Fragment from my Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. It is a
work in progress and under constant revision. Click here to read
the other chapters.
Before advancing to the chapter on the thirteen
contemplations, it is important to mention that because the
practices of the Contemplation Sutra lead to birth in the border
land of the Pure Land, their objects of contemplation is Amida and
His land as “transformed Buddha and land”.
In order to understand what I mean by “transformed Buddha
and land” (which is actually an expression used by Shinran
himself[1]) I
need to explain first the doctrine of the two aspects of the Pure
Land. Please read carefully.
The Pure Land of Amida Buddha has two main aspects: 1) the
ultimate Dharmakaya aspect, and2) the manifestation or Sambhogakaya
(recompense) aspect.
1) The ultimate Dharmakaya aspect means that the Pure
Land is Nirvanic in its essence, as it was stated in the Larger
Sutra:
“My land, being like Nirvana
itself,
Will be beyond
comparison.”[2]
This means that all the manifestations of the Pure Land
are grounded in the perfect Enlightenment of Amida Buddha, and are
conducive to Enlightenment. We ourselves will attain
Enlightenment when we are born in the center of the Pure Land (the
fulfilled land of the Pure Land), because the essence of the Pure
Land is Enlightenment/Nirvana/Dharmakaya itself. Otherwise, if the
Pure Land was not an enlightened realm, it would lead only to sense
attachments, like other Samsaric realms do, but Shakyamuni
Buddha[3] and
our Masters[4]
were very clear that this is not the case.
Also, Bodhisattva Vasubandhu stated in his
Jodoron[5]:
"The adornments of the Land of the Buddha of Immeasurable
Life are the wondrous manifestations of the ultimate
reality".
And in the Essentials of Faith Alone, Master Seikaku
said:
“’The Land of Bliss is the realm of Nirvana, the
uncreated’.
The “uncreated” refers to ultimate Dharmakaya beyond forms,
which is the essence of all Buddhas and their lands. From this
Dharmakaya emerge all the manifestations for the sake of saving
sentient beings in accordance with thespecific vows of different
Buddhas. In our case, the Pure Land of Amida appeared when He
attained perfect Enlightenment and thus brought His 48 vows to
fulfilment. In that moment, His land took the form and
manifestations described in the sutras and especially in His 31st
and 32nd Vows, while also maintaining its formless Dharmakaya
essence.
2) About the Sambhogakaya (Recompense) aspect of the Pure
Land, Shinran Shonin said:
“We clearly know
from the Tathagata’s teaching of truth and the masters’
commentaries that the Pure Land of Peace and Provision is the True
Land of
Recompense”.[6]
This
is because the Pure Land is the effect or “recompense” of
Dharmakara’s practices and vows, and it came into existence when
Bodhisattva Dharmakara became Amida Buddha:
“When I contemplate “recompense,” I find that the
accomplished land has resulted as the recompense for the
Tathagata’s oceanlike Vow. Hence,
‘recompensed’.”[7]
So, being a Recompensed (Sambhogakaya) Land, the Pure Land is
the result or recompense of the fulfilment of the 31st Vow
[8]:
“If, when I attain Buddhahood, my land should not be
resplendent, revealing in its light all the immeasurable,
innumerable and inconceivable Buddha-lands, like images reflected
in a clear mirror, may I not attain perfect
Enlightenment.”
And the 32nd
Vow[9]:
“If, when I attain Buddhahood, all the myriads of
manifestations in my land, from the ground to the sky, such as
palaces, pavilions, ponds, streams and trees, should not be
composed of both countless treasures, which surpass in supreme
excellence anything in the worlds of humans and devas, and of a
hundred thousand kinds of aromatic wood, whose fragrance pervades
all the worlds of the ten quarters, causing all bodhisattvas who
sense it to perform Buddhist practices, then may I not attain
perfect Enlightenment.”
The Light of the Pure Land is the Light
of Amida Buddha, the Pure Land itself being the transcendental
manifestation of Amida Buddha. This is why the 31st Vow is closely
related with the 12th
Vow[10] (the
Vow of Amida’s Infinite Light), showing the unity between Amida as
an Enlightened Person and His Pure Land.
