AMITABHA, THE BUDDHA OF BUDDHAS
In
the radiant light of the full moon, Siddharta Gautama attained complete and
perfect enlightenment. He realized Nirvana (Nibbana), the ultimate goal of
Buddhist cultivation. He became a Buddha, the fully awakened and enlightened
one, the first in recorded history, at the break of dawn, more than 2,500 years
ago.
When he gave his first sermon two months after this great spiritual
breakthrough, he spoke of his experience, telling the five ascetics (his former
colleagues in the agonizing but futile practice of self-mortification) that
“when, Bhikkhus, my knowledge of reality and insight regarding the Four Noble
Truths (in their totality)… became fully clear to me, I declared to the world…
that I had understood, attained and realized rightly by myself the
incomparable, the most excellent perfect enlightenment, in other words, the
perfectly enlightened supreme Buddhahood…”
(1)
The Four Noble Truths are suffering (dukkha),
its cause and origin, its cessation, and the path (the Noble Eightfold Path)
leading to its complete cessation..
Through the Noble Eightfold Path (right understanding, right thought,
right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness,
and right concentration), the profound penetration of the Four Noble Truths
leads to the realization of Nirvana. The thick veils of avidya (the Sanskrit word for ignorance) have been penetrated and
shattered, revealing the Four Noble Truths in the clear light of intuitive wisdom
and penetrative insight. Buddhahood, including omniscience (complete
enlightenment), is thus attained.
The Buddha’s message is simply the universal pervasiveness of the truth
of suffering as well as the truth of the deliverance from suffering through
spiritual cultivation, with the deep perception and realization of the Four
Noble Truths.
Gautama Buddha (who’s also revered as Shakyamuni Buddha) said that “it
is just suffering and the cessation of suffering that I teach.”
The Noble Eightfold Path of spiritual liberation is based on the core
elements of morality/moral conduct (sila),
mental discipline of one-pointed concentration (samadhi), and development of wisdom (prajna).
Out of these three basic elements, the Buddha has developed, and taught
many methods of spiritual cultivation, and the figure of 84,000 is cited to
denote the great variety of techniques that can be used to obtain enlightenment
and release from suffering.
After two and a half millennia of Buddhist practice, however, the Pure Land method of cultivation remains
the simplest and the most successful in achieving spiritual liberation.
The heart of Pure Land practice is chanting or reciting the sacred Name
of Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha of
Infinite Light and Infinite Life.
In
the main Pure Land discourse, known as The
Longer Sukhavativyuha Sutra (as translated by Professor Dr Luis Gomez of
the University of Michigan), the Buddha Shakyamuni said to Ananda: “The august
majesty of the Buddha of Measureless Life (Amitabha) is unsurpassable. All the
countless, boundless, inconceivable buddhas tathagatas in all the world systems
in the ten regions of the universe without exception praise him…” (2)
“Of the Buddhas of the three periods of time
throughout the ten directions,
Amitabha Buddha is foremost…”
Commented the Venerable Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua (1918-1995), Abbot of
Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco:
“Amitabha Buddha is number one. This is because of the power of his
vows. This power is so great that when you recite “Na Mwo E Mi Two Fwo (Homage to Amitabha Buddha),” you can very
quickly realize Buddhahood. To become a Buddha, all you need to do is to recite
the Buddha’s name…” (3)
Master Hua also said: “… All the Buddhas of the ten directions were born
from this practice.
“At present, Kuan Yin (Avalokiteshvara) Bodhisattva, Great Strength
(Mahasthamaprapta) Bodhisattva, Manjushri Bodhisattva, and Universal Worthy
(Samantabhadra) Bodhisattva all continuously recite the Buddha’s name.”
Master Hua then told the story of an illustrious 10th century
Ch’an master who combined meditation with the zealous and indefatigable
practice of reciting the Buddha’s name to seek rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land:
“There was once a dhyana master called Yung Ming Shou. He started out as
a cultivator of dhyana meditation and later he became enlightened. After his
enlightenment he understood that the Dharma-door of Buddha Recitation was most
wonderful and so he began to chant the Buddha’s name.
