Taishō no. 362
Translated into Chinese by the layman Zhi Qian of the Kingdom of the Yuezhi, during the Wu (c. 223-253)
Translated into English by Shaku Shingan
Completed on 1 September 2026

The Assembly

The Buddha was in Rājagṛha, on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa. 

At that time there was a great community of bhikṣus, twelve thousand in number, all of them pure and of a single kind, all arhats: the venerable Kauṇḍinya, the venerable Aśvajit, the venerable Mahānāman, the venerable Bhadrijitā, the venerable Sumanas, the venerable Vimati,1 the venerable Pūrṇa, the venerable Gavāṃpati, the venerable Uruvilvā Kāśyapa, the venerable Nadī Kāśyapa, the venerable Gayā Kāśyapa,2 the venerable Śāriputra, the venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, the venerable Mahākāśyapa, the venerable Mahākātyāyana, the venerable Mahākapphina,3 venerable Mahākauṣṭhila, the venerable Mahābrahmadatta,4 the venerable Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra,5 the venerable Aniruddha, the venerable Nandika, the venerable Kimbila, the venerable Subhūti, the venerable Revata, the venerable Mogharāja, the venerable Mahāpārāyaṇika, the venerable Vakkula, the venerable Nandin, the venerable Pantha,6 the venerable Svāgata, and the venerable Rāhula.7 Such bhikṣus as these were exceedingly many, several thousand koṭis of myriads in number, all of them bodhisattvas and arhats beyond reckoning and past all counting; and they all sat together in great assembly, all of them venerable ones.

Ānanda's Question

At that time the Buddha was seated, resting and contemplating the true Path, and upon his face there was a radiance of nine colours, changing several thousand hundred times, its coloured light exceedingly great and bright. Ānanda then rose, arranged his kāṣāya afresh, came forward and touched his head to the Buddha’s feet, then knelt upright with palms joined and asked the Buddha: “Today the light and colour of the Buddha’s face—why does it change and brighten again and again, even so? Now the light of the Buddha’s face is refined into several thousand hundred colours, its brightness and beauty above and below just so. Since I have attended upon the Buddha, I have never seen the Buddha’s face have such a colour as today. I have never seen the light and authoritative power of a Samyak-saṃbuddha to be even such. There must surely be some intent [behind this]; I wish to hear it.”

The Buddha said: “Venerable Ānanda! Was it that some devas taught you, or that the buddhas taught you, that you now ask me this? Or did you, of your own good intention, come to ask the Buddha?”

Ānanda said to the Buddha: “There were no devas who taught me, nor were there any buddhas who taught me to ask the Buddha. It was of my own good mind that I knew the Buddha’s intent, and so asked the Buddha. Whenever the Buddha sits or rises, walks or comes, goes out or enters, whatever place he wishes to reach, whatever he is about to do, whatever he instructs and commands—I always fall in with the Buddha’s intent. Now the Buddha must surely be mindful of the buddhas already passed away, the buddhas yet to come, or the buddhas now present in the buddha-lands of the other directions; and it is because you are turning your thought upon one another that the light and colour of the Buddha’s face is even so!”

The Buddha said: “Sādhu, sādhu! Venerable Ānanda! What you have asked is exceedingly profound and greatly excellent, and liberates many. To ask the Buddha is better than to make offerings to all the arhats and pratyekabuddhas of a whole world, and to give gifts to all the devas and humans and to the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times over, through piled-up kalpas.” [1-0124] 

The Buddha said: “Ānanda! Now the deva sovereigns of the worlds, the kings and people, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things—all these you shall liberate.”

The Buddha said: “The authoritative power of a buddha is exceedingly weighty and hard to withstand. What you have asked is exceedingly profound; you have shown a compassionate mind toward the Buddha in pitying the devas, sovereigns, kings, and people, and the bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās. Great goodness is just this: that all should be liberated.”

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “As in the world there is the udumbara tree, which has only fruit and no flower—only when there is a buddha in the world does the flower come forth! When there is a buddha in the world, it is exceedingly hard to encounter him. Now I have appeared in the world as a buddha; if there be any of great virtue, noble insight, and good mind who foreknows the Buddha’s intent, let him not fail to be near the Buddha and attend upon the Buddha.”

The Buddhas of the Past and Lokeśvararāja

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “As for what has already passed away, since a mahāsaṃkhya of kalpas has come and gone, in kalpas beyond reckoning and past all counting, there was, at that time, a buddha of the past named Dīpaṅkara.8 Next there was a buddha named Caṇḍana,9 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Sumerukalpasattva,10 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Vimala,11 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Annali,12 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Nāgābhi,13 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Śrīkūṭapālayaśas,14 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Merukūṭa,15 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Vaiḍūryanirbhāsa,16 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Jyotiṣprabha,17 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Bonbuti,18 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Dharālokya,19 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Candrābhibhū,20 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Sūryaghoṣa,21 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Muktakusumapratimaṇḍitaprabha,22 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Śrīkūṭa,23 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Mahānadī,24 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Jitamati,25 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Naragiri,26 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Śūrakuroca,27 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Mahāgunadharabuddhiprāptābhijña,28 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Candrasūryajihmīkaraṇa,29 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Candrasakuśī,30 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Praparacavinī,31 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Praptavaśī,32 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Asurajitakāra,33 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Muktacchatra,34 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Śrīyaśas,35 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Dharmavati,36 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Śreyavighuṣṭa,37 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Royati,38 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Saṃkāramerugati,39 now passed away. Next there was a buddha named Dharmamativinanditarāja,40 now passed away.”

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “Next there was a buddha named Lokeśvararāja, who taught and instructed in the world, and whose lifespan was forty-two kalpas. At that time there was in the world a king of a great country. The king heard the Buddha’s sūtra and the Path, and his mind at once rejoiced and opened in understanding. He thereupon abandoned his country and cast off his kingship and went forth to become a śramaṇa, styled Dharmākara. He practised the bodhisattva way; he was a man of lofty talent, of wisdom and valour, standing apart from the people of the world. He went to the place of Lokeśvararāja Buddha, came forward and did homage to the Buddha, then knelt upright with palms joined and said to the Buddha: ‘I wish to seek buddhahood and to practise the bodhisattva way. Grant that when I later become a buddha, among the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below I may be the most honoured in wisdom and valour. Let the light in my head be like the light of a buddha, blazing and illumining without limit. Let the land I dwell in be, of itself, of the seven treasures, exceedingly soft and fine. Grant that when I later become a buddha, my teaching and my name shall be heard in the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below, and there shall be none who does not hear and know my name. Let all the innumerable devas and humans, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, who come to be born in my land, be made bodhisattvas and arhats beyond number, surpassing every other buddha-land. Can such a thing be obtained, or not?’”

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “That Lokeśvararāja Buddha, knowing that his lofty insight and what he vowed were excellent, then expounded a sūtra for the bodhisattva Dharmākara, saying: ‘It is like the great ocean water of the world: were one man to measure it out by the bushel, not ceasing for a whole kalpa, it could yet be drained dry and emptied so that one reached the mud at its bottom. If a person with a sincere mind seeks the Path, how should it not be attained? Seeking and striving without cease, one shall assuredly attain the vows one’s heart desires.’ 

“The bodhisattva Dharmākara, hearing Lokeśvararāja Buddha expound the sūtras thus, at once rejoiced greatly and leapt for joy. That Buddha then, among the two hundred and ten koṭis of buddha-lands, selected the good and the evil among the devas and humans, and the beauty and ugliness of the lands, and, according to what he had vowed in his mind, made his selection. When Lokeśvararāja Buddha had finished expounding the sūtra, Dharmākara unified his mind, and at once attained the penetrating vision of the divine eye, and himself beheld the whole of the good and evil among the devas and humans, and the beauty and ugliness of the lands, in the two hundred and ten koṭis of buddha-lands. He then selected what he had vowed in his mind, and thereupon bound together these twenty-four vows and this sūtra, and undertook to practise it, striving with valour and diligence, seeking through bitter toil. Thus through innumerable kalpas he served and made offerings to the buddhas already passed away, likewise beyond number. 

“That bodhisattva Dharmākara thereafter brought himself to the point of becoming a buddha, named Amida Buddha, most honoured in wisdom and valour, his light beyond compare. He is now present, and the land he dwells in is exceedingly excellent. In another buddha-land of a different quarter he teaches and instructs the innumerable devas and humans of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things; and there is none who is not liberated from grief and suffering.”

The Twenty-Four Vows

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “When Amida Buddha was a bodhisattva, he constantly undertook and practised to accomplish these twenty-four vows, treasuring and prizing them as precious treasures, guarding and keeping them with reverence and care, applying himself in meditation to follow them; and he was so transcendent above the multitude, so eminent and set apart, that there was none who could match him.”

The Buddha said: “What are the twenty-four vows?

“The first vow: When I become a buddha, let there be in my land no niraya,41 no beasts, no pretas, and no classes of flying and creeping and crawling things. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.42

“The second vow: When I become a buddha, let there be in my land no women; and let any woman who wishes to come and be born in my land at once become a man. Let all the innumerable devas and humans, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, who come to be born in my land, be born by transformation within the lotus flowers of the ponds of the seven treasures, and grow up to become bodhisattvas and arhats without number. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.43

“The third vow: When I become a buddha, let my land be, of itself, of the seven treasures, broad and long, exceedingly vast, boundless, and of itself soft and fine. Let the dwellings, the garments, and the food and drink all be, of themselves, such as those in the dwelling-place of the king of the sixth heaven.44 If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.45 [1-0125] 

“The fourth vow: When I become a buddha, let my name be heard in the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below; and let all the buddhas, each in the great assembly of their community of bhikṣus, proclaim my merits and the goodness of my land. Let the devas and humans, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, who hear my name, all with compassionate mind rejoice and leap for joy, and let them all come to be born in my land. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.46

“The fifth vow: When I become a buddha, let all the innumerable devas and humans of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, who in a former life did evil, but who hear my name and wish to come and be born in my land, at once turn about and repent of their faults, practise the Path and do good, and hold to the sūtrasand the precepts, wishing to be born in my land without ceasing. At the end of their lives let them all not return again to niraya, to the beasts, or to the pretas, but be born at once in my land, according to what their minds aspire. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.47

“The sixth vow: When I become a buddha, let the devas and humans of the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below—whether a son of good family or a daughter of good family—who wish to come and be born in my land, and who for my sake do the more good, whether by the giving of alms, by circling stūpas and burning incense, by scattering flowers and lighting lamps, by hanging up varied silks and banners, by giving food to śramaṇas, by raising stūpas and making temples, and who cut off desire and come to be born in my land as bodhisattvas—let it be so. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.48

“The seventh vow: When I become a buddha, let the devas and humans of the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below—whether a son of good family or a daughter of good family—who practise the bodhisattva way and undertake the sūtras of the six pāramitās, or who become śramaṇas and do not go against the sūtras and the precepts, who cut off desire and keep the fast and the precepts in purity, single-mindedly holding in mind the wish to be born in my land, by day and by night without ceasing—if such a person, when their life is about to end, I, together with the bodhisattvas and arhats, shall go flying to welcome them, and they shall at once come to be born in my land and become non-retrogressing bodhisattvas, of wisdom and valour. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.49

“The eighth vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas in my land who wish to go and be born in the buddha-lands of other directions all be caused not to pass again through niraya, the beasts, or the pretas, but all to attain buddhahood. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.50

“The ninth vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas and arhats in my land all have faces upright, pure, and comely, all of one single colour, all of one single kind, all like the beings of the sixth heaven. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.51

“The tenth vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas and arhats in my land all be of one mind in what they hold in mind and what they wish, so that the speaker’s meaning is known to the others beforehand. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.52

“The eleventh vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas and arhats in my land all be without any lustful mind; let there be in the end no thought of women, and in the end none of anger or of folly. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.53

“The twelfth vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas and arhats in my land all have their minds set on mutual reverence and loving kindness, and in the end none who envy or hate one another. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.54

“The thirteenth vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas in my land who wish together to make offerings to the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below all be caused to fly, and so at once to arrive; and whatever of the ten thousand kinds of natural things they wish to have, let it all be at once before them, to be taken and used in making offerings to the buddhas; and when they have made their offerings everywhere, before the day is at noon, let them fly back to my land. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.55 [1-0126] 

“The fourteenth vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas and arhats in my land, when they wish to eat, at once have before them, of themselves, in bowls of the seven treasures, food of a hundred flavours arising of itself; and when they have eaten, let it depart of itself. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.56

“The fifteenth vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas in my land all be of the colour of purple-magenta gold, with the thirty-two marks and the eighty excellent characteristics, all like a buddha. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.57

“The sixteenth vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas and arhats in my land, when they speak, be like the sound of three hundred bells; and in expounding the sūtras and practising the Path let them all be like a buddha. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.58

“The seventeenth vow: When I become a buddha, let my penetrating vision and pervading hearing, and my power of flight, be tenfold, surpassing the buddhas. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.59

“The eighteenth vow: When I become a buddha, let my wisdom in expounding the sūtras and practising the Path be tenfold beyond the buddhas. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.60

“The nineteenth vow: When I become a buddha, let all the devas and humans of the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, be enabled to attain the human destiny, and all become pratyekabuddhas and arhats; and were they all to sit in meditation with single mind and wish together to reckon and know the number of the years of my lifespan, how many thousands of koṭis of myriads of kalpas of years it be, let there be none able to reach the limit and know my lifespan. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.61

“The twentieth vow: When I become a buddha, let all the devas and humans in the thousand koṭis of buddha-lands, in each of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, all become pratyekabuddhas and arhats, and were they all to sit in meditation with single mind and wish together to reckon and count the bodhisattvas and arhats in my land, and to know how many thousands of koṭis of myriads of them there be, let there be none able to know the number. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.62

“The twenty-first vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas and arhats in my land have lifespans of innumerable kalpas. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.63

“The twenty-second vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas and arhats in my land all be of wisdom and valour, knowing of themselves their former lives from the koṭis of myriads of kalpas past, and the good and evil they did, and knowing without limit; and let them all see penetratingly and know the affairs of the ten directions, past, future, and present. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.64

“The twenty-third vow: When I become a buddha, let the bodhisattvas and arhats in my land all be of wisdom and valour, and in each of their heads let there be a radiance. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.65

“The twenty-fourth vow: When I become a buddha, let the radiance in my head be surpassingly beautiful, exceeding the brightness of the sun and moon by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times, and surpassing all the buddhas. Let its light blaze and illumine the innumerable worlds, so that the places of darkness and gloom are all made greatly bright. Let the devas and humans, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, who behold my light, all with compassionate mind do good, and let them all come to be born in my land. If I obtain this vow, I shall become a buddha; if I do not obtain this vow, I shall in the end not become a buddha.”66

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “When Amida was a bodhisattva, he constantly undertook and practised to accomplish these twenty-four vows. He gave alms, portioning them out; he did not transgress the precepts of the Path; he practised patience, diligence, single-mindedness, and wisdom; his aspiration and vow were ever valiant, and he did not go against the sūtras and its Dharma. Seeking without slackening, ever alone he abandoned his country and cast off his kingship, and cut himself off from wealth and beauty; refined and clear, he sought his vow with no preference or aversion, heaping up merit and accumulating virtue through innumerable kalpas. Now he has, of himself, reached the point of becoming a buddha, and has obtained all of it, not losing his labour.”

The Supremacy of Amida's Light

[1-0127] The Buddha said: “Amida Buddha’s light is the most honoured, the first, beyond compare; the light of the buddhas cannot reach it. Among the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below, there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines seven vyāmas;67 there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines one yojana;68 there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines two yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines five yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines ten yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines twenty yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines forty yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines eighty yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines a hundred and sixty yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines three hundred and twenty yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines six hundred and forty yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines one thousand three hundred yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines two thousand six hundred yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines five thousand two hundred yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines ten thousand four hundred yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines twenty-one thousand yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines forty-two thousand yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines eighty-four thousand yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines a hundred and seventy thousand yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines three hundred and fifty thousand yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines seven hundred thousand yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines one million five hundred thousand yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines three million yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines six million yojanas; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines one buddha-land; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines two buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines four buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines eight buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines fifteen buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines thirty buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines sixty buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines a hundred and twenty buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines two hundred and forty buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines five hundred buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines a thousand buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines two thousand buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines four thousand buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines eight thousand buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines sixteen thousand buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines thirty-two thousand buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines sixty-four thousand buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines a hundred and thirty thousand buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines two hundred and sixty thousand buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines five hundred thousand buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines a million buddha-lands; there is a buddha the light in whose head illumines two million buddha-lands.”

The Buddha said: “The light in the heads of the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below blazes and illumines just so. Amida Buddha’s light, blazing in his head, illumines a thousand myriad buddha-lands. Why is it that the light illumined by the buddhas is near for some and far for others? In their former lives, when in past ages they sought the Path as bodhisattvas, the merit they vowed had each its greater and its lesser; and thereafter, when they became buddhas, each obtained accordingly. It is for this that their light was made to differ, and not to be equal. The majestic power of the buddhas is equal, for it is free and follows the will, and acts without prior reckoning. Amida Buddha’s light illumines the most greatly, and the light of the buddhas cannot reach it.”

The Buddha praised him: “Amida Buddha’s light is supremely good! Amida Buddha’s light is supremely good! Bright and beautiful among the good, exceedingly excellent, beyond compare, surpassing and without limit. Amida Buddha’s light is clear and pure, without flaw or stain, without defect or diminishment. Amida Buddha’s light is comely and beautiful, surpassing the brightness of the sun and moon a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. It is the utmost bright among the lights of the buddhas, the utmost good among lights, the utmost heroic among lights, the excellent among lights, the king among the buddhas, the utmost honoured among lights, the brightest and most boundless among lights. It blazes and illumines the innumerable worlds, and the places of darkness and gloom are all ever greatly bright. Of the people, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, there is none who does not behold Amida Buddha’s light; and none who beholds it fails to be compassionate of mind and to rejoice. Those in the world who are lustful, angry, or foolish, when they behold Amida Buddha’s light, all do good. Those in niraya, among the beasts, or among the pretas, in places of torment and bitter toil, when they behold Amida Buddha’s light arriving, all rest and are no longer tormented, and after death there is none who is not liberated from grief and suffering. Amida Buddha’s light is renowned in the eight directions and above and below, boundless and without limit, throughout the innumerable buddha-lands; and among the devas and humans there is none who does not hear of it; and of those who hear of it there is none who is not liberated.”

