Is exclusive Nembutsu practice required?

[Serenity509]

In Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, one exclusively calls on the name of Amida Buddha, or at least that's what is taught. But Mahayana Buddhism contains many Buddhas and Bodhisattva. Is it common for Pure Land Buddhists outside of Jodo Shinshu to call on Buddhas and Bodhisattva other than Amitabha for help?

One thing I've read about Quanyin, the feminine consort who represents the compassion of Amida Buddha, is that she's called upon for earthly difficulties, while Amitbha is called on for our salvation after death.

How did the idea originate in Jodo Shinshu that you only call on Amida Buddha, when Shinran himself decided to follow Honen after being instructed to do so by Quanyin (Kannon)?

What if you are a woman or you just happen to identify better with Buddhahood as personified in a female form?

[steveb1]

I am unfamiliar with the example you provided of Shinran, via Honen, praying to Kwan-Yin. If he did, I can't help but wonder if he did it while he was still in "learning mode", before his maturation in Shinjin.

As a Mahayanist I revere all the Buddhas, but there is entirely too much material in Jodo Shinshu insisting that Amida Buddha occupies such a central position that all the other Buddhas and cosmic helpers bow to Amida and point to Him. It's not exactly that these "Others" are unavailable for helping sentient beings. It's more that - once a seeker has found Shin's Amida and His power and teaching, the seeker naturally falls into Amida's embrace, which "never lets go" - and thus the need for other Buddhas is simply dissolved in Amida's all-encompassing work.

This is perhaps somewhat similar to the Protestant argument against the Catholic sainthood doctrine: "Why do I need to pray to Mary and the Saints when I can go straight to Jesus?", and of course it's similar to the case of Judaism: "Why do I need to pray to Jesus when I can pray straight to Ha Shem?" In Shin, the attitude seems to be, "Why would I pray to Kwan Yin or other Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, when I don't even need to pray to Amida at all, since He already has every issue of my salvation and enlightenment handled?" My understanding of Shin is: Once we know Amida's grace-and-embrace, and are granted Shinjin, there is no need to turn to any other salvific source, since Amida and His Working are all-sufficient.

As to Amida helping us mainly after death and (say) Kwan Yin helping us on earth, I have never heard of that idea before. I can only say that in the Shin sources I've read, there is an absolute break, separation, and division between this samsaric life and Amida/the Pure Land/Shinjin. That is, while Amida is "immanent" in the sense that His grace and his Shinjin are available here and now, He is utterly transcendent in that He never intervenes in the physical universe and never answers petitionary prayer, mainly because such things are not His role, not His "job". So it is simply unskilled behavior to direct petitionary prayer to Amida; and it is inappropriate for Shin adherents to do so with Kwan-Yin and other "Helpers", for reasons sketched below.

Were Amida some kind of creator-god, then of course He would incur ultimate responsibility for His creation and His creatures. But on the contrary, Amida is not a creator-god, but a transcendent Buddha. He does not - in contrast to typical creator-deities - perform miracles, manipulate material processes, or reply to petitionary prayer. This is, in part, because the world is not Creation or a creation, but rather, Samsara. Shin holds that even Amida never interferes with our karmic burden "here below". Amida allows us to work out our karma (for one final time), just as He permits the world/Samsara to go its own way. What He does do is ensure that this life will be our final karmic cycle and that we will "get off the Wheel" immediately upon death when we enter His Pure Land.

So I look on the situation as utterly hopeless if we base our faith in Amida on His power to intervene in the material world and answer our Samsaric prayers. But I also look on the situation as unimaginably hopeful if we base our faith on Amida's power - the only power that really matters for bombus aspiring to Buddhahood - to save us and to "bloom" us as Buddhas in the Pure Land. For me this is the only hope that matters - and Amida answers this hope with His "inconceivable" compassion. Thus, He is our end-all and be-all, and Kwan-Yin and the other Buddhas are still there - for practicers on other paths.

[Serenity509]

Thank you for your response. I am trying to focus on, not just Jodo Shinshu, but Pure Land Buddhism as a whole.

