2. Achievements of Bodhisattvas in the Pure Land and Their Practicing Method
The Buddha told Ananda, “All Bodhisattvas in that land will eventually be in the holy position of waiting to attain Buddhahood in their next life, except those whose original vows put sentient beings first. They adorn themselves with the merit of their great vows, hastening to deliver all sentient beings everywhere. Ananda, in that Buddha Land, a voice-hearer’s body light is one yojana across, and a Bodhisattva’s radiance reaches a distance of one hundred yojanas. There are two foremost Bodhisattvas, who are most honored. Their awesome spiritual radiance shines everywhere in the Three-Thousand Large Thousandfold World.” Ananda asked the Buddha, “What are these two Bodhisattvas’ names?” The Buddha replied, “One is called Avalokitesvara and the other [Mahasthamaprapta] Great Might Arrived. These two Bodhisattvas trained in the Bodhisattva Way in this land. After their death, they have been reborn in that Buddha Land.
Ananda, sentient beings reborn in that land are all endowed with a great man’s thirty-two physical marks. Fulfilled in wisdom, they delve into dharmas and understand their essence. Their transcendental powers are hindrance free, and their faculties are brilliant and keen. Those of inferior capacity achieve the first two of the Three Endurances, and those of superior capacity achieve the asamkhyeya Endurance in the Realization of the No Birth of Dharmas. In addition, these Bodhisattvas, on their way to Buddhahood, will never again go down the evil life-journeys. They have command of transcendental powers and know the past lives of themselves and others. However, if they choose to be reborn elsewhere, in an evil world with the five turbidities, resembling my world, they will manifest themselves to resemble the inhabitants there.” The Buddha told Ananda, “Bodhisattvas in that land, by virtue of that Buddha’s power, in the time of a meal, can visit innumerable worlds in the ten directions to make offerings to the Buddha-Tathagatas there. According to their thoughts, innumerable, countless offerings instantly appear like magic, such as flowers, incense, instrumental music, silky canopies, and banners, which are precious and extraordinary, not of this world. These Bodhisattvas offer such objects to the multitude of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and voice-hearers there, which then change into flower canopies in the sky. The flower canopies are radiant and colorful, wafting fragrances everywhere. Each flower canopy is 400 lis in circumference, and continues to double in size until it covers the Three-Thousand Large Thousandfold World. These flower canopies then vanish, one after another. Delighted, these Bodhisattvas play celestial music in the sky and, with wonderful tones, they hymn Buddhas’ virtues. They hear and accept the Dharma with infinite joy. After making offerings to those Buddhas, before mealtime, they effortlessly lift off and return to their own land.”
We are going to translate this part of the Sutra into vernacular Chinese.
The Buddha told Ananda, “All Bodhisattvas in that land will eventually be in the holy position of waiting to attain Buddhahood in their next life, except those whose original vows put sentient beings first. They adorn themselves with the merit of their great vows, hastening to deliver all sentient beings everywhere.
Ananda, in that Buddha Land, a voice-hearer’s body light is one yojana across, and a Bodhisattva’s radiance reaches a distance of several hundred yojanas. There are two foremost Bodhisattvas, who are most honored. Their awesome spiritual radiance shines everywhere in the Three-Thousand Large Thousandfold World.”
Ananda asked the Buddha, “What are these two Bodhisattvas’ names?”
The Buddha replied, “One is called Avalokitesvara and the other Mahasthamaprapta (Great Might Arrived). These two Bodhisattvas trained in the Bodhisattva Way in this land. After their death, they have been reborn in that Buddha Land.
Ananda, sentient beings reborn in that land are all endowed with a great man’s thirty-two physical marks. Fulfilled in wisdom, they delve into dharmas and understand their essence. Their transcendental powers are hindrance free, and their faculties are brilliant and keen. Those of inferior capacity achieve the first two of the Three Endurances, and those of superior capacity achieve the asamkhyeya Endurance in the Realization of the No Birth of Dharmas. In addition, these Bodhisattvas, on their way to Buddhahood, will never again go down the evil life-journeys. They have command of transcendental powers and know the past lives of themselves and others. However, if they choose to be reborn elsewhere, in an evil world with the five turbidities, resembling my world, they will manifest themselves to resemble the inhabitants there in physique and capacities just as they come to our world of Saha, they manifest themselves in every way resembling the inhabitants of our world.”
