I.The land of the Pure Land has no limits. Three evil paths do not exist in His Land. The temperature is neither cold nor hot, but constantly pleasant and comfortable. His land does not have the four seasons of spring, autumn, winter and summer.
“His Buddha Land naturally has the seven treasures. Its ground is made of gold, silver, aquamarine, coral, amber, conch shell, and emerald, and it is open, vast, and boundless. The treasures intermingle and combine with one another, dazzling and sparkling. They are wonderful, beautiful, pure, and splendid, surpassing those in all worlds in the ten directions. These treasures, the best of all treasures, are like those in the sixth desire heaven. In addition, His land has neither Mount Sumeru nor its surrounding mountain ranges, such as the vajra mountain range. Nor does it have immense oceans, small seas, streams, channels, wells, or valleys. By virtue of that Buddha’s spiritual power, things manifest at one’s wish. Life forms that take grueling life-journeys, i.e., hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, and animals, do not exist in His land. His land does not have the four seasons of spring, autumn, winter, or summer, the temperature is neither cold nor hot, but constantly pleasant and comfortable.”
We will translate this part of the Sutra into vernacular Chinese.
Shakyamuni Buddha continues to say that the ground of the Pure Land is made of seven treasures, including gold, silver, aquamarine, coral, amber, conch shell, and emerald. The land is open, vast and boundless. The treasures intermingle and combine with one another, dazzling and sparkling. They are wonderful, beautiful, pure, and splendid, surpassing those in all worlds in the ten directions. These treasures are the best and choicest articles which is a common sight in the Pure Land, are like those in the sixth desire heaven, so pure and so splendid.
We can see with our naked eyes that our land is uneven and the land area is limited. According to Buddhist scriptures, it is due to the inequality among sentient beings, the pettiness of their minds, and the physical and mental limitations. The West Pure Land is open, vast, flat and boundless, reflecting Amitabha Buddha’s solemnity and equality mind that knows no bounds.
Sakyamuni Buddha also introduces that Amitabha’s Buddha’s Land hosts a wealth of seven treasures, which are the best gems of the kind in worlds in the ten directions. They are flawless, perfectly coming together to adorn the Land. In our world, jewels such as, jade and diamonds are rare to see in perfect condition and huge pieces. But in the West Pure Land, as the worlds in the ten directions are adorned with appealing treasures, countless gemstones are used to pave ground, build walls, pavilions, palaces and bathing pools. Seven treasures, namely, gold, silver, aquamarine, coral, amber, conch shell, and emerald, are familiar items to Buddhist believers in our world and are commonly used for making offerings to Buddhas. Therefore, Shakyamuni Buddha lists these seven treasures, which are familiar to his disciples, to let them know the wealth and nobility of this Land from their perspective.
It does not mean that everyone who cultivates should live an ascetic and impoverished life. If one attaches to poverty, thinking that utter destitution demonstrates the extraordinary and refined makings of a practitioner, he is probably wrong, because attachment to poverty is not different from attachment to wealth, which does not necessarily mean one’s cravings for wealth have come to an end. There is an identity between mind and objects. Spiritual wealth of inner perfection and a sense of abundance will definitely be reflected in the external, a host of material wealth that can be seen and perceived. In our world of Saha, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas manifest an image without material possessions because they want to break sentient beings’ attachment to desires and selfishness in order to liberate them from bondage. To be sure, Amitabha Buddha does not deliberately display wealth by saying, “look, there are treasures all over my Land, which are so scarcely seen in your world.” Amitabha Buddha manifests a wealth of treasure in response to the needs of sentient beings who suffer a sense of lack. Sentient beings derive a sense of fulfilment and happiness from the satisfaction of their wanting through seeing, hearing and perceiving. All the rare jewels and precious stones of dazzling beauty of the Pure Land belong equally to every celestial being in the Pure Land. The Pure Land features vast and boundless land, numerous celestial beings and immeasurable treasures.
Shakyamuni Buddha also tells us that Amitabha Buddha’s Land has neither Mount Sumeru nor its surrounding mountain ranges, such as the vajra mountain range, which exist in our world. Nor does it have immense oceans, small seas, streams, channels, wells, rivers or valleys, etc. By virtue of Amitabha Buddha’s spiritual power, natural scenery of their homeland manifests at sentient beings’ wishes. In His Land, life forms that take grueling life-journeys, such as hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, and animals, do not exist. His land does not have the four seasons of spring, autumn, winter, or summer. The temperature is neither cold nor hot, adjustable according to the will of celestial beings.
In the West Pure Land, there is neither Mount Sumeru nor its surrounding mountain ranges, such as the vajra mountain range, which exist in our World. In Buddhism, Mount Sumeru and Mount Vajra are the names of the mountains in our world of Saha, with Mount Sumeru being the highest and the center of the world. Sentient beings of Three Realms and Six Paths live around, above and below Mount Sumeru. There is hell in the Mount Vajra.
