The Complete Enjoyment Chapter of the Infinite Life Sutra states: “Moreover, in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, there are living beings, who have been born, are being born, or will be born, all have such wonderful physical bodies, dignified appearances, immeasurable blessings, bright wisdom, and supernatural powers. All kinds of enjoyment are complete, all are abundant, palaces, costumes, incense, flowers, canopies, and decorative objects, all are as desired.”

The Rare and Surpassing World Chapter says: All living beings in the Land of Ultimate Bliss have such wonderful and rare physical bodies. Their physical bodies surpass the bodies of the heavenly kings of the six heavens of the Desire Realm by thousands of millions of times. The Complete Enjoyment Chapter also says that all living beings, whether they have been born in the past, are being born in the present, or will be born in the future, all have such wonderful, dignified, and majestic physical bodies. All sentient beings in that world do not have any suffering in body and mind, they only enjoy immeasurable pure joy; that is the meaning of the phrase “immeasurable blessings.”

Amitabha Buddha saw that sentient beings in the six realms suffer in all kinds of ways, all because of food, clothing, and shelter. Even because of food, clothing, and shelter, they have to sell themselves to become servants and slaves to others. Even because of the powerful wanting to be superior and sit before the world, they constantly create so much evil karma, exploiting, harming, and robbing others to satisfy their greed, causing tragic wars, creating the three evil realms. In this world, if we want to have a comfortable and happy life, it is not an easy thing. There are many places where life is extremely difficult and arduous. To have a bowl of rice, a piece of clothing, and a place to live is not an easy thing. We see that even in powerful countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Germany, etc., there are still people who live as vagrants, without jobs, without homes, without support, let alone poor, backward countries. Their spiritual and material lives are miserable, very pitiful. That is why Amitabha Buddha made Vow 37: “Food and clothing will come by themselves.” From this sutra, we know that there is an extremely beautiful Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, which other worlds cannot compare to, and we also hear all Buddhas praise sentient beings to recite Buddha’s name to be born in that land.

People in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss have bodies that are pure and empty, perhaps infinite, so how could they need food, clothing, or shelter to survive! They truly do not need these things to sustain their bodies and lives. But why in this sutra does the Buddha talk about homes, food, and clothing? In a superficial sense, here the Buddha is talking about living beings in the heavens, people in the Desire Realm who, when they are newly born there, are not yet familiar with life there, and have not yet forgotten the habit of worrying about having a place to live, food and clothing, so they still have the idea of wanting to eat, want to wear, want to have a place to live. The Buddha is not talking about people who have been there for a long time. Currently, we are living in the Saha world belonging to the Desire Realm, the suffering of worrying about food, clothing and housing has been deeply ingrained in our minds, so when we are newly born in the other Pure Land, it is not easy to forget those habits. When a thought of eating, drinking, clothing, and housing arises, that realm immediately appears. All the enjoyments in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss are in accordance with each person's wishes, transforming into the best things according to their wishes. When we want to eat, there are hundreds of the most delicious foods, each with a sour, sweet, salty, bland, hot, cold, etc. flavor, according to our own wishes, naturally appearing before us. Those foods are neither too much nor too little, the quantity is just right for our own wishes. Furthermore, those foods are contained in silver bowls, golden bowls, or other fine, exquisitely carved treasure bowls according to our own wishes. Whatever we think of in our mind, it appears with its shape, size, color, style, material, carving, etc., nothing is not in accordance with our wishes, and there is no need to worry or create. Who transforms those things for enjoyment? Our own mind transforms those things, so there is nothing that is not most suitable for us.

In this world, when we encounter delicious food, we greedily eat it, wanting to eat a little more, so we take too much and cannot finish it and have to throw it away. In the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, this phenomenon does not exist. After they eat, the food disappears by itself, leaving no residue behind, so there is no need to clean up or wash up. Actually, eating and drinking in that realm is not real. After the eyes see the color or the nose smells the taste of the food, the mind immediately thinks that it has eaten enough and is satisfied. After eating, the body and mind are naturally full, light, and agile. Because of this way of eating and drinking, people who are newly born in that realm will not long after get rid of the habit of liking to eat and drink, and will absolutely no longer be attached to taste and form. Here, the sutra only talks about the good side of eating and drinking, but there are so many other good things there, naturally manifesting according to one's wishes without needing to care, without needing to work hard to plan or worry. What is that realm? The Avatamsaka Sutra calls it the Unobstructed Dharma Realm of All Things! In the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, even the lowest-grade births are all unobstructed in the Dharma Realm of Unhindered Things!

The Amitabha Sutra mentions the story of “walking meditation after a meal” to describe the ordinary life, the pure, liberated, and carefree demeanor of the masses in the Pure Land. In ancient times, in the Tiantai sect, people walked while memorizing the sutras, so it was called walking meditation. In Buddhism, after the masses finished performing the Buddha's sitting ceremony or receiving their meal, they would walk around the Buddha's sutras several times before dispersing, which was also called walking meditation. This type of movement is extremely harmonious, neither hasty nor slow. Walking meditation is not only beneficial for digestion and health, but is also a very good method for treating drowsiness. Regardless of which sect one practices, if one can harmonize the methods of walking meditation, bowing, and sitting cross-legged appropriately, one's body will not become tired or drowsy, and one can practice for a longer period of time and with greater effectiveness. People who often have severe drowsiness and easily fall asleep while meditating and reciting Buddha's name should circumambulate Buddha's name more. Reciting Buddha's name helps the mind to be pure, walking meditation helps the body to move flexibly, making the heartbeat and blood circulate evenly, the spirit to be excited, the face rosy and fresh, and the voice clear. Indeed, walking meditation and reciting Buddha's name are very beneficial for both body and spirit! Generally speaking, walking meditation and reciting Buddha's name after meals has three great benefits: one is to harmonize the body, two is to eliminate drowsiness, and three is to subdue the mind to help the mind to be pure. Because the mind is pure, there are no wandering thoughts, and there is no drowsiness, one can attain ease and true joy while practicing cultivation.

