Pure Land Buddhism: Theory and Practice

Introduction

It is easy to critique Pure Land Buddhism in its current modus operandi. I do it myself. It’s an easy target because of its façade of superstition and magic, religious overtones and seemingly exotic teachings with its dependence on the “one true Buddha”. They really don’t say, “one true Buddha”, I sort of made that up myself. And it does seem sort of odd to walk into a Buddhist temple to find a very Protestant Christian looking and sounding service. But not all Pure Land schools operate the same way. Some are very “protestant like” and others are very traditional. It depends on which school is hosting the service.

Recently while presenting a talk on the Buddhist Doctrine of Mind at the Jung Center of Chicago a member of the audience came to me and said she had been studying Buddhism for 10 years and just could not understand the Pure Land Buddhists because they thought they could be saved by simply chanting “Amitabha Buddha” over and over again. “Who would be so foolish?” she concluded. I asked her what trend of Buddhism she associated with. “Soka Gakkai.” She said with great pride. “Well, namo myo ho renge kyo to you too. Don’t you know that disparaging another Buddhist teaching is breaking the Bodhisattva vows?” In her mind Nichiren had dispensed with those. She was sorely disappointed when I told her that he did not. She was even more disappointed when I told her that the impression she had of Amidism (Pure Land Buddhism) was absolutely wrong. In fact, almost everyone who does not practice Pure Land Buddhism seems to have the wrong idea of what it believes and what its practices are.

Ven. Shaku Mui Shin Shi

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Beginning At the Beginning

We all want our brand of Buddhism to be the best and the highest teaching. The fact is none is the “highest” teaching. All are variations on the original teaching. Because people are very different very different aspects of the Buddha’s Dhamma are attached to and expanded becoming more important than other aspects. This is quite natural. The historical Buddha taught to such audiences catering to their needs and proclivities. The method of teaching was called “expedient means.” It worked well for the Buddha and the Masters that followed him.

Unfortunately later, less qualified teachers thinking they we on the edge of awakening took this notion of expedient means and just setteled it expediency. They introduced their own preconceptions and assumptions into the mix, gained students and cashed in by founding schools. Whenever I find these kinds of insertions I try to weed them out and explain them. Over the past few years we’ve struggled through many popular sutras and found these insertions of preconception and skewed thinking. This has offended some who refuse to hear the Buddha’s Dhamma wanting instead to cling to their own. On the other hand, we have found some very wonderful disciples of the Buddha that have grasped on to reality. As Buddhists we live the truth and work with the facts. If the Buddha did not actually give the teaching it is absurd to credit him with it.

Buddhism is Buddhism is Buddhism no matter where you – or at least it ought to be. The expressions may be different but the teaching is the same. It is easy to blow off the idea of Buddha-Nature as a re-insertion of a soul doctrine. In reality the concept often is used to bring back the concept of an eternal self. Even Dogen Zenji seems to have falled into this trap a few times over his long career with his talk of a Big Self and little self. But he was not referring to a personality. In his masterpiece Genjo-koan he writes, “As the myriad things are without an abiding self, there is no delusion, no realization, no buddha, no sentient being, no birth and death.” If there is no abiding self, as Dogen says, then how could Dogen then, advocate a self of any kind especially a permanent abiding one. The fact seems to be that he did not. Dogen did not fall into the abiding soul theory that Buddha-Nature and Tathagatagarbha seem to try to re-establish.

When investigating Mahayana literature there are several things we have to keep in mind…

While the language of Theravada is straightforward and realistic, the language of Mahayana tends toward the metaphysical, poetic and mystical. Both the Mahayana and the Pali Canons can be talking about the same thing but the language they use makes them often sound like they are from different planets. Whole new vocabularies have to be learned. In theory, just as an example, when examined very closely, the concept of Tathagatagarbha of Mahayana sounds remarkably similar to the bhavanga citta of the Pali Abhidhamma and commentaries. Bhavanga citta is the stream of conscious. Buddha-Nature is suspiciously reminiscent of pabhassara citta (luminous mind) of the Suttas. Pabhassara citta is the unpolluted mind, e.g., the space between two thoughts. Both of these concepts were described as hongaku in Sino-Japanese Buddhism. Hongaku refers to “original enlightenment” or “primal light”.
Mahayana Sutras are written in a particular literary style called pseudepigrapha, which means that they are only attributed to the historical Buddha but written after his death by someone else. We find several examples of this in both the Old and the New Testament of the Judeo Christian sects. It was a common practice in ancient times. Most often these sutras make a tremendous attempt to adhere to the teaching of the historical Buddha. Often, though, the spurious insertions appear and are mixed up with the authentic teaching. This has given Mahayana and Buddhism in general a black eye for some folk. This happens especially when the sutra begins to sound like Western religion or New Age esoterica.
The historical Buddha never spoke the Mahayana sutras. While attributed to him, the attribution is symbolic of the “greater Buddha” concept.
In the Pali and Theravada teachings the emphasis is on the Buddha as a living being that had a time and place in history. He is the only Buddha of this dispensation. For Mahayana Buddha is a concept that goes beyond time and space. Buddha is the very principle of awakening and not exclusively the man who had rediscovered it.
This is why they can speak of Cosmic Buddhas in terms of living beings occupying space in worlds other than our own. At the same time, these Buddhas appear to be archetypal, nearly shamanic in tone and activity. The methods of communing with these Buddhas are also shamanic. They seem to be, and can be explained as anthropomorphic imagery of archetypal qualities to which we aspire.
There are several levels of teaching in the body of Mahayana. There is the earthy and simplified teaching that is found in ethnic communities and among persons of little education or inclination to the mental gymnastics often required in Buddhism. There is also the training and teaching given to the ordained. Ordination comes in many varieties. The Refugee is not trained in the same way that a eight precept ordination would receive, or the ten precept ordained. With each level of ordination the teachings go further and become deeper. Teachings in the Vinaya ordinations are different depending on whether one is ordained in the traditional vinaya, the Bodhisattva vinaya, taken the Bodhisattva vows or received empowerment in one of the tantras during Vajrayana training. Strangely, and again, it is the language but not the intent and meaning of the teaching that changes. Vajrayana teaches nothing different in meaning than do the commentaries of the schools of Pali orientation but the language makes it seem very alien.
As mentioned above, intention, emphasis and cultural environment alter the direction teaching might take. If paradise is important to the community then the pure abodes become emphasized and the methods of practice are geared to attain those pure abodes. If awakening without delusion is emphasized just those teachings are maintained and methods devised to achieve that goal. If prosperity is desired then that is emphasized and a method will be devised for that goal. In many schools within various traditions expansion of consciousness is emphasized.

And this brings me to Pure Land Buddhism. It is obvious that the name of this Buddha, Amitabha, comes from some very non-Buddhist sources. The Pure Land practices are ideally Buddhist but the origins of the Amitabha Buddha may not be.

“At the same time that Mahayana Buddhism was establishing itself in the Asian cultures, the Pure Land tradition had also established itself in India. There are few substantive historic materials extant, but early scriptures of this tradition (which later became known as the Triple Sutras) appeared during the initial period of the Mahayana movement. Two of them are of Indian origin and date from about the first century B.C. The third scripture, which dates from about the fourth century, exists only in a Chinese version. It first appeared in what T. Unno describes as the "Central Asian and Northern Chinese cultural sphere". Their basic message centers on the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha to bring all who call upon his name to full awakening.

“By the fourth century, Pure Land was spreading throughout China in various manifestations. By the fifth century over two hundred Buddhist texts mention the name of Amida as the source of power for release from the bondage of our suffering. The great Chinese Patriarch Chih-i, T'ien T'ai founder, made the use of Amitabha Name Meditation an integral part of his great thought, practice, and writings. (Editor’s Note:The antecedent for this practice is found in the Theravadin Tradition and called buddho practice. In this practice the word buddho, “the Awakened one”, is repeated until the mind is still and the Buddha is kept in mind. More about this below.)

“Although the Pure Land tradition matured in China, it reached a very active state of development in Japan as a result of the work of Honen and Shinran. They realized that Buddhism is ineffective when treated as a mere intellectual pastime, rational discipline, or ritual ceremony. Rather, Buddhism is only effective when practiced as a direct Way that engages the whole being...a spiritual Path that is not dependent on academic learning, cultural or intellectual sophistication, or elaborate rituals.

“It was in the sixth century that Japan was introduced to Buddhism, and with it the Triple Sutras. Monks and Nuns were gradually attracted to Pure Land devotional practices as they found their other practices to be generally unfulfilling and lacking in spiritual consolation. At that same time, the general population was effectively excluded from the Path because Buddhism had become essentially elitist, a way followed by the nobility and by the monastics of the time.

“The twelfth century was a time in Japan of great social unrest, natural calamities, and of inner and outer turmoil. It was in this time, in the year 1175, that the Japanese Tendai monk Honen created what effectively became an independent Jodo, or Pure Land School, in response to the spiritual hunger of ordinary, average people, He was also responding as well, as others had before him, to his own inner needs.

