Pure Land Site Home mail me! Chinese-English Dictionary sindicaci;ón

Pure Land Buddhism

What is Pure Land?

[Pure Land comprises the schools] of East Asia which emphasize aspects of Mahayana Buddhism stressing faith in Amida, meditation on and recitation of his name, and the religious goal of being reborn in his “Pure Land,” or “Western Paradis.” (Crim, Perennial Dictionary of World Religionso.)

The most common Pure Land practice is the recitation of Amitabha Buddha’s name. This should be done with utmost faith and a sincere vow to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land.

Along with this popular form of Pure Land, there is a higher aspect, in which Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life, is equated with our Buddha Nature, infinitely bright and everlasting (Self-Nature Amitabha, Mind-Only Pure Land).

The Pure Land Tradition

The goal of all Buddhist practice is to achieve Enlightenment and transcend the cycle of Birth and Death – that is, to attain Buddhahood. In the Mahayana tradition, the precondition for Buddhahood is the Bodhi Mind, the aspiration to achieve Enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, oneself included.

Since sentient beings are of different spiritual capacities and inclinations, many levels of teaching and numerous methods were devised in order to reach everyone. Traditionally, the sutras speak of 84,000, i.e., an infinite number of methods, depending on the circumstances, the times and the target audience. All these methods are expedients – different medicines for different individuals with different illnesses at different times – but all are intrinsically perfect and complete. Within each method, the success or failure of an individual’s cultivation depends on his depth of practice and understanding, that is, on his mind.

Quoted from Pure Land Zen – Zen Pure Land Letters from Patriarch Yin Kuang – Page 8

Pure Land Buddhism

Buddhism has evolved many, many forms during its long history. Codes of conduct, guidelines for communal life, rituals, meditative practices, modes of teaching, images, fables and philosophies have varied greatly over time and place. According to the fundamental Buddhist principle of skill-in-means, this multiformity is natural and proper, a necessary response to the great variety of circumstances in which Buddhism has been propagated.

Skill-in-means requires that the presentation of the Buddhist Teaching, (sometimes simply called “the Dharma”), be adapted to the mentality and circumstances of the people being taught. According to Buddhist seers, the absolute truth is inconceivable and cannot be captured in any particular formulation. Therefore in Buddhism there is no fixed dogma, only provisional, partial expressions of the teaching, suited to the capabilities of the audience being addressed.

In keeping with this fundamental principle, a tolerant, nonsectarian approach has normally prevailed throughout Buddhist history. Where dogmatic controversies and sectarian partisanship have cropped up in the communities of Buddhist followers, these are distortions of the teaching, and have always been based on misunderstanding and misinformation. In embracing Pure Land Buddhism, therefore, people are not rejecting any of the other streams of the Buddhist tradition–they have only decided that Pure Land methods are most appropriate and most effective for them.

Pure Land Buddhism is a religion of faith, of faith in Amitabha Buddha [and in one’s capacity to achieve Buddhahood]. Amitabha Buddha presides over the Pure Land, a “paradise” in the west, the land of ultimate bliss, named “Peaceful Nurturing.” In the Pure Land, there is none of the suffering and defilement and delusion that normally blocks people’s efforts toward enlightenment here in our world (which the Buddhists named Endurance.!?)

The immediate goal of Pure Land believers is to be reborn in Amitabha’s Pure Land. There, in more favorable surroundings, in the presence of Amitabha, they will eventually attain complete enlightenment.

The essence of Pure Land practice thus consists of invoking the name of Amitabha Buddha, contemplating the qualities of Amitabha, visualizing Amitabha, and taking vows to be born in the Pure Land.

Making a vow to attain birth in the Pure Land signifies a fundamental reorientation of the believer’s motivations and will. No longer is the purpose of life brute survival, or fulfillment of a social role, or the struggle to wrest some satisfaction from a frustrating, taxing environment. By vowing to be reborn in the Pure Land, believers shift their focus. The joys and sorrows of this world become incidental, inconsequential. The present life takes on value chiefly as an opportunity to concentrate one’s awareness on Amitabha, and purify one’s mind accordingly.

The hallmark of Pure Land Buddhism is reciting the buddha-name, invoking Amitabha Buddha by chanting his name. Through reciting the buddha-name, people focus their attention on Amitabha Buddha. This promotes mindfulness of buddha, otherwise known as buddha-remembrance [buddha recitation].

In what sense is buddha “remembered”? “Buddha” is the name for the one reality that underlies all forms of being, as well as an epithet for those who witness and express this reality. According to the Buddhist Teaching, all people possess an inherently enlightened true nature that is their real identity. By becoming mindful of buddha, therefore, people are just regaining their own real identity. They are remembering their own buddha-nature.

