Ven Zhi Sheng's Column - Does the Pure Land Really Exist?

Aik TC SG

Ven Zhi Sheng's Column - Does the Pure Land Really Exist?

Buddhistdoor InternationalVen. Zhi Sheng 2012-09-12

Malcolm Hunt (Dharma Name: Zi Sheng) is Retreat Facilitator at Guang Jue Temple in Zaoxi, China.

Of all the Chinese Buddhist traditions, Pure Land Buddhism has perhaps the largest following.

Huiyuan thus became a monk, though a Ch’an monk, but later gained permission from his Abbott to set up his own movement devoted to attaining freedom from suffering in the Pure Land.

Although the Pratyutpanna Sutra (which describes a fairly advanced form of Pure Land practice) came to China from India sometime in the first century of the Common Era, it was not until some four hundred years later that Pure Land Buddhism became a focus of attention due to the intense interest of a monk Hui Yuan, the first Pure Land Patriarch. Huiyuan was originally a Taoist scholar who sought immortality. Of course, he sadly found that nobody he knew lived over the age of eighty!

We cannot be absolutely sure how Huiyuan came across the Pure Land Sutras nonetheless they ignited his interest as they spoke of another transcendence that was beyond just physical mortality. They spoke of a transcendence of all suffering, an ending of the not-so-merry-go-round of birth and death, and a life after this mortal life of ours in a place called the Land of Ultimate Bliss. It is in this land that one could progress towards Nirvana without having to come back in human or animal form again.

The principle practice of Pure Land Buddhism is the meditation on the figure and name of Amidha Buddha, the Buddha of never ending Life and Light and on the oral reciting or chanting of the Buddha’s name – in Chinese Amituo Fo. The Pure Land practice parallels Zen Buddhism in that its aim is to empty the mind of all thought and attain awakening and union with pure being, Thusness.

However, perhaps the major sticking point for many newcomers to Pure Land Buddhism is the belief in the existence of another place called Pure Land. Is it nothing more than just a Buddhist Heaven, similar to the Christian 'heaven'? Was the Lord Buddha speaking only figuratively when he described in great and minute detail the landscape of Pure Land as is recorded in the Visualization Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra? Many Pure Land practitioners today tend to stay clear of ‘the Pure Land exists’ idea and settle for Pure Land being in one’s own mind.

I’m not sure I agree.

Shakyamuni Buddha was a careful and precise teacher and was not prone to speaking figuratively. If he were speaking only in these terms then how much more of the Sutras do we need to reshape? Do we need to reinvent Buddhism for our modern era? It was not long ago in our world history that the world was considered to be flat. Many suffered torture for believing otherwise. My own mother was ridiculed by her friends when she used to “dream” of human beings one day going to the moon. I recall dearly the day as the world sat glued to their TV screens to watch that momentous event of man landing on the moon and small tears rolling down my mother’s eyes and my father holding her, deeply apologizing for having laughed at her years before.

In recent world history we have placed a probe on Mars and there is the likelihood of life form on this planet. We have begun to punch into the outer reaches of our galaxy and it is more than possible that there be other planets containing life form similar to ours. Who would be the first to deny this?

I would like to explore, what this means for our understanding of a “Pure Land”.

The eyes and ears of sentient beings are limited in their scope and we have very limited knowledge. Moreover, many Pure Land practitioners have witnessed scenes of the Pure Land whilst in Samadhi, and attained awakening. I recently spoke to a very devout Chinese lady who can neither read nor write and had not even heard of the Pure Land Sutras yet described the Pure Land of her Samadhi exactly as it is recorded!

Of course by speaking of an actual place we are speaking of ‘form’. However as the Zen Master Chu Huang of the 16^th century wrote: “Mind equals object: there is no mind beyond objects. Since objects are wholly mind why must we cling to mind and dismiss objects? Those who dismiss objects when they talk of mind have not comprehended mind.”

Pure Land practice is not just about being re-born in a lotus bud in the Land of Ultimate Bliss to live happily ever after. One will have missed the point completely. The cycle of birth and death is an extremely heavy burden. “Life is suffering” spoke the Buddha. Even if, in this lifetime, you are living at ease and have comfort of body and mind, is this not because of causes previously set in motion by your merits attained from good deeds and a pure mind? One must be careful as if one does not continue to plant the seeds of pure karma then the merits will become exhausted and one retrogresses back into the cycle; one gets back on the not-so-merry-go-round of birth and death.

