Nowadays, the popular method employed by practitioners who wish to get reborn in the Pure Land is to repeatedly recite Amitabha Buddha’s name while alive in the hope of blurting out the Name no matter what unexpected illusions they will encounter during the period of Antarabhava. Many people are not able to constantly think only of Amitayus Buddha while reciting the Name. They have a lot of discursive thoughts and their minds were obviously on some trivial things in daily life instead of focusing on the recitation. Therefore, this kind of recitation sometimes becomes a word of mouth, leaving no trace in the heart. And during Antarabhava, everything that has left no trace in the human heart may be forgotten.
Another helpful method is to have a group of people chant Amitabha Buddha in the hope of reminding the deceased of the Name of Amitabha Buddha. If, during Antarabhava, the practitioner’s illusions have nothing to do with Dharma or the West Pure Land, even if the chanting can enter his Antarabhava, the practitioners will get lost in the illusions and turn a deaf ear to the chanting. He pays no attention to the chanting, which is irrelevant to him at the moment, for in his mental formations he cannot recall the significance of the Name, thus fails in chanting the Name.
Therefore, in order to have a chance to bring to mind Amitabha Buddha’s name and his wish for rebirth in the Pure Land, it would be better for those practitioners who have no Samadhibala and only have meagre merits to see images related to the West Pure Land, figures of Buddhas, light, etc. during Antarabhava. These visual images will directly remind the practitioners of the Pure Land and prompts them to chant the Name.
For those who focus on chanting Amitabha Buddha’s name and aspiring for rebirth in the Pure land, if they feel that they are not able to concentrate on reciting the Name of Amitabha Buddha towards the end of their life, for they lack power of Shamatha and Samadhi, they should, in addition to reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name, imprint into their daily mental formation the solemnity and beauty of West Pure Land and the merits and light of Amitabha Buddha. Whenever they recall in their mind the images of West Pure Land or Amitabha Buddha, they feel so elated as if they have been already living in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and witnessing with their own eyes Amitabha Buddha. They shall constantly abide in such a beautiful state. The traces left in their hearts will assist them in recalling their wish for rebirth and the Name of Amitabha Buddha during Antarabhava.
Of course, the most efficient method is to perform more meritorious deeds and break one’s bad habits in the hope of having less negative illusions and more good illusions during Antarabhava. Another method is to cultivate power of Shamatha and Samadhi, to ensure that during Antarabhava the practitioner is able to free himself from delusions, drowsiness and confused thoughts. Besides, if the practitioner could activate Bodhi mind, cultivate six paramitas and perform all good actions of salvation, and become a Bodhisattva to benefit oneself as well as others in the true sense, he would naturally correspond to the Pure Land manifested by Amitabha Buddha’s merits. When he dies, Amitayus Buddha, together with a holy multitude, will appear before him, and ceremoniously welcome him to His Land.
In <Contemplation Sutra of Buddha Amitayus>, Shakyamuni Buddha introduced the West Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss to Vaidehi, the Queen, who was shut up by her son. In this Sutra, Buddha preaches Dharma tailored to the needs of human beings. Shakyamuni Buddha makes known the way about how to meditate to obtain the right vision of that Land in order to be reborn in Sukhavati, which are called “pure actions of threefold goodness” and “sixteen kinds of contemplation”. When locked up in confinement, Vaidehi and her husband became afflicted by sorrow and distress as if living in hell. To make it worse, her husband’s days were numbered. Life was so miserable for her that every second was sheer hell for her. At the moment, The Buddha taught her “Sixteen Meditations” to visualize the West Pure Land. Even if she succeeded in one way of meditation, she would be able to settle peacefully in it. Such visualization would not only lead her to a successful rebirth in the Pure Land, but also allow Queen Vaidehi, despite the fact that she was imprisoned, to have the blessings and radiance, of Amitabha Buddha and the Pure Land. She could let go of resentment and sorrow in the human world and live in Dharma joys. Furthermore, some successful visualizations according to the Sixteen ways of meditations can lead to Samadhi of mindfulness of Buddha, and the attainment of the patience to hold to belief in no rebirth of all phenomena. By knowing that one’s own body and mind is also a Buddha’s body and mind, one develops great compassion towards the ignorance and evils of all beings in the world, and is completely liberated from the sufferings of both mental and physical.
three good pure actions
The threefold goodness revealed by Shakyamuni Buddha to Queen Vaidehi refer to three good pure actions necessary for being born anew in the Pure Land.
