Pure Land Buddhism

Dominant form of Buddhism in China and Japan. It emphasizes faith in and love of Amida Buddha (Sanskrit Amitābha; Amituofo in China), the ideal ‘Buddha of boundless light’, who has vowed that all believers who call on his name will be reborn in his Pure Land, or Western Paradise, Sukhāvati. There are over 16 million Pure Land Buddhists in Japan.

Amidism developed in China in the 6th century, where the Pure Land school was founded by the monk T'an-Luan (476–542); it spread in Japan from the 10th century. The basic teachings are found in the Sukhāvati vyūha/Pure Land Sūtras, Homage to the Buddha Amitābha.

Prayer, chanting, and other devotional activities are believed to gain merit for the worshipper and guarantee entrance to the Pure Land after death, a paradise without suffering. It is believed that followers reborn in the Pure Land will quickly reach enlightenment. Reciting the Amida Buddha's name – a prayer known as Namu Amida Butsu or Nembutsu – is believed to further the worshipper, even if performed without faith in the ritual. Some sects repeated the prayer for several hours a day. The True Pure Land school (Jōdo Shinshū), founded by the Japanese monk Shinran (1173–1262), held that a single, sincere invocation was enough and rejected monastic discipline and the worship of all other Buddhas; this has become the largest school in Japan.