July 25, 2024
Wonderful Metaphors in the Pure Land School
淨土宗妙喻
8. Amitabha-Recitation Generates Abundant Merits and Blessings
The Land of Bliss is a realm of unconditioned nirvana. There is no suffering, only immeasurable joy. In order to be reborn in such a wonderful land of rewards, sentient beings need to possess abundant merits and blessings. When Amitabha Buddha was still Bhikkhu Dharmakara, he made 48 great vows after five kalpas of reflection, and after having cultivated and accumulated incalculable virtuous Bodhisattva practices for countless eons. When he finally attained enlightenment all the merits and virtues of those practices were encompassed in his Name - “Namo Amitabha Buddha” (“Namo Amituofo” in Mandarin). He gives us this huge gift in the form of his Name. Hence, when we recite his Name, we possess abundant merits and blessings.
The sutras are full of praise for the practice of Amitabha-recitation. We learn that the merits and blessings generated by this practice are not only abundant but also most extraordinary.
The Nirvana Sutra says, “The merits obtained by the state treasury providing relief to the needy for a month can’t compare with those obtained by someone reciting the Name of Amitabha Buddha even just once. The merits and virtues of the practice of Amitabha-recitation far surpass that provision of relief.”
The Ekottarika Agama Sutra says: “Compared to the great generosity of making the Five Offerings - of food, drink, clothing, bedding and medicines to all sentient beings in Jambudvipa, the practice of recitation of Amitabha’s Name, even if for no longer than the time it takes to milk a cow, produces unfathomable merits and virtues that surely surpass those of the Five Offerings.”
Bodhisattva Nagarjuna says in the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, “suppose a man walks a thousand miles a day, starting from the day he was born, and kept walking for a thousand years. He decorates all of the roads he walks on with seven kinds of jewels, and spares none of these in making offerings to Shakyamuni Buddha. The meritorious blessings this benefactor gains from making offerings of such colossal magnitude ; however, are no match for those gained by someone who recites Amitabha’s Name even just once in the defiled Dharma-ending age.”
Master Ouyi says in his Commentary on the Amitabha Sutra, “The Name of Amitabha Buddha is the Great Name of Myriad Virtues. This Name contains immeasurable merits.”
Below are metaphors to illustrate that Amitabha-recitation bestows abundant meritorious blessings. Whoever recites the Buddha’s Name is assured of rebirth in the Land of Bliss.
8. 念佛即是多福德之妙喻5則 - 釋淨宗
極樂世界無有眾苦,但受諸樂,是無為涅槃的境界,眾生需要多福德才能往生這樣高妙的報土。
阿彌陀佛法藏比丘之昔,五劫思惟發下四十八大願,又經過兆載永劫積植菩薩無量德行,最後修行圓滿,所有的一切功德,都包含在「南無阿彌陀佛」名號裏邊送給我們,所以念佛即是多福德。
諸經處處廣讚念佛功德不可思議,是多福德、最勝福德。
《涅槃經》言:假令開大庫藏,一月之中,布施一切眾生, 所得功德,不如有人稱佛一口,功德過前,不可較量。
《增一阿含經》言:四事供養閻浮提一切眾生; 若有稱佛名號,如搆牛乳頃,功德過上,不可思議。
龍樹菩薩《大智度論》言:譬如有人,初生墮地,即能一日行千里,足一千年,滿中七寶,奉施於佛;不如有人,於後惡世,一聲稱念,阿彌陀佛,其福勝彼。
蕅益大師《彌陀要解》言:阿彌陀佛是萬德洪名,以名召德,罄無不盡。下面更以譬喻來說明念佛即是多福德,只要念佛,決定往生極樂。
Namo Amituofo!
