Sutra on the Great Cause and Condition of the Benefits of the Name of Amitabha Buddha
Translated by Saṅghavarman of Tianzhu during the Cao Wei Dynasty
This is what I have heard:
At one time, the Buddha was on Vulture Peak in Rajagriha, together with a great assembly of 1,250 bhikkhus. They had ended all defilements, possessed spiritual powers and clear understanding. Among the noble assembly were these venerable ones: Ananda, Mahamaudgalyayana, Shariputra, Maha-Govinda, Mahakashyapa, Maha-Gayakashyapa, Maha-Chunda, Yashaskashyapa, Maha-Prasada, and others like them as the foremost leaders. Also present were the great bodhisattvas such as Samantabhadra, Manjushri, Shraddha-Vimala-Prajna, and Sukha-Vimukti. They had fulfilled immeasurable vows and practices, abiding in inconceivable meritorious qualities, with wisdom and sagely clarity. Such a multitude of bodhisattvas, beyond calculation, had gathered at that time.
At that time, the World-Honored One said to Ananda: "In the immeasurably distant past, countless eons ago, there was a great bhikkhu named Dharmākara. He encountered hundreds of thousands of buddhas and fulfilled immeasurable great vows, surpassing the practices of all buddhas. That bhikkhu Dharmākara has now attained perfect enlightenment and dwells in the pure and peaceful land of the west, known as the Tathāgata of Immeasurable Life and Inconceivable Light.
Due to the power of that buddha’s original vows, his inconceivable majestic spiritual power pervades the worlds of the ten directions. With a great voice, he proclaims the merit of his name. Therefore, all sentient beings throughout the ten directions who hear and believe in the merit of his name immediately enter the stage of non-retrogression and are reborn in that pure and peaceful buddha-land.
Thus, even among humans, beings who due to past karma may be deaf, blind, mute, foolish, or mentally afflicted—through the condition of that buddha’s light and name—all attain liberation. Or those suffering incessantly in the three lower realms—through the condition of that buddha’s light and name—all receive liberation. Hearing his light and name, whether they believe and accept it or recite his name, they immediately eradicate immeasurable, countless eons of birth-and-death offenses.
Therefore, Ananda! Recite that buddha’s name—whether once, ten times, or even hundreds of thousands of times—and in every moment, countless manifestations of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life will constantly protect that person. Moreover, there are two bodhisattvas: one named Guanyin and one named Mahāsthāmaprāpta. These two bodhisattvas, as leaders, together with a host of great bodhisattvas, constantly come to protect that person. After their life ends, they will be reborn in that pure and peaceful land of Immeasurable Life.
Therefore, Ananda! Even if a raging fire were to fill the three-thousandfold great-thousand world, one who hears and believes in that buddha’s name will certainly pass through it. Such a person is called ‘a white lotus born in the midst of fire.’ This is called the inconceivable benefit of the name—the one great matter of cause and condition.
Due to the power of that buddha’s original vows, all buddhas of the ten directions praise the merit of that buddha’s name and also praise sentient beings who recite the buddha’s name. Therefore, all of you should believe in and accept that buddha’s name."
The World-Honored One said to Ananda, "The reason the Tathagata appears in this world is to proclaim the inconceivable, true merit, radiant name, and great cause of benefit of that Buddha. Therefore, I say it is rare to encounter, rare to see, rare to obtain, and rare to hear. If there are beings who hear this teaching, they should all believe, accept, and practice it in accordance with the Dharma."
The World-Honored One said to Ananda: "That monk Dharmakara, for the sake of liberating all sentient beings in the ten directions, though he raised aspirations beyond this world and cultivated immeasurable great practices, is in truth the primordial, eternally accomplished Dharma-body that has existed since beginningless time. The Buddha of Immeasurable Life, through his inconceivable majestic spiritual power, pervades the ten directions, teaching and establishing countless sentient beings in the unsurpassed true path. He manifests as kings, wheel-turning monarchs, elders, respected householders of noble status, as rulers of the six desire heavens and Brahma heavens, and even appears in the forms of hell-beings, hungry ghosts, animals, and asuras—constantly manifesting in all four dignified manners to transform all beings. Ananda! That primordial, eternally accomplished Dharma-body—the Buddha of Immeasurable Life—is none other than who? It is precisely this present World-Honored One, myself. Out of compassion for all you sentient beings, lost in the great darkness of ignorance, I have manifested from that realm of peaceful nourishment, the unconditioned realm, into this evil age, this evil world—in places like Gaya and Rajagriha—to proclaim the inconceivable merits and causes of that Buddha's name. This is what is called difficult to encounter, difficult to behold, difficult to obtain, difficult to hear. Therefore, any sentient being who hears this sutra should believe, accept, and practice it in accordance with the Dharma."
The World-Honored One said to Ānanda: "Even if all beings are burdened by deep afflictions, evil karma, and heavy retribution, the light, the name, and the divine power of that Buddha are unobstructed. Therefore, that Buddha is called 'Unobstructed.' Because his unobstructed wisdom is pure, joyful, and equal, his majestic divine power is also unobstructed. Since his divine power is unobstructed, his great compassion is likewise unobstructed.
Thus, in this defiled and evil world, if any being, relying on their own obstructed and limited understanding, doubts the Buddha's unobstructed wisdom—his inconceivable wisdom, immeasurable wisdom, supreme wisdom of the Great Vehicle, and unequaled, highest wisdom—and harbors disbelief due to such doubt, then for countless kalpas they will fall into the Saṃjīva Hell or enter the Pratāpana Hell, suffering endlessly with no hope of escape.
Therefore, if any being rightly believes in the Buddha's wisdom, they will immediately enter the stage of right certainty, never to regress from anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. This is called the inconceivable merit, benefit, and great causal connection of the name."
When the Buddha finished speaking this sutra, the entire earth shook in six ways. Heavenly flowers rained down, and from the empty sky, a subtle and magnificent voice arose, praising the inconceivable light, the immeasurable life, the pure Buddha-name, and the great matter of benefit and cause that the World-Honored One had expounded on this day.
When the World-Honored One spoke this sutra, countless beings resolved to attain supreme, perfect enlightenment. Many heavenly beings and humans attained the fruit of non-returning, and the great bodhisattvas, adorned with the merits of the four great vows, are destined to achieve complete awakening in future ages.
When the Buddha had finished speaking this sutra, the assembly of great bodhisattvas, Ananda, and the other great disciples, having heard the Buddha's teaching, rejoiced and, after paying homage to the Buddha, departed.
Sutra on the Great Cause and Condition of the Benefits of the Name of Amitabha Buddha