For more Pure Land teachings click here
Once Buddha was in the land of Shravasti, in the garden of Jeta and
Anathapindika. He was accompanied by twelve hundred and fifty great Bhikshus,
all of them great Arhats, well known to the assembly. Among them were his
leading disciples, such figures as the Elders Shariputra, Maudgalyayana,
Mahakashyapa, Maha Katyayana, and Mahakausthila, Revata, Suddhipanthaka, Nanda,
Ánanda, Rahula, Gavampati, Pindola-bharadvaja, Kalodayin, Mahakapphina, Vakula,
and Aniruddha, etc., all great disciples. Also present were the Bodhisattvas
Mahasattva: Manjushri, Prince of the Dharma, the Bodhisattva Ajita the
Invincible, and the Bodhisattva of Constant Progress, Gandhahastin, Nityodyukta,
and other such great enlightening beings. Also present was Shakra, the king of
the gods, along with countless numbers of heavenly beings, making up a great
assembly.
At that time Buddha said to the Elder Shariputra: "West of
here, past a hundred billion Buddha-lands, there exists a world called "Ultimate
Bliss". In this land there exists a Buddha called Amitabha, who is expounding
the Dharma right now.
[Buddha says to Shariputra:] "Why is this land
called Ultimate Bliss"? It is called "Ultimate Bliss" because the sentient
beings in this land are free from the myriad sufferings, and only know every
kind of joy.
Furthermore, this land is called "Ultimate Bliss" because
it is surrounded by seven rings of railings, and seven layers of nets, and seven
rows of trees, all made of the four precious jewels.
Moreover, the Land
of Ultimate Bliss has many jeweled ponds filled with the waters of eight
virtues. The bottom of each of the ponds is pure golden sand, and the stepped
walkways that lead up from all four sides of each of the ponds are made of gold,
silver, lapis lazuli and crystal. Above the ponds there are towers which are
adorned with silver and gold and lapis lazuli and crystal and mother of pearl
and red agate. In the ponds there are lotus flowers as big as cart wheels: blue
ones shining with blue light, yellow ones shining with yellow light, red ones
shining with red light, and white ones shining with white light, each emitting a
subtle pure fragrance.
The Land of Ultimate Bliss is complete with all
these merits and adornments.
And there is more -- celestial music is
constantly playing in this Buddha-land, and the ground is made of tawny gold.
Flowers in the shape of heavenly orbs rain down at all hours of the day and
night. Every morning the sentient beings of this land decorate their garments
with multitudes of wondrous flowers and make offerings to hundreds of billions
of Buddhas in other worlds. When it is meal time, they return to their own
lands, to eat and circumambulate [the teaching assembly].
The Land of
Ultimate Bliss is complete with all these merits and adornments.
And
there is more still -- in this land there are birds of all sorts of wondrous
variegated colors: white cranes, peacocks, orioles, myna birds, cuckoos. All
these birds bring forth harmonious songs day and night. Their songs communicate
such Buddhist teachings as the five roots, the five powers, the seven factors of
enlightenment, the eightfold path, as well as other teachings. When the sentient
beings in this land hear the voices of the birds, they are mindful of the
Buddhas, mindful of the Dharma [Buddha's teachings], and mindful of the Sangha
[Community of Seekers of Enlightenment].
Do not think that these birds
were born as birds due to karmic retribution for past misdeeds. Why not? In this
Buddha-land, the three evil planes of existence (as animals, hungry ghosts, and
hell-beings) do not exist.
In this Buddha-land even the names of the
evil planes of existence do not exist, much less the realities. All these birds
are the creations of Amitabha Buddha, fashioned in order to broadcast the sounds
of the Dharma.
In this Buddha-land, there is a slight breeze that stirs
the rows of jewel trees and jewel nets, so that they emit subtle wondrous
sounds, like hundreds and thousands of melodies playing all at once. All those
who hear these sounds spontaneously develop the intention to be mindful of the
Buddha, mindful of the Dharma, and mindful of the Sangha.
This
Buddha-land is complete with all these merits and adornments.
What do
you think: why is this Buddha called Amitabha?
The light of this Buddha
is infinite, and shines on all lands throughout the universe without
obstruction. Thus this Buddha is called Amitabha.
Also, the life span
of this Buddha and his people is an infinite number of immeasurable eons, and so
he is called Amitabha.
Amitabha Buddha attained enlightenment ten eons
ago.
Moreover, this Buddha has innumerable disciples, all of whom are
Arhats, and whose numbers are incalculable. Amitabha also has a following of
innumerable Bodhisattvas.
The Land of Ultimate Bliss is complete with
all these merits and adornments.
None of the sentient beings who are
born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss ever fall back into a lower realm [i.e., they
are avaivartika]. Many among them have only one more lifetime [to go before
enlightenment]. These beings are very numerous, and their number is
incalculable: they can be spoken of as innumerable.
When sentient
beings hear [of the Land of Ultimate Bliss], they must take a vow to be born in
this land. Why so? So that they can be together with all these beings of
superior goodness.
One cannot be born in this land through minor good
roots, blessings, virtues and causal connections.
