If Shakyamuni Abides, Why Still Urge Us to Entrust Our Lives to Amitabha? | Master Jingben
【Q&A Series】
If Shakyamuni Abides, Why Still Urge Us to Entrust Our Lives to Amitabha?
1. In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha reveals his own eternal nature — without beginning or end, having attained Buddhahood in the far-distant past — and explains that he abides constantly in this world, guiding us all along.
2. Yet in the Pure Land scriptures, this same Shakyamuni Buddha urges us to turn toward Amitabha Buddha, to rely on Amitabha's compassionate vow-power, and to seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Here lies my doubt: since Shakyamuni Buddha is eternal, ever abiding here together with us, why does he still need to point us toward another Buddha? How are Shakyamuni Buddha's "eternal abiding" and Amitabha Buddha's "compassionate deliverance," these two beautiful truths, perfectly merged into one within the Buddha-Dharma? I sincerely request Master's compassionate guidance.
Master Jingben Answers: Namo Amitabha. Allow me to address your question as follows:
1. What Shakyamuni Reveals in the Lotus Sutra — "Attainment in the Far-Distant Past" — and Amitabha's "Infinite Life, Infinite Light" Are, in Essence, the Same Truth
In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha reveals that he attained Buddhahood in the far-distant past and that his Dharma-body abides constantly, never perishing — this manifests the "Dharma-body" aspect of a Buddha: eternal, infinite, ever-abiding. And the very name of Amitabha Buddha means "Infinite Life, Infinite Light" — likewise infinite in lifespan, infinite in light, eternally present. So these two not only do not conflict; rather, they confirm one another: what they speak of is the same truth — that "the Buddha abides constantly and never perishes."
2. Then Why Does Shakyamuni Still Point Us Toward Amitabha? — Precisely Because He Is Compassionate, and Far-Sighted
Although Shakyamuni Buddha is perfectly complete, after the Buddha's passing, the capacities of sentient beings grow ever more limited, and moreover we meet with the Dharma-ending age; to cultivate as Shakyamuni Buddha did is simply beyond us. So, out of the deepest compassion and foresight, before departing from his manifestation among us, Shakyamuni Buddha solemnly entrusted us to a Buddha who delivers us unconditionally — Amitabha Buddha.
If we were to follow Shakyamuni Buddha's own path, we would have to sever our afflictions before we could accomplish it; but if we rely on Amitabha Buddha, then no matter what our capacities as sentient beings may be, and no matter whether or not we have severed our afflictions, we ordinary beings can accomplish it all the same.
This is not a deliberate distinction between the two Buddhas; rather, the vow-power of each Buddha is different. It is like a hospital, where every specialist has his own field of expertise. Amitabha Buddha's vow-power is precisely to deliver, unconditionally, every single person who recites the Name.
3. Shakyamuni and Amitabha — A Division of Labor, Delivering Us Together
Shakyamuni Buddha, in the Saha world, "proclaims" the Pure Land and urges us to recite the Name; Amitabha Buddha, in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, "accomplishes" the Pure Land and draws us in by his vow-power — one is responsible for introducing and exhorting, the other for accomplishing and receiving. What the two Buddhas complete hand in hand is one and the same task: delivering us.
In the Amitabha Sutra, the Buddhas of the ten directions all, at once, extend their vast and long tongues, together praising Amitabha Buddha and urging all sentient beings to recite the Name and be reborn. From this we see that "urging us toward Amitabha" is the shared intention of all Buddhas — the most harmonious accord among Buddha and Buddha. So between "turning toward Amitabha" and "revering Shakyamuni," there is fundamentally no conflict — just as there is no contradiction between "heeding one's father's words" and "running into one's mother's embrace."
So when you recite this one "Namo Amitabha," you are at once heeding Shakyamuni Buddha's teaching, taking refuge in Amitabha Buddha's vow-power, and moreover according with the shared intention of all the Buddhas of the ten directions. One recitation of the Name embraces all perfectly, without the slightest contradiction. Namo Amitabha
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