The Five Aspects of Resolute Faith

Below is a detailed exposition of the five aspects of resolute deep faith—the aspects of faith.

The Pure Land Dharma is traditionally known as a teaching difficult to believe, the most difficult of all worldly teachings to accept. To practice this Dharma, one must first pass through faith; if faith cannot resolve the matter, everything else is moot—faith governs everything. Therefore, Master Shandao proceeds here to interpret the five aspects of faith in further depth and concrete detail.

First aspect of resolute deep faith: One is firmly resolved to believe that Sakyamuni Buddha, in proclaiming the Contemplation Sutra, freely set forth the Threefold Merit and the Nine Grades, as well as the two kinds of virtue—concentrated and scattered—according to his own intention. Concentrated virtue refers to the thirteen contemplations; scattered virtue refers to the Threefold Merit and the Nine Grades. Their purpose is to demonstrate and praise the genuine existence of the magnificent adornments of Amitabha Buddha's reward-land—both his person and his environment—so that all beings who hear the sutra may give rise to a mind of longing and admiration. Only when one believes in the actual existence of the magnificence of the Land of Ultimate Bliss can such a mind of longing arise.

If one regards that world as vague and unsubstantial, it becomes very difficult to give rise to the aspiration for rebirth. Or one might think that world is not much different from this one—why would I want to be reborn there? But when one realizes that that world is magnificently adorned, free from the many sufferings, experiencing only ultimate bliss, and one compares this to our own world, which is so afflicted, and that world, which is so wondrous, only then does the heart truly arise. This is what moves people to long for it.

Second aspect of resolute deep faith: This concerns the Amitabha Sutra. After Sakyamuni Buddha proclaimed the environmental and personal adornments of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, as well as the practice of faith, aspiration, and mindful recitation resulting in single-minded, undistracted rebirth in that Land, the countless Buddhas of the ten directions—as many as the grains of sand in the Ganges—all bore witness and exhorted all ordinary beings to be assured of attaining rebirth. This is because the Dharma is so hard to believe: the Buddhas of the ten directions all came to assist Sakyamuni Buddha in his exhortation and demonstration. What were they demonstrating? That any ordinary being who has faith and aspiration and recites the Name is assured of rebirth, requiring no higher conditions whatsoever.

Third aspect of resolute deep faith: This is to single-mindedly trust only the Buddha's words. Although at the level of ordinary beings we do not yet understand the phenomena, principles, causes and effects, or essence and characteristics of the Pure Land Dharma—for this is a realm on the Buddha's fruit-ground—still, it was Sakyamuni Buddha who proclaimed this to us. He has realized the truth of the Dharma realm and has directly, through his own experience, verified the existence of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and he has laid it all out for us without reservation. Therefore, we begin by reverently trusting Sakyamuni Buddha's Dharma words and act in accordance with his teaching. To act in accordance with the teaching is to be obedient: whatever the Buddha asks us to relinquish, we relinquish; if the Buddha asks us to be weary of and depart from the Saha world, we weary of and depart from it; whatever the Buddha asks us to practice, we practice. What the Buddha asks us to practice is to have faith and aspiration and recite the Name.

We must not cling to our own ideas. The Buddha teaches us to seek rebirth in the Pure Land, yet one might say, "I wish to walk the bodhisattva path lifetime after lifetime in this very world; I wish to build a Pure Land right here among human beings"—if one clings to that and refuses to aspire for rebirth, something has gone wrong. Wherever the Buddha wishes us to go, we go. What the Buddha wishes us to go to is the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. In fact, Sakyamuni Buddha himself possesses a Pure Land, yet he urges all sentient beings to go to Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land. Sakyamuni Buddha asks us to abandon miscellaneous practices and self-power; we abandon them. He asks us to single-mindedly take refuge in Amitabha Buddha; that is what we do.

This is called following the Buddha's teaching, following the Buddha's mind, and following the Buddha's vows. If you can carry out these three kinds of compliance, you may then be called a true disciple of the Buddha—a foremost disciple. This is what it means to be obedient and responsive. One cannot say, "I will only act once I understand; if I do not understand, I will not act." What we do not understand is far too vast. We must realize that we are karma-driven ordinary beings, our views and delusions remain unsevered, and we possess not a fraction of true wisdom—how can we still cling to our own opinions? Lay down your opinions entirely, listen to the Buddha, and receive what is ready-made.

