

Such praising by the Buddhas happen during the present life of those who entrust to Amida, when they are still unenlightened. After they are born in the Pure Land where they attain Buddhahood, their Light as Buddhas will also be praised in the same way Shakyamuni and all Buddhas praise the Light of Amida:

“Later, when they attain Buddhahood, all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the ten directions will praise their light, just as I now praise the light of Amitayus.”

If now the Light of Amida is praised as supreme in the universe, capable of reaching everywhere and saving everybody without being obstructed by anything, and if our Light as future Buddhas in the Pure Land will be praised exactly like that of Amida, then it means we will attain the same perfect Enlightenment and the same perfect means of saving others as Amida Buddha himself! This is wonderful and impossible to understand with our present limited minds!


 to be continued 




[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.25-26 and The Three Pure Land Sutras, volume II, The Sutra on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, Japan, 2009, p.35
[2] Shinran Shonin, Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 4, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.529
[3] Shinran Shonin, Hymns of the Dharma Ages, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.412
[4] Shinran Shonin, Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 2, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.526
[5] 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.41
[6] Read the chapter “The true disciple of Amida and all Buddhas” from my book The Meaning of Faith and Nembutsu in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, p 221 Free online edition, http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2018/07/new-book-meaning-of-faith-and-nembutsu.html#more   
[7] Shinran Shonin, Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 2, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.526
[8] Shinran Shonin quoted Master Shantao in his Kyogyoshinsho, chapter III,  Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 131-132
[9] Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 77

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