AMITABHA: INVOKING THE BUDDHA’S NAME
In the Pure Land of Sukhavati, the Land of Ultimate
Bliss, the presiding spiritual master is the august, noble and radiant presence
of the Lord Buddha Amitabha, Buddha of
Infinite Light and Infinite Life.
To save, liberate and enlighten all the sentient beings who have
faith in him, Amitabha has made forty-eight great vows and fulfilled all of
them – this being the
overriding condition for his attaining the full, perfect and supreme
Buddhahood.
And, to quote the distinguished contemporary Japanese Pure Land
historian and practitioner Dr Hisao Inagaki:
“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 (spiritual) emancipation through the
Name.
“Those who contemplate Amitabha and his Pure Land or hear his Name
encounter the Power of his Vow, and so are endowed with the supreme merits…” (1)
Long before his complete enlightenment, the former Bodhisattva
Dharmakara had cultivated and practiced diligently and exemplarily for
trillions of kalpas (cosmic ages).
He became a Buddha ten kalpas ago, originally adored as the Buddha Amitayus, Buddha of Infinite Life (Infinite
Great Compassion), and more recently as well as presently revered as the Buddha Amitabha, Buddha of Infinite Light (Infinite
Quintessential Wisdom).
“Limitless life, limitless light. Not only are his blessings,
virtues, and wisdom limitless but so are his spiritual powers, his eloquence,
and his teachings,” the great 20th century Tripitaka Master and
Ch’an Patriarch Hsuan Hua has explained. “There is no way to count them because
they are infinite, nowhere present and nowhere absent…” (2)
Amitabha is spiritually synonymous with infinity. As Pure Land
Patriarch Ou-i has commented: “The essential point is that everything about him
is infinite: his merits and his wisdom, his supernatural powers and his power
in the Path (of emancipation and enlightenment), his embodiment and his
environment, his work in expounding the Buddhist teachings and liberating
sentient beings.” (3)
And because of his incomparably great affinity with all the human
beings, Amitabha’s saving, liberating and enlightening power and influence on
their spiritual destiny can be described as immensely far-reaching and
immeasurable. One need only to call on him with a plain and sincere faith in
one’s heart and mind, to attain complete spiritual liberation and consummate
enlightenment following one’s highly auspicious rebirth in the Pure Land.
“Amitabha Buddha has a great affinity with us and will certainly
guide us to Buddhahood,” Master Hsuan Hua taught his American disciples in San
Francisco in the late autumn of 1969.
“Amitabha Buddha is all
living beings and all living beings are Amitabha Buddha. Amitabha Buddha became
Amitabha Buddha by reciting the Buddha’s name, and if we recite the Buddha’s
name (Amitabha), we, too, can become
Amitabha Buddha…’ (4) 28.3.2006 2300
Spiritual significance and
power of the Name
(1)
The Name praised by all the Buddhas, signifying Amitabha’s spiritual
preeminence
In the Longer Sukhavativyuha Sutra, the premier scripture in Pure
Land Buddhism, the Buddha Shakyamuni said to Ananda, one of his senior
disciples and his personal attendant: “…Furthermore, Ananda, in each one of the
ten directions (of the universe), 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.” (5)
“…He 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 akk regions of the universe.” (6)
(2)
The True Name of self-actualization
“Now, the real jewel
of Sukhavati is the Name of Amitabha himself, which is a “real name”: it not
only means ”Immeasurable Light”; it
is the expression of the essence of
immeasurable light, and that light itself is the outer manifestation of an even
more interior essence of immeasurable wisdom,” Roger Corless, an American
specialist in Pure Land Buddhism, has written. (7)
Corless has pointed out that “the names of Buddhas and bodhisattvas
are names that effect what they signify” (“names which are the same as things,”
ming chi fa in Chinese).