The Buddha said: “It is not I alone who praise Amida Buddha’s light. The innumerable buddhas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats of the eight directions and above and below praise it, all just so.”

The Buddha said: “If there be people—a son of good family or a daughter of good family—who hear the name of Amida Buddha and praise his light, and who by morning and evening constantly praise the goodness of his light, with sincere mind without ceasing, then according to what their minds aspire they shall be born in Amida Buddha’s land, and shall be honoured and revered by the multitude of bodhisattvas and arhats. And if thereafter they become buddhas, they too shall in turn be praised for their light by the innumerable buddhas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats of the eight directions and above and below, just so.” 

And the whole community of bhikṣus, the bodhisattvas and arhats, and the devas, sovereigns, and people, hearing this, all rejoiced and leapt for joy, and there was none who did not praise it.

The Buddha said: “Were I to speak of Amida Buddha’s light, comely and beautiful, lofty and sublime, and to praise its excellence, by day and by night for a whole kalpa, I should still not have finished; but I have spoken of it for you, in brief, only thus.”

The Prophecy for Prince Ajātaśatru

When the Buddha had spoken of how Amida Buddha, when a bodhisattva, sought and obtained these twenty-four vows, Prince Ajātaśatru, together with five hundred sons of householders and householders, each holding a canopy of golden flowers, came together to the place of the Buddha, came forward and did homage to the Buddha, touching their heads to the Buddha’s feet, and, each holding up his canopy of golden flowers, offered it to the Buddha; then all withdrew and sat to one side to hear the sūtra. Prince Ajātaśatru and the five hundred sons of householders, hearing Amida Buddha’s twenty-four vows, all rejoiced greatly and leapt for joy, and in their hearts all vowed together, saying: “When we later become buddhas, may we all be like Amida Buddha.”

The Buddha at once knew it, and told the community of bhikṣus: “This Prince Ajātaśatru and these five hundred sons of householders, after innumerable kalpas hence, shall all become buddhas, like Amida Buddha.”

The Buddha said: “This Prince Ajātaśatru and these five hundred sons of householders, since they entered upon the bodhisattva way through innumerable kalpas, have each made offerings to four hundred koṭis of buddhas, and now they come again to make offerings to me. Prince Ajātaśatru and the five hundred sons of householders were all, in a former life, in the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, my disciples; and now they are all gathered together again and have met with one another.” 

And the community of bhikṣus, hearing the Buddha’s words, all leapt for joy, and there was none who did not rejoice for their sake.

The Land Named Sukhāvatī

[1-0128] The Buddha said to Ānanda: “Since Amida became a buddha, it has been in all ten small kalpas. The land he dwells in is named Sukhāvatī, lying full in the west, a thousand koṭis of myriads of Sumeru-buddha-lands distant from this realm of Jambudvīpa. 

“The ground of that land is everywhere of the seven treasures, of themselves: the first jewel is white silver; the second, yellow gold; the third, crystal; the fourth, beryl; the fifth, coral; the sixth, amber; the seventh, agate—these are the seven treasures. All of them together form the ground, broad and vast, exceedingly great and boundless. They are all mingled with one another and pass into one another, each shining and glittering, brilliant and bright, exceedingly soft and fine, comely beyond compare. That ground of the seven treasures is the refined essence of the many jewels of the eight directions and above and below, gathered together of themselves and born by transformation. Those jewels are like the seven treasures of the sixth heaven above. 

“In that land there is no Mount Sumeru; its sun, moon, and stars, and the first heaven, that of the Four Deva Kings, and the second heaven, the Trāyastriṃśa, all rest in empty space. That land has no great sea, nor any small sea-water, nor any rivers, streams, or Gaṅgā-waters. Nor are there mountains, forests, ravines, or valleys; there are no places of darkness and gloom, and the ground of the seven treasures of that land is everywhere level and flat. 

“There is no niraya, no beasts, no pretas, and no classes of flying and creeping and crawling things. There are no asuras, nāgas, or spirits. There is in the end no time of rain from heaven, and there is no spring, summer, autumn, or winter; there is no great cold, and no great heat, but ever a mild and harmonious temperateness, exceedingly excellent and beyond compare. 

“There are all manner of natural things of the ten thousand kinds, and food of a hundred flavours; whatever the mind wishes to obtain is at once, of itself, before one; and what is not wanted at once, of itself, departs. It is like the natural things of the sixth heaven above: as one wills, so of itself it all follows the mind. 

“In that land all are bodhisattvas and arhats, and there are no women; their lifespans are innumerable kalpas. Should a woman be born there, she at once transforms into a man. There are only bodhisattvas and arhats without number, all of them seeing penetratingly and hearing pervadingly; all of them behold one another from afar, gaze upon one another from afar, and hear one another’s voices from afar; all of them seek the Path and are good, of one single kind, with no other sort among them. Those bodhisattvas and arhats have faces upright, pure, and utterly comely, all of one single colour, none partial, ugly, or ill-favoured. Those bodhisattvas and arhats are all of talent, valour, and keen wisdom; they all wear robes that arise of themselves; what their minds hold in mind is the Path and its virtue; and when they wish to speak, they know one another’s thought beforehand. Their speech ever tells of true matters; whatever they speak tells of the sūtras and the Path, and they do not speak of the faults of others. The sound and resonance of their speech is like the sound of three hundred bells. They all revere and love one another, none envying or hating; they speak to one another according to elder and younger, higher and lower, first and last. With righteousness as with propriety, they revere and serve one another as elder and younger brother. Walking in humaneness and treading in righteousness, they do not act or speak rashly. As by an admonition they teach one another in turn, so that they do not oppose or thwart one another, but receive from one another in turn; and all are pure of mind, with nothing they crave or covet, in the end without anger, without lustful mind, without any manner of folly. They have no perverse mind, no thought of women, and are all of wisdom and valour, harmonious of mind, joyful and glad, delighting in the sūtras and the Path. They know of themselves the koṭis of myriads of kalpas of former lives whence they were born, their past lives, their good and evil, their survival and perishing; and of the present they know without limit.

The Lecture Halls and Dwellings

“The lecture halls and vihāras where Amida Buddha teaches and instructs are likewise, of themselves, of the seven treasures—gold, silver, crystal, beryl, white jade, amber, and agate—which of themselves form them together, exceedingly comely and bright, good beyond compare. There is no maker of them; it is not known whence they came, nor is there any who brought them, nor whence they go: it is by the weight of Amida Buddha’s vow and virtue, and because those people did good, that—as they discourse on the sūtrasand its meaning, expound the sūtrasand practise the Path, and gather in assembly therein—they are of themselves born by transformation. Those lecture halls and vihāras have towers, terraces, railings, and balustrades of the seven treasures, and again, of gold, silver, crystal, beryl, white jade, amber, and agate, are made their pendant ornaments; and again, of white pearls, bright-moon pearls, and maṇi pearls are made their dew-drop nets, spread and covering over them. All of themselves make the five tones of music, exceedingly good beyond compare. 

“The dwellings where the bodhisattvas and arhats abide are likewise of the seven treasures—gold, silver, crystal, beryl, coral, amber, agate, and cornelian—born by transformation, forming their dwellings together in turn. Each has towers, terraces, railings, and balustrades of the seven treasures, and again, of gold, silver, crystal, beryl, white jade, amber, and agate, are made their pendant ornaments; and again, of white pearls, bright-moon pearls, and maṇi pearls are made their dew-drop nets, spread and covering over them; and each again, of itself, makes the five tones of music. [1-0129]

The Bathing Ponds

“In the lecture halls and vihāras of Amida Buddha, and in the dwellings where the bodhisattvas and arhats abide, everywhere within and without, there are, of themselves, flowing springs and bathing ponds, all born together with the seven treasures of themselves—gold, silver, crystal, beryl, amber, and agate—forming one another in turn. A pond of pure gold has for its bed sand of white silver. A pond of pure white silver has for its bed sand of yellow gold. A pond of pure crystal has for its bed sand of beryl. A pond of pure beryl has for its bed sand of crystal. A pond of pure coral has for its bed sand of amber. A pond of pure amber has for its bed sand of coral. A pond of pure agate has for its bed sand of cornelian. A pond of pure cornelian has for its bed sand of agate. A pond of pure white jade has for its bed sand of purple-magenta gold. A pond of pure purple-magenta gold has for its bed sand of white jade. 

“There are those in which two jewels together make a single pond, whose bed-sand is of gold and silver. There are those in which three jewels together make a single pond, whose bed-sand is of gold, silver, and crystal. There are those in which four jewels together make a single pond, whose bed-sand is of gold, silver, crystal, and beryl. There are those in which five jewels together make a single pond, whose bed-sand is of gold, silver, crystal, beryl, and coral. There are those in which six jewels together make a single pond, whose bed-sand is of gold, silver, crystal, beryl, coral, and amber. There are those in which seven treasures together make a single pond, whose bed-sand is of gold, silver, crystal, beryl, coral, amber, and agate. Among the bathing ponds there are some forty yojanas long, some eighty yojanas long, some a hundred and sixty yojanas long, some three hundred and twenty yojanas long, some six hundred and forty yojanas long, some one thousand two hundred and eighty yojanas long, some two thousand five hundred and sixty yojanas long, some five thousand one hundred and twenty yojanas long, some ten thousand two hundred and forty yojanas long, and some twenty thousand four hundred and eighty yojanas long. Each such pond is equal in length and breadth; and these are the ponds where the bodhisattvas and arhats constantly bathe.”

The Buddha said: “Amida Buddha’s bathing pond is forty-eight thousand yojanas long, and forty-eight thousand yojanas broad, and the pond is formed throughout of the seven treasures together in turn; and its bed-sand is of white pearls, bright-moon pearls, and maṇi pearls. The water of the bathing pond of Amida Buddha and of the bodhisattvas and arhats is all clear, fragrant, and pure. In the pond there are fragrant flowers, all born of themselves, a hundred kinds of flower, each of a different colour; the coloured and fragrant flowers, their stems all of a thousand petals, are exceedingly fragrant beyond compare, their fragrance beyond telling. Those flowers are not the flowers of the world, nor again the flowers of heaven above; this flower-fragrance is the refined essence among all the flower-fragrances of the eight directions and above and below, born of itself by transformation. The water in the pond flows and courses, pouring into one another in turn; and its flowing is neither slow nor swift, and all of it makes the five tones of music.”

The Bodies of Those Born There

The Buddha said: “The devas and people of the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, who are born in Amida Buddha’s land, are all born by transformation within the lotus flowers of the ponds of the seven treasures, and thereupon grow of themselves; nor is there any who suckles and rears them, but they all feed on food that arises of itself. Their bodies too are not the bodies of the people of the world, nor the bodies of the people of heaven above; but, having heaped up the virtue of all manner of good, they all receive the spontaneous body of emptiness, the body without limit, exceedingly comely and beyond compare.”

The Poor Man and the Emperor

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “As in the world a poor beggar-man were made to stand beside an emperor—would his face and form be at all of a kind with the face and form and colour of the emperor, or not?”

Ānanda said: “Were a beggar to stand beside an emperor, his face and form would be exceedingly ugly and ill-favoured, not to be compared with the emperor by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. Why is this? A beggar, poor and utterly destitute, has ever bad food, and has never had a time of fine fare; and having but bad food, he cannot eat his fill, but eats only enough to sustain his life, his bones and joints propping one another up, with nothing to provide for himself, ever lacking and having no store; hungry and cold, frightened and grieved. This is only because in a former life he was, as a man, foolish and without wisdom, grasping and greedy, unwilling to be kind and compassionate, to do good, to love widely, and to give; but wishing only to gain in vain, grudging his food and drink and eating alone the choice morsels, not believing that in lending and giving he would afterward gain requital, and again not believing that in doing good he would in a later life gain its blessing; benighted and stubborn, he did the more all manner of evil. Thus at the end of his life his wealth and goods were all used up; having of old no kindly virtue and nothing to rely upon, he entered the evil destinies, and there suffered his fitting torment; and only thereafter did he get out and gain liberation. Now, born as a man, he is made lowly and mean, born as the son of a poor house. His form barely resembling a human shape, of a kind exceedingly ugly, his garments tattered and torn, alone and bare, not covering his body—he lives only by begging. Hungry, cold, and in bitter distress, his face gaunt and ill-favoured, not of a human colour; this is because of what his body did in a former life, and he receives its penalty; it is shown for the multitude to behold, and there is none who pities him. Cast out upon the roads of the market, exposed and wasted, tanned, ugly, and utterly ill-favoured, he does not come up to other men.

“Why is it that among men the emperor is uniquely honoured and best? It is all because in a former life, as a man, he did good and believed and received the sūtras and the Path, gave out kindness and bestowed virtue, loved widely and followed righteousness, was compassionate, humane, and glad to give, and did not grudge his food and drink but shared it with the multitude. With nothing that he stinted, and no strife or contention at all, he gained his good blessing; at the end of his life the virtue followed him, and he did not pass again through the evil paths. Now, born as a man, he has gained birth in a royal house, of himself honoured and noble, alone ruling and presiding as master, holding sway over the people as their hero. His face is pure and white, his countenance mild and of fair colour, his body upright, revered and served by the multitude, with fine food and good garments as his mind wills and pleases. Whatever he delights in and desires is of itself before him, with no strife or contention at all; comely among men, without care and in ease and joy, his face bright and glossy—it is for this that he is even so.”

The Comparison of Splendour

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “So it is! An emperor, though comely beyond compare among men, were he made to stand beside a cakravartin king, his face and form would be exceedingly ugly and ill-favoured, just as the beggar beside the emperor. The face of the emperor would not come up to the comely face of the cakravartin king by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. And as the cakravartin king is comely beyond compare in the world, were he made to stand beside the king of the second heaven, his face would be exceedingly ugly and ill-favoured, and would not come up to the upright and comely face of Śakra by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. And as with the deva Śakra, were he made to stand beside the king of the sixth heaven, his face would be exceedingly ugly and ill-favoured, and would not come up to the upright and comely face of the king of the sixth heaven by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. And as with the king of the sixth heaven, were he made to stand beside the bodhisattvas and arhats in Amida Buddha’s land, his face would be exceedingly ugly, and would not come up to the upright and comely faces of the bodhisattvas and arhats in Amida Buddha’s land by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times.”

The Jewelled Trees

The Buddha said: “The faces of the bodhisattvas and arhats in Amida Buddha’s land are all upright and utterly comely beyond compare, next only to the Path of nirvāṇa. In the lecture halls and vihāras of Amida Buddha and of the bodhisattvas and arhats, in the dwellings where they abide, and above the bathing ponds within and without, there are everywhere trees of the seven treasures. Among them are pure gold trees, pure silver trees, pure crystal trees, pure beryl trees, pure white jade trees, pure coral trees, pure amber trees, and pure agate trees, each of its own kind set in its own row. Among them are those in which two jewels together make a single tree: a silver tree with silver root and golden trunk, silver branches and golden leaves, silver flowers and golden fruit; a golden tree with golden root and silver trunk, golden branches and silver leaves, golden flowers and silver fruit; a crystal tree with crystal root and beryl trunk, crystal branches and beryl leaves, crystal flowers and beryl fruit; a beryl tree with beryl root and crystal trunk, beryl branches and crystal leaves, beryl flowers and crystal fruit—these are trees in which two jewels together make one. 

“Among them, again, are those in which four jewels together make a single tree: a crystal tree with crystal root and beryl trunk, golden branches and silver leaves, crystal flowers and beryl fruit; a beryl tree with beryl root and crystal trunk, golden branches and silver leaves, crystal flowers and beryl fruit—these four-jewelled trees form one another in turn, each set in its own row. 

“Among them, again, are those in which five jewels together make a single tree: a silver root and golden trunk, crystal branches and beryl leaves, silver flowers and golden fruit; a golden tree with golden root and silver trunk, crystal branches and beryl leaves, coral flowers and silver fruit; a crystal tree with crystal root and beryl trunk, coral branches and silver leaves, golden flowers and beryl fruit; a beryl tree with beryl root and coral trunk, crystal branches and golden leaves, silver flowers and coral fruit; a coral tree with coral root and beryl trunk, crystal branches and golden leaves, silver flowers and beryl fruit—these five jewels together make a single tree, each set in its own row. 

“Among them are those in which six jewels together make a single tree: a silver tree with silver root and golden trunk, crystal branches and beryl leaves, coral flowers and amber fruit; a golden tree with golden root and silver trunk, crystal branches and beryl leaves, amber flowers and coral fruit; a crystal tree with crystal root and beryl trunk, coral branches and amber leaves, silver flowers and golden fruit; a beryl tree with beryl root and coral trunk, amber branches and crystal leaves, golden flowers and silver fruit—these six-jewelled trees form one another in turn, each set in its own row. 

“Among them, again, are those in which seven treasures together make a single tree: a silver tree with silver root and golden trunk, crystal branches and beryl leaves, coral flowers and amber fruit; a golden tree with golden root and crystal trunk, beryl branches and coral leaves, amber flowers and silver fruit; a crystal tree with crystal root and beryl trunk, coral branches and amber leaves, agate flowers and white jade fruit; a coral tree with coral root and amber trunk, white jade branches and beryl leaves, agate flowers and bright-moon-pearl fruit; an amber tree with amber root and white jade trunk, coral branches and beryl leaves, crystal flowers and golden fruit; a white jade tree with white jade root and agate trunk, coral branches and amber leaves, golden flowers and maṇi-pearl fruit—these seven-jewelled trees form one another in turn, each of its own kind, row set against row, trunk aligned with trunk, branch matched with branch, leaf facing leaf, flower answering flower, fruit corresponding to fruit.”