“Honen's way consisted of exclusive reliance on the Primal Vow of Buddha Amida, made real in his own life experience by faith as he recited or chanted Amida's name. This recitation, called the Nembutsu, consists of the phrase "Namu Amida Butsu", which means "Homage to Amida Buddha". It is something anyone can do, and does not require either education, or many hours of free time. It can be done any time, any place.

“Honen reached beyond the confines of monasticism to begin the Bodhisattva task of helping everyone to achieve Enlightenment. It was then that Amida's Primal Vow began to play a full and crucial role in Japanese society, opening the door to Pure Land Buddhism for anyone and everyone.

“Honen's efforts attracted other monks, including Shinran (1173-1263). Shinran was also a Tendai monk 40 years Honen's junior. He became Honen's student, and together they spread the message of Amida's Primal Vow, and the way of entrusting in that vow by reciting the Nembutsu, the hallmark of the Pure Land path.

“As was written at that time, "This is indeed the true teaching which is easy to practice even for ordinary people. Of all the lifetime teachings of the Great Sage, nothing surpasses this ocean-like virtue. Those who wish to leave this defiled world of samsara and aspire for the Pure Land, those who are confused about religious practices and faiths, those who are dark in mind and lacking in wisdom, and those who are burdened with heavy evil karma and many hindrances - should, by all means, esteem the Tathagata Shakyamuni's exhortation and follow the supreme direct path to Enlightenment; they should exclusively hold fast to the this practice and only uphold Faith".

“Shinran had learned, as Honen had before him, that in the Nembutsu there was a direct way of entrusting themselves to the Primal Vow of Amida to bring all beings to an Awakening.

“This is the great gift given to the world in the Pure Land path. It was the gift originally given by Shakyamuni. It was the gift extended by our master Chih-i, and it was the gift personified by Amida. Pure Land is the most widespread school of Buddhism in the world.”

This is the official Pure Land history. While every syllable is true, it is very incomplete and written to express a particular viewpoint. It lacks much of what actually happened. There is much controversy on whether, as Shinran claimed, it is a true teaching or not.

Varieties of Pure Land Sects

Although we call the tradition “the Pure Land Tradition”, it is unwise and untrue to maintain that there is but one Pure Land Tradition within Buddhism. There are many.

Indian Pure Land
Afghani Pure Land
Chinese Pure Land
Japanese Pure Land
Tibetan Pure Land
Synthetic New World Pure Land
Hongaku Pure Land (a Sino-Japanese trend)

Each school has commonalities and differences. Indian, Afghani, and Chinese Pure Land Buddhist schools would hardly recognize the Honen (Jodo Shu) or Shinran (Jodo Shin Shu) as authentic teachings. The Japanese sects would not recognize New World Pure Land Buddhism. Hongaku Buddhism’s form of Pure Land attempts to be all-inclusive and recognizes all other form of Pure Land Tradition but has its own unique flavor. Here I do not mean the organization of Hongaku Jodo but the trend that arose in China out of the Yogacara school.

Buddhist denomination developed during the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period (420-589), when China was again divided into several kingdoms, with the northern ones (the North Dynasty) controlled in the hands of invaders (the China north of the Yangtze River was often invaded in history by nomadic tribes outside of China), and the southern ones underwent a rapid succession of (Chinese) rulers.

The name of the Buddha is Sakyamuni meaning the sage of the Sakyas, since he was born the son of a king of the Sakya clan of the Kshatriya, or warrior, caste. He was also called Siddhartha Gautama. There was a fear that his teaching might not last, and considering the confusing and degenerating states of Buddhist doctrines and monasteries, many thought hope for salvation lay with faith in the saving powers of the cosmic Buddhas, especially one called Amita, who was known for the efficacy for his vows. Any one who called out his name: amituofo or Amitabha Buddha, in good faith would be reborn in his Buddha-world of Pure Land. This is not such a far-fetched and faith based problem for Buddhism. The Buddha himself taught…

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.

Monks, 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.

Monks, 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.

Monks, 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.107 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 4:34)

As we can see, the Buddha places a high premium on faith. It is through faith that we take the teachings to heart and work our way through them. In the Samyutta Nikaya he goes further to say…

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.

SN 55:24

The Buddha that was chosen as the object of devotion in the Pure Land trend was the Cosmic Buddha Amitabha. Because he was not spoken of in the traditional genealogies a lineage and enlightenment mythos had to be built for him. One was and it was in keeping with what the population of the time expected.

While not yet a Buddha, the name Amitabha was already well known in Northern India, Persia and Afghanistan where the Pure Land movement had its origins. Although there is no record of such a Buddha in the traditional Canon the form of this Buddha appears to have been forming around the 1^st century BCE but crystallized in China around 402 CE with Huiyuan’s founding of the Donglin Temple at Mount Lu. While it has a strong monastic presence during this time, the practices were aimed more at the laity than the monastic.

The first known epigraphic evidence for Amitabha is the bottom part of a statue found in Govindnagar, Pakistan and now located at the Mathura Museum. The statue is dated to "the 28th year of the reign of Huviska", sometime in the latter half of the 2nd century CE, during the period of the Kusana Empire), and was apparently dedicated to "Amitabha Buddha" by a family of merchants.

The first known sutra mentioning Amitabha is the translation into Chinese of the Pratyutpanna Sutra by the Kuṣāṇa monk Lokaksema in about 180 CE. This work is said to be at the origin of Pure Land practice in China. Translators write sutras as much as the original author. The words they choose have subtle nuances and convey messages that may or may not have been intended by the original authors. Such translations are often of works that have passed through many hands and may have been highly edited by someone prior to the translation being produced. This is not so of the Pali Canon but extremely common place in the Mahayana Sanskrit canons which were not an oral tradition easily verified. The Sanskrit versions come to us already in written form and that means they were edited. Translators also edit material so it makes sense to them and conform to their understanding of Buddhism but necessarily the understanding of the author or authors.

The appearance of such literature and sculptural remains at the end of the 2nd century suggests that the doctrine of Amitabha probably developed during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. Furthermore, there are sculptures of Amitabha in Dhyani Mudras as well as bronzes of Amitabha in Abhaya Mudra from the Gandhara era of the 1st century CE suggesting the popularity of Amitabha during that time. One of the last prayer busts of Amitabha can be found in the trademark black stone of the Pala Empire that was the last Buddhist Empire of India and lost its influence in the 12th century due to Islamic invasions.

Buddhist texts migrating into China from Central Asia reached the extremes of diversity. Even the distinction between Mahayana and Nikaya became blurred, so the Chinese people had no choice but to accept all of the texts as sacred Buddhist scriptures without making distinctions. Chinese Buddhists were forced to struggle with a profusion of scriptures, each teaching its own ideas and methods of practice, each equally distinct from the others, were unequalled and supreme. The Chinese people quickly became aware of the distinction between Mahayana and Nikaya, and the differences between the Theravada and the then existing Mahasangika traditions. As a result, they classified the scriptures into categories and made judgments as to their relative value. They began to make efforts to discover a sutra, from among the extensive groups of scriptures, which would teach that it was the fundamental reason why the Buddha appeared in the world. These studies in pursuit of a critical classification of the Buddhist teachings led to the systematization of Chinese Buddhism and the establishment of order within it. As a consequence, Chinese Buddhists became unavoidably sensitive to the distinctions between Mahayana and Nikaya, and to the differences between lineages of transmission. It was in China that the rudimentary form of Pure Land took the next steps to evolution that created the beautiful and consistent practice it is today. The Chinese actively sought to reconcile the outstanding difference that existed between Mahayana Pure Land teachings and the teachings of the Buddha.

Buddhists in the Afghanistan region did not have the background of a speculative culture like that of China. Both monks and lay followers were more deeply concerned about the Buddha than the Dhamma, more concerned about worship and making offerings, as well as contemplating and praising the Buddha than about dogma or doctrine. They were unconcerned with the distinctions between Mahayana and Nikaya or about differences between the various Buddhist schools.

The Uigur people, who introduced the sutras to the Chinese, translated Buddhist texts written in a variety of languages into their own language. They spent a great deal of effort in translating texts and deciding on the proper terms for translation. Often we find two different words are used to translate the same term. This suggests that these translations were produced in different time periods. The earlier translations tend to be sluggish, descriptive, wordy, and dry. In the later period from the latter half of the 13^th century, especially during the Mongol period, the terms for translation were established, wordiness was avoided, and the translations are smooth and fluent. But sometimes such fluent translations feel distant and seem less interesting. While producing these perfectly fluent translations of the famous Mahayana sutras, they also created alliterative four-line poetry based on significant passages from the sutras. This alliterative poetry might have appealed to their literary passions and aroused great spiritual inspiration.

The earliest type of literature of this type is of the Amidist sect. In major Mahayana sutras like the Guan wuliangshou jing and Hyanyan jing (Buddhavataμsaka Sutra) were translated both in prose versions and in the poetic style. Here is a famous verse found at the end of a Chinese translation of the Hyanyan jing. The original Sanskrit text of this part is also written in verse.

I wish, when my life is about to end,That all my hindrances will perish;Coming face to face with the Buddha Amida,I will instantly obtain birth in the Land of Bliss.

One Uigur poet translated the same Chinese into the following alliterative four line verse.

