Pure Land Buddhism

The Pure Land teachings were first developed in India, and were very popular in Kashmir and Central Asia, where they may have originated.[4] Pure Land sutras were brought from the Gandhāra region to China as early as 147 CE, when the Kushan monk Lokakṣema began translating the first Buddhist sūtras into Chinese.[5] The earliest of these translations show evidence of having been translated from the Gāndhārī language, a Prakrit.[6] There are also images of Amitābha with the bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta which were made in Gandhāra during the Kushan era.[7]

In the Buddhist traditions of India, Pure Land doctrines and practices were disseminated by well-known exponents of the Mahāyāna teachings, including Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu.[8] Pure Land schools arose because of the belief that humans were becoming incapable of Dharma, emphasizing that humans needed help from another power; that power being Amitābha Buddha.[9] Although Amitābha is honored and venerated in Pure Land traditions, this was clearly distinguished from worship of the Hindu gods, as Pure Land practice has its roots in the Buddhist ideal of the bodhisattva.[10]

The three principal Pure Land sūtras are the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, Amitayurdhyana Sutra and the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra.[11] These sutras describe Amitābha and his Pure Land of Bliss, called Sukhavati. Also related to the Pure Land tradition is the Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra, which gives an early description of the practice of reciting the name of Amitābha as a meditation method, although it does not enumerate any vows of Amitābha or the qualities of Sukhāvatī.

Bodhisattvas hear about the Buddha Amitābha and call him to mind again and again in this land. Because of this calling to mind, they see the Buddha Amitābha. Having seen him they ask him what dharmas it takes to be born in the realm of the Buddha Amitābha. Then the Buddha Amitābha says to these bodhisattvas: "If you wish to come and be born in my realm, you must always call me to mind again and again, you must always keep this thought in mind without letting up, and thus you will succeed in coming to be born in my realm."[12]

In addition to these sutras, many other Mahāyāna texts also feature Amitābha, and a total of 290 such works have been identified in the Taishō Tripiṭaka.[13]

Andrew Skilton writes that the descriptions of Sukhāvatī given in the Sukhāvatīvyūha sūtras suggests that these descriptions were originally used for meditation: "This land, called Sukhāvatī or "blissful," is described in great detail, in a way that suggests that the sūtras were to be used as guides to visualization meditation, and also gives an impression of a magical world of intense visual and sonorous delight.[14]

In the Infinite Life Sutra, Gautama Buddha begins by describing to his attendant Ānanda a past life of the buddha Amitābha. He states that in a past life, Amitābha was once a king who renounced his kingdom, and became a monastic bodhisattva named Dharmākara ("Dharma Storehouse").[15] Under the guidance of the buddha Lokeśvararāja ("World Sovereign King"), innumerable buddha-lands throughout the ten directions were revealed to him.[15] After meditating for five eons as a bodhisattva, he then made a great series of vows to save all sentient beings, and through his great merit, created the realm of Sukhāvatī ("Ultimate Bliss").[15][16] This land of Sukhāvatī would later come to be known as the Pure Land (Chinese: 淨土) in Chinese translation.

Book open to the Chinese version of the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra with Japanese annotations.

The Pure Land teachings first became prominent in China with the founding of Donglin Temple at Mount Lu (Chinese: 廬山) by Huiyuan (Chinese: 慧遠) in 402. As a young man, Huiyuan practiced Daoism, but felt the theories of immortality to be vague and unreliable, and unrepresentative of the ultimate truth.[17] Instead, he turned to Buddhism and became a monk learning under Dao'an (Chinese: 道安). Later he founded a monastery at the top of Mount Lu and invited well-known literati to study and practice Buddhism there, where they formed the White Lotus Society (Chinese: 白蓮社).[18] They accepted the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra and the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra as their standards among the Buddhist sūtras, and they advocated the practice of reciting the name of Amitābha Buddha in order to attain rebirth in the western pure land of Sukhāvatī.[19] Mount Lu is regarded as being among the most sacred religious sites of the Pure Land Buddhist tradition,[20] and the site of the first Pure Land gathering.[21]

The Pure Land teachings and meditation methods quickly spread throughout China and were systematized by a series of elite monastic thinkers, namely Tanluan, Daochuo, Shandao, and others. The main teaching of the Chinese Pure Land tradition is based on focusing the mind with Mindfulness of the Buddha (Skt. buddhānusmṛti) through recitation of the name of Amitābha Buddha, so as to attain rebirth in his pure land of Sukhāvatī.[22] Early Pure Land as practiced in China by Tanluan is described as follows:

