CHINESE PURE LAND BUDDHISM: UNDERSTANDING A TRADITION OF PRACTICE. By Charles B.Jones. Pure Land Buddhist Studies. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2019. Pp. xvi + 206. Hardback, $80.00; Paperback, $28.00.

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-252
Keyword(s):  
Pure Land ◽  
Buddhist Studies ◽  
Pure Land Buddhism ◽  
University Of Hawai'i

Genshin's Ojōyōshū and the Construction of Pure Land Discourse in Heian Japan

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
Historical Background ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Central Portion ◽  
Substantial Portion ◽  
Pure Land ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Heian Period ◽  
Pure Land Buddhism ◽  
Time Part ◽  
India And China

The Ōjōyōshū, written by the Heian period Tendai monk Genshin (942-1017), played a pivotal role in establishing Pure Land Buddhism in Japan. This book is a study of the central teachings of the Ōjōyōshū. Furthermore, in order to situate this text in its historical background, a substantial portion of the volume is taken up with discussions of the development of Pure Land Buddhism before Genshin’s time and to Genshin’s event-filled life. Part One provides a brief survey of Pure Land Buddhism in India and China and then treats how it developed in Japan before Genshin’s time. Part Two focuses on the main events of Genshin’s life. Part Three turns to two main issues taken up in the Ōjōyōshū: its Pure Land cosmology and its nenbutsu teaching. In his description of the Pure Land cosmology, Genshin describes, in often graphic detail, the suffering inherent in the six realms of transmigration, including hell, and urges his readers to seek birth in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land, a realm beyond suffering. Furthermore, in the central portion of the Ōjōyōshū, Genshin presents a systematic analysis of the nenbutsu, or the practice of focusing one’s mind on Amida, which is the central practice for attaining birth in the Pure Land.

Chinese Pure Land Buddhism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles B. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Pure Land ◽  
Pure Land Buddhism
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