After the sutra has finished praising Sadhumati bodhisattvas of the Saha world, the camera moves to Shakyamuni Buddha in the assembly. We shall see that Shakyamuni Buddha is in a very special state today. The scripture describes it as follows: delighted, his countenance was pure, his complexion was luminous and imposing. Venerable Ananda, the Buddha’s acolyte, rose from his seat and asked: “The World-Honored One, why are you so happy today, in spirit and in appearance, showing the majestic light of merit? What kind of internal blissful realization are you abiding in, or has something come to your mind that makes you manifest this extraordinary and rare radiance of the body today?”
We can see in the scriptures that the Buddha did not directly respond to Ananda’s question and give explanation. Instead, he asked Ananda whether it was Ananda himself who wanted to ask the Buddha this question, or whether he was asked to do so by the celestial beings. Ananda replied that no celestial beings had asked him to ask this; it was his own wish to ask. The Buddha then immediately praised Ananda, said: “You asked this excellent question just in time. It is because you have compassion in your heart and have mercy for all beings that you could ask such a wise question. Because what the Buddha is preaching today is a sutra that will bring the most practical benefits to all sentient beings in the Saha world; it is a direct transfer from Buddha’s achievement. It was a great blessing that Ananda asked this question. This is indeed a result of good karma common to all beings in the Saha world.” That is why the Buddha praised Ananda. But why did the Buddha ask Ananda if any of the celestial beings had told him to do so? You will find out the reason for this later in the scriptures.
Though what Shakyamuni Buddha is preaching today can benefit all sentient beings in the three realms universally, the teaching is particularly in accordance with the qualities of the celestial beings, with Maitreya Bodhisattva as the leading figure. This is because the celestial beings were basking in the joy of heavenly life; they don’t have the same tribulations and worries as us humans or the beings of the lower three paths, so the peace and happiness of other worlds do not interest them. But today the Buddha wants them to hear about the freedom and bliss that only the great Nirvana realm of Buddhas could offer, the realm of emptiness and marvelous existence of Buddhas, and the selfless sharing and giving of the virtues and merit of the Buddhas. Moreover, the celestial beings are not out of the wheel of reincarnation; when their good karma is consumed, they will fall into the six paths of reincarnation. However, it is difficult for the celestial beings to initiate the intention of attaining the supreme enlightenment or the wish to be born in the Pure Land in the midst of peace and happiness. This is why Shakyamuni Buddha devotes a great deal of space in this sutra listing the five kinds of pain, five evil activities and five burns of the human world to talk about the viciousness and misery of human nature.
I suppose, if human beings were the specific intended audiences, the Buddha might have talked about the suffering of beings in hell. It is said in the Sutra that the bodhisattvas’ practice in human world is like being in the midst of the fire of desire while remaining equanimous and still; they also have to aspire to benefit and uplift others, thus attaining the Buddhahood can be difficult. As the celestial beings run out of good karma, they will end up in the other five paths of reincarnation. Hence, if the Buddha tells us that we can attain infinite life span, everlasting happiness, no longer be in the cycle of rebirth, and quickly attain Buddhahood in bliss, then for human beings and sentient beings of the lower three paths who are constantly afflicted by tribulations, even if they don’t practice the Dharma but just want to be free from suffering and attain happiness, they will make the vow to be born in the Pure Land.
So our concerns are about the method of attaining rebirth, about what if we forget the Buddha’s name in the realm of intermediate existence, whereas the concerns of the celestial beings who abide in happiness are about why they should migrate to the Pure Land. For them it’s like, if it’s just for happiness I’m happy already; if it’s for attaining Buddhahood, we have both Maitreya and Shakyamuni Buddha with us here; we can follow them to study the Dharma and attain Buddhahood. Why do we have to migrate to the Pure Land to study with Amitabha then? Also, Shakyamuni Buddha as our fundamental teacher has always been teaching us, and we are benefiting and growing on the path of awakening, but now he is recommending the Pure Land and another Buddha. Is it because Shakyamuni Buddha is tired of us and no longer wants to teach us?