[Tanluan] describes the visualization of Amitābha and Sukhāvatī in minute detail, he regards the invocation of the Buddha's name as a spell working in the inconceivable realm (acintya-dhātu), and he describes how the realized Pure Land devotee manifests human (nirmita) bodies in all times and places. His knowledge of Buddhism is deep. He uses over twenty sūtras and more than a dozen śāstras to argue his case. There are eighty-one references to the Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa alone, and twenty-one references to the Chinese Mādhyamaka Master Sengchao, none of them trivial or out of place.[23]

At a later date, the Pure Land teachings spread to Japan and slowly grew in prominence. Genshin (942–1017) caused Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1028) to accept the Pure Land teachings. Hōnen (1133–1212) established Pure Land Buddhism as an independent sect in Japan known as Jōdo-shū. Today Pure Land is an important form of Buddhism in Japan, China, Korea, and Vietnam. Pure Land schools make up almost 40 percent of Japanese Buddhism practitioners with the most temples, second to Chan schools. These schools were influenced by the thought that humans could no longer understand the dharma by themselves.[24]

Repeating the name of Amitābha is traditionally a form of mindfulness of the Buddha (Skt. buddhānusmṛti). This term was translated into Chinese as nianfo (Chinese: 念佛; Japanese: nenbutsu), by which it is popularly known in English. The practice is described as calling the buddha to mind by repeating his name, to enable the practitioner to bring all his or her attention upon that Buddha (See: samādhi).[27] This may be done vocally or mentally, and with or without the use of Buddhist prayer beads. Those who practice this method often commit to a fixed set of repetitions per day.[27] According to tradition, the second patriarch of the Pure Land school, Shandao is said to have practiced this day and night without interruption, each time emitting light from his mouth. Therefore, he was bestowed with the title "Great Master of Light" (Chinese: 光明大師) by Emperor Gaozong of Tang.[28]

In Chinese Buddhism, there is a related practice called the "dual path of Chan and Pure Land cultivation", which is also called the "dual path of emptiness and existence."[29] As taught by Nan Huai-Chin, the name of Amitābha is recited slowly, and the mind is emptied out after each repetition. When idle thoughts arise, the name is repeated again to clear them. With constant practice, the mind is able to remain peacefully in emptiness, culminating in the attainment of samādhi.[29]

Engraving of a Sanskrit dhāraṇī for Amitābha written in the Siddhaṃ script. Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, China

Repeating the Pure Land Rebirth dhāraṇī is another method in Pure Land Buddhism. Similar to the mindfulness practice of repeating the name of Amitābha, this dhāraṇī is another method of meditation and recitation in Pure Land Buddhism. The repetition of this dhāraṇī is said to be very popular among traditional Chinese Buddhists.[28] It is traditionally preserved in Sanskrit, and it is said that when a devotee succeeds in realizing singleness of mind by repeating a mantra, its true and profound meaning will be clearly revealed.[28]

namo amitābhāya tathāgatāya tadyathā

amṛt[od]bhave amṛta[siddhambhave]

amṛtavikrānte amṛtavikrāntagāmini

gagana kīrtī[kare] svāhā

The Chinese use a version of this dhāraṇī that was transliterated from Sanskrit into Chinese characters, called the "Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra", "Mantra for Birth in the Pure Land" (Chinese: 生淨土咒; pinyin: Shēng jìngtǔ zhòu)[30] also known as the Pure Land Rebirth Dhāraṇī (往生淨土神咒 Wangsheng Jingtu Shenzhou). The full name is "the dhāraṇī for pulling out karmic obstructions and obtaining rebirth in the Pure Lands" (Chinese:拔一切業障根本得生淨土陀羅尼). The translation exists in various forms and this is one commonly used.

Another practice found in Pure Land Buddhism is meditative contemplation and visualization of Amitābha, his attendant bodhisattvas, and the Pure Land. The basis of this is found in the Amitayurdhyana Sutra, in which the Gautama Buddha describes to Queen Vaidehi the practices of thirteen progressive visualization methods, corresponding to the attainment of various levels of rebirth in the Pure Land.[31] The first of these steps is contemplation of a setting sun, until the visualization is clear whether the eyes are open or closed.[32] Each progressive step adds complexity to the visualization of Sukhāvatī, with the final contemplation being an expansive visual which includes Amitābha and his attendant bodhisattvas.[32] According to Inagaki Hisao, this progressive visualization method was widely followed in the past for the purpose of developing samādhi.[10] Visualization practises for Amitābha are also popular in Shingon Buddhism as well as other schools of Vajrayana.

Regarding Pure Land practice in Indian Buddhism, Hajime Nakamura writes that as described in the Pure Land sūtras from India, Mindfulness of the Buddha (Skt. buddhānusmṛti) is the essential practice.[36] These forms of mindfulness are essentially methods of meditating upon Amitābha Buddha.[36] Andrew Skilton looks to an intermingling of Mahāyāna teachings with Buddhist meditation schools in Kashmir for the rise of Mahāyāna practices related to buddhānusmṛti, mindfulness of the Buddha:[37]

Great innovations undoubtedly arose from the intermingling of early Buddhism and the Mahāyāna in Kashmir. Under the guidance of Sarvāstivādin teachers in the region, a number of influential meditation schools evolved which took as their inspiration the Bodhisattva Maitreya. [...] The Kashmiri meditation schools were undoubtably highly influential in the arising of the buddhānusmṛti practices, concerned with the 'recollection of the Buddha(s)', which were later to become characteristic of Mahāyāna Buddhism and the Tantra.

