, Prof Garma C. C Chang
, pp. 336-350. translated into Chinese by Siksananda
If all the [future] Tathagatas in countless Buddha-lands in the ten directions, whom I see with my unhindered deva-eye, are not persuaded by me to engender bodhicitta or taught by me to cultivate giving, discipline, patience, vigor, meditation, and wisdom and to attain supreme enlightenment, I shall not attain bodhi.
Only after the fulfillment of this vow shall I attain supreme enlightenment.
I have vowed to combine the worlds of Buddhas as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges into a single Buddha-land and to adorn it with incalculable, intermingled, exquisite jewels. I I cannot do this, I shall never attain supreme enlightenment.
I have vowed to cause my land to have a bodhi-tree as big as ten billion-world universes; that tree will shed a light all over my Buddha-land.
I have vowed not to rise from my seat under the bodhi-tree from the time I sit down upon the seat until I attain supreme enlightenment and enter nirvana, [and during that time] to teach the Dharma by magically produced bodies to sentient beings in incalculable, numberless Buddha-lands in the ten directions.
I have vowed to cause my land to lack the name 'woman,' and to be inhabited by numerous Bodhisattvas who are free from the filth of afflictions, who cultivate pure conduct, and who are spontaneously born dressed in monastic robes and seated with crossed legs. have no Sravakas or Pratyekabuddhas, even in name, except those magically produced by the Tathagata to explain the doctrines of the three vehicles to sentient beings [of other Buddha-lands] in the ten directions.
I have vowed that, just as the inhabitants of Amitabha Buddha's land have joy in the Dharma for food, in my land the Bodhisattvas will all have in their right hands a bowl full of delicacies as soon as they think of food. After a moment, they will think, 'Under no circumstances will I eat any of this myself before I have offered it to the Buddhas in the ten directions and given it to poor, suffering sentient beings, such as hungry ghosts, until they are satiated.' After thinking this, they will obtain the five miraculous powers, enabling them to fly in space without hindrance; and then will go to offer the delicacies to the Buddhas, Tathagatas, and Sravakas in numberless Buddha-lands in the ten directions. The Bodhisattvas from my land will give the food to all the poor, distressed sentient beings in all those Buddha-lands and will explain the Dharma to them so as to free them from the thirst of desire. It will take the Bodhisattvas only an instant to accomplish all this and come back to their land.
I have vowed that when they are just born, all the Bodhisattvas in my land will obtain at will in their hands whatever kind of precious clothes they need, clean and fit for sramanas. Then they will think, 'I shall not use these myself until I have offered them to the Buddhas in the ten directions.' Thereupon, they will go to offer their precious clothes to the Buddhas of countless Buddha-lands in the ten directions and then return to their own land, all in a moment. Only after this will they enjoy the clothing themselves.
I have vowed that the Bodhisattvas in my land will offer their wealth, treasures, and necessities of life to Buddhas and Sravakas before they themselves enjoy them.
my land will be free from the eight adversities, unwholesome dharmas, wrongdoings and prohibitions, pain, annoyance, and unhappiness.
I have vowed that my Buddha-land will be formed of incalculable amounts of wonderful jewels and adorned with innumerable, interlaced, exquisite pearls. These pearls will be exceptionally rare and difficult to find in the ten directions; their names will be so numerous that no one could finish recounting them, even in millions of years. My land will appear to be made of gold to the Bodhisattvas who wish it to be made of gold, and will appear to be made of silver to the Bodhisattvas who wish it to be made of silver, without affecting its golden appearance to those who wish it to be made of gold. According to the Bodhisattvas' wishes, it will appear to be made of crystal, lapus lazuli, agate, pearls, or any other treasure without affecting its appearance to others. It will also appear to be made of fragrant sandalwood, of fragrant aloewood, of red sandalwood, or of any other kind of wood, all according to the Bodhisattvas' wishes.
My land will not be illuminated by the brilliance of suns, moons, pearls, stars, fire, and so forth. All the Bodhisattvas there will illuminate hundreds of billions of myriads of Buddha-lands with their own lights. In my land, it will be daytime when flowers open and night when flowers close, and the seasons will change according to the Bodhisattvas' wishes. There will be no cold, heat, old age, illness, or death.
If they wish, Bodhisattvas in my land may go to any other land to attain [supreme] enlightenment; they will attain it after descending from the Tusita Heaven when their lives come to an end there. No one in my Buddha-land will enter nirvana.
Though they will not appear in the sky, hundreds of thousands of musical instruments will be heard; their music will not be the sounds of greedy desire, but the sounds of the paramitas, the Buddha, the Dharma, the Samgha, and the doctrines of the Bodhisattva canon. The Bodhisattvas will be able to hear the wonderful Dharma in proportion to their understanding. If they wish to see the Buddha, they will see Universal Sight Tathagata sitting under the bodhi-tree as soon as they think of seeing him, wherever they are, whether walking, sitting, or standing. Bodhisattvas who have doubts about the Dharma will break the net of their doubts and comprehend the import of the Dharma at the sight of that Buddha, without receiving any explanation.
I have vowed to fill my Buddha-land with all the merits and magnificence of the lands of the hundreds of thousands of [millions of] billions of myriads of Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, whom I have seen before. However, my land will lack the two vehicles, the five depravities, and so forth. World-Honored One, if I myself enumerate the merits and magnificence of my Buddha-land, I cannot finish doing so even in kalpas as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges. Only the Buddha knows the scope of my vow.