Pure Land


Pure Land is a Mahayana Buddhist concept referring to a transcendent realm emanated by a buddha or bodhisattva which has been purified by their activity and sustaining power. Pure lands are said to be places without the sufferings of samsara and to be beyond the three planes of existence. Many Mahayana Buddhists aspire to be reborn in a Buddha's pure land after death.
The term "Pure Land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism. In Sanskrit Buddhist sources, the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field or more technically a pure buddha-field. It is also known by the Sanskrit term . In Tibetan Buddhism meanwhile, the term "pure realms" is also used as a synonym for buddhafield.
The various traditions that focus on attaining rebirth in a Pure Land are often called Pure Land Buddhism. The English term is ambiguous. It can refer to a way of practice which is found in most Mahayana traditions which employ various means to attain birth in a pure land. This specific concept is termed the "Pure Land Dharma gate" in East Asian Buddhism. The English term can also refer to specific Buddhist schools or sects which focus on Pure Land practice. Specifically these would be termed in Chinese and in Japanese.
Pure Lands are also found in the non-Buddhist traditions of Taoism and Bon.

In South Asian sources

The Mahavastu defines a buddha-field as a realm where "a tathagata, a holy one, fully and perfectly enlightened, is to be found, lives, exists and teaches the Dharma, for the benefit and happiness of the great body of beings, men and gods."
The Indian Mahayana sutras describe many buddha-fields. Mahayana sources hold that there are an infinite number of buddhas, each with their own buddha-field where they teach the Dharma and where sentient beings can be reborn into. A buddha-field is a place where bodhisattvas can more easily progress spiritually on the bodhisattva path. Jan Nattier has argued that this idea became popular because the traditional understanding of the extreme length of the bodhisattva path seemed very difficult and training under a buddha in a buddha-field was seen as a faster way to buddhahood, known as stream winning.
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 Indian sources, the bodhisattva path, by ending all defilements, culminates in the arising of a purified buddha-field, which is the manifestation and reflection of a Buddha's activity. Mahayana sources state that bodhisattvas like Avalokiteśvara and Manjushri will obtain their own buddha-fields after they attain full buddhahood. In the Lotus Sutra, Buddha's close followers, such as Śāriputra, Mahākāśyapa, Subhūti, Maudgalyāyana and Buddha's son Rāhula are also predicted to attain their own Pure Lands. The relative time-flow in the Pure Lands may be different, with a day in one Pure Land being equivalent to years in another.

Purity of buddha-fields

Mahayana sources speak of three kinds of buddha-fields: pure, impure, and mixed. An example of an "impure" field is often this world, Sakyamuni's field. Purified fields include Amitabha's buddha-field of Sukhavati. Some sutras say that Sakyamuni chose to come to an impure world due to his vast compassion.
However, not all Mahayana texts agree that Sakyamuni's world is impure. Numerous Mahayana sutras, such as the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā, Lankavatara, Vimalakirti, and Lotus Sutras, also state that this dualism between purity and impurity is illusory and instead state that even this world is a pure buddha-field.
Thus, according to the Vimalakirti, this seemingly impure world is actually pure. It only appears impure because the deluded and impure minds of sentient beings perceive it like that. As Paul Williams explains: "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."
Numerous Mahayana sources also connect the concept of a purified buddhafield with the purity of one's own mind. Hence, the Vimalakirti sutra states: "the bodhisattva who wishes to purify his buddhakṣetra should, first of all, skillfully adorn his own mind. And why? Because to the extent that the mind of a bodhisattva is pure is his buddhakṣetra purified."

Iconography

Nakamura establishes the Indian background of the padma imagery of the field which is evident iconographically, as well as in motif and metaphor:

In Pāḷi sources

The Theravadin Pāḷi literature, including the Pāḷi Canon, contains various references to "Buddha-fields". One example is a Pāḷi Canon text called Buddhāpadāna which discusses the nature of Buddha-fields where many Buddhas reside, describing it as a kind of palace decorated with amazing features like many jewels and lotus flowers. The text states that there are numerous Buddhas with such fields in the ten directions, "as many as are there the numerous jewels, both in the heaven above and on the earth below." Another Pāḷi text, the Buddhavamsa, describes how the Buddha is able to use his supernormal powers to generate jewelled walkways and pillars for the benefit of others.
Buddhaghosa in his Vishuddhimagga discusses three types of Buddha-fields, which may be pure, impure, or mixed:
  1. The birth-field of a Buddha, which comprises 10,000 worlds, all of which shake when a specific Buddha is born.
  2. The "field of authority" of a Buddha, which spans 100,000 koṭīs.
  3. The field of the cognitive domain of a Buddha, which is infinite.