The Buddha knew it was extremely difficult to eliminate all impure karma in this lifetime. It is like putting a bucket under the roof as we do at our temple to catch the rainwater. There always seems to be dust and dirt at the bottom of the bucket even though full of pure rainwater. So it is with our life. Therefore the Buddha spoke to us of Amida Buddha and his powerful vows that whosoever recites his name with a pure concentrated heart-mind is able attain rebirth in the Pure Land. Indeed even as we meditate or recite with one-pointed concentration we are in that moment in Pure Land. Pure Land is but one breath away. Once reborn in the Pure Land we are able to progress in the Dharma and eventually attain Nirvana as Buddhas. Pure Land is not the final destination but one crucial and vital step along the way.

Between us and the Ultimate Bliss of Nirvana and Buddhahood is a fast flowing river with strong currents and counter currents. If we have the strength, perseverance and tenacity to reach the other side we may be able to swim across. In the world we live in the crosscurrents are extremely powerful and the likelihood is we will not make it across. Amidha Buddha and Pure Land is like a powered motorboat that is able to break through the swirl and arrive to meet our Buddha nature.

The last time I went across a fast flowing river here in China I did not ask myself “Do I believe that this boat exists?” I had faith that it did and faith that it would take me across. My motivation to cross the river fuelled my faith; so I got on board. Faith, Vows and Practice become the tri-pod upon which Pure Land Buddhism stands. Our practice is staying on the boat. Does the other side exist? I think I will trust the great Pure Land Masters who have gone before me and continue the journey in practice. Doubt only serves to unsettle the boat and we could get tossed into the river. Firm resolve is a sure way to attain ultimate happiness for ourselves and for all sentient beings.

An Eternal Now SG

Loppon Namdrol explains that pure land are bardo realms.

So perhaps they are not physical places but a mental 'place'.

Hell, also, as I understand is a mental state of profound suffering, actually experienced after death but may not be physical places.

But whether or not it is a 'physical place' doesn't matter so much insofar as it has the same function, one a place conducive to enlightenment, the other a place of unimaginable suffering.

2009novice SG

actually on the contrary i believe Pure Lands exist.... because I believe Lord Buddha's descriptions as stated in 佛说阿弥陀经

An Eternal Now SG

Pure lands exist but perhaps as bardo states after death.

sinweiy SG

Are the Mind-only Pure Land and the Self-nature Amitabha the same as or different from the Western Pure Land and Amitabha in the Pure Land?

It is because the Mind-only Pure Land exists that we are reborn in the Pure Land of the West. If the mind is not pure, it is impossible to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land. Even when those who have committed cardinal transgressions achieve rebirth through ten recitations, such rebirth is due to their reciting the Buddha’s name with a pure mind, thus eliciting a response from Amitabha Buddha. Ordinary people generally think that if the Pure Land is Mind-Only, then it does not exist. This is the understanding of demons and externalists. Such a deluded view, which appears correct but is in reality wrong, affects more than half of all people and causes practitioners to forfeit true benefits.

It is precisely because of the Self-Nature Amitabha that the practitioner must recite the name of Buddha Amitabha of the West seeking rebirth in the Pure Land – so as to achieve the Self-Nature Amitabha through gradual cultivation. If he merely grasps at the Self-Nature Amitabha but does not recite the name of Buddha Amitabha of the West, he cannot achieve immediate escape from Birth and death – not even if he is truly awakened, much less if (like most people who ask this question) he is pretentious and just indulges in empty talk without engaging in practice.

Thus the answer to your question [are the mind-Only Pure Land and the Self-Nature Amitabha the same as or different from the Western Pure Land and Amitabha in the Pure Land?] is that they are one yet two before Buddhahood is attained, two yet one after Buddhahood is attained.

Quoted from Pure-Land Zen ,Zen Pure-Land Letters from Patriarch Yin Kuang. Page 108 – 111

http://amtb.co.uk/pure-land-buddhism/pure-land

2009novice SG

just wondering...

if hell, hungry ghosts realms are states of suffering of the mental minds, what about the heavenly planes...?

there are suttas which describe about devas and how they illuminate the places like Jeta's Grove... e.g. Anathapindika

An Eternal Now SG

No... only hell. Hungry ghosts and heavenly beings live in physical planes.

Even though hells are bardo states, they seem as real as physical places as described in the suttas/sutras.

Basically,Vasubandhu, in the Vimasatika, refutes the idea that Hells are real places because the hell beings (karma yamas) that one is tortured by would be gathering karma, but in fact they are not. They are just projections of the mind.