The Pure Land Dharma was proclaimed by Sakyamuni Buddha, established by Amitabha Buddha, and represents the crystallized compassionate vow of all Buddhas of the ten directions and three times. It is the agada remedy—a ready-made medicinal preparation—one dose of which restores one from death to life. We do not need to gather herbs, compound the medicine, or analyze its properties; we lack both the ability and the time. It is like crossing a river when a ready-made boat is at hand: you simply sit in the boat, and it carries you across. To insist, "I will not ride in this boat; I must build my own"—to plant a tree, wait for it to grow, fell it, and build a boat, only then attempt the crossing—that would be sheer foolishness, and one would no longer be a true disciple of the Buddha.

Fourth aspect of faith: All practitioners of pure karma must rely solely upon the Buddha's sutras in their cultivation; only in this way will they never mislead sentient beings. One must not rely upon the writings of other bodhisattvas, arhats, or worldly persons. This is because the Pure Land Dharma can only be fully comprehended between Buddha and Buddha. The Buddha is one of great wisdom and endowed with vast compassion; everything the Buddha utters is true. He would not deceive us, nor does he have any motive to do so.

Aside from the Buddha, those who stand beneath him are bodhisattvas. Even a bodhisattva at the stage of Equal Enlightenment still has one fraction of innate ignorance unsevered; his wisdom and conduct are not yet perfect. He remains within the process of cultivation, not one who has reached home—he is still in the learning stage, because the two obstacles of affliction and habitual tendency have not been wholly eradicated.

Therefore, for ordinary beings or sages of such a level to measure the sea of the Buddha's wisdom is beyond their capacity. The teachings that emerge from this sea of wisdom likewise cannot be exhaustively understood by them. Although these bodhisattvas have composed certain treatises setting forth meanings, such treatises require the Buddha's seal of confirmation to become an integral part of the Buddhist canon. The Buddha generally confirms them, saying, "So it is, so it is." If a teaching does not receive the Buddha's confirmation, the saying that "this meaning is not thus" applies: anything unconfirmed is mere child's play, devoid of meaning, and of no benefit to sentient beings. From this, the principle is established: if it is spoken by the Buddha, every word is the correct teaching—correct doctrine, correct principle, correct cultivation, correct understanding, correct conduct, correct fruition of wisdom.

Therefore, the cultivation of the Pure Land Dharma relies upon the Buddha's authoritative words as the sole standard; one cannot rely upon bodhisattvas, human and celestial beings, and the like to determine the right and wrong of the Pure Land. This is a fundamental principle.

What the Buddha speaks is the definitive teaching; what bodhisattvas and others speak is called the non-definitive teaching. This is a principle. Only the Buddha's words serve as the standard. Therefore Master Shandao earnestly exhorts all those with whom he has affinity who aspire to rebirth: you may only deeply trust the Buddha's words, focus single-mindedly on carrying them out, and must not believe in or uphold the non-corresponding teachings of bodhisattvas and others. If one places faith in non-corresponding teachings, doubt may arise, obstacles may appear, disputes may ensue, and in the end one will forfeit the great benefit of rebirth in the Pure Land.

Since ancient times, some bodhisattvas have composed treatises. Take, for example, the Great Master Zobo—also known as a leading authority on the Avatamsaka Sutra—who wrote the Comprehensive Commentary on the Avatamsaka. Some of his understandings of the Pure Land Dharma were rather biased. One cannot say, "Master Zobo is impressive and virtuous, therefore his words must be correct." We cannot place faith in such; we trust only the Buddha's words.

Fifth aspect of resolute deep faith: This is to firmly establish one's own mind and cultivate in accordance with the teaching. To establish the mind means that in your inner heart—"establishing" from the very beginning, "firmly standing" at the end—through your study of the Pure Land Dharma, you ultimately build the root and power of faith so unshakable that it can never be uprooted. Once it has been firmly set in place, what remains is simply to cultivate in accordance with the Buddha's teaching. From this moment on, you must forever exclude all doubt, add no doubt, and trust through to the very end. Then your faith will be as solid as a diamond.

Other practices—the cultivation of esoteric teachings, the Chan school, the doctrinal schools, vipassana meditation, and so forth—these are all to be regarded as separate interpretations, separate practices, different studies, different views, different attachments. There are indeed many such paths of cultivation; we cannot enumerate them all. But the aims and methods of these various teachings are not the same. We must not be seized by the aims of their Dharma doors and schools, nor influenced by them. We still place faith and aspiration in reciting the Name, and single-mindedly seek rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss—on this there must be no wavering. With single-hearted devotion, ever pressing onward.

