We could not sense the Buddha’s light shines universally because our mind tends to turn away from enlightenment and merge itself with illusions, always attach to our bodies, words and thoughts. If you can tentatively pause the internal and external clingings of your body and mind, hold back the perception of the bodily desires, illness or health, break off the desire for fame and wealth for a moment, engendering a mind of longing for the Buddha’s meritorious light and great vows of benefiting others, endeavour to do all the merits that will benefit sentient beings. Even as an insignificant figure in this world who has little to give, and no one requires your assistance, but if you can be aware of your own habituated tendencies and desires, not intentionally causing harm to anyone, not indulging yourself in habituated tendencies and do not succumb to complaining, become full of hatred and jealousy; the obscene acts you have committed in all lifetimes through ignorance and the harm you have brought to others — by doing these, you are also accumulating merit for yourself as a sentient being.
When you stop creating harmful karma and strengthening the habituated tendencies, you are then benefiting yourself and purifying the Dharma realm. Meanwhile, if you also developed the bodhicitta and practice Dharma, yearning to achieve the same meritorious light as Amitabha, you are then in tune with the radiance of Amitabha. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past, how selfish you’ve been, how heavy is your craving, ill-will, ignorance, arrogance, and suspicion; these will not matter. Once you are in tune with Amitabha’s radiance, all these darkness clouding your ocean of mind will be dispelled in an instant, blissfulness then arises, and you can feel the light of Amitabha’s virtue is shining and empowering everywhere. This is the way to long for the Amitabha’s meritorious light, rather than sitting on a cushion and visualising the Amitabha’s radiance as the sun shining onto your head and you feel warm. Like that, you might only get rid of some chill in your body. To recall the light of Amitabha requires an understanding of the merits of it, and from our heart we should often praise and resonate with the virtuous light of Amitabha, get subsumed under the radiance of Amitabha and get reborn in the Pure Land as you have wished.
In the Human Realm of the Saha World, human beings tend to link death with all kinds of sufferings, with negative images, so there’s evasion and fear towards death for all, not even willing to put these words on their lips as finding it unlucky. Also, to take a person’s life is the most vicious thing. But no matter how much humans fear and avoid it, death is inevitable to all; no one can avoid and escape from it. So if we believe in what the Buddha says, when Amitabha, Immeasurable Light Buddha, Immeasurable Life Buddha — all these names start to resound in mind, thinking of Amitabha’s meritorious light that surpasses the sun and the moon, which illuminates universally, thinking of attaining an immeasurable lifespan in the next life in the Pure Land because of Amitabha’s vows and meritorious giving, we are relieved of the regret and fear of dying; your heart will be flooded with irrepressible joy, peace and reassurance for encountering this sutra.
Imagine if in our world, someone is able to extend your life duration, make you immortal, and also lead you to attain Buddhahood blissfully, you will definitely be very grateful to this person. Now, in equal measure, Amitabha gives such blessings to all the beings of worlds of the ten directions. How could we not feel exceedingly grateful to Shakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha?
These are the merits and benefits of the name Amitabha, Immeasurable Light Buddha, and Immeasurable Life Buddha, that we have listed above. Did we get them during our recitation? Actually, the benefits Amitabha gives to all beings are beyond measure. The forty-eight vows of Amitabha Buddha at his causal stage and after his attainment of Buddhahood is a gift to those in the world of ten directions who hear and recite this Buddha’s name. In order to understand what is missing for all sentient beings to attain contentment and to be able to attain Buddhahood in peace, Amitabha Buddha surveyed 21 billion Buddha lands during his causal stage under the guidance of Lokesvararaja Buddha and spent five kalpas on careful consideration; only then did he sum up the conditions for the eternal well-being of all beings in the forty-eight vows, and then he spent an enormous number of kalpas fulfilling these great vows.