In the previous section, the sutra used the eating and drinking of the masses in the Pure Land to explain the Dharma Realm of Unobstructed Events in the Western Pure Land. Next, the sutra uses clothing and body ornaments to further describe that realm of unobstructed events. The masses born in the Pure Land, when they think of what kind of clothing they want to wear, what kind of ornaments they want to wear, those things immediately appear according to their wishes. Thinking of clothes, they get clothes, thinking of food, they get food, without having to worry, calculate, or create, that is the state of unobstructed events! Furthermore, the clothes in that realm are heavenly clothes that naturally transform according to their wishes and never get dirty, so there is no need to cut, sew, or wash. Whatever material we like our clothes to be made of, they will be made of that material, just as the Bhikkhu Dharma Zang vowed: “When I become a Buddha, people in my world who wish for clothes will just think of them and they will appear. There is no need to cut, sew, beat, dye, wash, or rinse. There are also countless beautiful and most precious clothes. Precious crowns, bracelets, necklaces, garlands, belts with all kinds of precious objects to adorn them, hundreds of thousands of beautiful and wonderful colors, naturally on the body.” The clothes over there are all seven treasures, the nature of precious substances such as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, agate, etc. can transform into hard or soft according to our wishes. If we want it to be hard, it will immediately become hard like diamond. If we want it to be soft and fragile, it will become soft and fragile like silk and can be used as clothes, hats, belts, or body ornaments. As for the precious substances in this world, they are all hard and cannot be used as clothing.

In general, the masses in the Land of Ultimate Bliss have countless types of clothing and ornaments such as hats, belts, bracelets, earrings, chest ornaments, etc., which are strangely wonderful and the best, found nowhere else, and are incomparable. All of these things can not only transform into hard or soft, thick or thin, warm or cool, but also can appear in hundreds of thousands of colors, beautiful, splendid, and wonderful according to one's will. What is this state called? It is the Unobstructed Dharma Realm of All Things in the Unobstructed Dharma Realm of All Things! What is the Unobstructed Dharma Realm of All Things in the Unobstructed Dharma Realm of All Things? The Flower Store World is the Unobstructed Dharma Realm of All Things; The Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is located on the thirteenth level of the Flower Store World and is the most excellent realm among all the realms in the twenty levels of the Flower Store World. Therefore, the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is truly the Unobstructed Dharma Realm within the Unobstructed Dharma Realm. To put it simply and easily, the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is like the most splendid castle in the Flower Store World of Vairocana Buddha.

The Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is an equal world, so the appearances of all the people there are the same. Although the lives, food, lodging, clothing, and appearances of all the masses there are the same, there are still differences. What are those differences? The sutra says: “The light of the Holy Assembly in the Land of Ultimate Bliss can shine from one yojana, ten yojanas, up to hundreds of thousands of yojanas.” The light of each being is different in size because of the degree of severance or realization of the truth of each being. The one who has severed more afflictions has a greater light.

All things in that realm have countless wonderful, wish-fulfilling fragrances, and that fragrance permeates all Buddha lands. One very miraculous thing that we need to pay attention to is that the Buddha land of Amitabha is vast and boundless, and precisely the entire void of the entire dharma realm is the Buddha land of Amitabha, yet that fragrance can permeate all Buddha lands. Thus, if the Saha world is outside of Amitabha Buddha, then how can we be reborn there? How can Amitabha Buddha's teachings reach us? How can the fragrance and light of all things in that realm reach us? In this realm, we have the Infinite Life Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra. Where do these sutras originate? These sutras are sent to us from the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. If we still do not understand after reading the sutras, the Western Pure Land will send Bodhisattvas here to explain to us. Thus, although we are living in the Saha world, we are actually in the realm of Amitabha Buddha. Why? Because throughout the entire dharma realm of the ten directions and three periods of time, all Buddhas are completely contained in the Western Pure Land. Modern Quantum Physics calls it a multidimensional world. The Western Pure Land's Unobstructed Realm of Reality is truly infinite in dimensions, so it can encompass all Buddha lands in the ten directions. This miracle cannot be explained in words. Only when we truly enter the realm of the One True Dharma Realm, or are reborn in that realm, can we understand the true nature of the matter. The Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha is truly an infinitely dimensional space, without boundaries, infinitely vast, encompassing all the realms of form and formlessness. Therefore, the Supreme Life Sutra compares Amitabha Buddha's world to the ocean, all rivers flow into that ocean, and the water in the ocean neither increases nor decreases. This is the miracle that this sutra uses such characteristics as fragrance permeating the world, light shining throughout the dharma realm, dharma sound resounding throughout the dharma realm, etc. to describe the realm of the Unobstructed Reality of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Wonderful Sound Wisdom