![]() ![]() Philosophically, to take refuge in AmidaBuddha is to abandon ego-centered, attached thinking and to entrustoneself to the infinite wisdom (light) and infinite compassion (life)of Amida. In China, andespecially Japan, this becomes the most widespread form of practice,known as the nembutsu, in which the repetition of the name, NamuAmida Butsu (I take refuge in Amida Buddha), is the verymanifestation of Amida. In the Meditation Sutra, it isstated that, for those who are unable to achieve the meditativevisualization of the Pure Land, the recitative invocation ofAmitabha's name is sufficient to attain birth. The distinctivecharacteristic of Amitabha is compassion. Furthermore,although male in the Indian context, Amitabha becomes increasinglyreferred to in female, maternal terms in East Asia. In China and Japan, these two names, sometimesreferring to distinct Buddhas in the Indian context, are referred tosingularly as A-mi-t'o in Chinese and Amida in Japanese. Amitabha is alsoknown as Amitayus, the Buddha of Eternal Life, hence the title of theLarger Sutra. Bodhisattva Dharmakara eventually becomesthe Buddha Amitabha, the Buddha of infinite light. Ultimately, even the Pure Land is transcended, and thepractitioner attains awareness of the non-origination of things, avirtual synonym of emptiness.Īmitabha Buddha. Practitioners aspiring to birth in the Pure Land visualize thejewelled paradise of the Buddha Amitabha, where the evil karma of hisor her past is transformed into the Pure Land and the virtue of itsBuddha. In later developments,especially in Japan, the Pure Land becomes virtually synonymous withultimate reality, emptiness, nirvana. In the process of doing so, heestablishes the Western Pure Land when sentient beings accumulatesufficient virtue, they are born there, and due to the idealconditions, immediately attain enlightenment. ![]() At the center of these sutrasis the story of the Bodhisattva Dharmakara, a former king who decidesto set out to seek enlightenment. Like many other Mahayana Sutras such as theLotus, Flower Ornament, and Vimalakirti, these sutras were compilednear the beginning of the Common Era. Three of the most prominent sutras of thePure Land schools of East Asian Buddhism are The Larger Sutra ofEternal Life, The Amida Sutra (Smaller Sutra of Eternal Life), andThe Meditation Sutra. While both arose partially as a reaction against themetaphysical excesses of the philosophical schools, Zen focused onawakening through monastic practice, while Pure Land focused onattaining birth in the Pure Land of the Buddha Amitabha throughpractices that were accessible to lay people. Advocates of the Pure Land teachings canbe identified quite early in Chinese Buddhist history, but Pure LandBuddhism emerged as a major force in the T'ang Dynasty along withZen. Pure Land Buddhism and the Philosophy of Honen andShinran Pure Land Buddhism and Dogen's Zen Buddhism ![]()
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