Ksitigarbha’s Great Vows Sutra
Posted in Buddhism by admin on February 15, 2008
After the death of Sakyamuni Buddha, there would be no Buddha on Earth until the appearance of the Bodhisattva Maitreya over a few billion years later, who is to become the next Buddha. During this transition period, in the era between the death of Sakyamuni Buddha and the rise of Maitreya Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha assigned and delegated to Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha to act on His behalf, in order to save the sentient beings.
This Sutra describes the past lives of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, his great vow made to that effect by him and the benefit accruing from that vow. The vow is that “if the hell is not yet empty, I vow not to become a Buddha.”
Presented in the form of seemingly mythic dialogue between the Buddha and Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, the Sutra is fundamentally a teaching concerning karmic retribution, graphically describing the consequences one creates for oneself by committing undesirable actions. This is especially for the benefit of future beings in the Dharma-Ending Age in order to help these beings avoid making the mistakes that will cause them to be reborn in a low condition. With the motivation to help suffering beings always in mind, the Sutra is a discourse given by the Buddha in praise of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha and his heroic Vow, and of the benefits one can receive from worshipping Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha and by reading the sutra.
Buddha said, “….The reason why this person is protected by many gods is that he or she respects and worships Ksitigarbha’s image and recites this Vow Sutra. These people will removed from the ocean of suffering and will be proof of the bliss of Nirvana.”
— The Sutra - Chapter 11
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