Thus, reciting the Buddha’s name or saying Nan-mo O-mi-t’o Fo (Namo
Amitabha Buddha)”is the actualization of immeasurable light, and,
therefore, of immeasurable wisdom, in the mind of the practitioner…”
(3)
Amitabha being identified with the universal Buddha-nature
Regarded by the Mahayana as everyone’s endowment, Buddha-nature is described
as “the true, immutable, and eternal nature of all beings. Since all beings
possess Buddha-nature, it is possible for them to attain enlightenment and
become a Buddha, regardless of what level of existence they occupy… Mahayana
sees the attainment of buddhahood as the highest goal; it can be attained
through the inherent Buddha-nature of every being through appropriate spiritual
practice.” (8)
Buddha-nature is also known and referred to variously as Self-Nature,
True
Nature, True Mind, Original Nature, Dharma Nature, etc.
“Amitabha Buddha at the highest or noumenon level represents the
True Mind, the Self-Nature common to the Buddhas and sentient beings –
all-encompassing and all-inclusive,” the New York-based Van Hien Study Group on
Buddhist literature has noted and highlighted. (9)
“Amitabha is the
inherently enlightened True Nature of sentient beings, and
reciting the name of Amitabha reveals this Enlightenment,” the
eminent 17th century Pure Land Master Ou-I explained with profound
insight. (10)
(4)
Amitabha being intimately associated with Other Power
The concept of the “Other Power” being the Buddha’s boundless
spiritual power
to save, liberate and enlighten all the human beings with faith and
devotion, evolved sometime before the middle part of the sixth century.
“T’an-luan was the first to use the term ‘Other Power,’ which became
the central
theme of the Pure
Land China Japan
“By ‘the Other Power’
T’an-luan means the Power of Amitabha as a Buddha or the Power of his Original
Vow. The Vow produced the Power, which in turn fulfils the Vow. These two work
together to realize the Buddha’s act of compassion…”
Of the unprecedented number of 48 great vows dedicated to universal
salvation and enlightenment (the Mahayana vision), T’an-luan highlighted the 18th
Vow to enable the devotee to be born quickly in the Pure Land through repeating
the Name ten times, the 11th Vow to assure the devotee of entering
the stage of non-retrogression and attaining Nirvana (complete and perfect
enlightenment), and the 22nd Vow of reaching the highest level of a
bodhisattva and cultivating the virtues of Samantabhadra (Universal Worthy
Bodhisattva who personifies the universal practices and vows of the Buddha,
including his vow to see Amitabha Buddha and to be born in his Land of Ultimate
Bliss and Peace).
“Because of the Other Power which works through these three vows
(the 11th, 18th and 22nd Vows), one who
entrusts oneself to Amitabha can quickly realize Enlightenment,” Inagaki has
commented. (12) 1700 words
29.3.2006 1042
Practice of holding fast
to, and invoking/chanting/reciting the Buddha’s Name
The practice of invoking the Name of Amitabha Buddha has been
initiated by Mahasthama, the Bodhisattva of Great Power, representing the
Buddha-wisdom of Amitabha. Mahasthama has been reciting the Name of Amitabha
for countless kalpas, is still on it, and will continue to do it into the
infinite future.
Mahasthama has personally found this spiritual practice to be the
best means of attaining perfection, of “achieving the patient endurance of the
uncreate.” In The Surangame Sutra,
the highly influential teaching of the Buddha Shakyamuni on the power of
samadhi (pure mental concentration) to attain enlightenment, Mahasthama recalls
how “in the remotest of aeons countless as the sands of the Ganges,” he was
taught by the “Buddha Whose Light Surpassed that of the Sun and Moon” this
expedient to realize samadhi by means of concentrating and “thinking
exclusively of (Amitabha) Buddha…” (13)
On this practice of total mindfulness and pure mental concentration,
Mahasthama said with the utmost confidence: “I hold that nothing can surpass
the perfect control of the six senses with continuous pure thoughts in order to
realize Samadhi.” (14)
For a long time the principal Pure Land practice, Buddha Recitation
(nienfo in Chinese, nembutsu in Japanese) engages the two
mental disciplines of mindfulness and concentration of the Noble Eightfold Path
of Buddhist cultivation, which can lead to the attainment of the Samadhi of
Mindfulness of the Buddha and the Nienfo Samadhi culminating in the spiritual
fusion and union of the devotee and the Buddha Amitabha.