The Buddha said: “In the lecture halls and vihāras of Amida Buddha, the trees of the seven treasures round about the edges of the bathing ponds of the seven treasures within and without, and in the dwellings of the seven treasures of the bodhisattvas and arhats, the trees of the seven treasures round about the edges of the bathing ponds of the seven treasures within and without—several thousand hundredfold in their rows—are all just so. Each of itself makes the five tones of music, and the sound of the music is exceedingly good beyond compare.” [1-0130]

The Music and Bathing Waters of the Land

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “As in the world an emperor has a hundred kinds of music and sound, they do not come up to the sound of the music of a cakravartin king by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. And as with the ten thousand kinds of music and sound of a cakravartin king, they do not come up to a single tone of the music of the Trāyastriṃśa, the second heaven above, by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. And as with the ten thousand kinds of music and sound of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven above, they do not come up to a single tone of the sixth heaven above by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. And as with the ten thousand kinds of music and sound of the sixth heaven above, they do not come up to a single tone of the trees of the seven treasures in Amida Buddha’s land by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. In Amida Buddha’s land, too, there are ten thousand kinds of natural music, exceedingly delightful and without limit. 

“When Amida Buddha and the bodhisattvas and arhats wish to bathe, each may enter the ponds of the seven treasures and bathe. When a bodhisattva or arhat wishes the water to reach his feet, the water at once reaches his feet; when he wishes it to reach his knees, the water at once reaches his knees; when he wishes it to reach his waist, the water at once reaches his waist; when he wishes it to reach his armpits, the water at once reaches his armpits; when he wishes it to reach his neck, the water at once reaches his neck; when he wishes the water to pour of itself over his body, the water at once pours over his body; when he wishes the water to return again as before, the water at once returns as before: it follows the will as one pleases and delights.”

The Wind and the Attainment of the Path

The Buddha said: “When Amida and the bodhisattvas and arhats have all bathed, they each sit upon a single great lotus flower; and thereupon, from the four directions, a stirring wind arises of itself. That stirring wind is not the wind of the world, nor the wind of heaven above; it is the refined essence among all the winds of the eight directions and above and below, gathered together of itself and born by transformation. It is neither cold nor hot, but ever a mild and harmonious temperateness, exceedingly cool and good beyond compare, rising gently, neither slow nor swift, just as befits. It blows the trees of the seven treasures, which all make the five tones of music; and it takes the flowers of the trees of the seven treasures and scatters them everywhere over the land, all upon the Buddha and the bodhisattvas and arhats. As the flowers fall to the ground, they all lie four inches deep, exceedingly soft and fine beyond compare. Then the stirring wind of itself blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“Then again, from the four directions, the stirring wind of itself blows the trees of the seven treasures, and the trees again make the five tones of music, and the flowers of the trees again scatter of themselves over the Buddha and the bodhisattvas and arhats. As the flowers grow a little withered and fall to the ground, they at once depart of themselves. 

“Then again, from the four directions, the stirring wind arises and blows the trees of the seven treasures—and thus four times over. 

“Among the bodhisattvas and arhats there are some who wish only to hear the sūtras, some who wish only to hear the music, some who wish only to smell the fragrance of the flowers, and some who do not wish to hear the sūtras, some who do not wish to hear the sound of the music, some who do not wish to smell the fragrance of the flowers: what each wishes to hear, he alone hears; what he does not wish to hear, he alone does not hear; it follows the will as one wishes and delights, and does not go against one’s vow. 

“When they have bathed, each goes his way to practise the Path; among them are those who upon the ground expound the sūtrsa, recite the sūtras, tell the sūtras, receive the sūtras by mouth, listen to the sūtras, hold the sūtras in mind, contemplate the Path, sit in meditation, and walk in meditation; and among them are those who in empty space expound the sūtras, recite the sūtras, tell the sūtras, receive the sūtras by mouth, listen to the sūtras, hold the sūtras in mind, contemplate the Path, sit in meditation with single mind, and walk in meditation. 

“Those who have not yet attained the path of the srota-āpanna at once attain the path of the srota-āpanna; those who have not yet attained the path of the sakṛdāgāmin at once attain the path of the sakṛdāgāmin; those who have not yet attained the path of the anāgāmin at once attain the path of the anāgāmin; those who have not yet attained the path of the arhat at once attain the way of the arhat; those who have not yet attained the stage of the non-retrogressing bodhisattva at once attain non-retrogression; and each, expounding the sūtras and practising the Path, all attain the Path, and there is none who does not rejoice and leap for joy.

The Bodhisattvas' Offerings to the Buddhas

“Among the bodhisattvas there are those who wish to make offerings to the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below; and they all come forward before the Buddha, do homage to the Buddha, and take their leave to go and make offerings to the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below. The Buddha then grants his assent, and lets them go. The bodhisattvas all rejoice greatly, several thousand koṭis of myriads of them, beyond number and past all counting, all of wisdom and valour; and each, rank upon rank, flying and following after one another, all together scattering into flight, they arrive at the places of the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below. They all come forward and do homage to the buddhas, and thereupon make their offerings. 

“When they wish to have the ten thousand kinds of natural things before them, at once, of themselves, a hundred kinds of many-coloured flowers, a hundred kinds of many-coloured silks, a hundred kinds of kārpāsa garments, lamps and fires of the seven treasures, and ten thousand kinds of music are all before them. Those flower-fragrances of ten thousand kinds, the natural things, are neither things of the world nor things of heaven above; these ten thousand kinds of thing are all the refined essence, gathered together of themselves, of the eight directions and above and below, born by transformation. What they wish to have is at once born of itself by transformation; what they do not use at once transforms away. The bodhisattvas then together take them and make offerings to the buddhas and to the bodhisattvas and arhats; and, circling round them before and behind, on every side, whatever they wish is at once all attained. 

“At that time, their joy is beyond telling! The bodhisattvas, each wishing to have flowers of forty yojanas, at once have them before them of themselves, and thereupon, in empty space, together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; all in empty space, facing downward, the flowers, exceedingly fragrant and good, grow a little withered and fall to the ground, whereupon the stirring wind of itself blows them, and the withered flowers all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of eighty yojanas, at once have them before them of themselves, and together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; the flowers again in empty space, facing downward, grow a little withered and fall to the ground, whereupon the stirring wind of itself blows them, and the withered flowers all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of a hundred and sixty yojanas, at once have them before them of themselves, and thereupon, in empty space, together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; the flowers again in empty space, facing downward, grow a little withered and fall to the ground, whereupon the stirring wind of itself blows them, and the withered flowers all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of three hundred and twenty yojanas, at once have them before them of themselves, and again in empty space take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; the flowers in empty space, facing downward, grow a little withered and fall to the ground, whereupon the stirring wind of itself blows them, and the withered flowers all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of six hundred and forty yojanas, at once have them before them of themselves, and again scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; all in empty space, facing downward, they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind of itself blows the withered flowers away. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of one thousand two hundred and eighty yojanas, at once have them before them of themselves, and again in empty space together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; all in empty space, facing downward, they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind of itself blows them, and the withered flowers all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of two thousand five hundred and sixty yojanas, at once have them before them of themselves, and again in empty space together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; all in empty space, facing downward, they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of five thousand one hundred and twenty yojanas, at once have them before them of themselves, and again in empty space together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; all in empty space, facing downward, they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of ten thousand two hundred and forty yojanas, at once have them all before them of themselves, and again in empty space together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of twenty thousand four hundred and eighty yojanas, at once have them all before them, and again in empty space together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; all in empty space, facing downward, they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of fifty thousand yojanas, at once have them all before them, and again in empty space together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; all in empty space, facing downward, they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of a hundred thousand yojanas, at once have them all before them, and the bodhisattvas again in empty space together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; all in empty space, facing downward, they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of two hundred thousand yojanas, at once have them all before them, and again in empty space together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of four hundred thousand yojanas, at once have them all before them, and again in empty space together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; all in empty space, facing downward, they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing again to have flowers of eight hundred thousand yojanas, at once have them all before them, and again in empty space together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; all in empty space, facing downward, they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing to have flowers of one million six hundred thousand yojanas, at once have them all before them, and together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers, and they all depart of themselves. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing to have flowers of three million yojanas, at once have them all before them, and together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; they grow a little withered and fall to the ground, and the stirring wind blows the withered flowers away. 

“The bodhisattvas, each wishing to have flowers of six million yojanas, at once have them all before them, and together take and scatter them over the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats; and the flowers all of themselves join together into a single flower, the flower perfectly round, even and equal on every side, the flower ever multiplying beyond what went before, the flower exceedingly soft and fine, surpassing the former flowers by several thousand hundredfold, colour beyond colour, fragrance upon fragrance beyond telling. 

“The bodhisattvas all rejoice greatly, and together in empty space make in great concert all manner of natural music, delighting the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats. At that time, their joy is beyond telling.

The Devas Bring Offerings

“The bodhisattvas, when they have all sat down to hear the sūtras, and when the hearing of the sūtras is finished, at once recite them through and master them, understanding again the sūtras and the Path, and their wisdom the more bright. 

“Then, in the buddha-lands, from the first heaven, that of the Four Deva Kings, up to the thirty-third heaven, the devas and humans all together bring the ten thousand kinds of natural things of heaven above and come down to make offerings to the bodhisattvas and arhats. The devas and humans again in empty space make in great concert all manner of music. Those devas and humans who come first withdraw and give way to those who come after; and those who come after again make their offerings as before, each in turn opening the way and giving place. The devas and humans rejoice to hear the sūtra, and make music in great concert; and at that time their joy is beyond limit. 

“When the bodhisattvas have made their offerings and heard the sūtra, they all rise, do homage to the Buddha, and depart; and at once they fly again to the places of the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below, and make offerings and hear the sūtra, each as before. When they have gone everywhere, before the day is at noon, they each fly back to their land, do homage to Amida Buddha, and all withdraw and sit; and when the hearing of the sūtras is finished, they rejoice greatly.”

The Meal

The Buddha said: “When Amida Buddha and the bodhisattvas and arhats wish to eat, at once, of themselves, tables of the seven treasures appear, with kārpāsa and woollen rugs for seats. The Buddha and the bodhisattvas all sit; and before each are, of themselves, bowls of the seven treasures, with food of a hundred flavours therein. This food and drink is not of a kind with the world’s, nor is it of heaven above; this food of a hundred flavours is the refined essence among all the natural food and drink of the eight directions and above and below, exceedingly fragrant and sweet beyond compare, born of itself by transformation; and whether one wishes it sweet or sour, it is as one wishes to have it. 

“Among the bodhisattvas and arhats there are those who wish to have a golden bowl, those who wish a silver bowl, those who wish a crystal bowl, those who wish a coral bowl, those who wish an amber bowl, those who wish a white jade bowl, those who wish an agate bowl, those who wish a cornelian bowl, those who wish a bright-moon-pearl bowl, those who wish a maṇi-pearl bowl, and those who wish a purple-magenta gold bowl; and as one wills, it at once arrives; nor is there any whence it came, nor any who provides it, but it is born of itself by transformation. 

“The bodhisattvas and arhats all eat; and their eating is neither much nor little, but all in equal measure; nor do they call it savoury or unsavoury, nor rejoice because it is savoury. When they have eaten, the dishes and bowls and tables and seats all of themselves transform away; and when the time to eat comes again, they are born again by transformation. The bodhisattvas and arhats are all pure of mind; and the food and drink they take is only to make up their strength, and all of itself is digested and dispersed, worn away and transformed away.

The Great Dharma Assembly

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “When Amida Buddha expounds the sūtras for the bodhisattvas and arhats, they all gather in the great assembly in the lecture hall. The bodhisattvas and arhats, and the innumerable devas and humans beyond all counting, all fly to the place of Amida Buddha, do homage to the Buddha, and withdraw and sit to hear the sūtra. That Buddha expounds at large the great sūtra of the wisdom of the Path; and all hear and know it, and there is none who does not rejoice and leap for joy and open in understanding of mind. 

“Then from the four directions a stirring wind arises of itself and blows the trees of the seven treasures, which all make the five tones of music; and the flowers of the trees of the seven treasures cover the land, all in empty space facing downward, their fragrance filling the whole land, and all scatter over Amida Buddha and the bodhisattvas and arhats. As the flowers fall to the ground, they all lie four inches deep; as they grow a little withered, the stirring wind blows them, and the withered flowers depart of themselves. From the four directions the stirring wind blows the flowers of the trees of the seven treasures—and thus four times over. 

“Then the first heaven, that of the Four Deva Kings, the second heaven, the Trāyastriṃśa, up to the thirty-second heaven, the devas and humans all bring the ten thousand kinds of natural things of heaven above—a hundred kinds of many-coloured flowers, a hundred kinds of varied incense, a hundred kinds of many-coloured silks, a hundred kinds of kārpāsa woollen garments, and ten thousand kinds of music, each surpassing the last in beauty—and each brings them down and does homage to Amida Buddha, making offerings to the Buddha and to the bodhisattvas and arhats. The devas and humans all again make music in great concert, delighting Amida Buddha and the bodhisattvas and arhats. 

“At that time, their joy is beyond telling. The devas give way to one another in turn, and those who come after again make their offerings as before. Then in the east, the innumerable buddha-lands, their number past all counting—like the flowing sand along the Gaṅgā, one grain of sand one buddha, and their number even so—each of those buddhas sends innumerable bodhisattvas past all counting, who all fly to the place of Amida Buddha, do homage, and hear the sūtra, all rejoicing greatly, and all rise, do homage, and depart. In the west, the north, the south, and the four corners, the buddhas, their number each like the flowing sand along the Gaṅgā, each send innumerable bodhisattvas, who fly to the place of Amida Buddha, do homage, and hear the sūtra, likewise so. Then in the nadir and the zenith the buddhas, their number each like the flowing sand along the Gaṅgā, all send bodhisattvas past all counting, who fly to the place of Amida Buddha, do homage, and hear the sūtra; and giving way to one another in turn, thus it is, without end and without ceasing.”

The Buddha said: “The reason the buddhas are reckoned by the flowing sand along the Gaṅgā is that the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below are exceedingly many, a great multitude past all counting; and so they are reckoned by the flowing sand along the Gaṅgā.”

The Attainments of Those Who Hear

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “When Amida Buddha has finished expounding the sūtras for the bodhisattvas and arhats, those among the devas and humans who have not yet attained the Path at once attain the Path. Those who have not yet attained the stage of the srota-āpanna at once attain the stage of the srota-āpanna; those who have not yet attained the stage of the sakṛdāgāmin at once attain the stage of the sakṛdāgāmin; those who have not yet attained the stage of the anāgāmin at once attain the stage of the anāgāmin; those who have not yet attained the stage of the arhat at once attain the stage of the arhat; those who have not yet attained the stage of the non-retrogressing bodhisattva at once attain the stage of the non-retrogressing bodhisattva. 

“Amida Buddha, according to the aspiration that each in his former life delighted in when aspiring to seek the Path, expounds the sūtras and confers it upon them, greater or lesser as befits, and at once causes them swiftly to open in understanding and attain it. All become bright in wisdom, each glad and joyful; and of the sūtras and the Path they vowed, there is none who does not delight. Those who recite and practise it, of themselves recite it through fluently, without weariness and without end. 

“Among the bodhisattvas and arhats there are those who recite the sūtra, and their voice is like the sound of three hundred bells. Among them are those who tell the sūtra, like the time of a swift wind and driving rain; and thus, to the end of a whole kalpa, there is never a time of slackening or weariness. All are of wisdom and valour, their bodies light and nimble, in the end without pain or ache. At the utmost, in walking and standing, sitting and rising, they are all of talent, vigour, and valour, like a lion, the king among beasts, in the deep mountains: when he has somewhere to go, there is at that time none who dares to withstand him. Without a mind of doubt or difficulty, in what his mind sets out to do, he acts without prior reckoning, a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times over. This valiant lion, king among beasts, does not—by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times—come up to the valour of my second disciple, Mahāmaudgalyāyana. And Mahāmaudgalyāyana is, among the bodhisattvas and arhats of all the lands, beyond compare: in flight and in going and staying, in wisdom and valour, in penetrating vision and pervading hearing, in knowing the affairs of the eight directions and above and below, past, future, and present, he surpasses by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. Were all his wisdom joined together into a single thought of wisdom, and were that set beside those of the arhats in Amida Buddha’s land, his virtue would still not come up to theirs by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times.”

The Dialogue on Those Who Enter Nirvāṇa

The bodhisattva Ajita then rose, came forward, knelt upright with palms joined, and asked the Buddha: “Among the arhats in Amida Buddha’s land, are there indeed any who enter parinirvāṇa and depart, or not? I wish to hear of it.”

The Buddha said: “If you wish to know, are the stars of these four continents visible or not?”

The bodhisattva Ajita said: “Indeed, they are visible.”

The Buddha said: “Were my second disciple Mahāmaudgalyāyana to fly up into the heavens for one day and one night, going everywhere and reckoning to know how many stars there be—these stars of the four continents are exceedingly many, and cannot be counted, and are yet a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times more than that. And were one drop taken away from the great ocean water of the world, could it diminish the ocean water, and would one know it to be less, or not?”

He replied: “Were a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of bushels and piculs taken away, it could not diminish it, nor would one know it to be less.”

The Buddha said: “In Amida Buddha’s land, though there be arhats among them who enter parinirvāṇa and depart, it is like one drop taken from the great ocean, and cannot diminish the arhats, nor is it known to be less.”

The Buddha said: “Were one brook of water taken from the great ocean, would it make it less, or not?”

He replied: “Were a hundred thousand koṭis worth of the water of myriads of brooks taken away, it could not yet diminish it, nor be known to be less.”

The Buddha said: “Were one Gaṅgā of water taken from the great ocean, could it make it less, or not?”

He replied: “Were a hundred thousand koṭis worth of the myriads worth of water of the  Gaṅgā taken away, it could not make it be known to be less.”

