First to Last: Chanting "Amituofo"

In the Avatamsaka Sutra , we read about Sudhana, the young seeker of truth in the sutra. Under Manjusri Bodhisattva’s guidance, Sudhana eliminated a part of ignorance and attained a part of Dharma Body, thus gaining fundamental wisdom. The Zen school calls this state complete enlightenment. The sutra-study schools call it perfect understanding. At this time, Manjusri allowed Sudhana to travel around to visit other teachers. The purpose was for Sudhana to attain acquired wisdom. What followed is the famous “Sudhana’s visit to fifty-three wise teachers.”

The method used to cultivate fundamental wisdom is completely different from that used to cultivate acquired wisdom. To cultivate fundamental wisdom, the practitioner must delve deeply into one method. The practitioner has to be immersed in that method for a long period of time. His mind must be focused. Through deep meditative concentration, he lets go of wandering thoughts, discriminations, and attachments, and uncovers his true nature.

After he has uncovered true nature, the teacher will permit him to come into contact with anyone and get involved in anything. Instead of delving deeply into one method, the practitioner can now learn extensively from many teachers. This will help us understand the Four Great Vows of Bodhisattvas.

Sentient beings are innumerable,
I vow to help them all.

Afflictions are inexhaustible,
I vow to end them all.

Ways to practice are boundless,
I vow to master them all.

Enlightenment is unsurpassable,
I vow to attain it.

The second vow, “Afflictions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them all” is to cultivate fundamental wisdom. The third vow, “Methods to practice are boundless; I vow to master them all” is to cultivate acquired wisdom. Having attained fundamental wisdom, one does not study with just one teacher. Everyone is one’s teacher. Everything can be learned, so we will know everything.

The first teacher that Sudhana visited was Cloud of Virtues Bodhisattva. What was the method this teacher practiced? The method of being mindful of the Buddha!

Sakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment and Buddhahood at the age of thirty. After he had attained Buddhahood, he started to propagate the Dharma and benefit all beings. He did so for forty-nine years until he entered nirvana at eighty.

During the forty-nine years, Sakyamuni did not have a day off. Why? Because what he taught—ending the cycle of rebirth and transcending the Three Realms—was very important. So he could not take any day off. Had he done so, his students’ learning would have been interrupted, and they would have regressed. Learning is like going upstream in a boat; if you do not move forward, you go backward. It is the same in cultivation; if one does not make progress, one immediately regresses.

To ensure that one does not regress, one has to keep making progress. One should overcome one’s afflictions and residual habits. How does one do so? By being eager to learn. When one has a strong will to learn, one will not regress, and it will be easy for one to learn the teachings.

Cloud of Virtues Bodhisattva diligently chanted the name of Amitabha Buddha, and vowed to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. He made a strong first impression on Sudhana. After this first visit, Sudhana visited other wise teachers, and every one of them practiced different methods.

It was the fifty-third teacher, Samantabhadra, who taught Sudhana the Ten Great Vows and urged him to vow to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. The first teacher taught the method of being mindful of Amitabha Buddha, and the last teacher vowed to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. So from the beginning of the Avatamsaka Sutra to the end, Sudhana practiced the method of being mindful of Amitabha Buddha and vowed to be reborn in the Western Pure Land.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra