The Amitabha Buddha, Savior of the blissful western realm

The Amitabha Buddha, infinite light and boundless compassion

According to the Mahayana Buddhist sutra, the Amitabha Buddha was a king in a remote period. Renouncing his kingdom, he became a monk and was named Dharmakara, which means “Treasury of Dharma.” The Buddha, Lokesvaraja Buddha, of that time, taught Dharmakara the way to supreme enlightenment. Dharmakara made forty-eight vows for the saving of the sentient beings. Since then, the Bodhisattva Dharmakara, after five aeons of self-cultivation, finally attained the supreme enlightenment and became the Amitabha Buddha. With his grand and infinitely compassionate vow set the western paradise known as the Pure Land.

The Amitabha Buddha rescues from oceans of panic and suffering to sentient beings

The light of this Buddha is infinite, and shines on all lands throughout the universe without obstruction. Thus, this Buddha is called Amitabha.The Amitabha Buddha is the guide of the Pure Land. By the power of his forty-eight vows, he receives the sentient beings who have vowed to practice Buddha-remembrance by invoking the Buddha-name and enables them to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and never fall back from there.

The essential point is that everything about the Amitabha Buddha is infinite: his merit and wisdom, his supernatural powers and his powers of the path, his embodiment and environment, his work in expounding the teachings and liberating sentient beings.

Why is this Pure Land called Ultimate Bliss?

It is called “Ultimate Bliss” because the sentient beings in this land are free from the myriad sufferings, and experience nothing but happiness. People in the Pure Land also benefit from being in the direct presence of Amitabha and his vast assembly of enlightening sages.

The paradise “Pure Land” of the Amitabha Buddha is prosperous, comfortable, fertile, delightful, and populated with Bodhisattvas, deities, and heavenly beings. In this Buddha field, there are no hells, no animals, no ghosts or evil spirits, no Asuras, and no inauspicious places of rebirth. It is empty of sufferings of any kind. In this Pure Land, sweet fragrance fills the air, and it is rich in a great variety of flowers and fruits, various plumed birds with exotic sweet voices sing verses of the Dharma, and jeweled trees of many colors can be found everywhere.

Where is Amitabha’s Pure Land?

The Pure Land is a paradise in the west, which is exquisitely adorned with gold and silver and all kinds of precious gems. There are indescribably beautiful lakes with golden sand that are surrounded by pleasant banks lined with jeweled trees and covered with heavenly lotus flowers, which are grown in crystal pure water. It is filled with wondrous sounds and sights, and fragrant flowers rain down three times a day. No defilement can be found, as no evil birth is possible, and even the very name hell is unheard of.

What is the special excellence of the” Pure Land”?

Sentient beings can be reborn there carrying their karmic load with them, and thereby transcend the triple world “horizontally.” The Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land is a pure land where saints and ordinary beings dwell together, but it includes all four lands (the land where saints and ordinary beings dwell together, the land of expedient liberation, the land of real reward, and the land of eternally quiescent light), reveals four teachings (elementary, common, special, and complete).

Sentient beings who are born in Amitabha’s Pure Land purify the four Lands completely, see the three Buddha-bodies perfectly, and fully arrive at the point where they can not fall back from their position, from their practice, or their mindfulness. All the people in the Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land will attain enlightenment in one lifetime.

If Amitabha’ Pure Land is a hundred billion worlds away from here, how can we be reborn there instantly?

A hundred billion worlds are not beyond one moment of thought, since fundamentally there is nothing outside the true mind. When we rely on the power of Buddha that is inherent in our mind, what is so hard about being born in the Pure Land instantly? It is like a many-layered scene of mountains and rivers and towers reflected in a mirror: all the layers appear there in the mirror, and in reality, there is no near and far.

All are reflected at once, appearing without before or after. When the sutra says “west of here, past hundred billion Buddha-lands there exists a world called “Ultimate Bliss”, it is also like this. When the sutra says ” in this land there exist a Buddha called the Amitabha Buddha, who is expounding the Dharma right now”, it is also like this.

It is also like this when a person who has developed faith, vows, and recited the Buddha’s name is about to die, and the Amitabha Buddha and all his assembly of saints appear before that person. It is also like this when a person dies without their mind falling into delusion, and they are immediately born in Amitabha’s Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The inconceivable virtues of Amitabha in five senses

1. The Amitabha Buddha enables us to transcend the triple world “horizontally,” without having to wait until we cut off all delusion.
2. The Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land includes (the land where saints and ordinary beings dwell together, the land of expedient liberation, the land of real reward, and the land of eternally quiescent light), so that we do not have to go step-by-step from one to another
3. The Amitabha Buddha’s merit makes salvation possible for us by simply invoking his name, without having to resort to other methods, such as meditation or visualization.
4. The Amitabha Buddha’s merit makes salvation possible in one to seven days, without requiring many eons and lifetimes
5. By invoking the name of one Buddha, the Amitabha Buddha, we are protected and kept in mind by all the Buddhas.

What benefits are received by sentient beings by becoming mindful of the Three Jewels?

When ordinary people first hear the teaching, their bodies experience delight: this is the benefit of joy. When their vital energy makes contact with the Three Jewels, they are sure to be able to develop the Bodhi Mind: this is the benefit of becoming virtuous. Using this virtue to conquer afflictions is the benefit of destroying evil. Awakening to the Three Jewels( Buddha, Dharma, and Sanga) as one single essence is the benefit of understanding the supreme truth.

Why is this Buddha called Amitabha Buddha?

The light of this Buddha is infinite, and shines on all lands throughout the universe without obstructions. Thus, this Buddha is called Amitabha Buddha. The name Amitabha Buddha has two explanations–as “infinite light” and as “infinite life.” The literal translation of “Amitabha is “infinite”, and infinity is unexplainable. Infinite light extends through space in all directions; infinite life extends through time and reaches through past, present, and future. The dimensions of the space and time interpenetrating are the body of the universe. This body as a whole is the body and land of the Amitabha Buddha, and this body as a whole is the name of the Amitabha Buddha.

The Amitabha Buddha is such a great Buddha who is capable of extracting the Guru Padmasambhava from rays of light from his heart.