We ourselves do not often know what we need for eternal peace and happiness and to serenely realise the truth of the universe. So Amitabha’s forty-eight vows are a vast treasure for all beings to attain Buddhahood with a peace of mind; it’s not only for those who are going to be reborn in the Pure Land. It is also a welfare for bodhisattvas in the worlds of the ten directions who have embraced bodhicitta. We can not abide in peace in the Saha world, unable to attain the supreme enlightenment; what’s most lacking is the merit of benefiting oneself and others, and the main reason of the extreme lack of merit and virtue is due to us not having the wisdom to do meritorious deeds extensively.
In the worlds of the ten directions, Buddha’s wisdom is the ultimate refuge for the hearts of all sentient beings. The purpose of Amitabha’s manifestation of the Pure Land is not only to share his own merits and benefits with sentient beings to make them live in peace and happiness, but also enable them to be beatifically awakened. It is said in the “Lotus Sutra”: the sole purpose of the Buddhas’ presence in the worlds is to bring sentient beings to enlightenment, to attain the Buddha’s wisdom. Thus, when we cultivate the bodhicitta of attaining the supreme enlightenment and benefiting oneself and others, and practice the dharmas extensively, undertake all kinds of good deeds and virtues for the attainment of the supreme enlightenment, then you are in tune with the ultimate great vow of the Buddhas, in tune with the Pure Land. By understanding and learning the wisdom, vows and virtues of the Buddhas, you will trust unconditionally that there are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with you, so that in the intermediate existence, you will not worry about forgetting the wish of being reborn and the name of Amitabha. Having absolute faith that you will be reborn in the Pure Land and meet Amitabha Buddha face to face. Also when we recite his name, we will correspond with Amitabha; we will be able to receive the merits and benefits that Amitabha gives us directly.
When we recite the Buddha’s name in this world, the Saha world is the illusionary realm produced by the habituated tendencies and karma of sentient beings. In the worlds of the ten directions, the world we live in is called the world of five turbidities, the land of severe suffering. We now live in the human realm under the category of desire realms, which is one of the upper three paths where good karma is established, in comparison to the hell, ghosts and animal paths. But we human beings still feel the unresolved sufferings from time to time. The life expectancy of human life is now only about a hundred years, whose length is miniscule in the astronomical world. Shakyamuni Buddha has chosen to descend in a life which the existence of humans are easily shortened by death, a life overladen with worries. He gained perfect supreme enlightenment in a short period of time and explained accordingly to sentient beings’ capacity the teachings of the three vehicles, manifest the achievements of enlightenment.
Not only did Shakyamuni Buddha benefit countless students in the human’s realm, we can see from the chapter of “Emerging from the Earth” of the “Lotus Sutra” that in the Saha world, because of the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, countless great bodhisattvas were enlightened. Shakyamuni Buddha manifested Nirvana when he was more than eighty years old in the human world. This short appearance of the Buddha in the human world was like a flash in the pan in the reality-realm, which is very rare to see; it is of great compassion, great valour and fortitude, precious and inconceivable. So the paragon of Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment lifestory in the Saha world, similar to that of Amitabha, is a good textbook example. Hence, whenever Shakyamuni Buddha was teaching, great bodhisattvas from the worlds of the ten directions assemble upon hearing the news; they were eager to hear the Dharma and learn from the Buddha on how to spread teachings to the obdurate sentient beings, and seeing how swiftly the Buddha had attained enlightenment in the world of suffering, explained the teachings in harsh environments on top of awakening countless sentient beings.
