No Buddhist Left Behind, part 2

In my last post on the subject, I talked about how Pure Land Buddhism is very inclusive by nature. In all Pure Land Buddhist sects, from China, Vietnam, up to Korea and Japan, the basic teaching is that Amida Buddha accepts all who want to be reborn in the Pure Land even, even if they simply call his name.

On that note, here is a quote from the smallest of the Pure Land Buddhist texts, the Amitabha Sutra:

Buddha: “Shariputra, those who have already aspired, now aspire or in the future will aspire to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, all dwell in the Stage of Non-retrogression for realizing the highest, perfect Enlightenment. They have already been born, are now being born, or will be born in that land. Hence, Shariputra, good men and women of faith should aspire to birth there.”

Here again, there’s no sense of people falling “through the net”, so to speak. Once people have awakened a desire to be reborn in the Pure Land, they will unfailingly reach Enlightenment. Maybe not soon, but it’s basically guaranteed.

Even if Amida Buddha and the Pure Land are only symbolic, this teaching still holds true. If Amida is only a personification of the Buddha, then setting your mind Amida is still a wholesome practice. If the Pure Land symbolizes enlightenment or Nirvana itself, then awakening a desire to be reborn there is analogous to a sincere desire to reach Enlightenment. Either way, you can’t go wrong.

Namuamidabu