The Buddha said: “In Amida Buddha’s land, the arhats who enter parinirvāṇa and depart are without number, and those present who have newly attained the Path are likewise without number, and there is neither increase nor decrease at all.”

The Buddha said: “Were all the waters of the world to flow together into the great ocean, could they make the ocean water increase, or not?”

He replied: “They could not make it increase. Why is this? The great ocean is the king among all the good waters of the world, and so it can be even so.”

The Buddha said: “Amida Buddha’s land is likewise so. Let all the innumerable devas and humans of the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, be all born there, exceedingly many, a great multitude past all counting; and the bodhisattvas, arhats, and community of bhikṣus of Amida Buddha’s land remain, as of old, one constant Dharma unchanging, and are not thereby increased. Why is this? Amida Buddha’s land is the most excellent: it is the king among all the good of the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below, the hero among the buddha-lands, the treasure among the buddha-lands, the longest-lived of the buddha-lands, the most eminent among the buddha-lands, the vastest and greatest among the buddha-lands, the capital among the buddha-lands, of natural non-action, most excellent, bright, good, and joyful without limit. Why is this? It is because in his former life, when Amida Buddha was a bodhisattva, what he vowed was of valour, his diligence unslackening, and his accumulated virtue brought it about; and so it can be even so.”

The bodhisattva Ajita then rejoiced greatly, and knelt upright with palms joined, saying: “The Buddha has said that Amida Buddha’s land is joyful, good, bright, and comely beyond compare—is it indeed uniquely so?”

The Dwellings and Their Differences

The Buddha said: “Among the dwellings of the seven treasures where the bodhisattvas and arhats abide in Amida Buddha’s land, some are in empty space and some are on the ground; among them are those who wish their dwelling to be at its highest, and the dwelling is at once high; among them are those who wish their dwelling to be at its greatest, and the dwelling is at once great; among them are those who wish their dwelling to be in empty space, and the dwelling is at once in empty space: all of themselves follow the will in whatever they do. But among them are some who by no means can make their dwelling follow their will. Why is this? Those who can make their dwelling follow their will are all those who, in a former life, when they sought the Path, were compassionate of mind and diligent, doing the more all manner of good, and their virtue was weighty and brought it about; those who by no means can are all those who, in a former life, when they sought the Path, were not compassionate of mind and diligent, nor did the more all manner of good, and their virtue was slight and brought it about. But their garments and food and drink are all of themselves equal and alike. Their virtue is greater or lesser; and the difference is known by their valour, so that the multitude may behold it.”

The Buddha said: “Do you see the dwelling-place of the king of the sixth heaven, or not?”

“Indeed, I see it.”

The Buddha said: “The lecture halls and dwellings of Amida Buddha’s land surpass the dwelling-place of the king of the sixth heaven by a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of times. The bodhisattvas and arhats all see penetratingly and hear pervadingly, and know the affairs of the eight directions and above and below, past, future, and present. Again, of the innumerable devas above and people below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, the good and evil that their minds hold in mind, and what their mouths wish to speak, they know it all; and in what year and what kalpa these shall gain liberation and gain the human path, and be born in Amida Buddha’s land, and shall become bodhisattvas and arhats—all this they foreknow.

The Two Foremost Bodhisattvas

“The bodhisattvas and arhats all have, of themselves, a radiance in their heads, and what it illumines is greater or lesser. Among the bodhisattvas there are two of the most honoured, who ever sit attending in true discourse to the left and right of the Buddha; and the Buddha ever sits together with these two bodhisattvas, deliberating on the affairs of the eight directions and above and below, past, future, and present. And if he wishes to send these two bodhisattvas to the places of the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below, they at once go flying; following the mind’s wish, they arrive by flight, made swift as the Buddha, of valour beyond compare. 

“The one bodhisattva is named Avalokiteśvara, and the other bodhisattva is named Mahāsthāmaprāpta. Their light and wisdom are foremost; the radiance in their heads each blazes and illumines the buddha-lands of a thousand Sumerus of another quarter, ever greatly bright. The radiance in the heads of the other bodhisattvas each illumines a thousand koṭis of myriads of yojanas, and the radiance in the heads of the arhats each illumines seven vyāmas.”

The Buddha said: “Should any of the people of the world—whether a son of good family or a daughter of good family—meet with urgent fears or troubles from the officials of the realm, let them but take refuge in the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and the bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta, and there is none who shall not gain liberation.”

The Immeasurable Light and Lifespan

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita: “The radiance in Amida Buddha’s head is a light exceedingly great. His sun, moon, and stars all rest still in empty space, and no longer turn or move or run their courses, nor have they any refined light, but their brightness is all obscured and no longer to be seen. The Buddha’s light illumines the whole land, and blazes and illumines the buddha-lands of other directions, ever greatly bright, and there is in the end no time of darkness. 

“In that land there is no one day or two days, no five days or ten days, no fifteen days or one month, no five months or ten months, no five years or ten years, no hundred years or thousand years, no ten thousand years or koṭi of myriad years, no hundred thousand koṭis of myriad years; there is no one kalpa, ten kalpas, hundred kalpas, or thousand kalpas, no ten thousand kalpas or million kalpas, no ten million kalpas or ten thousand koṭi kalpas. Amida Buddha’s light is bright without limit; and hence, through innumerable kalpas upon innumerable kalpas, again and again through innumerable kalpas upon innumerable kalpas without number, there is in the end no time when it shall be dark. 

“The land and the devas shall in the end have no time of ruin and decay. Why is this? Amida Buddha’s lifespan is exceedingly long, and his land is exceedingly good; and so it can be even so. That Buddha’s honoured lifespan, through innumerable kalpas hence, again and again through innumerable kalpas, shall yet not reach its close in parinirvāṇa. 

“He teaches and instructs in the world, wishing to liberate the innumerable devas and humans of the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, all of them wishing to make them born in his land, and all to attain the Path of nirvāṇa. As for those who are bodhisattvas, he wishes to make them all become buddhas; and when they have become buddhas, they in turn teach and instruct the devas and humans of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, all again wishing to make them become buddhas; and when they have become buddhas, they again teach and instruct the innumerable devas and humans, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, all making them attain the Path of nirvāṇa and depart. 

“As for the disciples they may teach and instruct, these in turn teach and instruct one another, and liberate one another in turn, until they attain the ways of the srota-āpanna, the sakṛdāgāmin, the anāgāmin, the arhat, and the pratyekabuddha, and, liberating one another in turn, all attain the Path of nirvāṇa, all just so. And still he does not yet wish to enter parinirvāṇa: what Amida Buddha liberates, in turn just so; and he abides yet through innumerable kalpas upon innumerable kalpas, kalpas past all counting, and in the end there is no time when he shall enter parinirvāṇa. 

“Of the innumerable devas and humans of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, those born in Amida Buddha’s land who shall become buddhas are past all reckoning; and those who become arhats and attain the Path of nirvāṇa are likewise without number, past all counting. 

“Amida Buddha’s kindly virtue, and all that he bestows, throughout the eight directions and above and below, is boundless and without limit, exceedingly deep and measureless, excellent beyond telling. His wisdom, and the teaching and the sūtras and the Path that come forth from it, are proclaimed throughout the innumerable heavens above and worlds below of the eight directions and above and below, deeper than can be traced. The scrolls of his sūtras are exceedingly many, past all counting and without limit at all.”

The Buddha's Immeasurable Lifespan

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita: “Do you wish to know the time of Amida Buddha’s boundless lifespan, or not?”

He replied: “I wish indeed to hear and know of it.”

The Buddha said: “Listen well! Let all the devas and humans of the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, be all made to enter the Path, and all made to become pratyekabuddhas and arhats, and let them together sit in meditation with single mind, and join all their wisdom into a single valour, wishing together to reckon and know Amida Buddha’s lifespan, how many thousands of koṭis of myriads of kalpas of years it be—none should be able to reckon and know it. And let the devas and humans of the buddha-lands of a thousand Sumerus in each quarter of the other regions be again all made to attain the Path, and all made to become pratyekabuddhas and arhats, and let them all sit in meditation with single mind, and join their wisdom into a single valour, wishing together to count the bodhisattvas and arhats in Amida Buddha’s land, and to know how many thousands of koṭis of myriads of them there be—none should be able to know the number. Amida’s honoured lifespan is exceedingly long and enduring, vast and radiant, bright and good, exceedingly deep, without limit and without bottom: who should be able to know and believe it? It is the Buddha alone who of himself believes and knows it!”

The bodhisattva Ajita, hearing the Buddha’s words, rejoiced greatly, and knelt upright with palms joined, saying: “The Buddha has said that Amida Buddha’s lifespan is exceedingly long, his authoritative power honoured and great, his wisdom and light lofty and sublime, joyful and good—is it indeed uniquely so?”

The Succession of Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta

The Buddha said: “When Amida Buddha thereafter enters parinirvāṇa,69 that bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara shall then become a buddha, taking charge of the wisdom of the Path, presiding as master over the teaching and instruction, and liberating the devas and humans of the world and of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, all making them attain the Buddha’s Path of nirvāṇa. His good blessing and virtue shall be again like the great teacher Amida Buddha, and he shall abide through innumerable kalpas upon innumerable kalpas, kalpas past all counting; and in accordance with the Dharma of the great teacher he shall then, and only then, enter parinirvāṇa. 

“Next the bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta shall in turn become a buddha, presiding as master over wisdom, taking charge of the teaching and instruction; and the blessing and virtue by which he passes over and liberates shall be again like the great teacher Amida Buddha. He shall abide through innumerable kalpas, and yet not enter parinirvāṇa; and receiving from one another in turn, the sūtras and the Path shall be exceedingly bright and the land exceedingly good. Such is its Dharma, and in the end it shall have no cutting-off or ceasing, and shall be beyond all limit.”

Ānanda's Question on Mount Sumeru

Ānanda knelt upright with palms joined and asked the Buddha: “In Amida Buddha’s land there is no Mount Sumeru; on what, then, do the first heaven, that of the Four Deva Kings, and the second heaven, the Trāyastriṃśa, rest and abide? I wish to hear of it.”

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “Have you a mind of doubt toward the Buddha? The eight directions and above and below are boundless and without limit, without bound and without measure; and all the great ocean waters of the worlds, were one man to measure them out by the bushel, could yet be drained dry so that one reached the mud at their bottom—but the Buddha’s wisdom is not like this.”

The Buddha said: “What I see and know: the buddhas already passed away who bear a name like mine, Śākyamuni Buddha, are again like the flowing sand along the Gaṅgā, one grain of sand one buddha. The buddhas yet to come who bear a name like mine are again like the flowing sand along the Gaṅgā. Those who are but now first wishing to seek buddhahood, bearing a name like mine, are again like the flowing sand along the Gaṅgā. The Buddha, sitting straight and facing full south, gazes and beholds the southern quarter. The buddhas now present who bear a name like mine are again like the flowing sand along the Gaṅgā. The buddhas of the eight directions and above and below, past, future, and present, who bear a name like mine, are each like ten Gaṅgās’ flowing sand, one grain of sand one buddha, and their number even so; and the Buddha foresees and knows them all.”

The Buddha said: “In the innumerable kalpas already gone by—in one kalpa, ten kalpas, a hundred kalpas, a thousand kalpas, ten thousand kalpas, a koṭi of kalpas, a koṭi of a myriad of koṭis of kalpas—there were buddhas therein. 

“The buddhas already passed away—one buddha, ten buddhas, a hundred buddhas, a thousand buddhas, ten thousand buddhas, a koṭi of buddhas, a koṭi of a myriad of koṭis of buddhas—each of themselves had a name not the same, and there was none whose name was like mine. 

“In the kalpas but now to come—one kalpa, ten kalpas, a hundred kalpas, a thousand kalpas, ten thousand kalpas, a koṭi of kalpas, a koṭi of a myriad of koṭis of kalpas—there are buddhas within the kalpas. One buddha, ten buddhas, a hundred buddhas, a thousand buddhas, ten thousand buddhas, a koṭi of buddhas, a koṭi of a myriad of koṭis of buddhas—each of themselves has a name not the same, and from time to time there is one buddha whose name is like mine. 

“Among the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below, the buddhas now present—next, in the various lands of other directions, one buddha-land, ten buddha-lands, a hundred buddha-lands, a thousand buddha-lands, ten thousand buddha-lands, a koṭi of buddha-lands,  a koṭi of a myriad of koṭis of buddha-lands, therein are buddhas, each of themselves having a name, many and again not the same, and there is none whose name is like mine; but among the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below, from time to time there is one whose name is like mine. The eight directions and above and below, past, future, and present, and all the space between, are vast and utterly far, deep and remote, boundless and without limit; but the Buddha’s wisdom is everywhere and exceedingly bright: searching the past and knowing the present, foreknowing the boundless and beholding backward what is not yet, foreknowing without limit, all past all counting. The exceedingly innumerable buddhas, of authoritative power honoured and bright, all fully know it. The Buddha’s wisdom and the Path and virtue conjoined in brightness—there is none who can ask the Buddha to the utmost limit of the sūtras and the Path, for the Buddha’s wisdom in the end cannot be weighed and measured to the full.”

Ānanda, hearing the Buddha’s words, was at once greatly afraid, the hair of his body all rising, and said to the Buddha: “I dare not have a mind of doubt toward the Buddha. The reason I asked the Buddha is that the buddha-lands of other directions all have Mount Sumeru, upon which the first heaven, that of the Four Deva Kings, and the second heaven, the Trāyastriṃśa, rest and abide. I feared that after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa there might be some devas or people, or bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, or upāsikās, who would come and ask me: ‘Why is it that Amida Buddha’s land alone has no Mount Sumeru? On what do the first heaven of the Four Deva Kings and the second heaven, the Trāyastriṃśa, rest and abide?’ and that I should have to answer them. Now, if I do not ask the Buddha, then after the Buddha is gone, with what words shall I answer them? It is the Buddha alone who of himself knows it; there is no one else able to explain it for me. It is for this that I asked the Buddha!”

The Buddha said: “Ānanda! The third heaven, the Yāma, and the fourth heaven, the Tuṣita, up to the seventh heaven, that of Brahmā—on what do these rest and abide?”

Ānanda said: “These heavens all rest of themselves in empty space; abiding in empty space, they have nothing on which they rest.”

“The Buddha’s authoritative power is exceedingly weighty; what it wills to do of itself, whatever the mind wishes to do, it does without prior reckoning. These heavens all yet abide in empty space; how much more the Buddha’s authoritative power, honoured and weighty, when it wishes to do something!”

Ānanda, hearing the Buddha’s words, rejoiced greatly, and knelt upright with palms joined, saying: “The Buddha’s wisdom, which knows the affairs of the eight directions and above and below, past, future, and present, is boundless and without limit, without bound or border, exceedingly lofty, great, sublime, and excellent, utterly bright, good, and beyond compare, its authoritative power honoured and weighty and not to be withstood.” [1-0164] 

The Amida Sūtra

End of Fascicle 1

The Three Grades of Birth

[1-0165] The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita: “As for the people of the world—whether a son of good family or a daughter of good family—who vow and wish to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, there are three grades, and the virtue they perform has its greater and its lesser, so that they do not reach to one another.”

The Buddha said: “What are the three grades? Those of the highest, the first grade, are they who leave their homes, forsake wife and children, cut off desire, and go forth to become śramaṇas, drawing near to the Path of non-action, and who undertake the bodhisattva way and practise the sūtras of the six pāramitās. As śramaṇas they do not go against the sūtras and the precepts; they are compassionate of mind and diligent; they do not give way to anger; they have no commerce with women. Keeping the fast and the precepts in purity, with a mind that craves and covets nothing, with utmost sincerity they vow and wish to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, and they hold him constantly in mind with sincere mind, without ceasing. Such a person, in this very life, when they seek the Path, shall of themselves, in their sleep and in dreams, behold Amida Buddha and the bodhisattvas and arhats. When that person’s life is about to end, Amida Buddha, together with the bodhisattvas and arhats, shall come flying to welcome them, and they shall then be born in Amida Buddha’s land, born by transformation within the lotus flowers of the ponds of the seven treasures; and of themselves they shall receive a body and grow up, and become non-retrogressing bodhisattvas. Thereupon, together with the bodhisattvas, rank upon rank they fly and make offerings to the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below; at once they attain wisdom and valour, delighting to hear the sūtras and the Path, their hearts glad and joyful. The dwellings of the seven treasures they abide in are in empty space, following their will as they please. In whatever they wish to do, they are near to Amida Buddha.”

The Buddha said: “All who wish to be born in Amida Buddha’s land ought to be diligent, to hold to the sūtras and the precepts, and to practise this highest Dharma; then they shall attain birth in Amida Buddha’s land, and be honoured and revered by the multitude. These are the highest, the first grade.”

The Buddha said: “Those of the middle grade are they who vow and wish to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, but who, though unable to leave their homes, forsake wife and children, and cut off desire to become śramaṇas, [1-0166] yet hold to the sūtras and the precepts without breaking or losing them; who do the more the giving of alms, portioning them out; who constantly believe and receive the words of the Buddha’s sūtras deeply, and are of utmost sincerity and inward faith; who give food to the śramaṇas, make buddha-temples and raise stūpas, scatter flowers and burn incense and light lamps and hang up varied silks; and who in such practices have no preference or aversion. They do not give way to anger; they keep the fast and the precepts in purity; they are compassionate of mind and diligent; and they cut off the thought of desire, wishing to be born in Amida Buddha’s land for one day and one night without ceasing. Such a person, in this very life, shall also in their sleep and in dreams behold Amida Buddha. When that person’s life is about to end, Amida Buddha shall manifest himself, causing that person with their own eyes to behold Amida Buddha and his land; and going to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, they shall attain wisdom and valour.”

The Buddha said: “If that person who has practised such giving as this should thereafter fall into regret midway, doubting in their heart, not believing that by giving alms and portioning them out and doing all manner of good they shall in a later life gain its blessing, not believing that there is Amida’s buddha-land, not believing that there is birth in that land—yet even so, if that person keeps up their mindfulness without cutting it off, now believing and now not believing, wavering in will with nothing firmly to rely upon—still, because their good vow continues as the root, they shall attain birth. 

