FAQ: Why didn’t Shakyamuni Buddha teach the Pure Land Dharma at the very beginning? It seems it can spare lots of people from reincarnating.

In fact, the Buddha did talk about the Pure Land Dharma at the beginning, right after he realised enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, to all the highly enlightened beings in the entire Dharma realm (all cosmos and existence). This is evident in the Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Ornament Sutra). In the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Buddha describes how there are infinite worlds and infinite Buddhas in the ten directions (given that all beings have the Buddha-nature within, it is not difficult to believe that there are also infinite Buddhas, other perfectly enlightened beings in other worlds in the ten directions). And in the last chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra, we see how Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Bodhisattva Manjusri, and all these highly enlightened Bodhisattvas all vow towards attaining rebirth in Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land. So all dharma gates (practices) do eventually return to the Pure Land.

However, this teaching was not revealed to the human realm until much later. This is because, if the Buddha after attaining enlightenment began to tell others to practice Nianfo and attain rebirth in Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land, then most people would not believe it. Hence, he had to talk about something simple first, like the four noble truths and the noble eightfold path (to relate to the people then), and gradually move on to something more advanced like emptiness (Shunyata) and the Pure Land teachings. 

If one studies the Mahayana sutras, one would know that this is, in fact, not the first time Shakyamuni Buddha has come to our world. He had, in fact, come many times before`. Moreover, he had also already realized Buddhahood countless eons ago. This time it was just his performance as Prince Siddhartha to show people that we all have the potential to realise enlightenment.

Amituofo.