The problem of Universal Salvation in Mahayana Buddhism

 

The problem of Universal Salvation in Mahayana Buddhism

In his Chapter on Shinjin, the medieval Japanese Buddhist Shinran (fl. 12th-13th centuries) provides the following quote of the ‘Nirvana Sutra’ (probably the ‘Mahayanaparinirvana sutra’ in a Japanese translation):

“Good sons! Great love and great compassion are called Buddha-nature. Why? Because great love and great compassion always accompany the bodhisattva, just as shadows accompany things. All sentient beings will without fail ultimately realize great love and great compassion. Therefore it is taught, “All sentient beings are possessed of Buddha-nature.” Great love and great compassion are Buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is Tathagata.

Great joy and great even-mindedness are called Buddha-nature. Why? Because if a bodhisattva-mahasattva were incapable of the twenty-five forms of existence, he could not attain the supreme, perfect enlightenment. All sentient beings will ultimately attain great joy and great even-mindedness. Therefore it is taught, “All sentient beings are possessed of Buddha-nature.” Great joy and great even-mindedness are none other than Buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is Tathagata.

Buddha-nature is great shinjin. Why? Because through shinjin the bodhisattva-mahasattva has acquired all the paramitas from charity to wisdom. All sentient beings will without fail ultimately realize great shinjin. Therefore it is taught, “All sentient beings are possessed of Buddha-nature.” Great shinjin is none other than Buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is Tathagata.

Buddha-nature is called “the state of regarding each being as one’s only child.” Why? Because through the conditions of the state of regarding each being as one’s only child, the bodhisattva has realized the mind of equality concerning all sentient beings. All sentient beings will without fail ultimately attain the state of regarding each being as one’s only child. Therefore it is taught, “All sentient beings are possessed of Buddha-nature.” The state of regarding each being as one’s only child is none other than Buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is Tathagata.” (source: https://shinranworks.com/the-major-expositions/chapter-on-shinjin/ )

It isn’t hard to take the above as an explicit statement of a final universal Buddhahood for all sentient beings. And of course, universal salvation (or perhaps ‘universal liberation’) would be the scenario in which the Bodhisattvas vows will be satisfied (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva_vow ).

 This debate is, however, hardly frequent among Mahayana Buddhists (an example that involves the scholar Malcolm Smith, who argues against it as being inevitable, is this thread from the Mahayana Buddhist form ‘dharmawheel’: https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?t=39057 ). A possible difficulty in the Buddhist model is that the amount of sentient beings is infinite. However, if all can attain Buddhahood, technically there is the possibility that ‘universal liberation’ will happen… However, we can see how ‘Mahayana Buddhist universalist’ might justify their belief…

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