The “myriads of manifestations” mentioned in the 32nd
Vow show that the Pure Land surpasses all other places in the world
of suffering – “surpass in supreme excellence anything in the
worlds of humans and devas”. In fact, the Pure Land is beyond
Samsara and cannot be compared with the realms caught in the power
of birth and death, thus subject to impermanence. Humans, devas
(gods) plus other kinds of sentient beings and the environments in
which they are born are the product of their unenlightened karma,
but the Pure Land of Amida is the manifestation of His supreme
Enlightenment and pure merits, so all its treasures and
manifestations are supreme in beauty while in the same time they
have the power to deepen and strengthen the dedication of those
engaged in the practice of liberating themselves and others
(bodhisattvas): “a hundred thousand kinds of aromatic wood,
whose fragrance pervades all the worlds of the ten quarters,
causing all bodhisattvas who sense it to perform Buddhist
practices.”
It is obvious that the treasures
found in the Pure Land are not intended for the enjoyment of the
six senses but for expressing the Dharma, calling beings to the
Dharma, praising Amida’s virtues and showing the supreme place this
enlightened land occupies among other Buddha lands. They are
spiritual
treasures[11],
even if they are described using the terms we are familiar with,
like palaces, pavilions, ponds, streams and trees, aromatic wood,
etc.
For this commentary on the Contemplation Sutra, I mention
that Shinran Shonin distinguished between two aspects of Amida’s
Pure Land as a Recompensed Land (Sambhogakaya):
1) the Fulfilled Pure Land (sometimes named the True
Recompensed Land), and
2) the Transformed Pure Land
(Border
Land)[12]
It is important to emphasize that both are the rewards of the
Vows of Amida Buddha, so they are not different realms, but part of
the same Recompensed (Sambhogakaya) Pure Land. This is why I
call them two aspects, and not two Pure
Lands.Those born in the Fulfilled Pure Land are
followers of the true faith (shinjin) of the 18th Vow (Primal Vow)
and they immediately attain Nirvana or Buddhahood, while those who
are born in the Transformed Pure Land are followers of the 19th and
20th Vows. The later are people with mixed faith, and so they need
to stay for a while in that place until they overcome their
doubts.
As Master Shan-tao called it, birth in the Fulfilled Land
of the Pure Land is called “Inconceivable Birth” and all
those born there „are endowed with bodies of Naturalness,
Emptiness, and
Infinity”[13]
. To have bodies of Naturalness, Emptiness and Infinity
means to become a Buddha or to attain perfect
Enlightenment.
The
Pure Land in the aspect of the Transformed Land is as
described in the “thirteen contemplations” and the “nine grades of
aspirants” from the Contemplation Sutra, but also inthe
Larger Sutra and other texts. As Shinran
explained:
“The Transformed Land refers to the Pure Land as shown in
the Contemplation Sutra; again it is as described in the Sutra on
the Bodhisattvas Dwelling in the Womb (Bosatsu Shotai Kyo), namely
the Realm of Sloth and Pride; again it is as described in the
Larger Sutra as the Castle of Doubt and the
Womb-Palace.”[14]
So, the Border Land
(Henji)[15],
Realm of Sloth and Pride
(Keman)[16],
the Castle of Doubt
(Gijo)[17], and
the Womb-Palace
(Taigu)[18] are
different names for the Transformed Land aspect of the Pure Land,
which is where the followers of the 19th and 20th Vows are born. To
recite the Nembutsu in self-power or to do other Buddhist practices
to gain birth in Amida’s Land, like for example, the thirteen
contemplations, result in not entering directly into the center of
the Pure Land (or the Fulfilled Pure Land), but in staying for a
while in this Transformed Land. As I previously explained, people
born there do not immediately attain the state of Buddhahood, like
those born in the center of the Pure Land through the gate of the
Primal Vow, but they are also free once and for all from the
suffering of birth and death in Samsara. They are safe, but still
they are not enlightened. In the same time, being in the special
environment of this borderland of the Pure Land they have the
opportunity to overcome their doubts and entrust completely in
Amida Buddha. When they do this, they also enter the Fulfilled Pure
Land and attain Nirvana (perfect Enlightenment) or
Buddhahood.
