Another Proof That Buddhism Will Flourish Greatly in China

Another Proof That Buddhism Will Flourish Greatly in China

The great flourishing of Buddhism in China is, in fact, the Buddha’s arrangement. For from a global perspective, Jambudvīpa is in the direst need; from a regional perspective, China stands out as the most favorable place. This is recorded in Journey to the West.

In Chapter 8 of Journey to the West, after Sakyamuni Buddha subdued Sun Wukong in the Heavenly Palace, he returned to Vulture Peak and told the Bodhisattvas and Arhats: when he observed the Four Great Continents, the people of Purvavideha venerate heaven and earth, live in peace of mind, and suffer little, so it matters not whether they attain enlightenment sooner or later. The inhabitants of Aparagodānīya are free from greed and killing, nourish their vital energy and cultivate their spiritual nature, enjoying long lives and few afflictions—enlightenment a little later is also fine with them. The people of Uttarakuru, though prone to killing, are simple-minded and unsophisticated, committing few evils, thus enduring not much suffering. Only the people of Jambudvīpa, where humans on Earth reside, are greedy, lustful, fond of misfortune, and perpetually engaged in killing and strife. It is a realm of verbal strife and a sea of moral wrongs, where people are burdened with heavy sins and afflicted by great hardships, making them the ones who need salvation the most urgently.

Yet, the people of this land are highly skeptical. If Buddhism were sent to them directly, they would take it for granted and fail to cherish it. Therefore, they must be made to seek it themselves. They are to be tested through ninety-nine and eighty-one tribulations, so that they will realize how hard-won the Buddhist Dharma is and thus value it sincerely.

It was for this reason that the Buddha dispatched Guanyin Bodhisattva to the Eastern Land to find someone who would undertake the pilgrimage to the Western Paradise to fetch the scriptures. Hence came the story of Tang Sanzang, who overcame countless hardships and dangers to reach the Western Paradise. If fetching the scriptures was such an elaborately arranged affair, how could the great flourishing of Buddhism—an undertaking far more significant than scripture-fetching—be a mere coincidence?

Furthermore, there is sound reasoning behind the Buddha’s arrangement for Buddhism to flourish in China. A great flourishing requires favorable conditions, and the people of China possess a far better foundation for spiritual practice than those elsewhere. The Sahā World (i.e., the Milky Way galaxy where Earth resides) is the most suffering-ridden realm in the universe, comparable to a cosmic garbage dump. In most other galaxies, people have never even heard of the Three Evil Paths, yet we coexist with denizens of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals. Therefore, the inhabitants of the Sahā World are mostly beings exiled here for committing transgressions in other galaxies, making this realm home to the beings of the lowest karmic quality in the universe. Nevertheless, China is relatively better off within the Sahā World. This too is documented in Journey to the West. In Chapter 12, when Guanyin Bodhisattva and Mokṣa arrived at the monastery where Tang Sanzang was preaching the Dharma, they praised: “Truly this is a great imperial land! It indeed surpasses the Sahā World, even excelling Jetavana Vihāra…”

Note that when Guanyin Bodhisattva said “it indeed surpasses”, this served as evidence of what the Buddha had stated earlier. Moreover, it surpasses not only the Sahā World but even Jetavana Vihāra—the very place where Sakyamuni Buddha preached the Dharma in India. This signifies that the spiritual practice ethos in China is superior to that in India. With such a profound foundation, is this not yet another proof that Buddhism will flourish greatly in China in the future?