Contents
In the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, the Buddha begins by describing to his attendant Ānanda a past life of the buddha Amitābha. He states that in a past life, Amitābha was once king who renounced his kingdom, and became a bodhisattva monk named Dharmākara ("Dharma Storehouse"). Under the guidance of the buddha Lokeśvararāja ("World Sovereign King"), innumerable buddha-lands throughout the ten directions were revealed to him. After meditating for five eons as a bodhisattva, he then made a great series of vows to save all sentient beings, and through his great merit, created the realm of Sukhāvatī ("Ultimate Bliss"). This land of Sukhāvatī would later come to be known as the Pure Land (Ch. 淨土) in Chinese translation.
The sūtra describes in great detail Sukhāvatī and its inhabitants, and how they are able to attain rebirth there. The text also provides a detailed account of the various levels and beings in the Mahāyāna Buddhist cosmology.
The sūtra also contains the forty-eight vows of Amitābha Buddha to save all sentient beings. The eighteenth vow is among the most important as it forms a basic tenet of the Pure Land school. This vow is most commonly known as shí niàn bì shēng yuàn (Ch. 十念必生願), because it states that if a sentient being makes even "ten recitations" (Ch. 十念 shí niàn) of the Amitābha Buddha's name they will attain "certain rebirth" (Ch. 必生 bì shēng) into the Pure Land.
Lastly the sutra shows the Buddha discoursing at length to the next Buddha to come, Maitreya, describing the various forms of evil that Maitreya must avoid to achieve his goal of becoming a Buddha, as well as other admonitions and advice.
Read more about this topic: Infinite Life Sutra
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