“When that person’s life is sick and about to end, Amida Buddha shall of himself manifest a form and image, causing that person with their own eyes to behold it. Their mouth can no longer speak, but in their heart they rejoice and leap for joy, and think within: ‘I repent that I did not know to do the more the fast and the precepts and good; now I shall be born in Amida Buddha’s land.’ That person then of themselves repents of their faults; but their repentance is slight, and there is little they can now reach to. 

“When that person’s life is exhausted, they go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, yet cannot get forward to the place of Amida Buddha; and on the way they behold, at the border of Amida Buddha’s land, a city of the seven treasures arising of itself; and their heart then rejoices greatly, and they stop within that city. There they are born by transformation within the lotus flowers of the ponds of the seven treasures, and receive a body that of itself grows up. Within the city they dwell for five hundred years, and that city is two thousand yojanas broad and long on each side. Within the city too there are dwellings of the seven treasures, and within and without there are bathing ponds of the seven treasures; and in the bathing ponds too there are, of themselves, fragrant flowers encircling them, and above the bathing ponds too there are trees of the seven treasures set in rows; and all again make the five tones of music. 

“When they wish to eat, before them is food arising of itself, furnished with food and drink of a hundred flavours; and whatever they wish to have comes to them as their mind desires. That person within the city is also in delight; that city is like the natural things of the second heaven, the Trāyastriṃśa, above. But even so, that person cannot get out of the city, nor again can they behold Amida Buddha, but only see his light; and in their heart they repent and reproach themselves, and their leaping-for-joy is this alone. Nor again can they hear the sūtras; nor again can they behold the community of bhikṣus; nor again can they behold and know of what manner and appearance the bodhisattvas and arhats in Amida Buddha’s land are. Such is that person’s grief and distress; it is as though [1-0167] it were but a small ease. The Buddha does not make it so of that person’s body: it is by what they themselves did that they of themselves attain it; for their minds of themselves turned toward the Path, and so they enter that city. 

“When that person, in their former life, sought the Path, their mind and their mouth were each at variance; their words and their thoughts had insincere faith; they doubted the Buddha’s sūtra; and again, not believing in it and turning toward it, they were of themselves to enter the evil destinies—but Amida Buddha, in pity, by his authoritative power drew them away. That person, in the city, only after five hundred years gains egress. Going to the place of Amida Buddha, and hearing the sūtras, their mind does not open in understanding; nor again can they be among the bodhisattvas, arhats, and community of bhikṣus to hear the sūtra. Because the dwelling they abide in is upon the ground, they cannot make their dwelling follow their will, to be high and great in empty space. And they are exceedingly far from Amida Buddha, and cannot draw near and attach themselves to Amida Buddha. That person’s wisdom is not bright, and their knowledge of the sūtras is again slight; their heart is not glad, and their mind does not open in understanding. But that person, after a long, long while, shall also of themselves have their wisdom open in understanding and know the sūtra, bright, strong, and valiant, their heart then glad; and they shall come next to be like the highest, the first grade. Why is this? It is only because that person, in a former life, when they sought the Path, did not greatly keep the fast and the precepts, broke and lost the sūtras and its Dharma, were doubting in will, did not believe the Buddha’s words, did not believe the Buddha’s sūtra deeply, did not believe that by giving alms and portioning them out and doing good they should in a later life gain its blessing; and again fell into regret midway, and did not believe in birth in Amida Buddha’s land, and did their virtue without sincere mind—it is for this that it is even so. These are the second, the middle grade.”

The Buddha said: “Those of the third grade are they who vow and wish to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, but who, though they have not the means for giving alms and portioning them out, nor can burn incense, scatter flowers, light lamps, hang up varied silks, make Buddhist temples and raise stūpas, or give food to the śramaṇas—yet cut off desire and covet nothing, quickly attain the sūtra, are compassionate of mind and diligent, do not give way to anger, and keep the fast and the precepts in purity; and being of such practice, they single-mindedly hold in mind the wish to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, by day and by night for ten days without ceasing. When their life is exhausted they go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, and attain honour and reverence, wisdom and valour.”

The Buddha said: “If that person, after doing this, should again fall into regret midway, doubting in mind, not believing that by doing good they shall in a later life gain its blessing, not believing in birth in Amida Buddha’s land—yet even so, that person shall still attain birth. When that person’s life is sick and about to end, Amida Buddha shall cause that person, in their sleep and in dreams, to behold the land of Amida Buddha; and in their heart they rejoice greatly, and think within: ‘I repent that I did not know to do the more all manner of good; now I shall be born in Amida Buddha’s land.’ That person thinks only this; their mouth can no longer speak; and they of themselves repent of their faults. Their repentance being little, they diminish their regret, and there is little they can now reach to. 

“When that person’s life ends, they are born in Amida Buddha’s land, yet cannot get forward, and on the way behold, within the city of the seven treasures of two thousand yojanas, and their heart alone rejoices, and they stop within it. There too they are born by transformation within the lotus flowers of the bathing ponds of the seven treasures, and of themselves receive a body and grow up. That city too is like the law of the former city, like the natural things of the second heaven, the Trāyastriṃśa, above. That person too, within the city, only when five hundred years are finished gains egress. Coming to the place of Amida Buddha, their heart rejoices greatly. That person, hearing the sūtras, their mind does not open in understanding, their thought is not glad, their wisdom is not bright, and their knowledge of the sūtras is again slight. The dwelling they abide in is upon the ground, and they cannot make their dwelling follow their will, to be high and great in empty space. And they are exceedingly far from Amida Buddha, and cannot draw near and attach themselves to Amida Buddha; and it is again just as with the second, the middle grade, those who doubted. 

“That person, after a long, long while, shall also have their wisdom open in understanding, know the sūtra, and be valiant, their heart then glad; and they shall come next to be like the highest, the first grade. Why is this? It is all because in a former life, when they sought the Path, they fell into regret midway and doubted, now believing and now not believing, not believing that by doing good they should gain its blessing and virtue; and all of themselves they attain it accordingly. According as their merit has that which shines or does not shine, each of themselves turns toward it; and in expounding the sūtras and practising the Path, they stand out and surpass by koṭis of myriads, not reaching to one another.”

The Ten Good Deeds

The Buddha said: “Those who wish to seek the bodhisattva path and be born in Amida Buddha’s land—that person, thereafter, shall all attain to being non-retrogressing bodhisattvas. Non-retrogressing bodhisattvas shall all have the thirty-two marks, the colour of purple-magenta gold, and the eighty excellent characteristics, and shall all become buddhas. According to what they vow, they shall, in whatever buddha-land of another quarter they seek and wish, become buddhas, and shall in the end no longer pass through niraya, the beasts, or the pretas. According to their diligence in seeking the Path, whether the matter be earlier or later is all one and the same. Seeking the Path without cease, they shall assuredly attain it, and shall not lose what they wished and vowed.” [1-0168]

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita and the rest: “You devas, sovereigns, and people—I say to you all: those who wish to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, though they cannot greatly practise diligence, meditation, and the holding of the sūtras and the precepts, should above all do good. First, one must not kill living beings. Second, one must not steal. Third, one must not be lewd, nor lustfully love the wives and daughters of others. Fourth, one must not deceive. Fifth, one must not drink liquor. Sixth, one must not be double-tongued. Seventh, one must not speak harshly. Eighth, one must not lie. Ninth, one must not be envious. Tenth, one must not be greedy; one must not have anything grudged or begrudged in the heart; one must not give way to anger; one must not be foolish; one must not follow the cravings of the heart. One must not fall into regret in the heart; one must not doubt. One should be filial and obedient; one should be of utmost sincerity, loyalty, and faith; one should believe and receive the words of the Buddha’s sūtra deeply; one should believe that by doing good one shall in a later life gain its blessing. 

“Holding to it thus, without breaking or losing this Dharma, then according to what one’s heart vows one may attain birth in Amida Buddha’s land. Of utmost import is that one keep the fast and the precepts with single mind in purity, by day and by night constantly holding in mind the wish to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, for ten days and ten nights without ceasing; and I shall be compassionate to them all, and cause them all to be born in Amida Buddha’s land.” 

The Buddha said: “The people of the world, out of desire to draw near to the worthy and the wise, dwelling at home and cultivating good as their Path, live together with wife and children in the midst of fond greed and desire; their cares and sufferings are many, and the affairs of the household press upon them, so that they have no leisure for the great fast and single-minded purity. Yet though they cannot leave their homes and cast off desire, if in their times of leisure they of themselves make upright their mind and thought, are mindful of self and do good, and single-mindedly and refinedly practise the Path for ten days and ten nights; or if they cannot at all do so, and, pondering deeply and reckoning well, wish to liberate themselves—then, at the least, they should cut off their thoughts and put away their cares, not being mindful of household affairs, and not sharing a bed with a woman. Making upright their body and mind of themselves, and cutting off desire, they should with single mind keep the fast and the precepts in purity, and with utmost intent be mindful of birth in Amida Buddha’s land, for one day and one night without ceasing: when their lives end, they shall all be born in that land, born by transformation within the lotus flowers of the bathing ponds of the seven treasures, and shall attain wisdom and valour; and the dwellings of the seven treasures they abide in shall be as their mind wishes to do, of itself. They may come next to be like the highest, the first grade.”

The Assembly at the Jewelled Ponds

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita: “The innumerable devas and humans of the eight directions and above and below, the bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās who are born in Amida Buddha’s land—the multitude, in great assembly, all together are in the waters of the bathing ponds of the seven treasures. All together, each person of themselves sits upon a single great lotus flower, and all of themselves set forth the Path and its virtue and the good they have done; each person of themselves tells of the good dharmas they did in a former life when they held to the precepts in seeking the Path, and the beginning and end of whence they were born, and the sūtras and the Path they delighted in, their knowledge of the sūtras and their wisdom, and the merit they practised—from the highest down in turn, all of them everywhere. Thereby it is known that of knowledge of the sūtras some is bright and some not, that wisdom has its deep and shallow, its greater and lesser, and that virtue has its excellent and its inferior, its thick and its thin; and the natural Path is severally known. Their talent, ability, wisdom, and valour, the multitude beholding and reflecting one another, in propriety, righteousness, harmony, and concord—all of themselves rejoice and leap for joy. Their wisdom has valour, and each does not reach up to the other.”

The Buddha said: “That person who by no means beforehand did virtue, and made light and sport of the doing of good, and did not believe it should be so—wavering and slothful—for such it may be so. When the time comes to gather together and expound the sūtras and the Path, of themselves pressed and hurried, they answer late and slow. In the wisdom of the Path, standing apart and surpassing, in talent and ability lofty and valiant—these alone are, at the border, weak and worn. When the matter comes upon them they repent; but the repentance has already issued forth, and what benefit thereafter?—they only grieve within, longing to reach up, and that is all.”

The Virtues of the Bodhisattvas of that Land

The Buddha said: “The bodhisattvas and arhats and the multitude in Amida Buddha’s land, in their great gathering, of themselves all assemble. Holding in their minds and curbing their thoughts, upright of body and correct in conduct, they roam in penetrating freedom. Together they follow one another in flight, rank upon rank going out and coming in, making offerings without limit. Glad of heart and joyful, together they behold the sūtras and practise the Path, in harmony and goodness long practised. Of talent, valour, and wisdom, their aspiration like empty space, they are diligent in seeking their vow. Their minds in the end no longer waver midway, their thoughts in the end no longer turn about, and in the end there is no time of slackening. Though they seek the Path, outwardly they seem slow and easy, but inwardly alone they are urgent and swift; broad and vast as empty space, they attain just the mean. Inward and outward answer to one another, and of themselves they are grave and ordered. Restrained, upright, and straight, their bodies and minds pure and clean, they have no desire and covet nothing, and have none of the many evils, blemishes, or stains. Their aspirations and vows are each at peace and settled, comely and good, without increase, defect, or diminishment. Seeking the Path in harmony and rectitude, they do not err into deviance and crookedness. Setting their gaze upon the Dharma of the Path, following the sūtras’ bond and command, they dare not transgress or stumble. 

“Whether in the eight directions and above and below, there is no bound or border; free in what they wish, they arrive without end and without limit; and all together they practise the Path. Broad and vast, ample and spacious, they are mindful of the Path with no other thought. They have no cares or sorrows; of themselves in non-action, empty and void they abide, broad, at peace, and without desire. Making the good vows they have made, with all their hearts they seek and search; harbouring pity and compassion, diligent within and without, in propriety and righteousness wholly conjoined. Penetrating without opposition, in harmony and concord fitting and answering, gathering in the without and the within, they pass over and are liberated; they can ascend and enter nirvāṇa, long conjoined in brightness with the Path and its virtue. Of themselves they guard and keep one another; the increase of glad intent is the true, and the true is thoroughly pure and white. Their aspirations and vows are unsurpassed; the peace and settledness of purity, the joy of stillness, are without limit; their good is beyond compare. 

“Lofty and sublime is their blazing radiance; the blazing radiance, spreading, opens penetrating brightness; in nature within nature it takes its nature-marks; nature has its root and origin, and of itself forms the fivefold light. The fivefold light reaches to nine colours; the nine colours, circling and turning, change several hundred thousandfold; the natural things of Uttarakuru of themselves form the seven treasures, which crosswise gathered form the ten thousand things, their light and essence shining together and coming forth, exceedingly comely and without limit; and that land is even such as this. 

“Why not strive to do good? Be mindful of the naturalness of the Path, cleaving to what has neither above nor below, penetrating without bound or limit, and cast your aspiration into empty space. Why does each not be diligent, and strive to seek it of himself?—that he may attain to surpass and pass beyond, and be born in Amida Buddha’s land, and crosswise cut off the five evil destinies. Of themselves they are closed and barred; the ascent of the Path is without limit; yet it is easy to go there, and yet there is no one there. That land does not oppose or thwart, but of itself follows and draws one on. Why not cast off the affairs of the world, and go and seek the Path and its virtue?—that one may attain the utmost long life, a lifespan without limit. Why cleave to the affairs of the world, wrangling and wrangling together over the impermanent, in cares and sorrows?

The World’s Toil and Suffering

“The people of the world, base and vulgar, wrangle together over matters that are not urgent. In the midst of this place of utmost evil and extreme suffering, they toil at their bodies to make their living, that they may support one another and live; and whether honoured or humble, whether rich or poor, whether old or young, whether man or woman, all alike worry over money and wealth. Whether they have it or have it not, their cares are just alike: fretting and grieving, heaping up mindfulness and thought, driven at heart, they have no time of peace. Having fields, they worry over their fields; having dwellings, they worry over their dwellings; having oxen, they worry over their oxen; having horses, they worry over their horses; having the six kinds of livestock, they worry over the six kinds of livestock; having servants and maids, they worry over servants and maids; having garments, coverings, money, wealth, gold, silver, and jewelled things, they again worry over these together. Heavy of thought and heaping up sighs, cares and mindfulness, sorrow and dread, that suddenly, by some calamity, water, fire, thieves, and robbers, enemies and creditors may sweep it away, burn it, seize it, drown it—grief and poison, agitated and restless, without a time of release. 

“Their resentment bound within the breast, they store up rancour and anger, and the sickness is in breast and belly, cares and sufferings not departing. Their minds hardened and their thoughts fixed, they never let go; or, borne down by it, they end their lives and lose their bodies, cast off to depart, with none who follows them. The honoured and the humble, the mighty and the noble, the poor and the rich, have these cares and dreads; toiling in this bitter way, bound up with the many colds and heats, they dwell together with pain. 

“The small householder, poor and destitute, wanting and in want, has no field, and worries in wishing to have a field; has no dwelling, and worries in wishing to have a dwelling; has no oxen, and worries in wishing to have oxen; has no horses, and worries in wishing to have horses; has not the six kinds of livestock, and worries in wishing to have the six kinds of livestock; has no servants and maids, and worries in wishing to have servants and maids; has no garments, coverings, money, wealth, household goods, or food and drink, and worries in wishing to have them. When they just have one, one is again lacking; having this, they lack that, thinking to have them all alike. When they just come to have a little, it is again used up; and living thus in bitterness, they must seek again. Their thinking is of no avail, and they cannot get them in time; their bodies and minds alike toil, and sitting and rising they have no peace; their cares follow one after another, and they toil bitterly in this way. Their hearts scorched, unable to leave off resentment and rancour, in solitary anger, again bound up with the many colds and heats, they dwell together with pain; or at times, borne down by it, they end their lives and die untimely, and yet will not do good or make the Path their own. When the lifespan is exhausted and they die, they must all go far off alone; there is somewhere they turn toward, but the path of good or evil none can know. 

“Or at times the people of the world—father and son, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, household, and kin within and without—dwelling between heaven and earth, ought to revere and love one another, and not to hate one another; what they have and have not they ought to share with one another, and not to be grasping and grudging; their words and looks ought to be harmonious, and not to oppose one another. Or, if perchance their hearts wrangle and there is something of anger, a slight rancour of mind and slight mutual envy and hatred in this present life turns in a later life to violence, and comes to be a great enmity. Why is this? Though in the affairs of this life, wishing to harm one another, they did not at the moment press their urgency to destroy one another—yet the grief and poison of it, bound up in the spirit, of themselves make their mark and record, so that they cannot depart from one another, but must all come face to face, born together, and requite one another in turn. 

“A person, in the midst of the world’s greed and desire, comes alone, goes alone, dies alone, and is born alone; and going to the place of suffering or bliss, the body must bear it of itself, with none to take its place. Good and evil in their changes have their places of calamity and fault, their evil places, made ready and awaiting of old; and one must ascend and enter them alone, going far off to another place, and none can see where the departed one is. Good and evil of themselves pursue and follow the course of birth; dim and dark, parted for long and far, upon paths not the same, with no fixed time to meet and see, it is exceedingly hard again to come face to face with one another. 

