Also called by the short titleContemplation Sutra (觀經,Guān jīng), this sutra is one of the three principlePure Land sutras along with theAmitayus Sutra and theAmitabha Sutra. Amitāyus ("Measureless Life") is another name for the BuddhaAmitābha, the preeminent figure in Pure Land Buddhism, and this sūtra focuses mainly on meditations involving visualizations of Amitabha and hispure land ofSukhavati (The Blissful). This is reflected in the name of the sūtra, which can be translated as "Amitāyus Contemplation Sūtra" or "Amitāyus Visualization Sutra" It is believed to have first been composed in Chinese in the 5th century.[1]
According to tradition, it was translated into Chinese by a monk namedKālayaśas 畺良耶舍 between 424 and 442 AD. However, it is generally considered by modern scholarship to bea non-Indian composition, possibly written in China or in Central Asia.[4][5][6][1][7][8][9] Jonathan Silk has also shown that the frame narrative is based on a story which was known in India, so that at least this element of the sutra has an Indic basis.[9]
NoSanskrit original has been discovered and the Sanskrit name and Sanskrit versions would thus be reverse translations.[10]: 10 The text also shows Chinese influences, including references to earlier translations of Chinese Pure Land texts. Modern scholars generally accept that the text describes a meditation which was practiced inCentral Asia, but with Chinese additions.[1]
Other pieces of evidence point to a Central Asian origin for at least some of the content in the sutra. Mural paintings at Toyok,Turfan depict the contents of the sutra.[11] Other such paintings, called Guanjing bianxiang 觀經變相, are found inDunhuang.[7]
The sutra became a very influential text in East AsianPure Land Buddhism. It was taken up byShandao 善導 (613–681), a key Pure Land author, who wrote an important commentary on the sutra calledCommentary on the Sūtra of Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life 觀無量壽佛經疏 (T 1753).[7] Other commentaries were composed byJingying Huiyuan (523–592) andJizang (549–623). Another commentary (觀無量壽佛經疏 T 1750) is commonly attributed toZhiyi, but this is likely a later composition.[7]
A Theravada depiction of the story of KingAjatasattuWall painting of King Ajatashatru, his Queen, and his Minister Varshakara from theKizil Caves (c. 251-403 AD).
The text begins with a story where a prince namedAjātasattu was enticed by the villainDevadatta to murder his father, KingBimbisara, in order to ascend the throne. Ajātasattu kills his father, and nearly kills his mother, Queen Vaidehi, but after advice from his other ministers, he relented and threw his mother in prison.
Lamenting her fate, Queen Vaidehi prays toGautama Buddha for help, and he is able to visit her. Vaidehi expresses her wish to be born in Amitābha'spure land.Shakyamuni smiles, emitting light from his mouth, and goes on to tell Vaidehi how to be reborn in the Pure Land. The Buddha tells her that although she is in prison, she could still obtain liberation through the practices of Amitābha. The Buddha goes on to describe Amitābha and how one could obtain rebirth in his land ofSukhavati.[12]
This tale references historical incidents of theHaryanka dynasty ofMagadha, India, and the religious tension between Gautama Buddha and his brother-in-law, Devadatta.
A key practice that the Buddha recommends to Vaidehi as a way to attain birth in the pure land is the "three pure acts" (śuddhāni karmāṇi). The sutra explains these as follows:
Then the World-honored One said to Vaidehī, “Do you know that Amitāyus is not far away? Fix your thoughts upon and contemplate that buddha land. Then you will accomplish the pure acts. I shall describe it to you in detail with various illustrations, so that all ordinary people in the future who wish to practice pure karma may also be born in that Western Land of Utmost Bliss. Whoever wishes to be born there should practice the three acts: first, caring for one’s parents, attending to one’s teachers and elders, compassionately refraining from killing, and doing theten good deeds; second, taking theThree Refuges, keeping the various precepts, and refraining from breaking the rules of conduct; and third, awakening aspiration for enlightenment (bodhicitta), believing deeply in thelaw of causality, chanting theMahayana sutras, and encouraging people to follow their teachings. These three are called purekarma.”[13]
Japanese copy of the Pure LandTaima Mandala, which is based on theAmitāyus Contemplation SūtraKorean scroll of the Visualization Sutra, 14th century.
Shakyamuni explains the importance of performing certain meritorious acts in order to be reborn in the Pure Land. He then goes on to teach Vaidehi how to contemplate the Pure Land, to further her efforts in attaining rebirth there. Shakyamuni describes sixteen "contemplations," or mental visualizations (Ch:guān, 觀).[3] By deeply contemplating various aspects of the Pure Land and attempting to visualize them in detail, the aspirant draws closer to the Pure Land.
The sixteen contemplations are described in order as follows:[14][3]
A fragment of a copy of the Amitayurdhyana Sutra atWenzhou Museum.
In the final part of theAmitāyurdhyāna Sūtra,Gautama Buddha discusses the nine "lotus levels" into which those born into the pure land are categorized.[15] The levels are ranked from highest to lowest as follows:[16]
The highest level of the highest grade of rebirth: devoted followers of theMahayana who have deepfaith and engage in virtuous actions. Upon their death, they are welcomed by Amitābha and a multitude of sages. Once they are born in Sukhavati, they are immediately able to see Amitābha and hear his teachings, and immediately attain several high spiritual states.
The middle level of the highest grade: those who have faith in the law ofkarma and are able to understand the Mahayana teachings. Upon their death, they are welcomed by Amitābha and a multitude of sages. Seven days after their rebirth in the pure land, they gain the stage of non-retrogression.
