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| I'm writing this short essay for the wiki. Because the longer sutra is not yet published by 84000 I can't link to exact place in the sutra but would it be suitable if I add the appropriate references?
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| | | Upon rebirth in Sukhavati, one immediately<ref>Immediately according to the [[Amitabhavyuha Sutra]]. The [[Amitayurdhyana Sutra]] distinguishes between 9 levels of birth, only those of the highest capacity and merit would have all of these abilities immediately upon birth.</ref> attains miraculous abilities, such as the [[five clear perceptions]]<ref>[https://bdkamerica.org/download/1879 Hisao Inagaki, The Three Pure Land Sutras], page 13: Vows 5, 6, 7, 8. The ability to perform miracles is mentioned elsewhere in the sutra</ref>, unlimited eloquence and wisdom in upholding sutras and reciting and expounding them<ref>Ibid, page 15, Vow 29 and 30</ref>, the ability to travel anywhere instantanously<ref>Ibid, page 13, Vow 9</ref> such as Abhirati, [[Zangdokpalri]] or our planet Earth<ref>[[Ringu Tulku]] explains this is possible because beings in Sukhavati possess a light body, not a body of flesh and blood, see https://bodhicharya.org/teachings/archives/amitabha-and-his-pureland</ref> and to hear spontaneously whatever teachings they may wish and remember them perfectly.<ref>Ibid, pages 13 & 18, Vows 7 and 46</ref> |
| Besides receiving the most praise and most detailed description in the Mahayana sutras, one of the main reasons Sukhavati became the most popular Pure Land, is that it is said to be the easiest for practitioners to be reborn in. Unlike many other pure lands, which require achievement of at least the [[first bhumi]]<ref>*Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, [https://dharmaebooks.org/karma-chakmes-mountain-dharma-volume-4/ Karma Chakme’s Mountain Dharma, vol 4], Ch. 4 The Guide on the Quest for Jewels: Choosing a Pure Realm, 2010</ref>, rebirth in Sukhavati can be attained by ordinary beings, solely through their faith in Amitabha and their heartfelt wish to be reborn in his pure land.
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| This is because of one of the 48<ref>according to chinese translation by Saṃghavarman, different translations list different amount of vows</ref> vows Amitabha made in a previous life as the monk Dharmakara, as listed in the [[Amitabhavyuha Sutra]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140512124959/http://www.bdk.or.jp/pdf/bdk/digitaldl/dBET_ThreePureLandSutras_2003.pdf The Three Pure Land Sutras], page 14</ref>:
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| :Vow 18: If, when I attain [[Buddhahood]], sentient beings in the lands of the ten directions who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and think of me even ten times should not be born there, may I not attain perfect enlightenment. Excluded, however, are those who commit the [[five crimes with immediate retribution]] and abuse the Right Dharma<ref>i.e. renounce the Dharma or have [[wrong view]]. [[Khenpo Sodargye]] explains wrong view in this context as having no faith Sukhavati really exists or denigrating other Buddhist schools, see below: Part 2 of teaching on Youtube</ref>.
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| Whereas the 18th Vow is emphasized in the East-Asian Pure Land schools, most tibetan commentators emphasize the twentieth Vow, which is the primary basis for the Four Causes of Rebirth in Sukhavati mentioned below:
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| :Vow 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, plant roots of virtue, and sincerely transfer their merits toward my land with a desire to be born there should not eventually fulfill their aspiration, may I not attain perfect enlightenment.
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| Another reason for Sukhavati's popularity is the protection of Amitabha’s vows, which ensures one will never again be reborn in the three [[lower realms]]<ref>Vow 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."</ref> or regress on the path to Buddhahood once one is reborn there<ref>Vow 11. "If, when I attain buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not dwell in the definitely assured stage and unfailingly reach nirvana, may I not attain perfect enlightenment".</ref>. The importance of this should not be underestimated, because as Shakyamuni warns us in the [[Amitabhavyuha Sutra]], “millions of bodhisattvas, fall back in their progress towards full awakening, because they have not heard discourses on the Dharma such as the these”<ref>*Gomez, Luis, trans., ''The Land of Bliss: The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light: Sanskrit and Chinese Versions of the Sukhavativyuha Sutras'' (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996), page 108</ref>. Once reborn in Sukhavati, one can stay there until one reaches enlightenment because ones lifespan is as limitless as that of Amitayus. Or, following Samantabhadras Vows, one can return to the human and deva realms and perform boundless bodhisattva activity and even send emanations into the lower realms to help beings there<ref>precise reference needed</ref>.
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| Unlike in East-Asia, there was no separate "Pure Land" school in Tibet. But masters of all four schools wrote aspiration prayers for rebirth in Sukhavati. In addition, one of the most widely recited aspirations, [[Samantabhadra's Aspiration to Good Actions]] concludes with an aspiration for rebirth in Sukhavati:
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| :When it is time for me to die,
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| :Let all that obscures me fade away, so
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| :I look on Amitābha, there in person,
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| :And go at once to his pure land of Sukhāvatī.
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