| inropl.htmlIntroduction: Pure Land Buddhismby J.C. ClearyBuddhism has evolved many, many forms duringits long history. Codes of conduct, guidelines for communal life, rituals,meditative practices, modes of teaching, images, fables and philosophieshave varied greatly over time and place. According to the fundamental Buddhistprinciple of skill-in-means, this multiformity is natural and proper, anecessary response to the great variety of circumstances in which Buddhismhas been propagated.Skill-in-means requires that the presentationof the Buddhist Teaching, (sometimes simply called "the Dharma"),be adapted to the mentality and circumstances of the people being taught.According to Buddhist seers, the absolute truth is inconceivable and cannotbe captured in any particular formulation. Therefore in Buddhism thereis no fixed dogma, only provisional, partial expressions of the teaching,suited to the capabilities of the audience being addressed.In keeping with this fundamental principle, atolerant, nonsectarian approach has normally prevailed throughout Buddhisthistory. Where dogmatic controversies and sectarian partisanshiphave cropped up in the communities of Buddhist followers, these are distortionsof the teaching, and have always been based on misunderstanding and misinformation.In embracing Pure Land Buddhism, therefore, people are not rejecting anyof the other streams of the Buddhist tradition--they have only decidedthat Pure Land methods are most appropriate and most effective for them.Pure Land Buddhism is a religion of faith, offaith in Amitabha Buddha [and in one's capacity to achieve Buddhahood].Amitabha Buddha presides over the Pure Land, a "paradise" in the west,the land of ultimate bliss, named "Peaceful Nurturing." In the Pure Land,there is none of the suffering and defilement and delusion that normallyblocks people's efforts toward enlightenment here in our world (which theBuddhists named Endurance.!?)The immediate goal of Pure Land believers isto be reborn in Amitabha's Pure Land. There, in more favorable surroundings,in the presence of Amitabha, they will eventually attain complete enlightenment.The essence of Pure Land practice thus consistsof invoking the name of Amitabha Buddha, contemplating the qualities ofAmitabha, visualizing Amitabha, and taking vows to be born in the PureLand.Making a vow to attain birth in the Pure Landsignifies a fundamental reorientation of the believer's motivations andwill. No longer is the purpose of life brute survival, or fulfillment ofa social role, or the struggle to wrest some satisfaction from a frustrating,taxing environment. By vowing to be reborn in the Pure Land, believersshift their focus. The joys and sorrows of this world become incidental,inconsequential. The present life takes on value chiefly as an opportunityto concentrate one's awareness on Amitabha, and purify one's mind accordingly.The hallmark of Pure Land Buddhism is recitingthe buddha-name, invoking Amitabha Buddha by chanting his name. Throughreciting the buddha-name, people focus their attention on Amitabha Buddha. This promotes mindfulness of buddha, otherwise known as buddha-remembrance [buddha recitation].In what sense is buddha "remembered"? "Buddha" is thename for the one reality that underlies all forms of being, as well asan epithet for those who witness and express this reality. According tothe Buddhist Teaching, all people possess an inherently enlightened truenature that is their real identity. By becoming mindful of buddha,therefore, people are just regaining their own real identity. They are remembering their own buddha-nature.Buddha as such is a concept that transcends any particularembodiment, such as Shakyamuni Buddha (the historical buddha born in India),or Maitreya Buddha (the future buddha), or Vairocana Buddha (the cosmicbuddha) or Amitabha Buddha (the buddha of the western paradise). Buddhaexists in many forms, but all share the same "body of reality," the sameDharmakaya, which is formless, omnipresent, all-pervading, indescribable,infinite--the everywhere-equal essence of all things, the one reality within-and-beyondall appearances.Dharmakaya Buddha is utterly abstract and infact inconceivable, so buddha takes on particular forms to communicatewith living beings by coming within their range of perception. For mostpeople, this is the only way that buddha can become comprehensible andof practical use. The particular embodiments of buddha, known asNirmanakaya, are supreme examples of compassionate skill-in-means.Pure Land people focus on buddha in the formof Amitabha, the buddha of infinite life and infinite light. Believersput their faith in Amitabha Buddha and recite his name, confident in thepromises he has given to deliver all who invoke his name. All classes ofpeople, whatever their other characteristics or shortcomings, are guaranteedrebirth in the Pure Land and ultimate salvation, if only they invoke