pure land

A pure land is a land in which Buddhas and other pure beings live. It is undefiled by the Five Turbidities (see listing). The most well-known of the pure lands described by the Buddha is the Land of Ultimate Bliss of Amita Buddha in the West, which is described in The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra.

All beings of this country endure none of the sufferings but enjoy every bliss. . . . This land of Ultimate Bliss is surrounded by seven tiers of railings, seven layers of netting, and seven rows of trees, all formed from the four treasures . . . . This Land of Ultimate Bliss has pools of the seven jewels, filled with waters of eight meritorious virtues. The bottom of each pool is pure, spread over with golden sand. On the four sides are stairs of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and crystal; above are raised pavilions adorned with gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, mother-of-pearl, red pearls, and carnelian. In the pools are lotuses as large as carriage wheels, green colored of green light, yellow colored of yellow light, red colored of red light, white colored of white light, subtly, wonderfully, fragrant and pure. . . . In that Buddhaland there is always heavenly music and the ground is yellow gold. In the six periods of the day and night a heavenly rain of mandarava flowers falls, and throughout the clear morning, each living being of that land, with sacks full of the myriads of wonderful flowers, makes offerings to the hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhas of the other directions. At mealtime they return to their own country, and having eaten, they stroll around. . . . In this country there are always rare and wonderful varicolored birds: white geese, peacocks, parrots, and egrets, kalavinkas and two-headed birds. In the six periods of the day and night the flocks of birds sing forth harmonious and elegant sounds; their clear and joyful sounds proclaim the five roots, the five powers, the seven bodhi shares, the eight sagely Way shares, and Dharmas such as those. When living beings of this land hear these sounds, they are altogether mindful of the Buddha, mindful of the Dharma, and mindful of the Sangha. . . . (AS 109-116)

A Buddha's pure land is a world system which has may special characteristics. It is without the three evil destinies of the hells, ghosts, and animals. The earth is level and the land is very beautiful with all kinds of wondrous adornments. Human life is very blissful as in the heavens. Yet, unlike the heavens, everything in a pure land is set up so that living beings there are always mindful of the Three Jewels (see that entry), and they are always able to hear a Buddha and his retinue of Bodhisattvas teaching the Dharma, which they diligently cultivate. All beings born in pure lands eventually become Buddhas themselves in other world systems or they purposely remain as high Bodhisattvas and go to other world systems to help rescue living beings. Once born in a pure land one will never again fall into the three lower realms of existence or retreat from the Buddha's Path.

The Sixth Patriarch (of the Chan School) Hwei Neng (see listing Hui Neng) said of the Pure Land:

Common, deluded people do not understand their own inherent natures and do not know that the Pure Land is within themselves. Therefore, they make vows for the East and vows for the West. To enlightened people all places are the same. As the Buddha said, 'In whatever place one dwells, there is constant peace and happiness.' (PS 143)

The Venerable Master Hsuan Hua commented on the Christian heaven and the Buddhist pure land: "Fundamentally there is no heaven and there is no Pure Land. People imagine a heaven and a heaven exists. They imagine the existence of a Pure land and a Pure Land exists. The Pure Land Dharma-door was spoken by the Buddha in order to teach you to do away with your false thoughts. It is intended to lead you to a realization of the pure, inherently wonderful True Suchness nature. At the ultimate point, when you have no false thoughts or confused ideas, you arrive at the Pure Land. Whoever can do away with their false thoughts can reach the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Whoever cannot do that is still in the Evil World of the Five Turbidities. Heaven is the same. We imagine how fine and wonderful heaven must be, but only on the basis of what we have heard. We also imagine the Pure Land to be as the Buddha said it was. We haven't yet seen it ourselves, except in our imaginations. As I see it, the Pure land Dharma-door is taught only for the sake of causing you to purify your mind. That is the Pure Land. If your mind has no confused ideas, that is heaven. If you look for it elsewhere, you only show your greed." (Shambala Review, v.5, nos.1&2, Winter, 1976, pp. 27-28)
 

ESSAY ON THE PURE LAND

With one mind we return our lives to the Land of Ultimate Bliss. With a pure light Amita Buddha's vows illumine us, and those kind vows gather us in. Now, with proper mindfulness, we praise the Thus Come One's name in order to take the path of Bodhi and to seek rebirth in the pure land. In the past the Buddha vowed, 'If living beings who wish for rebirth in my land and who resolve their minds with faith and joy, even for just ten recitations, are not reborn there, I will not attain the proper enlightenment.' Through mindfulness of the Buddha, we enter the sea of the Thus Come One's vows and receive the power of the Buddha's kindness. Our multitude of offenses is eradicated and our good roots increase and grow. As we approach the end of life, we ourselves will know the time of its coming. Our bodies will be free of illness and pain. Our hearts will have no greed or fondness, and our thoughts will not be upside down, just as in entering dhyana-samadhi. The Buddha and the assembly of sages, leading us by the hand to the golden dias, will come to welcome us. And in the space of a single thought we will be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. The flower will open, and we will see the Buddha, straightway hear the Buddha vehicle and immediately attain the wisdom of a Buddha. We will take across living beings on a wide scale, fulfilling our Bodhi vows. All Buddha of the ten directions and the Three Periods of Time! All Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas! Maha Prajna Paramita! (RH 230-231)

(Source: Epstein, 2003: pp. 161 - 162)

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1) Chinese Mandarin: jing du ; 2) Sanskrit: parisuddham-budhaksetram; 3) Pali: -Ä ---.

See also: Buddhaland, Pure Land School, Three Bodies of a Buddha, Amitabha Buddha (Amitayus)

See also: The Eight Great Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Ksitigarbha, Vajrapani, Bodhisattva, dharani, mantra, Five School of Buddhism - Esoteric

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: PS 140-145; FAS-PI 116ff.
 

(NOTE: Numerous corrections and enhancements have been made under Shastra tradition and "Fair Use" by an Anonymous Buddhist Monk Redactor (Compiler) of this Online Buddhist Encyclopedia Compilation)