I am unfamiliar with the example you provided of Shinran, via Honen, praying to Kwan-Yin. If he did, I can't help but wonder if he did it while he was still in "learning mode", before his maturation in Shinjin.

Shinran also believed his wife to be a manifestation of Kannon:

Entrance to Daihoji, also known as Rokakudo. Rokakudo is where Shinran Shonin undertook a 100-day Retreat and where on the 95th day of his retreat, dreamt of the World-saving Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Kannon Bosatsu), who inspired him to look for his Master, Honen Shonin, who was then teaching the Nenbutsu at Otani at Higashiyama.
http://shinmission_sg.tripod.com/id31.html

In his dream, Shotoku, who appeared to Shinran as a manifestation of Kannon, assured Shinran that "she" would incarnate herself as Eshinni, thereby permitting Shinran to marry Eshinni with the implication that he would actually be marrying Kannon.
http://www.wisdom-books.com/ProductExtr ... ?PID=16701

As to Amida helping us mainly after death and (say) Kwan Yin helping us on earth, I have never heard of that idea before.

If you look at the common practices of Pure Land Buddhists outside of Jodo Shinshu, you will see other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas besides Amitabha who are called out to for help. Consider, for example, how Medicine Buddha is called out to when a person is sick:

http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.co ... uru_Buddha

I'm not saying these practices are right or wrong. I am just curious about what Pure Land Buddhists outside of Jodo Shinshu actually practice.

[steveb1]

Thanks for your detailed explanation of Kwan-Yin's operation/role beyond/outside of Jodo Shinshu. I had forgotten that Shinran viewed Eshinni as an expression of Kannon...and I have also read that (if memory serves) Shinran considered Honen to be an epiphany of Amida...then later some regarded Shinran himself to have been an "Amidic" incarnation. I'm not certain how this works in Mahayana. My only "incarnational" models come from my cast-off Christian past, with God and/or the Holy Spirit incarnating in the human nature of "the Carpenter from Galilee". Then of course, there are the incarnations claimed by various non-Christian religions. I'm not certain if I should take literally claims of incarnation or avatar in Shin. There's a difference between people claiming of a Shin figure, "S/he is/was an example of how Amida looks like lived-out in the life of a human being" on the one hand; and claiming of such a person, "S/he was merely the samsaric mask, the skillful means, by which the transcendent Buddha became flesh and dwelled among us". I would tend more to accepting the first notion, but I would have trouble with the second notion if it is meant to be taken as ontologically real. It raises the problem and the necessary question of whether Gotama, Honen, and Shinran knew during their human, mortal lives that they were in fact incarnations of Amida. It seems that they never taught that about themselves. If this lack of incarnational teaching meant that they were incarnations but were not aware of it, what could that possibly mean? It would be like Christians saying that Jesus was God/Son of God/Trinitarian Son, but he wasn't aware of it, and this is why Trinitarianism was only established some three hundred years after Jesus died. To me it just doesn't make sense...

[Serenity509]

In the case of Honen, Shinran, and Eshinni being incarnations, I tend to see it metaphorically, like they embodied the attributes of these Bodhisattvas. What I am curious about is the common practices of Pure Land Buddhists outside Jodo Shinshu.

[Caodemarte]

What is mean by calling Kwan Yin a "feminine consort" in the OP? Consort of whom?

[Serenity509]

What is mean by calling Kwan Yin a "feminine consort" in the OP? Consort of whom?

In Pure Land schools of Mahayana Buddhism, which stress the saving faith that is needed for rebirth in the Western Paradise of Amitabha (Chinese: Emituo Fo; Japanese: Amida), Guanyin forms part of a ruling triad, along with Amitabha and the bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta (Chinese: Daishizhi). Images of the three are often placed together in temples, and Guanyin, the female consort of Amitabha, is shown in painting welcoming the dead to the Western Paradise.
http://www.britannica.com/topic/Avalokiteshvara

[Caodemarte]

What is mean by calling Kwan Yin a "feminine consort" in the OP? Consort of whom?

