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Thursday, December 28, 2023

Question and Answer - the True Teaching of Shakyamuni on Amida Buddha and His Pure Land

Rev Kosho Arana at Amidaji
 
 I recently received this question from a Facebook contact   Fatih Ozkan:

 I would like to ask some questions:

 Was Amitabha Buddha actually preached by Shakyamuni   Buddha  or was he later invented as an Upaya by the Mahayana   saints? Are Amitabha Buddha and The Pure Land literally real or   an archetype? Buddha-Dharma says that all dharmas   (phenomena) are sealed with three realities: pain, impermanence   and selflessness. How can Sukhavati be an eternal realm now?

 Sincerely, A-Mi-To-Fo 

*

  Hello Dear Ozkan, Namo Amida Bu

 Thank you for your questions. They are very important.

I will answer them as best I can.

The teachings about Amida Buddha (Amitabha Buddha) are an essential part of more than 290 Sutras in the Mahayana Canon, especially the Sukavativyuha or the Larger Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life which was preached by Shakyamuni Buddha.  This teaching has been praised by many Mahayana masters including but not limited to Bodhisattva Nagarjuna, Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, Bodhisattva Asanga, Master Tan Luan, Master Tao Ch’o, Master Shantao, Master Honen and Master Shinran. Shakyamuni Buddha Himself taught in many sutras the existence of innumerable Enlightened Realms outside Samsara, called Pure Lands which are created by different Buddhas according to their specific vows.

We can also add to this list many Vajrayana Masters who have praised Amida Buddha in verses and have taught their disciples about the reality of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land, these include but are not limited to Master Padmasambhava, Marpa, Milarepa, Master Dolpopa, Several of the Karmapas and Master Tsongkhapa. The list goes on and on in India, China, Tibet and Japan (and many other countries in which there have been great Buddhist teachers who have had faith in Amida Buddha). The tantras and shastras that mention Amida Buddha are many. (Must be also near the thousands actually). Just based on this simple point, saying that Amida Buddha was mysteriously added by later disciples makes no sense, especially when we consider the dozens of great Bodhisattvas and Enlightened beings who have praised Amida Buddha throughout many centuries in Buddhist history.

Shakyamuni Buddha gave us a precise direction in the universe to locate Amida Buddha’s Pure Land. He is NOT talking about a metaphor but about another Buddha, just as as real as Him, only that this Buddha is not in a samsaric plane of existence preaching in a Nirmanakaya Body (body of accommodation) but a Living Buddha in Sambhogakaya form outside Samsara in His respective Pure Land, in this case, Amida Buddha’s Land of Utmost Bliss and Peace - Sukhavati in Sanskrit.

Samsara is emanated by the three poisons of anger, greed and delusion, whereas the Realms of the Buddhas are created by enlightened minds filled with compassion and wisdom. In the Mahayana Nirvana Sutra, Lotus Sutra and many other sutras and tantras Shakyamuni Buddha taught that beyond the three marks of samsaric phenomena (no-self, suffering and impermanence) there is a Buddha Nature all beings have within which is True Self, True Bliss and permanent, which is everything that samsara is not. This Buddha Nature is what Buddhas awaken to and since they dwell in the natural compassion and wisdom of Buddha Nature they are constantly and eternally active for the benefit of all sentient beings. Buddha Nature is not empty of itself, it is only empty of samsaric phenomena, empty of greed, anger and delusion and filled with innumerable virtues, powers, qualities and splendor, just like a jewel shines once you remove the dust that covers it. It is from this Buddha Nature that Buddhas emanate Enlightened Realms called Pure Lands for the benefit of sentient beings. Sukhavati is the most important of this Pure Lands as this was the Pure Land Shakyamuni preached the most about in the sutras simply because it is the one Pure Land all beings can go to regardless of their spiritual capacities by just relying on the power of Amida Buddha to be born there and then attain Buddhahood.

Shakyamuni Buddha said about Amida Buddha:

“The Buddha then said to Elder Sariputra: ‘If you travel westward from here, passing a hundred thousand kotis of Buddha-lands, you will come to the land called Utmost Bliss, where there is a Buddha named Amitayus. He is living there NOW, teaching the Dharma”.

So Amida Buddha is preaching the Dharma there in Sukhavati right NOW. This is NOT a metaphor but the truth according to Shakyamuni Buddha.

He also said:

“For what reason, Sariputra, do you think that Buddha is called Amitabha? Sariputra, the Buddha’s light shines boundlessly and without hindrance over all the worlds of the ten directions. It is for this reason that He is called Amitabha. Again, Sariputra, the lives of the Buddha and the people of His land last for innumerable, unlimited, and incalculable kalpas. It is for this reason that the Buddha is called Amitayus.”

