Obtaining Good Fortune upon Hearing Name
From Amitabha Buddha’s Great Vows 25, 26 & 27
Obtaining Good Fortune upon Hearing Name
Amitabha Buddha’s Great Vows 25, 26 & 27
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, beings in the ten directions who hear my name and happily believe and rejoice, pay homage and take refuge, and with a pure mind cultivate the bodhisattva practice will be respected by all heavenly beings and humans. Thus, these beings who hear my name will be reborn into noble families at the end of their lives. All their sense organs will be without flaws. They will continue with their cultivation of the splendid pure practice. If this is not so, I will not attain perfect enlightenment.
- Vow 25. Respect from heavenly beings and humans.
- Vow 26. Obtain good fortune from hearing name.
- Vow 27. Cultivate splendid pure practice.
Vows eighteen to twenty-four tell of the benefits of the beings who meet the respective requisites of utmost sincere belief, vow, and practice. They receive the highest benefits from hearing the buddha-name. They will attain birth in the Western Pure Land in their current lifetime.
Vows twenty-five through to twenty-seven reveal the unsurpassed benefits of those who hear the name of Amitabha Buddha and happily believe and rejoice. As explained previously, to “hear my name” in the vows is not solely hearing the name but everything about Amitabha Buddha, his forty-eight vows, and the magnificence of his land and the bodhisattvas who live there. Although joyful, these beings who thus hear Amitabha Buddha’s name have not yet truly aspired to be born in the Pure Land. They will be reborn in a noble and honorable family.
The phrase “noble families” refers to those who have been doing good deeds and accumulating virtues here in samsara. Born into such families, the beings will continue their cultivation of pure practice.
Pure practice means that one will observe the precepts. The “splendid pure practice” means that one will continue to practice Mahayana Buddhism, especially the Pure Land method.
The Buddha’s original aspiration is for all sentient beings to be born in the Pure Land and attain supreme buddhahood in one lifetime. But for those who do not wish to go to the Pure Land, the Buddha will not force them. All sentient beings have different goals, ideals, and wishes. Some people wish to be born in the Pure Land. Others, thinking that this world is beautiful and not bad, do not aspire to go to that land. For those who want to be reborn as a human, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas will help them by teaching them the proper conduct to gain good fortune.
For those who want to be reborn in the heavens, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas will teach them the proper conduct to be born there. In other words, there is nothing proper that people cannot ask for, whether it be buddhahood, or human or heavenly good fortune. We can see this very clearly from these three vows.
The saying “In Buddhism, when there is a request, there will be a response” is true. Some practitioners request something but do not receive a response. Why is this? All requests must be proper and in accordance with what is reasonable, rational, and moral. If the request is not in accordance with these, it is impossible to receive a response.
When it comes to the principle of request and response, the fundamental principle is that the true nature gives birth to all dharmas. So how do we seek all dharmas, worldly and beyond? We seek within our true nature. This is why we are able to receive what we seek. If our request does not accord with the true nature, we will definitely not receive a response. Therefore, requesting in a reasonable, rational, and moral way is requesting in accordance with the true nature — not transgressing it. This kind of request will receive a response.
The Book of Changes says “A family that accumulates goodness will be rewarded.” When one cultivates virtues and does virtuous deeds, one will receive good fortune. But worldly good fortune cannot help us to transcend samsara, the cycle of birth and death, and be forever free of suffering.
We need to seek within our true nature to transcend samsara, to go to the Pure Land. We start by cultivating a pure, single-minded mind because a pure mind is part of our true nature.
To seek birth in the Pure Land, one must have a pure mind, and when the mind is pure, the land will be pure. If one’s mind is not pure, one cannot be born in the Pure Land.
Vow twenty-five refers to Pure Land practitioners who sincerely chant the buddha-name and diligently cultivate the bodhisattva practice, but have no intention to seek birth in the Pure Land. Unable to transcend the cycle of rebirth, they can only obtain respect from human and heavenly beings.
In vow twenty-six, we learn that these practitioners will have more good fortune in their next life than in this life. Their next life will also be more extraordinary than their current one.
In vow twenty-seven, we learn that they will have an excellent opportunity to continue cultivating. In this world, there are also many wealthy people who, unfortunately, have not heard the Buddha’s teachings in their current life. This is because although they cultivated good fortune in their previous lives, they did not hear and chant the name of Amitabha Buddha.
The loss of not hearing the Buddha-dharma is immeasurable.
But the loss of not encountering the Pure Land method is unimaginable.
>> Learn more: The Initiation, Amitabha Buddha’s Forty-eight Vows
—
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.
