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A very good day to all my friends. In this forum, I wish to share with you a description of the Land of Ultimate Bliss (Amitābha’s Western Pure Land) as written in the Amitābha Sutra …

West of here, passing beyond hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhas’ lands, there is a world called Ultimate Bliss. In that land there is a Buddha named Amitābha who has now manifested there to teach the Dharma.

The ground of the Land of Ultimate Bliss is made of gold. Completely circling the land are seven tiers of railings, seven layers of netting and seven rows of trees, which are all made of the four treasures. When gentle breezes blow in that land, all of the rows of jeweled trees and jeweled nets let out a subtle, wondrous sound similar to hundreds of thousands of types of music playing. Those who hear the sounds will spontaneously give rise to a mind that is mindful of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.

On the four sides, there are stairways composed of gold, silver, lapis lazuli and crystal. Above, there are towered pavilions that have gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, nacre, red pearls and carnelian magnificently adorning them.

There are ponds of seven treasures that are filled with the water of eight virtues and the ground on the bottom of the ponds is covered solely by gold sand. In the ponds there are lotus flowers as large as carriage wheels that are blue colored with a blue sheen, yellow colored with a yellow sheen, red colored with a red sheen and white colored with a white sheen. They are fine, wondrous, fragrant and pure.

Heavenly music constantly plays. There are always various kinds of rare multicolored birds that are transformationally produced, such as snow cranes, peacocks, parrots, saris, kalavinkas and birds that are conjoined. Throughout the six periods of day and night, all of these birds sing in harmony and with elegant sound. These sounds proclaim the five faculties, the five strengths, the seven factors of awakening, the Noble Eightfold Path and other teachings. After hearing these sounds, all the sentient beings in that land are fully mindful of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.

Throughout the six periods of day and night, heavenly mandarava flowers rain down. Early in the morning, the sentient beings in that land always fill the hem of their robes with many wondrous flowers and make offerings to the hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhas in the other directions and return by mealtime to eat their food and walk in meditation.

The sentient beings in the Land of Ultimate Bliss are all avaivartikas, and among them there are many who will become Buddhas in one more rebirth. Their numbers are extremely vast and cannot be known by calculation. One could only speak of them in terms of immeasurable, infinite asaṃkhyeyas.