Buddha as such is a concept that transcends any particular embodiment, such as Shakyamuni Buddha (the historical buddha born in India), or Maitreya Buddha (the future buddha), or Vairocana Buddha (the cosmic buddha) or Amitabha Buddha (the buddha of the western paradise). Buddha exists in many forms, but all share the same “body of reality,” the same Dharmakaya, which is formless, omnipresent, all-pervading, indescribable, infinite–the everywhere-equal essence of all things, the one reality within-and-beyond all appearances.

Dharmakaya Buddha is utterly abstract and in fact inconceivable, so buddha takes on particular forms to communicate with living beings by coming within their range of perception. For most people, this is the only way that buddha can become comprehensible and of practical use. The particular embodiments of buddha, known as Nirmanakaya, are supreme examples of compassionate skill-in-means.

Pure Land people focus on buddha in the form of Amitabha, the buddha of infinite life and infinite light. Believers put their faith in Amitabha Buddha and recite his name, confident in the promises he has given to deliver all who invoke his name. All classes of people, whatever their other characteristics or shortcomings, are guaranteed rebirth in the Pure Land and ultimate salvation, if only they invoke Amitabha’s name with singleminded concentration and sincere faith.

Quoted from Pure Land Pure Mind translated by J.C. Cleary

Recommend – Amitabha Pureland Web

Articles and websites suggestions

Videos and Audios for download

Kah Hoe said,

March 29, 2007 @ 2:06 am

阿彌陀佛! 阿彌陀佛!

Constance said,

June 17, 2007 @ 6:29 am

Amitabha Buddha!
Thank you for translating the Dharma here.
This is Constance from Taichung, Taiwan.
I hope to learn more about your organization.
Thank you.

Vincent Lai said,

March 1, 2008 @ 4:43 pm

Amitabha Buddha.

Thanks for your comments Constance, sorry to disappoint you, but this is not an organisation, but a website on Pure Land Buddhism. Furthermore, paragraphs and texts on this website are not translated by me, all I did was barely quoting from books and text that others have kindly translated and put it on this website. Hope it is useful.

Namo Amituofo

Alicja said,

March 3, 2008 @ 6:32 pm

Hi there,

I am a buddhist practitioner of Vajrayana buddhism. I am happy that you are doing this great job to enable others find out about buddhism. I have just one comment. You write that Pure Land buddhism is a religion of faith. I do not agree with that. Religions of faith are : Catolicism, Islam. We are one of the religions of experience (HInduism, Taoism, Buddhism) the difference is that we are expereiencing in this case the power and energy of Buddha Amitaba and can acquire his qualities. In comparison Catolics belive in God however they cant acquire his quilities therefore it is called a religion of faith. Hope it is helpful.
Best wishes,
Alicja

Vincent Lai said,

March 9, 2008 @ 6:09 pm

Hi Alicja,

Thanks for your comment, I think it depends how we look at the terms “faith” and “religion of faith”. One thing that we are sure is that “faith” in Buddhism does not imply “blind faith”, would like to share one of my favourite quote here:

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

In Pure Land Buddhism, faith is very important because for us to be reborn in the Pure Land, simply recite the name Amitabha Buddha is not enough. Quoted from the book Pure Land Zen Zen Pure Land:

Faith, Vows and Practice form the cornerstone of Pure Land. If these three conditions are fulfilled, rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss will be achieved. You should pay particular attention to Faith and Vows, and wish wholeheartedly to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land … [and not as a celestial being or a Dharma Master, however awakened, as these are still within the realm of Birth and Death]. Only then will your Faith and Vows reach Amitabha Buddha so that His Compassionate Vow may embrace you. In this connection, Elder Master Ou I has said:

Achieving rebirth in the Pure Land depends entirely on Faith and Vows, while
the level of rebirth depends on the depth of practice.

This is a truth as solid as steel – even if a thousand Buddhas were to appear on earth, it would not change. Only by firmly believing in this truth will you have a destiny in the Western Pure Land.

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to find out more about Pure Land Buddhism. I’ve just created a new page on Faith, Vows and Practice (quoted from the book Pure Land Zen Zen Pure Land). Hope this is helpful.

With Metta

Ming said,

March 18, 2008 @ 12:06 pm

到此一遊!阿彌陀怫!

su chu thich dong hoa said,

March 23, 2008 @ 3:00 pm

namo amitofo,

your homepage is great, i like it very much.

i am a german 21 years old and i became a novice buddhist monk, practising pure land school.

i am searching for people following pure land school all over the world.

maybe one want to write an email to me: [email protected]

may every living being be soon born in the pure land of amitabha….

RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI