Amitabha Buddha – Mahayana philosophy
| According to the Larger Sūtra of Immeasurable Life, Amitābha was, in very ancient times and possibly in another system of worlds, a monk named Dharmakāra. In some versions of the sūtra, Dharmakāra is described as a former king who, having come into contact with Buddhist teachings through the buddha Lokeśvararāja, renounced his throne. He then resolved to become a Buddha and to create a buddhakṣetra (literally- \”buddha-field\”, often called a \”Pureland\” or \”Buddha Land\” a realm existing in the primordial universe outside of ordinary reality, produced by a buddha\’s merit) possessed of many perfections. These resolutions were expressed in his forty-eight vows, which set out the type of Pureland Dharmakāra aspired to create, the conditions under which beings might be born into that world, and what kind of beings they would be when reborn there. In the versions of the sutra widely known in China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan NAMO AMITHABA |