Why Are Pure Lands Present in All Ten Directions, yet Only the Western Pure Land Is Extolled?

The Pure Land path is a teaching that is extraordinarily difficult to believe. When sentient beings first encounter this Dharma gate, all kinds of doubts arise for them. For generations, patriarchs and revered masters of the Pure Land tradition have provided wide-ranging guidance to help sentient beings let go of doubt and awaken faith.

A common question arises: When we say “all directions,” we mean the ten directions of the universe. Since infinite, boundless Buddha-lands across all ten directions each have their own pure lands, why don’t we encourage people to seek rebirth in those other pure lands? Why do we single out the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss for praise, and urge people to vow for rebirth there? If pure lands exist in every one of the ten directions, why is only the West held up this way? This is the question we will address.

There are six answers to this question:

1. First, when we approach this from the level of what is inconceivable to ordinary minds, this matter is directly confirmed by the Buddha’s own lived experience. It is sincere Dharma spoken truthfully from the Buddha’s own mouth—a clear, unambiguous directive, not a theory dreamed up by worldly teachers in their own minds. The Buddha is the Tathagata, the one with perfect, all-encompassing knowledge of every phenomenon in the entire Dharma realm. As for ordinary people, even the wisest worldly sages cannot know all things. This is the first reason.

2. Second, across all Mahayana teachings—both exoteric and esoteric—countless scriptures point to the Pure Land. Even setting aside the Five Pure Land Sutras central to the exoteric tradition, there are another two to three hundred scriptures that all encourage and guide practitioners toward the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

3. Third, this gives new Pure Land practitioners a single object of focus, making it far easier to attain Buddha-recitation samadhi. This is also well suited to the scattered, distracted minds of sentient beings living in Jambudvipa, the world we inhabit. When the mind is scattered, the remedy is to focus on a single point. If we asked practitioners to seek rebirth in every pure land of the Buddhas of the ten directions, their object of focus would be far too wide. That breadth would only make their already scattered minds even more restless. So we set aside all these broad objects of focus, and direct practitioners to fix their attention on a single direction: we point them to the West, establish the form of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in their minds, and have them rest their attention on this one place. This is called one-aspect samadhi.

Manjushri Bodhisattva practiced the samadhi of single practice—this same one-aspect samadhi. Through his profound prajna wisdom, he knew that focusing on a single direction and reciting the name of one Buddha makes attaining samadhi far easier. Moreover, reciting the name of one Buddha is equivalent to reciting the names of all Buddhas of the ten directions and the three time periods. Why is this? All Buddhas realize the same Dharma body. So when we recite the name of one Buddha, we are effectively reciting the names of all Buddhas of the ten directions; one Buddha contains all Buddhas, and the host Buddha and all his attendant Buddhas are fully interwoven.

Think of it like the moon’s reflection appearing in a thousand different rivers: there are not a thousand moons in the sky, only one. That single moon shows its reflection in every river that holds water; all the thousands of moon reflections we see are just that one moon. So the reflection of the one moon is the reflection of all moons, and the reflection of all moons is the reflection of the one moon. In the same way, reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name is the same as reciting the names of all Buddhas of the ten directions, and being reborn in the Western Pure Land is the same as being reborn in every Buddha-land across the ten directions.

This is why Manjushri Bodhisattva grasped the profound secret of this practice, and cultivated the samadhi of single practice—this one-aspect samadhi—focusing exclusively on reciting one Buddha’s name, a path that makes attaining this samadhi far easier. This is all part of the sudden, perfect Mahayana teaching, revealed to us by Manjushri Bodhisattva. This is why we often say that only with Manjushri’s fundamental wisdom can one truly practice the path of Buddha-recitation single-practice samadhi.

This corrects the common wrong view held by some today, who believe that reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name alone is not enough. So they also recite Guanyin Bodhisattva, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Bhaisajyaguru Tathagata, our teacher Shakyamuni Buddha, and a host of other names. They recite many different names, unaware of the principle that reciting one Buddha’s name is equivalent to reciting the names of all Buddhas of the ten directions. Focusing on a single object of cultivation, then, makes attaining samadhi far easier. This is the third reason.

4. Fourth, there is a deep karmic affinity between us sentient beings and Amitabha Buddha that draws us to the path of reciting his name and seeking rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Eons ago, Amitabha Buddha spent five great kalpas contemplating in alignment with the nature of reality to formulate his Forty-Eight Vows. He not only made these vows, but also accumulated merit and virtue over countless eons to fully bring them to fruition. The power generated by these vows pervades the entire expanse of space and the Dharma realm, serving as a karmic condition for sentient beings: a condition that awakens our innate Buddha-nature, and provides us with a supportive condition for our spiritual practice.

This condition is a supreme crystallization of great compassion, great equanimity, great wisdom, and great skillful means, so its power is immense. It can save all sentient beings of the nine realms, especially ordinary beings of the six realms, and most especially beings in the three evil realms, even those trapped in Avici Hell. It can deliver all suffering beings stuck in Avici Hell. The supportive condition provided by the power of the Forty-Eight Vows is thus immensely powerful, fully capable of enabling us to attain rebirth.