When we understand what the celestial beings have in mind, we can see why Shakyamuni Buddha talks at length about the suffering of human and the difficulties of attaining the Buddhahood there in the following scriptures. Why would he ask Ananda repeatedly before he started lecturing on the scriptures: “Did Ananda want to ask this question himself, or did the celestial beings teach him to ask this question?” Buddha’s rhetorical question not only reminded all the celestial beings in the assembly to pay attention to what Buddha was going to say, instead of being arrogant and self-righteous due to the presence of good karma and neglect the teachings in this sutra; he hoped that the celestial beings can cherish this sutra like other sentient beings, follow the instruction and practice.
In the sutra, after Shakyamuni Buddha praised and asked Ananda, he still did not answer Ananda’s question. Instead, he began to praise the appearance of all Buddhas in the world, which is hard to encounter and perceive, and the wisdom of all Buddhas is inconceivable and difficult to fathom; their supernatural powers are inconceivable and have obtained sovereignty within all phenomena. We have also heard the same words which the Buddha praised himself and praised all the Buddhas in the “Lotus Sutra”. The purpose is for all sentient beings to cherish Buddha’s teaching and believe in everything the Buddha said, because many principles spoken by the Buddhas and the realms shown by the achievements of stage of realization, for those who have not yet become a Buddha, regardless of human or the celestial beings, whether they have super powers or not, sometimes they cannot fully and thoroughly understand; they can only put trust in the Buddha’s words first, and then gradually practice.
After Shakyamuni Buddha praised the achievements and inconceivableness of all Buddhas and made various preparations for the teaching of the “Immeasurable Life Sutra”, the prelude to this assembly had truly been broached. Shakyamuni Buddha began to share why he was so joyful physically and mentally. What did the Buddha think of, or what extraordinary realm did he live in?
The Buddha said: Before immeasurable kalpas, there was a Buddha named Unimpeded in the World. He had a disciple named Bhikshu Dharmakara. The description of this chief disciple in the sutra is that he is talented, brave, and extraordinary. Hearing these words, we immediately know that this bhikkhu must be a top student on the Bodhisattva path and would attain exceptional achievements.
One day, Bhikshu Dharmakara went to the master’s residence and told the master that he wanted to build a world. The beauty, solemnity and purity of this world, as well as the skillful and expedient way of saving sentient beings, should rank first in all the worlds of the ten directions. Unimpeded in the World knew the wisdom and ability of his disciple; he encouraged him joyfully and said: “If you go hunting for treasure in the sea, even if you use a small spoon to scoop up water, as long as you persevere, one day you will scoop up the seawater and get the treasure in the seabed. As long as you persevere, you will succeed one day.”
In response to Bhikshu Dharmakara’s humbly asking for advice, Unimpeded in the World showed the pure and solemn places of 21 billion Buddha kingdoms to him for his reference when planning the world. Bhikshu Dharmakara lived up to his master’s encouragement and teaching and spent five kalpas thinking and planning the future of the world. When his plan was basically completed, he came to Unimpeded in the World again. In front of all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the assembly, he used forty-eight vows to introduce his plan for the future world. After he finished speaking, flowers rained down from the heavens and the earth shook in six ways. He was praised unanimously by all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the assembly. All the Buddhas assured him that he would surely achieve perfect supreme enlightenment and fully materialise those great vows.
After Bhikshu Dharmakara made those great vows, he spent uncountable kalpas striving wholeheartedly for the fulfillment of these great vows, and never regretted or got tired of it. Apart from the fulfillment of great vows, he desired nothing in the world. Finally, he fulfilled all his great vows ten kalpas ago and fully achieved perfect supreme enlightenment; he is called Amitabha. The world he built is called the Pure Land. Because the Pure Land lies in the west of our world, we call it Western Pure Land.
Then Shakyamuni Buddha introduced Amitabha and Western Pure Land to the assembly. First, he introduced that because of the world Amitabha built, countless sentient beings are free from suffering and could attain happiness and awaken from time and space in ultimate bliss. The Pure Land not only removes loss, regret, suffering and fear for countless sentient beings lost in time and space and brings them eternal peace and happiness, but also becomes the most perfect site of enlightenment for those who practice Buddhism. Therefore, the merits and virtues make the majestic power and radiance of Amitabha the best among all the Buddhas in the world of the ten directions, and his lifespan is infinite; so Amitabha is also called Immeasurable Life, Limitless Light. All sentient beings in the ten directions who see his light can acquire unimaginable benefits.
