Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism or the Pure Land School 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. It is also known as the "Lotus School" in China or the "Nembutsu school" in Japan. East Asian Pure Land mainly relies on three main Mahayana scriptures: the Sutra of Amitayus, the Contemplation Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra.
The Pure Land tradition is primarily focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's "pure land", a superior place to spiritually train for full Buddhahood, where one can meet a Buddha face to face and study under them without any of the distractions or fears of our world. Since it is much easier to attain enlightenment in Pure Land, many Mahayana Buddhists strive to be reborn in one. The most popular one today is Sukhavati, the Pure Land of Buddha Amitābha, though some Buddhists may also aspire to be reborn in other Pure Lands. Although Buddhas are venerated in Pure Land and are seen as savior-like 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.
The most distinctive feature of East Asian Pure Land traditions is that it offers ordinary people hope that they may attain the stage of non-retrogression and eventually Buddhahood, no matter how bad their karma may be. In East Asian Pure Land, this is most commonly accomplished through the practice of mindfulness of the Buddha, which is called niànfó and entails reciting the name of Amitabha. However, Pure Land Buddhism may also includes numerous other practices which are done alongside Buddha recitation, such as keeping Buddhist precepts, reciting sutras, visualization, and making offerings.
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. Some East Asian traditions are exclusively Pure Land oriented, especially the Japanese sects like Jōdo-shū and Jōdo Shinshū. In Tibetan Buddhism, prayers and practices which aim at rebirth in a Buddha-field are also a popular religious orientation, especially among laypersons.
Terminology
The English term "Pure Land Buddhism" can refer to two religious phenomena. One referent of the term "Pure Land" is a collective term for all practices and teachings having to do with a Buddha's "pure land" or buddha-field. This usage corresponds with the Chinese term "Pure land Dharma gate" which refers to a spiritual practice or a specific approach to the Dharma. Since this is a generic term for all "pure land methods", it technically includes practices in many different Buddhist schools, including Tiantai, Tibetan Buddhism, and so on, and not just to those of "Pure Land schools" or sects."Pure Land Buddhism" is also commonly used to refer to various separate Pure Land traditions which take Pure land practice as the central element of their teaching, sometimes exclusively so. In Chinese Buddhism, Pure Land is often thought of as its own zōng, like Zen and so forth. Thus, this usage corresponds to the East Asian term "Pure Land school". In Japanese Buddhism, the term more commonly refers to specific institutions like Jōdo-shū and Jōdo Shinshū.
Another common name for the Pure Land school in Chinese Buddhism is "Lotus School", drawing its name from the various Pure land Lotus Societies, the first of which was founded by Huiyuan. In Japanese Buddhism meanwhile, another name for the Pure Land schools is "Nembutsu school".
When referring to traditions which focus on rebirth in the pure land of Amitabha, scholars may also use the term "Amidism". Similarly, traditional sources do sometimes speak of "Amida's Dharma."
India
Mindfulness of the Buddha
Teachings which focus on seeking rebirth in a buddha-field were first developed in Indian Mahayana Buddhist Sutras, and were very popular in Kashmir and Central Asia, where they might have originated. The methods taught in the Mahayana sources which discuss buddhakṣetras are generally devotional Mahayana forms of the classic Buddhist practice known as mindfulness of the Buddha. Andrew Skilton argues that the intermingling of Mahāyāna teachings with Sarvāstivādin meditation traditions in Kashmir led to the Buddha meditation practices which later influenced Pure Land in China.Remembrance of the Buddha is an early Buddhist practice which was taught in the Early Buddhist Texts. According to Paul Harrison, the term anusmṛti means 'recollection', 'remembrance', and, by extension, 'calling to mind', 'keeping in mind'. Buddha recollection was part of a group of anusmṛti practices. In the Anguttara Nikaya, one finds six anusmṛtis: the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, sila, caga, and the devata. In the Sutta Nipata, a Brahmin follower of the Buddha, named Pingiya, notes that even though his physical state does not allow him to be with the Buddha personally,
there is no moment for me, however small, that is spent away from Gotama, from this universe of wisdom, this world of understanding... with constant and careful vigilance it is possible for me to see him with my mind as clearly as with my eyes, in night as well as day. And since I spend my nights revering him, there is not, to my mind, a single moment spent away from him.The Ekottara-agama also contains various unique passages on buddhānusmṛti. EA III, 1 states that buddhānusmṛti can lead to the unconditioned, nirvana, as well as magic power. This sutra explains that a monk should sit down and "contemplates the image of the Tathagatha without taking his eyes off it...he calls to mind the qualities of the Tathagatha." These qualities which one contemplates include his vajra body, ten powers, his moral qualities, samadhis and wisdom.