If this is our lives' ending time,Let all varieties of (our) hindrances perish certainly!We, after looking at the face of Amita-åbha Buddha in front,Will be born in the pure Sukhavati Realm quickly.

Yet another version of the same verse reads. It is the version that became installed in the Amitabha Sadhana of the Tibetan School of Buddhism/

Becoming weak at the moment of my warm body's ending,My hindrances possessing all karma should disappear;Amita-åyus Buddha, for me, in front of me appears.I will go and be born in the World of Extreme Joyfulness.

As we can see, the urge was to worship the Buddha. It was prevalent in the Buddha’s lifetime. This is why he made a point of telling people he was not a god and should not be worshipped.

As seen, Pure Land Buddhism had its roots in Central Asia amongst the Zoroastrian and Manichean peoples. Many scholars, mainly non-Pure Land practitioners, believe that Amitabha is a conflagration between Mithras, the sun god and a conception of the Buddha as a cosmic figure bigger than humanly possible. The majority of modern scholars, both Buddhist and non-Buddhists, presently advocate for the non-Buddhist origin of Amitabha. Only scholars within the Pure Land community still claim Amitabha (Amida, Amitu, etc.) is of exclusively Buddhist origin. These scholars also maintain that Buddha also spoke the Three Pure Land Sutras, The Lotus Sutra, and the literally thousands of other Mahayana sutras. Scholarship suggests that almost all the Mahayana scriptures are apocryphal.

Some of the linguistic issues are

Mithras, the Zoroastrian sun god has a title that is a direct cognate identical to that of Amitabha; that is, “immeasurable light.”
The Zoroastrian primordial principle of zrvan akarana, “infinite time” seems to be one plausible origin of Amitayus, “infinite life.”
There is also the influence of Indian religious sects such as the Vishnu mythology where Vishnu’s incarnation as Varuna of the Western Quarter is called Amitaujas meaning “immeasurable power” or “infinite power.” From this we get the formula, Amitabha, Buddha of the Western Pure Land.

Given that the Vishnu mythology found greatest strength in the Northern part of India, especially in the Kushan Empire region of the Indus River Valley, the Vishnu formulation seems to work most favorably. Archeological evidence demonstrates that Pure Land Buddhism began in this area. At the same time, as one gets closer to the Silk Road and the Himalayan foothills the Zoroastrian connection seems to also fit. Both the Vishnu mythology and Zoroastrianism pre-dates the current dispensation of Buddhism; that is, historical Buddhism, by quite a few centuries. It seems very likely that over a period of century or two the co-existence of Zoroastrianism, Vishnu worship and the lust for a cosmic Buddha all came together to create the formula that we call Amitabha in Pure Land Buddhism today.

All the problems mentioned in this lesson were resolved in China, especially by Zhiyi. T’ien T’ai attempted to formulate a Pure Land Buddhism divested of the literal interpretation of Amitabha and the Pure Land and transform them in metaphors and symbols that could be easily translated into Pali terms. Unfortunately, this did not last long. The human psyche being what is, abandoned the Buddha’s teaching of the Five Aggregates, conditionality and rebirth opting instead for a god, ritual and the reincarnation of autonomous self-existent being that could be “reborn” in a special heaven.

The appearance of such literature and sculptural remains at the end of the 2nd century suggests that the doctrine of Amitabha probably developed during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. Furthermore, there are sculptures of Amitabha in jhana (dhyana) Mudras as well as bronzes of Amitabha in Abhaya (“fearless”) Mudra from the Gandhara era of the 1st century CE suggesting the popularity of Amitabha during that time. One of the last prayer busts of Amitabha can be found in the trademark black stone of the Pala Empire, which was the last Buddhist Empire of India and lost its influence in the 12th century due to Islamic invasions.

From the very earliest times, Chinese Buddhist scriptures included texts that gave instruction on the contemplation on the Buddha. The Pratyutpanna-buddha-sammukhavasthita-samadhi-sutra, Sutra on the Samadhi of Sitting Meditation, and Sutra on the Ocean of the Samadhi of Contemplation on the Buddha are representative of the earl Mahayana writings dealing with meditation.

Appearing at about the same time that Mahayana Buddhism was about the fall into extinction, the Pratyutpanna Sutra (also Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra, lit. "The Samadhi of being in the presence of all the Buddhas” probably originated around the 1st century BCE in the Gandhara area of northwestern India. In English it is also called The “Samadhi of the Contemplation on the Buddha” and “The Sutra on the Ocean of the Samadhi of Contemplation on the Buddha.”

The Pratyutpanna Sutra was first translated into Chinese by the Kushan Buddhist monk Lokaksema between 178 and 189 CE, at the Han capital of Loyand. This translation is, together with the Prajnaparamita Sutra, one of the earliest historically datable texts of the Mahayana tradition.

The Pratyutpanna Sutra contains the first known mentions of the Buddha Amitabha and his Pure Land, said to be at the origin of Pure Land practice in China. The text eventually became the inspiration for Zhiyi’s founding of the T’ien T’ai (Tendai) School of Buddhism, which heavily influenced and was influenced by the Tibetan Vajrayana.

"Bodhisattvas hear about the Buddha Amitabha and call him to mind again and again in this land. Because of this calling to mind, they see the Buddha Amitabha. Having seen him they ask him what dharmas it takes to be born in the realm of the Buddha Amitabha. Then the Buddha Amitabha says to these bodhisattvas: 'If you wish to come and be born in my realm, you must always call me to mind again and again, you must always keep this thought in mind without letting up, and thus you will succeed in coming to be born in my realm."

Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra translated by Jeff Wilson.

The “Samadhi of Contemplation on the Buddha” taught in these scriptures often places “contemplation on the Buddha image” at the very first stage of practice. This attests to the fact that the existence of a Buddha image is indispensable to the “Samadhi of Contemplation on the Buddha.” In the Sutra on the Ocean of the Samadhi of Contemplation on the Buddha, which is thought to be an apocryphal sutra arising from China, there are expressions that cannot be understood without presupposing the existence of a Gandharan Buddha image in particular. It makes one mindful of the prevalence of the “samadhi of contemplation on the Buddha” in Gandhara. We can see that the existence of massive and abundant Buddha images from Gandhara in Bamiyan.

There is a theory that seeks to attach a relationship between the large Buddha images of Bamiyan, destroyed by the Taliban, and descriptions of the massiveness of the body of the “Buddha of Immeasurable Life” in the Sutra of Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life. They do not necessarily have a direct relationship with that sutra alone. The “samadhi of contemplation on the Buddha,” has as its initial stage the contemplation on the Buddha image, and the existence of large Buddha images raise a plausible issue to which attention should be given. In any case, it causes us to consider that the tendency to pray for salvation through the supernatural power of the Buddha took root deeply among renunciant monks as well.

The Sutra of Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, which was translated in the early part of the fifth century CE, takes on a form similar to other Buddha-contemplation sutras translated during about the same period of time. Yet, in terms of its content, it must be considered to be one of the Pure Land sutras in that it urges the practitioner to aspire for birth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss by saying the Name of Amida Buddha. The so-called “six contemplation sutras,” in which this sutra is usually included, are all apocryphal scriptures having come into existence in China. Indeed, contemporary scholarship places about 98% of all Mahayana sutra in the camp of apocryphal. However, the elements making up the sutras’ contents also include many authentic teachings that were transmitted from India and Central Asia.

The samadhi referred to in the sutra is the eighth spoke of the Eightfold Path, the Samma Samadhi or “Full, Integral” or “Holistic Samadhi.” This is often translated as concentration, meditation, and absorption or one-pointedness of mind. None of these translations is adequate. Samadhi literally means to be fixed; absorbed in or established at one point, thus the first level of meaning is concentration when the mind is fixed on a single object.

The second level of meaning goes further and represents the establishment, not just of the mind, but also of the whole being in various levels or modes of consciousness and awareness. This is Samadhi in the sense of enlightenment or Buddhahood. This is what the driving motivation of the practice was meant to be. It is much different than simply chanting a name, although that may have been involved in the actual practice. Zhiyi also used the name in his practice. At T’ien T’ai, the samadhi practice was a 12-week retreat.

Amita (meaning: Immeasurable Radiance) resides in the "Happy Land" or "Pure Land" to the Chinese, in the Paradise of the West. This may sound very confusing to people who believe in a Buddhism that does not have deities, nor heaven in the Christian sense. But we have to remember that Buddhism grew out of Hinduism that has many deities. The influence of Hinduism is strong enough so that Siddhartha Gautama himself is sometimes interpreted as part of a trinity: the Body of Essence, the Body of Bliss, and the Body of Transformation. It was in the form of the last that Gautama lived on earth, an emanation of the Body of Bliss that dwelled in the heavens as a sort of supreme god; the Body of Bliss is an emanation of the Body of Essence that pervades and underlies the whole universe.

This "trinity" of Siddhartha Gautama’s identity came from a trinity of the primeval gods in Hinduism, where, some historians argue, lay the basis of the "holy trinity" in Christianity. But this interpretation obviously made Gautama a deity. Together with Amita and some other Buddhas, they made Buddhism a polytheistic religion to some extent.

