The Buddha’s Pure Land

Posted: March 4, 2009 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Buddhism, Japanese, Jodo Shinshu, Jodo Shu, Language, Religion | 1 Comment »

Recently, I talked about how to understand Buddhist texts (including texts describing the Pure Land), as well as my efforts to learn Japanese more by reading books. I bought books from the White Rabbit Press website, broken out into 4 levels of difficulty. Besides the excellent customer service, I have been enjoying the stories quite a bit. Tuesday, I started the Level 3 series of books recently after finishing levels 1 and 2. Level 3 is proving to be a lot harder, and the stories more in depth and engaging, but from their website, they have some sample pages and illustrations, and I absolutely loved this sample picture below:

This is an illustration of the Buddha’s Pure Land from a cute Buddhist short story originally written by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, called “The Spider’s Thread” (kumo no ito 蜘蛛の糸). In the story, the Buddha, while strolling through the Pure Land looks far down below at the hell realms, and sees a fellow named Kandata suffering terrible agony.¹ Kandata was a terrible person, but one time in his life, he spared a spider from being stepped on, so the Buddha decided to lower a spider’s thread all the way down to hell to rescue Kandata. Kandata snatched the thread and started climbing up, but then noticed others in Hell following him, hoping to escape too. Kandata was furious and kicked them off the thread, causing it to break, and so they all fell back into hell again. To me, Akutagawa is telling readers that working for one’s own salvation only is not in the true Buddhist spirit. Had Kandata allowed the others to climb the thread, they might have ironically reached freedom together.

In Japanese language, this Pure Land usually called jōdo (浄土), but in more poetic literature, you’ll see phrases like “Ultimate Bliss”, goku raku (極楽), or goku raku jōdo (極楽浄土), which is the “Pure Land of Utmost Happiness/Bliss/Joy”. The latter name is probably the one that most closely fits the original Indian Sanskrit phrase of Sukhavati.

The teachings behind the Pure Land come from many Buddhist sutras in the Mahayana tradition, though three are considered the primary sources:

• The Amitabha Sutra
• The Contemplation [of Amitabha] Sutra
• The Immeasurable Life Sutra

In classical Indian thought, the viewed the world as an infinite chain of continents stretching in all directions. In some, a Buddha existed to teach and purify that land. These would be called “Buddha lands” or “Pure lands”, created through their efforts, practice and good karma to serve as a refuge for all beings. But out of all these myriad realms, the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha has always stood out, and hence Pure Land Buddhism is the largest branch of Buddhism in East Asia, not just Japan. I say “branch”, not “sect”, because many groups across Asia and now the West follow some form of Pure Land Buddhism, and many times Pure Land is integrated with other groups, like Zen, Vajrayana, and so on. So, there is no single school, but more of a powerful phenomenon in Buddhism. In the texts above, the Pure Land is described as a magnificent place where people do not have to suffer, and that they can practice Buddhism under a living Buddha, and become enlightened as well. This is in contrast to the world we live in where practicing Buddhism can be difficult. It should be noted though that the Buddha also teaches in the sutras above that any effort here is greater merit, since it’s so hard to fight the tide of hatred, greed and delusion here, whereas in the Pure Land is very easy.

What makes the Pure Land such a popular object of devotion in Buddhism is Amida Buddha’s 18th Vow, which in the Immeasurable Life Sutra above says:

If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and call my Name, even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. Excluded, however, are those who commit the five gravest offenses and abuse the right Dharma.

Here, the Amida Buddha was not yet a Buddha, and yet, he made a great series of vows to rescue all beings from suffering, greed, hatred and delusion by giving them a refuge, even if they only call his name 10 times. Thus, in Buddhism you see the practice, both by monks and lay followers, of reciting the Buddha’s name. In practice, this may exist in tandem with other, more familiar practices, or as a stand-alone practice. The Buddha teaches in all of the sutras above that one need not stop there, but if one wants to be reborn there after death, then they should bend all efforts toward the Pure Land by cultivating good karma, practice Buddhism, and train the mind. If anything, it will help later when you are already born in the Pure Land to accelerate your Buddhist practice that much more so.

So, one can be reborn in the Pure Land very easily just by reciting the name of Amida Buddha, but at the same time the Buddha urges people not to stop there, but make the most of Buddhist teachings, and apply them more and more toward rebirth in the Pure Land. Besides getting closer and closer to attaining Enlightenment, the Contemplation Sutra in particular explains other benefits as well, namely more rapid progress on the path. The Pure Land, first and foremost, is a refuge for anyone who wants to go there, hence its great popularity, but at the same time, it is a very conducive place to practice Buddhism if hindered in this world. Many beings in the Pure Land are said to come back as Bodhisattvas and help others as well, so the process is kind of cyclical. True to Mahayana Buddhism, the idea is that ultimately all beings will be saved and transcend to Enlightenment together, even the worst beings living in the worst of the Buddhist Hells.

Now, one of the biggest question in East Asian Buddhism is though is this: what is the Pure Land and is it real?

This is question that Buddhist monks and scholars have wrestled with in places like India, China, Tibet, Japan, Korea and Vietnam, and now in the West. Every person has a slightly different view of what exactly the Pure Land is, and if you ask two people the same question, you may get different answers. Some view the Pure Land as in the mind itself, of one who is awakened. Some view the Pure Land more literally as a place of refuge, maybe in another world, dimension, whatever. Others see the Pure Land as this life itself (Nirvana = Samsara, in other words). There are many, many ways to view the Pure Land.

So, which is right? The truth is is that they’re all perfectly valid views, and one need not be afraid whether his view is right or wrong. All Buddhists who revere the Pure Land agree that one who recites the name of the Buddha, and to make sincere efforts to be reborn there will not fail to reap very positive results in the long-run.

Personally, I tend to vacillate between various views, but I find when I see a picture like the one shown above, it gives rise to very peaceful, wholesome, joyous thoughts. If I ponder the Pure Land in my own mind, and make an aspiration to be born there, I find it helps give me confidence along the Buddhist path as well. Whether the Pure Land is real or not is irrelevant. When one gives rise to good, wholesome thoughts, and recites the Buddha’s name, one cannot go wrong.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. As my background is Jodo Shinshu and Jodo Shu Buddhism (related sects in Japan), I tend to move back and forth between talking about the historical Buddha, and Amida Buddha. From our perspective, they are the same, just at different levels of understanding. By the way, the terms in Japanese are amida nyorai (阿弥陀如来) for Amida Buddha, and shaka nyorai (釈迦如来). Often, in spoken Japanese, Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha, is called shakuson (釈尊), or “Holy Shakyamuni”, instead. This is to differentiate him from the generic terms like butsu or hotoke (both: 仏, or 佛 in more traditional script).

¹ Buddhist hells are seen as a product of one’s own karma, not a divine punishment as seen in other religions. One creates their own hell in other words.

---