In Pure Land schools of Mahayana Buddhism, which stress the saving faith that is needed for rebirth in the Western Paradise of Amitabha (Chinese: Emituo Fo; Japanese: Amida), Guanyin forms part of a ruling triad, along with Amitabha and the bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta (Chinese: Daishizhi). Images of the three are often placed together in temples, and Guanyin, the female consort of Amitabha, is shown in painting welcoming the dead to the Western Paradise.
http://www.britannica.com/topic/Avalokiteshvara

Thanks. So consort is used here with the meaning of as a companion, associate, or partner and not as I was reading it with the meaning of husband or wife; spouse, especially of a reigning monarch.

[Serenity509]

Kannon or Guanyin is often depicted as a protector of children or one who helps grant children:

https://www.google.com/search?q=kuan+yi ... hildren%22

She is revered as the ideal mother.

[Fortyeightvows]

Is exclusive Nembutsu practice required?

Maybe in japanese buddhism.
The sutra says amitabha, two bodhisattvas, the lotus throne, the ground of the pureland...

Exclusive nembutsu practice is not required but it is sufficient.

The name is like a placecard for amitabha in our minds, you know?

[steveb1]

The name is like a placecard for amitabha in our minds, you know?

I'm sure it is a placecard for all PL practicers, especially the ones outside of Shinran's Jodo Shinshu school - the ones which serenity was examining. But within Jodo Shinshu the Nembutsu is regarded as more than Amitabha's placecard - it's seen as a sacramental interaction between Amida Buddha and the Nembutsu reciter. Amida issues the Call, and He prompts the echo in the reciter. But that's Shin, not necessarily any of the other PL sects...

Exclusive nembutsu practice is not required but it is sufficient.

Yes, it's the essential bedrock.

[Serenity509]

Please keep in mind that, according to Shinran, those who recite the Nembutsu receive the protection from all Buddhas. So I guess that, from that perspective, calling out to the names of other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is unnecessary. The help of Kannon, though, was an important part of Shinran's life.

Then again, if you happen to better connect with Buddhahood or the divine (whichever term you prefer) in a female form, why not call out to the name of Kannon? What harm is there in it, if Kannon embodies the compassion of Amida?

It's common in Japan, at least outside of Jodo Shinshu, to call out "Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu." The word Nembutsu originally means "mindfulness of the Buddha," which I assume can be applied to any Buddha.

I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone by sharing these things. It seems that exclusive devotion to Amida is unique to Jodo Shinshu, though I could be wrong.

[sth9784]

The doctrinal reason for calling upon only Amida can be stated as is given in Master Shan-tao's Liturgy for Birth.

"Question: ...Why do you only praise the Buddha in the west and encourage an exclusive practice of worshiping, concentrating on him, and so forth?

Answer: Although all Buddhas have attained one and the same enlightenment, when viewed in terms of vows and practices, their causes and conditions are not indiscernible. Now, Amida the World-honored One formerly made deep and weighty vows, and embraces beings of the ten quarters with his Light and Name. They are only expected to establish faith. By reciting the Name until death or reciting it even ten times or once, one can easily attain birth in his land through the Vow-Power of that Buddha. For this reason, Shakyamuni and other Buddhas especially urge people to face west. This does not mean that recitation of other Buddhas' names cannot remove karmic hindrances and extinguish karmic evils. One should realize this.

Those who are mindful of Amida continuously until the end of their lives as stated above will be born in the Pure Land, ten out of ten and a hundred out of a hundred. The reason is that they are free of miscellaneous influences from outside, they have attained the right mindfulness, they are in accord with the Buddha's Primal Vow, they do not disagree with the Buddha's teachings, and they accord with the Buddha's words.

Those who set aside the exclusive practice and seek to perform miscellaneous acts will rarely attain birth, perhaps one or two out of a hundred or three or five out of a thousand. The reason is that miscellaneous influences arise in confusion and disrupt one's right-mindfulness. Such practitioners are not in accord with the Buddha's Primal Vow, they are in disagreement with the Buddha's teachings, they do not accord with the Buddha's words, their mindfulness does not continue, their recollecting thoughts are intermittent, their aspiration for birth by transferring their merits towards it is not deep-rooted and sincere, evil passions such as greed, anger and various wrong views arise to interrupt their mindfulness, and they lack the mind of repentance."

