Today, the 17th Day of the 11th Chinese Lunar Month, 22nd Dec 2010,
the Chinese Mahayana world celebrates the Solemnity of Amitabha Buddha
The Buddha Speaks on Amitabha Sutra
Sariputra, what do you think? Why is this Buddha called Amitabha?
Sariputra, the brilliance of that Buddha's light is measureless, illumining the lands of the ten directions everywhere without obstruction; for this reason he is called Amitabha.
Moreover Sariputra, the life of that Buddha and that of his people extends for measureless limitless asankhyeya kalpas; for this reason he is called Amitayus.
And Sariputra, since Amitabha realized Buddhahood, ten kalpas have passed.
The Buddha Speaks on the Larger Amitayus Sutra
The Buddha further said, "I have expounded this teaching for the sake of sentient beings and enabled you to see Amitayus and all in His Land. Strive to do what you should.
After I have passed into Nirvana, do not allow doubt to arise.
In the future, the Buddhist scriptures and teachings will perish.
But, out of pity and compassion, I will especially preserve this Sutra and maintain It in the world for a hundred years more.
Those beings who encounter it will attain deliverance in accord with their aspirations.
The Buddha Speaks on Contemplation of Amitayus Sutra
Then the World-Honored One said to Vaidehi, "Do you know that Amitayus is not far away?
Fix your thoughts upon and contemplate that Buddha-land, then you will accomplish the pure acts.
I shall describe it to you in detail with various illustrations,
so that all ordinary people in the future who wish to practice the pure karma may also be born in that Western Land of Utmost Bliss.
Whoever wishes to be born there should practice three acts of merit:
first, caring for one's parents, attending to one's teachers and elders, compassionately refraining from killing, and doing the ten good deeds;
second, taking the three refuges, keeping the various precepts and refraining from breaking the rules of conduct; and
third, awakening aspiration for Enlightenment, believing deeply in the law of causality, chanting the Mahayana Sutras and encouraging people to follow their teachings.
These three are called the pure karma."
The Buddha further said to Vaidehi,
"Do you know that these three acts are the pure karma practiced by all the Buddhas of the past, present and future as the right cause of Enlightenment?"
Amitabha Buddha, all in golden color,
with forms, features, and radiance unequalled.
White curl winding like the Five Sumeru Mountains, and eyes as clear as the Four Great Seas.
In his aura are transformed buddhas in countless millions and transformed bodhisattvas also in limitless number.
Forty-eight vows he made to enlighten sentient beings, and to enable all nine grades to reach the other shore.
Homage to the Most Compassionate One of the Western Paradise,
Amitabha Buddha!
拔一切業障根本得生淨土陀羅尼 (往生咒) - Dhāranī for Rebirth in the Pure Land namo amitābhāya tathāgatāya | tad-yathā oṁ amṛtod bhave | amṛta siddhaṁ bhave | amṛta vikrānte | amṛta vikrānta-gāmini | gagana kīrti-kare svāhā ||
Buddha Pronounces the Sūtra of Amitāyus Buddha, tr. Rulu wrote: The Buddha told Ānanda, “Amitāyus Buddha’s radiance is dignified and supreme, with which other Buddhas’ radiance cannot compare. There are Buddhas whose radiance reaches a distance of seven feet, or one, two, three, four, or five yojanas, or to a distance extended to illuminate one Buddha Land. There are Buddhas whose radiance illuminates 100 or 1,000 Buddha Lands.
“As Amitāyus Buddha’s radiance illuminates as many Buddha Lands in the east as the sands of the Ganges, so does it illuminate those in the south, west, and north, in the in-between directions, and toward the zenith and the nadir. Therefore, Amitāyus Buddha is also called Infinite Light Buddha, Boundless Light Buddha, Hindrance-Free Light Buddha, Matchless Light Buddha, Flame-King Light Buddha, Pure Light Buddha, Joyful Light Buddha, Wisdom Light Buddha, Ceaseless Light Buddha, Inconceivable Light Buddha, Ineffable Light Buddha, and Outshining the Sun-Moon Light Buddha.
“If sentient beings are touched by His radiance, their three afflictions will be eliminated and their bodies and minds will become gentle. They will be filled with joy and exuberance as benevolence arises in their minds. If those who are in extreme suffering, taking any of the three evil life-journeys, see this radiance, they can rest, no more pain or distress. After their death, they will be saved [from resuming such life-journeys].
“Amitāyus Buddha’s radiance gloriously illuminates Buddha Lands in the ten directions, and no one fails to hear of it. As I now praise His radiance, so too do all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Pratyekabuddhas, and voice-hearers.
“If sentient beings that have heard of His radiance, awesome spirit, and merit, unceasingly praise Him day and night with an earnest mind, they will be reborn in His land as they wish. There, multitudes of Bodhisattvas and voice-hearers will praise their merit. In addition, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas [in worlds] in the ten directions, just as they now praise [Amitāyus Buddha’s radiance], will praise these sentient beings’ radiance until their eventual attainment of Buddha bodhi.”
The Buddha continued, “I could describe the majesty and wonder of Amitāyus Buddha’s radiance and awesome spirit day and night for a kalpa, but still could not finish my narration.”
