Shinran’s view of the characters in the Contemplation Sutra

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

Master Rennyo considered that 

“Shakyamuni used the five grave offenses in which Vaidehi, Devadatta, and Ajatasatru were involved as compassionate means to cause women and those who have committed the five grave offenses in the last Dharma age to aspire to birth in the Land of Serene Sustenance (the Pure Land of Amida); He assured us that even such people would unfailingly attain birth in the Land of Serene Sustenance if they took refuge in the inconceivable Primal Vow. This you should know.”[1]

Shinran already went even further than Rennyo in this matter and considered that all the events presented in the Contemplation Sutra were a play by enlightened actors to create the proper conditions for the teaching on Amida Buddha in its implicit and explicit aspect to appear in our world. In chapter I of his Kyogyoshinsho, he said, 

On the nine grades of birth in the border land of the Pure Land (sections 22 – 30 of the Contemplation Sutra)

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

As I previously explained based on Shinran Shonin’s reading of the Contemplation Sutra, those who reach the Pure Land through the 19^th Vow of Amida Buddha[1], that is, through the practices mentioned in this sutra, are born in the borderland of the Pure Land. This is because they still cling to their self-power and the idea of personal merits and personal transference of merits, while the followers of the Primal Vow (18^th Vow) are born in the center of the Pure Land (Fulfilled Pure Land) due to their complete faith in the Power of Amida Buddha which makes them understand that all the merits necessary for birth in the Pure Land belong only to Amida.
 
The Contemplation Sutra describes nine grades - highest, middle and low, each with their own three levels. These are exclusively related to birth in the border land of the Pure Land, referring to the practitioners of the 19^th and 20^th Vows. They are NOT related to birth in the Fulfilled Pure Land (center of the Pure Land) and to followers of the Primal Vow (18^th Vow). Why is that? Because among the practitioners of the 19^th and 20^th Vows who still cling to their self-power, there are differences in spiritual achievements, virtues, wisdom, etc, and these differences do matter for the various grades and levels of birth in the border land. Also, after being born there, they remain different from each other as they continue to be unenlightened until they overcome their attachment to self-power and their so-called personal merits. On the contrary, the difference in this life between the followers of the Primal Vow (18^th Vow) do not matter because nothing that can be found in their personalities adds anything to their birth in the Pure Land, nor obstructs it, as this birth depends totally on the Power of Amida Buddha in which they entrust without any trace of clinging to a delusional idea of merits or self-power. Thus, their birth in the Pure Land means immediate access to the center of that enlightened realm, also called the Fulfilled Pure Land, where they instantly attain perfect Enlightenment.

The difference between the three kinds of faith in the Contemplation Sutra and the three kinds of faith of the Primal Vow and the Larger Sutra

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

Shakyamuni Buddha said, in the Contemplation Sutra,

 
“Those who attain birth on the highest level of the highest grade are sentient beings who resolve to be born in that land, awaken the three kinds of faith, and so are born there. What are the three kinds of faith? They are, first, sincere faith; second, deep faith; and third, the faith that seeks birth there by transferring one’s merit. Those who have these three kinds of faith will certainly be born there.”[1]
 
In relation to the above three minds of faith in the Contemplation Sutra, Shinran Shonin explained,
 
“The three minds that beings awaken are all minds of self-benefit that are individually different and not the mind (of faith) that is single, which arises from Amida’s benefiting of others. They are roots of good with which to aspire for the Pure Land that Sakyamuni Tathagata taught as a distinct provisional means.”[2]
 
Here “the three minds” are “the three kinds of faith”. These are not aspects of true faith/shinjin (“mind that is single”) that is given by Amida Buddha (“arises from Amida’s benefiting of others”), and which means a complete and total reliance on Amida Buddha in matters of birth in the Pure Land, but aspects of a self-created faith.  As the personalities of the practitioners of the highest level of the highest grade (as well as all grades and levels listed in the Contemplation Sutra) differ from each other, they have “individually different” faiths/minds with which they go to the border land of the Pure Land.
As this is a book that is meant to be simple, I will try my best to offer easy to understand explanations of these three faiths or three minds.
 
