Pure Land Zen
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| Western Pure Land |
Is there a problem with Pure Land Buddhism? It sounds very cool and altruistic. In Pure-Land Zen, Zen Pure-Land Master Kuang begins the book with this observation:
“Thus, at the popular level, the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha is an ideal training ground, an ideal environment where the practitioner is reborn thanks both to his own efforts and the power of Amitabha Buddha’s vows (other-power). No longer subject to retrogression, having left Birth and Death behind forever, the cultivator can now focus all his efforts toward the ultimate aim of Buddhahood. This aspect of Pure Land is the form under which the school is popularly known.
“At the advanced level, i.e., for cultivators of high spiritual capacity, the Pure Land method, like other methods, reverts the ordinary, deluded mind to the Self-Nature True Mind. In the process, wisdom and Buddhahood are eventually attained. This is exemplified by the following advice of the eminent Zen master Chu Hung (Jap. Shuko), one of the three “Dragon-Elephants” of 16th-17th century China:
“Right now you simply must recite the buddha-name with purity and illumination. Purity means reciting the buddha-name without any other thoughts. Illumination means reflecting back as you recite the buddha-name. Purity is sammata (sic), “stopping.” Illumination is vipasyana, “observing.” Unify your mindfulness of buddha through buddha-name recitation, and stopping and observing are both present. (J.C. Cleary, Pure Land, Pure Mind.)
“As stated in Buddhism of Wisdom and Faith (Section 18):
“If we have the roots and the temperament of Mahayana followers, we should naturally understand that the goal of Buddha Recitation is to achieve Buddhahood ... Why is it that the goal of Buddha Recitation is to become a Buddha? This high-level form of Pure Land is practiced by those of deep spiritual capacities: “when the mind is pure, the Buddha land is pure ... to recite the Buddha’s name is to recite the Mind.” Thus, at the advanced level, Pure Land is Zen; Zen is Pure Land.
“In its totality, Pure Land reflects the highest teaching of Buddhism as expressed in the Avatamsaka Sutra: mutual identity and interpenetration, the simplest method contains the ultimate and the ultimate is found in the simplest.
“These three factors are the cornerstones of Pure Land Buddhism. If they are present, rebirth in the Pure Land is achieved. Faith means faith in Amitabha Buddha’s Vow to rescue all who recite His name, as well as faith in one’s own Self-Nature, which is intrinsically the same as His (to recite the Buddha’s name is to recite the Mind). Vows are the determination to be reborn in the Pure Land – in one’s pure Mind – so as to be in the position to save oneself and others. Practice generally means reciting the Buddha’s name to the point where one’s Mind and that of Amitabha Buddha are in unison – i.e., to the point of singlemindedness (sic). Samadhi and wisdom are then achieved.
“Please note that all Buddhist teachings are expedients, dividing the one and indivisible Truth into many parts. Faith, Vows and Practice, although three, are really one. Thus, it can be said that rebirth in the Pure Land depends on three conditions or two conditions (Faith and Vows) or even one condition (Faith), as the one contains all and all is contained in the one. The formula to be used depends on the audience and the times. The aim is to enable sentient beings to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land as a steppingstone toward Buddhahood.”
The Buddha, whether historical or cosmic, never intended the Way to be all that difficult. He gave us 84,000 Dharma Gates, that is 84,000 lines in the Pali Canon that would help almost anyone of any inclination. The Buddha only asked that you open your eyes and work on it. The Pali Canon adds whole libraries of commentaries to explain the Buddha’s words. Mahayana, while having no definite canon adds literally thousands if sutras and commentaries to an already vast literature. The theory is no reason why anyone cannot become an enlightened being. What stand in our own way is our karma. That makes us untamable beings. "And if a tamable person does not submit either to a mild training or to a harsh training or to a mild and harsh training, what do you do?"
"If a tamable person does not submit either to a mild training or to a harsh training or to a mild and harsh training, then I kill him, Kesi."
"But it's not proper for our Blessed One to take life! And yet the Blessed One just said, 'I kill him, Kesi.'"
