Pure Land Visions

by Master Tsung-pen

The T'ang period monk Hui-jih [resided in] the Wang-chi Temple in Lo-yang. His lay surname was Hsin, and he was from Tung-lai. During the reign of Emperor Chung-tsung [705-709] he was ordained. After he had received the precepts in full, he met I-ching San-tsang, who had studied the ultimate mysteries of the One Vehicle and who had journeyed to India. Hui-jih always felt great respect for I-ching, so he vowed to visit the western regions too. 

Hui-jih set out by ship and crossed the sea. In three years he visited all the countries in the Southeastern Sea. After passing through them all, he arrived in India. He went to pay his respects to the holy sites where Shakyamuni Buddha had preached. He also sought out Buddhist texts in Sanskrit. For thirteen years he called on men of knowledge and asked them to instruct him in the Dharma. 

Wanting to benefit others [with what he had learned], Hui-jih journeyed back to his homeland. He travelled alone across the snowy mountains and the lands of the barbarians for four years. He had endured many hardships, and he had grown profoundly weary with this world. 

He sighed to himself saying, "In what land, in what region, is there happiness without suffering? By what method, by what practice, can we quickly see Buddha?" 

All over India he had questioned men learned in the Buddhist Canon, and they had all extolled the Pure Land. Moreover, this was in accord with what Buddha had said. As for its quickness, [they told him], it is a road [that can be travelled] in a single lifetime; when this body is used up, you are sure to attain birth in the world of ultimate bliss, and serve Amitabha Buddha in person. When Hui-jih heard this, he humbly accepted it. 

During the course of his travels, he came to North India. Northeast of the royal city of the land of Gandhara, there was a large mountain where there was a statue of Kuan-yin. Kuan-yin often appeared there to those who prayed to her sincerely. 

Hui-jih had earnestly beseeched her for seven days without eating, and was ready to go on like that until death. On the night of the seventh day, before midnight, Kuan-yin appeared in the sky in a purple and gold body ten feet high sitting on a jewel lotus. 

She reached down and rubbed the top of Hui-jih' s head and said to him, "You want to transmit the Dharma to benefit yourself and others. There is the land of Amitabha Buddha in the west. Urge people to recite the buddha-name, chant the scriptures, and vow to be born there. When they reach that land, they will see Amitabha Buddha and me, and obtain great benefits. You must realize that the Pure Land teaching is superior to all other practices." After she finished speaking, she suddenly disappeared. 

Hui-jih was tired from having gone without food, but when he heard this, his strength came back. He set off across the mountains to return to the east [to China]. He travelled through more than seventy lands, and was away eighteen years altogether. 

In 719 he finally arrived in [the Chinese capital] Ch'ang-an. He had an audience with the Emperor and presented him with the images of buddha and the sacred texts that he had brought from India, to enlighten the Emperor's mind. [The Emperor was pleased] and bestowed on him the title Dharma Master T'zu-min San-tsang. 

Thereafter Hui-jih always scrupulously cultivated Pure Land practice. He wrote a collection of stories about birth in the Pure Land which circulated throughout the country. His path was the same teaching as that of [the Pure Land pioneers] Shan-tao and Shao-k'ang, but in a different time. 

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In 767, during the T'ang period, the great teacher Fa-chao was staying at Yun-feng Temple in Hang-chou. He was scrupulous in his practice and never slackened. He took it as his urgent duty to urge people to recite the buddha-name. 

[One day] in the monks' hall, [a vision] appeared twice in the big pot in which the gruel was cooked. A holy site on Mount Wu-t'ai appeared, with a temple with a golden signboard that said "Manjushri's Bamboo Forest Temple." 

After this, Fa-chao felt a longing to pay homage on Mount Wu-t'ai. At Hu-tung Temple in Hang-chou he built five worship halls where people met to recite the buddha-name. He vowed to see Manjushri. 

