Keeping Pure Land Pure

A walker in faith should practice the six recollections beginning with recollection of the Buddha. Then his faith will gain fixity.

Vimuttimagga

Hongaku Jodo (HJ) is part of the Mahayana Tradition. In particular it began as a strictly Pure Land Buddhist organization, that's what jodo means. It means Pure Land. The over all title of the organization is the Hongaku Jodo Compassionate Lotus Tendai Tradition. Both Zen and Pure Land are extremely important to the Tendai traditions. For some Tendai monks, Vajrayana is also quite important. Hongaku can be taken to mean "original enlightenment," which we at Hongaku tend to associate with "original emptiness" relating it to the space between two conceptual thoughts. 

Because of the nature of our clergy Hongaku Jodo seeks to remain faithful to the core teachings of the Buddha. This makes Hongaku unique amongst Buddhist organizations and Sanghas in the Mahayana tradition. While these core teachings can be found in Mahayana as well as Theravada Buddhism both have added elements foreign to the original teaching into their scheme of things. One is as likely to find "Buddha Nature" taught in Theravada monasteries in Thailand as they are in Zen Centers in Chicago. In Sri Lanka and elsewhere this would be called heresy.

It is also a tenant of Hongaku Jodo that Buddhism is Buddhism no matter where you go if the core teaching of the Buddha is also present. Extraneous teaching or practice is not harmful if it does not detract from the Buddha's teaching, in fact, they may be helpful compliments to the Dhamma. One must constantly ask themselves, "does this conflict with the teaching of the Buddha?" When it does, we at Hongaku reject it and try to demonstrate why it is delusional and keeping us from awakening. Mara is the deva charged with keeping people from awakening. In Buddhism we often find that there are four yanas (Literally, “ox carts” referring to vehicles as opposed to schools) in Buddhism: Dhammayana, the original teachings mostly found in Theravada the "Way of the Elders" or "the Elder Way", Mahayana (the "Greater Vehicle", Vajrayana the "Diamond Vehicle", and Marayana (the "Mara Vehicle" intent on keeping us from awakening).

In almost all schools of Buddhism there are elements of Marayana. If we weed these out we find we are left with pure Dhamma. There are also elements of the core teaching of Buddhism in all schools of contemporary Buddhism. Marayana is the baggage we find attached to the core teaching. Marayana takes us away from awakening and puts us on the path of delusion.

Pure Land Buddhism has so much baggage attending it that makes many question its viability as a Buddhist Lineage. I have raised many of these questions myself in the past. What many find objectionable is the homage to Amitabha, who was possibly a one time past minor Indic god or an amalgamation of an Indic and Zoroastrian deities. Others question the Buddhology of Pure Land Buddhism. The critics tend to lump Pure Land in with Nichiren and Soka Gakkai, maintaining that these are all pseudo-Buddhist cult-like organisms that have lost their way leaping headlong into heresy. It depends, one supposes, on what can be considered orthodox Buddhism. That brings us back to the question of what are the "core" teachings of Buddhism. We know what the core teaching of original Buddhism is, but we also see how what is considered "core" to Buddhism generally continues to change and shape shift.

I cannot speak knowledgeably to the state of Nicherin or Soka Gakkai, I’ve no experience with these sects. I do know a thing or two about Pure Land Buddhism. I am not so sure that it is heretical or even a sojourn away from the original teachings. It is a Mahayana faith, very devotional and has a religious veneer that sometimes raises my suspicions, but is it merely an invention of people who were radicalized in some way in the first millennium CE by the blending of two or even multiple religious expressions in reaction to the austerity of traditional and orthodox Buddhism? I think the development of Pure Land Buddhism is somewhat different than its origins. Indeed, antecedents of the Pure Land sect can be found in the Pali Canon. If Buddha Nature seems to be hinted at in the Pali Canon, albeit never expressed, the foundations of the Pure Land philosophy and technique of practice are plainly visible in many parts of the Pali Canon.

