Pure Land

  1. Pure Land Buddhism

    Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Monday, 20 June 2011

    The core of Pure Land Buddhism and its teachings can be expressed in two major concepts: purity of mind and practice. Traditional Pure Land teachings emphasize the three elements of Faith, Vows and Practice (Buddha Recitation) as the essential conditions for rebirth in the Pure Land – in the Pure Mind. This approach is presented as the easiest, most expedient path for the majority of people. Pure Land is also in line Zen, which sees all teachings as expedients, “fingers pointing to the moon” – the moon being the True Mind, the Mind of Thusness, always bright, pure and unchanging.

  3. The Indian Roots of Pure Land Buddhism

    Posted by webmaster on Sunday, 31 July 2011

    Masatoshi Nagatomi was a panoramic thinker. Raised in a Jodo Shinshu family, he chose the distant world of Indian Buddhism as his research field. Educated at Kyoto University, he went on to complete his doctorate at Harvard University, spending time studying in India as well. When thinking about Indian Buddhist literature he could call upon analogies from East Asia; when discussing Buddhist rituals in China he could draw upon his knowledge of Tibet.

  4. The Larger Sutra on Amitayus

    Posted by admin on Thursday, 30 December 2010

    Translated into Chinese during the Ts’ao-Wei dynasty by the Tripitaka Master Samghavarman from India. Translated from Chinese into English by Hisao Inagaki. The text follows the Taisho Tripitaka edition, vol. 12, and the passage numbers follow Jodo-shinshu Seiten, 1988, pp. 3-83.

  5. The Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra

    Posted by admin on Thursday, 30 December 2010

    The Larger Sukhavativyuha is the longest of the three basic Sutras of the Pure Land School. It starts with a monk called Dharmakara, who practiced Buddhist Dharma under Tathagata Lokesvararaja. The monk made 48 great vows to save all sentient beings. Upon the fulfilment of these vows, he would create a Pure Land in the west called Sukhavati, which literally means the Land of Ultimate Bliss. He himself thus became the Buddha Amitabha.

  6. The Amitabha Sutra

    Posted by admin on Thursday, 30 December 2010

    The Sutra is the shortest of the three basic Sutras in Pure Land School, so it is also The Smaller Sukhavativyuha. It starts by giving a description of the splendours of Sukhavati, the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha, and further explains what must be done in order to be reborn there, The Buddhas of the six directions extol the merits and virtues of Amitabha Buddha, so one should make a great vow to be reborn in Sukhavati by believing and reciting the name of Amitabha upon hearing His name.

  7. The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra

    Posted by admin on Monday, 20 December 2010

    Pratyupanna: Translated from the Chinese by Paul Harrison - Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 1988 - this sutra is one of the oldest Mahayana sutras and describes the techniques which have become the basis of an ambulatory meditation practice called "jog-yo-zanmai" in Japanese. [Taisho Volume 13, Number 418] [Ch: Pan-chou-san-mei-ching] [Jpn: Han-ju-zan-mai-kyo]

    There are four translations exit in Chinese: T13, No. 416, 417, 418, 419. BDK English Tripitaka 25-II is the translation of T13, No. 418.

  8. Sutra on the Contemplation of Buddha Amitayus

    Posted by admin on Thursday, 30 December 2010

    This English translation by J. Takakusu published originally as vol. XLIX of The Sacred Books of the East series (Oxford, 1894, public domain) has been edited for ease of reading and comprehension by modern readers. Footnotes from the original edition are dated and have thus been eliminated. A reprint of the unaltered and fully annotated translation exists in Dover paperback.