Pure Land

[Lost in Translation]

Could someone please explain what is meant by "Pure Land" within Buddhism? I have a vague notion of it - basically that Kuan Yin, in her overflowing compassion, manifests a new "Pure Land" reality in which it is "easier" to achieve enlightenment and thus break the cycle of death and birth, and those who pray to her are granted access to this reality upon death here. But beyond that I am clueless. Your help is appreciated.

[Starjumper]

One aspect of Pure and is that it's promoted by the Nam Yoha Renge Kyo crowd, and they are the worst and lowest types of fundamentalists that you can imagine.  They even say that meditation is evil, just like Christian fundamentalists do.

[Lost in Translation]

36 minutes ago, Starjumper said:

One aspect of Pure and is that it's promoted by the Nam Yoha Renge Kyo crowd, and they are the worst and lowest types of fundamentalists that you can imagine.  They even say that meditation is evil, just like Christian fundamentalists do.

 

That's good to know. 

[doc benway]

I'm no authority but will offer one perspective -

Purity refers to freedom from ignorance, it refers to the primordial, unelaborated essence of being. Purity is thus related to wisdom. When wisdom arises in a practitioner, they are said to have Pure Vision. When the world is "experienced" through Pure Vision, one sees the underlying spontaneous and unelaborated perfection of our natural state of being in everything one encounters. Everything is in its place, all is well... Thus the Pure Lands are the lands of the Buddhas and Bodhisatvas. The Pure Lands dawn with the arising of the Three Kayas. They are not somewhere else, they are here and now. 

[Lost in Translation]

1 minute ago, steve said:

I'm no authority but will offer one perspective -

Purity refers to freedom from ignorance, it refers to the primordial, unelaborated essence of being. Purity is thus related to wisdom. When wisdom arises in a practitioner, they are said to have Pure Vision. When the world is "experienced" through Pure Vision, one sees the underlying spontaneous and unelaborated perfection of our natural state of being in everything one encounters. Everything is in its place, all is well... Thus the Pure Lands are the lands of the Buddhas and Bodhisatvas. The Pure Lands dawn with the arising of the Three Kayas. They are not somewhere else, they are here and now. 

 

This is very interesting. Thank you. But if the Pure Lands are here and now, and not somewhere else, then how does that relate to Kuan Yin's promise to help those who pray to her to be reborn in the Pure Land? 

[Dainin]

I do believe that it is the Amitabha Buddha and not Kuan Yin that "created" the Pure Land.

 

A number of the Chinese sects seem to do Pure Land chanting (Amituofo) as well as Chan meditation. The Japanese seem to have separated them out after Nichiren (1200s), and as Starjumper mentions above, a lot of the Japanese sects are indeed hardcore fundamentalists.

[senseless virtue]

Pure Lands come in two varieties: first when realizing the emptiness of dharmakaya and second later when the light body is realized.

 

The immediate physical presence of all Buddhas is Pure Land because their presence is beautifying all creation. This can also be felt in their relics which have a real purifying power. So far I understand that the effective difference between the two varieties is that the light body realization establishes a heavenly paradise in the Form Realm Pure Lands in which sentient beings can continue to cultivate in safety and under guidance without falling back to samsara. Each of these heavenly Pure Lands is different and unique to each Buddha.

Edited July 13, 2018 by virtue

[Lost in Translation]

3 minutes ago, virtue said:

The immediate physical presence of all Buddhas is Pure Land because their presence is beautifying all creation. This can also be felt in their relics which have a real purifying power.

 

I have felt this. There is a small temple in my area that contains thousands of sharira relics. The energy of room that contains them is fantastic.

 

4 minutes ago, virtue said:

So far I understand that the effective difference between the two varieties is that the light body realization establishes a heavenly paradise in the Form Real Pure Lands in which sentient beings can continue to cultivate in safety and under guidance and without falling back to samsara.

 

I would like to learn more about how sentient beings "can continue to cultivate in safety and under guidance and without falling back to samsara." Is this something you can explain further?

[senseless virtue]

54 minutes ago, Lost in Translation said:

I have felt this. There is a small temple in my area that contains thousands of sharira relics. The energy of room that contains them is fantastic.

 

Lucky you!

 

To anyone seriously interested in Buddha dharma or any other sacred tradition with relics, do yourself a huge favor and go acquire a relic to bless your household and neighborhood.