According to Tanluan (476-542), a patriarch of the Pure Land School, this pure land was created because of the merit accumulated by Amita in his lifetime (before he became a god).

This land is pure because according to Buddhism, the impermanence of this world is because nothing in this world is pure--all is made up of composites, therefore subject to decay and disintegration. Thus only pure things would achieve permanence. This pure land is achievable through single-minded prayers (compare the Christian emphasis on faith), which, along with the merit of Amita Buddha, is sufficient in guaranteeing entry into it through rebirth. On the other hand, because to attain one's entry into the Pure Land is selfish, one needs to distribute one's own merit among all to help others to enter it as well. And after cultivation within the Pure Land, one should prepare to come back to this world to help more people attain it.

Thus, in Pure Land Buddhism, the focus is single-minded prayers to achieve salvation. There is no mention of the reading of Buddhist sutras.

The teachings of the Buddha (Gautama Siddhartha) were compiled after his death and edited by his disciples to create the Buddhist scriptures. Originally the teachings were transmitted orally and did not exist as written texts. Writing systems existed in India during the time of the Buddha, but, according to Indian tradition, letters are for secular functions, not for recording the words of holy persons. The words of holy persons are to be recited aloud.

Indian people also refrained from depicting the physical form of holy persons. Although reliefs displaying the life story of the Buddha are found on the gates and fences of early stupas erected to enshrine the Buddha’s relics, the Buddha himself never appears; instead, the presence of the Buddha is expressed symbolically by a bodhi tree, a dharma wheel (dharmacakra), or his footprints. In this respect, similarly to the treatment of scriptures, Buddhists adhered to the contemporaneous Indian tradition not to express the physical form of holy persons. Buddhists in India maintained this tradition during the 400–500 years in which Buddhism remained within the Indian world. The tradition was broken when Buddhism spread to other countries.

The Silk Road Connection

In 1999 Afghan refugees escaping the persecution of the Taliban regime by hiding in caves in the Bamingyan valley discovered Buddhist Kudara, containing 97 statues and several jars containing over ten thousand fragments of the ancient Indian Buddhist manuscripts. Taking a number of routes the manuscripts were secreted out of the country. The majority of the manuscripts came into the possession of Martin Schoyen, the Norwegian collector. A small number of the manuscripts also made it to a Japanese collection. These Buddhist manuscripts date to the 2nd–8th centuries CE and may be compared to the Christian discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Although they are fragments, they are extremely important to academic studies because they were discovered within the Indian cultural area. An international research team was organized, and the results of its research are available.

These manuscripts may raise questions related to early Mahayana Buddhism. This collection is particularly interesting because it includes the manuscripts of Bactrian Buddhist texts. One of the manuscripts is written in Greek and contains passages praising various Buddhas. It is noteworthy that the name of Lokeśvarārja Buddha is included, which indicates an established worship of Amida Buddha among the people. Lokeśvarārja, meaning “monarch of the world”, was said to have been the 53^rd Buddha and the Buddha that taught King Dharmakara. The king was so impress he renounced his title, became a monk and made 48 vows toˆ this Buddha. Upon completion of the vows the monk became Amitabha Buddha.

Besides this Schoyen collection, the fragments of twenty-nine volumes from Gandhāra are also remarkable. These Buddhist texts written in Kharoșțhī script on birch skin during 1st–2nd centuries CE were found in Hadda. The manuscripts are preserved in the British Library and studies of them are now being published.

During the early Buddhist period different ethnic groups and tribes maintained their own cultural identities. While the degree of influence from Indian, Iranian, or Chinese cultures varied depending on the geographical area, each group encountered Buddhism and subsequently accepted it. However, the social context allowing for a balanced coexistence of different ethnic groups faced a drastic change from the ninth century. The change started with the expansion of the Turkish Uigur people along the Silk Route that eventually created the situation in which Central Asia could genuinely be called Turkistan (“domain [stan] of the Turks”). Turks were originally nomadic people living in the Mongolian steppes.

Later in the mid-8^th century CE, the Empire of East Uigur Khagan was established and controlled the Mongolian steppes for the next hundred years. In this period the Sogdian people introduced the Uigurs to Manichaeism. They also created a writing system for their language based on Sogdian scripts. This resulted in a relatively advanced civilization within the empire. Around 840 the Uigur Empire was destroyed by the Turkish Kirghiz people and the people were dispersed into a large number of tribal groups.

The Uigurs influenced the history and culture of the Silk Route area enormously. The Uigurs flourished by occupying the major trading centers on the Silk Route. They soaked up the cultural heritage of the earlier Buddhist residents. They also ethnically blended with Iranians, Indians, and Tokharians, who are Caucasians and who spoke Indo-European languages. In the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongolian leader Chinghiz (Genghis) Khan (ruled 1205–27) began his campaign for world domination. The Uigur people voluntarily became Mongolian subjects and gave their support to the Mongol conquest. Because the Uigurs had three hundred years of experience along the Silk Route, they were culturally advanced and had attained a high level of knowledge about the ethnic groups, geography, languages, and religious traditions both in the east and the west. This was a tremendous help to the Mongols.

In exchange for their help the Mongols protected the homelands of the Uigurs and gave them special status as a minority ethnic group under the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1260–1367). Uigur people were granted the status of rank second citizens in the empire’s ethnic hierarchy. They played significant roles in politics, economics, culture, and religion as the leaders of “people of colored eyes.” This caused the Mongols to adopt Buddhism as their official religion.

The Mongols did not have a writing system and at first borrowed Uigur scripts and only later developed a uniquely Mongolian script. Most Uigur civil servants working in the Mongolian capital city Dadu (modern Beijing) were Buddhists. They used block printing; the most advanced printing technology of the time, to publish great numbers of Buddhist texts and sent them home to the Turfan area. Many printed texts discovered in East Turkistan were texts published during the Yuan Dynasty, and most of the printed materials are Buddhist texts. They are printed not only in Uigur but include texts in Sanskrit and Xixia language. It is known that the people who printed and bound these texts were Chinese because the page numbers are in Chinese characters.

The texts include previously unknown Buddhist materials. In China, Buddhist scriptures were compiled into the Chinese Buddhist canon, which includes texts translated into Chinese and the Chinese commentaries on them. Not all the Chinese Buddhist scriptures are preserved in the contemporary Chinese Buddhist canon. There were many Buddhist texts that never reached the center of Chinese culture (modern Xian) and were not incorporated in the Chinese.

Some texts reached Central China and their existence was recorded but was lost before being included in the canon due to wars or other circumstances. Some of these Chinese texts have now been discovered in Central Asia. For example, the fragments of Chinese Buddhist texts discovered in Turfan include a formerly unknown Chinese translation of the Wu liang shou jing. The text was translated from Sukhāvatiyūha in Sanskrit. This text is not included in the Chinese Buddhist canon.

The Uigur materials include a collection of manuscripts with the abbreviated title Abitaki. Abitaki is a phonetic transcription of the Chinese title Amituo jing. Among the texts important for the worship of Amida Buddha and his Pure Land, there is a sutra of the same name, Amitou jing, translated by Kumārajva, but the Uigur manuscript is not a translation of Kumārajīva’s work. The Uigur text is in four volumes and consists of citations of different types of scriptures (sutras, commentaries, records of doctrinal discussions, and biographies of monks and layity) related to Amida worship. It is certain that the text was translated from sources originally written in Chinese. The Chinese originals, however, have been lost in China. By studying these Uigur translations, the lost original Chinese texts have been reconstructed with a great degree of accuracy.

Primitive Pure Land Buddhism: Amidism

Pure Land Buddhism is sometimes called Amidism presents a vast series of problems within the context of Buddhism, especially in the context of the Pali Canon, the only body of Buddhist in existence at the time of the rise of Pure Land Buddhism. The earliest text relating to the Pure Land can be found in the Pali Canon, but there is no mention of Amitabha Buddha, also called Amida.

Amitabha should appear on a list of Buddhas who lived prior to the Buddha. Unfortunately the name does not show up on any list available until the 16^th century CE.

The Buddhavamsa, Buddha Tradition, abbreviated as Bv, is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. It is included there in the Sutta Pitaka's Khuddaka Nikaya. It is a fairly short work in verse, in 28 chapters, detailing aspects of the life of Buddha and the twenty-four preceding Buddhas. This canonical text, along with the Apadana and Cariyapitaka, has been described as "hagiographical" as well as a "latecomer" to the Canon.

The following is the official list of Buddhas from the Buddhavamsa.