“Every time he recited “Na Mwo E Mi Two Fwo,” a ray of light flashed out
of his mouth. What’s more, this was no ordinary light. Within the light was a
transformation body of Amitabha Buddha! So it is said,
One thought of Amitabha,
one thought of the
Buddha;
Every thought of Amitabha
every thought is of the Buddha.
“Shakyamuni Buddha taught this Dharma-door without having been requested
to do so, because its wonders are manifold, ineffable, and uncountable.
“The texts say, “Of all the living beings in the Dharma-ending Age, if a
billion cultivate, rare will it be for even one to obtain the Way. They shall
be taken across (the cycle of birth and death) only by relying on Buddha
Recitation.”
“However, if you recite the Buddha’s name,
you can end birth and death, and be released from the spinning wheel of
rebirth. That is why we call it the most wonderful of Dharma-doors…” (4)
27.3.2002 1827
And that’s also one of the main reasons why Amitabha is regarded and
revered as the first among equals in the great family of the Buddhas.
“Because of his majestic and celestial radiant light, the Buddha of
Measureless Life is the first among the Most Honored Ones. The radiant light of
all the buddhas cannot surpass the light of this buddha,” Shakyamuni said to
Ananda. (5)
“All the buddhas, tathagatas, in the ten regions of the universe, as
many as the sands in the Ganges, together praise the august presence and the
virtues of the Buddha of Measureless Life, which are inconceivable,” Shakyamuni
told Ananda. (6)
Amitabha embodies the Buddha-nature, the eternal potential and
indestructible essence of ultimate enlightenment, in all sentient beings.
The
Buddha of Infinite Light, Amitabha is “the limitless, luminous nature of our
mind” (to quote Sogyal Rinpoche). The pristine pure mind is the radiant
Buddha-nature. (7)
Because of intrinsic Buddha-nature, we are all spiritually wired to
receive Amitabha’s Infinite Light of inexhaustible purifying and enlightening
power. 31.5.2002 1641
Amitabha represents the universal mind or cosmic consciousness; the
primordial mind of pristine purity in every living being.
To
recover one’s Buddha-nature and regain the pure mind, is to become a Buddha.
The Buddha of Buddhas, Amitabha is praised and glorified by the
innumerable Buddhas in the myriad worlds of the ten directions, throughout the
universe.
His spiritual preeminence is universally acknowledged. His name is
similarly exalted.
Shakyamuni said: “Furthermore, Ananda, in each one of the ten
directions, in as many buddha-fields as there are grains of sand in the Ganges,
buddhas, blessed ones, as many as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, extol
the name of Blessed One Amitabha, the Tathagata, they sing its praises,
announce its glory, and proclaim its virtues.”
(8)
By
reciting Amitabha’s name, the faithful seek rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land
known as Sukhavati, the Land of Ultimate Bliss. And all beings born
there are freed from the karmic bonds of the various realms of samsara (including this world of humans
and other beings). In other words, they are emancipated spiritually, liberated
from all suffering. (9)
They become the true immortals, blessed with “an infinitely long life
and one of limitless bliss” (to quote Shakyamuni Buddha). (10).
On
his way to Benares after having been persuaded, soon after his enlightenment,
by the Hindu God Brahma, to teach the Dharma of emancipation, Shakyamuni Buddha
met with the naked ascetic Upaka who asked him where he was going and why.
The Blessed One replied: “To start in motion the Wheel of Law (the
Dharma), I go to the Kasis’ town. In the world of blind beings, I shall beat
the drum of the Deathless (the Immortal State)…” (11)
He
would, out of great compassion, teach beings blind to the truth and ignorant of
the Dharma, the timeless and unfailing way of the Buddhas to cross the ocean of
Samsara, become enlightened, and
reach the other shore of Nirvana.
To
the Pure Landers, Lord Shakyamuni’s special mission is to teach human beings to
seek and obtain their spiritual liberation through faith in Amitabha Buddha,
who has the vast and inexhaustible spiritual power to assure every one of them
a place in Sukhavati, where they can continue to cultivate until they achieve
their spiritual perfection and fulfillment, and in the most conducive
environment.
