Pure Land Buddhism In China

Moreover, other ways in which people practice Pure Land Buddhism within China are with the use of a gongzgou, which Wuling describes as being a table that is used to place an image of the Buddha, incense and water to help aid them in cultivating their minds whilst they chant Amitabha’s name (Wuling, 2006:8). Wuling further explains how these objects all hold a symbolic meaning, with the Buddha representing the Buddha nature that devotees believe is within us all and that through meditating upon Amitabha, it is awoken (Wuling, 2006:9). Additionally Wuling highlights how practitioners believe that the water reflects the state of mind one hopes to achieve, as it symbolises purity and stillness, whilst the incense is symbolic of ones self discipline

Jones discusses how self-power includes meditation, ethical living and abiding by the precepts within the Vinaya, which a Buddhist will practice themselves in order to achieve liberation from suffering whilst other-power means that Amitabha is helping one to attain rebirth within the Pure Land and then enlightenment (Jones, 2003b: 3). Kuang notes how most schools of Buddhism will traditionally use the method of self-power, which requires more effort and therefore relies on the use of monasteries and help from laity, in order for practitioners to be able to focus fully on achieving enlightenment (Kuang, 1993: 8). However, Sangharakshita explains that this other-power works by devotees repeating the mantra of Amitabha’s name with complete faith, which then results in the transference of merit, called Parinamana (Sangharakshita, 1987: 375). Additionally, Kieschnick highlights that Parinamana can also be practiced in China by Pure Land Buddhists themselves, as they can donate their own merit to deceased loved ones in the hope that this will ensure that they are reborn in the Pure Land (Kieschnick, 2003: 163). Moreover, Sangharakshita illustrates how the Amitayurdhyána states that even those who commit immoral acts can be reborn in Sukhavati, this is due to Parinamana and thus it results in Pure Land Buddhism putting no emphasis on the

Moreover, Shih highlights how Yung-ming was the key figure in promoting this mergence between the two Buddhist schools, as his non-sectarian perspective on religion meant that he did not feel restricted to just one Buddhist school and so he adopted aspects of Pure Land into his Ch’an meditation (Shih, 1987:124). Additionally, Kwang also illustrates how the Pure Land practice of reciting Amitabha’s name is no different from the Ch’an meditations, as they both invoke a focused state of mind with the goal of inevitably reaching enlightenment (Kwang, 1993:69). However, Yung-ming viewed Pure Land as a projection of the mind, which resulted in this being termed as a ‘mind only Pure Land’, and that to be born there one must have a pure mind (Shih, 1987:119). However, despite having this perspective that it is necessary for one’s mind to be pure, Yung-ming still maintains that the recitation of Amitabha’s name is still necessary for people who are not capable of spending the time practicing Ch’an meditation (Shih, 1987:123). Furthermore, Shih highlights the contextual motivation behind Yung-ming’s syncretism of these two schools; firstly being that there were socio-political issues during his time that resulted in it being