The testimony of Ananda and the audience gathered on Vulture Peak to the existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land – commentary on the sections 41 and 42 from the Larger Sutra

This painting shows the manifestation of 

the Pure Land as shown to Ananda and 

the audience gathered on Vulture Peak. 

Ananda is in the middle with his 

right shoulder barred and facing Amida. 

Behind him sits a long-haired monk, 

who is Maitreya, the future Buddha. 

On his left sits Buddha Shakyamuni 

surrounded by monks, bodhisattvas and 

deities. A layman and laywoman are seen 

behind Maitreya worshiping Amida. 

Click for the source of this painting.

fragment from my commentary on the Larger Sutra

- this is a work in progress and under constant revision -  

click here to return to the table of contents

As we have seen in this sutra, Shakyamuni not only presented the story of Dharmakara becoming Amida, but described in many details the wonders of the Pure Land as well as the splendor of Amida and the enlightened beings living there. Then, in sections 41 and 42 He went even further and did something more extraordinary – He showed Amida and His Pure Land to the audience!!!

First, before Ananda made his request, and knowing in advance what he will say, Shakyamuni asked him to worship Amida, invoking the testimony of all Buddhas who always praise Amida’s Name and His method of salvation, thus encouraging all beings to entrust to Him and worship Him:

Listening the Dharma in the presence of Amida and attaining perfect Enlightenment - commentary on section 29th of the Larger Sutra

fragment from my commentary on the Larger Sutra

- this is a work in progress and under constant revision -  

click here to return to the table of contents

“The Buddha said to Ananda, ‘When Amitayus (Amida) preaches the Dharma to sravakas and Bodhisattvas, they all assemble in the seven-jeweled lecture hall. There He fully expounds the teachings of the Way and proclaims the wonderful Dharma. The whole audience rejoices, comprehends, and attains Enlightenment. At that time a breeze spontaneously arises in each of the four directions and wafts over the jeweled trees, producing sounds of the pentatonic scales and causing innumerable exquisite flowers to fall like rain and scatter everywhere. Natural ways of glorification such as these are endlessly repeated. All the devas bring with them a hundred thousand flowers, pieces of aromatic wood, and thousands of musical instruments to use as offerings to the Buddha and the assembly of bodhisattvas and sravakas; they scatter flowers, diffuse perfumes everywhere, and play various kinds of music. They come and go in succession, giving way to each other. At such times their joy and happiness are beyond description.”[1]

Eight guidelines to protect and transmit the true faith in Amida Buddha

Many people asked me for a detailed and strict guideline on how to think and act in matters related with faith (shinjin), so that they do not fall into wrong views, nor be a cause of wrong views in others. As you probably know if you read my book The Meaning of Faith and Nembutsu in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, I always teach that genuine faith in Amida Buddha has eight elements:

1) To accept the actual, literal existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land

2) To accept the story of Amida  Buddha as told by Shakyamuni Buddha in the Larger Sutra

Los 48 votos del Buda Amida (edición gratuita)

Portada de la versión inglesa

Traducido del inglés por Diego Daleffe y 

Jaime Salvador Guzmán Valladares

Revisado por Juan Sebastián Hincapié Arana

En el momento en que Dharmakara se convirtió en el Buda Amida, Sus 48 votos y Su Tierra Pura se transformaron en métodos reales y eficaces para la salvación de los seres sintientes. Este libro es mi intento personal de proporcionar explicaciones fáciles de entender sobre los votos, para que la gente pueda vivir de acuerdo con ellos y adquirir la verdadera y real salvación del nacimiento y la muerte.

Para una mejor comprensión dividí los 48 votos del Buda Amida de la siguiente manera:

1. Votos sobre el Buda Amida y su Tierra Pura.

Estos votos se explicarán en el primer capítulo.

2. Los votos relacionados con la salvación de todos los seres sintientes – Se explican en el segundo capítulo.

El significado de la fe y el nembutsu en el Budismo Jodo Shinshu (edición gratuita)

Portada de la versión inglesa

Traducido del inglés por:

Juan Sebastián Hincapié Arana

Este libro es, como muestra el título, un intento de explicar el significado de la fe y el Nembutsu de acuerdo con la enseñanza de nuestra escuela Jodo Shinshu.

Comienzo mis explicaciones con el Voto Primordial del Buda Amida porque sin él no habría Jodo Shinshu. Como dijo Shinran:

"Si el Voto Primal de Amida es verdadero, la enseñanza de Shakyamuni no puede ser falsa. Si las enseñanzas del Buda son verdaderas, los comentarios de Shan-tao no pueden ser falsos. Si los comentarios de Shan-tao son ciertos, ¿pueden las palabras de Honen  ser mentiras? Si las palabras de Honen son ciertas, entonces seguramente lo que digo no puede ser vacío”. [1]

Virtues and activities of the Enlightened Bodhisattvas of the Pure Land – commentary on sections 28 and 30 of the Larger Sutra

Amida Buddha and His two attendand Bodhisattvas,
Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta

fragment from my commentary on the Larger Sutra

 this is a work in progress and under constant revision   

click here to return to the table of contents

“The Buddha said to Ananda, ‘All the Bodhisattvas in the land of Amitayus will ultimately attain the stage of becoming a Buddha after one more life. Excepted are those who have made original vows for the sake of sentient beings, resolving to cultivate the merit of realizing their great vows to save all sentient beings.’”[1]

This fragment is clearly related with the 22^nd Vow which I already explained in the chapter dedicated to the 48th Vows. Basically, it means, as I explained there, and at chapter 1 of this book (click here to read), that once we attain Buddhahood in the Pure Land, we act as Buddhas who manifest as Bodhisattvas.  The “stage of becoming a Buddha after one more life”, 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 Pure Land we automatically gain the capacity to always playing the role of becoming Buddhas and teaching the Dharma like Shakyamuni himself [1b]. Shinran Shonin explained this in his Hymns of the Pure Land:

Again on the idea that faith in Amida comes from Amida - very simple explanations

There are many who get stuck at the idea of shinjin (faith) coming from Amida, or being Amida's gift. However, this is a very simple thing, and you should understand it in a simple way, so that it may not become an obstacle.

First of all, shinjin or simple faith in Amida is like when you do not know how to fix your car and you trust John who is a mechanic to fix it for you. In our case, you cannot attain Buddhahood by yourself and you trust Amida Buddha to help you attain it by taking you to His Pure Land.Your trust in John arises because you heard he is a very skilled mechanic and you saw him doing other repairs. So, in truth, John is the one who makes you trust him.

Also, let’s say you have a best friend. To have faith in your best friend is, in fact, answering to his love and to the fact that he is constantly there for you, so in fact, your trust in him is his gift. You trust him because of him.