Five Corrupted Aspects in our World
Excerpts from the Commentary on the Amitabha Sutra, by Grand Master Ou-i
Sakyamuni identified five corrupted aspects that exist in our Saha World.
From the Amitabha Sutra, Sakyamuni continued:
“Just as I am now extolling the inconceivable virtues of all the Buddhas, all those Buddhas are likewise extolling my inconceivable virtues, with these words: “Sakyamuni Buddha is able to carry out a most difficult and rare task.
In the Saha World, the World of Endurance, 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 Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment, and to expound the Pure Land teaching, which all beings in all worlds find hard to believe.”
Grand Master Ou-i commented that, although the virtues and wisdom of all the Buddhas are equal, the way they bestow their teachings differs in degrees of difficulty and ease.
Achieving enlightenment in the Pure Land is easy, compared to achieving enlightenment in our corrupt mundane world.
Explaining the Dharma to the sentient beings in the Pure Land is easy, compared to explaining the Dharma to the sentient beings in our corrupt mundane world.
Explaining the gradual form of the Buddhist Teaching to the sentient beings in our corrupt mundane world is easy, compared to explaining the sudden form of the Buddhist Teaching.
Explaining the sudden form of the Buddhist Teaching (other than Pure Land teachings) to the sentient beings in our corrupt mundane world is easy, compared to explaining the sudden Pure Land teaching of horizontal transcendence.
Explaining the Pure Land teaching of horizontal transcendence with its sudden practice and sudden realization and wondrous contemplation is not easy. But the hardest of all is explaining this supreme skillful technique, this special surpassing wonder, this Pure Land method that goes beyond all conceptualizations, and teaches us that we do not need laborious cultivation, but have only to recite the Buddha-name in order to ascend directly to the level where we do not fall back from the path to enlightenment. That is why all the Buddhas of the Ten Directions put forward our Sakyamuni Buddha as the most valiant of all.
The sutra speaks of the world of the Five Corruptions (Turbidities). What does this mean?
The corruption of the age means that this is a time when wars and natural disasters are rife. If not for the Pure Land practice which enables us to transcend the mundane world “horizontally”, taking our karmic burden along with us, deliverance would surely be impossible.
The corruption of views means that misguided, perverse views proliferate: the view that our bodies are entities we possess, the view that we are annihilated after death or else live on forever, the view that there is no cause and effect, the view that what we cling to with our arbitrary opinions is best, and the view that we will find salvation by our own subjectively chosen methods. Because we are deluded by such views and utterly submerged in them, this is called the corruption of views. Amidst the corruption of views, if we do not make use of the expedient means of the Pure Land teaching to discover our Mind, we surely cannot be saved.
The corruption of afflictions means that compulsions and confusions caused by greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt are increasing more and more, causing trouble and chaos. Amidst the corruption of afflictions, without the Pure Land practice that affirms that our ordinary minds are one with the Buddha-Mind, we surely cannot be saved.
Under the influence of the corruption of views and the corruption of afflictions, the Five Skandhas mix together in a coarse and debased way, giving rise to what are provisionally called sentient beings; hence the term, the corruption of sentient beings. Sentient beings are debased both at the level of form and at the level of mind, so they are called corrupt. Given the corruption of the human condition, without the practice of shunning the mundane world and joyfully seeking the Pure Land, salvation is impossible.
The corruption of life means that our causal basis and hence the results we realize are both degenerate, and our life spans are shortened, and do not reach a hundred years, so they are called corrupt. Given the corruption of life, we cannot be saved without the Pure Land practice.
Moreover, faith and vows and recitation of the name of Amitabha transform the corruption of the age into an assembly of purity, transform the corruption of views into infinite light, transform the corruption of afflictions into the eternal still light, transform the corruption of sentient beings into beings born by transformation from lotuses in the Pure Land, and transform the corruption of life into infinite life.
Thus each recitation of the Buddha-name is a method of achieving the mind of Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment practiced by our fundamental teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha, in the midst of this evil world of the Five Corruptions.
In this sutra, Sakyamuni Buddha is taking the whole essence of this enlightenment and bestowing it on sentient beings of this evil and corrupt world. This is the realm which all the Buddhas experience, and which only the Buddhas can experience fully. It is not something which those in the planes of the hell-beings, the hungry ghosts, the animals, the asuras, the human beings, the devas, the shravakas, the pratyekas, or even the Bodhisattvas can fully comprehend by their own power.
