In the Larger Sutra it is said:
“They are of noble and
majestic countenance, unequaled in all the worlds, and their appearance is
superb, unmatched by any being, heavenly or human. They are all endowed with
bodies of Naturalness, Emptiness, and Infinity.”[1]
So, are those deluded scholars who claim that the Pure Land is “here and now” endowed with “bodies of Naturalness, Emptiness, and Infinity”? Shinran himself made reference to the same passage from the Larger Sutra, in his work Passages on the Pure Land Way [REALIZATION] :
“Their countenances are
dignified and wonderful, surpassing things of this world. Their features,
subtle and delicate, are not those of human beings or devas; all receive the
body of naturalness or of emptiness, the body of boundlessness.”[2]
Do they have the color of pure
gold, as promised to those born in the Pure Land in the 3rd Vow?
“If, when I attain Buddhahood,
humans and devas in my land[3]
should not all be the color of pure gold, may I not attain perfect
Enlightenment.” (the 3rd Vow)
Do they have the same appearance,
as promised in the 4th Vow?
“If, when I attain Buddhahood,
humans and devas in my land should not all be of one appearance, and should
there be any difference in beauty, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.” (the
4th Vow)
Unenlightened beings in samsara
have various forms and shapes, color and beauty. They differ greatly from one
another and this is due to the different types of karma they inherit from past
lives. But once they are born in the Pure Land and become Buddhas they are
liberated from the shackles of karma and go beyond form, color and any
differences. This is what is meant by “all be of one appearance”. To be
of the color of pure gold also means to have transcendent bodies of the
qualities of Enlightenment. So, again, are those deluded scholars in this
situation?
More than this, in the 21st
Vow it is promised that beings in the Pure Land are “endowed with the thirty-two
physical characteristics of a Great Man”. Shakyamuni Buddha too, said the
same in the Larger Sutra about those born in the Pure Land of Amida:
“Ananda, the sentient beings
born there all fully possess the thirty-two physical characteristics of a Great
Man as well as perfect wisdom, with which they penetrate deeply into the nature
of all dharmas (phenomena) and reach their subtle essence. Their supernatural
powers know no obstruction and their physical senses are sharp and clear”.
Clearly if we check their
samsaric bodies no one claiming that the Pure Land is “here and now” has the “thirty
two physical characteristics of a Great Man”. But perhaps they have “perfect
wisdom, with which they penetrate deeply into the nature of all dharmas (phenomena)
and reach their subtle essence” or some kind of “supernatural powers”
which they keep secret from us, ordinary guys with a simple faith?
Maybe they all have unlimited life-spans[4] (according
to the 15th Vow of Amida Buddha), remember “all their previous
lives” and know “the events which occurred during the previous hundred
thousand kotis of nayutas of kalpas” (the 5th Vow) or they “possess
the divine eye of seeing even a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of
Buddha-lands” ( 6th Vow), and “the faculty of knowing the
thoughts of others” (the 8th Vow). They are probably “endowed with the
body of the Vajra-god Narayana”[5] (26th Vow) or are able to go “anywhere in one
instant, even beyond a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands”
(9th Vow), have the “divine ear of hearing the teachings of at
least a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddhas” and “remember all
of them” (7th Vow), worship directly all Buddhas in all the ten
directions (24th Vow) and make offerings to
them (23rd Vow), “hear spontaneously
whatever teachings they may wish” (the 46th Vow), etc.
Perhaps they never “give rise
to thoughts of self-attachment” (10th Vow) and they are “free
of mental hindrances, pure in mind and without indolence.” Perhaps, as
Shakyamuni said, “their samsaric bodies and evil passions have been
extinguished together with their remaining karmic tendencies”[6]. Maybe “their
wisdom is like the ocean, and their Samadhi, like the king of mountains”[7]…..
The enlightened qualities of those born in the Pure Land are described in length in the Larger Sutra and promised by Amida Buddha himself in some of His vows), so I invite anyone having the illusion that he or she is now in the Pure Land to carefully read the above quotations. In the last chapter of my book The True Teaching on Amida Buddha and His Pure Land (click here to download it) I have a big collection of passages which prove even more that birth in the Pure Land takes place after death and it means the attainment of perfect Enlightenment. So, if you are not a Buddha yet and you call yourself a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist, don’t pretend that the Pure Land is “here and now”.
[1] 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.31
[2] The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.300
[3] Beings born in the Pure Land are sometimes called “humans and devas (gods) in my land“, which doesn’t mean that in the Pure Land there are the six unenlightened realms of existence, namely the hells, hungry spirits, animals, humans, fighting spirits (demigods) and gods. Shakyamuni himself explains in the Larger Sutra that when the expression “humans and devas” in the Pure Land appears in this sacred discourse it is only in relation with the states of existence prior to their birth in the Pure Land:
“They are all of one form, without any differences, but are called 'heavenly beings'(devas) and 'humans' simply by analogy with the states of existence in other worlds. They are of noble and majestic countenance, unequaled in all the worlds, and their appearance is superb, unmatched by any being, heavenly or human. They are all endowed with bodies of Naturalness, Emptiness, and Infinity."
For a detailed explanation of
all the 48 Vows of Amida Buddha, see my Commentary
on the Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life.
[4] Those born in the Pure Land are beyond death, so their bodies of manifestations have unlimited life span.
[5] Vajra- god Narayana is in fact Vajrapani (from
Sanskrit vajra, "thunderbolt" or "diamond" and pani, lit.
"in the hand"), one of the most important Enlightened Bodhisattvas of
Mahayana Buddhism. He is the protector of Buddha Dharma, and He represents the
Power of all Buddhas. Just as Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, mentioned in the 22nd
Vow, represents the endless saving activity of all Buddhas, Vajrapani
represents the immense and all surpassing Power of the Buddhas. Those born in
the Pure Land are exactly like these two Enlightened Bodhisattvas. Just like
Samantabhadra they are always active in samsara, and like Vajrapani they are
all-powerful. And because Vajrapani is a protector of the Dharma, beings in the
Pure Land will forever protect it and destroy wrong understandings, which is
clearly something those deluded scholars do not do “here and now”, but actually
destroy the Dharma with their personal views.
[6] 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.44
[7] Ibid.
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