On the thirteenth day of the eight month of 769, Fa-chao set out for Mount Wu-t'ai, and on the fifth day of the fourth month of 770 he arrived in Wu-t'ai county. From far off he saw several rays of white light on the south side of Buddha Light Temple. The next day he arrived at Buddha Light Temple and it was identical to what he had seen in the vision in the pot. 

That night after midnight, Fa-chao saw a ray of light come down from north of the mountain. It shined on him, and he rushed into the hall and asked the congregation of monks, "What omen is this? Is it lucky or unlucky?" 

There was a monk who answered, "This is Manjushri's inconceivable light: it always shines on those who have an affinity with him." 

When he heard this, moving with full solemnity, Fa-chao immediately went to follow the light. 

Fa-chao went about fifteen miles northeast from the temple, and there was a mountain there. At the foot of the mountain was a brook, and on the north side of the brook there was a stone gate. 

There were two boys about eight years old dressed in dark blue clothes standing at the gate with solemn expressions on their faces. One was called Shan-tsai and one was called Nan-ta. When they saw Fa-chao they happily asked him how he was and bowed. Then they led him through the gate. After the three of them had walked about two miles, there appeared a tower with a golden gate. As they gradually came up to the gate, they saw it was a temple. In front of the temple was a large gold signboard that said, "Manjushri's Bamboo Forest Temple," just as in the vision Fa-chao had originally seen in the pot of boiling gruel. 

The temple complex was about six miles in circumference, and contained a hundred and twenty buildings. There were jewel stupas and the grounds were decorated with pure gold. It was filled with flowing streams and flowering trees. 

Fa-chao entered the temple and went into the lecture hall. There he saw Manjushri on the west and Samantabhadra on the east, each seated on a lion throne. He could hear the sound of their voices expounding the Dharma very clearly. Around Manjushri were more than ten thousand bodhisattvas. Samantabhadra was also surrounded by countless bodhisattvas. 

Fa-chao went before the two great bodhisattvas, bowed in homage, and asked them: "Ordinary people in the last age are far from the time of the sages. Teachers are of progressively lower quality, and the obstructions of defilement are ever thicker. People have no way to manifest their buddha-nature. The Buddha Dharma grows vague and indistinct. I do not know what method to practice, what method is the most essential. I hope you great sages will cut my net of doubts." 

Manjushri replied: "You recite the buddha-name. None of the practices of the time surpasses reciting the buddha-name, supporting the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and cultivating merit and wisdom. This is the most direct most essential method. 

"What is the reason? I attained omniscience because in ages past I contemplated buddha, recited the buddha-name, and supported the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. All the phenomena of enlightenment, from the perfection of wisdom, to meditative concentration, to Buddhahood, are all born from reciting the buddha-name. Thus we know that reciting the buddha-name is the king of all the dharmas. You must constantly be mindful of [Buddha], the Supreme Dharma King, and never stop." 

Fa-chao also asked: "How should we be mindful of Buddha?" 

Manjushri said: "To the west of this world is Amitabha Buddha. The power of his vows is inconceivable. You should constantly recite his name without a break. Then at the end of your life, you are sure to be born in his land and never fall back." 

After Manjushri had said this, both great bodhisattvas extended their golden hands and rubbed the top of Fa-chao 's head and gave him a prediction of enlightenment. 

Then they bade him farewell and said, "Since you have already been reciting the buddha-name, it will not be long before you experience supreme correct enlightenment. If good men and good women wish to become buddhas quickly, nothing is better than reciting the buddha-name. Then they will be able to experience supreme enlightenment quickly." 

When their words were finished, the two great sages spoke verses to each other. When Fa-chao heard them, he was leaping with joy, and his doubts were all removed. He again bowed in homage, gave thanks, and withdrew. 

related post:  All Practices are Unified in Buddha-Remembrance

Source Of Information:
《Pure Land Pure Mind 心净佛土净》, by Master Chu-hung and Tsung-pen, translated by J.C.Cleary, distributed by: Persatuan Penganut Agama Buddha Amitabha Malaysia, 90 & 92, Jalan Pahang, Gombak, 53000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.)
*** The information provided above does not contain personal opinion of this blog.