When the other Buddhas extol Sakyamuni for teaching the Pure Land method to “sentient beings,” this means the people in our evil world of the Five Corruptions. When the sutra mentions “all worlds,” it means all the worlds sentient beings inhabit.
The previous admonition to believe in the Pure Land teaching was the command of all the Buddhas. Below is the exhortation of our teacher Sakyamuni Buddha. Here Sakyamuni addresses all sentient beings in the Dharma Realm, as the Buddhas before addressed themselves to “all you sentient beings.” We must realize that the Bodhisattvas like Manjushri and the Arhats like Mahakashyapa are also included among those to whom this command is given.
The sutra continued,
“Know then that in the midst of this evil world of the Five Corruptions, I am able to carry out this difficult task, attain Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment, and expound the Pure Land teaching, which is so hard for beings in all worlds to believe. This is indeed most difficult!”
The single practice of faith, vows, and reciting the Buddha-name is not for the purpose of mundane benefits; it can effect the complete transformation of the world of the Five Corruptions. Only through faith can we enter this realm; mere thinking cannot get us to it.
If it were not for our fundamental teacher Sakyamuni Buddha entering into our evil world, showing the attainment of enlightenment, and using his great wisdom and great compassion to reveal this, practice this, and teach this, how would sentient beings have received this message?
- We live amidst the corruption of the age, and we are certainly imprisoned by our time, and harried by suffering.
- We live amidst the corruption of views, and we are certainly enmeshed in misguided knowledge, and deluded by false teachers.
- We live amidst the corruption of afflictions, and we are certainly ensnared by craving and desire, and burdened by bad karma.
- We live amidst the corruption of sentient beings, and we certainly rest complacently in stinking filth, without being aware of it; we are willing to stay degraded and weak, without exerting ourselves to rise any higher.
- We live amidst the corruption of life, and we are certainly swallowed up by impermanence, with our lives flashing by too quickly for us to cope.
If we do not deeply understand the severe difficulties we are facing, if we think that there is some other method besides Pure Land practice that can extricate us from the Five Corruptions, we are lost in a welter of empty arguments inside a burning house.
Only if we deeply realize the seriousness of the difficulties we are facing will we be willing to eradicate our dishonest attitudes, and value Pure Land practice for the treasure it is. This is why our teacher Sakyamuni Buddha went to such lengths to explain to us what a dire situation we are in and make us realize the implications.
Finally the sutra reaches its conclusion:
“When Buddha finished preaching this scripture, Shariputra and all the monks, gods, humans, asuras and others who had been listening, having heard what the Buddha said, rejoiced and faithfully accepted it. They all bowed in homage and departed.”
The Pure Land teaching is inconceivable. It is difficult to believe in and difficult to understand; no one could have asked Buddha about it. But Buddha in his wisdom discerned the dynamics of the situation and realized that the circumstances were ripe for sentient beings to become enlightened.
Thus he expounded the Pure Land teaching without being asked, to enable sentient beings to benefit by hearing the truth, to benefit by helping others and doing good, to benefit by shunning evil, and to benefit by experiencing the supreme truth.
Buddha’s Pure Land teaching was like timely rain, and thus his listeners “rejoiced and faithfully accepted it.” “Rejoiced” means they felt delight of the body and mind. “Faithfully” means they had no doubts or ambivalence. “Accepted it” means they took it in and would never forget it. The phrase “they all bowed in homage” signifies that they were moved by the Buddha’s great benevolence, and entrusted themselves to him. Their departure signifies that they went on to practice consistently according to what Buddha had taught them, and never turned back.
(This concludes the commentary. Grand Master Ou-i attached an Afterword at the end of this commentary and showed his unwavering belief on the Buddha’s Pure Land teaching.)
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Source:
The above excerpt is a translation from the Chinese Commentary on the Amitabha Sutra written by Grand Master Ou-i. Translation comes from the book, Mind-Seal of the Buddhas.
To learn more about the Pure Land teachings from this commentary, read the complete text at The Commentary on The Amitabha Sutra.
Resources:
Five Pure Land Sutras from Pure Land Buddhism
Buddha-name Chanting Music Collection