First, they should act filially towards their parents and support them; serve and respect their teachers and elders; be of compassionate mind, abstain from doing any injury, and cultivate the ten virtuous actions”. (The ten virtuous actions refer to—1. Give up forever killing; 2. Give up stealing; 3. Give up wrong conduct of adultery; 4. Give up lying; 5. Give up slandering; 6. Give up harsh language; 7. Give up frivolous speech; 8. Give up greed; 9. Give up hate; 10. Give up wrong views.)
Second, they should refuge with the Three jewels, fulfill all moral precepts, and not lower their dignity or neglect any ceremonial observance.
Third, they should activate Bodhi mind, deeply believe in the principle of cause and effect, study and recite the Mahayana doctrine, and persuade and encourage others who pursue the same course as themselves.
Buddha says that these three good pure actions are the causes for the formation of the Pure Lands of all Buddhas. To cultivate these three kinds of pure action will allow the practitioners to accord with Pure Land and guarantee a smooth rebirth in Sukhavati.
Sixteen Meditations
“Sixteen Meditations” refer to sixteen ways of getting a perception of Amitabha Buddha and the West Pure Land with concentrated thought.
- 1. The perception of the sun, which is the First Meditation;
- 2. The perception of water;
- 3. The perception of ground of lapis lazuli;
- 4. The perception of the jewel-trees of that country;
- 5. The perception of the water of eight good qualities;
- 6. The perception of jeweled storeys and galleries;
- 7. The perception of the flowery throne;
- 8. The perception of the images of Buddhas;
- 9.The perception of complete meditation on radiant form and body of Amitabha Buddha; 10. The perception of the form and body of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara;
- 11. The perception of the form and body of Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta;
- 12. The perception of oneself to be born in the World of Highest Happiness in the western quarter;
- 13. The perception obtained by a complete meditation on that Buddha country;
- 14. The perception of those who are to be born in the highest form of the highest grade to Buddhahood;
- 15. The perception of the beings who will be born in the middle form of the highest grade;
- 16. The perception of those who are to be born in the lowest form of the highest grade.
9 levels of getting reborn in the Pure Land
In the 14th, 15th and 16th meditations, Shakyamuni Buddha introduces 9 levels of getting reborn in the Pure Land according to the wisdom, merits and good deeds of sentient beings in our world of Saha. We are going to list these 9 levels as follows.
The beings who will be born in the highest form of the highest grade
“The beings who will be born in the highest form of the highest grade (i. e. to Buddhahood) are those who have the threefold thought. First, the True Thought; second, the Deep Believing Thought; third, the Desire to be born in that Pure Land by transfer one’s own stock of merit to that end. Those who have this threefold thought in perfection shall most assuredly be born into that country. Buddha says whoever they may be, who wish to be born in that country and cherish the threefold thought whereby they are at once destined to be born there. Therefore, from ancient times to the present, many people have different studies and interpretations of these threefold thought.
First, the True Thought.
Let’s draw an analogy. For example, if you like a girl and want her to be your wife. She is the queen of your mind and you are only willing to marry her. You will definitely make an effort to get to know everything about her, even taking into account the minutia about her personal preferences. You will do enough homework before making a proposal. If she accepts your marriage proposal, you will get everything ready for the wedding. This is what we call “the true thought”. If you know nothing about her and do not care much about whether she accepts your proposal or not, and you adopt an attitude of just letting it be and think that it is inessential if she declines your proposal, you are not sincere and without “true thought”.