Dawnfirstlight SG

Are the Mind-only Pure Land and the Self-nature Amitabha the same as or different from the Western Pure Land and Amitabha in the Pure Land?

Quoted from Pure-Land Zen ,Zen Pure-Land Letters from Patriarch Yin Kuang. Page 108 – 111

http://amtb.co.uk/pure-land-buddhism/pure-land

Yes, you are correct. I read this somewhere. This is an important message to all Pureland practitioners : It is precisely because of the Self-Nature Amitabha that the practitioner must recite the name of Buddha Amitabha of the West seeking rebirth in the Pure Land – so as to achieve the Self-Nature Amitabha through gradual cultivation. If he merely grasps at the Self-Nature Amitabha but does not recite the name of Buddha Amitabha of the West, he cannot achieve immediate escape from Birth and death.

Aik TC SG

On the subject of the various realms of existences, I believe there are many, especially Westerners in the Theravada Schools who believe such realms as just mental becoming and do not exist in the literal sense. In fact, on the subject of Rebirths, it is all about mental becoming, birth and death and nowhere in the suttas is literal rebirth taught. If it is spoken off, it is to layperson such as Anathapindika. This is to help householders and lay followers in their moral cultivation and also to emphasis the importance of the act of giving and charity.

An Eternal Now SG

Of course there is literal rebirth and taught not only in one place but countless scriptures in the suttas! There is no basis in the scriptures for any of the materialist nonsense spouted by westerners. These people are "opponents to the arahants*"

Those westerners are definitely not real Theravadins, in fact they aren't Buddhists at all and fall under the 6 forms of externalists, i.e. they belong to the materialist group that do not believe in any rebirth or karma.

*Buddha: "Because there actually is the next world, the view of one who thinks, 'There is no next world' is his wrong view. Because there actually is the next world, when he is resolved that 'There is no next world,' that is his wrong resolve. Because there actually is the next world, when he speaks the statement, 'There is no next world,' that is his wrong speech. Because there actually is the next world, when he is says that 'There is no next world,' he makes himself an opponent to those arahants who know the next world. Because there actually is the next world, when he persuades another that 'There is no next world,' that is persuasion in what is not true Dhamma. And in that persuasion in what is not true Dhamma, he exalts himself and disparages others. Whatever good habituation he previously had is abandoned, while bad habituation is manifested. And this wrong view, wrong resolve, wrong speech, opposition to the arahants, persuasion in what is not true Dhamma, exaltation of self, & disparagement of others: These many evil, unskillful activities come into play, in dependence on wrong view.

Aik TC SG

Agreed with you there, but it is interesting to know of their views and the way they go about justifying their interpretation, such as what should be the right meaning of Pali words to justified their understanding of the Suttas etc.

Aik TC SG

Re your above quote from the Apannaka Sutta, what is your take especially that of their moderator ELEMENT’s and forummer stuka’s interpretation on below link. In his other later postings, ELEMENT does not seem to believe in literal rebirth at all.

Wrong View in the Apannaka Sutta

www.buddhismwithoutboundaries.com › ... › Discussions › Beyond Belief

An Eternal Now SG

Invalid URL.

But anyway I know Element, I debated with him many years ago on certain issues - rebirth being one of them, other matters include non-dual etc. Whoever's interpretation of rebirth as non-literal is clearly not in accord with the clear and plain words of the Buddha in the scriptures, which describes afterlife states including the various hell realms and various deva realms and deities that visit Buddha, etc. Its just strange how they twist the extremely plain words and descriptions of the suttas to their materialist thinking. This happened only when Buddhism enters west and people try to impose materialist thinking into their learnings of Buddhism. They are better off calling themselves materialist than 'buddhists' and then trying to impose an incompatible paradigm onto another.

Aik TC SG

His interpretation of the Suttas especially on the subject of rebirth seems to have influence quite a number of Buddhists who have visited the site to his point of views, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the individual concerned.

Spnw07 SG

Pure lands are the teaching campuses of Buddhas. They are manifestations of primary vows made by each Buddha when they were aspiring Bodhisattvas. One can refer to the Sutra of the Medicine Buddha or Sutra of Amitabha Buddha (the 3 main ones that explain in specific details about Amitabha Buddha's vows and how his Pureland is like).

2009novice SG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSh_eid4G7I

Dawnfirstlight SG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSh_eid4G7I

Amituofo !