In the sutta called Dhatu-vibhanga Sutta: An Analysis of the Properties (Majjhima Nikaya 140), the Buddha mentions the Pure Abodes. The context is eloquently stated as “a clansman named Pukkusati had left home and gone forth into homelessness through faith, because of his dedication to the Blessed One.” Please note the word “faith” is out of dedication to the Buddha. Faith is the essential quality of the clansman Pukkusati. Pukkusati recognized the Buddha during a Dhamma talk and at the end of the teaching begged his forgiveness for not having paid him due honor in the first place. He then begged to have the upasampada, the rite of ordination, conferred on him. The Buddha consented and sent him to procure a begging bowl and a robe. On the way Pukkusati was gored to death by a mad cow. When this was reported to the Buddha, he said that Pukkusati was an Anāgāmīn and had been born in the realms above, the Pure Abodes (Lands) never more to return. An Anāgāmī is non-returner, that is, a person who has abandoned the five lower fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth (Samsara), and who after death will appear in one of the Brahma worlds called the Pure Abodes, there to attain nibbāna, never again to return to this world.

There are 10 fetters tying beings to the wheel of Samsara. They are:

1. Personality-belief (sakkāya-ditthi)
2. Skeptical doubt (vicikicchā)
3. Clinging to mere rules and ritual (sīlabbata-parāmāsa; s. upādāna)
4. Sensuous craving (kāma-rāga)
5. Ill-will (vyāpāda)
6. Craving for fine-material existence (rūpa-rāga)
7. Craving for immaterial existence (arūpa-rāga)
8. Conceit (māna)
9. Mestlessness (uddhacca)
10. Ignorance (avijjā)

He who is free from 1-3 is a Sotāpanna, or Stream-winner, i.e. one who has entered the stream to Nibbāna, as it were. He who, besides these 3 fetters, has overcome 4 and 5 in their grosser form, is called a Sakadāgāmi, a 'Once-returner' (to this sensuous world). He who is fully freed from 1-5 is an Anāgāmī, or 'Non-returner' (to the sensuous world). They go to the Pure Lands to become fully enlightened under the most auspicious circumstances among the gods. He who is freed from all the 10 fetters is called an Arahant, i.e. a perfectly Enlightened One. The Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One, is reckoned the best of them all. Those who have faith in the Buddha have faith in the best; and for those who have faith in the best, the best result will be theirs.

In Pure Land Buddhism the method is to overcome fetters 1-5 and become an Anāgāmī finding rebirth in one of the pure lands, especially Sukhavati, the Pure Land of Amitabha.The idea is to concentrate one the single practice of remembering an archetypal Buddha called Amitabha, meaning “Infinite Light and Infinite Wisdom.” He is not so much a living being out there somewhere in a perfect world (whatever perfect means to you). One simply repeats his name over and over again, concentrating on his qualities. What are his qualities? As a symbol, Amitabha represents what it must be like to be a fully enlightened being. 

Where have we seen this method of practiced before? It is comparable to the “Buddho Practice” found in Theravada. This practice begins with a statement of faith in the Buddha as the Wise One, the Arahant and the Fully Awakened One. Then the word "buddho,” the Pali equivalent to buddha, is recited until the mind is stilled and then it is let go. The practice can take the meditator into the fourth jhana. It is in that altered state of consciousness that one can interface with the devas of the Pure Lands.

In the Pali Canon there are 23 “recollections.” The Buddha is the first one listed and therefore was given primacy over all other “recollections.” Today, #13 is the most often object of meditation. Why it replaced the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, the three are called the Triple Gem, is a matter of conjecture. Perhaps over time, the remembrance of the Triple Gem seemed to much like a religion that a “rational” act. In the Pure Land Traditions, recollection of Buddha is still the primary practice and the only object of meditation.

The 23 objects of recollection during meditation are

1.      Recollection of the Buddha,
2.      Recollection of the Community of Bhikkhus (Sangha),
3.      Recollection of virtue,
4.      Recollection of liberality,
5.      The determining of the four elements and
6.      The perception of the foulness of food.
7.      Recollection of the Buddha…
8.      Recollection of the Dhamma...
9.      Recollection of the Sangha...
10.      Recollection of virtue...
11.      Recollection of generosity...
12.      Recollection of the devas...
13.      Mindfulness of in-and-out breathing...
14.      Mindfulness of death...
15.      Mindfulness immersed in the body...
16.      Recollection of stilling. 
17.      Recollection of the Buddha
18.      Recollection of the Dhamma
19.      Recollection of virtue...
20.      Recollection of the devas...
21.      Mindfulness of in-and-out breathing...
22.      Mindfulness of death...
23.      Recollection of stilling.

The first five of these are called 'lower fetters' (orambhāgiya-samyojana), as they tie to the sensuous world. The latter 5 are called 'higher fetters' (uddhambhāgiya-samyojana), as they tie to the higher worlds, i.e. the fine-material and immaterial world (Anguttara Nikaya IX.67-68; X.13; Digha Nikaya 33, among others).