Below, a question-and-answer is set forth to further emphasize these aspects of faith.

Someone asks: as ordinary beings with shallow wisdom and heavy karmic obstructions, if we encounter practitioners of other Dharma paths who cite many sutras and treatises to "prove" that ordinary beings burdened with sin and bound by saṃsāra cannot attain rebirth through faith, aspiration, and recitation of the Name, how should one respond to their challenges? How does one fulfill the faith of the Pure Land and advance directly without retreat or timidity? This situation does in fact occur.

Once you begin to cultivate the Pure Land Dharma, immediately someone will say, "Oh, this won't do, that won't do," and they will seem to quote sutras and cite classics as proof.

At such a moment you must pay attention: Master Shandao also answered this way, showing that the problem has existed since ancient times and is even more severe today.

If someone cites the Buddha's own sutras and treatises to "prove" that you cannot attain rebirth through recitation—saying your karmic obstructions are so heavy, how could rebirth come so easily?—how do you respond? The practitioner of the Pure Land Dharma must reply: Good sir, although you have cited many sutras and treatises to prove that karma-driven ordinary beings cannot attain rebirth, in my own mind I am determined not to accept your refutation.

Why? Not that I disbelieve the sutras and treatises you cite—they are spoken by the Buddha. But the Buddha preached sutras in response to the differing capacities of sentient beings; he observed their faculties and adapted his teaching accordingly. The places where sutras were spoken differ, the times differ, the audiences differ, and the benefits differ.

When you cite those particular sutras, they are not the occasion when the Contemplation Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra were spoken. The Contemplation Sutra and Amitabha Sutra, the Pure Land sutras, point toward rebirth. Other sutras may point toward the elimination of karmic obstructions, toward awakening, toward the attainment of supernatural powers; they have various orientations. Therefore, the audiences addressed by the Buddha's sutras and teachings differ vastly; the Buddha comprehensively expounded practices for humans, celestial beings, and bodhisattvas.

But what I now follow, the concentrated and scattered virtues of the Contemplation Sutra, was spoken by the Buddha solely for Vaidehi and for all ordinary beings of the evil world of the five turbidities after his passing into nirvāṇa—proclaiming that recitation of the Name gives rise to rebirth in the Pure Land. This is the particular karmic condition. Therefore, I now single-mindedly rely upon this teaching of the Buddha and am determined to practice accordingly. Even if hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of people come quoting sutras and citing classics, saying karma-driven ordinary beings cannot attain rebirth through recitation, I will not accept your refutation; it will only increase and fulfill my faith in rebirth.

He then further says to that person, "Good sir, listen well, and I will now explain to you in greater detail the aspects of resolute deep faith."

Not to mention ordinary people: even if a single arhat, pratyekabuddha, or bodhisattva of the three stages of worthies preceding the first ground—or one, or many, or even countless ones filling all of the ten directions—were to quote sutras and cite treatises to "prove" one thing: that karma-driven ordinary beings cannot attain rebirth through recitation, I would not give rise to a single thought of doubt; on the contrary, this would only increase and fulfill my pure faith. Why? Because the Buddha has spoken thus, and I am firmly established. The Buddha's words establish the definitive meaning; the words of bodhisattvas and arhats are not definitive. I will not be broken by them.

In a third layer, he further says, "Practitioner, listen well": even if bodhisattvas and great bodhisattvas from the first ground up to the tenth ground—one or many, or even enough to fill all of the ten directions—were to speak with one voice, saying that Sakyamuni Buddha's pointing toward the Pure Land, his praise of Amitabha, his urging beings to weary of the three realms and six paths, and his exhortation to sentient beings to single-mindedly recite the Name and, at the end of this very life, be reborn in the Pure Land—this whole matter is untrue, fictitious, and not to be believed—

even upon hearing such words from these great bodhisattvas, one gives rise to no thought of doubt. It only increases and fulfills one's determined, supreme faith, precisely because it is the Buddha who has spoken it, in truth and as definitive meaning. The Buddha truly knows, truly understands, truly sees, truly realizes; he does not speak from a mind of doubt. Therefore one is not broken by the words of these bodhisattvas.

Genuine great bodhisattvas, in fact, would never go against the Buddha's teaching.