Dharma Treasury
Dharma Treasury
法蔵比丘 (Skt Dharmakara; Jpn Hozo-biku)
A bodhisattva described in the Buddha Infinite Life Sutra who is engaged in bodhisattva practice prior to his becoming a Buddha named Amida. According to the sutra, Dharma Treasury was originally a king but renounced the throne and began his Buddhist practice under a Buddha called World Freedom King (Skt Lokeshvararaja). He took the name Dharma Treasury and, as a bodhisattva, made forty-eight vows concerning the type of pure land he would create after attaining enlightenment. In the eighteenth vow, he pledged to bring all sentient beings who placed their hopes of salvation with him to this Buddha land, which he named Perfect Bliss (Sukhavati). Excepted were those who had committed the five cardinal sins and those who had slandered the correct teaching.
See also Amida.
