English and Chinese
Pure Land Sutras  :  1)     2)  3)

1) Amitabha Sutra   2) Visualization of Amitabha Sutra 3) Infinite life Sutra
 

Dedication of merit ( after prayer or done good deeds )

May the merit and virtues
accrued from this work
Adorn the Buddha's Pure Land,
Repaying the four kinds
of kindness above,
and relieving the sufferings of those in the Three Paths below.

Amitabha: Sanskrit; Amita Bul (Korean); "Infite Light" Buddha which   represents the three Buddhas (Vairocana,Rocana,Sakyamuni
        Buddha) in Mahayana collectively as Oneness. He is ruler of the
        western paradise (pure land), which is not a physical location but it is
        a state of consciousness.


         The name Amitabha means "Infinite Light." Amitabha's
     Discriminating Wisdom conquers the poison of the passions--all
     cravings, covetousness, greed and lust. With this wisdom, the disciple
     discerns all beings separately yet knows every being as an individual
     expression of the One.
             In the mandala of the Dhyani Buddhas, Amitabha is positioned to
     the west. His color is rose (red), the color of the setting sun. He rules
     over the element of fire and personifies the skandha of perception.
     Thus, the eye and the faculty of seeing are associated with Amitabha.
     The peacock, with "eyes" on its plumes, is his throne-bearer. The
     peacock symbolizes grace.
             Amitabha's symbol is the padma, or lotus, placed between him
     and Vairochana in this mandala. In Buddhism, the lotus can symbolize
     many things, including spiritual unfoldment, purity, the true nature of
     beings realized through enlightenment, and compassion, the purified
     form of passion.
             Devotees aspire to be reborn in Amitabha's Western Paradise,
     known as Sukhavati, where conditions are ideal for attaining
     enlightenment. His mudra is the dhyana (meditation) mudra. His bija is
     Hrih and his mantra is Om Amitabha Hrih.
             Some consider Amitabha to be synonymous with Amitayus, the
     Buddha of Infinite Life. Others honor Amitayus as a form of Amitabha
     or as a separate Buddha. Amitayus is usually depicted holding a vessel
     of the elixir of immortal life. As shown in this statue, a tiny ashoka-tree
     often sprouts from the cover of his vessel, representing the union of the
     spiritual and the material.

Other interesting Amitabha Buddha's homepage

Link one                 Link two    Link three,   Link Four,
             


THE VENERABLE MONKS OF PURE LAND TEACHINGS :
Venerable Honen Monk From Japan,

Venerable Chin Kung famous in Taiwan and Around Asian Countries


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

translated by Hisao Inagaki
 

Our human body, if closely observed, is a bubble on water;
When the bubble bursts, the body ceases to be.
Our human life, if carefully pondered, is like an image of the moon in water;
It does not remain unchanged while we breathe in and out. (1)

Those bodies in the good realms of devas and humans,
However deeply we may be attached to them, must die in the end.
Suffering in hell or in the realms of hungry spirits and animals,
However hard we may struggle to avoid it, easily comes back to afflict us. (2)

Things before the eyes
Cannot be seen by the blind;
Words uttered near the ears
Cannot be heard by the deaf. (3)

We can smell and taste with our senses
Only for a short while;
When our breathing stops,
No perception remains in the body. (4)

From the distant past
Until today
Nothing wished for has become reality.
How sad! (5)

Those who believe that they are enlightened
In the teachings of the Path of Sages and the Pure Land Path
Have inexhaustible delusory thoughts regarding Samsara,
Which produce karma binding them to cycles of birth-and-death. (6)

Concerning the principle of non-duality of good and evil,
They think, with completely perverse views,
That right and wrong are indiscriminate.
How shameful their ignorance! (7)

Hearing that evil passions are identical with Bodhi,
They are too willing to commit evil karma,
But while recognizing that birth-and-death is Nirvana,
They are deeply attached to their own lives. (8)

The Pure Dharma-body in one's nature
Is the everlasting Buddha of True Suchness;
Since neither enlightenment nor delusion can be attributed to him,
What difference does it make whether we know or do not know this? (9)

The Reward-body fully glorified with the merits of a myriad practices
Is the Buddha in whom Reality and Wisdom are fused;
Since there is in him no subject-object distinction,
He is useless as the object of our mental and recitative Nembutsu. (10)

The Accommodative Body attained by severing evils and practising good
Is the Buddha capable of curing illnesses by prescribing medicines according to different
conditions,
But he cannot give the benefit of universal deliverance
To those who commit the ten evils and the five gravest offences. (11)

The Reward-body resulting from the Vow of the Nembutsu
Is the Buddha who brings ordinary beings to emancipation;
Since his Vow is for all beings in the ten directions,
No one is left outside of his salvation. (12)

The special Vow, unsurpassed in the whole world,
Has inconceivable power - the Other-Power;
So if one recites the Name aloud,
The evil karma of birth-and-death perishes as we voice the Nembutsu. (13)

Apart from the first utterance of the Nembutsu,
The last ten utterances are not possible;
Each Nembutsu repeated is the first utterance,
And the last is the one uttered at the end of life. (14)

When discriminative thoughts are exhausted,
There is no beginning nor end to the Nembutsu;
The Buddha and sentient beings merging into one,
One should simply say "Namu Amida Butsu." (15)

Quickly abandon all secular engagements,
And entrust yourself to Amida with singleness of heart;
When your breathing stops with the Nembutsu,
That is the time when your mind ceases to function. (16)

At that time, from the Land of Utmost Bliss Amida, Kannon and Daiseishi
Appear before the devotee with a multitude of great sages,
As innumerable as the sands of the River Ganges;
Together they extend their hands to the aspirant
To welcome him and take him in their embrace. (17)

At that moment, he mounts a gold lotus seat
And follows closely after the Buddha;
In the lapse of a moment, he attain birth
In the Pure Land of Peace and Provision. (18)

The aspirant, having descended from the lotus seat,
Prostrates himself on the ground to worship the sages;
Following the bodhisattvas who guide him,
He finally reaches the Buddha. (19)

He makes a visit to the Grand Jewel Palace,
Where he listens to the Buddha's sermon;
He climbs up the tower among the jewelled trees,
Whence he looks out at distant worlds in other directions. (20)

After we have reached the Land of Peace and Provision,
We will return to the defiled world to save beings;
With the Vow of Compassion that knows no bounds,
We will repay his Benevolence for all ages in the future. (2)