Revealing the Western Pure Land
Excerpts from the Commentary on the Amitabha Sutra, by Grand Master Ou-i
After introducing those who were attending this Dharma teaching, Grand Master Ou-i explains that next is the special introduction.
The wondrous gate of the Pure Land is inconceivable, and no one was able to ask about it, so Buddha took it upon himself to begin by extolling its name. Moreover, given that the Buddha is able to evaluate the potentials of sentient beings unerringly, he saw that this great assembly ought to hear about the wondrous gate of the Pure Land so they could gain benefits. Therefore, he did not wait for questions, but began by himself.
The sutra reads: “At that time Buddha said to the Elder Shariputra:
“West of here, past a hundred billion Buddha-lands, there exists a world called Ultimate Bliss. In this land there is a Buddha called Amitabha, who is preaching the Dharma right now.”
The Pure Land method takes in all people, whether they are of low, medium, or high capacity. It is beyond all relativities, in perfect fusion. It is inconceivable: it is perfectly all-encompassing, and goes completely beyond all other Buddhist methods. It is very profound and hard to believe in. Therefore it is specially announced to those of great wisdom: without the highest level of wisdom, you cannot arrive directly at the stage where you have no doubts about the Pure Land teaching.
“West” signifies the place where the Pure Land appears. A “Buddha-land” is a whole great galaxy of worlds that are all taught by one Buddha. In terms of our world, there is a central Polar Mountain, and four continents to the east, west, south, and north of it, illuminated by the same sun and moon, surrounded by a circular range of iron mountains: this is one world. A thousand of these make up a small world-system, a thousand small world-systems make up a medium world system, and a thousand medium world-systems make up a great galaxy of worlds. West of a hundred billion of such Buddha-lands is the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Ask: Why is the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the west?
[Master Ou-i] Answer: This is not a good question. If the Land of Ultimate Bliss were in the east, you would be asking why it is in the east. Isn’t this just playing with words? What’s more, if you look at the Land of Ultimate Bliss from a vantage point beyond the hundred billion Buddha-lands, it is in the east. What is worth creating doubts about?
“There exists a world called Ultimate Bliss.” This introduces us to the name of Amitabha’s environment, to his domain. In the temporal dimension, its time is reckoned in terms of past, present, and future. In the spatial dimension, its boundaries are reckoned in terms of the Ten Directions (the four cardinal directions, the four intermediate directions, the nadir and the zenith).
The Sanskrit name for the Land of Ultimate Bliss is “Sukhavati”. It is also called the Land of Peaceful Nurturing, the Land of Peace and Bliss, the Land of Pure Equanimity and a few other names. The basic meaning is that it is utterly peaceful and secure, and forever removed from all forms of pain and suffering. This is explained at length below.
There are four kinds of Pure Land, and each kind is in turn subdivided in terms of purity or defilement.
Buddhas have three bodies, which are discussed in terms of singularity and multiplicity.
When the sutra says “there exists a world called Ultimate Bliss” and “there exists a Buddha called Amitabha,” it is saying that both that world and that Buddha do actually exist.
There are four meanings here.
1) There is a real Pure Land, and it makes us happy to seek it.
2) It gives us truthful instructions, to make us concentrate on the Pure land.
3) The Pure Land is not a figment of the imagination or a mirage, that it is not a roundabout teaching not to be taken literally, that it is not an empty falsity, that it is not a land reached via the Theravada vehicle.
4) The Pure Land is part of our true nature, to enable us to have a profound realization of it and penetrate into the truth of Real mark (the Mind).
“Buddha expounding the Dharma” on this occasion shows that both the Pure Land and Amitabha exist — this is not a case of “the past is already gone, and the future has not yet taken shape.” We must make a vow to be born in the Pure Land, and to hear Amitabha’s teaching personally, so that we may quickly achieve true enlightenment.
The fact that the Pure Land and Amitabha Buddha are here in the present encourages us to have faith. The fact that Amitabha’s world is called the Land of Ultimate Bliss encourages us to vow to be born there. The fact that the Buddha in the Pure Land is called Amitabha encourages us to engage in the wondrous practice of invoking his name.
The words of the sutra are concise, but the meaning is very profound.
This concludes my commentary on the introductory portion of the sutra.
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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
