The three vows of salvation

Click here if you want to read a detailed explanation of the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha

Generally speaking, Buddhist practices taught by Shakyamuni Buddha can be classified into two groups:

 1.      meditative practices

2.      non-meditative practices

Meditative practices include various types of meditation and visualization that we can find in all schools of Buddhism from Theravada to Mahayana and Esoteric Vajrayana[1].

Non-meditative practices include chanting sutras, observing precepts, abstaining from evil or doing various good acts, etc. These non-meditative practices are said to generate merit or positive karmic energy that help the practitioner attain higher rebirths or spiritual states. They can also be transferred or directed by the practitioner toward various goals, including his future Enlightenment.

However, Shinran disagreed with this, saying that as long as we are not enlightened and our minds are darkened by ignorance, we cannot generate genuine merit. This is especially true in the period of the last Dharma age (Mappo) in which we now live. Only the Buddhas, and of course, Amida Buddha, can have true merit. Shinran considered merit transference from the practitioner toward Enlightenment as being futile, and he said that the true merit transference actually takes place from Amida Buddha to the devotee who has faith in Him.

Thus we should give up any thought of generating or accumulating merit and instead rely exclusively on Amida Buddha’s Power of salvation. This exclusive reliance is described in the 18^th Vow found in the Larger Sutra. In it, Amida promises:

"If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings of the ten quarters who sincerely entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and say my Name perhaps even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain the supreme Enlightenment."[2]

Let us consider these words: All sentient beings that entrust to Amida, desire to be born in His Land and call His Name, will be born there. Nothing else is needed. No mentioning of merit or things that the practitioner should add to the power of Amida. Just wish to be born in the Pure Land, have faith and say the Name.

These three aspects: 1. wishing to be born, 2. faith and 3. calling of the Name, are in fact three manifestations of the same thing, which is faith or the entrusting heart (shinjin). This is because there cannot be any desire to be born in the Pure Land or a saying of the Name if one doesn’t believe in the existence of Amida Buddha and His capacity to make us be born there. We wish to be born in the Pure Land and say the Name of Amida because we entrust in Amida’s power to bring us there.

Namo Amida Bu means “I take refuge in Amida Buddha” and to take refuge is to have faith. Saying of the Name (Nembutsu) is the natural expression of faith and is the same as faith. There cannot be any true Nembutsu – i.e. the Nembutsu of Other Power – without genuine faith. This is the case with the 18^th Vow, the Vow by which Amida Buddha saves all who entrust in Him, old or young, good or evil, male or female.  

However, the situation is that not all practitioners are able to give up entirely the attachment to their personal power in reaching birth in the Pure Land. They simply cannot rely exclusively on Amida but think there is still something they need to add to His Power so that they will deserve to be born in the Pure Land. Thus, they remain attached to the idea of merit accumulation even if they also rely on Amida.  This kind of “faith” mixed with reliance on their own merit and personal power is not in accord with the 18^th Vow, but still such people are not abandoned by Amida. Especially for those who are not capable to rely exclusively on Him, but still wish to be born in His Pure Land, Amida created the 19^th and 20^th Vows. 

Let’s read and understand these Vows:

(19) “If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten directions, who awaken aspiration for Enlightenment, do various meritorious deeds and sincerely desire to be born in my land, should not, at their death, see me appear before them surrounded by a multitude of sages, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.”[3]

(20) “If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten directions who, having heard my Name, concentrate their thoughts on my land, plant roots of virtue, and sincerely transfer their merits towards my land with a desire to be born there, should not eventually fulfil their aspiration, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.”[4]

What does Amida say in the 19^th Vow? That those who do various meritorious deeds in order to be born in the Pure Land will see Amida Buddha at their death surrounded by many sages, welcoming them in the Pure Land. The various meritorious deeds mean they continue to practice many kinds of meditative and non-meditative practices. For example, whenever they do a visualization or contemplation of Amida in accord with the Contemplation Sutra or even when they do other meditation techniques, when they observe precepts, do a good deed like saving a life, abstaining from meat, etc., they think this will help them to be born in Amida’s Pure Land and actually transfer the merit of these practices (meditative or non-meditative) toward their future birth there.

