A while back I commented on a post by Kyoushin that it would be interesting to explore the meaning of those of Amida 48Vows which don’t or rarely do get discussed. I therefore thought it might be of value to post a series of informal reflections on their possible meanings, interpretations and relevance. As all of the Vows are reducible to, or contained within the 18th - the Vow of universal deliverance embodying Amida’s Great Compassion, each of them can be seen as a particularised aspect of that Compassion working to illuminate all of the many varied circumstances our lives can encounter.

The 1st Vow is:

If in my Country, after attaining Buddhahood, there should be a hell, a land of hungry ghosts or brute creatures, may I not attain the Highest Enlightenment.

Hell, the land of hungry ghosts and the land of brute creatures make up what are traditionally known as the ‘three evil paths’ which are respectively the karmic result of anger, lust or greed and folly (Note:I think animals get a pretty raw deal generally in Buddhism but they are used here to illustrate blind instinct over thoughtful consideration). These three evil paths comprise the three lower realms of the six realms of existence - the others being the realms of humans, warring titans and gods - which collectively make up the world of samsara or illusion. In classical Buddhist cosmology all of the world systems which make up the universe have these realms and beings were said to transmigrate through each of these realms according to their actions or karma. Therefore Dharamkara vowed that in his Country there would not exist these three evil realms which being could fall into through committing acts of anger, greed and stupidity. By default the three higher realms of samsara would no longer exist either as the humans and gods inhabiting the Pure Land would be assured of enlightenment through the 11th Vow, a subject which I will write about in the future.

Thinking about the world Dharmakara vowed I am somehow reminded of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine there’s no heaven it’s easy if you try, no hell below us, above us only sky’. It is place where we are liberated from the truly horrifying consequences of our finitude and are embraced within Amida’s Compassion. While we may not today except the traditional interpretation of the three evil paths, they exist in a more real and terrifying way as the concious or unconcious blind passions that underpin our very existence in the world. To accept the Pure Land is to accept without doubt that there is a reality which can shape and transform our lives into that of true liberation.