Faith, Vows, and Practice
The Three Provisions of the Pure Land School
Faith, Vows, and Practice are called “The Three Provisions” of the Pure Land Buddhism. Just like a traveler embarking on a distant journey, one must make provisions for food, clothing, and money sufficient to cover their needs along the trip.
This is same for Pure Land practitioners, they require Faith to make firm Vows. And Faith and Vows are hollow without Practice. Likewise, even if Practice is adequate, without Faith and Vows, that Practice will go astray, lacking principles and direction. Therefore, Faith, Vows, and Practice are the provisions of those going home to the Western Pure Land out of our mundane world.
The Three Provisions of Faith, Vows, and Practice thus go hand-in-hand together with each other along attainment of Buddhahood. As in the words of Master Ou-I, from Commentary on the Amitabha Sutra,
“Without faith, we are not sufficiently equipped to take vows. Without vows, we are not sufficiently equipped to guide our practice. Without the wondrous practice of reciting the Buddha-name, we are not sufficiently equipped to fulfill our vows and to bring our faith to fruition.”
FAITH
The concept of Faith is especially important in all Buddhist schools, be it Zen, Pure Land, Tantric etc. As quoted from the Avatamsaka Sutra:
“Faith is the basis of the Path, the mother of virtues,
Nourishing and growing all good ways,
Cutting away the net of doubt,
Freeing from the torrent of passion,
Revealing the unsurpassed road to ultimate peace.”
(Thomas Cleary, translation of The Flower Ornament Scripture [Avatamsaka Sutra], Vol. I, p. 331.)
VOWS
The importance of Vows is best illustrated with this story told by Sakyamuni Buddha himself:
Once Sakyamuni Buddha and his disciple Mahamaudgalyayana went with a large gathering of followers to another country to convert living beings. When the citizens saw the Buddha, they shut their doors and ignored him. When they saw Maudgalyayana, however, they ran to greet him, and everyone, from the King and ministers to the citizens, all bowed and competed to make offerings to him. The Buddha’s disciples thought this most unfair. “World Honored One,” they said, “your virtuous conduct is so lofty; why is it that they do not make offerings to you, but instead compete to make offerings to Maudgalyayana?”
“This is because of past affinities,” said the Buddha. “I will tell you.”
“Limitless aeons ago, Maudgalyayana and I were fellow countrymen. He gathered firewood in the mountains and I lived in a hut below. A swarm of bees was bothering me and I decided to smoke them out. But Maudgalyayana refused to help even though they stung him until his hands were swollen and painful. Instead, he made a vow, ‘It must be miserable to be a bee,’ he thought. ‘I vow that when I attain the Way I will try to save these Asura-like bees first thing!’
“Many lifetimes later the bees were reborn as the citizens of this country. The queen bee became the King, the drones became the ministers, and the workers became the citizens. Because I didn’t like the bees, I now have no affinity with these people and therefore no one makes offerings to me. Because of his vow, all the citizens revere Maudgalyayana.”
According to the Buddha, as sentient beings, we all have strong attachments — particularly to our bodies and possessions. At the time of death, as we are about to lose both body and possessions, our consciousness, impelled by these deep-seated attachments, rushes to reincarnate itself in another body. It is at this juncture that vows, particularly the vow for rebirth in the Pure Land, are crucial. Instead of following our karma, good and evil, we may, through the power of these vows, achieve rebirth in the Pure Land.
PRACTICE
The hallmark of Practice in Pure Land Buddhism is “reciting the Buddha-name”, that is, invoking Amitabha Buddha by chanting his name. Invoking the name of Amitabha is a means to get in touch with the power of Amitabha himself. Through singlemindedly reciting the Buddha-name, we focus our attention on Amitabha Buddha. This enables us to achieve Buddha-remembrance, or mindfulness of Buddha.
Grand Master Ou-i explains the Amitabha’s power to the Pure Land practitioners:
”Amitabha is the guide of the Pure Land. By the power of his forty-eight vows, he receives sentient beings who have vowed to practice Buddha-remembrance by invoking the Buddha-name and enables them to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and never fall back from there.”
Even at the last phases of practice of a Bodhisattva before final Buddhahood, as seen in the chapter 26 of the Avatamsaka Sutra, it is taught that at each and every stage, the actions of the Bodhisattva “never go beyond mindful of the Buddha or Buddha-name Recitation”:
“This is a summary of the tenth stage of enlightening beings, called Cloud of Teaching… Whatever acts they undertake, whether through giving, or kind speech, or beneficial action, or cooperation, it is all never apart from thoughts of Buddha (Buddha Mindfulness or Recitation).”
(Thomas Cleary, translation of The Flower Ornament Scripture [Avatamsaka Sutra], Vol. II, p 111)
Therefore, among all the expedient methods expounded by the Buddha to us, if we seek the most direct and the most complete, none is better than seeking rebirth in the Pure Land through mindfulness of the Buddha or Buddha-name recitation. If we seek the simplest and most reliable among all the methods, the best is to develop faith and vows and to concentrate on reciting the Buddha-name.
The compassion of the Buddhas is inconceivable, and the merits of their names are also inconceivable. Thus, once you hear a Buddha-name, no matter whether you are mindful or not, or whether you believe in it or not, it always becomes the seed of an affinity with the Truth.
As Master Ou-i said,
“If we develop Faith and Vows, and Recite the Buddha-name, when we die, Amitabha and the lotus assembly of saints will appear before us to lead us away. That way we will achieve undisturbed mind and be free to be reborn in the Pure Land.”
Read more from Grand Master Ou-i’s Guiding Principle on cultivation.
Resources:
Commentary of The Amitabha Sutra by Grand Master Ou-i: Guiding Principle on cultivation