All born in Sukhavati become Bodhisattvas who will continue to
cultivate, without any risk of retrogression (“assured of Nirvana” Shakyamuni
told Ananda), until they attain Buddhahood.
Amitabha has vowed that all beings who have faith in him will surely
achieve spiritual liberation, attain rebirth in his Pure Land with its ideal
conditions for the most advanced spiritual training, and eventually become
Buddhas. (12)
Amitabha has vowed to save all sentient beings, having also vowed not to
become a Buddha himself until he has acquired the immeasurable and
inexhaustible spiritual capacity to fulfill all his 48 vows. And the fact that
he has accomplished the ultimate Buddhahood signifies that he will also be able
to achieve his goal of universal salvation, to save, liberate and enlighten all
beings with faith in him, into the infinite future. (13)
According to the Buddha Shakyamuni, Amitabha has developed the
inexhaustible resources of boundless compassion, supreme wisdom and sublime
virtues, having practiced the six paramitas (perfections or virtues) of a
Bodhisattva, accumulated merits and amassed virtues in the course of
uncountable kalpas (millions of trillions).
(14)
Amitabha became a Buddha ten kalpas (cosmic ages) ago, having resolved
to save all living beings who have faith in him.
Shakyamuni taught in the Mahaparinirvana
Sutra: “…One who understands Buddha is a Buddha; one who has faith in
Buddha is a Buddha himself.
“But it is difficult to uncover and recover one’s Buddha nature; it is
difficult to maintain a pure mind in the constant rise and fall of greed, anger
and worldly passion; yet faith enables one to do it…” (15)
In the Brahmajala Sutra,
Sakyamuni said: “Buddha-nature does not appear without diligent and faithful
effort, nor is the task (of spiritual cultivation) finished until Buddhahood
appears…” (16)
In
order to boost and consummate one’s effort to become a Buddha, one can access
Amitabha’s infinite purifying and enlightening power, by chanting or reciting
his Name, with faith and devotion:
Hearing this sacred and vow-empowered Name is in itself a great
blessing, which can awaken one’s faith in the Buddha and assure one a place in
the Pure Land. (17)
To
become a Buddha, one only has to diligently chant or recite the Name of Amitabha, the Buddha of Buddhas.
And, as taught by Shakyamuni more than two millennia ago, this simple
but powerful Pure Land method is of the essence in the spiritual pursuit of
complete liberation and perfect enlightenment
NAMO AMITABHA
NOTES: AMITABHA, THE BUDDHA OF BUDDHAS
1. Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: The Great Discourse on
the Wheel of Dhamma, by The
Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw,
translated by U Ko Lay, reprinted for free distribution by Sukhi Hotu,
2. The Sutra of the Buddha of Measureless Life, English
translation of Sanghavarnam’s Chinese
Version, in THE LAND OF BLISS, translated and
introduced by Dr Luis Gomez, Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan University of Hawai’i Press Honolulu Kyoto University
of Michigan
3. Buddha Root Farm, Dharma talks by The
Venerable Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua during a
Buddha Recitation session (the
first of its kind to be held in the United States) on Buddha Root Farm by the
Smith River near Reedsport, Oregon, August 1975, published by The Buddhist Text
Translation Society, San Francisco, February 1976, p. 56.
4. Ibid., p. 31.
In THE THREE PURE LAND SUTRAS
(pp. 129-132), Japanese Buddhist scholar Dr Hisao Inagaki has written
that Yung-ming Yen-shou (904-975 or 976), a native of Hang-chou, became a Ch’an
monk at the age of 28 or 30 and attained satori under Te-shao (891-972). He
became the third patriarch in the line of Fa-yen (885-958). Subsequently, he
became interested in Pure
Land
Inagaki has also written:
“Aspiring eagerly to be born in the Pure
Land
Yen-shou was believed to be
an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Maitreya. He was later counted among the
patriarchs of the Lotus
School
He left over 60 works,
including Ten Thousand Good Deeds
Merging into One in which he made a number of important doctrinal points
relevant to Pure Land
He has pointed out that the nien-fo at the time of death is powerful
and efficacious, even though only practiced for a short time.
