Infinite Lifespan of All Who Dwell in the Pure Land
From Amitabha Buddha’s Great Vows 15 & 16
Infinite Lifespan of All Who Dwell in the Pure Land
Amitabha Buddha’s Great Vows 15 & 16
Sakyamuni Buddha speaks of the monk Dharmakara, his practice, and his forty-eight vows before he became Amitabha Buddha. Excerpted from the Infinite Life Sutra:
When I become a Buddha, my lifespan will be infinite. In my land, the number of sound-hearers, heavenly beings, and humans will be countless. Lifespans will also be infinite. Suppose all beings in a great trichiliocosm become pratyekabuddhas and for hundreds of thousands of kalpas they calculate together. If they can know the number, I will not attain perfect enlightenment.
- Vow 15. Infinite lifespan.
- Vow 16. An incalculable number of sound-hearers.
Previously, we learned that Dharmakara vowed his light will be infinite, illuminating the ten directions universally. Now we learn that when he becomes a Buddha, his lifespan will also be infinite. Infinite life represents infinite time, encompassing the past, present, and future.
Amitabha Buddha’s lifespan is infinite. This means that he will be teaching the Dharma for an incredibly long time. Opportunities for teaching will be endless, and the opportunities to benefit beings will also be endless. Countless beings will benefit.
The lifespans of the bodhisattvas in the Western Pure Land are also infinite. This is the number one merit of the Pure Land. Having a long lifespan is important in order for the bodhisattvas there to continue their cultivation and learning directly from Amitabha Buddha. A short life will interrupt one’s practice. In the Pure Land, where the lifespan is infinite, there is no chance of it ending too soon. The bodhisattvas have all the time they need to attain supreme, perfect enlightenment.
In his sixteenth vow, Dharmakara spoke of how “the number of sound-hearers, heavenly beings, and humans will be countless” in his land. These titles are symbolic because the Pure Land is a world of bodhisattvas. There are no sound-hearers, heavenly beings, and humans there. Having initiated the bodhi mind, all have belief, made the vow, and cultivated mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha. They are now bodhisattvas in the Pure Land.
When we go to the Pure Land, we are initially identified by the path we were in just before our birth in that land. When we go there as humans, we will be referred to as such. When heavenly beings go there, they will be referred to as heavenly beings. Sound-hearers, too, will be known according to their status before they are born in the Pure Land.
Dharmakara next spoke of all the beings in a great trichiliocosm becoming pratyekabuddhas, with abilities beyond arhats, doing calculations. Generally, a Buddha’s realm of teaching, which is a buddha-land, covers “a great trichiliocosm,” a three-thousand great-thousandfold world system.
A great trichiliocosm, the largest possible universe, is often calculated to be one billion world systems. A world system is roughly similar to our concept of one galaxy.
Pratyekabuddhas are self-enlightened ones who learned from Buddhas in their previous lifetimes. They attain enlightenment through their own efforts, at a time when there is no Buddha teaching, by observing the twelve links of dependent causation. Unlike Buddhas, pratyekabuddhas have not yet developed the compassion required for teaching others and so do not. They may, however, guide others through examples.
Pratyekabuddhas have extraordinary powers. If all beings in a trichiliocosm become pratyekabuddhas, they still would not be able to calculate the “number,” even if they took hundreds of thousands of kalpas to do so.
What is this number? It actually refers to three numbers:
1) the lifespan of Amitabha Buddha,
2) the number of all the bodhisattvas in the Pure Land, and
3) the lifespans of all the bodhisattvas in the Pure Land.
Dharmakara said that if they “can know the number, I will not attain perfect enlightenment.”
>> Learn more: The Initiation, Amitabha Buddha’s Forty-eight Vows
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Dedication of Merit
May the merits and virtues accrued from this work
adorn the Buddha’s pure land,
repay the four kinds of kindness above,
and relieve the sufferings of those in the three paths below.
May all those who see and hear of this
bring forth the bodhi mind
and at the end of this life,
be born together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Note: The above is excerpted from the book “Awakening the Bodhi Mind: Amitabha Buddha’s Forty-Eight Vows”, which is available for download at eLibrary collection, Amitabha Gallery.
The Amitabha Buddha’s forty-eight vows is derived from the Chinese verses of the Infinite Life Sutra, that we are immensely grateful to the compilation efforts by Mr Xia Lianju. Translation credits go to The Pure Land Translation Team, Pure Land College Press.
