Take the Second Patriarch of Zen Buddhism in China for example, he dared to undertake other people’s misinterpretation when he visited brothels in the capacity of a monk. He dared to go to the guillotine and suffer decapitation, regarding “chopping off head” as “chopping the spring breeze”. It is beyond our speculation about the purpose for the Second Patriarch to act in this way. Does he act in the way to perfect his cultivation? Or to refute his disciples’ attachment to a set of tenets in their minds about the mark of a master? Or to approve that all dharmas are innately extinct? Or to be through a predestined relationship with someone in the brothel? But I believe that no Buddhist disciple today really believes that the Second Patriarch buys sex like an ordinary person. If that’s really the case, it denies not only the authority of the Second Patriarch, but also the authority of the First Patriarch Bodhidharma, the Third, the Fourth, and the Fifth Patriarch. The Buddha’s mental dharma would have long been lost. Of course, the Second Patriarch demonstrates the nobility and purity of the Zen lineage with his own gushing blood, which is white, a sign indicating that he has attained the realm of void, no form, no wish and non-self, a sign also indicating he is not possessed by devil as many people have speculated. Since the Second Patriarch had no evil thoughts in his mind and no evil behavior (beheading and others’ misunderstanding) in his eyes, he uttered a poetic stanza just before his death “bravely I give my head to the white blade, gently it is like chopping the spring breeze.” When he visited brothels and admitted that he was a demon, he knew in advance the consequences of his behavior and knew how he would be treated by the public. He went to the guillotine without complaints or regrets. If practitioners of Zen Buddhism who have not attained the level of the Second Patriarch, act in the same way, they will suffer greatly if their bad karma matures. In short, the Second Patriarch handed down the light of Buddha’s mind, breaking away from all marks, and manifesting production being no different from annihilation in this Land of Bitterness.
The action vow of Bodhisattva Dharmakara aims at forming a pure land for all beings. Both Bhiksu Dharmakara and the Second Patriarch abide in three Samadhis: emptiness, no appearance, and no wish. With no act and no arising in their mind, both of them see that dharmas are illusory. It reminds me of a sentence in The Diamond Sutra, “unconditioned dharmas distinguish worthy sages.”
The scripture also says that “for inconceivable trillions of kalpas, the bhiksu engaged in immeasurable virtuous Bodhisattva actions.” A trillion is a million million—in an inconceivably long time, Bhiksu Dharmakara intently worked on the adornment of his Buddha Land and persistently strove for all merits. A Bodhisattva’s merits are acquired through actions unceasingly to benefit himself as well as benefit others according to Buddha’s right views. Over such a long period of time, Bhiksu Dharmakara’s Bodhisattva practices must have been as countless as stars and planets sparkling in the night sky or as grains of sand in the Ganges River. Shakyamuni Buddha can only briefly mention them for us in a short Sutra. The Sutra says that Bhiksu Dharmakara has achieved command of all dharmas. However, Bhiksu Dharmakara does not equate free command of all dharmas with the completion of Buddhahood. So, in each vow he says, “If this (vow) should not come true, I would not think that I have completed Buddhahood and I would not attain the perfect enlightenment.” That is to say, it is not until the completion of the West Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and he is a teacher of both humans and devas of a world, will Bhiksu Dharmakara think that he has attained the perfect enlightenment and has completed Buddhahood. Therefore, in view of original vows, perfect merits and convenient ways of delivering sentient beings, Amitabha Buddha of infinite light ranks first among the light of all Buddhas. In the aspects of vastness and grandeur of his Land, the perfection of attracting sentient beings, Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land is also unique in worlds in the ten directions. Formed by the resolute willpower and incredible merits, the West Pure Land features eternal beauty, without decay or change. It is truly a place where sentient beings can seek refuge and enjoy eternal peace and bliss through seeing, hearing and perceiving.
The end of this part of Sutra is about Shakyamuni Buddha answering Ananda’s questions. The message we receive is that Bhiksu Dharmakara has successfully attained Buddhahood and the West Pure Land has already been formed. The distance between the Pure Land and our world of Saha is 100,000 koti lands. 100,000 koti lands means 100,000 koti Buddha’s lands. A Buddha’s land at a conservative estimate is a great chiliocosm—the Three-Thousand Large Thousandfold World. But as we can see later in the scripture, the territory of the West Pure Land is boundless. If the Land itself is vast and boundless, how can we define the distance between the Pure Land and our world of Saha? According to the Supreme Truth of Buddhism, every world in nature is limitless and is generated by the thoughts of sentient beings. <The Shurangama Sutra> says, “You should know that space is created within the mind. It is like a wisp of cloud in the vastness of the sky. The worlds in the emptiness of space are even less significant.” Since all dharmas and the space are the perfect manifestation of our true nature, there should be no distance in essence between the Pure Land and our world of Saha. The true distance exists only in how far sentient beings full of ignorance and delusions in the world of Saha are separated from the perfection of Amitabha Buddha’s merits.
Celestial beings in the Pure Land, every morning in the time of a meal, can travel as rapidly as a bolt of lightning to innumerable worlds in ten directions to make offerings to the Buddhas. Of course, they visit our world of Saha and make offerings to our Shakyamuni Buddha. Obviously, the vast distance exists in the mind of human beings living in the three-dimensional time and space who have not yet attained the Way. For great Bodhisattvas of Samyak-sambodhi in worlds in the ten directions, the West Pure Land exhibits itself in their heart. If the very thought of visiting the Land occurs, they arrive simultaneously at that place. Distance disappears.
From the conversation between Ananda and Shakyamuni Buddha, we know that it has been ten kalpas since Bhiksu Dharmakara attained Buddhahood, which also means, it has been ten kalpas since the Pure Land was formed from human beings’ perspective. In the Life Span Section of <Avatamsaka Sutra> a comparison is made about time of different worlds. This sutra also tells us that one day and one night in the West Pure Land equal a mahakalpa in our world of Saha. According to the calculation method of Buddhism, a mahakalpa is equivalent to the length of 13.44 billion years conservatively. From the perspective of human beings, 13,44 billion years is a long time, but different living beings have different concepts about time and they experience time in different ways. For example, the West Pure Land is adorned with infinite light, so there is no night in the Pure Land. The time span of unfolding and folding of lotus flowers is deemed as the length of one day in the Pure Land. Besides, all celestial beings in the Pure Land abide in correct Samadhi. Theravada disciples at the dharma assembly know quite well that an Arhat abides in Samadhi for eight hundred years and when he opens his eyes he feels as if time flew by at a snap of the fingers.
Since Celestial beings in the Pure Land settle in correct Samadhi, and concurrently they enjoy the ultimate bliss of the Pure Land, they happily pass the time. So, it probably comes as no surprise that one day and one night the devas experience in the Pure Land is equivalent to the 13,44 billion years in our world of Saha. The happier the living beings are, the faster time passes. The more wretched the living beings are, the slower time becomes. For example, human beings feel that one day and one night is short, whereas the living beings in hell pass a day as if it were a year. Every minute and every second becomes so long and interminable as if time froze. Hell-beings suffer without a break in time and without a limit in space. In extreme pains, they feel one day and one night in hell is as long as a kalpa. Human beings in extreme pains and afflictions have similar experience like this. Take bacteria for another example. For a tiny bacterium, life is so transient that it lasts only one day. Yet this one-day life is also very long for a bacterium because it experiences ups and downs of its whole life. Due to the differences between living beings, human beings with limited knowledge are still unable to comprehend the time and space of the West Pure Land. Therefore, it is enough for us to know that Amitabha Buddha successfully formed the West Pure Land ten kalpas ago.