Amitabha
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For the prehistoric bird Amitabha urbsinterdictensis, see Amitabha (genus).
Amitābha is a celestial Buddha described in the scriptures of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
According to these scriptures, Amitābha is a Buddha possessing infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva. He lives in another world, a "Pure Land" (Chinese 净土 jìngtŭ) called Sukhāvatī (Sanskrit for "possessing happiness") situated in the uttermost west, beyond the bounds of our own world. By the power of his vows, Amitābha has made it possible for all who call upon him to be reborn into this land, there to undergo instruction by him in the dharma and ultimately become bodhisattvas and Buddhas in their turn (the ultimate goal of Mahāyāna Buddhism).
Amitābha's vows indicate that all who call upon him will, after their deaths, be reborn in the Pure Land regardless of their merit or their religious or worldly status. This openness and acceptance of all kinds of people has made the Pure Land belief one of the major influences in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Pure Land Buddhism seems to have first become popular in northwest India/Pakistan and Afghanistan and spread from there to Central Asia and China, and from China to Vietnam, Korea and Japan.
Amitābha is also known in Tibet, Mongolia, and other regions where Tibetan Buddhism is practised. In Tibet, Amitabha is considered one of the Five Dhyāni Buddhas (together with Akṣobhya, Amoghasiddhi, Ratnasambhava, and Vairocana), who is associated with the western direction and the skandha of saṃjñā.
As Amitāyus, he is also a frequently invoked Buddha in Tibet, especially in practices relating to longevity.
Names in various languages
The proper (nominative) form of Amitābha's name in Sanskrit is Amitābhaḥ. This name is a compound of the Sanskrit words amita meaning "without bound, infinite" and ābhā meaning "light, splendor". Consequently the name is to be interpreted as "he who possesses light without bound, he whose splendor is infinite".
Another name that is used is Amitāyus (nominative form Amitāyuḥ). This name is a compound of amita "infinite" and āyus "life", and so means "he whose life is boundless".
In Chinese Amitābha's name is given as 阿彌陀佛 (Āmítuó Fó), where Āmítuó is the Chinese representation of the first three syllables of either Amitābha or Amitāyus, and Fó is Chinese for Buddha (a very early borrowing of the first syllable of the Sanskrit word).
The meaning of Amitābha's name is given in Chinese as 無量光佛 Wúliángguāng Fó ("infinite light Buddha"), and likewise the meaning of the name Amitāyus is given as 無量壽佛 Wúliángshòu Fó ("infinite life Buddha"). These names are not, however, very commonly used.
Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese use the same Chinese characters for the name of Amitābha, but pronounce them slightly differently:
- Vietnamese: A-di-đà Phật
- Korean: Amit'a Bul
- Japanese: Amida Butsu
In Tibetan, Amitābha is called 'od.dpag.med and, as Amitāyus, tshe.dpag.med.
Doctrine
According to the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, Amitābha was in very ancient times (i.e., in a universe existing long before the beginning of our present universe) a monk with the name of Dharmakāra. In some versions of the sūtra, Dharmakāra is described as a former king who, having come in contact with the Buddhist teaching, renounced his throne. He resolved to become a Buddha and in this way to come into possession of a buddhakṣetra ("Buddha-field", a world produced by a Buddha's merit) possessed of many perfections. These resolutions were expressed in his forty-eight vows 四十八願, which set out the type of Buddha-field which Dharmakāra aspired to create, the conditions under which beings might be born into that world, and what kind of beings they will be when they are reborn there.
In the versions of the sutra widely known in China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan, Dharmakāra's eighteenth vow is that any being in any universe, who desires to be born in Amitābha's Pure Land and calls upon his name, even as few as ten times, will be guaranteed rebirth in the Pure Land. His nineteenth vow promises that he, together with his bodhisattvas and other blessed Buddhists, will appear before those who call upon him at the moment of death.
The sutra goes on to explain that Amitābha, after countless lives and the making of great merit, finally achieved Buddha-hood and is still alive in his land of Sukhāvatī, whose many virtues and joys are described.
The basic doctrines concerning Amitābha and his vows are found in three canonical Mahāyāna texts:
- The Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra
- The Smaller Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra''
- The Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra (Sutra on the Meditation on Amitāyus).
Iconography
Amitābha can be very difficult to tell apart from Śākyamuni, as both are portrayed as possessing all the attributes of a Buddha but have no distinguishing marks. He can, however, often be distinguished by his mudrā: Amitābha is often depicted, when shown seated, with the meditation mudrā, with thumbs touching and fingers together (as in the Kamakura statue of Amitābha) or the exposition mudrā, while the earth-touching mudrā (with the right hand pointed downward over the right leg, palm inward) is reserved for a seated Śākyamuni alone. When standing, Amitābha is often show with his right arm bare and extended downward, with his right hand facing outward.
When not depicted alone, Amitābha is often portrayed with two assistants: Avalokiteśvara (Guānyīn) who appears on his right and Mahāsthāmaprāpta (Dà Shì Zhì) who appears on his left.
The Panchen Lama, the second highest ranking lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism, is believed to be an incarnation of Amitābha.
Amitābha is red in color. In Tibetan Buddhism, red is the color of love, compassion, and emotional energy.
His direction is the west. It is in this direction that sunset takes place and indeed he is envisioned as the setting sun (red). He is seen as the supreme power and energy of nature, cast on an earthly plain, accessible to all sentient beings. It is little wonder that he is one of the most popular of all Dhyāni Buddhas.
His unique emblem is the lotus. He is thus associated with all the attributes of the lotus: gentleness, openness, and purity.
Mantras
The Tibetan mantra of Amitābha is 'Oṃ ami dhewa hri'. Various mantras invoking his name are commonly used by modern Amidist schools, particularly 南無阿弥陀佛, read Nămó Āmítuó fó in Chinese, Namu Amita bul in Korean, Namu Amida butsu in Japanese, and Nam-mô A-di-đà Phật in Vietnamese.Buddhist monks in China and Taiwan are greeted by saying Āmítuó fó. Occasionally, lay devotees of Buddhism address each other in this same manner.
The Japanese and Korean form of the mantra is frequently used in prayers for the dead, and sometimes simply to express respect for the dead, somewhat similar to the way some Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox make the sign of the cross after mentioning a dead person's name.
Origins
The first known epigraphic evidence for Amitābha is the bottom part of a 2nd century statue which has been found in Govindnagar, Pakistan, and is now at the Mathura Museum. The statue is dated to "the 28th year of the reign of Huviṣka", that is, sometime in the later half of the 2nd century during the period of the Kuṣāṇa Empire, and dedicated to "Amitābha Buddha" by a family of merchants.
The first known sutra mentioning Amitābha is the translation into Chinese of the Pratyutpanna-sūtra by the Kuṣāṇa monk Lokakṣema around 180 CE. This work is said to be at the origin of Pure Land practice in China.
The appearance of such literature and sculptural remains at the end of the 2nd century suggests that the doctrine of Amitābha probably developed during the 1st and 2nd century CE.
See also
External links
- [Amitabha Buddha Of Boundless Light and Life.]
- [The Five Meditating Buddhas]
- [Amida - The Buddha of the Land of Bliss (Pure Land)]
- [The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra (Pure Land)]
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