The Amitāyus Sutra (Sanskrit),simplified Chinese:佛说无量寿经;traditional Chinese:佛說無量壽經;pinyin:Fóshuōwúliàngshòujīng;Sutra of Immeasurable Life Spoken by Buddha;Vietnamese: Phật Thuyết Vô Lượng Thọ Kinh;Japanese: Bussetsu Muryōju Kyō (Taisho Tripitaka no. 360), also known as theLonger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, is one of the twoIndianMahayana sutras which describe thepure land ofAmitābha (also known as Amitāyus, "Measureless Life"). Together with theSukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, this text is highly influential in East Asian Buddhism. It is one of the three central scriptures of East AsianPure Land Buddhism, and is widely revered and chanted by Pure Land Buddhists throughout Asia.
The title is often translated in English as either theSutra[on the Buddha] of Immeasurable Life, or simply theImmeasurable Life Sutra.
Some scholars believe that theLonger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra was compiled in the age of theKushan Empire in the first and second centuries by an order ofMahīśāsaka monastics who flourished in theGandhāra region.[1][2] It is likely that the longerSukhāvatīvyūha owed greatly to theLokottaravāda sect as well for its compilation, and in this sūtra there are many elements in common with theMahāvastu.[1]
The earliest of the Chinese translations show traces of having been translated from theGāndhārī language, aprakrit used in the Northwest.[3] It is also known that manuscripts in theKharoṣṭhī script existed in China during this period.[1]
Traditionally theLonger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra is believed to have been translated into Chinese twelve times from the originalSanskrit from 147 to 713 CE. Only five translations are extant in theChinese Buddhist canon.[4]
The five Chinese translations are (in order of translation date):[4]
Furthermore, there is aTibetan translation, which is similar to the last two later recensions in Chinese. This is the ’Phags pa ’od dpag med kyi bkod pa (*Āryāmitābhavyūha; D 49/P 760) translated in the 9th century byJinamitra, Dānaśīla, andYe shes sde.[4]
In addition to the translations, theSūtra is also extant inSanskrit, surviving in a lateNepalese manuscript. The Sanskrit has been directly translated into English by F.Max Mueller.[6][4] It is a "late recension" type similar to the Tibetan edition.[4]
There are also several fragments of another version in Sanskrit, along with fragments of Uighur, Khotanese, and Xixia translations.[4]
According to Luis O. Gomez, there are some significant differences between the Sanskrit and the Chinese edition ofBuddhabhadra /Saṅghavarman. Gomez writes:
the order of the narrative and the argument deviate, sometimes only on minor points, sometimes in major ways; differences in content occur throughout, and range from a regrouping and rearrangement of important themes (in the content and structure of the verse portions, for instance, and in the vows), to significant omissions and additions. The parallels, however, are more and stronger than the divergences, so that our understanding of one version may still benefit from our reading of the other. Two long passages in Sanghavarman's version have no correspondence in the Sanskrit (or, for that matter, in the Tibetan) versions. These passages are probably "interpolations," but we have no way of knowing for certain today where and when they were added to the text.[7]
There are over twenty commentaries on this sutra written in China, Korea and Japan, all based on theBuddhabhadra /Saṅghavarman translation which became the standard in Chinese Buddhism.[8]
TheDilun scholarJingying Huiyuan (淨影慧遠, J. Jōyō Eon) wrote the earliest extant Chinese commentary to theSutra of Immeasurable Life.[9]
Jizang (549-623) of theSanlun school, also wrote an early commentary on this sutra.[9]
In Japan, the 12th-century Pure Land scholarHōnen wrote four separate commentaries on the sutra.[8]
In theLonger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, theBuddha begins by describing to his attendantĀnanda a past life of the BuddhaAmitābha. He states that in a past life, Amitābha was once a king who renounced his kingdom and became abodhisattva monk named Dharmākara ("Dharma Storehouse").[10] Under the guidance of the buddha Lokeśvararāja ("World Sovereign King"), innumerable buddha-lands throughout the ten directions were revealed to him.[11]
The sutra is presented as a discourse delivered by the Buddha Shakyamuni, often near the city of Shravasti in India. The implicit setting is a cosmos of many world systems, with Shakyamuni speaking in our world to an audience, while also describing a distant world.