Yen-shou has also
recommended the combined practice of Ch’an meditation and nien-fo (p. 132):
Those who practise both Ch’an and the Pure Land
are strongest like tigers with
horns;
They become teachers in this life, and will
become Buddhas in the next.
5. THE LAND
OF BLISS
6. Ibid., p. 187.
7. Soyyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying,
edited by Patrick Gaffney and Andrew
8. THE LAND OF BLISS, English translation of the
Sanskrit text of The Longer
Sukhavativyuha
Sutra:
The Array of Wondrous Qualities Adorning the Land of Bliss
Why do all the Buddhas
extol, praise and glorify the name of Amitabha?
As interpreted by Professor
Dr Luis Gomez (THE LAND OF BLISS, p. 237): “The answer is: ‘Buddhas praise the
name in order to help those living beings who, by hearing the name and
conceiving of even a single thought of faith, will attain assuarance of their
own salvation…’”
In The
Longer Sukhavativyuha Sutra, Shakyamuni has explained to his disciple Ananda (ibid.,
p. 92): “Why is this so? Because those living beings who hear the name of the
Tathagata Amitabha, and when they hear it they resolutely conceive of one
thought of serene trust, even if it is only this single thought, will surely
not fall back in their progress toward unsurpassable, perfect, full awakening.”
Just a single expression of
pure faith; that’s it. One has booked one’s place in the Pure Land
9. In THE SUTRA ON THE BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIFE,
Shakyamuni narrates how Dharmakara
Bodhisattva (before he
became Amitabha Buddha) made 48 vows before the Tathagata Lokesvararaja.
Dharmakara spoke in verse:
… When I have become a
Buddha,
My land shall be most exquisite,
And its people wonderful and unexcelled;
The seat of Enlightenment shall be supreme.
My land, being Nirvana itself,
Shall be beyond comparison.
I take pity on living beings
And resolve to save them all.
Those who come from the ten directions
Shall find joy and serenity of heart;
When they reach my land,
They shall dwell in peace and happiness…
From THE THREE PURE LAND SUTRAS, by Hisao Inagaki with Harold Stewart,
published by Nagata
Bunshodo, Kyoto
10. In THE SUTRA ON THE BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIFE,
chapter 31, Shakyamuni told the
Bodhisattva Maitreya: ”…
Strive to escape from Samsara and be born in the Land of Peace
Provision (another name for
Sukhavati, the Pure Land of Amitabha)…If you do, you will obtain
an infinitely long life and
one of limitless bliss…” Maitreya is the
future Buddha.
11. Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, a discourse by
The Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, p. 32.
12. In THE THREE PURE LAND SUTRAS (p. 76),
Inagaki comments: “The 18th Vow of Nien-fo-
Faith is the most concrete
expression of Amitabha’s wish to save all beings in delusion and suffering
The Vow of universal
salvation, as the 18th Vow may be called, having been fulfilled, the
most effective way of salvation has become available to us. This is the easy
and quick way of emancipation through the Name. Those who contemplate Amitabha
and his Pure Land
13. Having proclaimed
his 48 vows, Dharmakara Bodhisattva said, speaking in verse (ibid., p. 249):
I have made vows unrivalled
in all the world;
I shall certainly reach the
unsurpassed Way.
If these vows should not be
fulfilled,
May I not attain perfect
Enlightenment.
In THE BUDDHIST LITURGY (published by Sutra Translation Committee of
the United States
14. In THE SUTRA ON THE BUDDHA OF INFINTE LIFE (reference
THE THREE PURE LAND
SUTRAS), Shakyamuni
said to Ananda: (p. 251): “…During inconceivable and innumerable kalpas, he
(the Bhiksu Dharmakara) cultivated the immeasurable meritorious practices of
the Bodhisattva Path…” Ananda was Shakyamuni’s cousin and closest disciple.
The Buddha went on to say
(p. 252): “…He (Dharmakara) abandoned his kingdom and renounced
the throne, leaving behind
wealth and sensuous pleasures. Practising the Six Paramitas himself, he taught
others to do the same. During innumerable kalpas, he accumulated merits and
amassed virtues…”
The six paramitas (perfect virtues) are generosity (detached giving),
morality, patience and serene acceptance, energy and courage in the practice of
virtue, concentration/meditation, and wisdom (understanding and discernment of
the true nature of things).