“Why not cast off the affairs of the household, and while each is yet strong and hale, strive to do good, and with all one’s might diligently seek to pass beyond the world?—that one may attain the utmost long life. Yet they will by no means seek the Path, but again wish to wait: for what joy do they wait?

The World’s Folly

“Thus the people of the world do not believe that in doing good one gains good, do not believe that in making the Path one’s own one gains the Path; they do not believe that after death, in a later life, one is born again; they do not believe that in giving one gains its blessing and virtue—they believe none of it at all. Holding that it is not so, that in the end there is no such thing, and only sitting by this, they see it for themselves and pass the word to one another, first and last in succession, receiving from one another in turn, the fathers’ remaining teaching and command. But their forebears, fathers and grandfathers, of old did no good, and from the first made not the Path their own; their bodies foolish and their spirits dark, their minds stopped and their thoughts closed, they saw not the great Path; and there was none able to see the places toward which people’s death and birth turn, nor any able to know it. There being none who saw the path of good and evil, and none again who spoke of it, to what end should one do the blessing and virtue of good, or the calamity, fault, and punishment of evil?—each vying to do it, and the use of it differing; there is nothing to wonder at. 

“As for the path of death and birth, turning and continuing in succession, at times the son weeps for the father, at times the father weeps for the son, at times the younger brother weeps for the elder, at times the elder for the younger, at times the wife weeps for the husband, at times the husband for the wife; upside down, high and low, with no constant root or origin, all must pass away, and none can be constantly kept. Though one teach and speak, opening and guiding, few believe the Path; and so death and birth have no ceasing. Such people, benighted and stubborn, do not believe the words of the sūtra, but each wishes to please his own mind. Their minds reckon and consider nothing; foolish in greed and desire, understanding nothing of the Path and its virtue, deluded and confused by anger, greedy as wolves for wealth and beauty, they sit thereby and gain not the Path, and must toil bitterly again, born in the utmost of evil places, in the end without ceasing or rest. Their pain is exceedingly to be grieved for. 

“Or at times, within the household and without, father and son, elder and younger brother, husband and wife—coming to the parting of death and birth—weep and long for one another in turn; cares and mindfulness, resentment bound up, fond greed winding and continuing, their minds fixed in pain, gazing back at one another in longing; by day and by night bound and hindered, without a time of release. Though one teaches them to look upon the Path and its virtue, their minds do not open and brighten; thinking upon their fond greeds, desire departs not; benighted and blind, entangled and covered over, they cannot ponder or reckon. 

“To make one’s own mind upright, and cut off decision in the affairs of the world, single-mindedly and refinedly to practise the Path, and so to turn round and reach the end—this they cannot; and when the lifespan is finished and the life exhausted, they cannot attain the Path, and there is no help for it. In the general tumult and confusion, all are greedy for greed and desire; and of such a Dharma, those who understand not the Path are many, and those who attain the Path are few. 

“The world in its haste and hurry has nothing to rely upon; honoured and humble, high and low, mighty, noble, poor, and rich, man and woman, great and small, each is in his own haste and business, toiling in body, harbouring the poison of killing, an evil air dim and dark; and there is none who is not cast down. Doing wanton deeds, evil and contrary to heaven and earth, not following the human heart, the Path and its virtue is not evil, and follows and gives to them first, granting and hearkening to what they do; but when their span is not yet reached, it is suddenly wrested away. They go down and enter the evil destinies, and for lives upon lives toil bitterly, turning and turning in grief and poison, for several thousand myriad koṭis of years, with no time of ceasing. Their pain is beyond telling; it is exceedingly to be pitied.”

The Exhortation to the Five Goods

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita and the rest: “You devas, sovereigns, and people—I say to you all: the affairs of the world are made thus, and people thereby sit and gain not the Path. Ponder it deeply! The evil you should let go, put far away, and depart from; and follow the good. Hold firmly to it, and dare not wantonly do wrong; do the more all manner of good. The glory of greed and desire, great or small, much or little, can none of it be constantly kept; there is only parting to come, and nothing to delight in. While the Buddha is in the world, those who believe and receive the words of the Buddha’s sūtra deeply, and undertake the Path and its virtue, are all my younger brothers. Those who wish but now to begin to learn the Buddha’s sūtras and precepts are all my disciples. Those who wish to go forth from the body, leave their homes, forsake wife and children, cut off wealth and beauty, and become śramaṇas, becoming bhikṣus for the Buddha, are all my sons and grandsons. My presence in the world is exceedingly hard to encounter; those who vow and wish to be born in Amida Buddha’s land shall attain wisdom and valour, and be honoured and revered by the multitude. Do not follow the wishes of your hearts and fall short of the sūtras and the precepts, coming to be behind others. And if perchance you have a doubting mind and do not understand the sūtras, come forward again and ask the Buddha, and he shall explain them for you.”

The bodhisattva Ajita knelt upright with palms joined and said: “The Buddha’s authoritative power is honoured and weighty, and the sūtras he expounds is excellent. We, hearing the words of the sūtras, have taken them all to heart. The people of the world are indeed thus, just as the Buddha has said, without any difference. Now the Buddha, compassionate to us, has opened and shown the great Path and taught us the road of birth; our ears and eyes are made keen and bright, and we shall long attain liberation. It is now as though we had gained new birth. When we hear the words of this sūtra of the Buddha, there is none who is not compassionate of mind, rejoicing, leaping for joy, and opening in understanding. And the devas, sovereigns, and people, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, all receive his grace, and there is none who is not liberated from grief and suffering. The Buddha’s words of teaching and admonition are exceedingly deep and good, without limit and without bottom. The Buddha’s wisdom, which sees and knows the affairs of the eight directions and above and below, past, future, and present, without above and without below, without bound and without border—the Buddha is exceedingly hard to get to hear. That we now hold a compassionate mind toward the Buddha, and are enabled by him to gain liberation, is all because in a former life, when the Buddha sought the Path, he toiled bitterly in learning and study, and it was brought about by his refined brightness. His kindly virtue covers all everywhere; the blessing and virtue he practises, his mien and fortune are lofty and sublime, his light shines penetrating, piercing the void without limit. Passing into nirvāṇa, he teaches and takes charge of the canon, wielding majesty and melting away and transforming. He alters and moves the eight directions and above and below, boundless and without limit; the Buddha as teacher and Dharma is honoured and set apart above the host of sages, and there is none at all who can reach up to the Buddha. The Buddha is teacher to the devas, sovereigns, and people of the eight directions and above and below; following what their hearts wish and vow, great and small, he causes them all to attain the Path. Now that we have been enabled to meet with the Buddha face to face, and to hear the name of Amida Buddha, we are exceedingly glad, and there is none who has not attained keen wisdom and open brightness.”

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita: “What you say is so; truly it should be thus. Those who hold a compassionate mind toward the Buddha rejoice greatly, and should truly be mindful of the Buddha; for through long, long ages of the world, only then is there again a buddha. Now I, in this world of suffering, have become a buddha, and the sūtras and the Path I have brought forth, teaching and instructing in penetrating freedom, cut off and sever doubt. Making the mind upright and conduct correct, I pluck out all greed and desire, and cut off the root and origin of the many evils. Roaming with step unbound, I take charge of and gather in wisdom; through all the Paths, within and without, I hold and grasp the guiding cord. Shining clear and distinct, I open and reveal the five paths, and decide and make correct the way of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.”

The Long Suffering of Beings in Saṃsāra

The Buddha said: “You, since innumerable kalpas past, kalpas beyond all counting, have practised the bodhisattva way, wishing to liberate the devas and humans and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, and it has been exceedingly long. The people whom you have led to attain the Path and liberation are without number, and those who have attained the Path of nirvāṇa are likewise without number. You, and the devas, sovereigns, and people of the eight directions and above and below, the bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās—you, in your former lives, since innumerable kalpas past, have turned and turned within these five paths, in death and birth crying out, weeping tears for one another, coveting and longing for one another, in cares, mindfulness, and grief and poison, in pain and suffering beyond telling. Down to this present life, death and birth have not ceased; and now this day you have met with the Buddha face to face and gathered together with him, and have heard the name of Amida Buddha, exceedingly excellent—and I rejoice for you. 

“You may also of yourselves be weary of the pains and aches of death and birth: when one is born it is exceedingly painful, exceedingly bitter, exceedingly extreme; as one grows to old age it is bitter too and extreme; and when one dies it is painful too, bitter too, extreme too, an exceedingly foul, unclean place, with nothing pure or clear that is fit. For this the Buddha has told you all; and you too may of yourselves decide upon the foul place and its evil discharge. You too may make upright your mind and correct your body, and do the more all manner of good. In this, ever making upright the without and the within, cleansing and purifying the body, wash away the mind’s defilement. Restraining and curbing one another, that within and without answer to one another, be loyal and faithful in word and deed. A person who can liberate himself, and helps to sustain and take up the others in turn, plucking out all greed and desire, refined and bright, with sincere mind, seeking his vow without turning back, binds up the root and origin of his good Path; and though he toil bitterly for one lifetime, it is but the space of an instant. 

“To do good in this present life, and in a later life to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, is a delight exceedingly without limit, long conjoined in brightness with the Path and its virtue. So, guarding and keeping the good, one departs long from the grief and vexation of the pains and aches of the evil destinies, plucks out the root and origin of all the toil and suffering, and cuts off all greed, desire, and fond attachment. Being born long in Amida Buddha’s land, one has none of the pains and aches, nor again any of the foul places, nor again any toil and suffering, nor any lust, anger, or folly, nor any cares, mindfulness, grief, or poison. Born in Amida Buddha’s land, should one wish a lifespan of one kalpa, ten kalpas, a hundred kalpas, a thousand kalpas, or ten thousand koṭi kalpas—of one’s own free will, wishing to abide and stay for a lifespan of innumerable kalpas, kalpas past all counting—as one pleases, all may be attained. Whether to eat or not to eat, as one’s mind pleases, all is of itself, and all may be attained. Next to the Path of nirvāṇa, each of themselves, refined and bright, seek and search. What the mind wishes and vows—let there be no doubting mind or regret within; for those who wish to be born, let them not sit by their faults, at the border of Amida Buddha’s land, in the city of the seven treasures arising of itself, penalized for five hundred years.”

The bodhisattva Ajita said: “Receiving the Buddha’s grave and bright weighty teaching, we shall all be diligent and single-mindedly seek and search; we beg to undertake and practise it, and dare not doubt or slacken.”

The Five Evils, the Five Pains, and the Five Burnings

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita and the rest: “If you, in this world, can of yourselves curb your minds and make correct your thoughts, and do no evil with the body, this is a great virtue and good. There is one grade of beings who, in the eight directions and above and below, are beyond all compare. Why is this? In the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below, the devas and humans of themselves do good, and do not greatly do evil, and are easy to teach and transform. Now I, in this world, have become a buddha, and dwell as a buddha in the midst of the five evils, the five pains, and the five burnings; this is the most grievous. I teach and speak to the people, causing them to let go and cast off the five evils, causing them to depart from the five pains, causing them to depart from the midst of the five burnings; I subdue and transform their minds, and cause them to hold to the five goods, that they may attain the blessing and virtue of liberation from the world, of long life, and of the Path of nirvāṇa.”

The Buddha said: “What are the five evils? What are the five pains? What are those in the five burnings? What is the melting away of the five evils, that they may attain the five goods? What is the holding to the five goods, that one may attain their blessing and virtue, long life, liberation from the world, and the Path of nirvāṇa?”

The Buddha said: “The first evil is this. The devas and humans, down to the beasts and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, wish to do all manner of evil; the strong subdue the weak, injuring and preying upon one another in turn, killing and wounding one another, devouring one another. They do not know to do good, but are evil, rebellious, and lawless; and they receive their calamity and punishment. The Path is of itself so: they must go and turn toward it, and the spirits and bright ones mark and record it, so that whoever transgresses it is not let off, but continues in succession. Thus there are the poor, the humble, the beggars, and the solitary; thus there are the deaf, the blind, the mute, the foolish, and the utterly evil; and below there are those crazed and mad and unable to reach their fellows. And there are the honoured and the humble, the mighty, the noble, the highly talented, the clear and penetrating, the wise and valiant: all these are from their former lives, when of old they did good, were kind and filial, and gave alms with kindly virtue. Thus there are the affairs of officialdom and the laws of kings, and imprisonment; those who will not fear and take heed do evil and fall under the law, and receive their fault and penalty, weighty punishment brought upon them and made grievous, so that seeking to look for liberation it is hard to attain egress. This is present here before one’s eyes in this present life; and when the lifespan ends, there is a place they enter, that dim and dark place, receiving a body and born again—like the utmost suffering and extreme penalties of the laws of kings. Thus of themselves there are niraya, the beasts, the pretas, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things; changing and bartering their bodily forms, altering their evil and changing their path, their lifespans short or long, their souls, spirits, and consciousness of themselves enter and turn to receive a form and lodge in a womb. They must alone meet with and turn toward being born together, following one another; and turning to requite one another, they must repay and return in turn. Their calamity, evil, misfortune, and penalty—the many matters not yet exhausted—in the end they cannot depart from; turning and turning within it, for generations and heaped-up kalpas there is no time of egress, liberation hard to attain, the pain beyond telling. Between heaven and earth this is of itself so: though it does not at the moment come suddenly and answer at once, yet only take the natural Path, and good and evil shall all return to it. This is the first great evil, the one pain, the one burning. Toiling bitterly in this way, in grief, poison, and crying out, it is like a raging fire arising and burning a person’s body. 

“But a person who can, in the midst of this, with single mind curb his thoughts, make upright his body and correct in conduct, and alone do all manner of good and not do the many evils, shall alone in his body attain liberation and gain his blessing and virtue; he may attain long life, liberation from the world, ascent to heaven, and the Path of nirvāṇa. This is the first great good.”

The Buddha said: “The second evil is this. The sovereigns, magistrates, and people of the world, fathers and sons, elder and younger brothers, households, husbands and wives, are for the most part without righteousness or principle; they do not follow correct command, but are extravagant, lewd, arrogant, and haughty, each wishing to please himself and follow his heart’s freedom. They deceive one another and by no means fear death. Their minds and mouths are each at variance, their words and thoughts without truth; flattering and fawning, disloyal, with cajoling and cunning speech, their conduct without straightforward beginning, they envy and hate one another in turn, slandering and doing evil in turn, entrapping people and doing them wrong. The lord above is not bright, and his mind does not examine and discern; he employs his ministers below, and the ministers, existing and treading their measure in what they can do, know his form and disposition, and being in office are not upright, and are cajoled by him, wantonly harming the loyal, good, worthy, and virtuous, not according with heaven’s heart, greatly transgressing the principle of the Path. The minister deceives his lord, the son deceives his father, the younger brother deceives the elder, the wife deceives the husband; household and kin within and without, acquaintances, sue one another at law, each harbouring greed and lust, their minds poisoned with anger; benighted and deaf and foolish, they wish to profit themselves. Whether honoured or humble, high or low, whether man or woman, whether great or small, their minds are all alike, wishing to make themselves rich. They break the household and lose the body, taking no thought of before or after; and their household and kin sit thereby and have their clan destroyed. Or at times, within the household and without, acquaintances, friends, villagers, townsfolk, foolish common people, and rustics, turn and take up affairs together and harm one another. Wrangling over wealth, quarrelling and suing, in anger and wrath they become enemies, and quarrel the more over winning and losing; grudging their riches, their hearts scorched, they will not give. Guarding their loves and keeping their possessions, grasping and grudging, they sit thereby in mindfulness, minds toiling and bodies suffering. Thus, to the very end, they have nothing to rely upon; they come alone and go alone, with none to follow them. Good and evil, blessing, virtue, calamity, misfortune, penalty—these pursue their lives to where they are born: some in a place of bliss, some entering into poison and suffering; and only thereafter do they repent—and what can that then reach? Or at times the people of the world, foolish of mind and of little wisdom, seeing good, slander it and are angry at it, and will not long to reach up to it, but wish only to do wanton and lawless deeds; wishing only to steal, they ever harbour a poisoned mind, wishing to gain the wealth and goods of others to provide for themselves; and having wasted and dispersed it all, they seek again. Their perverse minds not upright, ever alone in dread, they fear that people may see their look; not reckoning beforehand, when the matter comes upon them they then repent. In this present life there are the magistrates’ prisons; of themselves they turn toward them and receive their calamity and fault. This is because in a former life, of old, they did not believe the Path and its virtue and would not do good; and in this present life, doing evil, the deva-spirits mark them separately, and when the lifespan ends they enter the evil destinies. Thus of themselves there are niraya, the beasts, the pretas, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things; turning and turning within it, for generations and heaped-up kalpas there is no time of egress, liberation hard to attain, the pain beyond telling. This is the second great evil, the second pain, the second burning. Toiling bitterly in this way, it is like a fire arising, more grievous than the burning of a person’s body. 

“But a person who can, in the midst of this, with single mind curb his thoughts, make upright his body and correct in conduct, and alone do all manner of good and not do the many evils, shall alone in his body attain liberation and gain his blessing and virtue; he may attain long life, liberation from the world, ascent to heaven, and the Path of nirvāṇa. This is the second great good.”

The Buddha said: “The third evil is this. The people of the world, lodging their lives in dependence upon one another, together dwelling and abiding between heaven and earth, pass through a term of years and a lifespan of no great number. Above there are the mighty, noble, elders, worthy, bright, and good; below there are the poor, humble, crippled, weak, and foolish; and among them are people who are not good, who only harbour poisoned and evil mindfulness, their bodies and minds not upright, ever mindful of lust, their breasts full and troubled, greed and desire crossing and tangling, so that sitting and rising they have no peace. Greedy of intent and grudging, wishing to gain crosswise and in vain, they leer at fine forms, of evil manner and lewd. They loathe their own wives, and privately and wantonly go in and out; they take what the household has and spend it in wrongdoing. They gather and meet for food and drink, and single-mindedly do evil together; they raise troops and make war, attacking cities and doing battle, plundering, killing, cutting down, and seizing by force, lawless. They take the wealth and goods of others by theft, snatching what they can; unwilling to make an honest living, what they ought to seek they will not do. Their evil minds being turned outward, they cannot single-mindedly do their work; wishing to bind up and accomplish the matter, they threaten and coerce by force and menace, and carry it home to provide for their households, living together thereby. Following their hearts and pleasing themselves, they carry their doings to the utmost, making merry, and go and defile the wives and daughters of others. Or, with their own kin, sparing not the honoured or humble, elder or aged, they are hated by the multitude together, and their households and kin within and without are troubled and angered by them. Nor again do they fear the laws and commands of the officials, taking no heed of the record; and such evil of itself brings the prison. The sun and moon shine and mark it, and the bright spirits record and take it; the spirits gather and enroll it. Thus of themselves there are niraya, the beasts, the pretas, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things; turning and turning within it, for generations and heaped-up kalpas there is no time of egress, liberation hard to attain, the pain beyond telling. This is the third great evil, the third pain, the third burning. Toiling bitterly in this way, it is like a fire arising and burning a person’s body. 

