1891.] of the Northern Buddhists. 71 



have no place there and the agency of the sexes is altogether un- 

 known in Sukhavati. Indeed kdma that faculty of procreation which 

 is, the cause of all worldly miseries, according to the Buddhists 

 does not at all exist there. In this paradise Amitdhha the Buddha 

 of immeasurable light rules supreme in love. Avalokitesvara Bodhi- 

 sattva, with a lotus in his hand sits to the right and Vajra Pani 

 has his seat on the left. Two rays of divine light emanating from 

 the heart of the Supreme Buddha, travel east- and west-ward, touch 

 ing a saintly Lama and a Buddha who has attained perfection, 

 and will not go back to the world. This Lama in the present halpa 

 is the grand Lama of Tashilhunpo whose spirit is in Sukhavati, but who 

 of his own free-will chooses, for the good of all living beings of this 

 world, to reside in flesh in the holy land of Tibet. 



The Buddha's place is taken by successive arrivals. Fine trees, 

 lovely flowers, fragrant shrubs abound in Sukhavati. Birds of richest 

 hues and plumage and sweetest notes fly, freely in Sukhavati. The 

 beasts of forests roam at large without doing mischief to each other. 

 The woods resound with the chorus of divine music. In that blessed 

 land there is no distinction between the day and the night. The gods, 

 whose robes serve them for wings, approach the supreme Buddha from 

 all directions with wreathes of plomers, crowns of gems, jemelles um- 

 brellas and flags in their hands. They and the Bodhisattvas wait 

 round him like Parnett's saints — " With harps of gold, with boughs of 

 ever green. With robes of white, the pions throngs are seen ; E xalted 

 anthems all their hours employ. And all is music and excess of joy." 

 Divine lustre — halos of light emanating from the persons of the saints 

 and Buddhas keep all nature illumined. The hard soil becomes soft 

 and yields to the feet, and the soft earth grows hard when the mind 

 wishes for it. 



There the food of contemplation furnishes nourishment to the resi- 

 dents of Sukhavati. Their wealth consists of love and enjoyment, of 

 meditation, their vestments are self grown on their person nor have they 

 shame to cover. It is a land which is free from lust, envy, rage, 

 ignorance and stupidity. 



Once born there, one does not transmigrate elsewhere, but goes on 

 ascending to the stages of sainthood. He is liberated from the effects 

 of harma. The gods who in this world are subject to fall at the exhaus- 

 tion of their moral merits— may by dint of prayers have their births 

 in Sukhavati— and draw near Amitabha guided by his light. I here ex- 

 tract a few lines from the Dhdrani called " the drum-sound of immor- 

 tality." 