Quote taken from Hisao Inagaki's translation which can be viewed in full here. http://www.euroshinshu.org/www12.canvas ... raisan.htm

[Serenity509]

Please keep in mind that one can trust alone in Amitabha for what happens after death while turning to other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for earthly difficulties or to seek spiritual comfort while still in this world.

[Serenity509]

This is from the Contemplation Sutra:

9. Contemplating Amitayus himself with boundless physical dimensions.
One who visualizes him also beholds all the buddhas, and so attains the samadhi
of mindfulness of the Buddha.
10. Contemplating Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin)...

The Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta have a similar
appearance, wherever they are. Sentient beings can only tell one from the
other by looking at the emblems on their heads. These two bodhisattvas
assist Amitayus in saving all beings everywhere.
http://www.bdk.or.jp/pdf/bdk/digitaldl/ ... s_2003.pdf

Please keep in mind that my only desire in this thread is to see what Pure Land Buddhists outside of Jodo Shinshu believe and practice. I'm sorry if I'm giving a wrong impression.

A central deity in Jingtu Buddhism is the Guanyin (jap.: Kan'on) Bodhisattva, the Chinese form of the Avalokiteshvara.
http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.co ... 5%AE%97%29

In Pure Land Buddhism, Guanyin is described as the "Barque of Salvation". Along with Amitabha Buddha and the bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, She temporarily liberates beings out of the Wheel of Samsara into the Pure Land, where they will have the chance to accrue the necessary merit so as to be a Buddha in one lifetime.
http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.co ... hp/Guanyin

Guanyin is immensely popular among Chinese Buddhists, especially those from devotional schools. She is generally seen as a source of unconditional love and, more importantly, as a saviour. In her bodhisattva vows, Guanyin promises to answer the cries and pleas of all sentient beings and to liberate them from their own karmic woes. Based on the Lotus Sutra and the Shurangama sutra, Avalokitesvara is generally seen as a saviour, both spiritually and physically. The sutras state that through his saving grace even those who have no chance of being enlightened can be enlightened, and those deep in negative karma can still find salvation through his compassion.
http://www.liquisearch.com/guanyin/guan ... e_buddhism

One Buddhist legend from the Complete Tale of Guanyin and the Southern Seas (Chinese: 南海觀音全撰; pinyin: Nánhǎi Guānyīn Quánzhuàn) presents Guanyin as vowing to never rest until she had freed all sentient beings from saṃsāra or reincarnation.[16] Despite strenuous effort, she realised that there were still many unhappy beings yet to be saved. After struggling to comprehend the needs of so many, her head split into eleven pieces. The buddha Amitābha, upon seeing her plight, gave her eleven heads to help her hear the cries of those who are suffering. Upon hearing these cries and comprehending them, Avalokiteśvara attempted to reach out to all those who needed aid, but found that her two arms shattered into pieces. Once more, Amitābha came to her aid and appointed her a thousand arms to let her reach out to those in need.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanyin

[Serenity509]

Here are chants to Guan Yin on a Pure Land website:

http://www.amitabha-gallery.org/guanyin.htm

This is from a Pure Land website:

Namu Guan Shin Yin Pusa

She Who Hears the Cries of the World

A very long time ago, Avalokitesvara, Guanyin in Chinese, vowed that if she ever became disheartened in saving sentient beings, may her body shatter into a thousand pieces. Once, after liberating countless beings from the hell realms by teaching them the Dharma, she looked back down into the hell realms. To her horror, she saw that the hell realms were quickly filling up again!

In a fleeting moment of despair, she felt profound grief. And in that moment, in accordance with her vow, her body shattered into a thousand pieces. She beseeched the Buddhas to help and many did. Like a fall of snowflakes they came. One of those Buddhas was Amitabha. He and the other Buddhas helped to re-form her body into one that had a thousand arms and hands, with an eye of wisdom in each hand. In this way, she could better help all sentient beings.

Guanyin Bodhisattva is also known as "She Who Hears the Cries of the World."

Right now, our world is crying for help. She is listening.

Are we?

Extract from a buddhist perspective.

