Pure Land Buddhism and the Golden Light Sutra

After recent events with the Goma fire ritual, and while trying out the new iPhone app for Kofukuji Temple, I took a fresh new look at an old and somewhat obscure Buddhist text: the Golden Light Sutra or Konkōmyō Kyō (金光明經) in Japanese. The Sutra was once very prominent in early Japanese Buddhism, but was gradually eclipsed by other teachings related to Zen and Pure Land Buddhism. However, as I review it again, I find that many of the themes in the Golden Light Sutra are very familiar in my background of Jodo Shinshu Pure Land Buddhism and I thought it would interesting to explore the parallels.

The Golden Light Sutra is a pretty long, extensive text, with extremely vivid chapters in some places, but probably the most crucial sections are chapter 3 and 4 which go together. Chapter 3 is very short, just three paragraphs, but begins with these verses:

“Then the bodhisattva Ruchiraketu slid into sleep. He dreamed he saw a golden drum,¹ its light shining like the orb of the sun. In every direction, countless inconceivable numbers of tathagatas were preaching the Dharma, seated on lapis thrones at the foot of jeweled trees, completely surrounded by numerous hundreds of thousands of retinues. Then he saw a being in the form of a brahmin beating that drum. From the sound of the drum, these and similar confessional verses issued forth.

This is followed by Chapter 4 where the Bodhisattva Ruchiraketu (myōdō bosatsu 妙幢菩薩 in Japanese) visits the Buddha on the following day and describes his dream as a very long and dramatic confessional:

O buddhas possessed of the ten powers:
Those terrible wicked acts
I have committed in the past,
Before your eyes, I confess them all.

Followed by a deep wish for the relief and well-being of all:

For humans, gods and all creatures,
Whatever thoughts and wishes they have,
May their every wish be totally fulfilled
By the sound of this majestic drum.

For beings born in the most terrible hells,
Bodies alight with blazing flame,
Who wander without aim, bereft of refuge, filled with grief,
May tormenting fires utterly end.

For those who bear the suffering of humans,
For hell beings, animals and hungry ghosts,
May every suffering be completely dispelled
By the sound of this majestic drum.

Nishi Yuu, the Japanese artist who provided the illustrations for the iPhone Ashura application, has a very nice drawing of this sequence on his website (Japanese text only). Definitely take a look.

Now how does this relate to Pure Land Buddhism though?

Ruchiraketu Bodhisattva’s encounter with the drum of golden light and it’s beautiful sound causes him/her to awaken and reflect, leading to the long confessional in chapter 4. Interestingly, in Pure Land Buddhist symbolism, Amitabha Buddha has golden skin and as explained in the Contemplation Sutra:

Ananda, you should realize that his body is as glorious as a thousand million kotis of nuggets of gold from the Jambu River of the Yama Heaven…

And encountering the Light of Amitabha Buddha changes a person in important ways as explained in the Immeasurable Life Sutra:

If, sentient beings encounter his light, their three defilements are removed; they feel tenderness, joy and pleasure; and good thoughts arise.

But in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in particular, the emphasis is on Amitabha’s magnetism (e.g. Other Power or tariki) to bring one to the Dharma and awaken oneself to their own nature. As Shinran writes:

I reflect within myself: The universal Vow [of Amida Buddha] difficult to fathom is indeed a great vessel bearing us across the ocean difficult to cross. The unhindered light is the sun of wisdom dispersing the darkness of ignorance. (Kyogyoshinsho, preface)

What’s interesting here is the similarities. In the Golden Light Sutra, the sounds of the Golden Drum and its wonderful light awaken a person to self-realization and wisdom, while in the Pure Land teachings, the golden Light of Amitabha Buddha accomplishes essentially the same thing. When one encounters it, it ignites something in a person, and propels them along the Buddhist Path in spite of their shortcomings. The Golden Drum and the Buddha Amitabha both embody the pure, wonderful Dharma in a sense.

Food for thought, I guess.

¹ In East Asian literature, the ‘drum’ is replaced with a ‘gong’, but same effect. Cultural variations are interesting, I think.