If there are good men
or good women who hear of Amitabha Buddha, and recite his name single mindedly
and without confusion, for one day or two days or three days or four days or
five days or six days or seven days, then when these people are about to die,
Amitabha Buddha and all the sages who are with him will appear before them. When
these people die, their minds will not fall into delusion, and they will attain
rebirth in Amitabha Buddha's Land of Ultimate Bliss.
I have seen this
benefit, and so I speak these words. If sentient beings hear what I say, they
must make a vow to be born in that land.
Right now I am extolling the
benefits of the inconceivable merits of Amitabha Buddha. But in the eastern
direction there are also countless other Buddhas, like Akshobhya Buddha, and the
Buddha "Marks of the Polar Mountain", and the Buddha "Great Polar Mountain", and
the Buddha "Light of the Polar Mountain", and the Buddha "Wondrous Voice". Each
of them preaches in his own land with the eloquence of a Buddha, and covers a
whole cosmos, speaking the truth. All of you sentient beings should believe this
scripture extolling their inconceivable merits, and which all Buddhas protect
and keep in mind.
In the worlds of the southern direction there are
countless other Buddhas, like the Buddha "Lamp of the Sun and Moon", and the
Buddha "Light of Renown", and the Buddha "Great Flaming Shoulders", and the
Buddha "Lamp of the Polar Mountain", and the Buddha "Infinite Progress". Each of
them preaches in his own land with the eloquence of a Buddha, and covers a whole
cosmos, speaking the truth. All of you sentient beings should believe this
scripture extolling their inconceivable merits, and which all Buddhas protect
and keep in mind.
In the worlds of the western direction there are
countless other Buddhas, like the Buddha "Infinite Life", and the Buddha
"Innumerable Characteristics", and the Buddha "Innumerable Banners", and the
Buddha "Great Light", and the Buddha "Great Illumination", and the Buddha "Mark
of Reality", and the Buddha "Light of Purity". Each of them preaches in his own
land with the eloquence of a Buddha, and covers a whole cosmos, speaking the
truth, All of you sentient beings should believe this scripture extolling their
inconceivable merits, and which all Buddhas protect and keep in
mind.
In the worlds of the northern direction there are countless other
Buddhas, like the Buddha "Flaming Shoulders", and the Buddha "Supreme Voice",
and the Buddha "Unstoppable", and the Buddha "Born of the Sun", and the Buddha
"Netted Light". Each of them preaches in his own land with the eloquence of a
Buddha, and covers a whole cosmos, speaking the truth. All of you sentient
beings should believe this scripture extolling their inconceivable merits, and
which all Buddhas protect and keep in mind.
In the worlds of the nadir
there are countless other Buddhas, like the Buddha "Lion", and the Buddha
"Repute", and the Buddha "Light", and the Buddha "Dharma Banner", and the Buddha
"Upholding the Dharma". Each of them preaches in his own land with the eloquence
of a Buddha, and covers a whole cosmos, speaking the truth. All of you sentient
beings should believe this scripture extolling their inconceivable merits, and
which all Buddhas protect and keep in mind.
In the worlds of the zenith
there are countless other Buddhas, like the Buddha "Pure Voice", and the Buddha
"Sojourner King", and the Buddha "Incense Fragrance", and the Buddha "Fragrant
Light", and the Buddha "Great Blazing Shoulders", and the Buddha "Body of
Multicolored Jewel Flower Garlands", and the Buddha "Sala Tree King", and the
Buddha "Precious Flower Virtue", and the Buddha "Sees All Truths", and the
Buddha "Like the Polar Mountain". Each of them preaches in his own land with the
eloquence of a Buddha, and covers a whole cosmos, speaking the truth. All of you
sentient beings should believe this scripture extolling their inconceivable
merits, which all Buddhas protect and keep in mind.
Why do you think
this is called the sutra that is protected and kept in mind by all the
Buddhas?
If there are good men and good women who hear this scripture,
accept it, and uphold it, and they hear the names of all these Buddhas, all
these good men and good women will be protected and kept in mind by all these
Buddhas, and all of them will reach the level where they do not turn back from
complete, unexcelled, correct enlightenment. Therefore, all of you should
faithfully accept what I say and what all the Buddhas have said.
All
those people who have vowed, or are vowing, or will vow to be born in the land
of Amitabha Buddha reach the level where they do not turn back from complete,
unexcelled enlightenment, whether in their past lives, their present lives, or
their future lives. Therefore; all good men and good women, if they have faith,
must make a vow to be born in that land.
Just as I am now extolling the
inconceivable merits of all the Buddhas, all those Buddhas are likewise
extolling my inconceivable merits, with these words: "Shakyamuni Buddha is able
to carry out a most difficult and rare task. In the world "Endurance" [this
world], in an evil world of the Five Corruptions -the corruption of the age, the
corruption of views, the corruption of afflictions, the corruption of sentient
beings, and the corruption of life -- he is able to achieve complete, unexcelled
enlightenment, and to expound the Truth which all beings in all worlds find hard
to believe."
Know then that in the midst of this evil world of the Five
Corruptions, I am able to carry out this difficult task, attain complete,
unexcelled enlightenment, and expound the Truth which is so hard to believe for
beings in all worlds. This is indeed most difficult!
When Buddha had
finished preaching this scripture, Shariputra and all the monks and all the
other gods and humans and asuras and the rest who had been listening, having
heard what the Buddha said, rejoiced and faithfully accepted it. They all bowed
in homage and departed.