Let our planet Earth be well and clean again. Let Us all Pray together. Namo Guan Shi Yin Pusa......
http://www.amtbweb.org/tchet630.htm

It seems that only in Japan is Pure Land devotion focused solely on Amida:

From what I have learned in Chinese Buddhism, the following are all considered to be mainstream practices of the "Avalokitesvara Methodology":

1. Reciting Avalokitesvara's name, usually some form of "Nama Aarya Awaloki'te-swaraaya Bodhisattwaaya". Reference is the Universal Gate in the Lotus Sutra, as Jechan mentioned. This can be an alternative or supplement to chanting Amitaabha's name in the Pure Land practice.

2. Reciting the mantra "Om! Man!i Padme Huum!" from The Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1050).

3. Reciting the Great Compassionate Dharani, from the Great Compassionate Dharani Sutra.

4. Reciting the Heart Sutra and practising the teaching therein.

5. Cultivation of perfect penetration of the ear, from the Shurangama Sutra.

The above are just the more popular ones in Chinese Buddhism. Obviously the list will be much longer if you include the many mantra of Avalokitesvara and his different forms, such as Cundi as Anders mentioned. I can list these mantra if requested.

[Serenity509]

The doctrinal reason for calling upon only Amida can be stated as is given in Master Shan-tao's Liturgy for Birth.

"Question: ...Why do you only praise the Buddha in the west and encourage an exclusive practice of worshiping, concentrating on him, and so forth?

Answer: Although all Buddhas have attained one and the same enlightenment, when viewed in terms of vows and practices, their causes and conditions are not indiscernible. Now, Amida the World-honored One formerly made deep and weighty vows, and embraces beings of the ten quarters with his Light and Name. They are only expected to establish faith. By reciting the Name until death or reciting it even ten times or once, one can easily attain birth in his land through the Vow-Power of that Buddha. For this reason, Shakyamuni and other Buddhas especially urge people to face west. This does not mean that recitation of other Buddhas' names cannot remove karmic hindrances and extinguish karmic evils. One should realize this.

Those who are mindful of Amida continuously until the end of their lives as stated above will be born in the Pure Land, ten out of ten and a hundred out of a hundred. The reason is that they are free of miscellaneous influences from outside, they have attained the right mindfulness, they are in accord with the Buddha's Primal Vow, they do not disagree with the Buddha's teachings, and they accord with the Buddha's words.

Those who set aside the exclusive practice and seek to perform miscellaneous acts will rarely attain birth, perhaps one or two out of a hundred or three or five out of a thousand. The reason is that miscellaneous influences arise in confusion and disrupt one's right-mindfulness. Such practitioners are not in accord with the Buddha's Primal Vow, they are in disagreement with the Buddha's teachings, they do not accord with the Buddha's words, their mindfulness does not continue, their recollecting thoughts are intermittent, their aspiration for birth by transferring their merits towards it is not deep-rooted and sincere, evil passions such as greed, anger and various wrong views arise to interrupt their mindfulness, and they lack the mind of repentance."

Quote taken from Hisao Inagaki's translation which can be viewed in full here. http://www.euroshinshu.org/www12.canvas ... raisan.htm

This seems interesting:

In Hymns in Praise of Birth (Wang-sheng-li-tsan), Shandao taught the Four Modes of Practice that develop through devotion to Amitābha:

Reverence shown to Amitābha and bodhisattvas in Sukhavati: Avalokiteśvara and Mahasthamaprapta.
Wholehearted and exclusive practice of reciting Amitābha's name.
Uninterrupted, as in routine, practice.
Long-term practice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandao

This raises the question of how we show reverence.

[sth9784]

Please keep in mind that, according to Shinran, those who recite the Nembutsu receive the protection from all Buddhas. So I guess that, from that perspective, calling out to the names of other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is unnecessary. The help of Kannon, though, was an important part of Shinran's life.

Regarding the benefits that can be obtained by calling upon Avalokitesvara, or Mahasthamaprapta, or any other Buddha, or Bodhisattva, it is stated in chapter 15 of the Senchakushu by Master Honen the following:

"In the Hymns in Praise of Rebirth it is said: 'If anyone calls on the Buddha in hope of Rebirth, he will always be protected by all of the Buddhas of the six directions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. That is why it is called the "sutra of protection". Since this supreme Vow exists, you should rely on it, Why then do not all the Buddha's children apply themselves [to this practice]?

