After the episode with the visit of Bodhisattvas and prediction for their attainment of Buddhahood, Shakyamuni continues with explaining the
conditions of meeting with the teaching of the Larger Sutra and how precious and inconceivable this Dharma is.
“Without a store of good from
former lives,
One cannot hear this sutra;
But those who have strictly
observed the precepts
Can hear the Right Dharma.
One who
has met a World-honoured One in the past
Can
accept this teaching.
Such a person respectfully
worships, hears,
And upholds it, and rejoices so
greatly as to dance.
Arrogant, corrupt, and indolent
people
Cannot readily accept this
teaching.
But those who have met Buddhas in their former lives
Rejoice
to hear it”[1]
There are two karmic causes explained here:
1 1) observance of precepts in a
former life leads to birth in human form or a realm where one can meet and hear
the Larger Sutra and especially the message
of the Primal Vow which is the essence of this sutra. The Larger Sutra is called “the
right Dharma” because, as I explained at chapter three, it is the true reason
for Shakyamuni’s appearance in this world.
2 2) those who have met a Buddha or
many Buddhas in the past and had devotion and respect towards them, are open enough
to accept in faith the teaching of
the Larger Sutra and especially the
Primal Vow of Amida – this is the meaning of “one who has met a World-honoured One
in the past can accept this teaching” and “those who have met Buddhas in their former lives rejoice to hear it”.
To accept means to have faith. Such
people accept all that Shakyamuni explained in the Larger Sutra, but also worship
and entrust according to the requirements of Amida in His Primal Vow. They are
disciples without any doubt, who are happy to hear about Amida’s wonderful and
indiscriminative method of salvation – “such
a person respectfully worships, hears,and upholds it, and rejoices so greatly
as to dance”.
The good things we did in the past lives,
like observing the precepts and being respectful to a Buddha led us to life in
human form and to meeting, hearing and accepting the Larger Sutra. Even if now we are not able to observe precepts, we
could do that in a former life and as we know from the Buddhist teaching on
karma, observing precepts in a previous life has the karmic effect of being
born a human or higher form of existence. This does not mean we always observed
precepts in all our previous lives, but we had perhaps one life of great
efforts in doing that. However, it is important to notice that even if we made
great efforts in observing the precepts, and even met a Buddha in one of our
previous lives whom we worshiped and respected, we still did not attain perfect
Enlightenment because we did not abandon the reliance on the illusion of self-power.
As Shinran said,
“Under
the guidance of Buddhas who appeared in this world,
Three times the sands of the Ganges in number,
We awakened the aspiration for supreme Enlightenment,
But our self-power failed, and we continued to transmigrate.”[2]
Three times the sands of the Ganges in number,
We awakened the aspiration for supreme Enlightenment,
But our self-power failed, and we continued to transmigrate.”[2]
Thus, we should not waste our time anymore
in this life with self-power practices, but entrust completely to Amida Buddha
about whose Primal Vow we learn in the Larger
Sutra.
Those who are arrogant,
corrupt, and indolent people, cannot readily accept this teaching”. These are people who
are proud of their so-called “spiritual achievements”, who believe that they
can attain Buddhahood in their present bodies, but also people who although
they are in human form and met with the teaching of the Larger Sutra they deny the existence of Amida and His Pure Land, or
they refuse to entrust to Him completely. So, it is not enough to have observed
precepts in a previous life, enjoy the karmic effect of being born a human
being, and meeting the Larger Sutra.
Many are now in human form and have met the Larger
Sutra, but few actually accept the actual existence of Amida and His Pure Land who are the main elements of the
sutra. Many also do not rely exclusively on Amida’s power and are not in accord
with His Primal Vow which is the essence of the Larger Sutra. These are
people who although they did some good in a previous life, and were even
capable of good moral behavior, they were not devotional and respectful enough
towards Buddhas, and so they did not receive their blessing and guidance. When Shakyamuni mentioned the meeting of a
Buddha or Buddhas, He surely did not refer to an occasional meeting but to
worshipping, entrusting, and venerating those Buddhas. It is said in the
sacred texts that one who venerates a Buddha, even if he does not live during a time when a Buddha is actually present in human form in his realm, for the true
worshipper, it is like the Buddha is in the world. So, we can interpret the
reference to meeting with a Buddha or Buddhas in two ways, 1) meeting and being
in the presence of an actual great Buddha/Buddhas of the past whom the practitioner
respected and worshipped, and/or 2) worshipping and having respect towards
Buddhas in a previous life/lives, thus being in their presence even if he did
not actually lived in the time of a great Buddha’s appearance in human form[3].
There
is no doubt that one who met Buddhas in a previous life and who worshipped and venerated
them will have the karmic tendency to continue with the same attitude in the present
life. More than this, because all Buddhas praise Amida’s method of salvation, they are all guiding beings who are under their care and who worship them, towards faith in Amida. So, it is easier for one who has veneration and a
respectful attitude towards various Buddhas to come to a point where he accepts
in faith the teaching of the Larger Sutra
and entrusts to Amida Buddha according to His Primal Vow.