Buddha also says that land of the land of Amitabha Buddha’s world is vast and flat, without mountains, streams, channels, ditches, etc. landscape of which only exists in our world. Friends in our world who are fond of visiting scenic spots, mountain-climbing, wandering about to enjoy the landscape would say how wonderful would it be to enjoy seeing deep gorges, green hills and overhanging cliffs and all secret workings of nature! Indeed, Amitabha Buddha out of compassion attentively takes care of this kind of beings’ habits and sentiment in worlds in ten directions.
By virtue of Amitabha Buddha’s divine power, homeland landscape manifests at one’s wish. It is not like seeing a film in our world, but one can directly experience and feel on the scene. Those who have not been to the top of Mount Everest and have not been to the North and South Poles don’t have to regret. If they get reborn in the West Pure Land, by virtue of Amitabha’s power, they are able to be present at these places, without feeling cold or lacking oxygen. Of course, if one wants to experience the piercing cold, as soon as his mind plays on the idea, he immediately feels it. However, there is no fear in the heart and no bodily discomfort, instead, he feels very happy.
Amitabha Buddha in his planning of the Pure Land, is guided by a vision to carefully and considerately take all sentient beings’ sentiments and likings and even idiosyncrasies into consideration. Being is well cared for, which is, in reality, in conformity with all Buddhas’ action vows of “forever support sentient beings”. Of course, Amitabha Buddha integrates his merits and blessings into his compassionate action of “forever support sentient beings”, which is a genuine form of giving the Dharma alms, enabling sentient beings to awaken in a state of bliss in a self-made illusory fantasy land by virtue of a Buddha’s power. If we do not have the power of Buddha to deliver sentient beings, this kind of “forever support” sentient beings may probably develop into overindulgence, letting sentient beings’ bad habits and desires go unchecked.
Similar situation often occurs when parents treat their children. So, if parents want their children to grow up in a state of happiness and become men of great promise, they need to learn from Amitabha Buddha. Primarily, they need to constantly improve themselves to be excelled in wisdom and merits, so that children can follow their parents’ example and pursue in the right direction of life, just like sentient beings in the Pure Land who model themselves on Amitabha Buddha and by virtue of Buddha’s power develop themselves. Children in good and relaxed atmosphere created by their parents can give full play to their nature and enjoy themselves freely. Far from making them degenerate, this kind of freedom is an indispensable help for children to grow up into pillars of society.
The first great vow of Amitabha Buddha on the causal ground is that there shall be no three evil paths in His Land. Now this vow has been fulfilled. In the Pure Land there is no three woeful paths. Truly, life forms that take grueling life-journeys, such as hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, and animals suffer unthinkable agonizing miseries. Even those who are in the three good paths, such as humans, often harbor fear of the possibility of spending all their good karma and falling into evil paths through reincarnation. Celestial beings have this kind of concern too. Since there are no three evil paths in the West Pure Land, all beings can enjoy peace of mind without worrying about what would happen to them if they spend their blessings in the Pure Land. In their hearts, there is no sense of deprivation.
The Pure Land has no four seasons of spring, autumn, winter, or summer. The temperature is adjustable according to the preferences of sentient beings there. Amitabha Buddha never says in an overbearing manner that His Land shall maintain a uniform temperature around 25 degrees centigrade. Sentient beings from worlds in ten directions can adjust the temperature as they please. For example, in the Pure Land, sentient beings gather together to hold a Dharma meeting. Those who feel hot may turn down the temperature at will, whereas others do not feel in the slightest the temperature has been turned down. In the same environment, every sentient being can enjoy a set temperature to his preference. The temperature system of the West Pure Land can be compared to a large air conditioner, the remote control of which is in the hands of every sentient being, allowing for free adjustment without affecting others.
Ok, now let’s continue to look at the original scripture.
Then Ananda asked the Buddha, “If that land does not have Mount Sumeru, upon what do Heaven of the Four God-Kings [the first desire heaven] and Trayastrimsa Heaven [the second desire heaven] rely?” The Buddha replied to Ananda, “Upon what do other heavens, from Yama Heaven, the third desire heaven, up to [Akanistha Heaven] the Ultimate Form Heaven, rely?” Ananda said to the Buddha, “One’s karmas and their corresponding requitals are inconceivable!” The Buddha told Ananda, “As karmas and corresponding requitals are inconceivable, so too are Buddha Lands inconceivable. For sentient beings in any land, their merits and powers are grounded in their karmas.” Ananda said to the Buddha, “I have no doubts regarding this Dharma. It is for removing the doubts of sentient beings of the future that I ask about this meaning.”
Let’s first translate this part of the Sutra into vernacular Chinese.
Then Ananda asked the Buddha, “Bhagavan, if that land does not have Mount Sumeru, upon what do Heaven of the Four God-Kings (the first desire heaven) and TrayastrimSa Heaven (the second desire heaven) rely?”
The Buddha replied to Ananda, “Upon what do other heavens, from Yama Heaven (the third desire heaven), up to Akanistha Heaven (the Ultimate Form Heaven), rely?”
Ananda said to the Buddha, “One’s karmas and their corresponding requitals are inconceivable!”