Dîpańkara
Koņdañña
Mąńgala
Sumana
Ravata
Sobhita
Anomadassi
Paduma
Nârada
Padumutarra
Sumedha
Sujåta
Piyadassi
Attadassi
Dhammadassi
Siddhattha
Tissa
Phussa
Vipassi
Sikhi
Vessabhu
Kusandha
Koņågamana
Kassapa
Gotama (The Buddha of this era, i.e., dispensation)
Metteyya (Maitreya, The Buddha yet to come)

According to Mahayana Buddhist sutras he was a king in the remote period of time. Renouncing his kingdom, he became a monk and was named Dharmakara, which means 'Treasury of Dharma'. Inspired by the teachings of the then Buddha of that time, Lokesvaraja Buddha, who taught him the way to supreme enlightenment many eons ago, he made forty eight great vows for the saving of the sentient beings. The Eighteenth Vow, which is the basis of the Pure Land, ran like this: 'If upon the attainment of Buddhahood all sentient beings in the ten quarters who aspire in sincerity and faith to be reborn in my land, recite my name up to ten times and fail to be born there, then may I not attain the Perfect Enlightenment…'

Since then, the Bodhisattva Dharmakara, after five eons of self-cultivation, finally attained the Supreme Enlightenment and became the Buddha Amitabha. This means that his grand and infinitely compassionate vow is now a reality, the paradise known as Pure Land or Sukhavati has been established, suffering beings must and will be delivered if only they will have the full faith to call upon his name.

Although there is no record of such a Buddha in the traditional Canon the form of this Buddha appears to have been forming around the 1^st century BCE but crystallized in China around 402 CE with Huiyuan’s founding of the Donglin Temple at Mount Lu. While it has a strong monastic presence during this time, the practices were aimed more at the laity than the monastic.

The first known sutra mentioning Amitabha is the translation into Chinese of the Pratyutpanna Sutra by the Kuṣāṇa monk Lokaksema in about 180 CE. This work is said to be the origin of Pure Land practice in China.

The appearance of such literature and sculptural remains at the end of the 2nd century suggests that the doctrine of Amitabha probably developed during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. Furthermore, there are sculptures of Amitabha in Dhyani Mudras as well as bronzes of Amitabha in Abhaya Mudra from the Gandhara era of the 1st century CE suggesting the popularity of Amitabha during that time. One of the last prayer busts of Amitabha can be found in the trademark black stone of the Pala Empire, which was the last Buddhist Empire of India and lost its influence in the 12th century due to Islamic invasions.

Things That Matter

Even if Amitabha Buddha is a mental construct borrowed or appropriated from some other non-Buddhist culture the question arises, “How does it matter?” Buddhism does not depend on the historicity of its founder. We believe the Buddha lived because documents and internal evidence of the suttas tell us so. The first Buddhist Council was held only months after his death. It is not the Buddha, however, whom we worship. As Buddhists there is no worship because there is nothing or anyone to worship. There is simply the Dhamma (Pali) or in Sanskrit Dharma.

There are, to be sure, those who worship Amitabha as if he were a living being on some far away world out there in the universe somewhere. Is this what the original Buddhists intended? There is no way of knowing. At the same time if we consider Amitabha to be a symbol of enlightenment itself, the Western Pure Land as a metaphor and the Pure Land sutras poetic expressions of the Buddhadhamma then the whole of Pure Land Buddhist teaching and practices remains wholly intact as a Buddhist school.

In Pure Land Buddhist traditions such as Shin Buddhism, Amitabha, called Amida Butsu in Japanese, is viewed as the eternal Buddha who manifested as Shakyamuni in India and who is the personification of Nirvana itself. Nirvana or Ultimate Reality is sometimes called the "Dharma-Body" or Dharmakaya in the original Sanskrit. It assumed take on a concrete form as

The Buddha of Infinite Light (Amitabha) and Infinite Life (Amitayus) and
The "Pure Land" or "Land of Utmost Bliss" (Sukhavati), the realm over which this Buddha is said to preside ... Amida is the Eternal Buddha who is said to have taken form as Shakyamuni and his teachings in order to become known to us in ways we can readily comprehend.'
Amitabha is said to be the “eternal Buddha”.

For some who would ignore the Pure Land teachings and the Dhamma, this translates to the “adi-buddha” a minority concept of “first cause”, that is, the idea that there is an original First Buddha. Adi Buddha is said to be uncreated but always was and always will be. There are a few Buddhists that buy into this theory. It has even been called the highest form of Buddhism. There is a minor problem with this view and the theory in general. That problem is Pratityasamutpada: dependent origination.

This is the understanding that any phenomenon ‘exists’ only because of the ‘existence’ of other phenomena in an incredibly complex web of cause and effect covering time past, time present and time future. This concept of a web is symbolized by Indra's net, a multidimensional spider's web on which lies an infinite amount of dew drops or jewels, and in these are reflected the reflections of all the other drops of dew ad infinitum. Stated in another way, everything depends on everything else. For example, a human being's existence in any given moment is dependent on the condition of everything else in the world (and indeed the universe) at that moment but, conversely, the condition of everything in the world in that moment depend in an equally significant way on the character and condition of that human being.

Everything in the universe is interconnected through the web of cause and effect so that the whole and the parts are mutually interdependent. The character and condition of entities at any given time are intimately connected with the character and condition of all other entities that superficially may appear to be unconnected or unrelated. Because all things are thus conditioned and transient (anicca), they have no real independent identity (anatta) so do not truly ‘exist’, though to ordinary minds this appears to be the case. All phenomena are therefore fundamentally insubstantial and ‘empty’ (sunya).

A general formulation of this concept goes:

With this as condition,That arises.With this NOT as condition,That does NOT arise.

A self-created or non-created being cannot exist according to the Buddha. Adi Buddha would have to be a myth and not a reality of any kind. We would be well served to dispense with the myth of Adi Buddha as soon as intellectually possible. Buddhism is about reality and facing it squarely toe to toe. An immortal being is simply another attempt at creating immortality with the necessity of conditions.

What Amidism, another name for Pure Land Buddhism, does is establishes the existence of an eternal Buddha that became a Buddha due to the conditions of his kamma and practice. This Buddha might not have even lived and died in our world system. He may have been from another, parallel universe. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that there is a concept of Buddha that goes beyond time and space.

The Theory

In Jodo Shin Shu there is a document used widely during services. It is called “The Gatha in Praise of the Buddha”, Sanbutsu-ge in Japanese. It discusses a spiritual journey divided into three parts. The first part praises the virtue of the Buddha Lokesvararaja; the second discusses the kind of Buddha that Dharmakara would like to be, based on his experience with Lokesvararaja; and the concluding section asks the various Buddhas, beginning with Lokesvararaja, to bear witness to the intent of the Bodhisattva Dharmakara.

Names have particular importance in understanding the doctrinal nuances of Pure Land Buddhism, because this tradition focuses on the Name of Amida Buddha, Namo Amida Butsu. The three principal names that appear in this truth-revealing narrative are Lokesvararaja, Dharmakara, and Amida (Amitabha).

Lokesvararaja Buddha is the teacher of the Bodhisattva who would later become Amida Buddha. One might ask, "Why would this Buddha be the one who opens up the Dharma to Bodhisattva Dharmakara?" In the retelling of the story the narrative, we recall how Dharmakara was a King himself. Dharmakara meets with Lokesvararaja, the "King of Kings." This King, however, has no army, no kingdom, and possesses no material treasures. This King, therefore, cannot conquer an external enemy nor can he manipulate a potential alliance with the promise of material wealth. What makes Lokesvararaja Buddha special is that he divulges the Truth, a truth that can liberate all of humanity and deliver the greatest of riches any being could desire: appreciation of life.

Lokesvararaja is incapable of conquering an external enemy; his focus is to conquer the self (compare the Dhammapada that says, “Greater in battle than the man who would conquer a thousand-thousand men, is he who would conquer just one — himself.” Verse 103). The conquered self is no longer attached to the ego. It is the "egoless” self; the self of “non-ego." In this concept we rediscover a fundamental Buddhist tenet: the idea that all manifestation (existence) is non-substantive. In other words, nothing can exist in and of itself.

The name of the Bodhisattva Dharmakara also makes a statement of a fundamental tenet of Buddhism. Lokesvararaja Buddha teaches Dharmakara Bodhisattva that he already has everything he needs to become Enlightened. This should be no big surprise since the name Dharmakara means "Dharma storehouse." The name Dharmakara suggests that the Bodhisattva has all the knowledge of the Dharma, all the truth already stored within him. Since this is the case, what is missing from the Bodhisattva that prevents him from becoming a Buddha? This statement can be applied to anyone who is a disciple of the Buddha.

A Buddha, like an Arahant, is a person who is fully awakened to the truth; it is a person who embodies the truth. Buddhism sees truth not just as a static state but as dynamic one as well. The truth cannot simply remain as truth. It has to become real as well. In other words, Truth is not fully expressed until it is shared with others. This can be seen in the use of the synonym Tathagata for Buddha. Sharing the Dharma is revealed in the Buddha’s Vows. In the Eighteenth or Primal Vow, Dharmakara specifically promises to renounce his Enlightenment unless all sentient beings can be saved from the world of suffering. The Primal Vow is fulfilled in the Name of the Buddha, Namo Amida Butsu. This name is proof of the fulfillment of this Vow and the transformation of Dharmakara Bodhisattva into the Buddha Amida. Reciting the Name is referred to as the Nembutsu in Japanese, Nienfo in Chinese, and Nam Mô A Di Di Đà Phật in Vietnamese.

The practice has the outward appearance of religious devotion to a diety. This is a wrong view of Amidism. If one is practicing in this way then they are completely missing the point and engaging in superstitious worship.