Pukkusati had accomplished something wonderful before to his death. He had faith and then acted on it. His action was to hear the Dhamma from the lips of the Buddha. Then after hearing he comprehended and viewed reality accordingly. What did Pukkusati learn? In a nutshell he grasped the notion that 

One discerns that 'If I were to direct equanimity as pure & bright as this towards the dimension of the infinitude of space and to develop the mind along those lines, that would be fabricated. One discerns that 'If I were to direct equanimity as pure and bright as this towards the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness... the dimension of nothingness... the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception and to develop the mind along those lines, that would be fabricated.' One neither fabricates nor mentally fashions for the sake of becoming or un-becoming. This being the case, one is not sustained by anything in the world (does not cling to anything in the world). Unsustained, one is not agitated. Unagitated, one is totally unbound right within. One discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world

When Pukkusati left the Buddha to get his robe and bowl so that he could be ordained he had divested himself of the first five fetters. His mind was conditioned to be able to do that. It is known how successful he was because we are also told “the clansman's"  destination will be the Pure Land, . Pukkusati, whom the Blessed One instructed with a brief instruction, has died.” The Buddha replied, “Pukkusati was wise. He practiced the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma and did not pester me with issues related to the Dhamma. With the destruction of the first five fetters, he has arisen spontaneously [in the Pure Abodes], there to be totally unbound, never again to return from that world."

There are, in traditional Buddhism, five Pure Abodes (Lands) into which one may be reborn. These are the five Pure Abodes (suddhavasa, sounding suspiciously like the Sanskrit Sukhavati, the Western Pure Land of Amitabha), which are accessible only to non-returners (anāgāmīn) and arahants. It is interesting that beings who become non-returners in other planes are reborn here, where they attain arahantship.

Among its inhabitants is Brahma Sahampati, who begs the Buddha to teach Dhamma to the world (Samyutta Nikaya 6.1).

One can also reach these states during this lifetime when in the fourth jhana.

Again, there is the case where an individual, with the abandoning of pleasure & stress — as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress — enters & remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. He savors that, longs for that, finds satisfaction through that. Staying there — fixed on that, dwelling there often, not falling away from that — then when he dies he reappears in conjunction with the Vehapphala  (literally “Sky Fruit”) devas. The Vehapphala devas, monks, have a life-span of 500 eons. A run-of-the-mill person having stayed there, having used up all the life-span of those devas, goes to hell, to the animal womb, to the state of the hungry shades. But a disciple of the Blessed One, having stayed there, having used up all the life-span of those devas, is unbound right in that state of being. This, monks, is the difference, this the distinction, this the distinguishing factor, between an educated disciple of the noble ones and an uneducated run-of-the-mill person, when there is a destination, a reappearing.

Anguttara Nikaya 4.123

And furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure and stress — as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress — he enters and remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. He sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness, so that there is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness. Just as if a man were sitting wrapped from head to foot with a white cloth so that there would be no part of his body to which the white cloth did not extend; even so, the monk sits, permeating his body with a pure, bright awareness. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness.

Anguttara Nikaya 5.28

That faith is emphasized in this sutta is important. It is an element of the teaching that is not often paid much attention to in contemporary teachings where wisdom and practice are the main emphasis. Faith is talked about a great deal in the Tibetan teachings, but the faith mentioned there is mainly directed at meditation on the yidam deities.

The Buddha again addresses the issue of faith in a Pali sutta entitled “The Best Kinds of Faith.”

Monks, there are four best kinds of faith. What four? 
Monks, among all living beings—be they footless or two-footed, with four feet or many feet, with form or formless, percipient, non-percipient or neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient — the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One, is reckoned the best of them all. Those who have faith in the Buddha have faith in the best; and for those who have faith in the best, the best result will be theirs. 
 …among all things conditioned, the Noble Eightfold Path is reckoned to be the best of them all. Those who have faith in the Noble Eightfold Path have faith in the best; and for those who have faith in the best, the best result will be theirs. 
…among things conditioned and unconditioned, dispassion is reckoned to be the best of them all: the crushing of all infatuation, the removal of thirst, the uprooting of attachment, the cutting off of the round (of rebirth), the destruction of craving, dispassion, Nibbāna. Those who have faith in the Dhamma of dispassion have faith in the best; and for those who have faith in the best, the best result will be theirs. 
…among all (religious) orders or communities, the Sangha of the Tathāgata’s disciples is reckoned to be the best, that it to say, the four pairs of noble persons, the eight noble individuals; this Sangha of the Blessed One’s disciples is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, an unsurpassed field of merit for the world. Those who have faith in the Sangha have faith in the best; and for those who have faith in the best, the best result will be theirs. 
These, O monks, are the four best kinds of faith.

