(5.1) Sukhavati - An Overview

[Niết Bàn Tầm]

SUKHAVATI (PURE LAND BUDDHISM)

(Part 1/3)

The Pure Land School of Buddhism is for those whose current life has been under the influence of such previously accrued Karmic forces as heinous sins, evil deeds, greed, and lust. They are quite conscious that they have been, and probably will still be, nobody in this worldly life, and hence may achieve nothing in the religious life. These people, however, have great religious fervour, unwavering and absolute reverence for Amitābha Buddha of the Pure Land, and profound faith in His Forty Eight Great Vows [1].  

1.   A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SUKHAVATI

1.1.   What Is Pure Land Buddhism?

The answer to this question depends on whom it is raised to. In general, Pure Land Buddhism is perceived in three different ways:
   For those who are intellectual and have some experience in meditation, they are confident that the Pure Land is simply in the mind.
   For those who are of mystical minds, they believe that there is such a Buddha named Amitābha and His mantra being 'Om, Amitabha Hrih Svaha'.
   For simple-minded people, they universally trust that there is a Buddha with forty eight great vows, and "If I mindfully recite His name of Amitābha, at the time of death I will be reborn in His realm. This Land of Ultimate Bliss is organized into three grades of three levels each. I will cultivate to progress through the ranks until I become a Once Returner (Eka-jati-prati-badha) [2]  and finally a Never Receding Bodhisattva (Aparivartya) [3] . Once I have reached this stage of non-retrogression, I will devote myself to unceasingly help sentient beings."

1.2.   Ignorance and Misconceptions about Pure Land Buddhism

Sukhavati cultivators equip themselves with resolute faith and continual recitation of the words 'Namo Amitabha Buddha' to attain deep mindfulness and move along the nine ranks in the Pure Land. When they have successfully reached the ninth level, they make their great vows to become a Once Returner to help sentient beings. The almighty 'Namo Amitabha Buddha' follows them throughout the entire cultivation of Bodhisattva-hood and continues to be a powerful tool in their deliverance of sentient beings.

With immense ignorance, many people wrongly claim that Pure Land Buddhism is only for those whose days on this earth are numbered or who merely linger over the remaining course of their lives. Hence, this school of Buddhism is definitely not appealing to them. As a result, old people largely account for the number of Sukhavati cultivators while young people often feel embarrassed if they are known to practice Pure Land Buddhism. A friend of theirs may say something like: "Oh, any school of Buddhism is great. It's just that I prefer Theravada meditation because it sounds more intellectual (i.e., it is much better compared to Sukhavati!)". After that socializing, but highly discouraging, utterance, that friend turns around and engages with others in presumably more 'classy' conversations of meditation riddles and paradoxes.

The above instance is not uncommon among Buddhist followers. Moreover, religious discourses on meditation paradoxes appear more fascinating to young people. Buddhist followers, monks and laymen alike, like lectures and discourses on the most important sutras such as Diamond Sutra, Lotus Sutra, and Avatamsaka Sutra whereas they seem stuck for an interesting topic on Pure Land Buddhism.

Sadly, only we, severely ignorant beings, in this terrestrial world of Jambudvīpa  have such a weird, unappreciative perception towards Pure Land Buddhism. This is quite possibly driven by a whole bunch of lazy and negligent scholars. Being cocky of their worldly, yet unknowingly limited, knowledge and wealthy status, these so-called know-it-alls entitle themselves to freely cut, mix, re-arrange, re-write, and re-print the original texts in whatever way they wish. With the two earthly super powers of Stupidity and Ignorance, they cut short and alter the content of Sukhavati texts to suit their own purpose. They do not know that in doing so they have given Mara, the Evil One, a hand, converting the Pure Land School of Buddhism from an extremely difficult practice (which will be described in detail later) to the one that fits just for old and dying people.

What they do not know, or intentionally forget, is that in a night of more than 2,500 years ago, Sariputra, with his superb sensitivity, noticed his Master, Shakyamuni Buddha, was in very deep contemplation, but this time seemed uniquely different. Without hesitation, he asked the Master what He was pondering on. The Buddha was silent. He repeated his question and the Buddha remained wordless...It was not until the fifth time Sariputra raised the same question that the Buddha responded as briefly as "Difficult!". Feeling hugely intrigued about what it was, Sariputra kept on asking while the Buddha kept on saying "Difficult!" for another four times before He finally expounded the Dharma of Sukhavati. This was indeed the only time the Buddha had to use the 'Difficult' word five times before starting His discourse, which should give us, ignorant beings, a clear indication that it is extremely hard to cultivate Pure Land Buddhism. But, many people still have the misconception that practicing Pure Land Buddhism is simply a piece of cake. How ignorant these people are!!

What we should instead bear in mind is that: Since Sukhavati practitioners rely on the power of Amitābha Buddha to cultivate emancipation, they must have steadfast and sincere faith in Him, and/or have accumulated relatively little good karma but ample bad karma of killing and heinous sins. When one is practicing Pure Land Buddhism properly and devotedly, he/she is under Amitābha Buddha's protection via His vows. Otherwise, murderous karma will surely pay him/her several visits. Once the practitioner could meditatively see Him, Amitābha Buddha would answer his/her religious queries and questions. This Q&A activity is very useful for any cultivator who wishes to be involved in transporting souls to Amitābha Buddha's world. After death, he/she will also be reborn in His world and continue through all nine levels of cultivation before making vows to become a Once Returner for the salvation of sentient beings.