The sincere faith of the Contemplation Sutra means a sincere wish to go to the Pure Land of Amida Buddha and sincerely relying partially on Him and partially on their own spiritual capacities. For these kind of practitioners, Amida’s Power is only an assisting power and not the only Power that leads to birth in the Pure Land. They have a mixed faith and a faith that is deep in the sense that they really want to go to the Pure Land. Their deep faith is a deep understanding of the suffering of samsara and a strong wish to go to the Pure Land, asking for the assistance of Amida Buddha and being deeply convinced that their so-called merits and contribution is very important to reach that goal. Thus, they have a “faith that seeks birth there by transferring one’s merit”.
 
Contrary to the three aspects of the self-power faith of the Contemplation Sutra, the three aspects of the genuine faith of the Primal Vow that is presented in the Larger Sutra, are a sincere faith in the Power of Amida as the only Power that makes birth in the Pure Land possible. This mind of faith is a “mind that is single” in the sense that has totally surrendered to Amida’s Power and is uniquely oriented towards Amida, thus saying only His Name in faith, without combining other practices. The deep mind aspect of a genuine faith in Amida Buddha is the twofold profound conviction which is 1) to know that we are people of deep karmic limitations, incapable of attaining Buddhahood through our own power and 2) that only Amida Buddha can save us through His Vow Power without asking anything from us.
The aspect of merit transference in a genuine faith (shinjin) is that we rely NOT on the transference of our pitiful merits towards birth in the Pure Land, but on Amida’s transference of merits. A person of true faith abandons the idea of “deserving” to be born in the Pure Land which is the main feature of those destined to the border land and who are obsessed with levels and grades. Unlike them, a person of total faith in Amida Buddha knows that he cannot create anything in his samsaric and unenlightened mind that can bring him to the Pure Land of Enlightenment, and so he lets Amida bring Him there.

________________________________________

[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.92
[2] Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho, cf with Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 212

Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra

 

This is a work in progress and under constant review. 

New chapters will be  added as soon as they are finished.

(last revised June 18th, 2025)

The salvation of Queen Vaidehi - commentary on sections 1-8

The path of the 19th Vow and the explicit and implicit meaning of the Contemplation Sutra 

Amida Buddha and His Pure Land as described in the Contemplation Sutra through the thirteen contemplations and the nine grades of beings 

The thirteen contemplations (sections 9 - 21) 

The difference between the three kinds of faith in the Contemplation Sutra and the the three kinds of faith in the Primal Vow and the Larger Sutra  NEW!

On the nine grades of birth in the border land 

of the Pure Land (sections 22-30) NEW!

Shinran's view of the characters in the Contemplation Sutra NEW!

to be continued 

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The thirteen contemplations (sections 9 – 21 of the Contemplation Sutra)

 

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

Here are the thirteen contemplations/meditations taught by Shakyamuni Buddha in sections 9 to 21. As they are technical explanations I will only comment when it’s really necessary.
 
The 1^st contemplation is on the setting sun:
 
 “The Buddha said to Vaidehi, ‘You and other sentient beings should concentrate and, with one-pointed attention, turn your thoughts westward. How do you contemplate? All sentient beings except those born blind – that is, all those with the faculty of sight – should look at the setting sun. Sit in the proper posture, facing west. Clearly gaze at the sun, with mind firmly fixed on it; concentrate your sight and do not let it wander from the setting sun, which is like a drum suspended above the horizon. Having done so, you should then be able to visualize it clearly, whether your eyes are open or closed. This is the visualization of the sun and is known as the first contemplation. To practice in this way is called the correct contemplation, and to practice otherwise is incorrect.’”[1]
 
Even from the first contemplation we are announced that the practices mentioned in this sutra cannot be followed by blind people, unlike the simple requirements of the Primal Vow which are easy to meet by everybody.
 
The 2^nd contemplation, on the water:

Amida Buddha and His Land as described in the Contemplation Sutra through the thirteen contemplations and the nine grades of beings

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

Before advancing to the chapter on the thirteen contemplations, it is important to mention that because the practices of the Contemplation Sutra lead to birth in the border land of the Pure Land, their objects of contemplation is Amida and His land as “transformed Buddha and land”.
 
