Primal Vow

In Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, the Primal Vow (Japanese: 本願 hongan) is the 18th vow that is part of a series of 48 vows that Amitabha Buddha made in the Infinite Life Sutra.

Content

The text of the 18th vow of Amitabha Buddha, according to Infinite Life Sutra, reads:

If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and call my Name, even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. Excluded, however, are those who commit the five gravest offences and abuse the right Dharma.

In the Contemplation Sutra, Lord Buddha taught King Ajatasattu's mother, Queen Vaidehi, those who attain birth on the lowest level of the lowest grade are the sentient beings who commit such evils as the five gravest offenses, the ten evil acts and all kinds of immorality, when he is about to die, he may meet a good teacher, who consoles him in various ways, teaching him the wonderful Dharma and urging him to be mindful of the Buddha; but he is too tormented by pain to do so, The good teacher then advises him say Namo Amitabhaya Buddhaya ten times. Because he calls the Buddha's Name, with each repetition, the evil karma which he has committed during eighty kotis of kalpas of Samsara is extinguished. When he comes to die, he sees before him a golden lotus-flower like the disk of the sun, and in an instant he is born within a lotus-bud in the Land of Utmost Bliss.

However such cases that a sentient beings commit the five gravest offences but not abuse Buddhism can be reborn to Buddha Amitabha's land are rare and often because there are past merits made by them.

Use of the term Primal Vow

The Japanese term hongan (本願) is derived originally from the Sanskrit term pūrva-praṇidhāna, meaning "original vow" or "original pronouncement." However, the use of this term pūrva-praṇidhāna for the 18th vow of Amitabha Buddha is not known as part of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India, in which the 18th vow was not treated in any special way. The term pūrva-praṇidhāna typically refers to all the original vows made by a bodhisattva in order to develop bodhicitta and begin his strivings toward Buddhahood. Regarding Pure Land practice in Indian Buddhism, Hajime Nakamura writes that as described in the Pure Land sūtras from India, Mindfulness of the Buddha (Skt. buddhānusmṛti) is the essential practice. Mindfulness of the Buddha is called nianfo in Chinese, and nembutsu in Japanese.

Role in Japanese Buddhism

In Japanese Buddhism, Amitabha Buddha is often associated with devotional practices, and he is regarded as striving to save those beings who are incapable of reaching Enlightenment through their negative karma, by leading them to Enlightenment. The founder of Jodo Shu Buddhism, Hōnen, emphasized the importance of the Primal Vow over the efficacy of practices espoused by his contemporaries in Tendai Buddhism. These same teachings became central to the later Jodo Shinshu Buddhist sect as well.

This vow forms the basis of Pure Land Buddhism as well as the practice known as nianfo (Ch.), or nembutsu (Jp.) in Asia. As in the vow, it applied not only to a dying person, but also to an animal, or a ghost, if he has accumulated enough merits in present or past lives, and willing to go there.