Amitabha'sname with singleminded concentration and sincere faith. Buddha-Name RecitationBuddha-name recitation is practiced in many forms:silently or aloud, alone or in groups, by itself or combined with visualization of Amitabha or contemplationof the concept of buddha, or combinedintroduction with the methods of Zen. The aim is to concentrateone's attention on Amitabha, and let all other thoughts die away. At first and all along, miscellaneous thoughts intrude, and the mind wanders.But with sustained effort, one's focus on the buddha-name becomes progressivelymore steady and clear. Mindfulness of buddha--buddha-remembrance--growsstronger and purer.Reciting the buddha-name functions as a powerfulantidote to those great enemies of clear awareness that Buddhists havetraditionally labeled "oblivion" and "scattering." "Oblivion" refersto the tendency of the human mind when not occupied by its habitual thoughtsto sink into a state of torpor and sleepy nescience. "Scattering" is theother pole of ordinary mental life, where the consciousness flies off inall directions pursuing objects of thought and desire.Through the centuries, those who practice it have foundthat buddha-name recitation is a much more beneficial use of mind thanthe ordinary run of hopes and fears that would otherwise preoccupy theirminds. Calm focus replaces agitation and anxiety, producing a most invigoratingsaving of energy. "Mixed mindfulness is the disease. Mindfulness of buddhais the medicine."According to the Pure Land teaching, all sorts of evilkarma are dissolved by reciting the buddha-name wholeheartedly and single-mindedly.What is karma? In Buddhist terms, "karma" means "deeds," "actions."Through sequences of cause and effect, what we do and what those we interactwith do determines our experience and shapes our perceptions, which inturn guides our further actions.Habitual patterns of perception and behaviorbuild up and acquire momentum. Now we are in the grips of "karmicconsciousness," so-called because it is a state of mind at once the resultof past deeds and the source of future deeds. This is the existential trapfrom which all forms of Buddhist practice aim to extricate us.According to the Pure Land teaching, buddha-namerecitation is more effective for this purpose than any other practice,and can be carried out by anyone. The key is being single-minded, focusingthe mind totally on Amitabha, and thus interrupting the onward flow ofkarmic consciousness. This is where Zen and Pure Land meet. All Classes Go to the Pure LandBuddha-name recitation enables all classes ofpeople to attain birth in the Pure Land, from the most virtuous Buddhistsaints, to those who are incapable of meritorious actions and do not develop the aspiration for enlightenment.In Pure Land terminology, 'nine classes" go to the PureLand. The highest class are those who achieve the traditional goals ofBuddhism--that is, who free themselves from desire, observe the precepts,and practice the six perfections of giving, discipline, forbearance, energeticprogress, meditation and wisdom. The lowest class who go to the Pure Landare those who keep on, as wayward human animals, piling up evil karma andcommitting all kinds of sins: even they can attain birth in the Pure Land,if only they focus their minds and recite the buddha-name.Buddha-name recitation in itself dissolves awayevil karma, no matter how serious - so say the Pure Land teachings. Infinity lies latent in the gaps within moment-to-moment mundanity - inthe Zen formulation. But above all it is the power of Amitabha that makesbirth in the Pure Land possible for sinners as well as saints, becauseAmitabha has vowed to save all who faithfully and single-mindedly invokehis name. The Pure LandAmitabha's Pure Land is depicted in a way designedto attract believers. In the Pure Land there is no sickness, old age, ordeath. The sufferings and difficulties of this world do not exist. Thoseborn in the Pure Land come forth there from lotus flowers, not from a woman'swomb in pain and blood, and once born they are received and welcome byAmitabha and his assistants. They receive immortal, transformed bodies,and are beyond the danger of falling back into lesser incarnations. Theyare in the direct presence of Amitabha Buddha and the great bodhisattvasKuan-yin (Avalokitesvara) and Shih-chih (Mahasthamaprapta), who aid in their ultimate enlightenment.Those who go to the Pure Land live there among beingsof the highest virtue. Beautiful clothing and fine food are provided tothem ready-made. There are no extremes of heat and cold. Correctstates of concentration are easy to achieve and maintain. There areno such things as greed, ignorance, anger, strife, or laziness.The Pure Land is described, metaphorically, asresplendent with all manner of jewels and precious things, towers of agate,palaces of jade. There are huge trees made of various gems, coveredwith fruits and flowers. Giant