Master Tanluan on the Primal Vow: Should we recite Amitabha”s name ten times

　　Many within Buddhism itself criticize the concept of “other-power” (他力) or Buddha power, asserting that it is over-emphasized in Pure Land Buddhism. They might say, “How can one be reborn in the Pure Land by simply reciting Amitabha”s name even only ten times, without cutting off all delusions and afflictions

　　 It is ridiculous! As the Law of Cause and Effect is a truth, no one is exempted from the influence of karmic forces near the end of one”s life. An evil person does not deserve to be reborn in the Land of Bliss!”

　　Another prominent Pure Land patriarch, Master Tanluan (476－542 CE), tackled this contentious issue with eight sets of questions and answers in his Commentary on the Treatise of Rebirth. First of all, Master Tanluan endorsed and validated this important statement of rebirth by other-power with reference to the fulfillment passage of the 18th vow in the Infinite Life Sutra. Secondly, he illustrated and verified it with reference to the passage of “rebirth of low grade, low level” in the Contemplation Sutra.

　　Master Tanluan quoted the Sutra of the Way of Karma: “Karma is like a balance. It falls on the side of the heavier first.” Comparing the “weight” of the karma of the five gravest transgressions and that of Amitabha-recitation in ten times should be measured under three criteria, namely, (1) the mind, (2) the causal condition and (3) the determination.

　　1. Depending on mind – Karmic force is generated and applied in the mundane world, which is insubstantial and unreal like a dream or a soap bubble, while Buddha”s power is substantial and real. How can unreal karmic forces be comparable to Buddha power

　　 Master Tanluan gave an example: even if the demon of darkness has stayed in an enclosed room for over a thousand years, it cannot keep the room dark if the god of light comes into the room. At the moment a beam of brightness shines into the room, the demon cannot refuse to leave though it has stayed there for a long time. What is important is not the length of karma, but the power of the force that will annihilate that karma.

　　2. Depending on the causal condition – The merits and virtues attained by the reciter through sincere Amitabha-recitation are substantial and real, while the karmic effects are generated by deviant views and repeated afflictions are insubstantial and unreal. It means that Amitabha Buddha”s merits and virtues can heal and cure all diseases, and clear all obstructions, including the karmic connections in the mundane world.

　　3. Depending on determination – When a person commits evil, he always thinks over any other alternatives and the respective consequences, and commits occasionally with an intermittent mind. However, for tenfold Amitabha-recitation [at the near end of their life], the dying person has no other alternative, but just recites with an non-intermittent mind. This is known as “determination”.

　　Taking into account these three criteria, Master Tanluan concluded that the effect of Amitabha-recitation in ten times is “heavier” or stronger than that of karmic forces, thus the former takes effect first in comparing the “weights.” As a result, a Pure Land practitioner is able to leave the cycle of birth and death and be reborn in the Land of Bliss through exclusive Amitabha-recitation.

　　Many people are concerned about the immeasurably heavy karma they have generated through countless eons. They wonder why the “power” generated through Amitabha-recitation for a relatively short time can overrule the cumulative karmic “power” that governs the fate of sentient beings in this mundane world. Master Tanluan reiterated that, in terms of heavy or light in weight, it depends on mind, causal condition and determination,…

《Master Tanluan on the Primal Vow: Should we recite Amitabha’s name ten times

　　》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…