The short article was taken from a larger unpublished manuscript.
Beyond the many realms created by the causes and effects of negative and positive actions with reference to a ‘self’, the heavens, hells, and human worlds of this universe, there exist even more numerous countless pure, intangible and invisible worlds that transcend both the negative and the positive. They do not exist in the ordinary sense of the five senses. They are not a part of the conventional view because they are not based on gross elements but on selfless thoughts and intentions of enlightenment as well as on sharing enlightenment with other beings. Sutras and Tantras abound in examples of Buddhas and bodhisattvas who create their own purelands through the vows that they have taken. Like in the case of the Buddha King of Healing, popularly known as ‘Medicine Buddha’, his pureland appeared from his vows to help beings by healing them.
With regard to
realms such as this, Jamgön Kongtrul states that the convergence of sentient beings’ multitudinous actions,
together with the vows and blessings of the transcendent ones cause many oceans
of purelands to appear. In other
words, the initial vows of Buddha King of Healing together the prayers of
aspiration and subsequent actions of beings who have trust in Buddha King of
Healing together create a world ruled by Buddha King of Healing, where they
explore this Buddha’s particular expression of enlightenment. To illustrate this view the
Flower Ornaments Sutra (Avatamsaka Sutra) states,
“The miraculous powers of beings dedicated to enlightenment
and their wish to actualize omniscience cause their ocean of vows to mature.
From these, limitless purelands appear throughout
space. While cultivating boundless
forms of excellent conduct [Bodhisattvas] … spend endless eons in each pureland,
purifying all oceans of purelands in all directions…”
The existence of
these purelands does not amount to merely a beautiful but more or less remote
and inconsequential idea. Rather
their existence is relevant to us as these realms continuously interact with
our realm. For example, from his
pureland Buddha King of Healing is forever ready to come to aid those in
need. Therefore some signs in this
book suggest that the Enlightened Ones from purelands should be invoked in
order to help release an obstacle to health and happiness in this world. From this follows that the purelands of
the Enlightened Ones do not represent paradise refuges, where beings
indulge in states of blissful aloofness.
Rather as reservoirs of compassionate energy, they act and participate
in all of life, with enlightened beings everywhere ready to help unenlightened
beings that both need and are ready to receive help.
It sheds light on
the sophistication of the worldview of the Enlightened Ones that the Flower Ornament Sutra, like modern
science, looks at the world of phenomena both from the largest as well as the
smallest scale. It takes
into account the unimaginably vast and all-encompassing perspective of a
universe filled with countless world systems as well the perspective of the
equally immeasurable spaces, which can be found inside the structures of
ordinary appearance, like for example at the subatomic level. Therefore, the text offers an
alternative to the usual outward oriented way of looking at the size and location
of purelands and world systems when it states,
Each atom all by itself
Many a world it can host.
Each on its own,
Stainless and pure.
…..
One world in all,
All worlds in one:
Without measure, without compare,
For sure pervade they will
….far everywhere.
Although view of the
Flower Ornament Sutra may be
breathtakingly vast and as poetically precise in its understanding of galaxies
and the subatomic world as our western science’s understanding is
mathematically precise, it likewise never loses sight of the fact that whatever
appears is not ultimately real, but only relatively so.
According to the Kalachakra Tantra, the Enlightened One
did not view and teach about worldly realms and purelands with manifest
attachment, endowing them with a reality that they do not have. Instead he only taught and explained
what could guide sentient beings away from the causes of suffering towards the
other shore of liberation, taking into account the disciples different
characters, mindstreams and capacities for understanding. This is why as in the example given
above, Buddha King of Healing can appear in his pureland and help and guide
beings from there. When this type
of help is needed, it is always available. Otherwise, it will remain unknown, or even unheard of. Its purpose is to be of service. Above and beyond this function, it has
neither relevance nor reality.
Yet, to completely deny its existence on the grounds of some
‘nihilistic’ obsession with the severely limited bandwidth of perception
available to us through the five senses is to likewise artificially limit, the
vast range of our possibilities.
c Choyin Dorje 2018
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