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Amitabha
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Amitabha (Sanskrit: ??????, Amitabha (wordstem); pronunciation: ; Amitabho; Chinese: ????, Emítuó Fó; Tibetan: , Ö-pa-me) is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahayana school of Buddhism. Amitabha is the principal buddha in the Pure Land sect, a branch of Buddhism practiced mainly in East Asia. According to these scriptures, Amitabha possesses infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva named Dharmakara.
"Amitabha" is translatable as "Infinite Light," hence Amitabha is often called "The Buddha of Infinite Light."
Doctrine
According to the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life Amitabha was, in very ancient times and possibly in another realm, a monk named Dharmakara.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
Amitabha (Sanskrit: ??????, Amitabha (wordstem); pronunciation: ; Amitabho; Chinese: ????, Emítuó Fó; Tibetan: , Ö-pa-me) is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahayana school of Buddhism. Amitabha is the principal buddha in the Pure Land sect, a branch of Buddhism practiced mainly in East Asia. According to these scriptures, Amitabha possesses infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva named Dharmakara.
"Amitabha" is translatable as "Infinite Light," hence Amitabha is often called "The Buddha of Infinite Light."
Doctrine
According to the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life Amitabha was, in very ancient times and possibly in another realm, a monk named Dharmakara. In some versions of the sutra, Dharmakara is described as a former king who, having come into contact with the Buddhist teachings through the buddha Lokesvararaja, renounced his throne. He then resolved to become a buddha and so to come into possession of a ("buddha-field", a realm existing in the primordial universe outside of space time, 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 buddha-field Dharmakara 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, Dharmakara's eighteenth vow was that any being in any universe desiring to be born into Amitabha's Pure Land and calling upon his name even as few as ten times will be guaranteed rebirth there. 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. This openness and acceptance of all kinds of people has made the Pure Land belief one of the major influences in Mahayana Buddhism. Pure Land Buddhism seems to have first become popular in northwest India/Pakistan and Afghanistan, from where it spread to Central Asia and China, and from China to Vietnam, Korea and Japan.
The sutra goes on to explain that Amitabha, after accumulating great merit over countless lives, finally achieved buddhahood and is still alive in his land of Sukhavati, whose many virtues and joys are described.
The basic doctrines concerning Amitabha and his vows are found in three canonical Mahayana texts:
Through his efforts, Amitabha created the "Pure Land" (??, Chinese: jìngtu; Japanese: jodo; Vietnamese: t?nh d?) called Sukhavati (Sanskrit: "possessing happiness") . Sukhavati is situated in the uttermost west, beyond the bounds of our own world. By the power of his vows, Amitabha 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 Mahayana Buddhism). From there, these same bodhisattvas and buddhas return to our world to help yet more people.
Amitabha in Vajrayana Buddhism
Amitabha is also known in Tibet, Mongolia, and other regions where Tibetan Buddhism is practiced. In the Highest Yoga Tantra class of the Tibetan Vajrayana Amitabha is considered one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas (together with , Amoghasiddhi, Ratnasambhava, and Vairocana), who is associated with the western direction and the skandha of , the aggregate of distinguishing (recognition) and the deep awareness of individualities. His consort is Pandaravasini , a feminine form of Avalokiteshvara and the precursor of Guan Yin. His realm is called either Sukhavati (Sanskrit) or Dewachen (Tibetan). As his two main disciples, similar as the Buddha Shakyamuni had two, are seen the Bodhisattvas Vajrapani and Avalokiteshvara, the former to his left and the latter to his right. In Tibetan Buddhism, there exists a number of famous prayers for taking rebirth in Sukhavati (Dewachen). One of these was written by Je Tsongkhapa on the request of Manjushri, who appeared to him in different visions.
The Tibetan Panchen Lamas and Shamarpas are considered to be incarnations of Amitabha.
He is frequently invoked in Tibet either as Buddha Amithaba - especially in the Powa practices or as Amitayus - especially in practices relating to longevity and preventing an untimely death.