Although in the present, the Buddha had manifested parinirvana, the period of his teachings has not yet ended; we are still within his degenerate age of Dharma, so we are fortunate to be able to hear and practice what he preached on earth about the truth of the universe and life, and regard him as our ultimate teacher. The threefold training of Buddhism which the Buddha taught us in the human realm can liberate us from tribulations in this world. Therefore, even if we have made the vow to be reborn in the Pure Land, in this Saha world we should still treasure the teachings and doctrines of Shakyamuni Buddha. Even if we do not have the conditions or time to study them, we shall support and laud the study of other sentient beings. Those great bodhisattvas who have already moved to the Pure Land still often return to the Saha world to learn from Shakyamuni Buddha on how to save sentient beings from severe suffering, and to assist Amitabha in guiding them to the Pure Land. For example, Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta that we are familiar with are the two great bodhisattvas who always return to the Saha world from the Pure Land.
We are now in the Saha world; how can we only think of escaping from this place and not be willing to understand or listen to Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings on saving sentient beings in the world of acute suffering? Also, without Shakyamuni Buddha descending into this world of suffering and manifested enlightenment, together with his constant preaching, we would not have known anything about the Pure Land. How can we miss out on such a rare and majestic manifestation in the Dharma realm? How can we, for the sake of some trivial matters in our lives, lose our focus on these important teachings? Hence, in the Saha world, all bodhisattvas who have developed the bodhicitta of attaining the supreme enlightenment, benefiting self and others, and accumulating extensive merit, should not only study and understand the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha and save sentient beings who are deeply trapped in the cycle of rebirth or severe suffering, but also introduce Amitabha Buddha and the Pure Land to the beings of the Saha World, so that when sentient beings are in their intermediate existence, they can be assisted by Amitabha through reciting his name and their wish to be reborn, and be reborn in the Pure Land, attain Buddhahood in peace and happiness.
If bodhisattvas haven’t attained Buddhahood at the end of their lives, they should believe in the wise recommendation of Shakyamuni Buddha and other Buddhas and make the vow to be reborn in the Pure Land to continue studying. Don’t be self-righteous and arrogant at the end of life and think of oneself as being able to attain Buddhahood under any circumstances without the contribution of Amitabha’s virtue. Or if you are deeply attached to sentiments, without acquiring the right views and without the slightest power of meditation, then you go on vowing to stay in the Saha world to help sentient beings. One should first go to the Pure Land and quickly attain Buddhahood in ultimate bliss, and then return to the Saha world to save all sentient beings. When they have attained Buddhahood, they can return according to their vows.
Even if you are capable of attaining Buddhahood in any realm, but if your disciples and relatives are not, then you should take the example of Samantabhadra and Manjushri, lead the way in making the vow to be reborn in the Pure Land. Besides, what Amitabha preaches in the Pure Land is also the reality of the universe and life, and there is no conflict or difference with what Shakyamuni Buddha preaches in the Saha world, nor with what the Buddhas of other worlds preach. As we shall see in this sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha also advised Maitreya Bodhisattva to take his disciples and relatives for rebirth to the Pure Land and attain Buddhahood in ultimate bliss.
Now, let’s take a look at the general idea of the classic: The General Idea of the “Immeasurable Life Sutra”.
Like many other Mahayana classics, the beginning of this sutra also introduces the time and location of Buddha’s sermon and the participants of the Dharma assembly. The time is still “once”, means once there was a time. The location is the Vulture Peak Mountain in the ancient Indian city Rajagaha. The assembly today is not only attended by the 12,000 Arahat disciples who are the regular attendants here on earth, but also all the great bodhisattvas of bhadrakalpa and their disciples and relations.
‘Kalpa’ is a unit of time in Buddhism; there are small kalpa, medium and great kalpa. A great kalpa can be divided into four periods, namely, formation, existence, disintegration, and emptiness. In our world, the past great kalpa is called the vyuhakalpa; the next to come is the naksatrakalpa; the great kalpa we are now in is called the bhadrakalpa. Within the period of existence of the bhadrakalpa, there are a thousand Buddhas emerging one after another. We are now in the ninth minor kalpa of this period of existence, human life expectancy is a hundred years. When Shakyamuni Buddha appeared on earth and attained Buddhahood as a human being, Shakyamuni Buddha is the fourth Buddha of the bhadrakalpa. In the coming tenth minor kalpa, when human lifespan increases to eighty-four thousand years, Maitreya Buddha will emerge in this world, who is the fifth Buddha of the bhadrakalpa; that is why we now call him the future Buddha. The emergence of the thousand Buddhas of the bhadrakalpa will be introduced in more detail in our future scripture study.