Referring to the Transformed Land
(borderland of the Pure Land), Shinran
said:
“Since practitioners of shinjin (faith)
are few, many are guided to the transformed land”.
Master Shan-tao also said:
“Those born in the Fulfilled Pure Land are extremely few;
those born in the Transformed Pure Land are many.”
Again, I stress the importance that both the “Transformed
Land” and “the Fulfilled Pure Land” (or “True Land of Recompense”)
are aspects of the same Pure Land of Amida Buddha, just like the
anteroom and the main room are part of the same house. As usually,
the owner of the house (in our case – Amida Buddha) prefers to stay
in the main room together with His faithful sons (followers of the
18th Vow), while those who have a mixed faith (followers of the
19th and 20th Vows) keep themselves in the anteroom. It is not the
fault of Amida or a punishment that some are born in the borderland
of the Pure Land (Transformed
Land)[19], just
they are kept in that region by their own doubts. They are the ones
who are keeping themselves out of the main room of the Pure Land,
not Amida Buddha, so when they overcome their doubts, they will
also join the Fulfilled Pure Land and immediately attain Nirvana
(Buddhahood).
Amida Buddha as He appears in the center of the Pure Land
(the Fulfilled Pure Land/ True Recompensed Land), as well as the
center of the Pure Land itself, cannot be seen through
contemplation by people who are still in samsara or who are born in
the border land (the Transformed Pure Land) through the practices
mentioned in the Contemplation Sutra or the self-power Nembutsu of
the 20th Vow taught in the Smaller Amida Sutra. This is because
Amida in the Fulfilled Pure Land (center of the Pure Land) and the
Fulfilled Pure Land (True Recompensed Land) itself are visible only
to those who are born there through the faith of the Primal Vow
(18th Vow). According to Shinran Shonin, the practitioners of the
Contemplation Sutra are connected to a
Nirmanakaya[20]
(Transformed Body/Transformed Buddha) of Amida and to His Pure Land
in the aspect of the Transformed Land:
“As I reverently reveal the Transformed Buddha and Land,
the Buddha is as described in the
Sutra on
Visualisation of the Buddha of Infinite Life [Contemplation
Sutra]’”.[21]
The same transformed body aspects refer, of course, to the
manifestations of the two Bodhisattvas, Avalokitesvara and
Mahasthamaprapta as objects of the thirteen contemplations. They
are connected to practitioners of the Contemplation Sutra in a
Nirmanakaya aspect, while their Sambhogakaya aspects are present
together with the Sambhogakaya aspect of Amida Buddha in the center
of the Pure Land (the Fulfilled Pure Land).
to be continued
[1]
Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho, cf with
Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and
Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for
Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 233. and
Kygyoshinsho, Ryukoku Translation Series, Ryukoku
University, Kyoto, 1966, p. 161.
[2]
The Three Pure Land Sutras - A Study and
Translation from Chinese by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with
Harold Stewart, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata Center for Buddhist
Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p.9-10
[3]
For example, when He explained the role and origin of the
wonderful birds of the Pure Land, Shakyamuni said: “Shariputra,
you should not assume that these birds are born as retribution of
their evil karma. The reason is that none of the three evil realms
exists in that Buddha-land. Shariputra, even the names of the three
evil realms do not exist there; how much less the realms
themselves? These birds are manifested by Amida Buddha so that
their singing can proclaim and spread the Dharma”.
[4]For
example, Master T’ao-ch’o said in his An Le Chi, „The
streams, birds, and forests all expound the Dharma, which awaken
people to the principle of non-arising.”
[5]Treatise
on the Pure Land, in The Pure Land Writings, vol I
– the Indian Masters, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 2012, p.
57
[6]
Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and
Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for
Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 229.
[7]Idem.,
p.230
[8]
Read my detailed explanation of the 31st Vow of Amida Buddha
in my Commentary on the Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite
Life.