Shakyamuni urged us to take His teaching on Amida Buddha very
seriously and emphasized the difficulty of birth in human form and of being
able to meet with it and hear it:
“To obtain human life is
difficult in the extreme;
To meet a Buddha in this world is
also difficult;
It is difficult, too, for a
person to attain faith and wisdom.
No
matter the circumstance we live in, no matter how hard our lives are, and no
matter what suffering we encounter[6],
we must not lose our life in vain, but hear Amida Dharma and entrust to it:
“Even if the whole world is on
fire,
Be sure to pass through it to
hear the Dharma;
Then you will surely enter the
Buddha’s Enlightenment
And everywhere deliver beings
from the river of birth and death.”[7]
All
those who have faith in Amida Dharma, accept the Larger Sutra and are in accord with the Primal Vow of Amida which
is the essence of this sutra, are Shakyamuni’s personal friends, no matter how
high or low are they on a scale of spiritual evolution:
“If you have heard the Dharma (Amida
Dharma/the Larger Sutra) and do not forget it
But adore and revere it with
great joy,
You are my good friend. For this
reason,
Attention
here, as Shakyamuni wanted us to be very careful on this matter – to hear and
entrust to His teaching on Amida Buddha in the Larger Sutra does NOT have anything to do with some kind of supernal
wisdom or special qualities on the part of the follower. It does not mean to know, as a Buddha knows, all the “technical”
details of the Pure Land and how Amida’s method of salvation presented in the Larger Sutra works. This is why Shakyamuni spoke the
following verses:
“Neither sravakas nor bodhisattvas are
able to know
The Sage’s mind exhaustively;
They are like those who are born
blind
And yet wish to guide others.”[10]
Here
the term “sravakas” is used for a person in the
spiritual state of aspiring for personal freedom from birth and death, and
“bodhisattva” for a bodhisattva in training, who has not yet attained perfect
Enlightenment (not a Buddha yet). If such people try to understand the
impossible to understand details of the Pure Land and how Amida’s method of salvation
works, and think they can teach others their limited
understanding, they are like ignorant peasants who, after traveling by plane
for the first time, they play smart about flying technology and pretend to
know everything about plane engines.
“The ocean of the Tathāgata’s
wisdom
Is deep, vast, and boundless.
Even sages of the Hinayana cannot
fathom it;
Only the
Buddha clearly knows it.”[11]
Only
a Buddha can understand Amida Buddha, His Pure Land, as well as all the
supernal details related to them:
“Let us suppose that all human
beings,
Without exception, have attained
Enlightenment
And, with pure wisdom, realized
original emptiness.
Even if they pondered the
Buddha’s wisdom for myriads of kalpas.
And expounded it with the utmost
effort all through their lives,
They would not come to exhaustive
knowledge of it.
The
Buddha’s wisdom is thus limitless
And pure
to its depths.”[12]
As
I already explained in this book, the topic of the inconceivability of Amida Buddha's salvation is often mentioned in the sacred
texts. Simply stated, unenlightened
minds cannot understand the Enlightened Minds and work of Buddhas, just like an
ignorant peasant who never got out of his village and who does not know how to
read or write, cannot understand planes or the flying technology. Just like
ignorant peasants who trust the pilot even if they don’t understand how the
planes fly, we should, after hearing Shakyamuni’s teaching about Amida, have
faith in Him and trust that He will save us, even if we do not know, like a
Buddha knows, the exact way in which He will do that.
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.40
[2] Shinran Shonin, Hymns of the Dharma Ages (Shozomatsu Wasan), The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin
Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.403
[3] It can also be the case that a
person was born in the Pure Land of another Buddha and there, under the
guidance of the Buddha of that realm, he heard about Amida and entrusted to
Him, thus going from that realm to Amida’s Pure Land.
[4] Here is a passage quoted by Shinran in the
same line with the passage from the Larger
Sutra, and which you might find useful:
"Foolish
beings of the lowest level, fettered by their karmic acts and blind passions,
are transmigrating in the five evil courses for a hundred thousand myriads of
kalpas. But suddenly hearing of the Pure Land, they awaken aspiration and seek
to be born there. [...] All the Buddhas protect them, and enable them to
advance directly toward Enlightenment. Know
that such an encounter is rare, even in a myriad kalpas. In a thousand
lifetimes, a person might encounter the Vow but once. From this day to the very
end of time, wherever you are, give praise to the Vow, and wherever you may go,
encourage others to hear it.”
Shinran Shonin
(Gutoku's Notes), quoting The Commentary on the Amida Sutra by Yan-chao, master
of the Vinaya school (Master Tai-chih)
The Collected
Works of Shinran, Shin
Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.598
[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] Also no matter how happy we are
and how many pleasant distractions we encounter, we must not lose time but hear
Amida Dharma and entrust to it.
[7] 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
[8] You
should awaken aspiration for Enlightenment by relying on the Power and Primal
Vow of Amida Buddha, which is the essence of the Larger Sutra.
[9] 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
[10] 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.40
[11] 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.40
[12] 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.40
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