“But a person who can, in the midst of this, with single mind curb his thoughts, make upright his body and correct in conduct, and alone do all manner of good and not do the many evils, shall alone in his body attain liberation and gain his blessing and virtue; he may attain long life, liberation from the world, ascent to heaven, and the Path of nirvāṇa. This is the third great good.”

The Buddha said: “The fourth evil is this. The people cannot do good, but ruin and wreck one another, and teach one another in turn to do all manner of evil together. They deal in double-tongued speech, harsh words, reviling, and lying, wishing only to be double-tongued; they envy one another and quarrel and make discord in turn, hating and envying the good, wrecking and ruining the worthy and good, and delighting at it from the side. Nor again are they filial and obedient, nor do they make offerings to father and mother; they make light of teachers, friends, and acquaintances, without faith and hard to bring to sincerity and truth. Puffed up as honoured and noble, holding they have the Path, they act with violence and might, laying on their power and force, encroaching upon and slighting others, unable to know themselves. Doing evil, they feel no shame; self-willed, stubborn, and strong, they wish that others should serve and revere and fear them. Nor again do they fear and revere heaven, earth, the bright spirits, the sun, and the moon; nor can they be taught to do good, nor be subdued and transformed; self-willed and haughty, they hold it shall ever be so. Nor again have they a mind of care or pity, nor know they a thought of dread. Arrogant and haughty in this way, the deva-spirits record it. It was through their former lives, of old, that they did some blessing and virtue, and a little good sustains and helps and shields them. In this present life, doing evil, their store is used up, the goods depart day by day, and evil pursues them. Their bodies stand alone and void, with nothing again to rely upon; and they receive weighty calamity and penalty. When the lifespan ends, the many evils wind about and come home to them, of themselves pressing and hurrying them; they must go and pursue it, without ceasing or rest; of themselves the many evils together rush upon them and lay them low. Their names and records are in the place of the bright spirits, and calamity draws and leads them, until they must meet with it and get it; of themselves they turn toward it and receive their fault and penalty; their bodies and minds are crushed to pieces, spirit and form in utmost suffering, unable to depart or turn back, but only to go forward and enter the fiery cauldron. At that time, what benefit is repentance, and what can it then reach? The Path of heaven is of itself so, and cannot be transgressed or stumbled. Thus of themselves there are niraya, the beasts, the pretas, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things; turning and turning within it, for generations and heaped-up kalpas there is no time of egress, liberation hard to attain, the pain beyond telling. This is the fourth great evil, the fourth pain, the fourth burning. Toiling bitterly in this way, it is like a fire arising and burning a person’s body. 

“But a person who can, in the midst of this, with single mind curb his thoughts, make upright his body and correct in conduct, and alone do all manner of good and not do the many evils, shall alone in his body attain liberation and gain his blessing and virtue; he may attain long life, liberation from the world, ascent to heaven, and the Path of nirvāṇa. This is the fourth great good.”

The Buddha said: “The fifth evil is this. The people of the world waver and are slothful, unwilling to do good or to be mindful of an honest living; their wives and children go hungry and cold, and their parents likewise. When they wish to chide and teach their sons, the sons are evil of mind, glare in anger, and answer wrathfully; their words and commands are not followed; contrary and rebellious, worse than rustics, like enemies, they are not so good as having no son. Wantonly and everywhere they borrow, and the multitude together are troubled and weary of them, yet they have no mind again to repay. Poor, destitute, wanting, and in want, they cannot gain again; grasping and gathering by cunning voice, dissolute in their roaming and idleness, again and again gaining in vain, they use it to provide for themselves and fear no prohibition; in food and drink without limit, drinking liquor and craving fine things, going in and out without measure or reckoning, coarse and stubborn, they do not know the human feeling, but by force impose upon others. Seeing that others have joy, they envy and hate them; without righteousness and without propriety, self-willed, they will not be admonished or made to understand. Nor again are they mindful of whether their parents, wives, and children have or have not; nor again are they mindful of hastening to repay the virtue of father and mother; nor again are they mindful of the kindness of teachers. Their minds ever mindful of evil, their mouths ever speaking evil, their bodies ever doing evil, not one day do they accomplish good. They do not believe the Path and its virtue; they do not believe there are worthy, bright ones and former sages; they do not believe that by doing good and making the Path one’s own one may attain liberation from the world; they do not believe that there is a buddha in the world. They wish to kill arhats, to set the community of bhikṣus at strife, ever wishing to kill people; they wish to kill father, mother, elder and younger brother, wife and children, kin, and friends; and their fathers, mothers, brothers, wives, kin, and friends, hating and loathing to see them, wish that they were dead. They do not believe the words of the Buddha’s sūtra; they do not believe that when a person’s lifespan is exhausted and they die, in a later life they are born again; they do not believe that in doing good one gains good, nor that in doing evil one gains evil. Such people, men and women, their minds and thoughts all alike contrary and rebellious, foolish, benighted, and clouded, in anger and craving desire understanding and knowing nothing, self-willed and holding good to be great wisdom. Nor do they know whence they came, nor the place toward which death and birth turn; unwilling to be kind and filial, evil and contrary to heaven and earth, in the midst of all this they look and hope for luck, wishing to gain long life and calling to escape death; yet they must come home to the Path of saṃsāra and its bitter toil of good and evil, and the evil their bodies have done, their calamity and the many turnings, they cannot pass over and be liberated from. Nor can they be subdued and transformed and made to do good; though with compassionate mind one teach and speak, opening and guiding them to the suffering of death, and the places toward which good and evil turn—that there is such—they again do not believe it. Though one toil at heart and speak with them, wishing to make them liberated, it is of no benefit to them; their minds are stopped and closed, and their thoughts do not open in understanding. When the great fate is about to come, and the time arrives, they all repent; but to repent thereafter—what can it then reach? Not reckoning beforehand to do good, when the end comes, what benefit is it? Between heaven and earth the five paths are clear and distinct, vast and deep, boundless and flooding; turning and receiving from one another good and evil, poison and pain, the body must bear it of itself, with none to take its place. 

“The Path is of itself so, and follows what one does; it pursues the life to where it is born, and cannot be let go. The good person does good, is kind and filial, and from bliss enters bliss, from brightness enters brightness. The evil person does evil, and from suffering enters suffering, from darkness enters darkness. Who can know it? It is the Buddha alone who sees and knows it. Though one teach and speak to the people, those who believe and use it are few; and so death and birth do not cease, and the evil destinies are not cut off. Such people of the world cannot all be told and spoken of; thus of themselves there are niraya, the beasts, the pretas, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things; turning and turning within it, for generations and heaped-up kalpas there is no time of egress, liberation hard to attain, the pain beyond telling. This is the fifth great evil, the five pains, the five burnings. Toiling bitterly in this way, it is like a fire arising and burning a person’s body. 

“But a person who can, in the midst of this, with single mind curb his thoughts, make upright his body and correct in conduct, that his words and deeds answer to one another and what he does be of utmost sincerity, that what he says be as he says it, his mind and mouth not turning about, and alone do all manner of good and not do the many evils, shall alone in his body attain liberation and gain his blessing and virtue; he may attain long life, liberation from the world, ascent to heaven, and the Path of nirvāṇa. This is the fifth great good.”

The Buddha’s Exhortation

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita and the rest: “I say to you all: these five evils of the world toil bitterly in this way, giving rise to the five pains and giving rise to the five burnings, turning and giving birth to one another. The people of the world, unwilling to do good and wishing to do all manner of evil—those who dare to wish to commit these many evil things all of themselves shall in turn pass through and enter the evil destinies. Or in this present life they are first stricken with sickness and calamity, unable to die or to live, shown for the multitude to behold; and when the lifespan ends they turn and enter into the utmost great suffering, in cares, grief, and cruel poison, of themselves scorching one another and burning and destroying one another in turn. In the end thereafter they become enemies together and injure and kill one another in turn, arising from the small and slight and reaching the great and grievous; and all of it is from greed, lust, wealth, and beauty, from being unwilling to bear and to give. Each wishing to please himself, with no more crookedness or straightness, they wish to gain a name for strength; driven by folly and desire, following their hearts’ imaginings, they cannot gain again, and their resentment is bound within the breast. Bound and fettered by wealth and beauty, they have no liberation, and know no satiety; enriching themselves and quarrelling in desire, they take no account of anything. Their riches, rank, and glory, at the time of their forbearance, they know not to give in good; their might and power are of no long while, and follow the evil name and scorch. Their bodies sit in toil and suffering, and after a long while it is greatly grievous; of itself it pursues and follows, without release. The laws of kings are spread abroad, and of themselves arraign them, high and low answering to one another; the net and its mesh, its bond and cord—trembling and afraid, they must enter within it. Of old and now there is this. Alas, it is to be grieved for! Wholly without righteousness or principle, they know not the correct Path.”

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita and the rest: “If in the world there is such a buddha, he is compassionate and pities them all; by his authoritative power he crushes and moves all the many evils and matters, and he melts and transforms them away, causing them to attain the departure from evil and drawing near to good, and to cast off what they think. Undertaking and holding to the sūtras and the precepts, there is none who does not receive them; and practising the Dharma of the sūtras, they dare not transgress or lose it: it is the Path of liberation from the world, of non-action, of nirvāṇa, excellent and good, Utmost Bliss.”

The Buddha said: “You, the devas, sovereigns, and people, and people of later ages, having attained the words of the Buddha’s sūtras, ponder them deeply; and each can make his mind upright and his conduct correct in light of them. The lord above does good, leading and transforming, curbing and governing those below; teaching the multitude, they command one another in turn, and turn to do good together, and liberate one another in turn. Each of himself, upright and guarded, kind, humane, and pitying, to the end of his life does not slacken; honouring the sages, revering the filial, penetrating in wide love—the Buddha’s words of teaching and command none dare fall short of or transgress. They should be earnest for the Path of liberation from the world and nirvāṇa; they should be earnest to cut off and sever the pains and aches of death and birth and to pluck out the root of evil; they should be earnest to cut off and sever the evil and suffering paths of niraya, the beasts, the pretas, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things. While the Buddha is in the world, they should firmly hold to the sūtras and the Path, and dare not transgress or lose it.”

The Buddha said: “What is first and most urgent in what you should believe? You should make upright your body, make upright your mind, make upright your eyes, make upright your ears, make upright your nose, make upright your mouth, make upright your hands, make upright your feet; able of yourselves to restrain and curb, do not wantonly move or act; your bodies and minds pure and clean, in accord together with the good, in and out bound by rule, do not follow your cravings and desires. Not transgressing the many evils, let your words and looks be harmonious, and your bodily conduct be single. In walking, standing, sitting, and rising, let what you do be at peace. In the matters you do and undertake, first ponder and reckon them well beforehand. Weigh your talent and ability, look and gaze by rule and measure, and, at peace and settled, slowly do them. To do a matter suddenly, without reckoning it well beforehand, is to do it without care, to lose one’s labour, and to have ruin and regret after, toiling in vain and losing the body. Of utmost sincerity, loyalty, and faith, one attains the Path and departs beyond.”

The Superiority of Good in This World

The Buddha said: “If you, in this, do the more all manner of good, give out kindness and bestow virtue, can not transgress the prohibitions and tabus of the Path, and practise forbearance, diligence, single-mindedness, and wisdom, and teach and transform one another in turn to do good and make virtue—such a Dharma of the sūtras, with compassionate mind single and undivided, keeping the fast and the precepts in purity for one day and one night, surpasses doing good in Amida Buddha’s land for a hundred years. Why is this? In Amida Buddha’s land all is heaped-up virtue and the many goods, of non-action and naturalness in whatever one seeks, and there is not any evil so great as a hair’s breadth.”

The Buddha said: “To do good in this world for ten days and ten nights, its virtue surpasses doing good among the people of the buddha-lands of other directions for a thousand years. Why is this? In the buddha-lands of other directions all do good, and those who do good are many, and those who do evil are few, and all have natural things, so that without going to seek and make them they of themselves attain them. In this place those who do evil are many, and those who do good are few; and without going to seek and make them, one cannot get them. The people of the world can of themselves make upright and curb themselves, do good, and with sincere mind seek the Path, and so it can be even so! In this place there is no naturalness: one cannot provide for oneself, but must go to seek and search, toiling bitterly to make one’s living, deceiving one another in turn, cheating and cozening for good and ill, and gaining their wealth and goods, and carrying them home to provide for wife and children—food and drink of poison, toiling at heart and suffering in body. Thus to the very end, their minds and thoughts not single, restless and unsettled. A person who can of himself be at peace and still, do good, and be diligent in virtue—so it can be even so!”

The Transformation of the World by the Dharma

The Buddha said: “I am compassionate to you all, and to the devas, sovereigns, and people, and teach and command you all to do all manner of good and not to do the many evils; and according to what each is able, I bestow the Path upon them. My words of teaching and admonition, and my opening and guiding—all undertake and practise them: the lord leads and transforms in doing good, and teaches and commands those below; the father teaches his son, the elder brother teaches the younger, the husband teaches his wife, and household and kin within and without, acquaintances and friends, teach and speak to one another in turn, to do good and make the Path their own, to uphold the sūtras and hold to the precepts, each of himself upright and guarded, high and low restraining one another; whether honoured or humble, whether man or woman, keeping the fast and the precepts in purity, there is none who is not glad, in harmony, concord, righteousness, and principle, in joy, kindness, and filialness, restraining one another of themselves. Those who attain the words of the Buddha’s sūtra all hold and ponder them; and what they ought not to do, if they transgress and do it, they at once of themselves repent of their faults, depart from evil and draw near to good, cast off the perverse and become correct, hearing in the morning and changing by evening; and undertaking and holding to the sūtras and the precepts is, for the utmost fool, like gaining a treasure. 

“Wherever the Buddha walks and abides—in whatever province, kingdom, county, town, hamlet, village, market, or ward—he bestows the sūtras and the precepts, and the devas, sun, moon, stars, and spirits, the kings, the ministers at their side, the magistrates, the people, the nāgas, spirits, and the beings of niraya, the beasts, the pretas, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things—there is none who is not compassionate of mind and opened in understanding; all reverently serve him, receiving the sūtras and the Path from the Buddha, and undertaking and practising it. Then the lord changes and transforms in doing good; keeping the fast, refined in thought, pure, washing and cleansing himself, upright of mind and correct in conduct, grave and reverent in his place, teaching and commanding, leading the multitude to do good, undertaking and practising the prohibitions of the Path, making his words correct. The minister is filial to his lord, loyal and upright, receiving command and daring not to transgress or fall short; the father and son, in word and command, filial, obedient, and receiving; elder and younger brother, husband and wife, kin, and friends, high and low, command one another in turn, following the word in harmony and principle. Honoured and humble, great and small, revere and serve one another in turn, by propriety as by righteousness, not transgressing or falling short of one another; there is none who does not amend the past and cultivate the future, wash the mind and change the conduct, making upright the without and the within, and of themselves doing good; and what they vow they at once attain. All are of goodness, subdued and transformed by the natural Path. Seeking not to die, one may at once attain long life; seeking liberation from the world, one may at once attain the Path of nirvāṇa.”

The Buddha said: “The Buddha’s authoritative power is honoured and his virtue weighty; melting away evil and transforming to good, there is none he does not liberate. Now I have appeared in the world, in the midst of this evil, in a world of suffering, and become a buddha; compassionate, pitying, and grieving, I teach and speak, opening and guiding the devas, sovereigns, ministers at their side, those to left and right, the magistrates, and the people; following what their hearts wish, vow, and delight in, I cause them all to attain the Path. Wherever the Buddha walks, and the provinces, kingdoms, counties, towns, hamlets, villages, markets, and wards he passes through, there is none that is not brought to plenty and ripeness; the world is at great peace, the sun and moon run their courses and shine, doubly bright and good; wind and rain come in season, the people are at peace and rest. The strong do not lord it over the weak, each gaining his place; there are no evil years or plagues, and none sick and wasted. Weapons and armour do not arise; the kingdom has neither thieves nor robbers; there is neither wrong nor injustice, and none held in bonds. Lord, minister, and people, there is none who does not rejoice and leap; loyal, kind, and of utmost sincerity, each of himself upright and guarded, all guarding the kingdom; harmonious, mild, and filial, there is none who is not glad. What they have and have not they share with one another; giving out kindness and bestowing virtue, glad of heart and giving, all revere and love, yield and defer in righteousness, humble and modest. Before and after, in propriety they revere and serve one another, as father and son, as elder and younger brother, and there is none who is not humane and worthy. In harmony, concord, propriety, and measure, there is no opposition or wrangling at all, and their delight and goodness is without limit.”

The Buddha said: “I am compassionate to you, my sons, and wish to liberate you, more grievously than a father and mother are mindful of their child. Now the devas, sovereigns, and people of the eight directions and above and below, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, who attain the Buddha’s sūtra and precepts and undertake the Buddha’s Path, all attain bright wisdom and their minds all open in understanding, and there is none who is not liberated from grief and suffering. Now I have become a buddha, in the midst of the five evils, the five pains, and the five burnings; subduing and transforming the five evils, melting away and exhausting the five pains, cutting off and destroying the five burnings; with good I attack evil and pluck out the poison and suffering, and cause beings to attain the five paths—I cause them to attain the five goods, bright and good, so that the burning evils do not arise. After I have entered parinirvāṇa and departed, the sūtras and the Path shall gradually be cut off; the people shall be flattering and fawning, and shall gradually do the many evils again, no longer doing good; and the five burnings shall arise again, and the five pains shall grievously suffer again, as by the former law, of themselves returning again; and after a long while it shall turn to be grievous, and cannot all be told. I have but spoken of it for you in brief, in a small way.”

