Three ways to attain rebirth in the Land of Bliss In my earlier article, “Karmic Circumstance—Who is Entitled to be Reborn in the Pure Land,”*
The significance of the Buddha’s response to Queen Vaidehi’s request In examining the literal meaning of the title of the Contemplation Sutra, we may have the
Meditative practitioners are entitled to rebirth in the Pure Land In the Contemplation Sutra, Queen Vaidehi asks Shakyamuni Buddha to teach her how to meditate and
Two teachings by two Buddhas—the dual objective of the Contemplation Sutra In his Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra, Master Shandao says: “Here, the objective of the Contemplation Sutra is
Three sages in the west appear in response to Shakyamuni Buddha’s promise From Shakyamuni Buddha’s reply to Queen Vaidehi’s three requests in the Contemplation Sutra, we
“To see the Buddha” means “to achieve samadhi” In the Contemplation Sutra, Queen Vaidehi requests that the Buddha teach her how to be reborn in the
A typical understanding of the afterlife and a poor knowledge of the Pure Land The Land of Bliss, one of the Buddha’s splendid pure lands
If a competition were held to select the most popular sutra in Buddhism, the following sutras would very likely be among those nominated: The Heart Sutra.
The story of Butcher Jing in Tang dynasty China The following episode is recorded in Part 28 of Collected Records of the Buddha:* In Chang’an, during
The question of lust in Pure Land practice For a Pure Land practitioner, the simple answer to the question of whether Amitabha-recitation can help one
The general concept of merit-dedication By definition, bodhisattvas are those who follow the Buddhist path in order to deliver other sentient beings from suffering. In
Pure Land practitioners are puzzled by a moral dilemma Despite the fact that aspiring to be reborn in the Land of Bliss is the same