Anguttara Nikaya 48, The Best Kinds of Faith.

Here the Buddha lists the four best kinds of faith a disciple can have. This was then applied to all living beings, those born legless, snakes and worms, two-legged, humans and primates, and four-footed animals. Was this an hyperbole? The statement begs the question of how reptiles and mammals could conceivably gain such faith. In the past I had concluded that without human consciousness an animal was incapable of reaching any of the stream entry states. On the other hand, how could an animal be reborn into the human realm if they possessed no "rational" thinking? Let us take the Buddha at his word and animals can comprehend and develop faith. If we make this assumption that the Buddha was being honest about this and not simply waxing poetic then a whole new approach to living in harmony with other members of this planet seems to be called for.

Essentially this translates into faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. It is one of the rare times that he refers to himself as “the Buddha”, but he uses all of his best-known titles here making them co-equal in status and rank, interchangeable. Again we see that an arahant is a fully enlightened person, yet here the Buddha calls himself, “the Arahant” indicating that he was the first. The Eightfold Path contains all one needs to know and utilize regarding practice and the teachings about dukkha and its cessation, social interaction and wisdom. The Dhamma of dispassion is all about “right view” and conditionality while Nibbana is "the direct perception of emptiness", to put it in the Mahayana vernacular. Lastly, the Sangha are those who practice these traits and perpetuate the teaching.

In another sutta found in the Samyutta Nikaya, 55:24, the Buddha again makes reference to faith. The sutta can be found in its entirety below. Here again he emphasizes the role of faith in the life of the Buddhist disciple. The sutta is about a man named Sarakāni who failed in his training and took to drink.

Mahānāma, a lay-follower who was a long time disciple of the Buddha and taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, went to the Buddha reported that many in Sarakāni’s group were angry and ill-at-ease because the Buddha had declared Sarakāni a “Stream Enterer” One of their complaints was that it seems “anyone can be a stream-enterer these days.” This was a very naïve view of Buddhadhamma. By definition a Stream Enterer, sotapatti, is  

One who, after pondering with a modicum of discernment, has accepted that these phenomena are this way is called a Dhamma-follower: one who has entered the orderliness of rightness, entered the plane of people of integrity, transcended the plane of the run-of-the-mill. He is incapable of doing any deed by which he might be reborn in hell, in the animal womb, or in the realm of hungry shades. He is incapable of passing away until he has realized the fruit of stream-entry.

Cetana Sutta: Intention, 

Samyutta Nikaya 25.7

Sarakāni was a stream enterer because he accomplished the removal of the first three fetters. Drinking falls under the fourth fetter, sensuous craving (kāma rāga). Sarakāni fulfilled the requirements of his status. The Stream Enterer, Once Returner, and Non Returner are not perfect, they have simply removed fetters. This requires the intent to awaken but not perfection. That comes at the Arahant level. In other words, the Stream enter at the first three levels looks like, sounds like, and acts very much like what the Mahayana calls a bodhisattva, or more linguistically properly said, a bodhisakta.

One of the fruits of stream entry is having a limited number of rebirths, only seven, in the human realm. Enlightenment is guaranteed. Also guaranteed is no matter how one fails at training in this life, once the stream has been entered there can be no serious retrogression. This too is guaranteed. So the Buddha asked Mahānāma, how could Sarakāni go to any of the states of woe? Why is this so? The Buddha says in regards to Sarakāni, “He is endowed with unwavering devotion to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha.” It would seem that a prerequisite to stream entry is devotion to the Buddha and this requires faith.

The Pure Land method of practice requires faith in a "cosmic Buddha" called Amitabha. This practice requires total faith and devotion in the Buddha called Amitabha. The actual practice is called Nien Fo in Chinese or Nembutsu in Japanese. The words mean something like “Buddha Remembrance.” The words “Namo Amitabha Buddha” or some variation are recited over and over again. The practice is to either recall the nature of the Buddha or lose one’s self in the sound of the words so that thought is diminished. This is, of course, a thumbnail sketch of how the practice is done. It is very effective when used as a meditation device.

