In this essay, we get to combine two of my favorite things: Mathematics and Buddhism. All you need is a basic knowledge of both to hopefully appreciate where we are headed. So, take a deep breath to ease any math anxiety you may have. We are going to go step-by-step with some of the very basics of logic.

The following statement is called a conditional:

If it snows, then they cancel school.

You can also rewrite any conditional into what is called a contrapositive and it still remains true. This is accomplished by: 1) flipping the “if” clause with the “then” clause, and 2) negating each. For example:

If school is not canceled, then it is not snowing.

This means that if school is open then it must not be snowing. This is a valid conclusion! 

There are two other statements that you can also write but would be false. These are called the converse and the inverse:

If they cancel school, then it snows.

If it does not snow, then they do not cancel school.

The first statement is false because canceling school does not affect the weather. The second statement is false because school can be canceled for many reasons other than the snow. 

Vows 3 and 4 were originally written in the contrapositive

We are all very comfortable with a conditional, we use them all of the time. It is the other three types of statements that can cause us trouble. So, I found it unexpected that each of the 48 vows in the Larger Sutra is written as a contrapositive.  Here are the 3rd and 4th vows, simplified a bit for our purposes:

Vow 3. If all people are not of a golden color, 

Then I will not attain enlightenment.

Vow 4. If all people are not of equal beauty,

Then I will not attain enlightenment.

Nothing in the sutras is left to chance, so it is very purposeful that Dharmakara, the hero of the Larger Sutra, would choose to state these vows in the contrapositive. But the problem is we don’t know the purpose of writing it this way. 

Vows 3 and 4 as false conditional statements

Vows 3 and 4 can cause confusion if we mistranslate these statements into a conditional statement without flipping the “if” and “then” clauses. For example:

Vow 3. If all people are of a golden color, 

Then I will attain enlightenment. 

Vow 4. If all people are of equal beauty,

Then I will attain enlightenment.

If we think about it in this way, then two things happen. First, these become statements about practice. Second, these 48 vows all become “or” statements, meaning that if Dharmakara can achieve any one of these (rather than all of these) to become Amida Buddha.  But both of these conclusions are false, not valid.

Vows 3 and 4 as valid conditional statements

To interpret this clearly, let’s convert the original contrapositive to the equivalent conditional by flipping the “if” and “then” clauses and negating (i.e., removing) the “not”:

Vow 3.  If I attain enlightenment,

Then all people are of a golden color.

Vow 4. If I attain enlightenment,

Then all people are of equal beauty.

This equivalent Conditional reading makes things much clearer. First, these are no longer statements about practice. They are statements about results, meaning this is how a Buddha affects the world after awakening. After insight, all people are equal in both color and appearance. Second, these are now “and” statements. All 48 vows have to be true once one is awakened because each is a necessary piece of realizing Buddhahood.

So rather than reading the Larger Sutra as a hero’s journey, we can also appreciate it as the story of an awakened reality that we now find ourselves living in, resulting from Amida Buddha’s realization after many eons of practice. All we have to do now is accept it as a principle or fundamental condition of our existence. It is an awakened reality that is operating on us every day much like that of gravity. 

This is a far different story when seen in this way. It is like a grand mythological rendering of what we might call the Buddhist Big Bang Theory of Buddha Nature.  When we realize this and receive it, then we can say Namoamidabutsu in deep gratitude for this precious gift. This is not something that we have earned and yet it is giving freely to all of us. 

As they say in Geometry, QED (Quod Erat Demonstrandum), meaning "thus it was demonstrated."

In Gassho,
Rev. Jon Turner