The lower level of the highest grade: those who believe in the law of karma and developbodhicitta. Upon their death, they are welcomed by Amitābha and a multitude of sages. They are enclosed in lotus buds for a single day, and after seven days they can see Amitābha and gradually gain enlightenment.
The highest level of the middle grade: those who observe thefive precepts and other precepts. Upon their death, they are welcomed by Amitābha and a multitude of sages. Once their lotus buds open, they are able to hear the Dharma and attainarhatship.
The middle level of the middle grade: those who follow various Buddhist precepts, even for a single day. Upon their death, they are welcomed by Amitābha and a multitude of sages. Their lotus buds open after seven days, immediately becomingstream-enterers and attaining arhatship half akalpa later.
The lower level of the middle grade: those who do good deeds in their current life, such as being dutiful to their parents. Upon their death, they are welcomed by Amitābha and a multitude of sages. Their lotus buds open after seven days, and attain arhatship after a small kalpa.
The highest level of the lower grade: those who commit various evil actions, but hear Mahayana sutras before they die and are instructed to recite the name of Amitābha. Upon their death, they are escorted by the transformed body of Amitābha and the transformed bodies of several bodhisattvas. They are confined in lotus buds for seven weeks, and when they are freed they hear the dharma from the two attendant bodhisattvas of Amitābha,Mahāsthāmaprāpta andAvalokiteśvara. After ten small kalpas, they attain the firstbhūmi as bodhisattvas.
The middle level of the lower grade: those who commit various offenses against the Dharma and the sangha, and break various precepts. When they are about to die and be reborn in thehell realms, they hear about Amitābha from a virtuous teacher. After they are reborn in the pure land, they are confined in lotus buds for six kalpas, and once they are freed they can finally hear the Mahayana teachings.
The lower level of the lower grade: those who are true evildoers and commit thegravest offenses, which would inevitably let them be reborn in the lowest levels of hell. Before they die they meet a good teacher who encourages them to repeat the name of Amitābha. Once they have repeated his name ten times, their evil karma is extinguished, and they are able to see golden lotus pods at death. After twelve long kalpas, their lotus buds open, and they can finally hear the Mahayana teachings.
According to the Buddha, all nine grades of human beings can achieve rebirth into the Pure Land if they contemplate Amitābha or at least call on his name. This is similar to the 48 vows made by Amitābha, according to theInfinite Life Sutra, which includes thePrimal Vow.
The sutra ends with a short section describing the benefits gained by those who listened to these words of the Buddha. Vaidehi experienced "great awakening with clarity of mind and reached the insight into the non-arising of all dharmas," while her five hundred female attendants and "innumerable devas" also awakened aspiration for the highest enlightenment. Shakyamuni names the sutra, mentions benefits connected with the name of Amitabha Buddha, and exhorts all to hold the words of the sutra in their minds. Shakyamuni then returns through the air toVulture Peak.
There are numerous Chinese commentaries to the Contemplation Sutra. The earliest extant commentary is that ofJingying Huiyuan (c. 523–592). Tanaka lists the following extent commentaries:[17]
Kuan wu liang shou ching shu, by Tao yin (contemporary of Shantao inCh'ang an), fragmentary
Fo shuo wu liang shou ching shu, traditionally attributed toZhiyi but actually an apocryphal Tiantai school work compiled as late as the mid eighth century (T 1750.37)
^Fujita, "The Textual Origins of the Kuan Wu-liang-shou ching: A Canonical Scripture of Pure Land Buddhism", in Buswell, Robert E.; ed. (1990). Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,ISBN0-5853-4963-0
^Kasugai Shinya 春日井真也. 1953. “Kan Muryōjubutsu kyō ni okeru shomondai 観無量寿仏経に於ける諸問題 (Some Problems in the Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra). Bukkyō bunka kenkyū 3 : 37–50.
^abSilk, Jonathan A. 1997. “The Composition of theGuan Wuliangshoufo-jing: Some Buddhist and Jaina Parallels to Its Narrative Frame.”Journal of Indian Philosophy 25 : 181–256.
^Yamabe, Nobuyoshi. 1999b. “An Examination of the Mural Paintings of Toyok Cave 20 in Conjunction with the Origin of the Amitayus Visualization Sutra.”Orientations 30 (4): 38–44.
^Hisao Inagaki, Harold Stewart (transl.):The Three Pure Land Sutras, p. XVIII. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2003.ISBN1-886439-18-4
^Inagaki (transl.):The Three Pure Land Sutras, pp. 67-68. 2003.
^Inagaki (transl.): The Three Pure Land Sutras, p. XIX.. 2003.
^Inagaki, Hisao, and Harold Stewart.The Three Pure Land Sutras. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2003, p. xix-xxi, 79-85.
^Tanaka, Kenneth K. 1990.The Dawn of Chinese Pure Land Buddhist Doctrine: Ching-ying Hui-yüanʼs Commentary on the Visualization Sutra, p. 45. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Hisao Inagaki, Harold Stewart (transl.):The Three Pure Land Sutras, Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2003.ISBN1-886439-18-4PDF retrieved 2013/07/28
Takakusu, J. (trans.), Friedrich MaxMüller, ed.: Amitayurdhyana Sutra. In:TheSacred Books of the East, Volume XLIX: Buddhist Mahāyāna Texts, Part II. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1894.Internet Archive
Tanaka, Kenneth K. 1990.The Dawn of Chinese Pure Land Buddhist Doctrine: Jìngyǐng Huìyuán's Commentary on the Visualization Sūtra. Albany: State University of New York Press.
The Taima Mandala Image of the Pure Land from a medieval Japanese scroll, based on the descriptions found in the Contemplation Sutra. This site offers explanations in English of the various motifs of the scroll.
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