Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss 
This is the Buddha Land of Amitabha Buddha. In Amitabha
Sutra, there is full description about this Pure Land. This is the
world of utmost joy without suffering. With the spiritual power of Amitabha
Buddha, all beings in this world will understand Buddhism easily and practise
diligently, and attain enlightenment eventually. Therefore by reciting
Amitabha Buddha's name, Buddhist followers hope that they will be born
in this Pure Land after their lives on earth.
Nine grades of Buddhists to be born in the Pure
Land
Nine Stages of Lotus Flowers or Nine Grades, Classes of Lotus Flowers,
i.e. upper superior, middle superior, lower superior, upper medium, middle
medium, lower medium, upper inferior, middle inferior and lower inferior,
which represent ninefold future life into Pure Land. The nine grades, or
rewards, of the Pure Land, corresponding to the nine grades of development
in the previous life, upon which depends, in the next life, one's distance
from Amitabha, the consequent aeons that are required to approach Amitabha,
and whether one's lotus will open early or late.
Praise To Amitabha Buddha
The Amitabha Buddha's body is the colour gold.
The splendour of his brilliant light is beyond mind.
The light of his brows illuminates a hundred worlds.
His eyes are pure brilliant light, limitless like the oceans.
In Amitabha's realm of infinite light, all beings are transformed
And Enlightened into countless Bodhisattvas and Buddhas.
His Forty Eight Vows ensure our liberation
In Nine Lotus Stages we reach the ultimate shore of Enlightenment.
Homage to the Buddha of the Pure Land,
Compassionate Amitabha Buddha.
NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA!
NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA!
NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA!
The Forty-Eight Vows
Translated from Chinese by Hisao Inagaki
(1) If, when I attain Buddhahood, should there be in my land a hell,
a realm of hungry spirits or a realm of animals, may I not attain perfect
Enlightenment.
(2) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
after death fall again into the three evil realms, may I not attain perfect
Enlightenment.
(3) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not all be the colour of pure gold, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(4) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not all be of one appearance, and should there be any difference in beauty,
may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(5) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not remember all their previous lives, not knowing at least the events
which occurred during the previous hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of
kalpas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(6) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not possess the divine eye of seeing at least a hundred thousand kotis
of nayutas of Buddha-lands, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(7) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not possess the divine ear of hearing the teachings of at least a hundred
thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddhas and should not remember all of them,
may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(8) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not possess the faculty of knowing the thoughts of others, even those of
all sentient beings living in a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands,
may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(9) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not possess the supernatural power of travelling anywhere in one instant,
even beyond a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands, may I
not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(10) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
give rise to thoughts of self-attachment, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(11) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not dwell in the Definitely Assured State and unfailingly reach Nirvana,
may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(12) If, when I attain Buddhahood, my light should be limited, unable
to illuminate even a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands,
may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(13) If, when I attain Buddhahood, my life-span should be limited,
even to the extent of a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of kalpas, may
I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(14) If, when I attain Buddhahood, the number of the shravakas in my
land could be known, even if all the beings and pratyekabuddhas living
in this universe of a thousand million worlds should count them during
a hundred thousand kalpas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(15) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
have limited life-spans, except when they wish to shorten them in accordance
with their previous vows, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(16) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
even hear of any wrongdoing, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(17) If, when I attain Buddhahood, innumerable Buddhas in the land
of the ten directions should not all praise and glorify my Name, may I
not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(18) If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of
the ten directions who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me,
aspire to be born in my land, and call my Name even ten times, should not
be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. Excluded, however,
are those who commit the five gravest offences and abuse the right Dharma.
(19) If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of
the ten directions, who awaken aspiration for Enlightenment, do various
meritorious deeds and sincerely desire to be born in my land, should not,
at their death, see me appear before them surrounded by a multitude of
sages, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(20) If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of
the ten directions who, having heard my Name, concentrate their thoughts
on my land, do various meritorious deeds and sincerely transfer their merits
towards my land with a desire to be born there, should not eventually fulfil
their aspiration, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(21) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not all be endowed with the thirty-two physical characteristics of a Great
Man, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(22) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the Buddha-lands
of other directions who visit my land should not ultimately and unfailingly
reach the Stage of Becoming a Buddha after One More Life, may I not attain
perfect Enlightenment. Excepted are those who wish to teach and guide sentient
beings in accordance with their original vows. For they wear the armour
of great vows, accumulate merits, deliver all beings from birth-and-death,
visit Buddha-lands to perform the bodhisattva practices, make offerings
to Buddhas, Tathagatas, throughout the ten directions, enlighten uncountable
sentient beings as numerous as the sands of the River Ganges, and establish
them in the highest, perfect Enlightenment. Such bodhisattvas transcend
the course of practice of the ordinary bodhisattva stages and actually
cultivate the virtues of Samantabhadra.
