Other power

"Amida Manifesting in the Dharma-body of Expedient Means", Japanese painting, at the Met.

Other power (Chinese: tālì 他力, Japanese: tariki) is an East Asian Mahayana Buddhist concept which is discussed in Pure Land Buddhism and other forms of East Asian Buddhism. It generally refers to the power of a Buddha which can inspire someone, and take them to the Pure Land where one may easily become a Buddha. Other power is often contrasted with "self power" or jiriki (自力, one's own strength), that is, attempting to achieve enlightenment through one's own efforts.

Pure Land Buddhism considers itself the easy path that relies on other power, while other Buddhist paths are seen as self power paths, also called "the path of sages". While all Mahayana Buddhists agree that the Buddha's power has some effect on Buddhist practitioners, the various Mahayana Buddhist traditions have different accounts of how the other power of the Buddha works and how one's own practice interacts with it. Some Pure Land Buddhists hold that we must abandon all "self power" practices (such as ascetic practices, repentance, various kinds of meditation) and all self effort, and rely only on Amitabha Buddha's other power. Others hold that one's own "self power" becomes linked with the power of the Buddha through "sympathetic resonance" (gǎnyìng 感應). This view of the cooperation of self power and other power is more common in Chinese Pure Land thought.

Tibetan Buddhism also affirms that there are multiple causes to rebirth in a Pure Land, and that both the Buddha's power and the power of one's own karmic force are contributing causes.

Indian precedents

There are various Sanskrit concepts found in the Mahayana sutras that are precedents to the East Asian concept of "other power", including:

1. Buddhānubhāva - This term refers to the "majesty", "authority, or "causal power" (anubhāva) of the Buddha which can influence others. In numerous Mahayana Sutras (e.g. Prajñaparamita sutra), the Buddha's disciples are often depicted as speaking or teaching "through the Buddha's power".
2. Buddhādhiṣṭhāna - Refers to the "sustaining power" or "supporting force" (ādhiṣṭhāna, Chinese: jiachi 加持‎) of the Buddha, often associated with his ability to inspire or bless beings.
3. Buddha-bala - This term literally means "the strength of the Buddha," where *bala* refers to the Buddha's strength or power, or more specifically, to special supranormal powers the Buddha has which he uses to perform miracles. There are various lists of the Buddha's powers, such as the "ten powers" (daśabala).
4. Buddhāvabhāsa - Meaning the "radiance" or "light" of the Buddha, this term is sometimes used to signify his illuminating power or his wisdom (which in various Mahayana sources, like the Avatamsaka Sutra, is said to be all pervasive).

According to Robert H. Sharf, terms like buddhādhiṣṭhāna and buddhānubhāva "are ubiquitous in Buddhist materials, where they denote the incursion of the divine into the mundane realm". Sharf also writes that these terms:

refer to the power of a tathāgata to come to the assistance of the supplicant, making possible the transposition of the supplicant into the realm of the buddha without the aid of supernormal powers acquired through one's own meditative accomplishment. Depending of context, these terms can be rendered in English as "supernatural power," "grace," "empowerment," "divine blessings," "divine protection," and so on. Such power or grace is not only directly toward sentient beings, but also toward sacred enclosures, religious implements, scriptures.

Douglas Osto meanwhile explains adhiṣṭhāna as "the ability to generate, manipulate and control reality", as well as "the power to induce visions in others and inspire them to speak the Dharma" as well as the power to radiate rays of light in all directions which teach Dharma. It also refers to the ability to enter samadhi, attain liberations (vimoksa), and the Dharma gateways (dharmamukha). In Mahayana sutras, the Buddhas are seen the ultimate source of this spiritual power.

The ten powers

There are several expositions of the power of the Buddha in the Early Buddhist Texts. Some sutras contain explanation of miracles and great feats performed by the Buddha. Other sutras outline his various amazing magical and wisdom powers. One common listing is the ten powers (daśabala), which are discussed in sources like the Mahāsīhanāda-sutta (Majjhima-nikāya) which also has a Chinese parallel in the Foshuo shenmao xishu jing 佛説身 毛喜豎經 (T 17 592c–593b).

These powers are also discussed in Mahayana sutras and in Pali exegetical literature as well. The ten powers as listed in the are Dà zhìdù lùn (Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa) are:

• Knowledge of what is possible and what is impossible (Sanskrit: sthānāsthāna-jñānabala)
• Knowledge of the results of all actions in all times (karmavipāka-jñānabala)
• Knowledge of the dhyānas, samadhis, liberations, absorptions, equilibriums, afflictions, purifications, and abidings (dhyāna­vimokṣa­samādhi­samāpatti­saṃkleśa­vyavadāna­vyutthāna­jñāna­bala).
• Knowledge of the degree of the moral faculties of beings (indriya-parāpara-jñānabala)
• Knowledge of the aspirations of beings (nānādhimukti-jñānabala)
• Knowledge of worlds (loka) and their acquired dispositions or dhātus (dhātu-jñānabala)
• Knowledge of the way leading to the various [rebirth] destinies (sarvatragāminīpratipajñānabala)
• The knowledge of former abodes [past lives] (pūrvanivāsa-jñānabala)
• The knowledge of death and rebirth (cyutyupapāda-jñānabala)
• The power of the destruction of the impurities (āsravakṣaya-jñānabala)

Some lists of the ten powers are slightly different. For example, the Pali listing includes a "knowledge of all worlds composed of various and diverse elements", referring to material elements (dhātus). According to the Theravada Niddesa-aṭṭhakathā, these powers are unique to the Buddhas.

In Prajñāpāramitā literature

The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra contains various statements on the Buddha's power to influence the speech of his disciples. Indeed, most of the statements made in the sutra by figures other than the Buddha, like Subhuti or Sariputra for example, are said to be caused by the Buddha's power (buddhānubhāva). For example, the initial chapter of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā states:

Whatever, Venerable Sariputra, the Lord’s Disciples teach, all that is to be known as the Tathagata’s work. For in the dharma demonstrated by the Tathagata they train themselves, they realise its true nature, they hold it in mind. Thereafter nothing that they teach contradicts the true nature of dharma. It is just an outpouring of the Tathagata's demonstration of dharma.

The Aṣṭasāhasrikā also states the Buddha's power sustains and supports bodhisattvas as they practice the path:

Sariputra: It is through the Buddha's might [anubhava], sustaining power [adhisthana] and grace [parigraha] that bodhisattvas study this deep perfection of wisdom, and progressively train in Thusness?

The Bhagavan: So it is, Sariputra. They are known to the Tathagata, they are sustained and seen by the Tathagata, and the Tathagata beholds them with his Buddha-eye.

Other Prajñāpāramitā sources go even further, claiming that the Buddha's power can not only inspire beings, but liberate them. The Dà zhìdù lùn (Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa) states:

The power of the Buddha (buddhabala) is immeasurable (apramāṇa): it is a trifle for him to save the beings of the three-thousandfold world system (trisāhasramahāsāhasralokadhātu).

The Dà zhìdù lùn then asks why are any other Buddhas needed and why all beings have not already been saved by the Buddha's power? To which three main reasons are given:

• "Because beings are infinite (apramāṇa) in number and do not all ripen (paripakva) at the same time."
• "causes and conditions (hetupratyaya) vary for each being."
• There are a measureless number of world systems, and "universes (lokadhātu) are infinite (ananta) and unlimited (apramāṇa) in number. If they were finite and limited, the number of beings would be exhausted."

In other Mahayana sutras

The Buddha manifesting a marvelous array, from an illustrated manuscript created in the Goryeo Dynasty

The concept of the Buddha's power was an important element of Indian Mahayana worship which focused on various Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Sutra which discuss practices meant to invoke and ultimate see the Buddhas, like the Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra, mention the Buddha's influence as one of the conditions for seeing a Buddha and hearing them teach the Dharma. One Chinese translation of this scripture (by Jñānagupta) states that "the vision of the Buddha arises in dependence upon three causes", which are the Pratyutpannasamādhi itself, the "empowerment of the Buddha" and the ripening of one's good roots of merit. In this Chinese edition, "empowerment of Buddha" is likely a translation of buddhādhiṣṭhāna, but in the Tibetan translation, the term used corresponds to the closely related term buddhānubhāva.

The Gaṇḍavyūha sutra also speaks of the Buddha's power or adhiṣṭhāna, which is described as inconceivable and all-pervasive. The sutra states that it is The Buddha Vairocana appears as the king and the source of all spiritual power. All other bodhisattvas and spiritual friends are arranged on a hierarchy under the Buddha based on their spiritual power, as in an Indian monarchy, with Manjusri and Samantabhadra as chief ministers and Maitreya as the crown prince.