The opening section of the “Immeasurable Life Sutra” introduces the congregation stating that the Sadhumati Bodhisattvas in the Bhadrakalpa, who are all preparing to attain Buddhahood, are present at this Dharma assembly with their disciples. So what kind of teachings would Shakyamuni Buddha give to the Sadhumati bodhisattvas? For Sadhumati bodhisattvas, their insight and capabilities towards the truth of the universe and life have become so adept that they do not need to adopt additional practices, and they can already be the Buddha’s teaching assistant; they act in accordance with conditions and save different beings by various expedient means. Sadhumati bodhisattvas can even appear like a Buddha. So, what kind of knowledge of the Buddha do they wish to hear when they come to see Shakyamuni Buddha? As a usual feature, after the introduction of the time, place, and congregation of the assembly, we could then hear the Buddha’s teaching. But the opening section of this sutra devotes a long paragraph to praise the merit and virtue of the Sadhumati bodhisattvas.
In Saha World, the Sadhumati bodhisattvas are represented and exemplified by Samantabhadra bodhisattva. All great bodhisattvas venerate the virtues of Samantabhadra. The Ten Great Vows of Samantabhadra are known as the king of vows among the bodhisattva’s great vows. So the practice of the Bodhisattva path is called entering the ocean of Samantabhadra’s vows. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva had attained Buddhahood many kalpas ago, but because of the power of the great vows, he feels that his Buddhahood is incomplete, so he still appears as a bodhisattva to assist Buddhas in the worlds of the ten directions. In Saha World, the exemplary figure to the Sadhumati bodhisattvas is Shakyamuni Buddha, who descended into this world and achieved the supreme enlightenment while human life expectancy has decreased to a hundred years.
So in this scripture it says, before Shakyamuni Buddha was born in the human world, he had been a Sadhumati bodhisattva in Tusita heaven, spreading the Dharma, and when the time is ripe for teaching the Dharma on earth, he then descended from the Tusita, embodied the eight stages of Buddha’s progress on earth and preached the three vehicles (yana) of Sravaka, Pratyeka-buddha and Bodhisattva vehicle (including Vajrayana) according to the aptitude of sentient beings. Lastly, he tells all beings in the Lotus Sutra that regardless of what form they are presented in space and time, they are all Buddhas by nature. Therefore, there is only one vehicle in Dharma, the Buddha-vehicle; that is, all sentient beings are on the path to awakening to Buddhahood, no matter which vehicle of Dharma they are studying. So the three vehicles are subsumed into the single Buddha-vehicle. The scripture gives a short review and praise of the life of Shakyamuni Buddha in his teachings in the human world.
By introducing and praising the Sadhumati bodhisattvas of our Saha world, the opening section not only shows the aspirations and deeds of the great bodhisattvas of our world, but also prepares the backdrop for Shakyamuni Buddha’s introduction of the great vows and great deeds of Bhiksu Dharmakara. Also, in the later section where Shakyamuni Buddha introduces the Bodhisattvas of the Pure Land in detail, we will see that despite the difference in worlds, the insights, traits, vows and deeds of the bodhisattvas are almost identical. We will also learn that the focus of Dharma study for Sadhumati bodhisattvas are the great vows of the bodhisattvas and the manifestations of Buddhahood, and in the worlds of ten directions there are two Buddhas that are the most representative of this fruitful manifestation: Shakyamuni and Amitabha Buddha. Whilst this sutra focuses on Amitabha and his manifestation of the Pure Land, the opening section briefly covers the deeds of Shakyamuni Buddha.