lotuses spread their fragrance everywhere.There are pools, also made of seven jewels, and filled with the purestwater, which adjusts itself to the depth and temperature the bathers prefer.Underfoot, gold covers the ground. Flowers fall from the sky day and night,and the whole sky is covered with a net made of gold and silver and pearls. The Pure Land is perfumed with beautiful scents and filled with celestialmusic.Most precious of all, in the Pure Land, we aretold, not only the buddha and bodhisattvas, Amitabha and his assistants,but even the birds and the trees (as manifestations of Amitabha) are continuouslyexpounding the Dharma, the Buddhist Teaching. Pure Land LiteraturePure Land literature offers many stories presentedas real-life biographical accounts which corroborate the efficacy of PureLand practice, and the description of the Pure Land paradise drawn fromthe scriptures. Like most Buddhist biographies written in China, theseaccounts are very terse, and focus on the subject's religious life. Thereare stories of men and women, monks and nuns, nobles and high officialsand commoners too, people young and old in various stations of life, alldevoted to Pure Land practice.The stories often relate people's early experienceof Buddhism, and note the various practices they took up and the scripturesthey studied. In due time, as the stories tell it, their faith in PureLand is awakened, perhaps by meeting an inspirational teacher, perhapsthrough a dream or vision, perhaps from hearing the Pure Land scriptures,perhaps from personal acquaintance with a devoted Pure Land practitioner.The stories always make a point of the zeal anddedication of the true believer in reciting the buddha-name. Here are sometypical descriptions:"He cut off his motivation for worldly thingsand dedicated his mind to the Pure Land.""He concentrated his mind on reciting the buddha-name.""She recited the buddha-name with complete sincerity.""He set his will on the Pure Land.""She recited the buddha-name day and night without stopping.""He recited the buddha-name single-mindedly.""She developed the mind of faith and recited the buddha-nametirelessly.""She turned her mind to buddha-name recitation and practicedit wholeheartedly, never slacking off.""The older he became, the more earnest he was in recitingthe buddha-name."This is the message of the Pure Land life stories.The climax of a typical Pure Land biography comesin the subject's death scene, when buddha-name recitation is rewarded andthe Pure Land teachings are confirmed. The believer dies peacefully, evenjoyously, with mind and body composed, in full confidence of rebirth inparadise, reciting the buddha-name. Often the Pure Land devotee is ableto predict his or her own death in advance, and calmly bid farewell toloved ones. Sometimes the believer receives reassuring visits from Amitabhain dreams or visions to prepare her or him to face the end.Various signs give proof that the dying personis about to be reborn in the Pure Land. Uncanny fragrances and supernaturalcolored lights fill the room. Celestial music is heard. Flowers from thePure Land appear: yellow lotuses, green lotuses, golden lotuses. The dyingperson sees Amitabha coming from the west to welcome him, or feels Amitabha'shand on his head, or sees Amitabha accompanied by Kuan-yin and Shih-chihappear to lead him to paradise. The dying person sees visions of the PureLand: Amitabha and his companions seated on a jeweled dais, or the sevenjewel ponds, or a staircase of gems leading up to the Pure Land.Those close to the dying believer receive assurancesthat rebirth in the Pure Land is imminent. In the most frequent motif,the dying person announces to his or her companions, "Buddha is comingto welcome me!" The dying person's relatives dream of a lotus opening inthe Pure Land's jewel pond, with their reborn kinsman appearing insideit. Or the relatives see visions of the deceased riding off to the weston a green lotus. Or the dead person visits the survivors in dreams andassures them that she has indeed been reborn in the Pure Land.After the person dies, the people in the roomperceive a magical fragrance and hear celestial music gradually fadingaway toward the west. A golden lotus might appear on the death bedor on top of the coffin. The dead believer's corpse does not decompose.Auspicious colored clouds hang over the funeral pyre.With elements like these, the death scenes inPure Land biographies are meant to prove to the faithful that rebirth inthe Pure Land is indeed the guaranteed fate of those who recite the buddha-name.Besides collections of believers' biographies,Pure Land literature includes other types of works designed to promotefaith in the Pure Land teachings.Many commentaries were composed on the sutras basic toPure Land Buddhism: the Amitabha Sutra, the Contemplation of Amative Sutra(Meditation Sutra), and the Sutra of Infinite Life (Longer Amitabha Sutra).Pure