Should they wish, Sukhavati practitioners could switch to Theravada meditation. However, this conversion is possible and goes smoothly only after their evil karma has been substantially reduced or more than offset by good merits and virtues from their cultivation and soul transporting service. It is insensible and unnecessary for Theravada meditators, who are less exposed to evil karma, to switch to Sukhavati practice since it is similar to going against the traffic of cultivation. Therefore, the acceptable path is from Sukhavati to Theravada rather than the other way round.

1.3.   How Does the 'Other-Power' Work in Pure Land Buddhism?

It was not until after my [Tibu's] first death that I could understand how this so-called 'Other-Power' works. It is effectively Amitābha Buddha's power in the context of Sukhavati cultivation. Amitābha Buddha's energy is brightly and mightily radiated via His ajna.

The emission of shining lights by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is written in many Mahayana sutras, one of which is 'The Great Dharani Sutra of the One Word Heart Mantra in the Degenerate Age of Dharma'. An extract from this sutra can be read as follows: "The Buddha [i.e., Shakyamuni] enters the samadhi of all Chakravartin Tathagatas and from between His eyebrows emits a shining and powerful ray of light illuminating all worlds in the ten directions. Mundane and supra-mundane beings that are touched by this auspicious light all feel delighted and blissful. Afterwards, the light travels back circling around the Buddha three times before disappearing into His ushnisha [i.e., the topknot of His hair]."  

Based on the above, the Buddha's energy is sent out from His ajna, and returned to His ushnisha. Hence, this energy circulation can be broken down into two parts: the outgoing part and the returning one.

Part 1: The Outgoing Energy from Ajna

Someone with clairvoyant eye could observe this energy when a meditator of the Fourth Jhana is examining something with his/her divine vision (also known as 'the TV' among practitioners in Hoasentrenda). From the meditator's ajna (which is located about the length of the middle finger's proximal phalanx directly above the midway between the eyebrows' inside edges), a laser-like beam of golden light is released and sustained until he/she finishes the religious task. Since the golden light is effectively the meditator's cultivated energy, the more he/she uses it the more his/her energy is lost. Therefore, when the TV is overused the cultivator may look as pale as a heavy drug addict.

Having said that, the use of TV does benefit the cultivator in the following way. Under the cosmic order, things that share similarity in quality or properties tend to interact and share energy. Likewise does the ajna-originated energy. For example, the cultivator uses his/her TV while forty other meditators are also employing their TVs to perform some religious tasks. The cultivator's energy will automatically interact with and be supported by the others' energies. This mutual support helps reduce the energy spend by each meditator and increase the effectiveness of their TV performance. When the energy interaction happens often over a period of time, the cultivator becomes more sensitive such that he/she may feel like receiving the so-called 'support power' by Buddhas of the ten directions. Once connected to the Buddhas' support power, the cultivator's TV is readily available at all times. It is very hard to tell whether he/she uses the divine eye or flesh eyes because they have become virtually interchangeable.

An important note is that: Do not wilfully wish to connect to the Buddhas' support power while meditating until you have at least attained the Fourth Jhana. Otherwise, you are subject to the influence of Paranimmita-vasavatti devas [4].

Part 2: The Returning Energy to Ushnisha

The above has explained the outgoing part of the ajna-originated energy. The below section is for the returning of this energy.

When the energy sent out from Amitābha Buddha's ajna has lost its momentum to travel further, it automatically returns to His ushnisha. Sukhavati cultivators should maximize the use of this returning power so they could see Him quickly. Indeed, when a cultivator achieves the state of single-mindedness (where bodily awareness is lost and only consciousness remains), he/she will be able to hook and hold on to Amitābha Budda's returning power to reach His ushnisha. This is the fastest way to meet Him.

The cultivator could also utilize Amitābha Buddha's power for his/her salvation service of sentient beings when they are dead. Here is how: The cultivator visualizes the images of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, Amitābha Buddha, and Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva (in this order from left to right). Once these three holy images clearly appear in his/her TV, They will salvage the dead's soul. The cultivator's task is simply to see which of the nine levels in the Pure Land the soul is sent to. This is an example of using the Other-Power.

Further remarks: When the Sukhavati cultivator contemplates to mentally produce the images of the Three Holy Ones, he/she functions as a convex lens connecting and converging the energy ever emitted from Amitābha Buddha's ajna. After the connection has been established, this Other-Power is in action by itself.


Endnotes:

[1] https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Amitābha's_forty-eight_vows
[2] Eka-jati-prati-badha are those who have only one lifetime away from Buddhahood.
[3] Aparivartya means a bodhisattva who, in progress towards Buddhahood, never regresses to a lower state than to which he/she has attained.
[4] These are devas who make others' creation serve their own ends. See more in 'The Buddha and His Teachings' by Narada Mahathera.