The sutra begins with the Buddha entering samadhi and then magically transforming all of Jeta's grove into a limitless space or "array" (vyūha) filled with jewels, gold and other precious substances, illustrating the Buddha's power to transform the world into a "supreme array" (gaṇḍavyūha). The Buddha later radiates beams of light from the ūrṇā between his eyebrows which causes the bodhisattvas in his retinue to see all buddhafields in the entire Dharma realm. The power of the Buddha is said to be beyond human understanding according to the sutra, which states: "it would not be possible for the world of humans and gods to understand...the power (adhiṣṭhāna) of the tathāgata ... except through the power of the tathāgata".

The Buddha's adhiṣṭhāna is also discussed in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (chapter two), where it is seen as "the cultivation of noble wisdom in its triple aspect" in which a bodhisattva must train in after having "gained a thorough understanding of mind by means of transcendental knowledge" (i.e. the first bodhisattva level). The three aspects of cultivating noble wisdom are "(1) imagelessness; (2) the power added [adhiṣṭhāna] by all the Buddhas by reason of their original vows [pūrvapraṇidhāna]; and (3) the self-realisation attained by noble wisdom." The sutra indicates that the bodhisattva trains in these aspects of wisdom even as far as the eighth bodhisattva level (bhumi).

In other passages, the Laṅkāvatāra states that the sustaining power (adhiṣṭhāna) of Buddhas sustains the Samādhis of bodhisattvas, allows Buddhas to manifest to bodhisattvas, and grants a special samadhi called "Light of Mahāyāna" that allows them to see visions of Buddhas. Indeed, the Laṅka goes as far as saying that "whatever Samādhis, psychic faculties, and teachings are exhibited by the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas, they are sustained by the twofold sustaining power of all the Buddhas." Furthermore, the Laṅka also explains that the reason the Buddhas bestow their sustaining power on the bodhisattvas is in order to protect them from falling back into bad states, wrong views, or into the path of Śrāvakayāna.

East Asian Buddhism

In East Asian Buddhist art, the power of the Buddha Amitabha (Measureless Light) is often depicted through a halo, aureole or rays of light emanating from his head

In Chinese Buddhism

According to Charles B. Jones, the terms “other-power” (tālì 他力) and “self-power” (zìlì 自力) are fundamental to the tradition of Pure Land Buddhism. Understanding the relationship between one's individual efforts and the power of Amitābha Buddha is one of the "most central and enduring preoccupations" of Pure land Buddhist thought.

The two terms are also often associated with the idea that there are two paths: a “path of difficult practice” (nánxíng dào 難行道, also called “path of sages”, shèngdào 聖道) which relies only on one's own power, and the “path of easy practice” (yìxíng dào 易行道) or the path of “rebirth in the Pure Land” (wǎngshēng jìngtǔ 往生淨土) which mainly relies on the Buddha's power.

Chinese sources use various similes to explain other power. For example, Tanluan compares other power to "a pile of firewood accumulated by a hundred men for a hundred years that can be burned in half a day by a bean-sized spark." He also compares it to "a lame man boarding a boat and traveling a thousand li in one day".

According to the Chinese Buddhist tradition, rebirth in a Pure Land is attained through self-power and other-power working together. Chinese thinkers like Yúnqī Zhūhóng explain how this works through the concept of "sympathetic resonance" (gǎnyìng 感應, "stimulus-response") which is a kind of attunement that is compared to how one plucked string in a lute can make another string nearby resonate. This is understood as a relationship which occurs when, through their own efforts, a practitioner stimulates or affects (gǎn) a Buddha's power, which expresses itself as a compassionate response (yìng). Thus, when one faithfully recites Amitabha's name (nianfo) wishing to be reborn in the pure land, the Buddha responds, and one's mind is attuned with Amitabha's mind (and vice versa). Yuán Hóngdào (1568–1610) uses various similes to describe this resonance, such as how "one mighty wind produces its howling noise in dozens of small apertures. The trickling of large amounts of water through a mountain assists thousands of ants in their tunnel making. Sails made of reed mats help many boats catch the power of the wind to get them to their destinations."

