阿彌陀佛四十八大願 英譯版 1~6
阿彌陀佛48願(1-6)
Amitabha Buddha’s Forty-Eight Great Vows
The First Vow: There are no evil paths in my realm. I would not attain Samyak-sambodhi if there were hells, hungry ghosts, and animals in my realm.
The Pure Land is illuminated by light and is solemn. The whole realm is made up of seven jewels. The four seasons there are like spring, which is neither cold nor hot, and is gentle and cozy. It has neither diamond fences nor the Three Paths of hells, hungry ghosts, and animals. Amitabha’s great vow is that there’s no severe pain of the Three Paths in his realm. There are no greed, hatred, and stupidity in the upright, solemn, and pure self-nature. The Buddha realms are also what we manifest with our pure minds from the self-nature. Maintain a harmonious and soft nature without sadness, pain, worry and joy. Purify your mind, and be mindful of Amitabha Buddha.
The Second Vow: No one will fall into the evil paths. If I attained Buddhahood and the humans and heavenly beings in my realm fell into the Three Paths after they terminated their life, I would not attain Samyak-sambodhi.
The space without light is called shade. All consciousnesses are like the candle shadow in the wind. When the shape is curved, the shadow tilts. Life and death are long-lasting. If we can realize this and wake up from the wild thoughts, the Buddha light will universally shine without hindrance. As Amitabha Buddha’s great vow indicates, the humans and heavenly beings will not fall into the Three Paths after they finish their life in his realm. Namo Amitabha Buddha!
The Third Vow: All will gain golden bodies. If I attained Buddhahood, but not everyone in my realm gained a golden body, I would not attain Samyak-sambodhi.
The sun and the moon are in the skies, and their shade and light are on our bodies. All consciousnesses arise from situations, but whether they are others’ or mine depends on me. One will gain retribution when the Dharma manifests. If the Buddha seeds are not severed, they will be Bodhisattva treasures. When a thought arises, it can include matured, countless virtues. If we can realize this, the Amitabha Buddha’s great vows will often manifest in front of us, shining and twinkling. Namo Amitabha Buddha!
The Fourth Vow: All will have the same appearance. If I attained Buddhahood, and there were different appearances that were beautiful or ugly among the beings in my realm, I would not attain Samyak-sambodhi.
The beings in the Pure Land have a nice-looking and solemn appearance that has no differences. It is said that sentient beings have no different appearances. If entrusted with the mind, they would wisely know that the mind of the Tathagata is as magnificent as the appearance. The best of the mind is mellow and without hindrance, and sees no differences between beauty and ugliness which do not combine as the appearance of the mind. Hence, we should know that the Buddha mind has both existence and non-existence, and is both matters and reasons. Both its wisdom and essence are smooth. The self-body of the Buddha is bright and pure; the Buddha light universally shines. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
The Fifth Vow: All will know their past lives. If I attained Buddhahood, and the beings in my realm were unable to know their past lives or to know the hundreds of billions of nayutas of kalpas of events, I would not attain Samyak-sambodhi.
The great vow of Amitabha Buddha is that all the beings in his realm will confirm and attain the capability of knowing past lives. The bodies and minds of sentient beings are what the Buddha will confirm. Confirming the Buddha’s Bodhi nature is the cause of other effects and selves. We should know our own minds and be mindful of the fact that oftentimes there are Buddhas who have attained Samyak-sambodhi. We should purify our eyes of wisdom that do not appeal to all emotions. Metaphors can be applied to understand the meaning, and when the meaning is exhausted, there will be nothing to understand. If such a reflection can manifest, all phenomena will have neither coming nor going, and everything in the past and the present will be understood and will clearly manifest together. Sincerely abide by Namo Amitabha Buddha.
The Sixth Vow: All will see through everything no matter how far away it is. If I attained Buddhahood, and the beings in my realm could not see through everything or even the hundreds of billions of nayutas of Buddha realms, I would not attain Samyak-sambodhi.
Buddhas are enlightened ones. Enlightenment has something to do with eyes. The flesh eyes see the sufferings of living beings, and the heavenly eyes see through and know the minds of the living beings and differentiate and know their innate natures and lead them into reality. If people can see the Buddha nature within their own bodies, even their flesh eyes can be said to be Buddha eyes. Those who have gained the Buddha power can see through things via light. When the eyes of wisdom see matters, they are like the dharma eyes opening. The whole body of a Buddha is filled with light of wisdom which is bright without boundaries. Namo Amitabha Buddha.