Pure Land Buddhism

Amitābha and his attendant bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara (right) and Mahāsthāmaprāpta (left)
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Pure Land Buddhism or the Pure Land School (Chinese: 淨土宗; pinyin: Jìngtǔzōng) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Pure Land. It is one of the most widely practiced traditions of Buddhism in East Asia. The Pure Land Buddhist school is also known as the "Nembutsu school" or the "Lotus School".

Pure Land is a tradition which is primarily focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's "pure land", a superior place to spiritually train for full Buddhahood, since a Buddha has compassionately "purified" it for this purpose. In these realms, one can meet a Buddha face to face and study under them without any of the distractions or fears of our world.[1] Since it is much easier to attain enlightenment in one of these buddha-fields (due to the corrupt nature of the current age), many Mahayana Buddhists strive to be reborn in such a place.[2]

The most common pure land today is that of Amitābha, called Sukhavati, "Land of Bliss".[3] Mahayana Buddhists may also aspire to be reborn in other pure lands, such as the buddhafields of Aksobhya and Medicine Guru (though this is rarer).[4] Although the Buddhas are venerated in Pure Land traditions and are seen as savior figures, the tradition clearly distinguishes itself from theistic religions, due to its roots in the classic Mahayana understanding of Buddhahood and bodhisattvas, as well as the Buddhist doctrines of emptiness and mind-only.[5][6]

Pure Land oriented practices and concepts form an important component of the Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, the Himalayas and Inner Asian regions such as Tibet. In Tibetan Buddhism, prayers and practices which aim at rebirth in a Buddha-field are a popular religious orientation, especially among laypersons.[7]

The most distinctive feature of East Asian Pure Land traditions is that it offers ordinary people (even the unlearned, and the unethical) hope that they may attain the stage of non-retrogression and eventually Buddhahood no matter how bad their karma may be. This is accomplished by rebirth in a pure land through the power of Buddha Amitabha.[8]

East Asian Pure Land Buddhism mostly relies on the practice of mindfulness of the Buddha, which is called niànfó (念佛, "Buddha recitation", Japanese: nenbutsu) in Chinese and entails reciting the name of Amitabha (Chinese: Āmítuófó, Japanese: Amida).[9] However, Pure Land Buddhism also includes a large group of practices which are done alongside Buddha recitation.[10]

In East Asian Buddhism, the three primary texts of the Pure Land tradition (the "Three Pure Land Sutras") are the Sutra of Amitayus, the Contemplation Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra. The Pratyutpanna-samādhi-sūtra is also an important source, particularly for early Chinese Pure Land.[11]

  1. ^ Williams, Paul (2008). Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations 2nd Edition, p. 215. Routledge.
  2. ^ Williams, Paul (2008). Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations 2nd Edition, p. 216. Routledge.
  3. ^ Jones, Charles B. (2019) Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, Understanding a Tradition of Practice, pp. 33. University of Hawai‘i Press / Honolulu.
  4. ^ Nattier, Jan. The Realm of Aksobhya: A Missing Piece in the History of Pure Land Buddhism. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Volume 23 Number 1 2000.
  5. ^ Inagaki, Hisao. The Three Pure Land Sutras. 2003. p. xiv
  6. ^ Harrison, Paul M. Buddhanusmrti in the pratyutpanna-Buddha-sammukhavasthita-samadhi-sutra. Journal of Indian Philosophy 6 (1):35-57 (1978).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Payne-2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Jones, Charles B. (2019) Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, Understanding a Tradition of Practice, pp. 31. University of Hawai‘i Press / Honolulu.
  9. ^ Jones, Charles B. (2019) Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, Understanding a Tradition of Practice, p. 1. University of Hawai‘i Press / Honolulu.
  10. ^ Jones, Charles B. (2021). Pure Land: History, Tradition, and Practice, p. xii. Shambhala Publications, ISBN 978-1-61180-890-2.
  11. ^ Jones, Charles B. (2019) Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, Understanding a Tradition of Practice, p. 128. University of Hawai‘i Press / Honolulu.