Ten Doubts about Pure Land
By Tien Tai Patriarch Chih I
Translated by Master Thich Thien
Tam
Question 3
All the Pure Lands of
the Buddhas of the ten directions have equal qualities and virtues.
Their Dharma Nature is also the same. Therfore, the practitioner
should meditate on all the virtues of the Buddhas and seek rebirth
in the various Pure Lands of the ten directions. Why should he
specifically seek rebirth in the Pure Land of one particular Buddha
(i.e., Amitabha)? Is this not contrary to the truth of "equally in
seeking rebirth"?
Answer
All the Pure Lands of
the Buddhas are, in truth, equal. Nevetheless, since the majority
of sentient beings in our
world generally have dull faculties and defiled, scattered minds,
it will be difficult for them
to achieve samadhi, unless they concentrate exclusively on one
realm.
The practice of
constantly focussing on Amitabha Buddha is the "Single Mark
Samadhi". Because the Mind is
exclusively devoted to one thing, the practitioner achieves rebirth
in the Pure Land. In the Sutra
Rebirth According to One's Vows, Buddha Sakyamuni
was asked by a Bodhisattva,
"Honored One! There are Pure Lands in all ten directions.
Why do you especially extol
the Western Pure Land and urge sentient beings to focus
continuously on Amitabha
Buddha, seeking rebirth in His Land?"
The Buddha replied,
"Sentient beings in this Saha World generally have polluted,
scattered minds. Therefore, I
only extol one Pure Land in the West, focussing their Minds on a
single realm. If they meditate
on all Buddhas, the scope of attention will be too broad, their
Minds will be lost and
scattered and they will find samadhi difficult to attain. Thus,
they will fail to achieve
rebirth in the Pure Land.
"Furthermore, seeking
their virtues of one Buddha is the same as seeking the
virtues of all
Buddhas -- as all Buddhas have one common Dharma Nature. That is
why to focus on Amitabha
Buddha is to focus on all Buddhas, to be born in the Western Pure
Land is to be born in all Pure
Lands."
Thus, the
Avatamsaka Sutra states:
"The bodies of all
the Buddhas / are the body of any one Buddha. / They have
the same Mind and the same
wisdom. / They are also equal in power and
fearlessness."
The Avatamsaka
Sutra further states:
"It is like the full
moon, round and bright, its image reflected in all rivers and
ponds.
Although the reflection is
everywhere, there is but a single moon. So it is with ...
(the
Buddhas). Although they appear in all
realms, their bodies are non-dual."
In summary, based on
these examples, the wise will understand the truth that "one is
all, all is one". When this
truth is grasped, concentrating on one Buddha is precisely
concentrating on all Buddhas.
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