Amitārthasūtra is one of the striking Mahāyāna scriptures, comprising three chapters: “Chapter on Virtues”, “Chapter on Preaching”, and “Chapter on Ten Merits”. Its core tenet is to praise the fruition virtues deriving from the three vehicles, to unfold the amitārtha of Mahāyāna, and to advise practicing the teachings of the amitārtha and the bodhisattva practices. Due to its conciseness in stating the bodhisattva practices, it has become a spiritual guide for the Tzu Chi Foundation. The term “amitārtha” has many senses. Among them the most essential one that corresponds to the Mahāyāna teaching is the meaning without opposite sides. A bodhisattva should perceive all the phenomena without opposite sides. In other words, there should be neither large nor small, neither arising nor ceasing, neither dwelling nor moving, neither advance nor retreat, and so on. Just as in the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra there is also mentioning of emptiness of all phenomena. Besides, the term “innumerable meanings” also refers to innumerable doctrines, for critical teachings pointing to the various capacities of all sentient beings generate accordingly. Moreover, from the time perspective, Buddha’s doctrines have become innumerable since they spread through time. Likewise, from the perspective of benefiting all sentient beings, benefits have become innumerable as well. This study attempts to analyze the senses of the term “innumerable meanings”, and to expound the significance of the bodhisattva practices in Mahāyāna by means of miming the bodhisattva practices through the text of Amitārthasūtra. In addition, thehumanitarian deeds of Tzu Chi Foundation will be presented as exemplary of Amitārthasūtra in order to illustrate the real-world possibilities of “innumerable meanings” in modern days.
