Dharmakara's Vows, unprecedented in scope and depth, were
fulfilled by the performance of various meritorious actions, known
collectively as the Six Paramitas, lasting for aeons. One life-time
was not long enough to cultivate even a small portion of the merits
required to fulfill the Vows. His Bodhisattva practice extended
over many lives for innumerable kalpas. To explain this, the Larger
Sutra says:
He avoided all wrong speech that would bring harm upon himself or
others or both; he engaged in right speech that would bring benefit
to himself or others or both. He abandoned his kingdom and
renounced the throne, leaving behind wealth and sensuous pleasures.
Practicing the Six Paramitas himself, he taught others to do the
same. During innumerable kalpas, he accumulated merits and amassed
virtues. (chap. 9)
Further, this sutra states:
He was reborn as a rich man, a lay devotee, a member of the highest
caste or of a noble family, a ksatriya king, a wheel-turning
monarch, a king of one of the six heavens in the world of desire,
or even higher, as a Brahma-king. He revered and worshipped all
Buddhas by making the four kinds of offering to them. The merit he
thus acquired was indescribably great. (chap. 9)
The amount of merit and virtue accumulated is dependent upon the
length of time of the practice. It is, therefore, natural that
Dharmakara should have attained "the ocean-like mass of merits" by
performing Bodhisattva practices for innumerable kalpas. What is
more important is the moral quality of such merits. If one's action
is based on a wrong idea or motivation, it will not yield true
merit. In the case of Dharmakara's practice, each and every action
was free of attachment and was firmly based on the fundamental
Mahayana principle of 'voidness' (shunyata), for it is said in the
Larger Sutra:
He dwelt in the realization that all dharmas are empty, devoid of
distinctive features, and not to be sought after, and that they
neither act nor arise; he thus realized that all dharmas are like
magical creations. (chap. 9)
T'an-luan, by way of explaining Dharmakara's true merit,
distinguishes two kinds of merit:
Regarding the phrase 'the embodiment of true merit,' there are two
kinds of merit: (1) The merit which accrues from the activity of a
defiled mind and is not in accordance with the Dharma-essence; such
merit arises from the various good acts of ordinary men and gods.
It also refers to the reward of their attaining human and heavenly
existence. Both the cause and effect of such good acts are inverted
and false; hence, they are called 'false merit'. (2) The merit
which is produced from the wisdom and pure karma of Bodhisattvas
and which serves to glorify Buddhist activities. It conforms to the
Dharma-essence and has the characteristic of purity. This dharma is
not inverted and false; hence, it is called 'true merit'. [SSZ.I,
284]
The true merits which Dharmakara accumulated are manifested in
conceivable, and even perceptible, forms. Vasubandhu, who
presumably succeeded in visualizing the Pure Land, distinguished
Amida's true merits into three categories: (1) the Pure Land, (2)
Amida Buddha himself, and (3) Bodhisattvas in the Pure Land. He
also noted that the Power of the Vows was working to sustain those
glorious manifestations and, at the same time, to deliver sentient
beings from samsaric suffering.
Shinran paid special attention to the name by which Vasubandhu
addressed Amida, that is, 'the Tathagata of Light Unhindered
throughout the Ten Directions.' To call Amida by this name is to
glorify him and praise his virtues. This is a radical development
from mere repetition of the popular Nembutsu formula, 'Namu Amida
Butsu.' By so doing, Shinran enhanced the quality of the Nembutsu
from the level of practice by self-effort to that of the practice
of the Buddhas. He found the logical basis for this in the 17th
Vow.
The development of the concept of Nembutsu from verbal practice,
based on one's effort of saying 'Namu Amida Butsu,' to Amida's
working, which irresistibly makes us call his Name, features in
Shinran's theory and practice of salvation by the Other-Power. He
paid special attention to the 17th and the 18th Vows, and found the
intrinsic relationship between them.
In the tradition of Sino-Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, the 18th Vow
is the pivotal point around which revolves the whole doctrinal
system. In Shin Buddhism, too, the 18th Vow remains the center of
the teaching, and so its true meaning is revealed. The text of this
Vow reads:
If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the
ten directions, who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to
me, desire to be born in my land and call my Name even ten times,
should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
Excluded, however, are those who commit the five gravest offenses
and abuse the right Dharma. (chap. 7)
Taken in its literal meaning, both entrusting and calling of the
Name are based on self-effort, but Shinran found that Amida's Power
was working behind this faith and practice. But how does Amida's
Power work and how does it reach the aspirant?
This question led Shinran to investigate the meaning of the 17th
Vow, which reads:
If, when I attain Buddhahood, innumerable Buddhas in the lands of
the ten directions should not all praise and glorify my Name, may I
not attain perfect Enlightenment. (chap. 7)
Apparently this Vow is not directly linked up with the 18th Vow,
but Shinran found that the internal relationship between those two
Vows was clearly stated in the passage of the Larger Sutra, which
shows, in Shakyamuni's words, how they had been fulfilled. The
passage in question reads:
All Buddhas, Tathagatas, in the ten directions, as numerous as the
sands of the River Ganges, together praise the inconceivable,
supernal virtue of the Buddha of Infinite Life. All sentient beings
who, having heard his name, rejoice in faith, remember him even
once and sincerely transfer the merit of virtuous practices to that
land, aspiring to be born there, will attain birth and dwell in the
Stage of Non-retrogression. But excluded are those who have
committed the five gravest offenses and abused the right Dharma.
(chap. 22)
It is now clear that the entrusting and joyous faith is aroused
through hearing Amida's Name, which is praised by all the Buddhas.
In other words, it is the virtue of the Name that has aroused all
the Buddhas to glorify it and also arouses sentient beings to
entrust themselves to Amida. Since it is entirely Amida's Power
that is working behind the devotee's faith and practice, the real
agent who 'transfers the merit of virtuous practices' is also
Amida. That is why Shinran, without changing the Chinese diction,
made this sentence read:
those who...remember him even once and, through his
merit-transference, aspire to be born there, will attain birth,
etc. [SSZ.II, 71]
Looking back on the Eighteenth Vow from Shinran's viewpoint, the
practice of saying 'Namu Amida Butsu' even ten times is significant
only in so far as it is linked up with the Name glorified in the
Seventeenth Vow. Our Nembutsu does not come from our heart, but
from Amida's Heart of Great Compassion. It is the natural
expression on our lips of Amida's all-embracing and all-pervasive
Power manifested in the form of the Name. 'The inconceivable,
supernal virtue of the Buddha of Infinite Life' stated in the
passage of fulfillment of the 17th Vow is the fountainhead of the
salvific karmic Power, which runs through the 18th Vow and effects
our entrusting faith.
Dharmakara, after proclaiming the Forty-eight Vows, reiterated the
importance of the Name in the hymn which follows, saying:
When I attain Buddhahood,
My Name shall be heard throughout the ten directions;
Should there be any place where it is not heard,
May I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(Larger Sutra, chap. 
Shinran praises the wonderful working of the Name in a hymn:
The sentient beings throughout the ten directions,
Who attain true entrusting Heart
By hearing Amida's Name of ultimate virtue,
Greatly rejoice at what they have received.
(Hymns on the Pure Land 25)
(3)