Most people have no respect for the life they are living. They have great respect for the things they can gain in life but for the life itself. They love the entitlements they believe they deserve. Respect for life is, however, lacking. Pure Land practice is all about living. Loving this life, cherishing the goodness that in inherent in it. The Pure Land is here and now and not in some place far away.

The rational behind the practice is simple. The Buddha said it was quite possible to become enlightened in this life but only under certain circumstances. Did the Buddha think it possible for a layperson to attain Enlightenment? Probably not. He measured spiritual progress in four stages. In the first, called ‘stream entry’, one was guaranteed that one would have at the most seven more lives and would never be reborn in a station lower than human. At first, most people who accepted his view of kamma were held to have attained this. At the second stage, the ‘once returner’ faced only one more life on earth. The ‘non-returners’ would not be reborn in this world but in a high heaven, from which their attainment of nibbana was guaranteed. Enlightenment was the fourth and final stage.

When asked about the spiritual attainments of his followers, the Buddha said that many hundreds of monks and nuns had attained Enlightenment, and many hundreds of lay followers, both male and female, had become ‘non-returners’. (Majjhima Nikaya 1.490–1) They had given up sexual activity. He did not explicitly say that no lay follower attained nirvana in this life, but that is the implication. Elsewhere there is a short list of names of lay disciples, all male, who are said to have reached nibbana, but it is a mere list and so placed that it could well be a late addition to the Canon. (Anguttara Nikaya 3.451) The tradition that the Buddha’s father attained Enlightenment as a layman is post-canonical. A post-canonical Pali text says that lay life is not livable for an Enlightened person, so if a layman becomes Enlightened he (or she) will either enter the Sangha or die within the day. (Milindapañha) On the other hand, there are plenty of canonical cases of laymen and laywomen who are said to have made spiritual progress.

There are a few cases of laymen who lived religious lives very like those of monks without actually joining the Sangha. They took Ten Precepts, the same ten as are undertaken by novices; this meant that they lived in complete chastity and renounced all economic activity, like monks. One such man, Ugga, even preached.

An extremely significant text concerns the death of the Buddha’s greatest lay patron, the financier Anathapindika. When this very wealthy and very devoted follower lay on his deathbed, Sariputta, one of the Buddha’s chief disciples, came and preached to him what appears to us an utterly basic short sermon on detachment. When Anathapindika complained that he had never heard such a sermon before, Sariputta said that such sermons were not preached to the laity because they would not mean anything to them. (Majjhima Nikaya 3.261) Elsewhere the Buddha says that monks have a duty to show laymen the way to heaven, note that he does not say the way to nibbana. (Digha Nikaya 3.191)

The widely held religious assumption that all men and women share the same religious goal is not wholly applicable to Buddhism, until we come to modern Mahayana times and contemporary Theravada teaching. The actual application of such religious egalitarianism in practice probably depends on widespread literacy and universal access to texts, which is not quite the same thing but clearly connected. Today we have in Buddhism a rather naïve assumption that because the suttas and sutra can be read and meditation centers are available everyone can become enlightened in this very lifetime. The Buddha clearly did not hold this view.

The suttas found in the Pali Canon are surgically precise. The Buddha, as we have seen, promised a higher rebirth to lay people and nibbana to monks living in the isolation of monastic life. Householders have too much to concern themselves with, such as relationships, earning a living, maintaining a certain lifestyle. Monks and nuns are not so encumbered. They are concerned with no more than practice and meditation. In this light we can plainly see that the Pure Land Buddhist practitioner is in perfecting keeping with the Buddha’s own model. Where the Amidist falls short is in the intent of the practice.

Almost everywhere we look in the Pali Canon we find that much of what the Buddha preaches to lay people is devoted to the teachings of morality. Contrariwise, when he speaks to monks and Samanas he teaches about mind most often. Why should this be? It is because the teaching regarding the mind leads one to nibbana. In Mahayana this is called “the direct perception of emptiness”, which is the major prerequisite to enlightenment. The incredible discipline and time required to engage in this practice is not generally available to lay people. Hence, the Pure Land methods were introduced, and soundly based on the Buddha’s Pali teaching, becomes a reasonable alternative to entry into the monastery.

This is not to say that Pure Land Buddhism does not have a strong monastic tradition. Pure Land seems to have begun primarily as a lay movement that was appropriated by monks in China. This practice was often coupled with Chan (Zen), which is the same practice the Buddha preferred under the name of jhana. Inevitably the Zen school relied on the meditative technique alone. In the United States Zen retains monasteries but the monastic tradition is merely part-time. The practice of attaining enlightenment evolved into a theory that meditation itself is the enlightenment the Buddha taught. This was not what the Buddha actually taught, but simply a later invention of the American “Protestant” Buddhist movement. While the Bodhisattva Vows are still taken, the morality teachings have all but disappeared.

Pure Land Buddhism emphasizes the morality teachings for both clergy and lay people. That part was left intact. Also left intact is the realization that laypersons would most likely not attain nirvana, which was redefined within Mahayana, or the direct perception of emptiness, because of its dependence on a strong meditation program. The repetition of the name Amitabha is a prelude to the meditation or used as a kind of meditation itself. It is not meant to be a replacement for meditation but only a tool, a venue, so to speak.

Let us go back to the names. We have explained the meanings of the names Lokeśvarārja and Dharmakara now let’s turn to the third name. Just as the first two names are obviously symbolic so is the third name, Amitabha. Amitabha represents the universal Buddha body in Mahayana Buddhism. This body spreads throughout the universe. He represents the universality of life as well as the universality of “buddha”, that is, enlightenment. The Dharma/Dhamma is in itself universal. It underlies the existence of everything and there is nowhere in the multiverse that the Dharma cannot be found. In a very real sense Lokeśvarārja , Dharmakara, and Amitabha are one and the same. Lokeśvarārja, as the “monarch of the world” has ruled over the world, that is, his own worldly experience. Dharmakara has the Dharma within him and represents an “Everyman” kind of a figure. Amitabha is the end result of living a moral life within the context of Dharma. If seen and utilized in this way, the Pure Land practice is meant to “propel” the practitioner into the Pure Land (Pure Abode) so that they too can realize Buddhahood. What will make that happen for them? They will be reborn in existence in the Pure Land.

It is said that if the mind is pure the body is the Pure Land. This is explained very nicely in the names of the three figures mentioned in the story about the Forty-Eight Vows. If the mind can be purified then all of the experiences we have of life will also be pure. The Pure Land is ultimately found because of the Pure Mind. The recitation of the Buddha name purifies the mind by acting as a partition between the mind stream, bhavanga citta or Tathagatagarbha, also called hongaku, and the preconceptions, assumptions and other defilements we find in our worldly experience. While the symbols are different from the teaching of the Buddha the practice and the concept is directly in line with his teaching.

The Practice

The practice section of this lesson Chapter 5 of...

Buddhism of Wisdom & Faith: Pure Land Principles and Practice

Dharma Master Thich Thien Tam
Translated and edited by the Van Hien Study Group
Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada

Buddha Recitation Methods

29) Four Methods of Buddha Recitation

Buddha Recitation does not consist of oral recitation alone, but also includes contemplation and meditation. Therefore, within the Pure Land School, there are, in addition to Oral Recitation, three other methods, namely: Real Mark, Contemplation by Thought and Contemplation of an Image.

1. Real Mark [Self-Nature] Buddha Recitation

This entails penetrating the Mind's foremost meaning -- reciting our own original Buddha Nature. It is to contemplate the Real Mark Dharma Body of the Buddhas, resulting in attainment of True Thusness Samadhi.

This method is really a Zen practice; however, since the realm revealed by the meditational mind is the Pure Land, it also qualifies as a Pure Land practice. This method is not for those of limited or moderate capacities -- if the practitioner is not of the highest capacity, he cannot "become enlightened and enter" into it. For this reason, few Pure Land teachers promote it and the proponents of the method are found chiefly within the Zen tradition.

Incidentally, I would venture to say here that while we are still treading the path of Practice, not having reached the stage of Perfect Enlightenment, all Dharma methods are expedients; Buddha Recitation is an expedient and so is Zen. According to the Three Pure Land sutras, Buddha Sakyamuni provided the expedient teaching of the Western Pure Land, and urged sentient beings to recite Amitabha Buddha's name seeking rebirth there. With this method, they can escape Birth and Death, avail themselves of that wonderful, lofty realm to pursue cultivation, and swiftly attain Buddhahood. Diligent Buddha Recitation also leads to Awakening, as in Zen; however, the principal goal of the Pure Land School is rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, while the degree of Awakening achieved is a secondary consideration.

Thus, the goal of Real Mark Buddha Recitation falls within Pure Land teachings. However, from the standpoint of an expedient leading to rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, it does not truly qualify as a Pure Land method within the meaning of the Three Pure Land sutras taught by Buddha Sakyamuni. This is, perhaps, the reason why Pure Land Patriarchs merely referred to it to broaden the meaning of Buddha Recitation, but did not expound it widely.