Land adepts also wrote essays to explain Pure Landbeliefs in terms of Great Vehicle Buddhism as a whole, and to answer objectionsto Pure Land teachings and clarify points of doubt.Some writers linked the Pure Land teaching tothe other currents in Buddhism by picking out references to Amitabha'sPure Land and buddha-name recitation contained in the Buddhist scripturesand philosophical treatises not identified with the Pure Land school.There are many records of talks given by famousPure Land teachers down through the centuries, and personal letters theywrote, urging people to adopt Pure Land practice as the most effectiveway to make progress on the Buddhist Path. Pure Land AssociationsFor many Pure Land Buddhists, an important meansof strengthening their faith has been membership in a group of fellow believers.The faithful join to form Pure Land associations, where they can meet regularlywith like-minded people to recite the buddha-name and, if they are fortunate,listen to genuine teachers expound Pure Land texts. Though buddha-namerecitation can of course be done alone in private, many people have foundgroup recitation very powerful in helping them to focus their attention.Being part of a community with shared beliefs helps to reinforce the dedicationof the individual and his belief that Pure Land is a correct applicationof the Dharma that really works for people of that place and time. Whenmethods are being applied correctly, the group also provides the individualbeliever with living examples of the mental strength and unshakable serenityacquired by long term practitioners of buddha-name recitation.Pure Land adepts often founded teaching centerswhere people could gather to recite the buddha-name and hear the Pure Landdoctrine. They enrolled believers in religious associations dedicated tobuddha-remembrance, with their own bylaws for membership, scheduled meetings,and guidelines for practice. Though many monks and nuns practicedbuddha-name recitation, and many lay Buddhists pursued Pure Land practiceon their own, the typical institutional form of Pure Land Buddhism wasthe voluntary association of lay people, sometimes, but not always, ledby monks and nuns.On a purely social level, Pure Land associationscould evolve into communities that offered their members not only ideologicalcompanionship and a sense of belonging, but also tangible material supportin the form of mutual aid and a network of people who could be trustedand relied on. In many times and places, Pure Land societies have had theirown facilities and funds. Under oppressive conditions, where the localsocial structure offered little security and much institutionalized violenceand exploitation, popular religious groupings might become the real locusof loyalty and community feeling. Pure Land Buddhism as Other-worldlyAmong the many varieties of Buddhism, the PureLand teaching most deserves the epithet "other-worldly," often erroneouslyapplied to Buddhism as a whole. Pure Land doctrine teaches that this worldis an arena of unavoidable suffering and frustration, and holds out thevivid prospect of rebirth in another, better world, where sickness, painand death do not exist. This world is a hopeless trap, from which we canescape only by the power of Amitabha. Unless we attain rebirth in the PureLand, peace and happiness, to say nothing of enlightenment,are beyond reach.From a Buddhist perspective, it is the modern"this-worldly" orientation to life that is a form of unrealistic escapismand unwarranted pessimism about human possibilities. It is unrealisticbecause it seeks the meaning of life in gratifications that can only betemporary and partial: it seeks escape from mortality in transient pleasures.It is unnecessarily pessimistic because it ignores or denies the transcendentalcapacity inherent in humankind: "turning one's back on enlightenment tojoin with the dusts." Pure Land Buddhism within the BuddhistSpectrumWhat was the relationship between Pure Land andthe other forms of Buddhism in East Asia?Pure Land teaching incorporated many of the standardsand perspectives that were basic in popular Buddhism as a whole, derivingfrom the Buddhist scriptures. Pure Land teachers urged their listenersto observe the basic Buddhist moral code, to refrain from killing, stealing,lying, sexual excess, and intoxication. Strict vegetarianism was encouraged,as a corollary to the precept against taking life. Pure Land people wereto give their allegiance to the "Three Jewels," that is, the enlightenedone (Buddha), the teaching of enlightenment (Dharma), and the communityof seekers (Sangha).Pure Land teachers adopted the usual Buddhistmoral perspective of cause and effect, of rewards and punishments according to one's actions. Pure Land people weretaught to accumulate merit by good works, such as giving charity to theneedy, helping widows and orphans, maintaining public facilities, supportingmonks and