The doctrine of "sympathetic resonance" was also used outside of the Pure Land tradition as well, including by figures like the Sanlun scholar Jizang. According to Jizang, sentient beings can stimulate the Buddha because they have Buddha nature, and the Buddha responds to this stimulus because all beings are their children. Ultimately though, the reason there can be stimulus-response is because beings and Buddhas have the same nature. The Tiantai scholar Zhiyi described the "wonder of stimulus-response" with the following simile: "Water does not rise, nor does the moon descend, yet in a single instant the one moon is manifest in manifold waters." Thus, when the waters of the mind are clear and calm, the Buddha appears. "Sympathetic resonance" was also used by Esoteric Buddhist thinkers, which drew on it to explain the Mantrayana ritual of empowerment.

However, Chinese Pure Land figures like Yuán Hóngdào and Jìxǐng Chèwù (1741–1810) also argue that the other-power - self-power distinction is a relative one and that ultimately, the path is beyond such distinctions. Thus, on the level of ultimate reality, there is no real distinction between sentient beings and Amitābha, that is to say, they are really non-dual. According to these figures, while the Pure Land path relies on the self power - other power distinction on the level of conventional truth, this will ultimately be dissolved upon Buddhahood. Jìxǐng Chèwù writes that while non-dual, the Buddha and the practitioner can be seen as distinct on the relative level. Sentient beings are really within the mind of Amitābha, and Amitabha is also in the mind of sentient beings. It is because of this that sympathetic resonance can occur. When the practitioner is mindful of the Buddha, the whole reality of the Buddha is manifest. In other wo4rds, "If sentient beings within the mind of Amitābha recollect (niàn 念) the Amitābha within the mind of sentient beings, then how could the Amitābha within the mind of sentient beings fail to respond to the sentient beings within the mind of Amitābha?"

In Japanese Pure Land

Descent of Amida Buddha and Twenty-five Bodhisattvas, 1668, Japan, Edo period (1615–1868). Note the light ray shining from the Buddha's forehead, a symbol of the Buddha's power.

The traditions of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism put a special emphasis on relying exclusively on Amitābha Buddha's "other power" (Jp: tariki) as the only sure path to Buddhahood. Generally speaking, in the Japanese traditions who follow the teachings of Hōnen (法燃, 1133–1212) and especially those who follow Shinran (親鸞, 1173–1263), self-power (J.: jiriki) is seen as not having any influence in a devotee's attainment of rebirth in the Pure Land. Instead, one is must rely solely on the other-power of Amitābha.

The 12th century founder of the Japanese Pure Land movement, Hōnen, describes other-power as follows:

Power other than self means having implicit faith in the repetition of nembutsu with a firm belief in the assurance of birth in the Pure Land, without looking back on one’s virtuous or vicious deeds. To illustrate, a fly may alight on the tail of a Chinese mythological, fiery horse. Should the fiery horse leap, the fly will travel one thousand miles in an instant. Even a lowly and vulgar man who joins the caravan of a universal sovereign (cakravatin) will be able to traverse the four continents in a day. This is called the power other than self. Further, even a large boulder, placed on a ship, will be transported to the far shore in due time. This is possible not by the mobility of the stone but by the ability of the ship. Likewise, one will see accomplishment through the power of Amida Buddha, which is referred to as the power other than self.

See also

• Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
• Synergism and monergism, comparable ideas in Christian theology

Further reading

• Bein, Steve. (2008, January). Self Power, Other Power, and Non-dualism in Japanese Buddhism. In Proceedings of the XXII World Congress of Philosophy (Vol. 6, pp. 7-13).
• Ford, James L. (2002). Jōkei and the Rhetoric of "Other-Power" and "Easy Practice" in Medieval Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 29 (1-2), 67-106
• Furuta, Shokin. (1990). jiriki (Self-power) and tariki (Other-power). Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies (Indogaku Bukkyogaku Kenkyu), 39(1), 170-178.
• Harding, John S. (2008). "Bodily crisis and religious conviction: Implications of Kiyozawa Manshi's illness". Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses. 37 (2). SAGE Publications: 211–233. doi:10.1177/000842980803700202. ISSN 0008-4298. S2CID 143603681.
• Ingram, Paul O. (1973). The Zen Critique of Pure Land Buddhism. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 41(2), 184-200.
• Ingram, Paul O. (1968). Hōnen's and Shinran's Justification for Their Doctrine of Salvation by Faith through "Other Power", Contemporary Religions in Japan 9(3), 233-251
• Jones, Charles B. (2019) Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, Understanding a Tradition of Practice, University of Hawai‘i Press / Honolulu.