Then Shakyamuni Buddha introduced the Western Pure Land by referring to all the things that are common to all sentient beings in the Saha world. For example, the land area and composition of the Pure Land, climate, radiance, life span, and number of Buddhist disciples, trees of seven jewels, enlightenment trees, voice and music, Dharma-halls, pools, waters with eight attributes, food utensils, appearance of the celestial beings, treasures, fine clothes, wind of virtue, fragrance of virtue, jewel lotus, etc. Shakyamuni Buddha gave us a brief introduction and highly praised the Pure Land.
Then Shakyamuni Buddha introduced all sentient beings in the world of the ten directions who heard the name of Amitabha: as long as they firmly believe in the merits of Amitabha’s name and the existence of the Western Pure Land, wish to be reborn in the Pure Land, focus on this wish wholeheartedly, don’t lose focus (take for example, wanting to be reborn in the Pure Land today, then tomorrow want to go to Medicine Buddha’s Eastern Buddha Land of Pure Crystal), one should keep reciting Amitabha’s name, then they can be reborn in the Pure Land, except for those sentient beings who committed five heinous crimes and denigrated the true Dharma. The Pure Land does not welcome them; a deep repentance and reformation is required to be eligible for rebirth.
The sutra also focuses on the introduction of Amitabha’s special preferential treatment for Bodhisattvas who have initiated the bodhicitta of achieving perfect supreme enlightenment and vowed to be reborn in the Western Paradise. According to the extent of their merits, it can be categorized into three grades of rebirth. That is to say, when these sentient beings are being reborn, they will receive three different kinds of special reception and treatment in the Land of Bliss.
Then Shakyamuni Buddha introduced the insights, virtues and achievements of the great Bodhisattvas in the Western Pure Land and briefly described what the scene of the Dharma Assembly is like when Amitabha is teaching. He also focused on praising the two great Bodhisattvas in the Land of Bliss: Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta.
After the Buddha briefly introduced the Western Paradise and the methods of rebirth for all sentient beings, he talked to Maitreya Bodhisattva and all the celestial beings and advised all sentient beings to make a vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, because for the celestial beings who abide in the joy of good karma, they cannot empathize with the suffering in the desire realm; they have no desire for the wealth and happiness of the Land of Bliss. However, they are still in the samsara of the Three Realms and Six Destinies and cannot maintain such happiness forever. It is easy to fall into the other five destinies and suffer, and it is difficult and slow to achieve Buddhahood in the Saha world. Therefore, in front of the celestial beings, Buddha talked about the vices and sufferings of human nature and summarised the five evil activities, five kinds of pain, five burns and five good practices on earth to explain the difficulties of doing virtuous deeds and attaining Buddhahood as a human. At the same time, it affirms that in our world, if one can restrain one’s own desires, not to do evil along with others, and to benefit oneself and others, one is regarded as a great virtue on earth. Through this passage, the Buddha expresses why he wants to advise everyone to be born in the Pure Land. It is not that the Buddha is tired of them, unwilling to teach them. Instead, it is because the evil thoughts and actions of the beings in the Saha world, arising from their desires and habituated tendencies, have made this world a place of five turbidities and severe suffering, in which it is difficult for sentient beings to live, practise and attain Buddhahood. The Buddha said by analogy that Bodhisattvas in the realm of desire themselves, living in this world with their desires and habituated tendencies, should uphold righteousness, be disciplined, and avoid evil conduct and cultivate goodness; it is like being in the middle of a great fire, trying to keep their bodies and minds still and doing altruistic acts in the midst of such hardship and suffering. So, the Buddha felt compassion for sentient beings and cannot bear to let the disciples live and practise in this world of suffering. So he urged his disciples to be reborn in the Pure Land at the end of their lives, to live and practise in bliss, and to successfully attain Buddhahood.
