“The Buddha said
to Ananda, ‘When Amitayus (Amida) preaches the Dharma to sravakas and Bodhisattvas,
they all assemble in the seven-jeweled lecture hall. There He fully expounds
the teachings of the Way and proclaims the wonderful Dharma. The whole audience
rejoices, comprehends, and attains Enlightenment. At that time a breeze spontaneously
arises in each of the four directions and wafts over the jeweled trees,
producing sounds of the pentatonic scales and causing innumerable exquisite
flowers to fall like rain and scatter everywhere. Natural ways of glorification
such as these are endlessly repeated. All the devas bring with
them a hundred thousand flowers, pieces of aromatic wood, and thousands of
musical instruments to use as offerings to the Buddha and the assembly of
bodhisattvas and sravakas; they scatter flowers, diffuse perfumes
everywhere, and play various kinds of music. They come and go in succession,
giving way to each other. At such times their joy and happiness are beyond
description.”[1]
The
key to understanding this passage is in the sentence – “the whole audience rejoices, comprehends, and attains Enlightenment”. This
means that all the residents of the fulfilled land of the Pure Land[2] (the center of the
Pure Land where those with complete faith in Amida arrive after death) are
fully enlightened beings (Buddhas), no matter they are called Bodhisattvas or
sravakas (now with the meaning of devout enlightened disciples of Amida).
The
perception of time is different here in the human plane of samsaric existence
than "time" in the Pure Land. Thus, if here we need minutes or hours, days,
months and years to do various activities, in the Pure Land many things can be
done at the same time. So, in the very moment of birth in the Pure Land through the
Gate of Faith (Gate of the Primal Vow) we automatically see Amida in all His
glory, listen to His teaching in the seven jeweled lecture hall and attain
perfect Enlightenment.
As
I already explained when I commented on previous sections when the term humans
or devas appear in relation to the inhabitants of the Pure Land, this does not
refer to the fact that once born there we remain human beings as before or that
in the Pure Land, we can find other unenlightened people from various samsaric
states of existence like the gods. As Shakyamuni explained in the same sutra, all
beings born in the Pure Land through the Gate of Faith “are
all of one form, without any differences, but are called ‘heavenly beings
(devas)’ and ‘humans’ simply by analogy with states of existence in other
worlds”. In truth, those born in the Pure Land are “unequaled in all the worlds, and their
appearance is superb, unmatched by any being, heavenly or human”, and
are “endowed with bodies of
naturalness, emptiness, and infinity” which shows that they are
Enlightened Persons whose essence is ultimate Dharmakaya beyond form. So,
“the whole audience” who “rejoices, comprehends, and attains
Enlightenment” also includes those who were humans or devas ( gods) in a
previous existence. They now manifest “a
hundred thousand flowers, pieces of aromatic wood, and thousands of musical
instruments to use as offerings to the Buddha and the assembly of bodhisattvas
and sravakas” and “scatter
flowers, diffuse perfumes everywhere, and play various kinds of music”.
Of
course that “at such times” - meaning
when they are born in the Pure Land, see Amida, listen to His teaching and
attain perfect Enlightenment - “their joy
and happiness are beyond description”.
The breeze which “at that time” arises
spontaneously in “each of the four
directions” and who “wafts over the
jeweled trees, producing sounds of the pentatonic scales and causing
innumerable exquisite flowers to fall like rain and scatter everywhere” is
the celebration of the attainment of perfect Enlightenment of the newly born in
the Pure Land. If you read the sacred texts you see similar descriptions of
flowers falling from the sky and celestial music being played spontaneously when
somebody becomes a Buddha. However, this time, unlike Shakyamuni, the
historical Buddha, who appeared to become a Buddha in our world, we will attain
Enlightenment in the Pure Land and we’ll be celebrated there with music,
flowers and various manifestations.
“Natural ways of
glorification such as these are endlessly repeated” because new
beings come constantly to be born in the Pure Land from various realms of
samsaric existence, and attain Enlightenment there.
When
we exited our mother’s womb, parents and various relatives celebrated our first
birthday with flowers, music, and feast, thus
forgetting that life contains suffering and leads inevitably to death. We also gave
parties year after year to forget the ugly signs of impermanence. However,
there
is no better reason for celebration other than entering the Pure Land of Enlightenment
and escaping once and for all from the repeated births and deaths.
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.42-43
[2] See the
difference between the Fulfilled Land of the Pure Land (center of the Pure
Land) and borderland of the Pure Land
at this link, http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2018/05/birth-in-borderland-of-pure-land.html
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