“This Path (the practice of reciting the Buddha’s name and seeking
rebirth in the Pure Land) is the most primal and the most subtle and wondrous.
It is also the simplest,” Master Chu-hung (1535-1615) wrote in a letter to
layman Liu Lo-yang of Su-chou. (15)
“Birth and death are not
apart from a single moment of mindfulness. Consequently, all the myriad worldly
and world-transcending teachings and methods are not apart from a single moment
of mindfulness.
“Right now take this moment of mindfulness, and be mindful of
buddha, remember buddha, recite the buddha-name (Amitabha). How close and
cutting! What pure essential energy, so solid and real! If you see through
where this mindfulness arises, this is the Amitabha of our inherent nature…”
Master Hsuan Hua taught his American disciples in 1969: “When you
are mindful of the Buddha, the Buddha is mindful of you. It’s like
communication by radio or radar. You recite here, and it’s received there (the Pure Land
“With singlemindedness (the complete and exclusive focus on the Name
of Amitabha), myriad
conditions are left behind and only the Buddha’s name remains,” the Buddhist scholar
Cheng Wei-an has written in his classic guide to Pure Land practice. (17)
“At that time, the
practitioner’s mind and the Buddha Mind are in unison; the Western Pure Land is
not separate from the practitioner. There is no need to probe deep or ponder
far, for the Buddha’s realm is in front of us. The Pure Land path is truly
unique!
“I urge you to let go quickly, let go of everything and concentrate
on Buddha Recitation, seeking rebirth in the Pure Land and the company of Amitabha
Buddha.” (18) 2.552 words 30-31.3.2006 0142
Hearing the Name
Why do all the Buddhas praise the name of Blessed One Amitabha, the
Tathagata?
Shakyamuni Buddha said, in the Sanskrit text of The Longer Sukhavativyuha Sutra: “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…” (19)
In the Chinese translation by Tripitaka Master Samghavarman from
India, the Buddha spoke in verse:
By the power of
that Buddha’s Original Vows,
All who hear his
Name (Amitabha) and desire birth (in the Pure Land
Will, without
exception, be born in his land
And effortlessly
enter the Stage of Non-retrogression. (20)
NOTES:
AMITABHA, INVOKING THE BUDDHA’S NAME
1.
THE THREE PURE LAND SUTRAS: A Study and
Translation from Chinese by
Dr Hisao Inagaki of Ryukoku
University Pure Land Kyoto
Inagaki has borrowed
the description of Amitabha’s virtue: “the Power of his Vow enables those who
encounter it to gain the supreme merits” from Vasubandhu (c. 320-400), the
eminent Indian Abhidharma and Yogacara master who himself took refuge in the
Tathagata of Unhinered Light, praised and worshipped Amitabha, prescribed and
practiced recitation of Amitabha’s Name, and aspired to be born in the Pure
Land. Inagaki has described Vasubandhu’s
contribution to the development of Pure
Land
2.
A General Explanation of The Buddha Speaks
of Amitabha Sutra by
Tripitaka and Dhyana
Master Hsuan Hua,
published by the Sino-American Buddhist Association, San Francisco
Based on Master
Hua’s lectures on the Amitabha Sutra
delivered at the Gold Mountain lecture hall from 29 October to 25 December
1969, the scriptural text was translated by Upasaka I kuo-jung and the
commentary translated by Bhiksuni Heng Yin. Master Hua took up residence in San Francisco North
America . 27.3.2006
2152
3.
Mind-Seal of THE BUDDHAS, Patriarch Ou-i’s Commentary on the AMITABHA SUTRA,
translated by J. C.