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita and the rest: “Each of you, ponder and hold to it, and teach and admonish one another in turn, that as in the Buddha’s sūtra and Dharma you dare not transgress and offend.”

The bodhisattva Ajita knelt upright with palms joined and said: “The Buddha’s discourse on the Path is one of exceedingly bitter pain. The people of the world do evil, exceedingly grievous in this way; and the Buddha, compassionate to them all, liberates them all.” 

And they all said that they received the Buddha’s weighty teaching, and begged to teach one another in turn, and dared not transgress and offend.

Amida Buddha Made Manifest

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “I am compassionate to you all, and would cause you all to behold Amida Buddha and the land where the bodhisattvas and arhats dwell. Do you wish to behold it, or not?”

Ānanda then rejoiced greatly, and knelt upright with palms joined and said: “We wish indeed to behold it all.”

The Buddha said: “Rise, arrange your kāṣāya afresh, and bow toward the west; toward the place where the sun sets, do homage to Amida Buddha, and, touching your head to the ground, say: ‘Namo Amida Samyak-saṃbuddha.’”

Ānanda said: “Yes! I receive the teaching.” And he at once rose, arranged his kāṣāya afresh, bowed toward the west, and, toward the place where the sun sets, did homage to Amida Buddha, and, touching his head to the ground, said: “Namo Amida Samyak-saṃbuddha”

Before Ānanda had risen, Amida Buddha then sent forth a great light and authoritative power, filling the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below. Then all the innumerable heavens and earths were greatly shaken. All the innumerable heavens and earths, the Sumeru mountains ranged with jewels, the mighty Mahāsumeru great mountains ranged with jewels, the heavens and earths, the great realms and small realms, and within them the great nirayas and small nirayas, the mountains, forests, ravines, valleys, and places of darkness and gloom, were all at once greatly bright, and all thrown wide open. At that moment Ānanda, the bodhisattvas and arhats, and the devas, sovereigns, and people, all beheld Amida Buddha and the land of the seven treasures of the bodhisattvas and arhats; and their hearts rejoiced greatly and leapt for joy, and all rose and did homage to Amida Buddha, touching their heads to the ground, and all said: “Namaḥ to Amida, the Samyaksaṃbuddhadāna.”

When Amida Buddha’s land had sent forth its light and authoritative power, the innumerable devas and humans, and the classes of flying and creeping and crawling things, all beheld Amida Buddha’s light, and there was none who was not compassionate of mind and rejoicing. All the beings in niraya, the beasts, and the pretas, and all the places of torment and bitter toil, at once rested and were no longer tormented, and there was none who was not liberated from grief and suffering. All the blind at once gained sight; all the deaf at once gained hearing; all the mute at once could speak; all the hunched at once were made straight; all the lame and crippled at once could walk; all the sick at once were healed and rose; all the withered were at once made strong and hale; all the foolish were at once made keen and wise; all the lustful were all of chastity; all the angry were all compassionate of mind and did good; all who were poisoned, the poison no longer worked in them. Bells, chimes, lutes, zithers, harps, and all manner of musical instruments, though not struck, all of themselves made the five tones of music. Women’s pearls and rings all of themselves made a sound; the hundred birds and the beasts all sang plaintively of themselves. 

At that time, there was none who did not rejoice, delight in good, and attain liberation. Then at that moment, the devas and humans in the buddha-lands all took the flowers and incense of heaven above and came down, and in empty space all made offerings, scattering them over the buddhas and over Amida Buddha. The devas each together made in great concert ten thousand kinds of natural music, delighting the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and arhats. 

At that time, their delight was beyond telling.

The Buddha Confirms the Vision

The Buddha said to Ānanda and the bodhisattva Ajita and the rest: “I have described Amida Buddha and the natural seven treasures of the land of the bodhisattvas and arhats—is there perhaps any difference?”

Ānanda knelt upright with palms joined and said: “The Buddha has spoken of the excellence of Amida Buddha’s land, and as the Buddha has described it, there is not a single difference.”

The Buddha said: “If I spoke of the merits of Amida Buddha and the excellence of his land, by day and by night for a whole kalpa, I would still not have finished. I have but spoken of it for you in a small way.”

The Bodhisattvas Born from the Ten Directions

The bodhisattva Ajita then knelt upright with palms joined and asked the Buddha: “Now, from this land, how many non-retrogressing bodhisattvas shall there be who go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land? I wish to hear of it.”

The Buddha said: “If you wish to know, listen well and set it in your heart.”

The bodhisattva Ajita said: “I shall receive the teaching.”

The Buddha said: “From my land there shall be seven hundred and twenty koṭis of non-retrogressing bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. Each single non-retrogressing bodhisattva has, before and after, made offerings to innumerable buddhas; and in due order, like Maitreya, they shall all become buddhas. And of the remaining lesser bodhisattvas beyond number, past all counting, they too shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land.”

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ajita: “Not only shall the bodhisattvas of my land go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land; in the lands of other directions too there are buddhas, and it is likewise so.70 In the first, whose buddha is named Duṣprasaha, that land has a hundred and eighty koṭis of bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the second buddha is named Ratnākāra, and that land has ninety koṭis of bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the third buddha is named Jyotiṣprabha, and that land has two hundred and twenty koṭis of bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the fourth buddha is named Amitaprabha, and that land has two hundred and fifty koṭis of bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the fifth buddha is named Lokapradīpa, and that land has six hundred koṭis of bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the sixth buddha is named Nāgābhibhū, and that land has fourteen thousand bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the seventh buddha is named Virajaḥprabha, and that land has fifteen bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the eighth buddha is named Siṃha, and that land has eight bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the ninth buddha is named Śrīkūṭa, and that land has eight hundred and ten koṭis of bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the tenth buddha is named Nātha,71 and that land has ten thousand koṭis of bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the eleventh buddha is named Balābhijñā, and that land has twelve thousand bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the twelfth buddha is named Puṣpadhvaja, and that land has bodhisattvas beyond number, past all counting, all of them non-retrogressing, all of wisdom and valour, each having made offerings to innumerable buddhas, who in one moment together, of one mind, wish to go, and shall all be born in Amida Buddha’s land. In a land of another quarter, the thirteenth buddha is named Jvalanādhipati, and that land has seven hundred and ninety koṭis of bodhisattvas who shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land.”

The Buddha said: “These bodhisattvas are all non-retrogressing. And of the community of bhikṣus and the lesser bodhisattvas beyond number, they too shall all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. It is not only the bodhisattvas of these fourteen buddha-lands who shall go to be born there; throughout the innumerable buddha-lands of the eight directions and above and below, the bodhisattvas of each and every one shall likewise all go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land. Exceedingly beyond number, all together they go to gather in Amida Buddha’s land, a great multitude past all counting. Were I but to tell the names of the innumerable buddhas of the eight directions and above and below, by day and by night for a whole kalpa I should still not have finished. Were I but again to tell the number of the community of bhikṣus and the multitude of bodhisattvas of those buddha-lands who shall go to be born in Amida Buddha’s land, and tell it for a whole kalpa without ceasing, I should still not have finished. I have but, for you, gathered it together and told it in a small way.”

The Rarity of Hearing the Name

The Buddha said to Ānanda and the bodhisattva Ajita and the rest: “The sovereigns and people of the world—a son of good family or a daughter of good family—whose mien and fortune are lofty and sublime, brought about by the good they did in a former life of old, and who thus come to hear the name of Amida Buddha: it is exceedingly excellent, and I rejoice for them.”

The Buddha said: “Those—a son of good family or a daughter of good family—who hear the name of Amida Buddha, and are compassionate of mind and rejoice, and at that moment leap for joy, their minds and thoughts pure and clean, the hair of their bodies rising and tears coming forth—these all in a former life of old made the Buddha’s path their own; or they are of the buddhas of other directions, and their bodhisattvas, and not common people. Those people, men and women, who hear the name of Amida Buddha and do not believe that there is a buddha, do not believe the words of the sūtras and the Buddha, do not believe that there is a community of bhikṣus, doubting in their hearts and believing nothing at all—these all come from the evil destinies to be born here; their former lives’ calamity and evil not yet exhausted, and, foolish and not understanding, they are not yet to be liberated; and so their hearts doubt and do not turn to believe.”

The Transmission of the Sūtra

The Buddha said: “I say to you all: the good Dharma you ought to do, you should all undertake and practise and believe, and have no doubt. After I have entered parinirvāṇa and departed, let you and the people of later ages not again say: ‘I do not believe that Amida’s buddha-land exists.’ 

“Therefore I have caused you all to behold Amida Buddha’s land; and what you ought to do, let each seek it. I have fully expounded for you the sūtra, the precepts, and the Dharma to be heeded; and you should hold to it as the Buddha’s Dharma, and gain no breaking or losing of it. I take this sūtra and lay it upon you; and you should firmly hold to it, and do no wanton adding to or taking from this Dharma of the sūtra. After I have entered parinirvāṇa and departed, the sūtras and the Path shall remain and abide a thousand years; and after a thousand years the sūtras and the Path shall be cut off. I, out of compassion, shall maintain and keep the Dharma of this sūtra, and cause it to abide a further hundred years; and when those hundred years are finished, it shall then cease and be cut off. According to what one’s mind aspires, all may attain the Path.”

The Buddha said: “A teacher opens and guides the ears and eyes of others; with wisdom bright and penetrating, he liberates others, causing them to attain the good that accords with the Path to nirvāṇa. One should ever be filial and kind toward the Buddha and toward father and mother; one should ever be mindful of the teacher’s kindness, ever mindful without ceasing, and one shall then attain the Path swiftly.”

The Buddha said: “That there is a buddha in the world is exceedingly hard to encounter; and if there be a śramaṇa, or a teacher who expounds the sūtras for others, it is exceedingly hard to encounter them.”

The Attainments of the Assembly

When the Buddha expounded this sūtra, at once twelve thousand koṭis of devas and humans all attained the penetrating vision of the divine eye, and all with single mind entered the bodhisattva way. At once two hundred koṭis of devas and humans all attained the way of the anāgāmin. At once eight hundred śramaṇas all attained the way of the arhat. At once forty koṭis of bodhisattvas all attained non-retrogression.

Conclusion

When the Buddha had finished expounding the sūtra, the bodhisattvas and arhats, and the devas, sovereigns, and people, all rejoiced greatly, rose, did homage to the Buddha, circled him three times, and, touching their heads to the Buddha’s feet, departed. [1-0198]

The Amida Sūtra

End of Fascicle 2

Translator's Notes

1. “Vimati” (維末坻). Usually “Vimala.”

2. “Gayā Kāśyapa” (那翼迦葉). This transliteration is uncertain. Most directly, it would be Nayik Kāśyapa.

3. “Mahākapphina” (摩訶掲質) is a tentative translation. More directly, this name would be translated as Mahākeshi.

4. “Mahābrahmadatta” (摩訶梵提). This figure is uncertain.

5. “Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra” (邠提文陀弗). This is unusual, as it appears that a Pūrṇa (不迺) was mentioned earlier with a different transliteration.

6. “Pantha” (滿楓䗍) is tentative, but a stricter transliteration is closer to Manpule.

7. “Rāhula” (厲越), tentative, but a stricter transliteration would be closer to Revo.

8. “Dīpaṅkara” (提惒竭羅). The following names of past buddhas are reconstructed from Zhi Qian’s transliterations into Chinese of what were certainly Prakrit originals. They should all be taken as tentative.

9. “Caṇḍana” (旃陀倚).

10. “Sumerukalpata” (須摩扶劫波薩多).

11. “Vimala” (維末樓).

12. “Annali” (阿難那利), possibly a transliteration related to Anupalipta.

13. “Nāgābhi” (那竭脾), a variant of Nāgābhibhū.

14. “Śrīkūṭapālayaśas” (者梨俱遰波羅夜蔡). While there is a Śrīkūṭa attested in the Sanskrit, the rest of this name is very tentatively reconstructed.

15. “Merukūṭa” (彌離俱樓).

16. “Vaiḍūryanirbhāsa” (軷陀尼), the transliteration appears to be just Vaidani.

17. “Jyotiṣprabha” (朱蹄波). tThe transliteration corresponds to Jyotipa.

18. “Brahmaghoṣa” (凡扶坻). The transliteration corresponds most closely to Bonbudi.

19. “Dharālokya” (墮樓勒耶). This figure is uncertain but the transliteration corresponds precisely to the reconstruction.

20. “Candrābhibhū” (旃陀扈斯).

21. “Sūryaghoṣa” (須耶惟于沙).

22. “Muktakusumapratimaṇḍitaprabha” (拘還彌鉢摩耆). The transliteration most closely corresponds to Kusumapatmagi.

23. “Śrīkūṭa” (屍利滑攱).

24. “Mahānadī” (摩訶那提).

25. “Jitamati” (耆頭摩提).

26. “Naragiri” (羅隣祇離).

27. “Śūrakuroca” (俞樓俱路蔡).

28. “Mahāgunadharabuddhiprāptābhijña” (滿呼群尼鉢賓䫛). The transliteration corresponds to Mahāgunaptpiko.

29. “Candrasūryajihmīkaraṇa” (旃陀遬臾拔惒沙). The transliteration corresponds to Candrasuryavavaśa.

30. “Candrasakuśī” (旃陀蔡拘岑). Uncertain but direct transliteration represented in the translation.

31. “Praparavini” (潘波䗍頻尼). The Transliteration corresponds directly to Panparavini.

32. Praptavaśi (軷波惒斯).

33. “Asurajitakāra” (阿術祇陀揭䗍).

34. “Muktacchatra” (勿署提).

35. “Śrīyaśas” (質夜蔡). Uncertain, but the transliteration corresponds closest to Ciyaśa.

36. “Dharmavati” (曇摩惒提).

37. “Śreyavighuṣṭa” (篩耶維䫛質).

38. “Royati” (樓耶帶). Very uncertain.

39. “Saṃkāramerugati” (僧迦羅彌樓迦帶).

40. “Dharmamativinanditarāja” (曇昧摩提阿維難提).

41. “niraya.” I.e., hells.

42. “The first vow” corresponds to the first vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of there being no lower realms.

43. “The second vow” corresponds to the thirty-fifth and, loosely, the fourth vows in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of women’s birth and the vow of there being no distinction in appearance.

44. “the king of the sixth heaven.” This refers to the king of the Paranirmita-vaśavartin Heaven, i.e., the Heaven of those who have Mastery over the Creations of Others. That king is Māra Deva.

45. “The third vow” corresponds to the thirty-second and thirty-eighth vows in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vows of the treasures and garments in that land.

46. “The fourth vow” corresponds to the seventeenth and eighteenth vows in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of the proclamation of Amida’s name in all directions and the vow of attainment of birth through faith and Nembutsu.

47. “The fifth vow” corresponds to the aspects of the eighteenth vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation (the implications of the exclusion clause). Involves aspects of the vow of the attainment of birth through faith and Nembutsu.

48. “The sixth vow” corresponds to the nineteenth vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of attainment of birth through meritorious practices.

49. “The seventh vow” corresponds to other aspects of the nineteenth vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The second vow of attainment of birth through meritorious practices.

50. “The eighth vow” corresponds to the eleventh and twenty-second vows in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vows of the necessary attainment of Nirvāṇa and the vow of succession to buddhahood.

51. “The ninth vow” corresponds to the third and fourth vows in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vows of upright and undifferentiated appearances.

52. “The tenth vow” corresponds to the eighth vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of the knowledge of others’ minds.

53. “The eleventh vow” does not directly correspond to a vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation.

54. “The twelfth vow” does not directly correspond a vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation.

55. “The thirteenth vow” corresponds to the twenty-third vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of bodhisattvas making offerings to buddhas in other lands and returning by noon.

56. “The fourteenth vow” corresponds to the thirty-eighth vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of spontaneous provision.

57. “The fifteenth vow” corresponds to the twenty-first vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation.  The vow of the thirty-two marks and eighty excellent characteristics.

58. “The sixteenth vow” corresponds to the cluster of vows from the twenty-eighth to the thirtieth vows in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vows of the bodhisattvas’ eloquence and voices.

59. “The seventeenth vow” corresponds to the sixth, seventh, and ninth vows in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vows of the divine eye, ear, and flight.

60. “The eighteenth vow” corresponds to the cluster of the twenty-eighth to thirtieth vows in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vows of eloquence.

61. “The nineteenth vow” corresponds to the thirteenth vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of the immeasurable lifespan.

62. “The twentieth vow” corresponds to the fourteenth vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of the innumerability of beings in that land.

63. “The twenty-first vow” corresponds to the fifteenth vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of the immeasurable lifespan of beings in that land.

64. “The twenty-second vow” corresponds to the fifth vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of the knowledge of past lives.

65. “The twenty-third vow” does not directly correspond to any vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation.

66. “The twenty-fourth vow” corresponds to the twelfth vow in Saṅghavarman’s translation. The vow of immeasurable light.

67. “vyāmas” (丈), about three metres.

68. “yojana” (里), about 400 metres.

69. “enters parinirvāṇa.” We previously heard of how “That Buddha’s honoured lifespan … shall yet not reach its close in parinirvāṇa.” As with the Lotus and Nirvāṇa Sūtras, this sūtra teaches a conventional parinirvāṇa, but an ultimate infinite lifespan.

70. In the following section, the Chinese names correspond well to those in the extant Sanskrit, but the Sanskrit features an additional two buddha names (one of which is a duplication of Siṃha).

71. “Nātha” (那他蔡). The extant Sanskrit has “Narendrarāga” (Vaidya 251).