    Mahayana Pure Lands

Amitābha's Sukhāvatī

is by far the most popular pure land in East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. It is also the main goal of Pure Land Buddhism, which is centered around faith and devotion to Amitābha Buddha as the means of attaining rebirth in his pure land. It is also a popular pure land in Tibetan Buddhism as well. The key canonical teachings on Sukhāvatī are found in the "three pure land sutras", the main sources for East Asian Pure Land Buddhism: the Smaller Sukhāvatī-vyūha, the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, and the Amitayus Contemplation Sutra.
According to Mahayana scriptures, in his past life, Amitabha was a devoted king of a joyous kingdom in a distant eon who renounced his throne to become a monk and vowed to attain buddhahood. He made forty-eight vows which focus on the greatness of his future pure land, pledging that he would not accept buddhahood if any of these vows went unfulfilled. The vows are dedicated to establishing a pure realm accessible to all beings who aspired to be reborn there. This monk would ultimately become Buddha Amitabha. His vows were grounded in hearing his name, establishing virtue, and dedicating merit toward rebirth in this pure land.
Some Mahayana sutra teachings say that after Amitabha attains final nirvana, the successors of Amitabha in Sukhāvatī will be Avalokiteśvara, followed by Mahāsthāmaprāpta.
There are numerous East Asian texts discussing the various experiences of Pure Land Buddhists who have gone to the Pure land or had a vision of Sukhavati. Some Buddhists and followers of other religions claimed to have seen Sukhavati and numerous East Asian popular faiths and cults also discuss Sukhavati.

Śākyamuni's Pure Land

The Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra states that Śākyamuni Buddha has his own Pure Land which is far away and is called "Unsurpassable". Śākyamuni Buddha is said to manifest from his Pure Land into our world in order to teach the Dharma.
Śākyamuni Buddha is also associated with the assembly in open space over Vulture Peak, which is the site of the preaching of the Lotus Sutra. Tiantai tradition holds that while the founder Zhiyi was chanting the Lotus Sutra, he had a vision of this pure assembly. His teacher Nanyue Huisi is said to have told Zhiyi that they had met in a previous life at this assembly. The Japanese monk Nichiren taught his disciples that through faith in the Lotus Sutra, one could be reborn in the pure land of Vulture Peak after death, promoting it as an alternative postmortem destination to Sukhavati.
Japanese Buddhist schools like Tendai and Nichiren Buddhism see Śākyamuni's pure land as being continuous with this world. This becomes pronounced in Nichiren Buddhism, which affirms the non-duality of this world and the pure land of Vulture peak. Even when addressing one's postmortem destination, Nichiren insisted that the "pure land of Vulture Peak"—while including the deceased faithful—is also a sacred reality accessible in this world through faith in the Lotus Sutra. For Nichiren, the samsaric world itself, when properly understood and engaged through faith, is the eternally abiding pure land. This leads to the attainment of buddhahood in one's present body, without rejecting samsara or aspiring to a realm beyond it. This pure land was also associated with the Land of Tranquil Light, the supreme pure land in the Tiantai system.

Pure Lands of Buddha Vairocana

According to the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra, the whole universe is a vast pure buddha-field which has been purified by the cosmic Vairocana Buddha. This is the view of Pure Land which is found in the Chinese Huayan tradition and in Chinese Esoteric Buddhism. According to this view, our world is just one small part of this universal Pure Land which is named: "Ocean of worlds, whose surface and inside are decorated with an arrangement of flowers". It is also called the "Lotus Treasury World", since it is an array of billions of worlds in a lotus flower shape.
Furthermore, Ghanavyūha is considered to be the supreme pure buddhafield specific to Vairocana. It appears in Mahayana sutras like the Ghanavyūha Sutra. According to this sutra, by following virtuous teachers, hearing and contemplating Buddha Dharma, and letting go of all concepts and craving, one can be reborn there, achieve enlightenment, and manifest in countless ways to help all beings.
In East Asian Esoteric Buddhist traditions, like Shingon, the dual mandalas of the Vajradhatu and Garbhadhatu mandalas are considered to be the representation of the buddhafield of Mahāvairocana Buddha, the supreme cosmic Buddha.