According to Paul Williams, this practice of "Buddha mindfulness" gained further importance within Mahayana Buddhism, which had an expanded cosmology that held that there were infinite numbers of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas living in infinite Buddhafields throughout the universe. The practice of mindfulness of the Buddhas was seen as a way to contact these living Buddhas and attain awakening. For example, the Saptaśatikā ''Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra'' states that through the 'Single Deed Samadhi' one can quickly attain enlightenment:
The meditators should live in seclusion, cast away discursive thoughts, not cling to the appearance of things, concentrate their minds on a Buddha, and recite his name single-mindedly. They should keep their bodies erect and, facing the direction of that Buddha, meditate upon him continuously. If they can maintain mindfulness of the Buddha without interruption from moment to moment, then they will be able to see all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future right in each moment.A related idea associated with this Mahayana Buddhology was that through proper conduct, worship, and meditation, one could attain rebirth in the Buddha-field of one of these Buddhas.
Buddha-field concept
In the more expansive Mahayana cosmology, there are an infinite number of Buddhas, and each one has a field of activity where they teach and guide sentient beings to awakening. This teaching activity, which is done out of a sense of great compassion, is how Buddhas and bodhisattvas "purify" their Buddha-fields. Indeed, the very existence of a buddha-field depends on the acts of a bodhisattva on their path to Buddhahood. According to Jan Nattier, these ideas may have developed out of meditative experiences which provided certain meditators with "visions of a universe far more vast than had previously been supposed", with many world systems, some of which contained other Buddhas. This introduced the possibility that one could be reborn in these Buddha-fields.Indian Mahayanists also held that these buddha-fields had a splendor and purity that matched the purity of the Buddha's mind. Sentient beings who are reborn in these pure buddha-fields due to their good karma also contribute to the development of a Buddha-field, as can bodhisattvas who are able to travel there. These buddha-fields are therefore powerful places which are very advantageous to spiritual progress.
According to Jan Nattier, the wish to be reborn in a Buddhafield may have become popular in India due to the common idea that the bodhisattva path was very difficult and entailed much suffering and self-sacrifice. It also was seen as lasting a very long time, in some formulations, it lasts three incalculable eons, which would mean spending millions of lifetimes on the path.
Not all buddha-fields appear as perfectly 'pure', and some Mahayana sutras speak of three kinds of buddha-fields: impure, pure, and mixed. Thus, an impure buddha-field, includes non-Buddhists, immoral people, and so on. On the other hand, purified buddha-fields, like Amitabha's, are described as beautiful places, covered in beryl and gold, without any filth or evil. However, different Mahayana texts explain the nature of Sakyamuni's buddhafield in different ways. According to Paul Williams, some sutras adopt the view that Sakyamuni's buddhafield is impure because, due to his vast compassion, he works to help all beings, even the most impure. Thus, while some Buddhas like Amitabha, teach the beings who aspire to be born in their pure buddha-fields, other Buddhas "vow to appear as Buddhas in impure realms, tainted Buddha Fields, out of their great compassion." This is the view of Sakyamuni's buddha-field which is found in the Lotus Sutra, which according to Williams "sought to restore Sakyamuni to pre-eminence in the face of Pure Land cults centred on Amitayus and Aksobhya."
According to the Vimalakirti sutra, this seemingly impure world, Sakyamuni's buddha-field, is actually a purified buddha-field. It only appears to be impure because the minds of sentient beings perceive it to be impure. As Williams explains, the view of the Vimalakirti sutra is that: "The impurity that we see is the result of impure awareness, and also the Buddha's compassion in creating a world within which impure beings can grow. Thus the real way to attain a Pure Land is to purify one's own mind. Put another way, we are already in the Pure Land if we but knew it. Whatever the realm, if it is inhabited by people with enlightened pure minds then it is a Pure Land."
There was never any Indian "school" focused on this method, as it was considered one of the many goals and methods of Indian Mahayana Buddhism. There is also very little evidence for an Amitabha cult per se in India according to Williams. Furthermore, the East Asian term "pure land" or "purified ground" is not a translation of any particular Indic term, and Indian authors almost always used the term buddhakṣetra. However, it is possible the Chinese term is related to the Sanskrit term pariśuddha-''buddhakṣetra''.