Buddha Pronounces the Sūtra of Amitābha Buddha, tr. Rulu wrote:“Śāriputra, what is your opinion? Why is this sūtra called a sūtra protected and remembered by all Buddhas? Śāriputra, if there are good men and good women who have heard and upheld this sūtra, and have heard Buddhas’ names, they are protected and remembered by all Buddhas. They will never regress from their resolve to attain anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi. Therefore, Śāriputra, you all should believe and accept my words and other Buddhas’ words. If there are those who have resolved, are now resolving, or will resolve to be reborn in Amitābha Buddha’s land, they will never regress from their resolve to attain anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi, whether they have already been reborn, are now being reborn, or will be reborn in that land. Therefore, Śāriputra, if, among good men and good women, there are those who believe [my words], they should resolve to be reborn in that land."
Lama Zopa Rinpoche wrote:If you recite Amitabha’s name every day, when you die you will go to the blissful realm of Amitabha like a rocket, without any obstacle.
July 23 2014 -
Prayer: I prostrate to the Tathagata Infinite Light Buddha.
I prostrate to the Suchness Savior Limitless Light.
Mantra:
OM AMI DEWA HRIH
If possible, recite this 108 times daily, then dedicate:
May I be born in the Western Blissful Realm.
Thich Thien Tam, Buddhism of Wisdom and Faith wrote:I vow that at the moment of death, there will be no obstacles.
The Lord Amitabha Buddha will welcome me from afar.
Avalokiteshvara will shower sweet dew upon my head.
Mahasthamaprapta will bring a lotus blossom for my feet.
In a split second, I will leave the turbid world, reaching the Pure Land in the time it takes to extend my arms.
When the lotus blossom opens, I will see Amitabha Buddha, the Compassionate.
Hearing the profound Dharma, I will be enlightened and reach Tolerance of No Birth.
I will then return to the Saha world, without leaving the Pure Land.
Through all kinds of expedients, I will benefit sentient beings, always taking earthly toil as buddha-work.
This is my vow.
Please accept it [buddhas and bodhisattvas], and help me fulfill it in the future.
from a Kagyu Chenrezig sadhana wrote:E MA HO NGO TSAR SANG GYE NANG WA TA YE DANG
YE SU JO WO TUK JE CHEN PO DANG
Wonderful Buddha of limitless light, to his right the Lord of Great Compassion,
YÖN DU SEM PA TU CHEN TOB NAM LA
SANG GYE JANG SEM PAK ME KOR GYI KOR
and to his left the Bodhisattva of Great Power, surrounded by an infinite retune of buddhas and bodhisattvas.
DE KYI NGO TSAR PAK TU ME PA YI
DE WA CHEN ZHE JA WAI ZHING KAM DER
The joy and happiness is limitless and wonderful in this pure land called Dewachen.
*DAG NI DI NE TSE PÖ GYUR MA TAK
KYE WA ZHEN GYI BAR MA CHÖ PA RU
As soon as this life has passed away, without the diversion of other births,
DE RU KYE NE NANG TAI ZHEL TONG SHOK
DE KE DAK GI MÖN LAM TAB PA DI
**may I be born there and thus behold the face of Amitabha.
*When reciting this prayer for others, recite "MIK YUL" instead of "DAG NI" and **"may the deceased" instead of "may I".
CHOK CHU SANG GYE JANG SEM TAM CHE KYI
GEK ME DRUB PAR JIN GYI LAB TU SÖL
All buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions, please grant your blessing that the wish expressed in this prayer be accomplished without hindrance.
TE YA TA PEN TSEN DRI YA AH WA BO DANI SO HA
Master Honen, Promise of Amida Buddha wrote:We have been firmly fettered by the enemy of worldly passions such as greed and anger and have transmigrated in the cage of the delusive three realms. Upon seeing this, Amida Buddha, with deep sympathy like a compassionate mother, cuts our ties of transmigration with the sharp sword of his name, sets the cherished boat of the essential vow afloat on the waves of the ocean of anguish and leads us to the shore of the Pure Land. Upon reflection of this, our joy becomes too much for words; we can wring the tears of joy out of our sleeves, and our heart is overwhelmed in adoration of Amida Buddha.
Master Shandao wrote:When sentient beings constantly and reverently prostrate themselves before Amida Buddha with their body, Amida Buddha will see them. When they arouse themselves to practice and to always recite with their lips the name of Amida Buddha, Amida Buddha will hear them. When they constantly think of Amida Buddha in their hearts, Amida Buddha will think of them. In these three kinds of karmic acts, Amida Buddha and sentient beings are not separate from each other. Hence, they are called intimate karmic relations.
Therefore, if you hold a rosary, Amida Buddha will see it. If you think in your mind to recite the nembutsu, Amida Buddha will, in his mind, think of you.
Master Yinguang, Pure Land Zen, Zen Pure Land wrote:Untold eons ago, Amitabha Buddha made forty-eight Vows to rescue sentient beings. One of the Vows [the eighteenth] stated:
If, after my obtaining Buddhahood, all beings in the ten quarters should desire in sincerity and trustfulness to be born in my country, and if they should not be born by only thinking of me ten times ..., may I not attain the highest Enlightenment. (J. Okazaki, Pure Land Buddhist Painting, p. 15.)
Although Amitabha Buddha, the Compassionate One, made such a Vow, if sentient beings do not seek His help, there is little He can do. However, anyone who recites his name with utter sincerity, vowing to leave the Saha World behind, will be welcomed and escorted to the Pure Land. Amitabha Buddha has great power; He can rescue sentient beings from the excrement pit and the prison of the defiled world, guide them to the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and help them enter the realms of the Buddhas to assume the prerogatives and functions of the Tathagatas (Buddhas).