The Buddha told Ananda, “Bodhisattvas in that land, by virtue of that Buddha’s power, in the time of a meal, can visit innumerable worlds in the ten directions to make offerings to the Buddha-Tathagatas reverently there. According to their thoughts, innumerable, countless offerings instantly appear like magic, such as flowers, incense, instrumental music, silky canopies, and banners, which are precious and extraordinary, not of this world. These Bodhisattvas offer such objects to the multitude of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and voice-hearers there, which then change into flower canopies in the sky. The flower canopies are radiant and colorful, wafting fragrances everywhere. Each flower canopy is 400 lis in circumference, and continues to double in size until it covers the Three-Thousand Large Thousandfold World. These flower canopies then vanish, one after another. Delighted, these Bodhisattvas play celestial music in the sky and, with wonderful tones, they hymn Buddhas’ virtues. They hear and accept the Dharma with infinite joy. After making offerings to those Buddhas, before morning mealtime, they effortlessly lift off and return to their own land.”
In the above part of the Scripture, Shakyamuni Buddha tells us that all Bodhisattvas in that land will eventually become Ekajati-prati-baddha.
What then is Ekajati-prati-baddha? An Ekajati-prati-baddha is a Bodhisattva who will manifest as a Buddha in a certain world in his next life. For example, Bodhisattva Maitreya, will be the successor of Shakyamuni Buddha, and manifest as the Buddha of our world of Saha when Shakyamuni Buddha retires as the founder of Buddhism in our world of Saha. Before the succession, Bodhisattva Maitreya in our world of Saha is called “the Future Buddha”, also known as “Ekajati-prati-baddha”. All those “Ekajati-prati-baddhas” waiting to attain Buddhahood will reside in the pure land of the adytum of the Tushita Heaven and then descend into the human world to attain Buddhahood. Shakyamuni Buddha in the position of Ekajati-prati-baddha descended into human world from the adytum of Tushita Heaven, so will Maitreya Buddha. The outer court of Tushita Heaven is called “the impure land” where saints and ordinary celestial beings dwell together. For this reason, some Buddhist disciples vow to be born into the pure land of the adytum of the Tushita Heaven to study with Maitreya Bodhisattva.
The ultimate achievement of Bodhisattvas in the West Pure Land is eventually to attain the holy position of “Ekajati-prati-baddha” and manifest as Buddhas in any world in their next life. Excepted are those Bodhisattvas whose original vows are to form their own pure lands, otherwise they will not attain Buddhahood, like Amitabha Buddha and those who resolve to shorten their infinite lifespan in the Pure Land and choose to reincarnate into other worlds as Bodhisattvas to assist Buddhas in saving sentient beings there. For example, in our world of Saha, there is a multitude of Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas from the West Pure Land.
This part of the Scripture mentions two Bodhisattvas, one is being called AvalokiteSvara and the other Mahasthamaprapta (Great Might Arrived). These two Bodhisattvas trained in the Bodhisattva Way in this land of Saha. After their death, they have been reborn in Amitabha Buddha’s Land. But they often take a vow to come back to the Saha world, not only to assist Shakyamuni Buddha in spreading the Dharma, but also to assist Amitabha Buddha in guiding sentient beings to the West Pure Land. They are two important messengers who frequently travel between the Saha and West Pure Land.
We are all presently studying Buddhism in the world of Saha. In this time and space created by the shared karma of all sentient beings, it is difficult for people to practice some good deeds. It is even more difficult to ensure that all sentient beings who have activated the mind to become Buddhas can perfect the Bodhisattva path and attain the fruition stage of “Ekajati-prati-baddha” in their lifetime. In the West Pure Land, it is quite easy for them to come to the holy position of “Ekajati-prati-baddha”.
Gods in the West Pure Land have uniform appearance, differing only in the length and width of body light. It is mentioned in the scripture that a voice-hearer’s body light is one yojana across, and a Bodhisattva’s radiance reaches a vast expanse of several hundred yojanas. Two foremost Bodhisattvas are particularly mentioned. Their awesome spiritual radiance shines everywhere in the Three-Thousand Large Thousandfold World like a Buddha. Ananda immediately asked the Buddha what these two Bodhisattvas’ names were. The Buddha replied that these two Bodhisattvas who often practice in the Bodhisattva Way in this land, are named AvalokiteSvara and Mahasthamaprapta(Great Might Arrived). People learning Buddhism are familiar with Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva from the West Pure Land. Especially Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, who makes vows to respond to sentient beings to remove their sufferings and to answer all prayers, often appears as a female like a loving mother to save sentient beings. So, in China, where Mahayana Buddhism is flourishing, this Bodhisattva who often assumes a female form is virtually well-known to every household.