[9] Read
my detailed explanation of the 32ndt Vow of Amida Buddha in my
Commentary on the Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite
Life.
[10] Read
my detailed explanation of the 12th Vow of Amida Buddha in my
Commentary on the Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life.
[11]
By saying they are spiritual treasures I do NOT mean they do
not exist or that they are just some kind of spiritual metaphors.
The manifestations of the Pure Land are REAL enlightened
manifestations. They do exist, but their existence is not like the
conditioned existence of the objects of our samsaric experience.
Explaining them to unenlightened beings, Shakyamuni Buddha uses
terms that we are familiar with, just like when we try to explain
what is a plane to a savage who has never seen one before. We can
say it is like a very big bird and any plane is somehow similar
with a metallic bird – however, it is more than that. In the same
way, the trees, ponds and other enlightened manifestations are more
beautiful and way beyond any tree or ponds in our sansaric planes
of existence, even more beautiful than trees and ponds found in the
realms of the gods.
[12]
If we make a correspondence with the Three Buddha Bodies
doctrine, we may say that this is the Nirmanakaya aspect of
the Pure Land.
[13]
Larger Sutra. Shinran himself made reference to that
passage in the Larger Sutra, in his work, Passages on the
Pure Land Way [REALIZATION]:
“Their countenances are dignified and wonderful,
surpassing things of this world. Their features, subtle and
delicate, are not those of human beings or devas; all receive the
body of naturalness or of emptiness, the body of
boundlessness.”
[14]
Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho, cf with
Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and
Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for
Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 233. and
Kygyoshinsho, Ryukoku Translation Series, Ryukoku
University, Kyoto, 1966, p. 162.
[15]It
is thus called because those born there are far removed from the
true bliss of the Pure Land just as those in a border land are less
benefited by civilisation. cf with Tannisho – Notes Lamenting
Differences, Ryukoku Translation Series, Ryukoku University,
Kyoto, 1962, p. 41, fn 1.
[16]It
is thus called because those born there are too proud to believe in
the Buddha’s Primal Vow whole-heartedly, and due to the lack of
faith they are not so dilligent as to advance to the True Land of
Recompense. cf with Tannisho – Notes Lamenting Differences,
Ryukoku Translation Series, Ryukoku University, Kyoto, 1962, p. 41,
fn 1.
[17]It
is thus called because those born there have to stay in the
Transformed Land due to the sin of doubting just as though pent up
in a castle. cf with Tannisho – Notes Lamenting Differences,
Ryukoku Translation Series, Ryukoku University, Kyoto, 1962, p. 41,
fn 1.
[18]It
is thus called because those born there are like being inclosed in
a lotus flower and can neither see the Buddha nor hear the Dharma.
cf with Tannisho – Notes Lamenting Differences, Ryukoku
Translation Series, Ryukoku University, Kyoto, 1962, p. 41, fn 1.
Here to not see and not hear also means that they do not see Amida
as He appears in the center of the Pure Land („fulfilled land of
the Pure Land”) because they do not hear His Primal Vow in faith –
that is, they do not have complete faith in Him but still cling to
their self-power.
[19]Birth
in the Transformed Pure Land by the followers of the 19th Vow is
calledBirth under the Twin Sala Trees” (Sojuringe Ojo).
Birth in the Transformed Pure Land by followers of the 20th Vow is
called“Incomprehensible
Birth” (Nanji Ojo). The word
“ incomprehensible” is used with two
meanings: 1) to praise their attainment of Birth in comparison with
a lower mode of Birth attained by the followers of the 19th Vow and
2) to depreciate it in comparison with a higher mode of Birth
attained by the followers of the 18th Vow.
(The Kyogyoshinsho, Ryukoku Translation Center,
Ryukoku University, Kyoto, 1966, p.160, fn. 8.)
[20]
Read my explanations of the The Three Buddha Bodies doctrine
in the book, The True Teaching on Amida Buddha and His Pure
Land.
[21]
Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho, cf with
Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and
Enlightenment, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for
Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 233. and
Kygyoshinsho, Ryukoku Translation Series, Ryukoku
University, Kyoto, 1966, p. 161.
.jpeg)