(23) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land, who would
make offerings to Buddhas through my divine power, should not be able to
reach immeasurable and innumerable kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands in
the short time it takes to eat a meal, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(24) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land should not
be able, as they wish, to perform meritorious acts of worshipping the Buddhas
with the offerings of their choice, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(25) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land should not
be able to expound the Dharma with the all-knowing wisdom, may I not attain
perfect Enlightenment.
(26) If, when I attain Buddhahood, there should be any bodhisattva
in my land not endowed with the body of the Vajra-god Narayana, may I not
attain perfect Enlightenment.
(27) If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings should be able,
even with the divine eye, to distinguish by name and calculate by number
all the myriads of manifestations provided for the humans and devas in
my land, which are glorious and resplendent and have exquisite details
beyond description, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(28) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land, even those
with little store of merit, should not be able to see the Bodhi-tree which
has countless colours and is four million li in height, may I not attain
perfect Enlightenment.
(29) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land should not
acquire eloquence and wisdom in upholding sutras and reciting and expounding
them, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(30) If, when I attain Buddhahood, the wisdom and eloquence of bodhisattvas
in my land should be limited, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(31) If, when I attain Buddhahood, my land should not be resplendent,
revealing in its light all the immeasurable, innumerable and inconceivable
Buddha-lands, like images reflected in a clear mirror, may I not attain
perfect Enlightenment.
(32) If, when I attain Buddhahood, all the myriads of manifestations
in my land, from the ground to the sky, such as palaces, pavilions, ponds,
streams and trees, should not be composed both of countless treasures,
which surpass in supreme excellence anything in the worlds of humans and
devas, and of a hundred thousand kinds of aromatic wood, whose fragrance
pervades all the worlds of the ten directions, causing all bodhisattvas
who sense it to perform Buddhist practices, then may I not attain perfect
Enlightenment.
(33) If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the immeasurable
and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten directions, who have been touched
by my light, should not feel peace and happiness in their bodies and minds
surpassing those of humans and devas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(34) If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the immeasurable
and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten directions, who have heard my
Name, should not gain the bodhisattva's insight into the non-arising of
all dharmas and should not acquire various profound dharanis, may I not
attain perfect Enlightenment.
(35) If, when I attain Buddhahood, women in the immeasurable and inconceivable
Buddha-lands of the ten directions who, having heard my Name, rejoice in
faith, awaken aspiration for Enlightenment and wish to renounce womanhood,
should after death be reborn again as women, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(36) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the immeasurable
and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten directions, who have heard my
Name, should not, after the end of their lives, always perform sacred practices
until they reach Buddhahood, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(37) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in the immeasurable
and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten directions, who, having heard
my Name, prostrate themselves on the ground to revere and worship me, rejoice
in faith, and perform the bodhisattva practices, should not be respected
by all devas and people of the world, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(38) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not obtain clothing, as soon as such a desire arises in their minds, and
if the fine robes as prescribed and praised by the Buddhas should not be
spontaneously provided for them to wear, and if these clothes should need
sewing, bleaching, dyeing or washing, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(39) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should
not enjoy happiness and pleasure comparable to that of a monk who has exhausted
all the passions, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(40) If, when I attain Buddhahood, the bodhisattvas in my land, who
wish to see the immeasurable glorious Buddha-lands of the ten directions,
should not be able to view all of them reflected in the jewelled trees,
just as one sees one's face reflected in a clear mirror, may I not attain
perfect Enlightenment.
(41) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the
other directions who hear my Name should, at any time before becoming Buddhas,
have impaired, inferior or incomplete sense organs, may I not attain perfect
Enlightenment.
(42) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the
other directions who hear my Name should not all attain the samadhi called
'pure emancipation' and, while dwelling therein, without losing concentration,
should not be able to make offerings in one instant to immeasurable and
inconceivable Buddhas, World-Honoured Ones, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(43) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the
other directions who hear my Name should not after death be reborn into
noble families, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(44) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the
other directions who hear my Name should not rejoice so greatly as to dance
and perform the bodhisattva practices and should not acquire stores of
merit, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(45) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the
other directions who hear my Name should not all attain the samadhi called
'universal equality' and, while dwelling therein, should not always be
able to see all the immeasurable and inconceivable Tathagatas until those
bodhisattvas, too, become Buddhas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(46) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land should not
be able to hear spontaneously whatever teachings they may wish, may I not
attain perfect Enlightenment.
(47) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the
other directions who hear my Name should not instantly reach the Stage
of Non-retrogression, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
(48) If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the
other directions who hear my Name should not instantly gain the first,
second and third insights into the nature of dharmas and firmly abide in
the truths realised by all the Buddhas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.
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