MURYOKO
'Infinite Light'
Journal of Shin Buddhism
John Paraskevopoulos
The Pure Land
Many people's misconceptions of Pure Land Buddhism often stem from difficulties they have with the very notion of the Pure Land itself, especially as a discrete place to which we go after we die. 'Enlightened' modern sensibilities, which are often embarrassed by such talk, seek to dismiss this idea as an aberration that has nothing to do with Buddhism or to somehow explain it way by reference to subjective fancy or futile wishful thinking.
Before embarking on an assessment of this rather common reaction among Western audiences to the notion of a Pure Land, it is important to get 'back to basics' and consider some of the original sources for this belief - a belief which has had, it must be said, a profound spiritual influence on the lives and aspirations of millions of people for over two thousand years and which still remains today, the most widespread faith in all of East Asia.
The Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life, the principal text of the Pure Land tradition, describes the Pure Land as the 'Land of Infinite Light'. It also testifies to the nature of this light and what it means to encounter it:
Sentient beings who encounter this light have the three defilements swept away, and they become soft and gentle in body and mind. They dance with joy, and the good mind arises in them. When those suffering pain and travail in the three evil courses see this light, they all find respite and are freed of afflictions. After their lives have ended, they all gain emancipation. The light of the Buddha of immeasurable life is resplendent-..That light, pure and immense, brings joy and happiness to sentient beings everywhere.
The Pure Land, being a realm of spiritual light, is where true joy, peace and happiness can ultimately be found. The sutra also describes this realm as the 'Land of All-knowing Wisdom'. Therefore, it is also a place of enlightenment and liberation from the suffering caused by ignorance.
One must not forget that the Buddha to which the Pure Land tradition is devoted, Amitabha (or Amida in Japanese) is also called the Buddha of Infinite Light and Eternal Life. Another sutra states:
The light of Amida Buddha is surpassingly good; it is luminous and wondrous among all that is good. It is pleasing beyond compare, boundlessly excellent. Amida Buddha's light is pure, without the least defilement or diminution. Amida Buddha's light is superbly beautiful, a hundred million times more brilliant than the sun and the moon.
This leads one to think that Amida and his Pure Land are really one and the same reality - different aspects of the one Light. So, what does all this have to do with Buddhism ? The most significant aspect of its teaching is, ultimately, the realization of Nirvana, common to both its Theravada and Mahayana branches. The renowned Buddhist scholar, Edward Conze, accurately summarized the notion of Nirvana as follows:
We are told that Nirvana is permanent, stable, imperishable, immovable, ageless, deathless, unborn, and unbecome, that it is power, bliss and happiness, the secure refuge, the shelter, and the place of unassailable safety; that it is the real Truth and supreme Reality; that it is the Good, the supreme goal and the one and only consummation of our life, the eternal, hidden and incomprehensible Peace.
Can there be any doubt, then, that Amida and the Pure Land as described in the sutras refer to anything other than the reality of Nirvana ? This is what ensures that Pure Land Buddhism is an orthodox Buddhist path as its objective is Nirvana and nothing else. Many Pure Land masters have made this connection between Nirvana and the Pure Land:
The land of bliss is the realm of nirvana, the uncreated... Undefiled by passions, unarisen, it is true reality - Shan-tao
Contemplating the features of that world (ie. The Pure Land), I see that it transcends the three realms. It is infinite, like space, vast and boundless - Vasubandhu
Nirvana has innumerable names...It is called extinction of passions, the uncreated, peaceful happiness, eternal bliss, true reality, suchness, oneness and Buddha-nature - Shinran
It is important to realize, however, that the reality of Nirvana is not exclusively a posthumous experience. To be sure, complete enlightenment and becoming a Buddha is not possible for ordinary people while they are shackled in the human state. Nevertheless, one can still experience the Buddha-nature while still bound to a life of ignorance and delusion. Indeed, the very presence of the Buddha's light in our life serves to confirm, precisely, our true nature as benighted beings in need of the Pure Land and its liberating wisdom. Awakening to this presence, also known as shinjin, is possible because the Buddha’s light is infinite (amitabha) and not just confined to a 'higher' realm of purity. It shines in the very midst of our existential darkness. Shinran says:
Buddha-nature is none other than Tathagata. This Tathagata pervades the countless worlds; it fills the hearts and minds of the ocean of all beings. Thus, plants, trees and land, all attain Buddhahood. Since it is with these hearts and minds of all sentient beings that they trust themselves to the Vow (of Amida Buddha), this shinjin is none other than Buddha-nature.
With this critical insight, we have come full circle. The light that suffuses the Pure Land of bliss is the very same light that constitutes the reality of Nirvana which pervades all things. Amida Buddha, who is the personification of that light, is the very means by which are made to know it and embrace it. In this sense, once can say that although this world is assuredly not the Pure Land, the presence of its light can be experienced here and now in the turmoil and tribulation of the 'impure' land of our everyday world. Once we have 'tasted' this light for ourselves, there can no longer be any doubt as to the veracity of the countless sutras and sages who have also testified to the reality of Amida Buddha and the Pure Land. This is no longer wishful thinking but the most compelling of proofs. Can you doubt the existence of the sun when you find yourself bathed in its light ?