At this point in the assembly, Shakyamuni Buddha’s introduction to the Pure Land was basically finished. Lending credence to Shakyamuni Buddha’s sermon and the desire of the audience, Amitabha and the Western Pure Land appeared at the assembly. Under the majestic power of Shakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha, all the audience in the Dharma Assembly saw Amitabha and the Pure Land with their own eyes. At this time, Maitreya Bodhisattva raised some questions about the Pure Land he saw: Why is there a variation of viviparous and apparitional birth in the Pure Land? The Buddha told Maitreya Bodhisattva that it was because some of those who were reborn did not have wisdom before they were reborn and were unable and unwilling to spend the time and energy to understand the Buddha’s wisdom; they simply believed in the cause and effect of good and evil and did good deeds. Some did not even believe in karma; they encountered this sutra when they were approaching death, encountered virtuous people who introduced Amitabha Buddha and the Pure Land. By reciting Buddha’s name, by the power of Amitabha’s vows, they were reborn in the Western Pure Land. Those sentient beings then become viviparous celestial beings. Viviparous birth does not refer to the form of birth; it means they live in the seven-jeweled palace. Although they live in the lap of luxury, for five hundred years, they live in the seven-jeweled palace unable to see the Buddha and hear the Buddha’s teaching; they are incapable of practicing various kinds of good deeds to make offerings to the Buddhas. The sentient beings in the Pure Land, for this reason, cannot make all their wishes come true. Thus they are called viviparous celestial beings. If viviparous celestial beings sincerely repent and correct their mistakes, and are willing to hear the Buddha’s teaching, understand the wisdom of the Buddhas, instead of pursuing pleasure, they ask to leave the seven-jeweled palace, they shall be the same as other reborn celestial beings.
Maitreya Bodhisattva asked again: How many Bodhisattvas in our Saha world who attained the status of non-retrogression were reborn in the Western Pure Land? The Buddha not only told Maitreya Bodhisattva about the rebirth of the Bodhisattva in the Saha world, but also listed the rebirth of all sentient beings in the fourteen Buddha-lands who were reborn in the Western Pure Land. Because not only Shakyamuni Buddha praised the Pure Land and Amitabha and advised his disciples to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, but also all the Buddhas in the worlds of the ten directions did the same thing, recommending their disciples to go to the Pure Land to pay homage and make offerings to Amitabha, listen to Amitabha’s teachings and receive the assurance of future enlightenment, learn Amitabha’s great vows and fruition, and make vows to be reborn in the most perfect Pure Land in the worlds of ten directions.
In the end, before the end of the sutra, the Buddha re-emphasized the importance of this sutra to the suffering sentient beings in our world. He also said to the future Buddha Maitreya Bodhisattva that if the triple-thousand great one-thousand worlds are filled with great fire, we should also rush out of the fire to attain this sutra and receive the Buddha’s teaching with conviction and understanding and then truly practice them. The triple-thousand great one-thousand worlds are full of great fire, which is also a metaphor for the all-pervading fire of desire and karma of all sentient beings. At this time, no matter what kind of environment sentient beings are in, whether it is happiness or suffering, sentient beings are no longer willing or able to learn other teachings of the Buddhas and benefit from other sutras. Buddha said to the future Maitreya Bodhisattva: Under such circumstances, this sutra can still benefit sentient beings. Bodhisattvas must preach this sutra, because when sentient beings attain this sutra and believe in Buddha’s teachings, even if all the worlds in the ten directions collapse, as long as sentient beings are reborn in the Western Pure Land, their happiness and Buddhahood are guaranteed.
Shakyamuni Buddha said that in the future after my teaching ends, I will use my majestic power to keep this sutra available for another one hundred years, to benefit all sentient beings who are in dark kalpa after the end of latter dharma. From this vow, we can see the majestic power and great compassion of Shakyamuni Buddha. After the end of the Buddha’s teachings, he introduced the merits and benefits of listening to this sutra for all sentient beings. Countless sentient beings vowed to achieve perfect supreme enlightenment, pure eye of the Dharma and achieved the stage of non-returner, eliminated all afflictions and attain liberation. Countless bodhisattvas vowed the great vow to decorate the Pure Land with merits and virtues, vowed to achieve perfect supreme enlightenment. The Saha world, triple-thousand great one-thousand worlds trembled with six earthquakes. There were joy and peace everywhere.Alright now, we are going to study the sutra and hear the transmission of Buddha’s teaching.