Shakyamuni Himself revealed Amida Buddha before Ananda, Shariputra, Maitreya, and many other noble beings in the Larger Sutra:

“The Buddha said to Ananda, ‘Rise to your feet, rearrange your robes, put your palms together, and respectfully revere and worship Amitayus (Amida). Buddha Tathagatas in the lands of the ten directions always praise with one accord that Buddha’s virtue of non-attachment and unimpeded activity.’”

 “Ananda stood up, rearranged his robes, assumed the correct posture, faced westward, and, demonstrating his sincere reverence, joined his palms together, prostrated himself on the ground, and worshiped Amitayus. Then he said to Śhakyamuni Buddha, ‘World-honoured One, I wish to see that Buddha, His Land of Peace and Bliss, and its hosts of bodhisattvas and sravakas’

As soon as he had said this, Amitayus emitted a great light, which illuminated all the Buddha-lands. The Encircling Adamantine Mountains, Mount Sumeru, together with large and small mountains and everything else shone with the same [golden] colour. That light was like the flood at the end of the period of cosmic change that fills the whole world, when myriads of things aresubmerged, and as far as the eye can see there is nothing but the vast expanse of water. Even so, was the flood of light emanating from Amitayus. All the lights of sravakas and bodhisattvas were outshone and surpassed, and only the Buddha’s light remained shining bright and glorious. At that time Ananda saw the splendour and majesty of Amitayus resembling Mount Sumeru, which rises above the whole world. There was no place that was not illuminated by the light emanating from His body of glory [Sambhogakaya or Dharmakaya as compassionate means – Amida’s transcendent body]. The four groups of followers of the Buddha in the assembly saw all this at the same time. Likewise, those of the Pure Land saw everything in this world.”

Shakyamuni Buddha is very interested in us accepting Amida Buddha as a real and living Enlightened being. He asked Ananda three times about what everybody in the audience had seen:

“Then the Buddha said to Ananda and Bodhisattva Maitreya, ‘Have you seen that land filled with excellent and glorious manifestations, all spontaneously produced from the ground to the Heaven of Pure Abode?’

Ananda replied (in his name and in the name of Maitreya and all the audience),‘Yes, I have’.

The Buddha asked, ‘Have you also heard the great voice of Amitayus expound the Dharma to all the worlds, guiding sentient beings to the Way of the Buddha?’

Ananda replied, ‘Yes, I have’.

The Buddha further asked, ‘Have you also seen the inhabitants of that land move freely, riding in seven-jewelled airborne palaces as large as a hundred thousand yojanas, to worship the Buddhas of the lands in the ten directions?’

‘Yes, I have’, replied Ananda.

Shakyamuni Buddha made it very clear to us that the Pure Land is a real enlightened place in which we can aspire to be reborn after death. He said:

“However hard you may practice in this life, it can only be for a short while. In the life to come, you will be born in the land of Amitayus (Amida) and enjoy endless bliss there. Being forever in accord with the Way, you will no longer be subject to birth and death and be free of the afflictions caused by greed, anger, and ignorance”

Not only this but being born in the Pure Land also implies attaining lots of spiritual powers that are not found in our current samsaric bodies:

“That Buddha-land, like the realm of unconditioned Nirvana, is pure and serene, resplendent and blissful. The sravakas, Bodhisattvas, heavenly beings, and humans there have lofty and brilliant wisdom and are masters of the supernatural powers. They are all of one form, without any differences, but are called ‘heavenly beings’ and ‘humans’ simply by analogy with states of existence in other worlds. They are of noble and majestic countenance, unequalled 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.”

In many other sections of the Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha said that those born in the Pure Land possess limitless compassion and wisdom and they also possess innumerable spiritual powers such as remembering all their past lives and also reading the minds of all beings in the universe without any effort. There are so many more things to be said about this, but you can see by now that being in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land is VERY different than being in samsara.

So in conclusion

1. Amida Buddha is not a symbol or archetype but a true, real living Buddha who is NOW teaching the Buddha Dharma in His Pure Land. This was taught by Shakyamuni Buddha in the Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra and in many many other sutras.

2. Amida Buddha’s Pure Land is a real enlightened realm where we can (and should) aspire to be born into after death and this was also preached by Shakyamuni Buddha Himself in many sutras and this was also a very famous, relevant and important teaching that was supported and promoted by many Mahayana and Vajrayana Masters.

I hope this answer helps you.

May all living beings Entrust Themselves to Amida Buddha, Say His Name and Wish to be born in His Pure Land.

Namo Amida Bu,

Kosho Arana, Amidaji Colombia

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