Now you have made a resolution to be reborn in the Pure Land, the Buddha says that in order to achieve what you wish for you shall have “true thought”. That is, you shall inform yourself thoroughly of everything about Sukhavati, such as, the origin of Sukhavati, Amitabha Buddha’s virtuous actions on the causal ground, Amitabha Buddha’s 48 vows and basic situation of His Land, etc. And you shall go a step further to know about all Buddhas’ merits and their state where both noumenal and phenomenal are interdependent, as well as methods for immigration into the Pure Land, etc. After acquaint yourself with all that is necessary to know about, you concentrate on chanting the Buddha’s name with reverence and gratitude, and behave according to the teachings, such as, activate your Bodhi mind, cultivate six paramitas and practice all virtuous actions, and perform threefold goodness, purify yourself to accord with the Pure Land. Only by putting into action can we say that you have “true thought” for aspiring to immigrate into Amitabha Buddha’s Land. It is not just about going up there soon to enjoy happy times in the Pure Land. If anyone shirks responsibilities and obligations in this world, and treat others indifferently, he recites the Name of Amitabha Buddha with a speculative mentality, hoping to gain without doing any work, unwilling to do any good deeds thinking that there are no three evil paths in the Pure Land, so there is no need to be afraid of falling into hell. We say that the person has no “true thought” for aspiring to immigrate into Amitabha Buddha’s Land.
Second, the Deep Believing Thought.
We will still illustrate this point by using the same analogy mentioned above. Her to wife, and you firmly believe that the girl loves you too, the situation then closely approximates “the Deep Believing Thought”.
Before we attain enlightenment, we can only have a superficial understanding of Buddhas’ merits and vows, the realm of the identity of the absolute void with the ultimate reality all Buddhas possess. What we can do is to believe in the Buddha’s teachings for now. This “Deep Believing Thought” refers to to a deep belief in Buddhas’ teachings.
Once we have made a resolution to be reborn in the Pure Land, we’d better stop being of two minds over this. One example of our non-committal attitude is while chanting Amitabha Buddha in mouth, we hold an inner doubt about the true existence of the Pure Land. We speculate that reciting the Buddha’s name does not cause much loss and if the Pure Land really exists, we will be blessed with great benefits. Another example of our non-committal attitude is like this— today we make up our mind to go to the West Pure Land, but in tomorrow we change our mind and decide to go to “The Pure Crystal Realm”, the World of the Master of Healing, “Tushita Heaven”, the fourth level of the six deva-heavens of desire in our world, where Maitreya Bodhisattva now resides. We must believe that when we recite Amitabha Buddha, He will know. If we do good deeds and make a resolution to get reborn in the Pure Land, Amitabha Buddha will know our wish and provide us with guidance.
Third, the Desire to Be Born in the Pure Land by Transfer One’s Own Stock of Merits to That End.
Since we have made a wish to be reborn in the Pure Land, we must perform all good deeds to benefit all sentient beings and to transfer our stock of merits to our smooth rebirth in the Pure Land. We should no longer cling to our good retribution hoping for living forever in this world, being prosperous and supremely fortunate.
Since we have already made a resolution to be reborn in the Pure Land, during our temporary stay in the world of Saha, we are just like travelers passing by in a hurry. We only experience our life and pay the karmic debts in this world. We should regard the Pure Land as our hometown, where we shall return once this life is spent. We shall not take everything too seriously in this world, so that we will never forget our wish for rebirth. To transfer one’s own stock of merits to our wish for rebirth in the Pure Land involves an intention to realize the supreme Bodhi mind, not just to enjoy a happy life there.
Moreover, if we are finally blessed with rebirth we shall bear in mind that we cannot do without the introduction of Shakyamuni Buddha in this world, and the expectation and guidance of Amitabha Buddha in the Pure Land. After we become fully enlightened, we should also learn from the Buddhas to go to ten quarters to repay our debt of gratitude to fourfold loving-kindness, and to provide salvation for the three paths of sufferings. So, the purpose for transferring one’s own stock of merits is twofold: first, to be reborn in the Blissful Land; second, to achieve the supreme enlightenment. We shall transfer all our merits and good deeds to achieve these two purposes.
Those who have the threefold thought will definitely get born in the Pure Land.
The beings who will be born in the highest form of the highest grade are also those who have the threefold behaviors. First, those who are possessed of a compassionate mind, who do no injury to any beings, and accomplish all virtuous actions according to Buddha’s precepts; Second, those who study and recite the Sutras of the Mahayana doctrine, for instance, the Vaipulya Sutras; Third, those who practice the sixfold paramitas. They bring their respective stocks of merit to maturity and transfer to the fulfilment of their wish for rebirth there. Once born anew, the flowers will open instantly and they see the Buddha.