Dwelling in Samadhi and Offering to All Buddhas
From Amitabha Buddha’s Great Vows 44 & 45
Dwelling in Samadhi and Offering to All Buddhas
Amitabha Buddha’s Great Vows 44 & 45
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, all the bodhisattvas in the buddha-lands in the ten directions, upon hearing my name, will immediately attain the purity samadhi, liberation samadhi, and universal equality samadhi, and uphold the essence of the Dharma. They will dwell in samadhi until they attain buddhahood. While in samadhi, they will constantly make offerings to all the infinite Buddhas throughout boundless space without losing meditative concentration. If this is not so, I will not attain perfect enlightenment.
- Vow 44. Attain samadhi of universal equality.
- Vow 45. Make offerings to Buddhas while in samadhi.
With his great compassion, during his causal stage practice, Dharmakara made forty-eight vows to help all sentient beings in the ten directions. The first forty-three vows were made to universally help all beings in the six paths. The last five vows were made to universally help all bodhisattvas. As many great masters have said, this Dharma door is able to help all beings — those from the evil paths all the way up to equal-enlightenment bodhisattvas.
“Hearing my name,” as explained previously, is not solely about hearing the name but encompasses everything about Amitabha Buddha, his forty-eight vows, and the magnificence of his land and the bodhisattvas who live there. To be able to hear the name of Amitabha Buddha, these bodhisattvas need to have a sufficient amount of good roots, good fortune and virtues, and causal conditions.
When bodhisattvas in other buddha-lands hear the name of Amitabha Buddha, they are very respectful, very joyful, and sincerely praise him. Believing in Amitabha Buddha, and having the same aspiration to help all beings, they introduce the Pure Land method to the beings and inspire them to be born in the Western Pure Land. Having chosen to remain in samsara to help the beings there, these bodhisattvas all receive the support of Amitabha Buddha.
Amitabha Buddha wants to empower and support these bodhisattvas, no matter what situation they are in. Situations are twofold. One component is the physical environment; for example, the six paths or, even worse, the three evil paths. The other component is their interpersonal environment. Regardless of the situation, Amitabha Buddha will help and support the bodhisattvas to keep their body and mind pure — untainted by the physical environment or their interpersonal environment. This is how they attain the “purity samadhi.”
In “attain the purity samadhi, liberation samadhi, and universal equality samadhi,” “liberation” means freedom. One definitely will not give rise to greed, anger, ignorance, and arrogance — no attachments. One will have no wandering thoughts. This is liberation.
“Universal equality” is when one’s mind is the same as a Buddha’s mind.
The three samadhis here refer to the buddha-name mindfulness samadhi, which is the king of all samadhis. There is nothing more wondrous than this. When a bodhisattva attains the buddha-name mindfulness samadhi, that bodhisattva attains the three samadhis of purity, liberation, and universal equality.
Next is the phrase “uphold the essence of the Dharma.” When ancient Pure Land great masters compared all the sutras to find the essence of the entire Buddhadharma, they concluded that the essence is Amitabha Buddha’s name. From this comparison, we truly realize the inconceivable merits and virtues of the buddha-name: the buddha-name is the essence of all the Dharma and all the Dharma eventually leads back to the buddha-name.
How does “upholding the essence of the Dharma” look in practice? One who grasps and upholds the essence of the Buddhadharma will never lose their goodness, and their evil will never surface. This will be reflected in their daily behavior. For example, when Pure Land practitioners chant the buddha-name without doubt, intermingling, or interruption, they have grasped the essence.
Vow forty-four concludes with, “They will dwell in samadhi until they attain buddhahood.” This sentence means the bodhisattvas will peacefully abide in meditation, which refers to the buddha-name mindfulness samadhi. They remain in this samadhi until they attain perfect enlightenment.
“While in samadhi, they will constantly make offerings to all the infinite Buddhas in all of boundless space without losing concentration.” All bodhisattvas in the Pure Land have this benefit of making offerings to all Buddhas in the ten directions with a single thought. Can bodhisattvas who are not in the Pure Land also receive this benefit when they “hear” Amitabha Buddha’s name? Yes!
For those who do not have this ability, once they are supported by Amitabha Buddha’s great power, they will instantly be able to “constantly make offerings to all the infinite Buddhas in all of boundless space.” Whether in the Pure Land or not, the bodhisattvas receive the same benefits. From this vow, we can see that the mind of Amitabha Buddha is impartial. He does not only support those who come to his land. He neither discriminates nor has attachments. His mind is truly a pure mind, an impartial mind.
How do we learn to have an impartial mind like that of Amitabha Buddha? We have many Buddhist Dharma doors. For example, in addition to the Pure Land Dharma door, there are the Zen, Tiantai, Vajrayana, and Theravada Dharma doors. What kind of attitude should we adopt towards practitioners of these Dharma doors?
We have to learn from Amitabha Buddha.
We should not say that our method is better than that of others. If we discriminate, if we have attachments, if we are arrogant, then our mind is not aligned with the mind of Amitabha Buddha. Amitabha Buddha treats people impartially. We need to be impartial like Amitabha Buddha. No matter which Dharma door others practice, we should praise them joyfully. Just as we have chosen the Dharma door that is suitable for us and we have an affinity with, they have done the same. All methods are taught by the Buddha and thus are equally good and worthy of our respect.
When one is able to believe in and understand the Pure Land Dharma door, one has the appropriate affinity. This person has accumulated Pure Land good roots for infinite kalpas and their good roots have matured. Today, as we practice this method, we need to appreciate this opportunity.
As we see in vows forty-four and forty-five, with Amitabha Buddha’s support the bodhisattvas will achieve and dwell in the three samadhis. With these samadhis, they will be able to make offerings to all Buddhas without losing their meditative concentration. These are just some of the wondrous benefits they receive from “hearing my name.”
Such is the mighty power of Amitabha Buddha’s support.
>> 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.