In Japanese Vajrayana, or Shingon Buddhism, Amitabha is seen as one of the thirteen Buddhist deities practitioners pay homage to. Shingon, like Tibetan Buddhism, also uses special devotional mantras for Amitabha, though the mantras used differ. Amitabha is also one of the Buddhas featured in the Womb Realm Mandala used in Shingon practices, and sits to the west, which is where the Pure Land of Amitabha is said to dwell.
Mantras
Amitabha is the center of a number of mantras in Buddhist Vajrayana practices. The Indic form of the mantra of Amitabha is , which is pronounced in its Tibetan version as Om ami dhewa hri. The Japanese Shingon Buddhist mantra is On amirita teizei kara un which represents the underlying Indic form .
In addition to using the mantras listed above, many Buddhist schools invoke Amitabha's name in a practice known as 'nianfo' in Chinese and 'nembutsu' in Japanese.
Names in various languages
The proper form (wordstem) of Amitabha's name in Sanskrit is , masculine, and the nominative singular is . This is a compound of the Sanskrit words amita ("without bound, infinite") and abha ("light, splendor"). Consequently, the name is to be interpreted as "he who possesses light without bound, he whose splendor is infinite".
The name Amitayus (nominative form ) is also used. This is a compound of amita ("infinite") and ayus ("life"), and so means "he whose life is boundless".
In Chinese, his name is given as Amítuó Fó, where Amítuó is the Chinese representation of the first three syllables of either Amitabha or Amitayus, and Fó is Chinese for Buddha (a very early borrowing of the first syllable of the Sanskrit word).
The name Amitabha is given in Chinese as Wúliàngguang (???; "Infinite Light "), while the name Amitayus is given as Wúliàngshòu (???; "Infinite Life"). These names are not, however, very commonly used.
In Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese, the same Chinese characters used for Amitabha are used to represent his name, though they are pronounced slightly differently:
A-di-dà Ph?t Korean: Amit'a Bul Japanese: Amida Butsu.
In Japanese, he is also called Amida Nyorai, meaning "Amitabha the Tathagata".
In Tibetan, Amitabha is called 'od.dpag.med and, as Amitayus, tshe.dpag.med.
Iconography
It can be difficult to distinguish Amitabha from Sakyamuni, as both are portrayed as possessing all the attributes of a buddha but no distinguishing marks. Amitabha can, however, often be distinguished by his mudra: Amitabha is often depicted, when shown seated, displaying the meditation mudra (thumbs touching and fingers together (as in the Kamakura statue of Amitabha) or the exposition mudra, while the earth-touching mudra (right hand pointed downward over the right leg, palm inward) is reserved for a seated Sakyamuni alone. He can also be seen holding a lotus in his hands while displaying the meditation mudra.
When standing, Amitabha is often shown with his left arm bare and extended downward with thumb and forefinger touching, with his right hand facing outward also with thumb and forefinger touching. The meaning of this mudra is that wisdom (symbolized by the raised hand) is accessible to even the lowest beings, while the outstretched hand shows that Amitabha's compassion is directed at the lowest beings, who cannot save themselves.
When not depicted alone, Amitabha is often portrayed with two assistants: Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) who appears on his right and Mahasthamaprapta (Dà Shì Zhì) who appears on his left.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Amitabha is red in color (red being the color of love, compassion, and emotional energy). His direction is west and so he is envisioned as the (red) setting sun. He is seen as the supreme power and energy of nature, cast on an earthly plain, accessible to all sentient beings. For this reason he is considered one of the most popular of all Dhyani Buddhas.
His unique emblem is the lotus. He is thus associated with the attributes of the lotus: gentleness, openness, and purity.
Archeological origins
The first known epigraphic evidence for Amitabha is the bottom part of a statue found in Govindnagar, Pakistan and now located at the Mathura Museum. The statue is dated to "the 28th year of the reign of " (i.e., sometime in the latter half of the second century CE, during the period of the Empire), and was apparently dedicated to "Amitabha Buddha" by a family of merchants.
The first known sutra mentioning Amitabha is the translation into Chinese of the Pratyutpanna Sutra by the monk 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 Amitabha probably developed during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE.
Footnotes
See also
External links
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- - Buddha-Family Traits (Buddha-Families) and Aspects of Experience
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Meeting The Buddhas by Vessantara, published by Windhorse Publications 2003
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