Pure Land cosmology, soteriology, and ritual were always part-and-parcel of Chinese Buddhism in general and Chan monasticism in particular. The modern conception of an independent and self-conscious Chinese Pure Land school in History with its own patriarchate and teachings, and the associated notion of Chan/Pure Land syncretism, are inordinately influence by the Japanization of buddhist studies and the enduring legacy of Japanese sectarian disputes over Chinese Patriarchs.[38] In particular, Pure Land and Zen practice are often seen as being mutually compatible, and no strong distinctions are made.[39] Chinese Buddhists have traditionally viewed the practice of meditation and the practice of reciting Amitābha Buddha's name, as complementary and even analogous methods for achieving enlightenment.[39] This is because they view recitation as a meditation method used to concentrate the mind and purify thoughts.[39] Chinese Buddhists widely consider this form of recitation as a very effective form of meditation practice.[39]

Historically, many Buddhist teachers in China have also taught both Chan and Pure Land together. For example, in the Ming dynasty, Hanshan Deqing and many of his contemporaries advocated the dual practice of the Chan and Pure Land methods, advocating mindfulness of Amitābha to purify the mind for the attainment of self-realization.[40]

Tibetan Pure Land Buddhism has a long and innovative history dating from the 8th-9th centuries, the era of the Tibetan Empire, with the translation and canonization of the Sanskrit Sukhāvatīvyūha sūtras in Tibetan. Tibetan compositions of pure-land prayers and artistic renditions of Sukhāvatī in Central Asia date to that time. Tibetan pure-land literature forms a distinct genre and encompasses a wide range of scriptures, "aspiration prayers to be born in Sukhāvatī" (Tib. bde-smon), commentaries on the prayers and the sūtras, and meditations and rituals belonging to the Vajrayāna tradition. The incorporation of phowa (mind transference techniques) in pure-land meditations is textually attested in the 14th century, in The Standing Blade of Grass (Tib. 'Pho-ba 'Jag-tshug ma), a terma text allegedly dating to the time of the Tibetan Empire. A good number of Buddhist treasure texts are dedicated to Amitābha and to rituals associated with his pure-land, while the wide acceptance of phowa in Tibetan death rituals may owe its popularity to Pure Land Buddhism promoted by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.[41]

There are many treasure texts associated with Tibetan Pure Land Buddhism [42] and tertön Longsal Nyingpo (1625–1682/92 or 1685–1752) of Katok Monastery revealed a terma on the pure land.[43] This terma entailed phowa during the bardo of dying, sending the Mind Stream to a pure land.

Gyatrul (b. 1924),[44] in a purport to the work of Karma Chagme (Wylie: Karma Chags-med, fl. 17th century), rendered into English by B. Alan Wallace (Chagmé et al., 1998: p. 35), states:

It is important to apply our knowledge internally. The Buddha attained enlightenment in this way. The pure lands are internal; the mental afflictions are internal. The crucial factor is to recognize the mental afflictions. Only by recognizing their nature can we attain Buddhahood.[45]

In Japanese Buddhism, Pure Land teachings developed into independent institutional sects, as can be seen in the Jōdo-shū, Jōdo Shinshū, Yūzū-nembutsu-shū, and Ji-shū.[46]

The majority of the important schools of Japanese Buddhism developed in the middle ages, between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. However they were mostly influenced by the Tendai school (Chinese: Tientai in the sixth century) as their founding monks were all trained originally in the school. Its teachings were based on the Lotus Sūtra and Mahāyāna Nirvāṇa Sūtra, encompassing a wide range of teachings and eclectic practices of austerities. [47]

Strong institutional boundaries exist between sects which serve to clearly separate the Japanese Pure Land schools from the Japanese Zen schools.[39] One notable exception to this is found in the Ōbaku Zen school, which was founded in Japan during the 17th century by the Chinese Buddhist monk Ingen (Chinese Yinyuan Longqi). The Ōbaku school of Zen retains many Chinese features such as mindfulness of Amitābha through recitation and recitation of the Pure Land sūtras.[48]

Upon encountering Japanese Pure Land traditions which emphasize faith, many westerners saw outward parallels between these traditions and Protestant Christianity. This has led many western authors to speculate about possible connections between these traditions.[49] However, the cosmology, internal assumptions, and underlying doctrines and practices are now known to have many differences.[49]