佛說無量壽佛名號利益大事因緣經

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa at Rājagṛha, together with a great assembly of bhikṣus, numbering one thousand two hundred and fifty persons. These noble ones had exhausted all the outflows (āsrava) and attained the superknowledges and illumination. Their names were: Venerable Ānanda, Venerable Maudgalyāyana, Venerable Śāriputra, Venerable Mahā-Vṛṣbha-rāja, Venerable Mahākāśyapa, Venerable Mahā-Gayā-kāśyapa, Venerable Mahācunda, Venerable Urubilvā-kāśyapa, Venerable Great Pure-Minded Resolve, and others like them; all were foremost ones (Paramukha).

There were also great noble beings such as Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Bodhisattva Maṃjuśrī, Bodhisattva Faithful Pure Wisdom, Bodhisattva Sumukti, and others, fully endowed with immeasurable vows and practices, abiding in inconceivable Dharma of merit, with noble, luminous wisdom. Bodhisattva assemblies such as these were beyond reckoning, and at that time came to attend the gathering.

At that time the Blessed One said to Ānanda: “In the distant past, immeasurable and countless kalpas ago, there was a great bhikṣu named Dharmākara. He directly encountered innumerable hundreds of thousands of Buddhas and perfectly fulfilled immeasurable great vows, surpassing the Dharma practiced by the Buddhas. That Bhikṣu Dharmākara has now attained perfect awakening and presently dwells in the pure and peaceful land of happiness (Śuddhasukhāvatī) in the west.

His name is the Inconceivable Light, Infinite Life Tathagata. Through the power of that Buddha’s original vow, he uses inconceivable majestic spiritual power to pervade the worlds of the ten directions, proclaiming in a great voice the merit of his Name. Therefore, all sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions who hear and trust in the merit of that Name enter the state of right concentration and are born in the land of that Buddha of Pure Peace and Bliss.

For this reason, sentient beings, even if they are in the human realm and, because of karmic retribution from former lives, are deaf, blind, mute, stammering, foolish, deranged, evil, and so forth, are all liberated through the causal condition of that Buddha’s Name and light. Or if they are in the suffering hardships of the three paths, the hells, hungry ghosts, and animals, undergoing suffering without interruption, they are all liberated through the causal condition of that Buddha’s Name and light. Hearing that Name and light, if they faithfully accept it, if they recite the Name, then at once they cast off the sins of birth and death accumulated through immeasurable, countless kalpas.

Therefore, Ānanda, if one recites that Buddha’s Name one time, or ten times, or even a hundred thousand times, then in each and every thought-moment there are innumerable transformation Buddhas of Infinite Life who constantly protect and assist that person. There are also two bodhisattvas: one named Avalokiteśvara and one named Mahāsthāmaprāpta. These two bodhisattvas themselves serve as foremost leaders and, together with the assemblies of great bodhisattvas, constantly come to protect and assist that person. After the end of that person’s life, they are born in the Pure Peaceful and Blissful Land (Śuddhasukhāvatī) of Amitāyus.

For this reason, Ānanda, even if a blazing fire were to fill the three-thousand-great-thousand world system, one should certainly pass through it in order to hear and trust in that Buddha’s Name. Such a person is called a White Lotus Born in Fire. This is called the inconceivable benefit of the Name, a causal condition of the great matter.

Through the power of that Buddha’s original vow, the Buddhas of the ten directions all together praise the merit of that Buddha’s Name. They also praise sentient beings who recollect the Buddha. Therefore you should all faithfully accept that Buddha’s Name.”

The Blessed One said to Ānanda: “For this reason, the Tathagata appears in the world and speaks of the causal conditions of the great matter: the benefit of the Name and light, the true and inconceivable merit of that Buddha. Therefore I say that it is difficult to encounter, difficult to see, difficult to obtain, and difficult to hear. If there are beings who hear this Dharma, they should all faithfully follow it and practice in accordance with the Dharma.”

The Blessed One said to Ānanda: “That Bhikṣu Dharmākara, in order to liberate all sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions, brought forth world-transcending vows and cultivated immeasurable great practices. This is the ancient root of the truly accomplished Dharmakāya, the ever-abiding, originally existent Buddha of Infinite Life. Through inconceivable majestic spiritual power, he pervades the worlds of the ten directions to teach and transform, establishing countless sentient beings so that they abide in the unsurpassed true path.

He may appear as a kṣatriya king, a wheel-turning king, or an elder in a noble and wealthy household. He may appear as a Brahmā king of the six realms of desire. He may appear in the body of a hell-being, hungry ghost, animal, asura, and so forth.

Through the four postures, he transforms and appears as all beings.

Ānanda, could that ancient, truly accomplished Dharmakāya, the ever-abiding Buddha of Infinite Life, be anyone else? It is my own body, the Blessed One of the present day. Out of compassionate mindfulness for you and for all sentient beings in the long night of ignorance’s darkness, I have come from that land of Peaceful Nourishment and the Unconditioned, manifesting in this evil age, this evil world, assembling the kāya at Rājagṛha, to speak of the inconceivable causal conditions and merit of that Buddha. This is difficult to encounter, difficult to see, difficult to obtain, and difficult to hear. Therefore, if there are sentient beings who hear this sutra, they should all faithfully accept it and practice in accordance with the Dharma.”

The Blessed One said to Ānanda: “Even if all sentient beings are burdened by afflictions, evil karma, deep obstructions, and heavy retribution, there is no place where the spiritual power of that Buddha’s Name and light can be obstructed. Therefore that Buddha is named Unattainable, Unequaled, Pure Wisdom, Joy, and so forth. Because the wisdom is without attainment, the power of majestic spiritual might is also without attainment.

Because spiritual power is without attainment, great loving-kindness and compassion are also without attainment. For this reason, if all sentient beings in the turbid and evil age use attainment and lesser wisdom to doubt that Buddha’s wisdom of non-attainment, inconceivable wisdom, immeasurable wisdom, supreme wisdom of the Mahayana, and unsurpassed wisdom of the wheel of the unequaled, doubting and not believing, then because of such doubt they fall for countless kalpas into the Saṃvara Hell, or into the Piṇḍala Hell, where they undergo suffering without end and have no appointed time of escape.

For this reason, if there are sentient beings who truly believe in Buddha-wisdom (Buddha-jñāna), they at once enter the state of right concentration and do not regress from Anuttarā-samyaksaṃbuddhi, unsurpassed perfect awakening. This is called the causal condition of the great matter of the benefit of the Name, belonging to inconceivable merit.”

When the Buddha spoke this sutra, the whole great earth shook in six ways, the heavens rained down wondrous flowers, and naturally in space there arose a great and subtle voice praising that Buddha of Pure, Inconceivable Light and Infinite Life and the Blessed One of the present day, who had spoken the causal conditions and benefit of the great matter.

When the Blessed One spoke this sutra, immeasurable sentient beings brought forth the intention for the unsurpassed, true, and perfect path. Devas and human beings attained the fruit of Anāgāmin, the Non-Returner, the one who does not come back, a noble one belonging to the third of the four fruits of the śrāvakas. The great bodhisattvas, with the four vast vows, adorned their merit and in future lives would accordingly attain perfect awakening.

When the Buddha had finished speaking this sutra, the assemblies of great bodhisattvas and the assemblies of great śrāvaka disciples, including Ānanda and the others, having heard what the Buddha had said, all rejoiced, bowed to the Buddha, and withdrew.

THE SUTRA SPOKEN BY THE BUDDHA ON THE CAUSAL CONDITIONS OF THE GREAT MATTER

THE BENEFIT OF THE NAME OF THE BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIFE

The End