Cleary, originally published in 1996. and subsequently published (third edition
1998) for free distribution by Amida Fellowship, Taman Billion, Jalan Cheras, Kuala Lumpur
The Amitabha Sutra is one of the three main
scriptures in Pure Land Buddhism. The
Ninth Pure Land Patriarch Ou-i (1599-1656) wrote his illuminating commentary at
the age of 49.
4.
A General Explanation of The Buddha Speaks
of Amitabha Sutra by Tripitaka Master Hua, p. 26
“Amitabha Buddha is
contained within the hearts of all living beings and (all) living beings are
contained within Amitabha”s heart,” Master Hua added (p. 27).
“This is the
phenomenon (all living beings) and the noumenon (Amitabha).
“You must believe in
the doctrine and energetically practice it by reciting the Buddha’s name more
and more every day…” 1.4.2006 0159
5.
THE LAND OF BLISS
Introductions and
English translations by Luis O. Gomez, [ublished by University of Hawaii Press Kyoto
Dr Gomez is Charles
O. Hucker Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan
6.
Ibid.,
p. 102
7.
Article
on “Pure Land Piety” by Roger J. Corless of Duke University Durham , North Carolina
published in BUDDHIST SPIRITUALITY, edited by
Takeuchi Yoshinori et al, and published by Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi
8. As defined in The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen and extracted in the
glossary of
PURE LAND PURE MIND: The Buddhism of Masters Chu-hung
and Tsung-pen, translated
by Dr J.C. Cleary, originally published in 1994 by Sutra Translation Committee
of the United States and Canada, New York, and reprinted for free distribution
November 2003 by The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation,
Taiwan, p. 217
9.
PURE LAND PURE MIND, glossary as prepared by the Van Hien
Study Group, p. 213
10.
Mind-Seal of THE BUDDHAS, P. 74
11.
THE THREE PURE LAND SUTRAS, pp. 89-90
A Buddhist monk
since the age of 15, T’an Luan (476-542) was converted to Pure Land Loyang , then the Chinese capital.
According to Inagaki (p. 84), T’an Luan, with his background as a Madhyamika
scholar of the Four-discourses
School China Japan Pure Land China
12.
Ibid.,
p. 90
13. THE SURANGAMA SUTRA, Chinese rendering
by Master Paramiti of Central North India at Chih
Chih Monastery, Canton ,
China
By Upasaka Lu K’uan Yu (Charles Luk), p. 134
14.
Ibid., p. 135
15.
PURE LAND PURE MIND, p. 63
Together with
Han-shan Te-ch’ing and Tzu-po Chen-k’o, Master Chu-hung (1535-1615) was one of
the three “dragon-elephants” or most illustrious monks of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
They were responsible for the revival of Buddhism in 16th century China
Trained
as a monk in both the Ch’an (Zen) and Pure Land
observance
of monastic discipline, active participation of laymen in Buddhist life , and
the dual
practice
of Zen and Pure Land
16. A
General Explanation of The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra, p. 39
17. TAMING THE MONKEY MIND, A Guide to Pure
Land Practice, by the Buddhist scholar Cheng
Wei-an, translation
and commentary by Elder Master Suddhisukha, originally published in 1999 by
Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, New York, and
subsequently published for free distribution Vesak May 2000 by Amida
Fellowship, Taman Billion, Jalan Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, p. 26
_
18.
Ibid.,
p. 44
Master Ou-I devoted
himself completely to Pure
Land
19. THE LAND
OF BLISS
Gomez has
reworded the Buddha Shakyamuni’s
answer in Notes (p. 237): “Buddhas praise the name (Amitabha) in order to help
those living beings who, by hearing the name and conceiving of even a single
thought of faith, will attain assurance of their own salvation.” Faith, of
course, is central to Pure
Land
19.
THE THREE PURE LAND SUTRAS, p. 273
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