Pure Land Buddhism and the Four Dharma Seals

Posted: June 22, 2008 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Buddhism, Jodo Shu, Religion | 3 Comments »

Whilst reading the E-sangha forums, I saw someone mention the Pure Land Buddhist path in conjunction with the Four Dharma Seals. A nice explanation of the Four Dharma Seals can be found at Shambhala Sun, but explained in a Tibetan Buddhist context:

The Dharma Seals are:

1. All compounded things are impermanent.
2. All emotions are painful.
3. All phenomena are empty; they are without inherent existence.
4. Nirvana is beyond extremes. It is peace.

These “seals” are used to “certify” that a teaching is inline with the Dharma, with Buddhism. They answer the question, “What is the essence of Buddhism?” For most Buddhist schools this isn’t an issue, but in today’s post-modern era, there are a lot of New Age groups pretending to draw on the Buddha’s teachings, yet do not agree with the Four Dharma Seals.*

This same criticism has been leveled at Pure Land Buddhism by Westerners who gravitate toward the meditation-only side of Buddhism, and disdain Pure Land or Asian Buddhism in general as superstitious. But if you look at Pure Land Buddhism, it accords with the Four Dharma Seals nicely.

All Compounded Things Are Impermanent

This is no less true in Pure Land Buddhism than in any other sect. It’s because of our understanding and appreciation of the impermanence of all things, that we choose to take refuge in Amida Buddha and be reborn in the Pure Land. In short, like all disciples, Pure Land Buddhists renounce the world of impermanence** and seek another way toward peace and liberation.

All emotions are painful.

In Japanese Buddhism, a commonly used term to describe the average person is bonbu (凡夫), which means a person of blind passions. In the Pali Canon, the Buddha said in the Fire Sutta (SN 35.28):

“Monks, the All is aflame. What All is aflame? The eye is aflame. Forms are aflame. Consciousness at the eye is aflame. Contact at the eye is aflame. And whatever there is that arises in dependence on contact at the eye — experienced as pleasure, pain or neither-pleasure-nor-pain — that too is aflame. Aflame with what? Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion. Aflame, I tell you, with birth, aging and death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses and despairs.

This fits the term “bonbu” in describing a person who is constantly fluctuating between one emotion or another. Sometimes happy, sometimes angry or fearful. Even pleasant emotions are painful because they don’t last, and when they’re gone, you feel a kind of withdrawal and want more. So in the context of Pure Land Buddhism, sentient beings are described as weighed down blind passions, and can’t clearly see their own plight. If they only knew another way, they would not allow themselves to get carried away by passions and emotions.

Honen taught that these blind passions hindered us from achieving Enlightenment the straightforward way, so he advocated taking refuge in Amida Buddha and being reborn in the Pure Land for those whom blind passions were too strong. So, Pure Land Buddhism fully accepts this Dharma Seal and its practiced is geared at overcoming in it through rebirth in the Pure Land.

All phenomena are empty; they are without inherent existence.

This is the corner-stone of all Buddhist teachings, and is no less true with Pure Land Buddhism. When we call to Amida Buddha, Amida’s light embraces us and we are a part of Amida’s Vow to save all beings. Another Japanese monk named Ippen (1239-1289) summarized this well:

Say the Name (Amida)
And there is neither
Buddha nor self;
Namu Amida butsu,
Name Amida butsu.

But there is something more fundamentally important in this third Seal. The Pure Land Buddhist path is an acknowledgement that we cannot practice Buddhism alone. Some Westerners who first come to Buddhism tend to favor a lone-wolf approach where they meditate at home and don’t want to get bogged down by dogma or institutionalized religion. Or, one believes that if they practice Buddhism intensely enough, they will get to Enlightenment sooner. But this is a mistake in that it asserts one’s own ego, and the view that one doesn’t need others. Buddhism’s fundamental teachings are that we are inter-dependent, not independent, so there are times when we need help from others. This is no less true in Pure Land path, where those of us weighed down by blind passions need to call on Amida Buddha.

Nirvana is beyond extremes. It is peace.

Another mistake critics make against Pure Land Buddhism is that it’s escapist and we only want to reborn to indulge in sensual delights. When the Bodhisattva named Dharmakara made his vows to create the Pure Land as a refuge, his intent was not a heaven-like realm, but a place to practice the Dharma more easily. All beings reborn in the Pure Land will ultimately achieve Enlightenment and Nirvana just as any other Buddhist would. Some Buddhists prefer to strive for Nirvana within the Human Realm, and that’s great. Others prefer to be reborn in the Pure Land and strive for Nirvana there, and that too is great. The only difference is time and place.

Also, many who go to the Pure Land desire to become Bodhisattvas and come back to help others. This is why the Pure Land is so great: it is a place very conducive to Buddhist practice. Practicing in this world is hit-or-miss depending on the conditions of your life (whether you grow up in a good Buddhist environment or not), and so if conditions are not favorable in this life for you, consider rebirth in the Pure Land.

One of the many people whose lives were touched by Honen was a prostitute who met him in exile. The woman lamented her fate to be a prostitute, and knowing that she flagrantly violated the Buddhist precept on abstaining from sexual misconduct, she begged Honen for advice. Honen told her that if at all possible she should give up this occupation, but if she couldn’t, then she should recite Amida Buddha’s name fervently, for she would be guaranteed rebirth in the Pure Land. The story continues that she later did give up her life as a prostitute, secluded herself in a mountain village and recited Amida Buddha’s name often. When she died, Honen commented that he knew she would be reborn in the Pure Land.

Conclusion

So, in looking at the Four Dharma Seals, we can see that Pure Land Buddhism, while favoring devotion over meditation and other practices Westerners are accustomed to, it is no different than any other Buddhist path.

Namuamidabu

P.S. These are often called the “Three Dharma Seals” where #2 is omitted, I think. In Japanese Buddhism this is called the sanbōin (三法印).

* – Another good criteria for understanding whether a teaching, New Age or not, accords with the Dharma is the Gotami Sutta (AN 8.53) of the Pali Canon:

“Gotami, the qualities of which you may know, ‘These qualities lead to passion, not to dispassion; to being fettered, not to being unfettered; to accumulating, not to shedding; to self-aggrandizement, not to modesty; to discontent, not to contentment; to entanglement, not to seclusion; to laziness, not to aroused persistence; to being burdensome, not to being unburdensome’: You may definitely hold, ‘This is not the Dhamma, this is not the Vinaya, this is not the Teacher’s instruction.’

Or in the Kalama Sutta (AN 3.65):

“Now, Kalamas, don’t go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, ‘This contemplative is our teacher.’ When you know for yourselves that, ‘These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted and carried out, lead to welfare and to happiness’ — then you should enter and remain in them.

** – Master Yin-Shun compares this to a person floating in the ocean trying to grasp seaweed or foam. The things of this world make a poor refuge indeed. :p

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