After meditating for five eons as a bodhisattva, he then made a great series of vows to save allsentient beings, and through his great merit, created the realm ofSukhāvatī ("Ultimate Bliss").[11][12] This land of Sukhāvatī would later come to be known as apure land (Ch. 淨土) in Chinese translation. The number of vows differ depending on the sutra versions. Forty-eight are found in the common Chinese version, though a Sanskrit version mentions forty-seven. These vows articulate his resolve to save all sentient beings and define the qualities and conditions of the buddha-field he intended to create. The "past vows" are considered the pivotal force in Amitayus' attainment of buddhahood and the generation of his pure buddhafield. Key vows include promises regarding:
Amitabha is the central figure in the sutra, also known as Amitayus. He is the Buddha of Measureless Light, his light spreading unimpeded over all buddha-fields. He is also the Buddha of Measureless Life, with an immeasurable life span, as do the inhabitants of his land. He attained buddhahood ten cosmic ages ago.
The sutra also provides a detailed and magnificent description of Amitayus'buddha-field called the "Array of Bliss". Once inSukhāvatī , beings experience only boundless happiness, never knowing evil or suffering. The land is adorned with precious substances like gold, silver, emerald, and rock crystal, forming railings, rows of trees, and ponds. It features lotus ponds with clean water and golden sand. Heavenly music is constantly played, and blossoms fall. The ground is golden and pleasant. It is depicted as far superior to any other world. Beings born in the Land of Bliss are of high virtue and progress irreversibly on the spiritual path, with many being only one birth away from full awakening. They include a vast number of disciples (arhats) and bodhisattvas. They have extraordinary abilities, such as traveling to other worlds to worship buddhas before their forenoon meal and returning for their nap. They recite the story of the Dharma. However, the sutra also mentions a segregated state for some beings for 500 years, where they are deprived of certain experiences.
Shakyamuni exhorts his audience to aspire to be reborn in the Land of Bliss. Rebirth is not achieved through meager merit but through generating an earnest desire, hearing and embracing Amitabha's name, and keeping it in mind single-mindedly. The practice of recollecting the Buddha (nianfo), especially ten times, is presented as a way to guarantee rebirth according to the eighteenth vow. Reliance on the spiritual power and grace of the Buddha Amitabha, based on his vows and merit transference, is a key theme.
Shakyamuni Buddha then recounts how numerous buddhas in all directions of the universe praise Sukhavati, confirming the truth of his message about the Land of Bliss and Amitabha. This act of praise by other buddhas is related to the alternative title of the associated shorter sutra, "Embraced by All Buddhas," suggesting that all Buddhas promote this teaching.
Lastly the sutra shows the Buddha discoursing at length to the future buddha,Maitreya, describing the various forms of evil that Maitreya must avoid to achieve his goal of becoming a buddha as well as other admonitions and advice.
APeace Bell with an enclosure was constructed in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on September 20, 1964. Among its inscriptions is a Sanskrit quote from Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra:[13]
सचि मि उपगतस्य बोधिमण्डं, दश-दिशि प्रव्रजि नाम-धेयु क्षिप्रं.
saci mi upagatasya bodhi-maṇḍaṃ, daśa-diśi pravraji nāma-dheyu kṣipraṃ.
पृथु बहव अनन्त-बुद्ध-क्षेत्रां, म अहु सिया बल-प्राप्तु लोकनाथ.
ṛthu bahava ananta-buddha-kṣetrāṃ, ma ahu siyā bala-prāptu lokanātha. [2]
विपुल-प्रभ अतुल्य-नन्त नाथा, दिशि विदिशि स्फुरि सर्व-बुद्ध-क्षेत्रां,vipula-prabhā atulya-nanta nāthā, diśi vidiśi sphuri sarvabuddha-kṣetrāṃ,
राग प्रशमि सर्व-दोष-मोहां, नरक-गतिस्मि प्रशामि धूम-केतुम्.
rāga praśāmi [praśamiya] sarva-doṣa-mohāṃ, naraka-gatismi praśāmi dhūma-ketum. [5]
The English translation (Müller, Max, trans. 1894, pp. 23–24, verses 2 and 5):
"If there should not be for me such a country, endowed with many and various mighty and divine endowments, I should gladly go to hell, suffering pain, and not be a King of treasures.” [verse 2]
"The lord of vast light, incomparable and infinite, has illuminated all Buddha countries in all the quarters, he has quieted passions, all sins and errors, he has quieted the fire in the walk of hell." [verse 5]
The Chinese translation:[14]
神力演大光
普照無際土消除三垢冥
明濟眾厄難
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
.svg)