Kesi Sutta
“To Kesi the Horse-trainer”
The anagamis have not yet achieved the enlightened state in this lifetime because he or she has not been able to free themselves from the fetters of ego. Hence the theory of Pure Land Buddhism was seen as an expedient to achieve this freedom.The Pali terms for the specific chains or fetters (Pali: saṃyojana) of which an anagami is free are: 1. Sakkāya-diṭṭhi: Belief in self2. Vicikicchā: Skeptical doubt3. Sīlabbata-parāmāsa: Attachment to rites and rituals4. Kāma-rāga: Sensuous craving5. Byāpāda: Ill will But he or she is not freed from: 1. Rūpa-rāga: Craving for fine-material existence (the first 4 jhanas)2. Arūpa-rāga: Craving for immaterial existence (the last 4 jhanas)3. Māna: Conceit4. Uddhacca: Restlessness5. Avijjā: Ignorance Anagamis are at an intermediate stage between sakadagamis, once-returners, and
arahants. Arahants enjoy complete freedom from all of the ten fetters. In Pure Land it is demonstrable that the practitioner has not been able to relinquish the self. He or she still entertains doubt that the Buddha's teaching will help them, so they have invented their own teaching. There is further the attachment to rite and ritual as the chanting itself becomes a rite or ritual felt to be essential to development. He or she is still fettered to sensuous craving. The imagery of the Western Pure Land is one of tremendous sensuality with gold, music and a heaping helping of soft fuzzes.
Attaining the state of non-returner is portrayed in the early texts as the ideal goal for laity. This helps to explain why Pure Land Buddhism has a strong history of lay following. On the other hand, this denial of a need for ordained monks and nuns to act as teachers and guides is a denigration of the Sangha, something which the Buddha states is one of the five factors which will cause the Dhamma to decline. (Saddhammapatirupka Sutta, Samyutta Nikaya 16.3)
The Pure Land teachings and meditation methods were systematized by a series of elite monastic thinkers, namely Tanluan, Daochuo, Shandao, among others. The main teaching of the Pure Land tradition is based on focusing the mind with Mindfulness of the Buddha (Skt. buddhaanusmrti) through recitation of the name of Amitabha Buddha, so as to attain rebirth in his pure land of Sukhavati. The problem here is that it is the Buddha Amitabha that is venerated. When the Buddha was displaced by a mythical cosmic buddha, the historical Buddha, the only Buddha of our age was also denigrated.
In current Pure Land Buddhism traditions Amitabha is seen as preaching the Dharma in his buddha-field (Sanskrit: buddhakṣetra), today simply called the "Pure Land" or "Western Heaven", a place that allows for a reprieve from karmic rebirth. In such traditions, entering the Pure Land is popularly understood as being corresponding to the attainment of enlightenment in sharp contrast to the original Pure Land teaching that taught that one is reborn in the Pure Land to become fully enlightened, an arahant. After practitioners attain enlightenment in the Pure Land, they have the choice of becoming a Buddha and entering Nirvana or returning to any of the six realms of existence as a bodhisattva in order to help all sentient beings in samsara, literally, “the wandering”.
The Buddha was emphatic that no one can save another. We create our own bad karma. No one can do it for us. No one can purify our karma - we alone can do that. Hoping for a cosmic buddha to expedite the purification for us is a fools dream. There is no reprieve from our karmic folly except our own actions.
Recitation of the Buddha’s name actually goes back to the time of the historical Buddha. In Sanskrit this is called buddhānusmṛti, in the Pali Canon it’s called buddhdnussati, in Chinese nienfo and Japanese call it nembutsu. It is all the same practice. In primitive Nienfo it was about remembering Shakyamuni Buddha later it became remembrance of Amitabha Buddha, a mythical being. Theravada still has a similar practice but uses the ancient form of the word Buddha, buddho, and remembers the Buddha, his life and qualities.
Since hongaku, Original Enlightenment or Buddha Mind, is viewed as a universal condition similar to emptiness itself, it is said in Pure Land teaching, there is but one mind and we are all using it. All Buddhas are one Buddha because they all participate in Buddha Nature or Dharmadhatu. Just as while there are literally billions of human beings we can speak of one human experience. So to remember just one Buddha is to remember them all. The theory is this, whether one chants and remembers the Buddha as Shakyamuni or Amitabha, one is paying homage to them all.
Which raises yet another point: all the Pali Commentaries, Abhidhamma and the Pali Suttas refer to buddhdnussati as a jhana practice. Then Nienfo and nembutsu ought to be jhana practices leading to the direct experience of emptiness. Zen-na (Chan-na) is the Sino Japanese expression for jhana. The Chinese then are right, Pure Land is Zen and Zen is Pure Land. They are different expressions of the same practice. Amidism makes perfect sense in this regard. Contemporary Pure Land, however, dissuades its followers from meditation of any sort and that raises another factor the Buddha mentioned in the Saddhammapatirupka Sutta. This would be lack of respect for meditation, which is seen as being too difficult for contemporary people.
All in all, it would seem that Pure Land Buddhism is a religious culture that today relies on a single practice. That practice is chanting the name of a Buddha that was invented when doubts arose about the efficacy of the historical Buddha's method and practice. It was a softer and easier way, perhaps not at first, but surely that is what it has become.
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