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Some characteristics of beings born in the Pure Land - commentary on section 5 (part 1) of the Smaller Amida Sutra
“Again,
Śāriputra, all sentient beings born in the Land of Utmost Bliss dwell in the
stage of non-retrogression. Many of them are in the stage of becoming a Buddha
after one more life. Their number is so great that it is beyond reckoning; it
can only be described as innumerable, unlimited, and incalculable.”
The
sentence “all sentient beings born in the Land of Utmost Bliss dwell in the
stage of non-retrogression” has two meanings,
1. all sentient beings born in the
border land of the Pure Land will never retrogress again in samsara and when
they abandon the illusion of self-power will certainly advance to the center (the fulfilled land) of the Pure
Land where they will attain Buddhahood
2. those who are born in the center of
the Pure Land are already in the stage of non-retrogression which they’ve
actually attained when they first entrusted themselves totally and exclusively
to Amida Buddha in their previous life. So, when they reach the Pure Land they
immediately become Buddhas.
The 1st
meaning needs no further explanation, so I will explain again the 2nd
meaning.
The stage of non-retrogression has many names, like for example,
“the definitely assured state” as in the 11th Vow of Amida
Buddha, “the stage of the truly settled”, “the truly settled of the Mahayana”,
“the stage equal to perfect Enlightenment”, “assured of Nirvana”,
“assured of birth in the Pure Land”, etc.
According to
Shinran Shonin, we enter the stage of non-retrogression or the
definitely assured state in the very moment we entrust in Amida Buddha.
Thus, it means that when we leave our physical bodies we are born into the Pure
Land “carrying” with us this stage of non-retrogression. This is
explained in the passage from the section 22 of the Larger Sutra, named
by Shinran “the passage teaching the fulfilment of the 11th Vow”
where the term “definitely assured state” is mentioned:
“Sentient
beings who are born in that Buddha-land all reside among those assured of
Nirvana (Buddhahood). The reason is that in that land there are neither
beings who are destined to adverse conditions nor those whose destinies are
uncertain.”
We enter the
Pure Land as beings that already reside in the stage of
non-retrogression/definitely assured state, who are certain of attaining
Nirvana (“assured of Nirvana”) and who attain it not after a long
time of further practice in the Pure Land, but immediately after we are born
there (center of the Pure Land). This is the correct view of our Jodo Shinshu school and of Shinran
Shonin. For a person of true faith who resides in the definitely assured
state (stage of non-retrogression/assured of Nirvana), there is no further
need of practice because he has no “adverse conditions” to overcome.
Thus, for someone whose destiny is fixed, the moment of birth in the Pure Land
is immediately followed by the attainment of Nirvana.
The image which
comes to my mind is that of a seed and the tree. When we become open to the
Primal Vow of Amida Buddha, He plants in us the seed of true faith (shinjitsu
shinjin). Any seed will certainly become a tree; it has a fixed destiny to
become a tree. In our case, the seed of true shinjin will naturally grow and
become a Buddha. So, we are born in the center of the Pure Land carrying
this seed in us which immediately transforms itself into the Tree of
Enlightenment (Nirvana/Buddhahood). This is how we should read the sentence
“all
sentient beings born in the Land of Utmost Bliss dwell in the stage of
non-retrogression” in
relation with those born in the center of the Pure Land.
For more details
on this topic, please refer to my explanations of the 11th Vow of
Amida Buddha from my Commentary on the Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life (Larger
Sutra).
*
I also
explained this sentence “many of them are in the stage of becoming a Buddha
after one more life” in my commentary on the Larger Sutra in the chapter
dedicated to the 22nd Vow of Amida Buddha where He used those very
words,
“If,
when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas
in the Buddha-lands of other directions who come and are born in my land
should not ultimately and unfailingly reach the Stage of Becoming a Buddha
after One More Life, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.[…]”(fragment
from the 22nd Vow of Amida Buddha)
The
words “stage of becoming a Buddha after one more life” has two meanings: 1) for
those who are born in the center of the Pure Land (the fulfilled land of the
Pure Land) and 2) for those who are born in the border land of the Pure Land.
As to
the 1st meaning, those already
in the stage of non-retrogression since they have first entrusted to Amida, enter
the Pure Land through the gate of Faith (Gate of the Primal Vow) and
immediately attain Buddhahood upon birth there (11th Vow of Amida),
then they return as Enlightened Bodhisattvas (Buddhas who manifest as Bodhisattvas) to lead all beings to Enlightenment by continually playing in
various universes the same role Shakyamuni had and Maitreya will have in our
universe. The “stage
of becoming a Buddha after one more life”, promised in the 22nd Vow and
mentioned in the Smaller Amida Sutra, represents the capacity of those who attain Buddhahood in the Pure Land
to endlessly manifest themselves in various places in the universe and become
active Buddhas there for the sake of sentient beings. When we are born in the center of the Pure Land, we
automatically gain the capacity to always play the role of becoming Buddhas and
teaching the Dharma like Shakyamuni himself. Shinran Shonin explained
this in his Hymns of the Pure Land:
“Those who reach the Pure Land of happiness
Return to this evil world of the five defilements,
Where, like the Buddha
Shakyamuni,
They benefit sentient beings without limit.”
We will
pretend to be unenlightened and attain
Enlightenment (“becoming a Buddha”), like Shakyamuni himself admitted in
the Lotus Sutra that although He presented himself as attaining Enlightenment (Buddhahood)
in His life on earth, He has been a Buddha for a very long time, playing this
game of pretending to be unenlightened and then attaining Enlightenment many
times for the sake of samsaric
beings,
“The devas, humans, and asuras in all the worlds all
think that the present Buddha, Śhakyamuni, left the palace of the Sakyas, sat
on the terrace of Enlightenment not far from the city of Gaya, and attained
highest, complete Enlightenment. However, o sons of
a virtuous family, immeasurable, limitless, hundreds
of thousands of myriads of koṭis of nayutas of kalpas have passed since I
actually attained Buddhahood. […] Since then, I have constantly been residing in
the Saha world, teaching the Dharma
and inspiring sentient beings. I have also been leading and benefiting sentient
beings in incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of nayutas of
other worlds.”
to be continued
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