Western Pure Land is ten billion Buddha-lands away; how can we reach there?
Excerpted from Ten Doubts About Pure Land, by Master Zhi-yi
The Western Pure Land is ten billion Buddha-lands away from the Earth, as expounded by Sakyamuni Buddha in the Amitabha Sutra and the Infinite Life Sutra. We common ordinary people are weak and frail. How can we reach the Western Pure Land?
The 6th Century T’ien T’ai Chinese Patriarch Master Zhi-yi had once addressed this in a book called “Ten Doubts About the Pure Land”.
The Western Pure Land is described as being ten billion Buddha-lands away from here only with respect to the limited concepts of ordinary people with eyes of flesh and blood, mired in birth and death.
For those who have attained the pure karma of rebirth in the Pure Land, the Mind in samadhi at the time of death is precisely the Mind reborn in the Pure Land. As soon as the thought (of rebirth) arises, rebirth is achieved.
Thus, the Visualization (Meditation) Sutra states that “the Land of Amitabha Buddha is not far from here!” Moreover, the power of karma is inconceivable.
In the space of one thought, rebirth in the Pure Land is achieved. There is no need to worry about distance.
This is analogous to a person asleep and dreaming. Although his body is on the bed, his Mind is traveling all over, to all worlds, as though he were awake.
Resources:
Biography of Master Zhi-yi (538–597 CE)
See also: Amitabha Buddha — A name goes beyond space and time
See also: Mindful Visualization of the World of Sukhavati
See also: Revealing the Western Pure Land
