10th of December 2023
These wasan treat the inexpressible and inconceivable attributes of beings who go to the Pure Land, as well as the Pure Land itself, reaching the stage of non-retrogression, as well as the praising of the Buddha's name which is itself the manifestation of his boundless power which also manifests itself in those who return.
27
The two kinds of fulfillment of the Buddha land of happiness – the beings and adornments –
Were formed through the power of Dharmakara’s Vow.
They have no equal in the heavens or on earth,
So take refuge in Amida, the power of the great mind.adornments: the various jewel-trees and jewel-ponds; all the various adornments of the Pure Land.
beings: If we go to the land of bliss, we will be able to exercise supernatural powers freely.
The fulfilment means that it arises from bodhisattva Dharmakara's great practise, therefore embodies the many virtues generate by his practise. Both the properties of the beings and adornments are taught to emphasise the contrast between our life in the Pure Land verses our limited lives today. Because there is no equal in the heavens or on Earth, there is no other path we can take that truly transcends the limited, foolish self.
28
Sakyamuni Buddha states
That even with his unhindered eloquence,
The adornments of the land of happiness cannot be fully expounded;
So take refuge in Amida, the inexpressible Buddha.inexpressible Buddha: it is impossible to describe the Buddha fully in words.
We should not limit our understanding to concepts based on the sutras themselves. First, Amida is inexpressible, so the sutras do not describe him fully. Second, Amida is inconceivable, so even if expressed fully in the sutra, we would not be able to grasp him with our deluded minds. This goes just as much for the nature of enlightenment and the adornments, which both arise from Amida.
29
Beings born in the Pure Land in the past, present, and future
Are not solely from this world;
They come from Buddha lands throughout the ten quarters
And are countless, innumerable, beyond calculation.
Because of the 17th vow, the teaching based on the vow is actually preached everywhere, by the compassionate working of countless bodhisattvas who have returned from the Pure Land, therefore those bodhisattvas come from anywhere and everywhere and are infinite in number.
30
Those who, hearing Amida Buddha’s Name,
Rejoice in it with reverence and praise,
Receive its treasure of virtues;
The great benefit acquired with one utterance is supreme.rejoice (kangi): kan means to rejoice in body; gi means to rejoice in mind.
great benefit: to attain nirvana.
The note says to rejoice in both body and mind. To rejoice in the mind describes shinjin, to rejoice in the body describes saying the nembutsu. Hearing the Name, as stated in many other places, means to receive shinjin. The benefit we receive from hearing the Name is all of the adornments and qualities of being listed above, and as noted this is beyond our imagination, since it can't be accurately reduced to words or concepts we know as deluded limited beings.
31
Those who hear the Buddha’s Name –
Going even through flames that fill
The great thousandfold world to do so –
Attain forever the stage of nonretrogression.
Even though we remain in our dangerous world of samsara, with huge numbers of mental and physical dangers, as long as we have "Heard the Name" (realised shinjin) we remain in the stage of nonretrogression and so cannot do anything to fail on the path to enlightenment.
32
The Buddhas, infinite in number, all praise Amida,
Whose majestic powers are boundless;
From the eastern Buddha lands, countless as the sands of the Ganges,
Innumerable bodhisattvas go to pay homage.majestic powers: the free working of Amida’s majestic powers is boundless.
The most interesting part of this is the note, which is very similar to the verse but also adds that it specifies the power being that of "free working". This means that the boundless praising itself is due to the boundless power of Amida Buddha.