Wuliangshou jing 無量壽經

Wuliangshou jing 無量壽經 (T0360) "Sutra of endless life", also called Da wuliangshou jing 大無量壽經 "Larger sutra of endless life", Dajing 大經 "The larger sutra (of the Jingtu 淨土 canon)", or Shuangjuanjing 雙卷經 "Double-scroll sutra", is one of the important Buddhist sutras used in China. It belongs to the three grand scriptures of the Pure Land School (Jingtuzong 淨土宗), dubbed Jingtu sanjing 淨土三經, the others being the Emituo jing 阿彌陀經 or "Smaller Amitabha Sutra", and the Guan wuliangshou jing 觀無量壽經 "Contemplation Sutra".

It was first translated from the Sanskrit original, the Aparimitāyur-sūtra, during the Wei period 曹魏 (220-265) by Saṃghavarman (Ch. Kang Sengqi 康僧鎧, fl. 252), with a resulting book of 2 juan length. Other sources attribute the oldest Chinese translation from Sanskrit to Baoyun 寶雲 (376-449), who lived under the Liu-Song dynasty 劉宋 (420-479).

Alternative translations of the Larger Amitabha Sutra are Zhiqian's 支謙 (3rd cent.) Amotuo sanxie sanfo saloufotan guodu rendao jing 阿彌陀三耶三佛薩樓佛檀過度人道經 (T0362), Dharmaraksa's (Zhu Fahu 竺法護, c. 239-c. 316) Wuliang qingjing pingdeng jue jing 無量清淨平等覺經 (T0361, today attributed to Lokakṣema, Ch. Zhichan 支讖, Zhiloujiachan 支婁迦讖, 2nd cent.), Bodhiruci's (Putiliuzhi 菩提流志, d. 727) Wuliangshou rulai hui 無量壽如來會 (part of Da baoji jing 大寶積經, T0310), from the Tang period 唐 (618-907), and the Song-period 宋 (960-1279) translations of Devaśāntika (Ch. Faxian 法賢, c. 1000) called Dasheng wuliangshou zhuangyan jing 大乘無量壽莊嚴經 (T0363), and Wang Rixiu's 王日休 (d. 1173) Da emituo jing 大阿彌陀經 (T0364). All versions are included in the Chinese Tripitaka, and some texts were found among the Dunhuang 敦煌 fragments.

The translations of An Shigao 安世高 (d. 168), Bo Yan 帛延 (3rd cent.), Zhu Fahu, Zhu Fali 竺法力 (fl. 419), Buddhabhadra (Fotuobatuoluo 佛陀跋陀羅, 359-429), Baoyun, and Dharmamitra (Tanmomiduo 曇摩蜜多, 356-442) are lost. While the book catalogue Kaiyuan shijiao lu 開元釋教錄 (T2154) speaks of 11 translations, some modern scholars believe there were, in fact, only five or seven. Quite interestingly, there are differences in the numbers of the Buddha's disciples and other figures convening to hear his sermons. Kang Sengqi, for instance, speaks of 12,000 people, Lokakṣema of 1,250 monks and 500 nuns, and Faxian of an audience of 32,000.

The sutra narrates how the Śākyamuni Buddha (Ch. Shijiamouni 釋迦牟尼) was staying on Vulture Peak (Gṛdhrakūṭa, Ch. Qidujue Shan 耆闍崛山) in Rājagṛha (Ch. Wangshe Cheng 王舍城), where he preached the Dharma to an assembly of 12,000 bhikṣus (biqiu 比丘, i.e., monks), together with great bodhisattvas such as Samantabhadra (Ch. Puxian 普賢) and Maitreya (Ch. Mile 彌勒, Milefo 彌勒佛, or Cishi 慈氏). He explained that in a past age, at the time of Buddha Lokeśvararāja (Ch. Zizaiwang Fo 自在王佛), there was a king who renounced the household life and became a monk named Dharmākara (Ch. Fazang 法藏). Dharmākara made forty-eight great vows, declaring: "If the beings of the ten directions, with sincere and joyful faith, desire to be born in my land, and even if they recite my name as few as ten times, should they not be born there, I will not attain perfect enlightenment."