Nien Fo is often coupled with meditation on the breath. It is particularly useful at the time of death. Amitabha is imaged as the Buddha with characteristics of a deva, a being of light. The purpose of the chanting is to still the mind. So this style of meditation is in accord with the teaching of the Buddha. The Pure Land practice then follows this outline in more than just one respect. The practice can actually incorporate all of the recollections but seems to almost automatically contain recollections of 

It becomes clear that in essence at least, Pure Land Buddhism has roots in the Pali Canon. How the roots matured and what shapes the branches took are matters for academics. While, as a Mahayana monk, I have in the past strongly criticized some, some say too vehemently, some of the teachings that can be found in the Mahayana and Pure Land teachings, I have to admit that this form of Buddhism does make sense to me and has much potential when seen from the perspective of the Pali Canon, the core teachings of the Buddha. If the delusion inherent in worship and ritual can be rooted out of Pure Land Buddhism, it can be one of the most enjoyable and effective methods of practice in the Buddhist arsenal. The trick is keeping Pure Land pure.

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[At Kapilavatthu] Now at that time Sarakāni the Sakyan, who had died, was proclaimed by the Blessed One to be a Stream-Winner, not subject to rebirth in states of woe, assured of enlightenment. At this, a number of the Sakyans, whenever they met each other or came together in company, were indignant and angry, and said scornfully: “A fine thing, a marvelous thing! Nowadays anyone can become a Stream-Winner, if the Blessed One has proclaimed Sarakāni who died to be Stream-Winner… assured of enlightenment! Why, Sarakāni failed in his training and took to drink!”

 [Mahānāma the Sakyan reported this to the Buddha who said:] “Mahānāma, a lay-follower who has for a long time taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha—how could he go to states of woe? [And this can be truly said of Sarakāni the Sakyan.] How could he go to states of woe? 

 “Mahānāma, take the case of a man endowed with unwavering devotion to the Buddha, declaring ’He is the Blessed One…,’ the Dhamma… the Sangha… He is joyous and swift in wisdom, one who has gained release. By the destruction of the cankers he has by his own realization gained the cankerless heart’s release, the release through wisdom, in this very life, and abides in it. The man is entirely released from the hell-state, from rebirth as an animal, he is free from the realm of hungry ghosts, fully freed from the downfall, the evil way, from states of woe.

“Take the case of another man. He is endowed with unwavering devotion to the Buddha… the Dhamma… the Sangha… he is joyous and swift in wisdom but has not gained release. 

Having destroyed the five lower fetters, he is reborn spontaneously where he will attain Nibbāna without returning from that world. That man is entirely released from… states of woe. 

“Take the case of another man. He is endowed with unwavering devotion to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. But he is not joyous in wisdom and has not gained release. Yet by destroying three fetters and weakening lust, hatred and delusion, he is a Once-returner, who will return once more to this world and put an end to suffering. That man is entirely freed from… states of woe. 

“Take the case of another man. He is endowed with unwavering devotion to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. But he is not joyous in wisdom and has not gained release. Yet by destroying three fetters he is a Stream-Winner, not subject to rebirth in states of woe, assured of enlightenment. That man is entirely freed… from states of woe. 

“Take the case of another man. He is not even endowed with unwavering devotion to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. He is not joyous and swift in wisdom and has not gained release. But perhaps he has these things: the faculty of faith, of energy, of mindfulness, of concentration, of wisdom. And the things proclaimed by the Tathāgata are moderately approved by him with insight. That man does not go to the realm of hungry ghosts, to the downfall, to the evil way, to states of woe. 

“Take the case of another man. He is not even endowed with unwavering devotion to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. He is not joyous and swift in wisdom and has not gained release. But he has just these things: the faculty of faith, of energy, of mindfulness, of concentration, of wisdom. Yet if he has merely faith, merely affection for the Tathāgata, that man, too, does not go to… states of woe. 

“Why, Mahānāma, if these great sal trees could distinguish what is well spoken from what is ill spoken, I would proclaim these great sal trees to be Stream-Winners… bound for enlightenment, how much more so then Sarakāni the Sakyan! Mahānāma, Sarakāni the Sakyan fulfilled the training at the time of death.’

Samyutta Nikaya 55:24