(Honen's Comment) Someone might ask whether or not it is true that only Tathagatas of the six directions protect the practioner. I answer that it is not just the Tathagatas of the six directions, but also Amida, Avalokitesvara, and others come to protect them. That is why the Hymns in Praise of Rebirth says: 'It is stated in the Sutra of Ten Rebirths that if there be sentient beings who think of Amida Buddha and desire Rebirth, then Amida will dispatch twenty-five Bodhisattvas to protect these practitioners. Whether they be walking, sitting, standing still, or lying down, whether in the day or night, at whatever time or in whatever place, devils and evil spirits will be kept from coming into contact with them.'

And again, it is said in the Meditation Sutra that if anyone extols, reverences, and thinks of Amida Buddha and desires to be reborn in his Land, then that Buddha will send an innumerable host of Transformation Buddhas and Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta in countless transformation bodies to protect such a practioner."

Some might say that by knowing the benefits of calling upon Amida, and still calling upon other Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, you are not following the 4 modes of practice as taught by Master Shan-tao. I am not sure how the 4 modes of practice are taught, if at all, in present day Jodo Shinshu, so it could be largely irrelevant. For Master Honen though, the teachings of Master Shan-tao are essential, as Master Honen considered him to be an incarnation of Amida, and dedicates a chapter in his Senchakushu to the 4 modes of practice.

[sth9784]

This seems interesting:

In Hymns in Praise of Birth (Wang-sheng-li-tsan), Shandao taught the Four Modes of Practice that develop through devotion to Amitābha:

Reverence shown to Amitābha and bodhisattvas in Sukhavati: Avalokiteśvara and Mahasthamaprapta.
Wholehearted and exclusive practice of reciting Amitābha's name.
Uninterrupted, as in routine, practice.
Long-term practice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandao

This raises the question of how we show reverence.

I believe showing reverence can be either just saying the Name, or "the four modes of acts, which, coupled with the three minds and the Five Mindful Practices...". I interpret it as just saying the Name, because by saying the Name one comes to realize the three minds, and the four modes. I could be wrong, and if so I hope someone could clarify the matter. The Five Mindful Practices mentioned are taken from Vasubandhu's Discourse on the Pure Land, which can be located here. http://www.euroshinshu.org/www12.canvas ... odoron.htm

[Serenity509]

I believe showing reverence can be either just saying the Name

Can this saying of the name be in the form of "Namo Guan Shi Yin Pusa" or "Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu"? The prominence of devotion to Quanyin in Pure Land Buddhism outside of Jodo Shinshu is very new to me.

In the following sutra, Avalokiteśvara and Amitabha are featured prominantly, though I don't know where or how the sutra originated:

Sūtra of the Prophecy Bestowed upon Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva
http://www.sutrasmantras.info/sutra07.html

Here is another sutra in which they are both featured prominantly:

The Buddha said: "This Bodhisattva is called Avalokitesvara, the Unrestricted One, also called Nipping a Lariat, also called A Thousand Bright Eyes. Virtuous man, this Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva has unimaginable mighty and holy powers. Uncountable kalpas before, he had already been a Buddha named True Dharma Brightness Tathagata. Because of the power of his great compassionate vows, and in order to call upon all Bodhisattvas to comfort and please all living beings, he appears as a Bodhisattva. All of you, including the Bodhisattvas, Brahmas, Gods of the 33 heavens, dragons, and divinities, should show respect to him, do not despise him. All heavenly and human beings should constantly make offerings to him and recite his name absorbedly, then they will get infinite blessings and eliminate countless sins, and at the end of their lives, they will be reborn in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha."...

"After making these vows, recite my name(Namo Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) with the deep-felt sincere heart, also recite single-mindedly the name of my teacher -- Amitabha Tathagata(Namo Amitabha), then recite this mantra, 5 times or more in a day, to remove from the body the weighty sins of births and deaths accumulated in hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas."
http://www.fodian.net/world/dabei_sutra.htm