Plain Language View of the Infinite Life Sutra

Author: Wei Qi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: The Plain Explanation of the Sutra on Contemplating the Limitless Life depicts the supreme and wondrous beauty of the Western Pure Land, the sublime merits of the principal Buddha Amitābha, his two (assistants) Avalokite?vara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta, as well as the sixteen methods of contemplation for rebirth into the Pure Land. It encourages all living beings to believe in the Pure Land, uphold the methods of contemplation, and thus be reborn into this wondrous Pure Land, escaping the sea of suffering. The Pure Land faith expounded in The Plain Explanation of the Sutra on Contemplating the Limitless Life is the same as the belief in the other shore (paradise) in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The so-called "contemplative meditation on the Buddha" refers to the practice method elucidated in the Sutra on Contemplating the Limitless Life (i.e., through seated meditation and deep concentration to contemplate the appearance of the Buddha and the land where he resides), which was popular in the early days of the Pure Land School.