2. Contemplation by Thought Recitation

This entails meditation on the features of Buddha Amitabha and His Land of Ultimate Bliss, in accordance with the Meditation Sutra. (The Sutra teaches a total of sixteen contemplations.) If this practice is perfected, the cultivator will always visualize the Pure Land before him. Whether his eyes are open or closed, his mind and thoughts are always coursing through the Pure Land. At the time of death, he is assured of rebirth there.

The virtues obtained through this method are immense and beyond imagination, but since the object of meditation is too profound and subtle, few practitioners can achieve it. This is because, in general, the method presents five difficulties:

i) with dull capacities, one cannot easily succeed; ii) with a crude mind, one cannot easily succeed; iii) without knowing how to use expedients skillfully and flexibly during actual practice, one cannot easily succeed; iv) without the ability to remember images clearly, one cannot easily succeed; v) with low energy, one cannot easily succeed.

Very few can avoid all five pitfalls. Thus, upon reflection, this method also belongs to the category of difficult Dharma doors.

3. Contemplation of an Image Recitation

In this method, the practitioner faces a statue of Amitabha Buddha and impresses all the features of that statue in his memory -- contemplating to the point where, even in the absence of a statue, and whether his eyes are open or closed, he clearly sees the image of Amitabha Buddha.

This method is also difficult, because it requires a great deal of energy, a faithful memory and skillful use of expedients. There are cases of individuals who have practiced it in an inflexible way and have developed headaches difficult to cure. Moreover, upon examination, this method of seeking rebirth in the Pure Land is not mentioned in the sutras. It is merely a technique to assist in the practice of Buddha Recitation, so that the practitioner can harness his mind and achieve right thought. Still, if we practice this method in a pure, devoted frame of mind, we can obtain a response, eradicate our bad karma, develop virtue and wisdom, and, through an "illusory" statue of Amitabha Buddha, awaken to His True Marks and achieve rebirth in the Pure Land.

4. Oral Recitation

In this method, the practitioner recites, aloud or silently, either "Nam Mo Amitabha Buddha or "Amitabha Buddha." The short form (Amitabha Buddha) has the advantage of easily focusing the cultivator's mind, while the longer version facilitates development of a truly earnest, respectful mind conducive to a response.

This method, taught by Sakyamuni Buddha in the Shorter Amitabha Sutra, is the dominant form of Pure Land practice at the present time.

A brief examination of the four methods of Buddha Recitation shows that the Real Mark [No. 1] and Contemplation of an Image [No. 3] methods are not mentioned in the Three Pure Land sutras. They are referred to only in the Buddha Recitation Samadhi Sutra and a few other sutras or commentaries. Both of these methods are secondary expedients to expand on the true meaning of Buddha Recitation; they are not recognized methods traditionally taught by Pure Land Patriarchs.

The Real Mark method has the unique advantage of teaching the profound and exalted meaning of Buddha Recitation. However, it is too lofty to embrace people of all capacities and "strays" in the direction of Zen. The Contemplation of an Image method is merely a subsidiary technique and is not easy to practice. These two methods, therefore, are not recommended for Pure Land practitioners. Likewise, the Contemplation by Thought method [No. 2], although expounded by Buddha Sakyamuni and leading to immense virtue, is reserved for those of high capacities. In the present Dharma-Ending Age, few can practice it.

In conclusion, only Oral Recitation [No. 4] embraces people of all capacities, leads to swift results and is easy enough for anyone to practice. Oral Recitation, practiced earnestly and correctly, will bring a response; in this very life, we can immediately see the features of Amitabha Buddha and the adornments of the Western Pure Land and awaken to the Original Mind. Even if we cannot attain True Mark in this life, we will certainly attain it after rebirth in the Pure Land. For this reason, the Thirteenth Pure Land Patriarch, Master Yin Kuang, wrote the following words of praise:

Exclusively reciting the Name will bring attainment of True Mark, Without contemplation we will still see the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Ancient masters have also commented:

Among Dharma methods, Pure Land is the short cut for attaining the Way. Within Pure Land, Oral Recitation is the short cut.

Nowadays, this method is the most popular form of Buddha Recitation.

30) Ten Variants of Oral Recitation

As indicated above, Oral Recitation is the most common Pure Land method at the present time. However, this method has many variants, to accommodate the circumstances and capacities of the individual. A few of these variants are summarized below.

1. Reflecting the Name Recitation

With this technique, the ear catches the sound as the mouth recites, examining each individual word and each individual phrase, to make sure they are clear and distinct, phrase after phrase. There are two ways of hearing, with the ears or with the mind. Although the ears "hear deep inside," the sounds do not reside anywhere. The practitioner gradually forgets everything inside and out -- even body, mind, realm, time and space -- with only the Buddha's name remaining.

This technique of "reflecting the name," makes it easy for the cultivator to filter out deluded thoughts and swiftly achieve one-pointedness of mind. The Surangama Sutra expresses this very idea when it states, in the words of the Bodhisattva Manjusri: "This common method of concentrating the mind on its sense of hearing, turning it inward ... is most feasible and wise." (Wai-tao, tr. "The Surangama Sutra," in D. Goddard, ea., A Buddhist Bible, p. 260.)

2. Counting Rosary Beads Recitation

In this method, as the mouth recites, the hand fingers the rosary. At first, thoughts are tied to the rosary beads, but later on they gradually move away from the beads, leading to the state of one-pointedness of mind. This technique increases the power of recitation in the same way that a cane enables a mountain climber with weak legs to ascend higher and higher.

With this technique, we should write down the number of recitations per session or per day. This has the advantage of forcing us to keep an exact count, eliminating the affliction of laziness. However, we should take care not to be too ambitious, attempting to achieve too much too soon, or our recitation will not be clear and distinct. The ancients, while reciting the Buddha's name over and over, did so in a clear, distinct manner thanks to two factors: "correct understanding" and "correct concentration of mind." Elder Master Ou-I, the Ninth Patriarch of Pure Land once taught:

There is no better or loftier way to reach the state of one-pointedness of mind. At first the practitioner should finger the rosary, keeping an exact count, while reciting the Buddha's name over and over in a clear, distinct manner, 30,000, 50,000 up to 100,000 times each day, maintaining that number without fail, determined to remain constant throughout his life. Such recitation will, in time, become second nature -- not reciting being reciting. At that time, recording or not recording no longer matters. If such recitation, accompanied by earnest Faith and Vows, did not lead to rebirth in the Pure Land, the Buddhas of the Three Periods (past, present and future) would all be guilty of false speech. Once we are reborn in the Pure Land, all Dharma methods will appear before our eyes. If at the outset we seek too high a goal, are over-confident and eager to show that we are not attached to forms and marks, preferring to study according to the free and perfect method, we reveal a lack of stability and depth in our Faith and Vows as well as perfunctoriness in our Practice. Even if we were to lecture exhaustively on the Twelve Divisions of the Dharma [all the teachings of Buddha Sakyamuni] and become enlightened to the 1,700 Zen koans, these would merely be activities on the fringes of life and death.

This advice is indeed a compass for the Pure Land practitioner.

3. Breath-by-Breath Recitation

This technique consists of reciting silently or softly, with each breath, inhaling or exhaling, accompanied by one recitation of the Buddha's name. Since life is linked to breath, if we take advantage of breath while practicing Buddha Recitation, we will not be apart from Buddha Amitabha in life and at the time of death, when breath has stopped, we will be immediately reborn in the Pure Land. The practitioner should remember, however that once he has mastered this technique, he should recite aloud as well as silently. In this way, the power of recitation will be strengthened and the will to be reborn in the Pure Land more easily developed. Otherwise, his resolve will not be earnest and he might "stray" into the practice of the "Five Meditations to calm the mind" of the Theravada tradition.

4. Continuously Linked Recitation

With this technique, the practitioner recites softly, each word following the one immediately before, each phrase closely following the previous phrase ...

During this practice, through discretion and patience, there are no empty time frames and therefore "sundry thoughts" cannot intrude. The cultivator's feelings and thoughts are intense, his mind and mouth move boldly forward reciting the Buddha's name; the power of right thought embraces everything, temporarily subduing ignorance and delusive thought. Thus, the light of transcendental samadhi breaks through and shines forth.

From early times, Pure Land practitioners would avail themselves of this method when their emotions and thoughts wandered or were in a state of confusion.

5. Enlightened, Illuminating Recitation

With this technique, the practitioner on the one hand recites the Buddha's name and on the other, "returns the light" and illumines his True Nature. He thus enters into the realm of ultimate transcendental emptiness; what remains is only the consciousness that his body-mind and the True Mind of the Buddha have become one -- all-illuminating and all-encompassing. At that time, meditation rooms, cushions, gongs and all else have disappeared. Even the illusory, "composite body" is nowhere to be found.

With this practice, even while our present "retribution body" is not yet dead, silent illumination is attained. Uttering the Buddha's name, the practitioner immediately achieves the state of samadhi. There is no swifter method for common mortals to enter the realm of the saints.

Unfortunately, we cannot understand or practice this method unless we are of the highest capacity. Therefore, its scope is rather modest and limited.

