In reading The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra I was fascinated by the focus on practice here and now. Take for instance this response to an inquiry from a Prefect about reciting ‘Amitabha Buddha’ hoping to be reborn in the Pure Land in the West.
The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra, p39-42The Master said:
Prefect, listen carefully; I will explain it for you. When the World-Honored One was in the city of Sravasti, he taught about the Western Pure Land as an inducement to practice. The text of the Sutra clearly states, “It is not far from here.” In discussing this, it might appear that it is 108,000 miles away; but it just means that the ten evils and eight wrongs are right within ourselves.1 Describing it as distant is meant for those with limited capacity. Saying it is nearby is for those with greater ability.
There are two kinds of people, not two kinds of Dharma. Awakening and confusion differ only because discerning may be quick or slow.
Deluded people recite the Buddha’s name seeking rebirth elsewhere; awakened people purify their own minds. That is why the Buddha said, “As the mind is purified, the Buddhaland is purified.”
Sir, even a person of the East is blameless if he simply purifies his mind. However, even a person of the West is at fault if his mind is not pure. When a person of the East does wrong, he recites the Buddha’s name hoping for rebirth in the West. But when a person of the West does wrong, in what country could he seek to be reborn by reciting the Buddha’s name? Ordinary deluded people, unaware of their essential nature, do not realize that the Pure Land is within themselves. So, they long to be born in the East, and they long to be born in the West. To the enlightened person all places are the same. As the Buddha said, “No matter where you are, you are always happy and at ease.” Good Sir, if the ground-of-the-mind is free of anything unwholesome, the West will not be very far away. If you invoke the Buddha’s name yet still hang on to unwholesomeness, it will be hard to gain that rebirth [in the Pure Land].
Good and Wise Friends, I exhort you now: first get rid of the ten evils; in doing so you will have walked one hundred thousand miles. Next, eliminate eight wrongs and you will have covered another eight thousand miles.2 If in every moment of thought you keep your essential nature in view, and if in everything you do you are even-minded, true and direct, then in a finger-snap you will arrive there and see Amitabha.
Good Sir, if you just practice the ten good deeds, then why would you further need to seek rebirth there?3 But if you do not rid your mind of the ten evils, what Buddha would come to welcome you? If you awaken to the eternal, direct Dharma, you will behold the West [the Pure Land] in an instant. Without awakening to this, you might recite the Buddha’s name seeking rebirth there, but the road is so long – how could you ever traverse it? I will move the West here in an instant so you can see it right before your eyes. Would you all like to see it, or not?
The entire assembly bowed and said, “If it could be seen right here, why would we vow to be reborn there?! Please, Master, be compassionate; make the West appear for all to see.”
The Master said:
All of you here, a person’s own physical body is the city [of the Pure Land], and the eyes, ears, nose, tongue [and physical body] are its gates. The city is thus made up of five outer entrances, and an additional inner gate – the gate of consciousness. The mind is the ground; and one’s nature is the king. The king dwells on the mind-ground, and as long as the essential nature is present, the king is present. But when the nature departs, there is no king. When the nature is present, the body and mind are well cared for, but when the nature leaves, the body (and mind) fall apart.
Buddhahood is realized within the essential-nature; do not seek for it outside yourself. Confused, the self-nature is a living being; enlightened, the self-nature is a Buddha. Kindness and compassion are Avalokiteshvara; sympathetic joy and equanimity are Mahāsthāmaprāpta. Purifying [oneself) is Shakyamuni; and, to be unprejudiced and free of guile is Amitabha.
Egoism and arrogance are Mount Sumeru. Sensual desires are the oceans’ waters, and the afflictions are its waves. Cruelty is an evil dragon; vanity and dissoluteness are the ghosts and spirits; worldly passions are the fish and turtles; lust and hatred are the hells; and, delusion is the animals.
Good and Wise Friends, always practice the ten good deeds and you can easily reach the heavens. Get rid of egoism and arrogance, and Mount Sumeru topples. Eliminate sensual desires and the oceans’ waters dry up. When the afflictions cease, the waves calm. When cruelty is ended, the fish and turtles are no more. The enlightened nature of the Tathagata radiates an effulgent light on the ground of your own mind. Outwardly, this light illuminates the six gates, and its purity can penetrate through the six desire-heavens. Inwardly, it illumines the essential nature and dispels the three poisons, and retributions like the hells vanish in an instant. Inside and outside are clear through and through-no different from the Western Land. But if you do not cultivate in this way, how could you ever go there?!
It is useful to compare the Sixth Patriarch’s Pure Land to Nichiren’s Pure Land:
The Pure Lands preached in the pre-Lotus expedient sūtras are mere substitutes tentatively shown by replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Eternal True Buddha. In fact, they all are lands of impurity. Therefore, when the true Pure Land was decided in “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, the essence of which consists of chapters on the “Expedients” and “The Life Span of the Buddha,” it was declared that this Sahā World is the true Pure Land of the Tranquil Light.
As for the question why, the Lotus Sūtra also recommends the Tuṣita Heaven, the Realm of Peace and Sustenance (Pure Land of the Buddha of Infinite Life), and Pure Lands all over the universe, it is merely that designations of the Pure Lands, such as Tuṣita Heaven and Realm of Peace and Sustenance, preached in the pre-Lotus sūtras are used without modification to name the Pure Lands to be established in this world. It is like names of the three vehicles (śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva) mentioned in the Lotus Sūtra, which does not actually preach three different teachings; it preaches the sole teaching leading to Buddhahood. It is stated in the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 23, that those who practice this sūtra “will immediately be reborn in the World of Happiness.” In the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 10, Grand Master Miao-lê interprets: “This does not mean the Pure Land of the Buddha of Infinite Life preached in the Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life.” His interpretation is the same as stated above.
People today without karmic relations with the Lotus Sūtra, wishing to be reborn in the Pure Land to the west, are in fact praying for rebirth in the land of rubble, giving up the Sahā World, which is the true Pure Land. People who do not believe in the Lotus Sūtra will not be able to be reborn even in such lands as Tuṣita Heaven and Realm of Peace and Sustenance, which are in reality the Pure Lands in this Sahā World given such temporary names.
Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 63
Both the Sixth Patriarch and Nichiren agree that we should see the Pure Land right here where we are.
Notes
- Ten evils (Skt. Dasa-akusala-karmapatha); they are: 1) killing; 2) stealing; 3) sexual misconduct; 4) lying; 5) slandering; 6) harsh speech; 7) idle talk and gossip; 8) greed; 9) hatred; and, 10) wrong views.return
- ba xie 八邪, ‘the eight wrong practices or paths. The opposite of the Noble Eightfold Path to awakening (Ch. ba zheng dao 八正道; Skt. ārya-astāngika-marga: Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.)return
- Ten good deeds (Skt. dasa-kusala-karmapatha); they are: 1) not to kill; 2) not to steal; 3) to avoid sexual misconduct; 4) not to lie; 5) avoid slandering; 6) avoid harsh speech; 7) refrain from idle talk and gossip; 8) non-greed; 9) non-hatred; and, 10) right views.return
The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra
The Practice
Practice Beyond Reciting
Seeking the Pure Land in the Wrong Place
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