The Buddhist Universe - Chapter 8: Rebirth in the Land of Bliss

Rebirth in an auspicious realm is a ubiquitous concern in the Buddhist traditions, with practice directed towards avoiding a sorrowful rebirth and assuring a happy rebirth, whether for oneself or for others. Among the six realms of rebirth, those of humans and gods are considered happy; one is reborn there as a result of a virtuous deed performed in the past. But neither realm is without its shortcomings. The problems of the human realm are well known, and the various heavens of the gods, although replete with sublime pleasures, are temporary; one must die there and be reborn elsewhere. Thus, the Buddha advised his followers to seek the ultimate peace of nirvana, beyond the vicissitudes of deeds and their consequences. However, nirvana was considered a difficult goal and, throughout the history of Buddhism, various alternatives to it have been set forth, none perhaps more famous than the so-called ‘pure land

The Mahayana sutras described a universe filled with numerous world-systems, generally similar to our own. These worlds differed largely in terms of the degree of happiness and suffering to be found there. This was, in turn, dependent on two factors: the karma of the inhabitants and whether or not the world was considered ‘fortunate’, that is, whether or not a buddha was present in the world during a given aeon. In such a fortunate time and fortunate place, the world became a “buddha-field’, a site for the deeds of a buddha. The purpose of the buddha was to purify the world, both by teaching the dharma and through miraculous deeds. Worlds existed in various degrees of purification, with the most pure having no realms of hell beings, hungry ghosts, or animals. As we saw in the previous chapter, the Mahayana sutras envisioned the simultaneous presence of many buddhas in many worlds, throughout the universe. It was considered possible to gain rebirth in one of these worlds, under the care of one of these buddhas, and rebirth in a buddhafield became a popular goal of Buddhist practice in the Mahayana.

The most famous of those buddhafields was called Sukhdavati, the ‘Land of Bliss’; its existence and the means to gain rebirth in it were set forth in two sutras, both known as the Wonderful Panoply of the Land of Bliss; (Sukhavativyuha), one long and one short. The shorter sutra appears in its entirety here. The Land of Bliss is presided over by a buddha named Amitayus (Measureless Life) in the short sutra, Amitabha (Measureless Light) in the long sutra. The long sutra explains how he became a buddha. The shorter sutra is devoted largely to describing his land and its many wonders, including the fact that even the names for the realms of animals and the realms of hell are not known; all of the beings born there will achieve enlightenment in their next lifetime. In order to be reborn there, one should dedicate one’s merit to that goal and bear in mind the name of Amitayus. Those who are successful in doing so will see Amitayus and a host of bodhisattvas before them at the moment of death, ready to escort them to the Land of Bliss. The recitation of the buddha’s name became one of the most popular practices of East Asian Buddhism (see chapters 42 and 58), and a central element of death rituals (see the following chapter).

In order to demonstrate the efficacy of this practice, the Buddha goes on to list the names of many other buddhas abiding in the four cardinal directions, the nadir and the zenith, who also praise the buddha-field of Amitayus. Furthermore, those who hear the names of the buddhas he has just recited will be embraced by those buddhas. Perhaps to indicate how his own buddha-field (that is, our world) differs from that of Amitayus, the Buddha concludes by conceding that it has been difficult to teach the dharma in a world as degenerate as ours.

The two sutras entitled Wonderful Panoply of the Land of Bliss would become among the most famous in the Buddhist world, with the shorter version being widely memorized and copied by those who sought rebirth in the Land of Bliss.

The Wonderful Panoply of the Land of Bliss

This I once heard. The Blessed One was staying in Sravasti, in Jeta’s grove, in Anathapindada’s garden, with a large gathering of monks – one thousand two hundred and fifty monks.

And they were true elders, great disciples, arhats: for instance, the elder Sariputra, and Maha-Maudgalyayana, Maha-Kasyapa, Maha-Katyayana, Maha-Kapphina, Maha-Kausthila, Revata, Suddhipanthaka, Nanda, Ananda, Rahula, Gavampati, Bhara-dvaja,

Kalodayin, Vakkula and Aniruddha, and many other great disciples.

And he was also accompanied by many bodhisattvas mahasattvas: for instance, Manjusri the true prince, Ajita the bodhisattva mahasattva, Gandhahastin the bodhisattva mahasattva, Nityodyukta the bodhisattva mahasattva, and Aniksiptadhura the bodhisattva mahasattva, and many other bodhisattvas mahasattvas.

And he was also accompanied by Sakra, lord of the gods, and by Brahma, lord of the Saha world, and by many other hundreds of thousands of trillions of gods.

Then, the Blessed One addressed the reverend Sariputra: ‘In the western quarter, Sariputra, crossing hundreds of thousands of millions of buddha-fields beyond this buddha-field, there is a world- system called “Blissful”. There, a tathagata, arhat, perfect and full buddha called Amitayus at this moment stays, remains, lives on and teaches the dharma.

‘Now, Sariputra, what do you think? Why is this world-system called “Blissful”? Sariputra, the living beings in this world-system called Blissful suffer no bodily pain and no mental pain, rather they gain measureless causes for happiness. For this reason, this world-system is called “Blissful”.

‘Furthermore, Sariputra, the world-system Blissful is adorned and enclosed on every side by seven railings, seven rows of palm trees, and nets of bells. It is colourful and charming. Sariputra, this buddha-field is made of the four precious substances: namely, gold, silver, chrysoberyl and crystal.

‘It is adorned with arrays of such excellent qualities, qualities that are unique to buddha-fields.

‘Furthermore, Sariputra, in the world-system Blissful, there are lotus ponds made of the seven precious substances. They are full of water that possesses the eight good qualities of water. They are completely covered by jewelled lotus blossoms. And they are so full that a crow could drink from the edge of the pond. Their bottoms are covered with golden sand. On the four sides of each of these ponds are four flights of steps, colourful, charming, each made of one of the four precious substances – namely, gold, silver, chrysoberyl and crystal. And on the banks of these ponds grow majestic gem trees, colourful and charming, made of the seven precious substances – namely, gold, silver, chrysoberyl, crystal, red pearl, agate and coral. And in all those ponds grow lotus flowers – golden, gold coloured, with a golden sheen, or with a tinge of gold; blue, blue coloured, with a blue sheen, with a tinge of blue; yellow, yellow coloured, with a yellow sheen, or with a tinge of yellow; red, red coloured, with a red sheen, with a tinge of red; white, white coloured, with a white sheen, with a tinge of white; variegated, of many colours, with the sheen of many colours, with a tinge of many colours. And they grow as large as a wagon wheel.