Pure Land

Lore & Background

The Indic term buddhakṣetra initially referred to the realm where a buddha taught and exerted his enlightening influence. The Mahāvastu 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." Over time, the idea developed that buddhas purify certain realms which become special destinations for rebirth. Indian Mahayana sutras describe many such pure buddha-fields, holding that there are infinite buddhas, each with their own fields where beings can be reborn due to good karmic acts. A purified buddha-field is described as free of evils and troubles, with an array of good qualities, making it advantageous for bodhisattvas to progress on the path. Mahayana sources speak of three kinds of buddha-fields: pure, impure, and mixed. The most popular example of a pure land is Sukhāvatī, the pure land of Amitabha. Some sutras say that Sakyamuni chose to come to an impure world (Sahā) due to his vast compassion, though other texts like the Vimalakirti sutra state that this dualism is illusory and that even this world is a pure buddha-field when seen with a pure mind. 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."

Reader's Guide

The concept of Pure Land is significant in Mahayana Buddhism as it offers a goal for rebirth that is free from the sufferings of samsara, providing an easier path to buddhahood compared to the traditional bodhisattva path which takes thousands of eons. Jan Nattier has argued that the idea became popular as a response to the extreme length and difficulty of that path. Pure Land practice, often called the 'Pure Land Dharma gate' in East Asian Buddhism, employs various means to attain birth in a pure land, including mindfulness of the Buddha and calling out 'Namo Buddhaya' as death approached, a practice mirrored in non-Mahayana sources like the Divyāvadāna. The legacy of Pure Land thought is seen in the development of specific schools or sects, such as Jìngtǔzōng in Chinese and Jōdo bukkyō in Japanese, which focus on Pure Land practice. The concept also appears in non-Buddhist traditions of Taoism and Bon. Iconographically, the lotus (padma) symbolism is prominent, with descriptions of aspirants being born transformed in lotus flowers, while those with doubts remain in lotus buds for five hundred years. The relative time-flow in Pure Lands may differ, with a day in one Pure Land equivalent to years in another.

Did You Know?

• The Mahāvastu defines a buddha-field as a realm where a tathagata teaches the Dharma for the benefit of men and gods.
• The Divyāvadāna describes a practice of calling out 'Namo Buddhaya' as death approached, attributing its salvific power to the 'power of the Buddha.'
• Jan Nattier argued that the idea of a pure land became popular as a response to the extreme length and difficulty of the traditional bodhisattva path, which took thousands of eons.
• In the Vimalakirti sutra, the Buddha states that the impurity we see is the result of impure awareness, and the real way to attain a Pure Land is to purify one's own mind.
• The relative time-flow in Pure Lands may differ, with a day in one Pure Land being equivalent to years in another.