In order to understand what I mean by “transformed Buddha and land” (which is actually an expression used by Shinran himself[1]) I need to explain first the doctrine of the two aspects of the Pure Land. Please read carefully.
 
The Pure Land of Amida Buddha has two main aspects: 1) the ultimate Dharmakaya aspect, and   2) the manifestation or Sambhogakaya (recompense) aspect. 
 
1) The ultimate Dharmakaya aspect means that the Pure Land is Nirvanic in its essence, as it was stated in the Larger Sutra:
 
“My land, being like Nirvana itself,
Will be beyond comparison.”[2]
 
This means that all the manifestations of the Pure Land are grounded in the perfect Enlightenment of Amida Buddha, and are conducive to Enlightenment. We ourselves will attain Enlightenment when we are born in the center of the Pure Land (the fulfilled land of the Pure Land), because the essence of the Pure Land is Enlightenment/Nirvana/Dharmakaya itself. Otherwise, if the Pure Land was not an enlightened realm, it would lead only to sense attachments, like other Samsaric realms do, but Shakyamuni Buddha[3] and our Masters[4] were very clear that this is not the case.

The Path of the 19th Vow and the explicit and implicit meaning of the Contemplation Sutra

Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

Last revised June 6, 2024

According to Shinran Shonin, and as I mentioned previously, the Contemplation Sutra is explicitly guiding people to the 19^th Vow, while implicitly referring to the Primal Vow (18^th Vow)[1]:
 
“When I consider the Sutra of Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, taking into account the interpretation of the commentator [Shan-tao], I find there is an explicit meaning and an implicit, hidden, inner meaning.
 
‘Explicit” refers to presenting the meditative and non-meditative good acts and setting forth the three levels of practicers and the three minds. The two forms of good and the three types of meritorious acts, however, are not the true cause of birth in the fulfilled land (center of the Pure Land). Further, the three minds that beings awaken are all minds of self-benefit that are individually different and not the mind that is single, which arises from [Amida’s] benefiting of others. They are roots of good with which to aspire for the Pure Land that [Sakyamuni] Tathagata taught as a distinct provisional means. This is the import of the sutra; it is its “explicit” meaning.

Simple explanation of a difficult passage related with "mind", Buddha and visions from the Contemplation Sutra

I decided to give a short explanation of the following passage from the Contemplation Sutra that many find it difficult to understand or have the tendency to misinterpret it:

“Buddha Tathagatas have cosmic bodies, and so enter into the meditating mind of each sentient being. For this reason, when you contemplate a Buddha, your mind itself takes the form of His thirty-two physical characteristics and eighty secondary marks.

Your mind produces the Buddha’s image and is itself the Buddha. The ocean of perfectly and universally enlightened Buddhas thus arises in the meditating mind. For this reason, you should single-mindedly concentrate and deeply contemplate the Buddha Tathagata, Arhat, and Perfectly Enlightened One.”[1]

 If we really have a vision with a Buddha, that vision appears because of two reasons:

The salvation of queen Vaidehi

Shakyamuni and Queen Vaidehi
(source of the photo)

 Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read the other chapters.

last revised June 6, 2024

 Commentary on sections 1 - 8

The Contemplation Sutra[1] was taught in the context of a tragedy in the royal family of Magadha[2]. Master Shan-tao[3] who also wrote a commentary on this sutra, gave a detailed account of what happened. As I don’t have access to a good/useful English translation of his commentary, I quote Rev Hisao Inagaki’s summary of Shan-tao’s explanation: 

“Shakyamuni had a cousin, Devadatta, who was greedy for fame and wealth. Seeing the Buddha receive many offerings from King Bimbisara, he wanted to take over the leadership of the sangha. He first learned supernatural power from Ananda, which he displayed to Prince  Ajatasatru; thus he won the respect of the prince and also received sumptuous offerings from him. Devadatta then approached Shakyamuni and suggested that the Buddha retire but was rebuked for his stupidity. Angered by this, he next incited Ajatasatru to usurp the throne.

Seeing that Ajatasatru hesitated, Devadatta pointed at the prince’s broken little finger and told him the following story.