In <The Shurangama Sutra> we are going to study in the future, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva shared with us the method of entering samAdhi by the faculty of hearing, whereas Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva shared with us the method of entering samAdhi by mindfulness of the Buddha. These two methods fit a broad range of sentient beings divided into “three roots”, and will benefit immeasurable practitioners. Moreover, Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva act as the guide to lead sentient being who practice mindfulness of Buddha to the Pure Land. At the end of one’s life, one may not be able to utter Amitabha Buddha’s name, or may not be able to visualize the West Pure Land or the image of Amitabha Buddha during Antarabhava, but due to one’s affinity with AvalokiteSvara Bodhisattva and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva, if one can utter their names or visualize the image of anyone of them, one can get reborn into the Pure Land because these two Bodhisattvas’ merits and light shine brightly, and they could also help Amitabha Buddha lead sentient beings to the West Pure Land.
For example, in meditation, I have seen a toad spirit that wants to be reborn in the West Pure Land, but cannot pronounce Amitabha Buddha. This much resembles Chinese people learning a foreign language. If someone speaks a foreign sentence, we may not be able to recite it immediately. Or if we hear the sentence, the relevant imprint on our mind will be immediately removed. But this toad, because of its affinity with Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, was able to easily remember the name “Namo Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva” in its heart, and thus received the salvation of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, successfully getting reborn into the West Pure Land. Buddha also tells us that if sentient beings are reborn in the West Pure Land, they will not only definitely come to the holy position of “Ekajati-prati-baddha”, but also possess a great man’s thirty-two physical marks. Besides the external similarity, they are fulfilled in wisdom and delve into dharmas and understand their essence. Their transcendental powers are hindrance free. In addition, these Bodhisattvas, on their way to Buddhahood, will never again go down the evil life-journeys due to the evils committed during their past lives. Besides, these Bodhisattvas have command of transcendental powers and know the past lives of themselves.
This part of the Scripture also records the daily practice of celestial beings in the West Pure Land. Before their final attainment of Buddhahood, celestial beings by virtue of Amitabha Buddha’s power, in the time of a meal, can visit innumerable worlds in the ten directions to make offerings to the Buddha-Tathagatas there. According to their thoughts, innumerable, countless offerings of rarity instantly appear like magic. Making offerings to Buddhas in the ten directions is the daily routine of Bodhisattvas in the West Pure Land. They by virtue of Riddhi-saksatkriya (deva-foot ubiquity to appear at will in any place without hindrance) complete the spatiotemporal movement immediately. Or with the awesome spiritual power and blessings of Amitabha Buddha, they, in countless emanation bodies, arrive in worlds in the ten directions simultaneously. Or in the instant of a thought, countless Buddhas’ worlds unfold completely in their hearts. With just one thought they can pay homage and make offerings to the Buddhas of countless worlds. This state of “one is all and all is one”, which means the essential unity of all things, exhibits the wonderful Buddha’s fruit stage once it is achieved.
The offerings to Buddhas, such as flowers, incense, silky canopies, etc. are precious and extraordinary, so rare in worlds in the ten directions. The Pure Land is so wealthy, and Amitabha Buddha by virtue of his merits adorns his Land with the cream of various treasures in worlds of the ten directions. The sentient beings who have been born into the Pure Land have seen all the treasures of infinite worlds through their observation and awareness, as a result, everything spontaneously appears as they initiate one thought is such a remarkable rarity in Worlds in the ten directions. To illustrate this point, since we haven’t seen the treasures of the Dragon Palace or the Heavenly Palace before, even if you can freely manifest something to offer to Buddha now, you may not be able to imagine what the treasures of the Heavenly Palace look like. However, people may conjure up phones, computers, food, and clothes because they are familiar with these items. After making offerings to those Buddhas, before morning mealtime, they effortlessly lift off and return to their own land. They have breakfast by satisfying themselves with the aroma of food.
Here lies the ease and happiness of the celestial beings in the Pure Land. In our world, human beings go out traveling or visiting places by taking different means of transportation, i.e. plane, ship or car etc. The roads are bumpy, and we have to prepare for the trip for a long time and the number of times of traveling far away in our lifetime is limited. Nowadays, it is popular to say that the outside world is wonderful, and it’s better to go out and explore. But through travelling, most people only temporarily go to unfamiliar places for eating, drinking, having entertainment, taking photos and relaxing themselves. The sole purpose for Bodhisattvas from the Pure Land to go out travelling is to make offerings to Buddhas in worlds in the ten directions and to hear Their Dharma teachings. They pay a visit in this way every day. They do not travel for the sake of eating and drinking, enjoying the scenery, and relaxation, because the perfection and vastness, peace and bliss of the Pure Land, far exceed those of other countries. Different Bodhisattvas pursue different goals. Even if these Bodhisattvas decide to go to worlds in the Ten Directions to go through thick and thin together with the sentient beings there, they act on their vows to help deliver sentient beings and stay in those Lands.
Alright, let’s continue to look at the Scripture.