THE AMITABHA SUTRA

Abstract

This is the presentation of a translation of the small SUKHAVATI-VYUHA. Two sutras, the large and the small, have this title, both taking as subject Amitabha Buddha, his pure Buddhaland to the West, and the means to rebirth therein. Sukhavati, or, as translated from the Chinese , Ultimate Bliss, is the name of this land.

A third sutra also describes Sukhavati: the AMITURDHYANA-SUTRA. Together, these three comprise the basic texts of the Pure Land Sect.

The translated text, the small SUKHAVATI-VYUHA, although it is the shortest of the three, is by no means unimportant. Nor is it just a summary recapitulation of the doctrine set forth in the other two.

The large SUKHAVATI-VYUHA explains the causal connections resulting in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. It deals with Amitabha's vows of former lives and their realization in Sukhavati.

The AMITURDHYANA-SUTRA is concerned with quite another matter. It is a guide to cultivation and describes a series of sixteen meditations which lead to various grades of transformation rebirth in Sukhavati. Summaries of both sutras are readily found in the literature and so are not given here.

Both sutras contain dharmas preached in specific response to the requests of sentient beings: the large SUKHAVATI-VYUHA at the request of Ananda , "who had still to be advanced on the path of disciples"; the AMITURDHYANA-SUTRA at the request of Vardehi, queen mother of the wicked Prince Ajatasatru.