Hello everyone!
Today I want to share with you
in this video the
story of one
of the Five Buddhas, the east
Akshobhya Buddha,
also known as the Immovable or Undisturbed Tathagata.
the story of this Buddha's vow before becoming a Buddha.
Mahā Ratnakūṭa Sūtra (Sutra of the Heap of Jewels),
which is a Mahayana Sutra,
contains an assembly on the Immovable Tathagata,
in which there is a chapter of Solemn Prediction.
The scripture records the teaching
of the Buddha to the Venerable Sariputra
regarding the story of the Immovable Tathagata's vow.
The Buddha said to the Venerable Sariputra:
To the east of our Saha world
there are thousands of pure lands of Buddhas
among which is a pure land
called Abhirati (The Joyous).
The presiding Buddha is
the Akshobhya Buddha.
Why was he able to attain Buddhahood and
create his solemn pure land
which we now refer to as the Abhirati (The Joyous) Purland?
And the Buddha said to the Venerable Sariputra：
when Akshobya Buddha was studying with the Buddha Big-Eyes,
having heard of the various
special benefits of arousing Bodhicitta and practice Bodhisattva's path,
this bhikkhu made a big vow.
He asked Buddha Big-Eyes for instructions.
He said:
In all the wonderful, profound Dharma teachings that all the Buddhas praise,
we should strive
to attain the supreme Buddhahood of enlightenment.
The foremost practice is the Six Paramitas.
In this process he asked Buddha Big-Eyes:
In all kinds of Dharma teachings
to practice the Bodhisattva path,
it is very difficult.
there are many challenges.
Then, what is the most important thing
that we should make a vow to practice?
The bhikkhu said to Tathagata Big-Eyes:
"As the Buddha said, the Bodhisattva is willing to practice Dharma."
So Tathagata Big-Eyes replied to the bhikkhu:
"Good man, you should know that
the Bodhisattva teachings is difficult to practice. Why?
Bodhisattvas don't have any anger towards sentient beings. "
This is what is
said in the Canon
of the Assembly of the Immovable Tathagata.
Tathagata Big-Eyes taught the bhikkhu and said
to him:
The most important thing is not to ever get angry at beings.
This should be your motivation, your vow.
So when the monk heard what the
Tathagata had said,
his heart was overjoyed and
he took a vow.
He made the vow in front of Buddha Big-Eyes
and said:
From today onwards, until I attain my supreme buddhahood,
I will not hold any intention of anger or aggression
towards any sentient being, no matter who they are.
Of course the bhikkhu also made many other wishes besides this one.
When the Tathagata Big-Eyes heard the Bhikkhu making this vow,
he was very happy,
so he granted a prediction on the bhikkhu.
Eventually
After countless eons of practicing the Bodhisattva way
the bhikkhu finally became a Buddha after all.
So he created the causes and conditions for manifesting Pureland Abhirati (The Joyous)
So now we know that the Buddha Akshobhya, the Immovable Tathagata in the East
is the Buddha who is presiding over the
Abhirati Purland (The Joyous).
So there are many pure lands in Buddhism
including the Pureland of Ultimate Bliss of Amitabha Buddha in the West
There is also the pure land of the Medicine Buddha Bhaisajyaguru.
Today I would like to share with you this one
It is this bhikkhu himself who made a vow to
walk the Bodhisattva walk
He made a vow not to give birth to one thought of anger,
hatred towards any sentient beings.
This wish is actually very very powerful
because you have to know how
difficult it is to
never have an aversion
or anger to any sentient being
I think today we will use
a very short cause-and-effect story of a bhikkhu making a vow
as an encouragement.
I hope that from now on
we can also start learning from the
previous life of the Akshobhya Tathagata,
the bhikkhu's wish and power of vow.
We will not give rise to
a thought of anger and hatred
to the people and things around us in our daily life,
so that our
life will be more
peaceful and more joyful.
It will also give more peace to the people
around you.
So this story gives us an inspiration.
In doing anything, our motive is very important.
Because the bhikkhu heard
the Dharma teachings from Buddha Big-Eyes,
so he gave birth to a great,
intense Dharma joy.
Then he practiced diligently,
practicing broadly the Six Paramitas and Ten Thousand Practices.
So eventually he achieved the Buddha's pure land
called Abhirati Pureland,
which can benefit many infinite and boundless sentient beings.
Some people often confuse the Immovable Buddha with the Acalanatha.
In fact
they are two different deities.
The Akshobhya Buddha is a Buddha,
and the Acalanatha is another deity, a Bodhisattva,
so they are different.
Here to give you an explanation.
I hope this
video can give you some inspiration.
Thank you.