Pure Land Buddhism

Buddhism of grace: rebirth in a paradise through faith in Amitābha.

c. 400 CE → · East Asia · Dharmic

Pure Land is the most widely practiced form of Buddhism in East Asia, teaching that in a degenerate age liberation is best reached not by one’s own strenuous effort but by trusting the compassionate vow of Amitābha Buddha, who welcomes the faithful into his Pure Land. Its central practice is the heartfelt recitation of the Buddha’s name. In Japan, Hōnen and Shinran opened this path of grace to ordinary people.

Key figures

• Amitābha Buddha
• Hōnen and Shinran (Japanese teachers)

Texts

• The Pure Land Sutras

Beliefs

• Rebirth in Amitābha’s Pure Land
• Liberation through faith and grace
• Calling the Buddha’s name in trust

Rituals

• Reciting the Buddha’s name (nianfo / nembutsu)
• Devotional chanting
• Visualization of the Pure Land

Grew from

• Mahāyāna Buddhism

Connections in the atlas

• Kyōgyōshinshō
• Shinran
• Kumano Kodō
• Mount Hiei and Enryaku-ji
• Lotus
• Prayer beads
• The Japanese (Yamato)
• ▶ How Buddhism crossed Asia
• Vajrayāna Buddhism
• Buddhism to Korea and Japan
• Kyoto's temples and shrines
• The Han Chinese