What Kind of Life Is the Pure Land?

In a pure land similar to the Land of Ultimate Bliss, if there were still daily life and work, it would resemble the mundane realm of laypeople in the Sahā World, thus not being a pure land at all. Sentient beings would inevitably harbor afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, inevitably dividing into two major groups—monastics and laypeople—no different from the Sahā Realm.

This is because in a pure Buddha land, everything arises through transformation without the need for labor, livelihood, or work. Only then can the minds of beings remain pure and unstained, free from selfish desires, devoid of male and female distinctions, without families, and incomparably tranquil. Consequently, there is no distinction between monastics and laypeople; all are practitioners. Only in realms similar to the Sahā World, with distinctions between male and female, the burden of family life, and the necessity of work and livelihood, does the distinction between monastics and laypeople arise. Therefore, the Buddha established that in the Sahā World, the monastic sangha should take the primary role in leading the masses to practice the Dharma. Buddhism is upheld by the monastic sangha, and the Dharma is propagated by monastics. When the Buddha was approaching parinirvāṇa, the great lay bodhisattvas requested to inherit the treasury of the Dharma and propagate the Dharma on behalf of the Buddha. The Buddha did not permit this, instead instructing the monastic sangha to propagate the Dharma on his behalf and protect the Dharma treasury of the Three Baskets and Twelve Divisions.

In pure Buddha lands and celestial realms, sentient beings are without distinctions of male or female and have no families. Therefore, all are monastic practitioners, with no need for further ordination. Without families, how could there be talk of leaving home? Sentient beings in pure lands, as well as all great bodhisattvas up to the Equal Enlightenment Bodhisattvas, have no families. Their manifested forms are without distinctions of male or female; thus, they do not need to leave home, do not need to manifest the appearance of monastics, and are all monastic sangha members—specifically, bodhisattva monastics. Consequently, they do not need to shave their heads, do not need to wear monastic robes, and do not need to observe monastic precepts.