nuns, contributing money and supplies for ceremonies and rituals,and making donations to Buddhist projects like building temples, castingstatues and painting images, and copying and printing scriptures. ManyPure Land believers, in addition to reciting the buddha-name, studied andchanted various Buddhist scriptures, like the Lotus Sutra, the DiamondSutra, and the Flower Ornament (Avatamsaka) Sutra. All these merit-makingactivities were viewed as auxiliary to the main work of reciting the buddha-name.Pure Land theorists were faced with the taskof clarifying their teaching of salvation through faith in Amitabha, giventhe mainstream scriptural Buddhist view of salvation as the reward foreons of diligent effort at self-discipline and purification and refinement of perceptions. By holding out the prospectof rebirth in the Pure Land through buddha-name recitation even to sinners,the Pure Land teaching appears to depart from a strict rule of karmic reward,which emphasizes the individual's own efforts as the decisive factor inspiritual attainment.The Pure Land teachers explained this apparentanomaly by appealing to the infinite compassion of Amitabha Buddha (asan expedient embodiment of the infinitely pervasive Dharmakaya Buddha),who promises that all who invoke his name will attain birth in his PureLand. The pioneers of the Pure Land teaching indeed took the position thatfor people in the later ages, the arduous path of self-restraint and purificationproposed in the old Buddhist scriptures was no longer feasible. For averagepeople, the only hope of salvation would be to rely on another power thantheir own, the power of Amitabha Buddha. [in addition to their own personaleffort].The Pure Land practice of reciting the buddha-name bearsa familiar resemblance to the chanting of mantras that plays a major rolein esoteric Buddhism. As the Pure Land master Chu-hung said, "the buddha-nameis equivalent to upholding a mantra. After you have gained powerby reciting the buddha-name, you will be able to face objects with equanimity."According to the Pure Land teaching, invokingthe buddha-name brings into play the vows of Amitabha Buddha, whose supernaturalpowers bring those who invoke him rebirth in the Pure Land. The key elementis faith in Amitabha, and the Pure Land teaching is propounded as an easypath open to everyone.Reciting the buddha-name and chanting mantrascan be seen to operate in similar ways, from the point of view of the analysisof the workings of the human mind taught by Yogacara Buddhism and adoptedby the Zen school.Both practices in effect suspend the operation of thediscriminating intellect, the faculty of the internal dialogue throughwhich people from moment to moment define and perpetuate theircustomary world of perception. As the Yogacara bodhisattvaspointed out, people ordinarily are not in touch with phenomena themselves,but rather with mental representations projected onto phenomena. What weordinarily perceive is not the world itself, but a description of the worldthat we have been conditioned to accept. The internaldialogue of the intellect holds in place these representations, which make up the world ofdelusion.By focusing on the sounds of the mantra or thesyllables of the buddha-name invocation, the internal dialogue is stopped.Once its grip is loosened, the description it perpetuates is suspended. Then other descriptions of reality, other worlds, can come into view (suchas Amitabha and the Pure Land, or the interplay of deities visualized inesoteric Buddhism, or the infinite vistas of the Avatamsaka Sutra).Operating in East Asia, Pure Land teachers hadto reconcile their views with the perspective of Zen Buddhism. While PureLand was the most widespread popular form of Buddhism in East Asia, Zenwas the form that was intellectually preeminent.According to the Zen school, since all peopleinherently possess buddha-nature, the potential for enlightenment, enlightenmentequal to the buddhas can be attained in this lifetime by a properly directedand executed effort to break through the barriers of delusion. Rather thanvenerating the Buddhist scriptures as sacred but unattainable standards,the Zen people went to great lengths to apply the perceptions revealedin the sutras in practice. Generations of enlightened Zen adepts "appearedin the world" to demonstrate a freedom from worldly bonds and a masteryof the Buddha Dharma that proved that liberation was not an unattainablegoal. Through their personal example and the unparalleled originality oftheir utterances, the Zen masters made a great impact on East Asian highculture in the realms of religion, philosophy, and aesthetics. The prestigeof Zen was such that the other schools of Buddhists, and Confucians andTaoists as well, all had to answer to its perspectives.The Pure Land school accepted the Zen perspectiveas valid in principle, but questioned how many people could get resultsby using Zen methods. Pure Land