The Buddha told Ananda, “As karmas and corresponding requitals are inconceivable, so too are Buddha Lands inconceivable. For sentient beings in any land, their merits and powers are grounded in their karmas.”
Ananda said to the Buddha, “I have no doubts regarding this Dharma. It is for removing the doubts of sentient beings of the future that I ask about this meaning.”
In this part of the Sutra, Ananda asked the Buddha that if the Pure Land does not have Mount Sumeru, upon what Heaven of the Four God-Kings (the first desire heaven) and TrayastrimSa Heaven (the second desire heaven) rely. Because in our world of Saha, Mount Sumeru is the highest mountain and the center of the world.
Both the Four God-Kings (the first desire heaven) and Trayastrimsa Heaven (the second desire heaven) reside on Mount Sumeru and these beings are called devas on the earth. Beings living in other heavens, from Yama Heaven (the third desire heaven), up to Akanistha Heaven (the Ultimate Form Heaven) are called devas of heavens living in space. So, Buddha asks Ananda in reply, “in the world of Saha, upon what do other heavens, from Yama Heaven (the third desire heaven), up to Akanistha Heaven (the Ultimate Form Heaven), rely?” The implied meaning is that even those celestial beings in the world of Saha do not rely upon Mount Sumeru, because of their good karma, much less celestial beings in the Pure Land, who are residing in the time and space formed by Amitabha’ merits, fully reflecting Amitabha Buddha’s state where both noumenal and phenomenal are interdependent and all phenomena exist in perfect harmony and do not obstruct each other.
Ananda said to the Buddha that sentient beings’ karmas formed by thoughts and actions and their corresponding requitals are inconceivable so that devas may reside in heavens in space. In our world of Saha, the living environment and different conditions of life are the variant fruit of the seed sown in previous lives. So, Ananda said, “One’s karmas and their corresponding requitals are inconceivable.” And the Buddha told Ananda, “As karmas and corresponding requitals are inconceivable, so too are Buddha Lands formed by merits and virtues inconceivable.” That is the reason why there is no world center mountain like Mount Sumeru in the Pure Land.
In the light of Amitabha Buddha’s 48 great vows, we can see that the happiness enjoyed by sentient beings who have been reborn into the West Pure Land far exceeds the joy of the heavenly beings in our world brought about due to their own good karmas, which, from our perspective, it means that merits and good karmic retribution of celestial beings in the Pure Land far exceed those of celestial beings living in heavens in space in our world. By virtue of power of the merits and good deeds, celestial beings can reside in the space. The special time and space of the Pure Land is formed by merits accumulated through innumerable Kalpas and by perfect fulfillment of all original vows of Amitabha Buddha. So, Shakyamuni Buddha says as karmas and corresponding requitals are inconceivable, so too are Buddha Lands inconceivable.
Ananda made it clear that he did not doubt what the Buddha said. It was for removing the doubts of sentient beings of the future that he asked the question. Indeed, with the development of modern science, nowadays, human beings have always had two dreams in exploring the universe: one is to discover highly developed extraterrestrial civilizations, and the other is to discover new time and space other than Earth that are suitable for human habitation.
In fact, in the infinite expanse of the universe, how could it be possible that there is only a civilization like us? One possible reason why humans cannot discover extraterrestrial civilizations is that they are tightly bound by the phenomena and laws of the human world and persistently adhere to their own knowledge and perception to explore extraterrestrial civilizations from a limited cognitive perspective.
For example, human beings can only imagine extraterrestrial life based on their knowledge about the appearance of humans or animals. When they imagine celestial beings living in space, they picture a scene of pavilions and halls in the air. Otherwise where do they live? Beings living in space must be able to fly. Aren’t they just moving in space as if walking upon flat ground? Or maybe celestial beings don’t need a house to live in. The mythical void is their home as fish in the sea. Legend has it that the ancient Mayans, which suddenly disappeared from the Earth, were the messengers from a certain extrasolar galaxy. After landing on the Earth, they transformed their emanation bodies of light into human life forms, making themselves visible to human beings. Consequently, they adapted themselves to the living environment of the Earth. They could live in the air, on land, or in the depths of the ocean. If in the future, human beings invent superluminal aircraft, in which the six sense-organs of human beings, namely, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind can be transformed into bodies of light to experience everything, then in this way can human beings discover many worlds and extraterrestrial life totally beyond human capacity of seeing, hearing, and perception at present.
Ananda said that he was afraid that sentient beings would perceive the Pure Land according to their limited knowledge and from their perspective, therefore, raise doubts regarding this Dharma. Ananda, out of compassion, asked the question for removing the doubts of sentient beings of the future. Even today human society has developed into a comparatively technological advanced era, and we know more about the time and space of the universe, yet still we are bound by a fixed mindset that human beings on this planet can only live on dry land obeying the law of gravitation. This kind of common knowledge and way of thinking limits our imagination about other worlds and extraterrestrial beings. Hence, we may doubt Buddha’s teachings.
Ok, now let’s continue to look at the scripture.