 

Quote

I would like to learn more about how sentient beings "can continue to cultivate in safety and under guidance and without falling back to samsara." Is this something you can explain further?

 

This is my own wording of the topic. You may safely consider it flawed.

 

When death comes to sentient beings, they get to stay in a transitional dream-like existence called bardo or limbo for a while. If they have self-delusions or karma left, they will receive vivid images of six lokas (hell, pretas, animals, humans, demigods, and gods) and be in particular tempted by copulating images of different beings after which entry to a womb is often followed. This uncontrolled transmigration continues death after death with increasing karmic retributions for engaging in self-cherishing actions. Such is samsara.

 

The six lokas are the Desire Realm. Above that the Buddhist cosmology says is the Form Realm with different types of heavens. There beings do not suffer or experience any desire nor birth through womb. Most of these heavens will gift beings with a limited lifetime however, and some heavens even experience some type of cosmic cataclysms that periodically end their existence. The exception is the Pure Lands where the power of the Buddhas anchors their inhabitants unless they consciously seek to be reborn elsewhere.

 

It's a technical, but highly relevant point that all these Form Realm heavens can be accessed and experienced during one's mortal life through dhyana-samadhi states which are types of meditative absorption or concentration. There are many ways to reach these absorptions like anapanasati taught by the Syakamuni Buddha or various Pure Land devotional methods such as chanting holy names (Buddha or his/her heaven).

 

Entry into any of these Form Realms requires cultivation merit (which is alchemy of light very generally) which either stabilizes your concentration during bardo or creates an attuning to some Pure Land, so that you receive visions of Buddhas helping you and showing their Pure Lands into which you can enter then. It has also been said that the extremely virtuous go to these pure heavens straight without any bardo, and that the extremely sinful go to hell straight without any chance of higher rebirth during bardo.

Edited July 13, 2018 by virtue

[lifeforce]

https://buddhaweekly.com/amitabha-sutra-cutting-delusions-one-pointed-blissful-contemplation-amitabha-buddha-pure-land/

 

This webpage explains it far better than I could put into words.

If you read it, re-read it, contemplate the meaning, and put the teachings into actual practice, you have a method for achieving liberation that is as valid as any other.

Best wishes.

[doc benway]

On 7/13/2018 at 1:37 PM, Lost in Translation said:

 

This is very interesting. Thank you. But if the Pure Lands are here and now, and not somewhere else, then how does that relate to Kuan Yin's promise to help those who pray to her to be reborn in the Pure Land? 

 

Rebirth can refer to any transition, moment to moment, day to day, lifetime to lifetime.

In the sutric traditions there is more focus on accumulating merit for other lifetimes. The Pure Lands are very far away!

In the trantric tradition you transform into the deity and abide in Pure Lands in this and future lifetimes.

In the dzogchen tradition you simply realize inherent Purity in every moment, in every situation.

 

It is here, it is now!

~ Peter Gabriel

 

[Starjumper]

On 7/13/2018 at 1:01 PM, Dainin said:

I do believe that it is the Amitabha Buddha and not Kuan Yin that "created" the Pure Land.

 

A number of the Chinese sects seem to do Pure Land chanting (Amituofo)

 

 

Edited July 15, 2018 by Starjumper

[Vajra Fist]

On 13/07/2018 at 5:55 PM, Starjumper said:

One aspect of Pure and is that it's promoted by the Nam Yoha Renge Kyo crowd, and they are the worst and lowest types of fundamentalists that you can imagine.  They even say that meditation is evil, just like Christian fundamentalists do.

 

This is Nichiren, not Pure Land. Specifically a sect within Nichiren called Soka Gakkai, which is regarded by the rest of Nichiren and Japan more broadly as being potentially a cult. My father in law practices Nichiren and he doesn't have such extreme views by any means.

 

Referring to Pure Land there are two major Japanese schools, Jodo-shu or Jodo Shin-shu (or Shin).

 

The main practices are chanting solely Namu Amida Butsu, or Namu Amida-bu.

 

It is a Buddhism of faith, where you rely on the vow of Amitabha (referenced in the sutra above) to deliver you to the Pure Land at death, and the ultimate enlightenment.

 

It is also sometimes used as a 'safety net' for other practices, especially in Zen. Whereby if you fail to achieve enlightment in this life through your own efforts, you still will achieve liberation from samsara and another shot in the next life (in the Pure Land). 

 

It's a perfect, easy and non demanding practice, and certainly one most cultivators should consider, especially those getting older.