After a long period of cultivation, during which he accumulated immeasurable merit and virtue, he attained Buddhahood ten kalpas (jie 劫) ago. In this stage, he is known as Amitāyus or Amitābha Buddha (Ch. Wuliangshou Fo 無量壽佛). His light and lifespan are supreme and foremost among all. His land is called the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss (Ch. Anle Jingtu 安樂淨土), adorned with immeasurable meritorious qualities. In that land, there are countless śrāvakas (Ch. shengwen 聲聞, i.e., listeners, disciples) and bodhisattvas (Ch. Pusa 菩薩). Lecture halls, monasteries, palaces, towers, jewelled trees, and jewelled ponds are all magnificently adorned with the seven precious substances. A hundred kinds of food and drink appeared spontaneously according to one's wishes. Naturally arising were ten thousand kinds of musical performances, all of which proclaim the Dharma. The inhabitants of that land possessed lofty wisdom and dignified, beautiful appearances. They experienced only various forms of bliss and suffer none of the many kinds of suffering. All were able to progress toward the Buddha's correct path.

The bodhisattvas of that land all attain the state of "one lifetime remaining" (yi sheng bu chu 一生補處, meaning they will achieve Buddhahood after just one more life), with Avalokiteśvara (Ch. Guanshiyin 觀世音) and Mahāsthāmaprāpta (Ch. Da Shizhi 大勢至 foremost among them. Finally, Śākyamuni exhorted Maitreya and the devas (Ch. tianren 天人, i.e., heavenly beings), urging them to diligently cultivate with vigour, harbour no doubts, and dedicate their faith and merit. By doing so, they will be born by transformation within seven-jewelled lotus flowers in that land.

In ancient India, Vasubandhu (Ch. Shiqin 世親) wrote a guidance (upadeśa) on this sutra entitled "Treatise on the Sutra of Immeasurable Life" (Chinese version Wuliangshou you Potishe 無量壽優婆提舍, T1819), also known as the "Treatise on the Pure Land" (Jingtu lun 淨土論). For this treatise, Huiyuan 慧遠 (334-416 or 417) composed an expository commentary, Wuliangshou jing yishu 無量壽經義疏, T1745) in two fascicles, and Jizang 吉藏 (549-623) wrote an expository commentary with the same title in one fascicle (T1746). A late commentary is Peng Jiqing's 彭際清 (1740-1796) Wuliangshou jing qixin lun 無量壽經起信論 (in Xinzuan wan xuzang 新纂卍續藏 400).

The sutra exerted a profound influence. Under the Eastern Jin dynasty 東晉 (317-420), the monk Zhu Fakuang 竺法曠 (327-402) regarded "Infinite life" as the causal foundation of the Pure Land, maintaining the practice of "lecturing when there was an audience, and reciting when in solitude". Later, Huiyuan established the White Lotus Society (Bailianshe 白蓮社) at Mount Lu 廬山 and vigorously promoted the practice of contemplating the mindfulness of the Buddha (nianfo famen 念佛法門). Under the Eastern Wei dynasty 東魏 (534-550), Tanluan 曇鸞 (476-542) composed the "Commentary on the Treatise on Rebirth" (Wangshenglun zhu 往生論注), widely propagating this sutra and formulating the doctrine of the "difficult path" (nanxing dao 難行道) and the "easy path" (yixing dao 易行道).

In the mid-nineteenth century, a Sanskrit manuscript of this sutra was discovered in Nepal. Based on this text, Friedrich Max Müller (1823-1900) and Nanjō Bun'yū 南條文雄 (1849-1927) published an edition in 1882, which, together with the Amitābha Sutra, was compiled as The Sanskrit Text of the Buddha’s Discourse on the Infinite Life, with Five Chinese Translations in Parallel. Müller, F. Max. 1894. The Sacred Books of the East, Translated by Various Oriental Scholars. Vol. XLIX, "The Larger Sukhâvatî-vyûha", vol. 2, 1-86. Oxford: Clarendon.