15. Quoted in THE TEACHINGS OF BUDDHA (bilingual),
published by Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai
(Buddhist Promoting
Foundation), Tokyo , Japan
16. Ibid., p. 146.
17. In the longer Pure Land Discourse The Array of Wondrous Qualities Adorning
the Land of Bliss
(THE LAND OF BLISS, p. 95), Avalokiteshvara, the greatly famous son
of the Buddha Amitabha (Amitayus), asked why the Blessed One smiled:
“Then Amitayus the Buddha
explained:
‘The miracle of my smile is
due to the vow I made in former times –
that living beings who heard
my name, no matter how,
should come to my field (the
Land of Bliss
“’This splendid vow of mine
has been fulfilled.
And living beings come here
from many world systems.
Arriving directly before my
presence, they cannot fall back;
Only this one birth remains
for them (before they attain complete enlightenment)…’”
Comments Luis Gomez (p.
239): “This line (on hearing Amitabha’s name and thus securing a place in the Land of Bliss
Shakyamuni told Ananda
(p. 102): “…He (Amitabha) is the spotless and pure one, whose name is
proclaimed, praised, exalted, and extolled without obstruction in the ten
regions of the universe, again and again, with voices that echo without
impediment, by blessed buddhas equal in number to the grains of sand in all the
Ganges rivers in all regions of the universe.”
In The
Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra (THE LAND OF BLISS, p. 220), the Buddha
said to Maitreya: “Anyone who hears the name of that Buddha (Amitabha) and
feels unbounded joy, even if it is for a single moment of thought, will be
known as one blessed with great gain. Such a person possesses the highest
merit…”
As translated by Inagaki and Stewart (THE THREE PURE LAND SUTRAS, pp.
311-312), the Buddha said to Maitrya: “If there are people who hear the Name of
that Buddha (Amitayus/Amitabha), rejoice so greatly as to dance, and remember him even once, then
you should know that they have gained great benefit by receiving the
unsurpassed virtue…”
8.5.2005 2129
In THE
SUTRA ON VISUALIZATION OF THE BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIFE (THE THREE PURE LAND SCRIPTURES, pp. 349-350), the Buddha Sakyamuni
spoke to Ananda: “…If good men or women simply hear of this Buddha
(Amitayus/Amitabha) or the names of those two bodhisattvas (Avalokitesvara and
Mahasthamaprapta attending Amitabha), the evil karma which they have committed
during innumerable kalpas of Samsara will be extinguished. And so, how much
more merit will they acquire if they concentrate!”
Sakyamuni then said to Ananda: “You
should know that all who are mindful of that Buddha (Amitabha) are like white
lotus-flowers among humankind; the Bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and
Mahasthamaprapta become their good friends. They will sit in the place of
Enlightenment and be born into the family of the Buddhas.”
Sakyamuni concluded his teaching by advising
Ananda to bear in mind his message to seek rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land
In THE
SUTRA ON AMITAYUS BUDDHA, also referred to as the Amitabha Sutra, Sakyamuni told his leading disciple Sariputra that
those who hear the names of the Buddhas “are protected by all the Buddhas and
dwell in the Stage of Non-retrogression for realizing the highest, perfect
Enlightenment…” (THE THREE PURE LAND
SUTRAS, p. 359) 8.5.2005 2359
All
those aspiring to be born in Amitabha’s Pure Land and all those born in his
Pure Land “all dwell in the Stage of Non-retrogression for realizing the
highest, perfect Enlightenment…” (ibid., p. 359)
9.5.2005 0307
NAMO AMITABHA
25 Selasar Rokam
40
31350 Ipoh
Telephone: 05-3134941
28.3.2002 0636 0645 0800
17.5.2002 0055 0210 0511 1618 22318.5.2002 0505 21.5.2002 0720 31.5.2002 2007
14.6.2002 1742 23-24.6.2002 0012 8-9.5.2005 0002 0.5.2005 0009 0309 (1,932 words) 16.7.2005 2349 18.1
18.1.2006 0635
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