Usually followers of various schools do meditation practices or observe precepts, etc., in order to become a Buddha in this life, like Shakyamuni, but practitioners of the 19^th Vow change the goal of these meditative and non-meditative practices towards becoming a Buddha in the Pure Land of Amida. They change the direction of their Buddhist practice towards Amida Buddha. This is the difference between them and other Buddhists and this difference makes them to enter Amida’s influence and guidance.

The followers of the 20^th Vow make another important step further into the Light of Amida Buddha. They do not stop at meditative and non-meditative practices, but among all practices they chose only one which is to say the Name of Amida Buddha. 

The expression “hearing my Name” from the 20^th Vow means to become aware of the Name of Amida and to say it both in mind and with one’s mouth. The concentration of thoughts on the land of Amida and the desire to be born there is done this time through recitation of the Name. In the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amida-kyo) the recitation of the Name of Amida is called the root of all virtues, because among all Buddhist practices recommended by Shakyamuni, the recitation of the Name is supreme. So, to “plant roots of virtue” mentioned in the 20^th Vow means to recite exclusively the Name of Amida, i.e. to choose among all practices only this practice.

Like followers of the 19^th Vow, those of the 20^th Vow are also not free of doubts and do not rely exclusively on Amida’s Power to be born in the Pure Land but consider this Name recitation to be their own virtue and a practice that depends on their own capacities to be done correctly. So they transfer the merits they think they accumulated through a good recitation towards birth in Amida’s Pure Land. They are still dependent on their own power and their faith in Amida is not absolute.

What we see from reading these two vows, the 19^th and the 20^th, is that people following them are also born in the Pure Land of Amida and escape once and for all from samsara or birth and death. Amida especially finishes these two vows with the promise that the practitioners fulfilling the requirements contained in them will definitely be born in His Pure Land and if this will not happen then it means He does not deserve to be called a Buddha or He is not a Buddha – “may I not attain perfect Enlightenment”.

But if we read the Contemplation Sutra on Amida Buddha we see that among those born in the Pure Land through directing their merit in one way or another there are various grades and differences. Not all are equal. The more the virtues, the better the place one occupies in the Pure Land –  for example, the highest level of the highest grade, the middle level of the highest grade, the lower level of the highest grade, then the highest level of the middle grade, the middle level of the middle grade, and so on, until the lowest level of the lowest grade. However, no mention is made there about those who enter Amida’s Pure Land through faith alone as in the case of the 18^th Vow (Primal Vow). The various levels are established only according to the personal virtues of the practitioners in their previous life when they transferred the merit acquired through various meditative or non-meditative practices and through the Nembutsu recited in self-power. 

What does this mean? Why are those born through faith alone not mentioned in any of these categories? Shinran said this is because they immediately become Buddhas when they are born in the Pure Land, and for Buddhas there are no categories in which they can be classified. Those who are born in the Pure Land through the gate of the 19^th and 20^th vows do not immediately become Buddhas but due to their clinging to personal power they continue to stay there in an unenlightened state of mind until they overcome their doubts and attachments to the so-called merits and virtues and entrust entirely to the Power of Amida Buddha.

The 18^th is the Vow of direct entering into the true Pure Land, while the other two are Vows of indirect entering.  It is like a house with three doors. One door is the main one which leads directly to the owner and in his presence you become like him (a Buddha sharing the activity of Amida), while the second and third door are leading to an anteroom or waiting room where you have to stay for a while until having access to him.

This anteroom or waiting room to perfect Enlightenment in Amida’s Pure Land is called the borderland of the Pure Land or the realm of indolence and pride, the city of doubt, the womb like palace, etc. Birth here is not a punishment, but practitioners actually keep themselves there by their doubts and clinging to their own power.