teachers granted that Zen might indeedbe the "direct vehicle," but insisted that for most people it was too rigorousand demanding to be practicable. The Pure Land method of buddha-name recitationwas offered as a simpler method by which average people could make progresstoward enlightenment. The Pure Land teachers pointed out that many whoscorned Pure Land methods as simplistic, and who proudly claimed allegianceto the Zen school, actually achieved nothing by stubbornly clinging toZen methods. "With Zen, nine out of ten fail. With Pure Land, tenthousand out of ten thousand succeed."The Zen school itself came to make room for PureLand methods. From the time of Yung-ming Yen-shou in tenth century China,who was a master of scriptural Buddhism, Pure Land, and the Zen school,the synthesis of Zen and Pure Land figured prominently in the teachingsof many Zen adepts.In the Zen understanding of Pure Land, Amitabha Buddharepresents the enlightened essence of our own true identity, while thePure Land is the purity of our inherent buddha mind. Buddha-name recitationis effective as a means to cut through the deluded stream of consciousnessand focus the mind on its true nature. "Being born in the Pure Land" meansreaching the state of mental purity where discriminating thought is unbornand immediate awareness is unimpeded.The synthesis of Zen and Pure Land methods wasepitomized by the "buddha-name recitation meditation case" taught by manyZen masters. "Meditation cases" (koans) in Zen are generally short sayings or question-answer pairs or dialoguesor action-scenes which were designed for use as focal points in meditation.They were designed with multiple levels of meaning that interact with themind of the person meditating to shift routine patterns of thought andopen up deeper perceptions. Sustained concentration on the meditation pointprovides the opportunity for direct insights beyond the level of words.Examples of meditation cases are: "Whatwas your original face before your father and mother were born?" "The myriadthings return to one: what does the one return to?" "What is theDharmakaya? A flowering hedge." "What is every-atom samadhi? Water in the bucket, food in the bowl." Sayings like these were everydayfare in the Zen school. The Pure Land master Chu-hung whose teachings aretranslated below put together a detailed compendium of how to meditatewith koans.In the buddha-name recitation meditation case,the person intently reciting the buddha-name asks himself or herself, "Whois the one reciting the buddha-name?""Who is the one mindful of buddha?" The questionis answered when the practitioner comes face to face with his or her ownbuddha-nature. The one mindful of buddha is the buddha within us.This is the Zen rationale for Pure Land practice. The Present TranslationFor this book I have translated texts from sixteenthcentury China that I hope will serve as an informative introduction toPure Land Buddhist methods and teachings. The texts contain detailed explanationsof Pure Land practice, vigorous encouragements to recite the buddha-name,and theoretical discussions relating Pure Land beliefs to the other branchesof Buddhism. The synthesis of Pure Land Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, andthe Buddhism of the Buddhist scriptures is very much in evidence.These texts display the characteristic tone andconcerns of Pure Land writings. They put forward the Pure Land teachingin clear language as an expression of skill-in-means, as the most appropriateand expedient method for people of ordinary capabilities to advance onthe Buddhist Path.After the rise of Pure Land Buddhism, many eminentteachers had occasion to explain Pure Land practice in terms of the all-encompassingtheoretical outlook of Great Vehicle Buddhism as a whole. By the sixteenthcentury, late in the Ming dynasty, Chinese Buddhism was in a period ofretrieving and reassembling its ancient heritage. There was a deliberateattempt by the learned to extract the gist of the classic teachings, andspread their message to a wider popular audience. Many Buddhist writersof the time offered reasoned explanations of the interrelationships among the various streams of the Buddhistteaching, harmonizing apparent divergences. Consequently, the Ming eraPure Land texts translated in this book are rich in information for modernday Buddhists of any denomination who are trying to comprehend the variouspans of the Buddhist tradition in terms of the whole spectrum of Buddhistpractice, thought, and imagery.The works translated below serve as an overalltheoretical and practical guide to the Pure Land teaching, placing it squarelywithin the wider tradition of East Asian Buddhism. As always, I havedone my best to make the translation faithful to the substance and toneof the original, and in English as fluent as the original Chinese. J. C. Cleary Spring 1994 |
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