Some Gems From The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra

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vikas113
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Some Gems From The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra

Post by vikas113 »

The Buddha told Bhadrapāla, “One who trains in this way will attain the samādhi in which present Buddhas all stand before one. If, among bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās, there are those who want to train according to this Dharma, they should fully observe their precepts and live alone in a place to think of Amitābha Buddha, who now is in the west. According to the teachings heard, one should also think of His land called Sukhāvatī, which is ten million koṭi Buddha Lands away from here. One should single-mindedly contemplate for one day and one night, or even seven days and seven nights. After the seventh day, one will see Him. By analogy, one sees things in a dream, not knowing whether it is day or night, indoors or outdoors, and one’s sight is impervious to darkness or obstructions.
“Bhadrapāla, Bodhisattvas should do this contemplation. Then huge mountains, Sumeru Mountains, and dark places in the intervening Buddha Lands will all fall away, not posing any obstruction. These Bodhisattvas will see across without having the God-eye, hear across without having the God-ear, and travel to that Buddha Land without possessing transcendental powers. It is not that they have died here and been reborn there, but that they can sit here and see everything there.
“As an analogy, a man hears that in the kingdom of Vaiśālī lives a prostitute named Sumanā; a second man hears of a prostitute called Āmrapālī; and a third man hears that Utpalavarṇā has become a prostitute. These three men have never seen those three women, but they have heard of them and their lust is ignited. They all live in Rājagṛha, and they have lustful thoughts concurrently. Each of them goes, in a dream, to the woman he thinks of and spends the night with her. When they wake up, they all remember their own dreams.”
The Buddha told Bhadrapāla, “The three women I have mentioned serve as an analogy. You may use this story to expound the sūtras, enabling others to unfold their wisdom so that they will arrive at the Ground of No Regress on the unsurpassed true Way. When they eventually attain Buddhahood, they all will be called Superb Enlightenment.”
The Buddha said, “Bodhisattvas in this land can see Amitābha Buddha by thinking intently only of Him. When they see Him, they can ask, ‘What Dharma should I uphold in order to be reborn in Your land?’ Amitābha Buddha will reply, ‘Those who wish to be reborn in my land should think of my name. If they can continue without rest, they will succeed in being reborn here.’”
The Buddha said, “Because of intent thinking, one will be reborn there. One should always think of Amitābha Buddha’s body with the thirty-two physical marks and the eighty excellent characteristics, unequaled in its majesty, radiating vast bright light to illuminate everywhere. He teaches, in the assembly of Bodhisattvas and bhikṣus, that dharmas [in true reality] are empty and, therefore, indestructible. Why? Because indestructible are all dharmas, such as form, pain, itch, thinking, perception, birth, death, consciousness, spirit, earth, water, fire, wind, the human world, and the heaven world, including Great Brahma Heaven. By thinking of a Buddha, one attains the Samādhi of Emptiness.”
Such a wonderful sutra it is. For full read use this link - The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra

Namo Amitabha Buddha! :bow: :bow: :bow:
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DewachenVagabond
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Re: Some Gems From The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra

Post by DewachenVagabond »

One day I'll go back and read this again. I remember it being one of my favorite sutras. I can't remember if I read it before or after reading the three main sutras, but I remember this sutra and Taming the Monkey Mind were the texts that really convinced me about Pure Land. Not only did I get the sense from reading these that Pure Land was an easy, but powerful practice, but they clearly show how Amitabha, nembutsu, and Pure Land Buddhism can both stand on its own as a practice, as well as fit into a larger Mahayana framework.
:bow: :buddha1: :bow: :anjali: :meditate:
Sentient Light
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Re: Some Gems From The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra

Post by Sentient Light »

This has always been one of my favorite texts; thanks for sharing.
:buddha1: Nam mô A di đà Phật :buddha1:
:bow: Nam mô Quan Thế Âm Bồ tát :bow:
:bow: Nam mô Đại Thế Chi Bồ Tát :bow:

:buddha1: Nam mô Bổn sư Thích ca mâu ni Phật :buddha1:
:bow: Nam mô Di lặc Bồ tát :bow:
:bow: Nam mô Địa tạng vương Bồ tát :bow:
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rory
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Re: Some Gems From The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra

Post by rory »

Sentient Light wrote: Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:32 pm This has always been one of my favorite texts; thanks for sharing.
Zhiyi (Chih-I, Chigi) the founder of the Tiantai school made the practice of this sutra one of the 4 samadhis; he wrote about it in his masterwork , the Great Calming and Contemplation, (Mohe Zhiguan, Maka Shikan) it still practiced today in the Tendai school. On Mt. Hiei certain monks do the practice of this sutra as one of the 4 great samadhis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhiyi#Four_Samadhis

I don't have the Swanson volume in front of me, but I will get the page reference for the Pratyupanna Samadhi practice, I know it's in volume 1.
Zhiyi included Pure Land practice in the Tiantai school and the Tendai school in Japan also has many great Pure Land practices that involve
visualization, contemplation, chanting and esoteric rituals!

Tendai has had many great Pure Land masters such as Ennin who was an esoteric master and Pure Land master and had travelled to China and written a very important travel diary.
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~inaasim/Ea ... ravels.htm
and the famous Genshin who wrote Ojoyoshuhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genshin and more.
gassho
Rory
Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu
Chih-I:
The Tai-ching states "the women in the realms of Mara, Sakra and Brahma all neither abandoned ( their old) bodies nor received (new) bodies. They all received buddhahood with their current bodies (genshin)" Thus these verses state that the dharma nature is like a great ocean. No right or wrong is preached (within it) Ordinary people and sages are equal, without superiority or inferiority
Paul, Groner "The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture"eds. Tanabe p. 58
https://www.tendai-usa.org/
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Some Gems From The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

The Taisho 417 that Rulu used & vikas quotes is quite different from T. 418 that Harrison translated for BDK. Here is part of the quote above in Harrison's translation:
The Buddha said: "By virtue of these dharmas of conduct one
brings about the meditation and then masters the Meditation in
Which the Buddhas of the Present All Stand Before One. By what
means does one bring about the Meditation in Which the Buddhas
of the Present All Stand Before One? In this way, Bhadrapala: if
there are any monks or nuns, laymen or laywomen who keep the
precepts in their entirety, they should settle down somewhere all
alone and call to mind the presence of the Buddha Amitabha in the
western quarter; then, in accordance with what they have learned,
they should reflect that a thousand million myriad Buddha-fields
away from here, in his land called SukhavatI, in the midst of a
host of bodhisattvas, he is preaching the sutras. Let them all constantly
call to mind the Buddha Amitabha."
Here is the BDK version:

http://www.bdkamerica.org/system/files/ ... ode&id=463
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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