Chapter 2: The Virtues of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva were followed by All It is stated in the Flower Adornment Sutra that if one does not cultivate Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's virtue, one cannot achieve the perfect awakening of enlightenment. The Western Pure Land is the ultimate destination for practicing Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's Ten Great Vows. Many great Bodhisattvas, appearing as lay persons, attended this teaching. The first was "Worthy and Protective" Bodhisattva, the only one from our Saha (Skrt) world. His name teaches us that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas always protect and help those who sincerely generate their Bodhi mind, the great compassionate mind to help all beings. "Skillful in Contemplation" and "Wise and Eloquent" Bodhisattvas represent true understanding. In Buddhism, if one does not have true understanding, one cannot believe this sutra. Every sutra tells us that the time required for an ordinary being to become a Buddha is three great Asankhya aeons, an incalculably long amount of time. However, in this Pure Land teaching, three great Asankhya aeons can be transcended by a single thought of Buddha Amitabha. "Observation of Non-Dwelling" Bodhisattva reminds us of the teaching from the Diamond Sutra , "One's mind should not attach to anything, then the true mind will arise." "Spiritual Penetration Flower" Bodhisattva teaches us that many different abilities can be used to help sentient beings as he pledged in his vows. "Light Emitting" Bodhisattva symbolizes the light of wisdom. Chanting Buddha's name will help us generate this limitless light. "Precious Flag" Bodhisattva stands for how precious the opportunity is to help all beings through the Buddha's teachings. In the past, people would raise a flag from a pole in front of a Buddhist teaching center, which signaled that a lecture would be given that day. "Utmost Wisdom" Bodhisattva illustrates that infinite wisdom is within this Pure Land teaching. "Stilled Root" Bodhisattva demonstrated purification of the six sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, mind, and body). Practicing according to the Buddha's teachings naturally purifies these six sense organs. "Faith and Wisdom" Bodhisattva clarified that, without wisdom, one cannot believe in this teaching. "Vow and Wisdom" Bodhisattva told us that, after unwavering belief is developed, it is important to vow to go to the Western Pure Land. From true wisdom comes the vow. The elephant was the strongest animal to haul vehicles in ancient times. So the name of "Fragrant Elephant" Bodhisattva is a way to show us how great the benefit is to chant the Buddha's name. "Treasury Revelation" Bodhisattva taught us that after one goes to the Western Pure Land, with the help of Buddha Amitabha, the treasury in one's self-nature will be uncovered. "Dwelling in the Middle" Bodhisattva represents how one's mind should be set on the practice in the middle path, avoiding the extremes. "Practice of Restraint" Bodhisattva advocated two points in the Pure Land School; following the precepts and Buddha-name chanting. Following the precepts disciplines one's thought, speech and behavior. "Liberation" Bodhisattva was the last of the sixteen great guests of honor. He represented the result one attains from this practice: to be freed from worry and to attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The first fourteen Bodhisattvas teach us to recognize this Buddha Name Chanting method and the Infinite Life Sutra , illustrating their importance in uncovering our true wisdom. The fifteenth Bodhisattva represents our actual transformation by correcting erroneous ways in thought, speech and behavior. The sixteenth and the last of the Bodhisattvas symbolized the final outcome of the entire practice. All of those who attended this teaching followed the "Ten Great Vows" of Samantabhadra. The characteristics of this Bodhisattva are having a great compassionate mind and tirelessly fulfilling his vows. The first great vow of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is to "Pay respect to all the Buddhas." Respect is to be paid to both sentient and non-sentient beings, even to inanimate objects, since all essentially have a Buddha-nature. Cultivating respect can help to subdue a person's arrogance and learn humility. The second vow is to "Praise ‘Thus Come One.'" "Thus Come One" is one's true nature. Things that correspond with one's true mind can be praised. Those that do not correspond with one's true mind are to be respected, but not praised. One needs to have true wisdom to praise others. With this wisdom, one is able to differentiate between proper and deviated, right and wrong, to praise the good and proper teachings, and not to praise the deviated ones. The third vow is to "Make offerings extensively." In Buddhism, the distinction between offering and giving is that offering is a form of giving or contribution with respect whereas, giving is not necessarily done with respect. When making offerings, one does so with a compassionate mind, a pure mind and a mind of equality for all beings, because everyone possesses a Buddha nature. The fourth vow is to "Repent of karmic obstacles." Karma, cause and effect, results from thought, speech and behavior of aeons past. Karmic retribution, arising from former wrong thought, speech and behavior, blocks wisdom, virtue and talent within our self-nature. Repenting of karmic obstacles and the ensuing reduction of karma begins with an immediate end to wrong thought, speech and behavior. One then should not attach to either good or bad deeds, because good karma would have one go to the upper three realms (heavens, Asuras and humans), and bad karma to the lower three realms (animals, hungry ghosts and hells). However, whichever way, we are still mired in reincarnation. Accumulating Pure Karma is a goal of a Pure Land practitioner. Rather than resulting in reincarnation, Pure Karma leads the practitioner to birth into the Pure Land. The fifth vow is to "Be joyful over other's meritorious deeds." Jealousy and arrogance present serious obstacles for one to overcome, not only in the pursuit of worldly progress, but even more so for one on the path to enlightenment. When others accumulate merits, one should be happy and want to help them, thus, one's jealousy is overcome.
Venerable Master Chin Kung, Passages from the Commentary on the Infinite Life Sutra part 3
To hear audio for this text, and to learn the vocabulary sign up for a free LingQ account.