The 18^th, the 19^th and the 20^th Vows are the three Vows of salvation which give deliverance from birth and death to all beings that rely exclusively or partially on Amida Buddha, who have absolute faith or still cling to their so-called power and merit but wish to be born in the Pure Land.  

Because these three Vows – and especially the 18^th – are mentioned in the Larger Sutra on Amida Buddha, Shinran considered its deliverance to be the main reason for Shakyamuni’s appearance on earth, while the Contemplation Sutra where visualization of Amida, transference of merits and the nine grade of aspirants are mentioned and the Smaller Amida Sutra (Amida-kyo) where the recitation of the Name alone is encouraged as the root of all virtues, are provisional means for those who still can’t rely exclusively on Amida Buddha.

Many people go through these three vows of salvation consciously or unconsciously in their Buddhist practice. Many of us had a time when we practiced other Buddhist methods to become a Buddha in this life after we abandoned various religious paths or didn’t have any religion at all. Then, we heard about Amida’s Pure Land and we stopped aspiring to attain Enlightenment in this life but wanted to be born there after death. Still, doubting that birth in the Pure Land is so easy, we felt we need to do something in order to deserve it, so we continued to follow various practices to feel we are better people than others.

Then, at one point we heard that Nembutsu is the greatest practice among all Buddhist practices, the root of all virtues, and we started reciting it, but still we felt this is too easy, so again attachment to our own power kept us prisoners of doubts.  

And finally, after listening again and again to the teaching, contemplating our true capacities and the Compassion of Amida, we realized He is like a mother who wishes to save Her children quickly from the danger of fire and death, without waiting until they become perfect. So, for the first time we heard the 18^th Vow in which no special virtue or capacity were mentioned in order to be born in the Pure Land, and we received faith. Then, the Nembutsu we continued to recite was no longer the Nembutsu based on self-power, but the Nembutsu of faith and gratitude. With this Nembutsu of faith and gratitude we enter directly into the presence of Amida, the Master of the Pure Land, where we too become Buddhas and forever join His salvation work.[5]

 

 For a detailed explanation of the 18^th (Primal Vow), 19^th Vow and the 20^th Vow please check my Commentary on the Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life.

 

 

 

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[1] Tibetan Buddhism.

[2] This translation of the Primal Vow is a combination of Hongwanji Jodo Shinshu Translation series and Rev Hisao Inagaki’s version, himself member of Hongwanji’s translation committee. There are a few other versions of the Primal Vow in the English translations. The differences are not significant but we should know them anyway.

The Hongwanji Jodo Shinshu Translation Series translated the Primal Vow as follows:

"If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten quarters who, with sincere and entrusting heart, aspire to be born in my land and say my Name even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain the perfect Enlightenment. Excluded are those who commit the five grave offenses and those who slander the right Dharma”.

(The Sutra on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, The Three Pure Land Sutras, volume II Kyoto, 2009, p.22)

Rev Hisao Inagaki, an important translator in the Jodo Shinshu and also member of Hongwanji's translation committee for the Three Pure Land Sutras translated it in this way:

"If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and call my Name, even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. Excluded, however, are those who commit the five gravest offences and abuse the right Dharma."[2]

(The Larger Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Horai Association International, Malaysia, 2012, p.19)

Also in the Hongwanji’s translation of Shinran’s works (The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997) the phrase “perhaps even ten times” is often used when referring to the saying of the Name in the Primal Vow. As Shinran placed great emphasis on it, and it is how he actually read Amida’s urge to say His Name in the Primal Vow, I decided to use it myself.

[3]The Three Pure Land sutras, translated into English by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, revised second edition, BDK English Tripitaka12-II, II, IV, Numata Center for Buddhist translation and Research, 2003, p.16

[4]The Three Pure Land sutras, translated into English by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, revised second edition, BDK English Tripitaka12-II, II, IV, Numata Center for Buddhist translation and Research, 2003, p.16

[5] For a detailed explanation of the 18^th (Primal Vow), 19^th Vow and the 20^th Vow please check my Commentary on the Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life.