6. Bowing to the Buddha Recitation

This technique consists of making bows as we recite the Buddha's name. Either we recite once before each bow or we bow as we recite, regardless of the number of recitations. The bowing should be supple yet deliberate, complementing recitation, bowing and reciting perfectly synchronized. If we add a sincere and earnest mind, body, speech and mind are gathered together. Except for the words Amitabha Buddha, there is not the slightest deluded thought.

This method has the ability to destroy the karma of drowsiness. Its benefits are very great, because the practitioner engages in recitation with his body, speech and mind. A lay practitioner of old used to follow this method, and each day and night, he would bow and recite an average of one thousand times.

However, this practice is the particular domain of those with strong mind-power. Lacking this quality, it is difficult to persevere, because with extended bowing, the body easily grows weary, leading to discouragement. Therefore, this method is normally used in conjunction with other methods and is not practiced in exclusivity.

7. Decimal Recording Recitation

This is the inscription technique of Buddha Recitation, taking each ten utterances of the Buddha's name as a unit. Individuals with short breath spans can divide the ten utterances into two subunits (five utterances each) or three smaller subunits (two three-utterance units and one four-utterance unit). One rosary bead is fingered after each group of ten utterances is completed.

With this practice, the mind must not only recite, it must also remember the number of utterances. In this way, if we are not diligent we must become so; otherwise, it will be impossible to avoid mistakes.

This technique, in general, is an excellent expedient forcing the cultivator to concentrate his mind and is very effective with those subject to many errant thoughts. Elder Master Yin Kuang used to recommend it to Pure Land practitioners.

8. Lotus Blossom Recitation

As he recites, the practitioner contemplates the four colors of the lotus blossom (blue, yellow, red and white), one color after another without interruption. With his first utterance of the Buddha's name, he visualizes a huge, blue lotus blossom before his eyes, emitting a blue light. With the second utterance, he visualizes a yellow lotus blossom, emitting a yellow light. The third and fourth utterances are accompanied, respectively, by visualization of red and white lotus flowers, each color emitting its own light. He then repeats the visualization in the same sequence. As the flowers appear, he imagines a vague, lingering touch of pure, soft lotus fragrance.

Ancient masters devised this method because many practitioners in the T'ien T'ai School, despite using all available techniques, found it difficult to stem their errant thoughts. This method uses various forms and colors to focus mind and thought. These forms and colors take the marks of lotus blossoms in the Seven-Jewel Pond of the Pure Land ("one utterance of the Buddha's name, one jeweled lotus blossom"), because the lotus blossoms appearing in the Pure Land are inseparable from the lotus blossoms created by the virtues of the reciting mind. At the time of death, the mind-consciousness of the practitioner relies on these jeweled lotus blossoms to achieve rebirth in the Western Pure Land.

If the Pure Land cultivator should discover that he has an affinity with this technique, he should apply it and quickly enter the Wonderful Lotus Blossom Buddha Recitation Samadhi.

9. Recitation Amidst Light

This method was specially designed for certain practitioners who, as soon as they close their eyes to recite, suddenly see filthy forms and marks (ugly grimacing faces, for example), or dark forms and colors swirling around.

With this technique, the practitioner, while reciting the Buddha's name, visualizes himself seated in the middle of an immense, brilliant zone of light. Within that zone of light, when his mind has quieted down, the practitioner feels bright and refreshed. At that time, not only have deluded thoughts been annihilated, filthy, evil forms have also disappeared. After that, right thought is reinforced and samadhi is, in time, achieved.

Although this is a special expedient to destroy evil deluded marks, even the practitioner who is not in this predicament can apply this method to clear his mind and enter deeply into the Buddha Recitation Samadhi.

10. "Contemplation of the Buddha" Recitation

The methods of contemplation taught in the Meditation Sutra are very important and lead to immense virtue, but they are not a popular expedient for sentient beings in the Dharma-Ending Age. Nevertheless, since the ancient masters did not wish to see the special benefits of the meditation method go unused, they selected the easiest of the Sixteen Contemplations (Contemplation of Amitabha Buddha) and combined it with Oral Recitation to form the Contemplation of the Buddha-Oral Recitation technique. (Recitation is predominant, with contemplation of the Buddha occupying a subsidiary position.)

Each day, after reciting the Buddha's name, the practitioner reserves a special period of time for concentrating his mind and contemplating the Embellishments and Light of Amitabha Buddha. This method is derived from Contemplation Number Thirteen in the Meditation Sutra, in which Buddha Amitabha is visualized as some sixteen feet tall and of golden hue, standing at the edge of the Seven-Jewel Pond. If the practitioner cannot yet visualize the Seven-Jewel Pond, he can picture Amitabha Buddha standing before his eyes in a zone of light, in open space, the left hand held at chest level and forming the auspicious mudra, the right arm extending downward in the position of "welcoming and guiding."

To be successful in this meditation, it is necessary, at the outset, to visualize the body of Amitabha Buddha in general, then concentrate on the urna (white mark between the eyebrows). This mark is empty and transparent, like a white gem with eight facets ... The urna is the basic mark among the thirty-two auspicious marks of the Buddhas. When this visualization is successful, thanks to the affinity thus created between Amitabha Buddha and the practitioner, other marks will appear clearly, one after another. However, to ensure success, the practitioner should read through the Meditation Sutra memorizing the thirty-two auspicious marks of Buddha Amitabha before commencing his practice.

With this method, Buddha Recitation should be primary, because if the practitioner does not succeed at visualization, he can still fall back on recitation to ensure rebirth in the Pure Land. In truth, however, recitation aids visualization and visualization complements recitation, so that these two aspects work in parallel, leading the practitioner toward the desired goal.

Although this technique is somewhat more difficult than the others, if it can be accomplished successfully, immeasurable benefits are achieved. It is therefore described here at the very end, to foster diligent practice.

As stated earlier, these ten variants of Oral Recitation are also the ten basic techniques to combat the various mental hindrances faced by Buddha Recitation practitioners. Pure Land books discuss several dozen variants. However, they are merely techniques using, inter alia, a loud voice or a low voice at busy moments or at times of leisure. They cannot as such qualify as methods of recitation. For this reason, the author has singled out these ten basic variants of Oral Recitation to combat the obstructions of drowsiness and mind-scattering. They are the methods best suited to the majority of today's practitioners. The cultivator can try them out and select the one that fits his particular case.

A Conclusion

Pure Land Buddhism is very controversial in the Western World. It is also quite misunderstood. Without Pure Land Buddhism Zen could not have arisen in its present state. The semi-mythical founder of Zen (Chan in Chinese), was really in rebellion against ornate mythos of Pure Land Buddhism. The adherents of Pure Land do believe that at the time of death Amitabha will come and rescue one the devotee will be taken to directly to the Pure Land of Amitabha.

As we have seen the Buddha never advocated such a teaching, but he did address the problem of the average lay person. With faith and devotion to the Buddha one can be reborn in a Pure Land where enlightenment is possible. The day-to-day duties of the lay person will prevent most likely him or her from gaining full awakening in this very lifetime. Is it impossible? The Pali Canon indicates that it is not impossible, simply very difficult.

Beneath the reality that we experience is a reality much more profound than anything we think we can imagine. The Buddha and the Arahants witnessed these realities first hand. Ordinary people cannot realize these things and this is why schools like Pure Land and Zen arose – as an alternative explanation for reality that people could grasp on to.

One of the problems with Pure Land Buddhism is that it sees time as linear and life as a singularity. Neither are true. The Buddha tells us that past, present and future exist at the same time. You never lose your past and your future is already present along with all of its alternatives. Space too is illusionary. This is in itself wisdom born of awakening. Pure Land avoids these truths and enjoys a much more hinayanist viewpoint. Now is a slice of experience. That our life occurs in a continuum is an illusion. We think we are watching a movie, truth is, we are watching a slide show. Moment to moment awareness will show a meditator that truth. This is the major problem with Pure Land Buddhism. It is very focused on individual salvation sometime in the future. Your “now” can easily be my “past” or just as easily be my “future”. We all have our own individualized time.

Now this might sound very much like quantum physics, but it is a teaching of the Buddha. He was focused on moment to moment experience. The experience of bygone and dead past and a nonexistent future is anti-Buddhist. Our kamma/karma is always with us and will stay with us until awakening occurs. Our aggregates also mingle with all other aggregates. It is the aggregates that give us experience. We have aggregates interrelated with all other beings, just as all our “time” is interrelated. We cannot separate our self from the self of another. If I become enlightened that enlightenment must effect everyone else even if only minutely. If I do harm that too must effect everyone else. If I am only seeking rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha and I am doing it for selfish reasons then I am again affecting everyone “else” negatively.

The Tibetans have a cool way of expressing an altruistic attitude toward enlightenment. “May I become a Buddha for the benefit of all.” This resolves the issue of attainment for selfish reasons. It also supports the idea that we are all in this together. It recognizes both the experiential duality and the reality of interrelatedness.

So, it appears that Buddhism, as a form of “organized religion” is subject to the laws of entropy – moving from tight order to disorganized chaos. Almost all existing schools and sects have issues, not on the theoretical level but on the practical one. The laws of kamma/karma seem to lose meaning in many sects as does dependent origination. Pure Land Buddhism has tremendous possibilities if it can remain true to the original and core teaching of the Buddha.

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