5. “Ten recitations are the cause, and the cause is supremely powerful.” Relying on the condition of this vow power, we ordinary sentient beings need only have faith, make the vow, and uphold the Buddha’s name: even ten recitations constitute the direct cause for rebirth. This cause is supremely powerful and wondrous. Why is it so powerful? We sentient beings trapped in the cycle of rebirth are still able to believe in the Pure Land path established on the Buddha’s fully enlightened fruit ground; this very faith is inconceivable. The mind-nature that recites the name is inconceivable, and the name itself is inconceivable. This cause is therefore a wondrous cause. When this wondrous cause combines with the condition of the Forty-Eight Vows, cause and condition meet to produce the wondrous fruit of rebirth in the Pure Land. This is the fifth reason we single out the Western Pure Land for praise.

6. The sixth reason we single out the Western Pure Land for praise is that Amitabha Buddha has the deepest karmic affinity with us sentient beings of the Saha world. Where does this affinity come from? First, Amitabha Buddha—then the bodhisattva Dharmakara—left home and made his vows right here in the Saha world. Some have raised a question: “The teacher says Amitabha Buddha, as the bodhisattva Dharmakara, left home and made his vows in the Saha world, but the scriptures don’t seem to say this explicitly, do they?” In fact, this meaning is implicit in the scriptures; you just have to look closely to see it.

When Shakyamuni Buddha taught the story of Amitabha Buddha’s causal ground, he first took us back to an immeasurably distant past: an incalculable number of asankhyeya kalpas ago, when fifty-three ancient Buddhas appeared in the world one after another, teaching and transforming infinite sentient beings.

Who was the first of these Buddhas? The Buddha of the Illuminating Lamp, also known as Dipankara Buddha, the master who gave Shakyamuni Buddha his prediction of future Buddhahood. Before him came Moon Light Buddha, Moon Face Buddha, Sandalwood Fragrance Buddha… and the last of the fifty-three was the Buddha of Sovereign Self-Existence, or Lokeshvararaja Buddha.

The Buddha of Sovereign Self-Existence dwelled in the world for forty-two kalpas, teaching and transforming infinite sentient beings. During the time this Buddha was teaching in the world, there was a great king who, upon hearing the Buddha’s teaching, had his heart opened and understood the profound meaning. He abandoned his kingdom and throne, ordained as a monastic, and took the name Dharmakara. Dharmakara is the previous incarnation of Amitabha Buddha.

You see, the last of the fifty-three ancient Buddhas, Lokeshvararaja Buddha, and the first, Dipankara Buddha, both appeared in the Saha world. The bodhisattva Dharmakara, that former great king, left home and practiced the path under Lokeshvararaja Buddha. Was Dharmakara not, then, leaving home and making his vows right here in the Saha world? The scriptures convey this meaning implicitly; they do not need to state it so explicitly.

This is like the principle of rebirth with residual karmic afflictions: if you insist the scriptures must explicitly contain those four characters for you to accept the teaching, that is far too rigid. To understand the Pure Land path, one needs at least a little discernment. In Confucius’s teaching, there were three tiers of student capacity: those of the highest capacity and sharpest wisdom could grasp ten points from hearing one, like Yan Hui. Those of medium capacity could draw inferences by analogy, grasping three points from hearing one. Those of lower capacity could grasp two from hearing one, and those of the dullest capacity could only grasp one. Capacities vary from person to person. So when we read Buddhist scriptures, we must penetrate their profound meanings.

Amitabha Buddha left home, made his vows, and fulfilled his great vows right here in the Saha world. He has manifested in countless forms across the six realms, appearing in the human realm as kings, monastics, and every kind of role; he has also manifested as the king of the Trayastrimsha Heaven, the king of the Yama Heaven, and the king of the Brahma Heaven. In every lifetime, he practiced the six paramitas and countless meritorious deeds, forming vast karmic affinities with all sentient beings.

For this reason, all sentient beings of the Saha world—whether monastic or lay, male or female, old or young, virtuous or unvirtuous—have both direct and indirect karmic affinities with Amitabha Buddha that stretch back through countless eons. It is precisely because of this affinity that seeds of faith in Amitabha Buddha are deeply planted in our alaya-consciousness.

With these seeds of faith, when we are in very favorable circumstances, or in very adverse circumstances, when we suffer extreme pain in difficult times, we cannot help but recite Amitabha Buddha’s name. When we are happy in good times, the name “Amitabha Buddha” will blurt out of our mouths to express our joy. When we are at a loss, we will also recite this name of Amitabha Buddha.

People may attach all kinds of meanings to the name “Amitabha Buddha”, but they use these four characters to express all kinds of complex feelings in their hearts, without thinking, blurting it out spontaneously. Even people who do not practice Buddhism do this. For this reason, Shakyamuni Buddha aligned his teaching with this deep karmic affinity to single out the Western Pure Land for praise.

So what causes even people who do not practice Buddhism to blurt out “Amitabha Buddha” without thinking, without ever being taught to do so? It is for the same reason: we sentient beings of the Saha world have received Amitabha Buddha’s teachings and grace for eons on end, so our affinity with him is the deepest of all.