Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings are not limited to sravakas and bodhisattvas

Referring to our previous article, we saw how Shakyamuni Buddha inaugurated the teachings of Buddhism and spoke various sutras to open the 84,000 Dharma doors and lead sentient beings to ultimate emancipation through the vigorous practices of precepts, meditation, and wisdom.

However, Shakyamuni Buddha’s original intention of appearing in the world was not just to teach sravakas and bodhisattvas who seek emancipation through the self-powered practices of meditative and non-meditative virtues, but to comprehensively deliver and rescue ordinary beings who suffer in samsara.

In the Infinite Life Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha says:

With infinite great compassion, the Tathagata commiserates with beings of the Three Domains. Therefore, he appears in the world to disseminate the teaching of the Way, wishing to save the ignorant multitudes by endowing them with real benefits.

But how can ordinary beings with heavy karmic obstructions, and who live far-removed from the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, have an opportunity to request the Buddha to speak of a Dharma door suitable for them; one that can help them escape from the endless cycle of birth and death, which is the root cause of the Eight Sufferings?

Manifesting in the form of a human being and speaking the teachings with human language, Shakyamuni Buddha understood that he had to die (enter the state of nirvana) at the age of 80. He also knew that his teaching would last for about 10,000 years but was unable to last forever in the world!

An eternal buddha to deliver us to an eternal buddha-land

Is there an “eternal” buddha who can deliver sentient beings, particularly ordinary beings like us, in all the worlds in the entire Dharma realm at all times? If the answer is yes, then this eternal buddha could take over Shakyamuni Buddha’s mission and continue to deliver us in his absence!

However, it is not the eternal buddha who takes over Shakyamuni Buddha’s mission. In fact, it is Shakyamuni Buddha’s mission to introduce the eternal buddha to us so that we may be liberated, even after Shakyamuni Buddha entered nirvana, and be reborn in the eternal buddha-land to attain eternal life.

This eternal buddha is called Amitabha, and his eternal buddha-land is called the Land of Bliss. The teaching of Amitabha Buddha’s deliverance in his Land of Bliss is known as the Pure Land Dharma, as spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha in the Infinite Life Sutra, the Contemplation Sutra, and the Amitabha Sutra.

Before Amitabha Buddha became a buddha, he made the 17th Vow saying:

If, when I attain buddhahood, innumerable buddhas in the land of the 10 quarters should not all praise and glorify my Name, may I not attain perfect enlightenment.

So, it is also Shakyamuni Buddha’s mission to praise Amitabha Buddha’s Name in the Land of Saha.

The three Pure Land sutras talk about the aim of the teaching being to attain rebirth in Amitabha Buddha’s Land of Bliss, and the method of attaining rebirth being to exclusively recite Amitabha Buddha’s Name, in accordance with his 18th Vow, which is known as the Fundamental Vow of Deliverance.

To encourage ordinary beings to aspire by bringing in srakavas and bodhisattvas

This is a very difficult to believe teaching that is almost impossible for us to accept. If we cannot believe in or aspire to be reborn in the Pure Land and decide to continuously take karmic rebirth, we have to suffer in samsara and wait for the next buddha to come after 5.67 billion years.

Even sravakas and bodhisattvas cannot understand the Pure Land teaching and have difficulty believing and accepting it, because they are accustomed to seeking emancipation through the vigorous “self-powered” practice of cultivating the meditative and non-meditative virtues, such as precepts, meditation and wisdom.

How can sravakas and bodhisattvas switch to Amitabha Buddha’s teaching of deliverance through the “other-powered” practice of exclusive Amitabha-recitation? Do they also have the chance to attain rebirth in Amitabha’s Land of Bliss and become buddhas?

Because of the difficulty involved, it was very important for Shakyamuni Buddha to arrange a special path or bridge so that all his disciples can set an example for ordinary beings. This bridge makes possible a transition from the “self-powered” cultivation of mind and body to the “other-powered” faith in Amitabha Buddha’s deliverance to the Pure Land.

Master Shandao divides and defines the two paths of the Pure Land teaching

Master Shandao wrote the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra and inaugurated the Pure Land school in China, based on the teachings of the two buddhas, Shakyamuni and Amitabha. He also clarified all doubts about the essence of the Pure Land teachings.

Master Shandao says in the “Chapter of Profound Meaning” of the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra:

Shakyamuni Buddha, the manifested master in the Land of Saha, being asked, opened vastly the Path of Importance in the Pure Land teaching; while Amitabha Buddha, the capable being in the Land of Peace and Joy, reveals and advocates his own teaching, different [from Shakyamuni’s], called the Path of Great Vow.

Master Shandao further defines the Path of Importance in the Pure Land teaching:

The Path of Importance is the two teachings of meditative virtue and non-meditative virtue, as expounded in the Contemplation Sutra. Meditative virtue means to calm one’s anxiety by ceasing any thought, and non-meditative virtue means to eliminate evil and nurture goodness. This is the path if one dedicates these two virtues and aspires to be reborn [in the Pure Land].

In contrast, the Path of the Great Vow he defines as:

The Path of the Great Vow, as stated in the Larger Sutra (The Infinite Life Sutra), is thus: “The great vow and pure karmic power of Amitabha Buddha is the augmentative cause for all good and evil ordinary beings who are reborn [in the Pure Land].”

The Path of Importance is the “bridge” that allows Buddhist practitioners to switch from Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching of cultivation to faith in Amitabha Buddha’s teaching of deliverance. It represents an important turning point for those disciples and followers who wish to attain assured rebirth so that they can liberate themselves from reincarnation within the Six Realms and attain the state of non-retrogression.

This is the surest and safest route to becoming a buddha.

Related features from BDG

Approaching Buddhism by Reading the Buddhist Sutras
Is Pure Land the Teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha or Amitabha Buddha, or Both?
Queen Vaidehi’s Sight of Two Buddhas Emitting Light in the Contemplation Sutra

More from Pristine Pure Land Teaching by Alan Kwan