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Pure Land Buddhism (zh. 净土宗,
pinyin jėngtǔzōng), also known as Amidism, is a branch of
mainstream Mahayana Buddhism and
presently the most popular school of Buddhism in Asia. It is based upon the Pure Land Sutra (sa. sukhavati-vyuha) first brought to China circa 150, which describes Amitabha (Infinite-Light), later
personified as Buddha Amitabha. This concept, personified or otherwise, can be
translated variously but is usually shortened to "Amituo" or "Amitofo" in Chinese (阿彌陀佛, Mandarin wg O1 Mi2
T'o2 Fo2), "Amida" in Japanese and "Amito" in Korean.
The school first became prominent with the founding of a monastery upon the top of Mount Lu by Hui-yuan in 402. It spread throughout China quickly and was systematized by Shan-tao (613-681). The
philosophy spread to Japan and slowly grew in prominence. Honen Shonin (1133-1212)
established Pure Land Buddhism as an independent sect in Japan, known as "Jodo Shu".
Today Pure Land is the dominant form of Buddhism in Japan.
Contemporary Pure Land traditions see the Buddha Amitabha preaching the Dharma in
his buddha-field (sa. buddhakchetra), called the "Pure Land" (zh. 净土, pinyin
jėngtǔ, jp. jodo) or "Western heaven" (zh. 西天), a region offering respite from karmic transmigration. In such traditions, entering the Pure Land is popularly perceived as equivalent to the
attainment of nirvana.
In fact, the main idea behind Pure Land Buddhism is that nirvana is no longer practical nor possible to attain in our present
day. Instead, devotion to Amitabha will gain one enough karmic merit to go to the Pure Land (reminiscent of Heaven) from which Nirvana will be easier to attain, because in this paradise there are no
negative experiences so no new negative karma is created. Existing negative karma would
disappear.
Some Pure Land Buddhists have taught that in order for a devotee to be reborn in Amitabha's Western Paradise, they should
chant or repeat a mantra or prayer to
Amitabha as often as possible to reinforce a proper and sincere state of mind. This fairly simple form of worship has contributed
greatly to its popularity.
Eastern Pure Land
In esoteric Vajrayana Buddhism,
Amitabha's Western Pure Land has a counterpart in Akshobhya's Eastern Pure Land:
Abhirati. While recognized especially by
the Japanese Shingon sect, the Eastern Pure Land is not the object of popular
veneration in the same manner as the Western Pure Land.
See Also
External links
Sources
- Eitel, Ernest J. Hand-Book of Chinese Buddhism, being a Sanskrit-Chinese Dictionary with Vocabularies of Buddhist Terms
in Pali, Singhalese, Siamese, Burmese, Tibetan, Mongolian and Japanese (Second Edition). New Delhi, Madras: Asian
Educational Services. 1992.
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