..續本文上一頁odhisattvas Kuan-yin (Avalokitesvara) and Shih-chih (Mahasthamaprapta), who aid in their ultimate enlightenment.

　　Those who go to the Pure Land live there among beings of the highest virtue. Beautiful clothing and fine food are provided to them ready-made. There are no extremes of heat and cold. Correct states of concentration are easy to achieve and maintain. There are no such things as greed, ignorance, anger, strife, or laziness.

　　The Pure Land is described, metaphorically, as resplendent with all manner of jewels and precious things, towers of agate, palaces of jade. There are huge trees made of various gems, covered with fruits and flowers. Giant lotuses spread their fragrance every-where. There are pools, also made of seven jewels, and filled with the purest water, which adjusts itself to the depth and temperature the bathers prefer. Underfoot, gold covers the ground. Flowers fall from the sky day and night, and the whole sky is covered with a net made of gold and silver and pearls. The Pure Land is perfumed with beautiful scents and filled with celestial music.

　　Most precious of all, in the Pure Land, we are told, not only the buddha and bodhisattvas, Amitabha and his assistants, but even the birds and the trees (as manifestations of Amitabha) are continuously expounding the Dharma, the Buddhist Teaching.

　　Pure Land Literature

　　Pure Land literature offers many stories presented as real-life biographical accounts which corroborate the efficacy of Pure Land practice, and the description of the Pure Land paradise drawn from the scriptures. Like most Buddhist biographies written in China, these accounts are very terse, and focus on the subject”s religious life. There are stories of men and women, monks and nuns, nobles and high officials and commoners too, people young and old in various stations of life, all devoted to Pure Land practice.

　　The stories often relate people”s early experience of Buddhism, and note the various practices they took up and the scriptures they studied. In due time, as the stories tell it, their faith in Pure Land is awakened, per-haps by meeting an inspirational teacher, perhaps through a dream or vision, perhaps from hearing the Pure Land scriptures, perhaps from personal acquaintance with a devoted Pure Land practitioner.

　　The stories always make a point of the zeal and dedication of the true believer in reciting the buddha-name.

　　Here are some typical descriptions:

　　“He cut off his motivation for worldly things and dedicated his m ind to the Pure Land.”

　　“He concentrated his m ind on reciting the buddha-name.” “She recited the buddha-name with complete sincerity.” “He set his will on the Pure Land.”

　　“She recited the buddha-name day and night without stopping.”

　　“He recited the buddha-name singlemindedly.”

　　“She developed the m ind of faith and recited the buddha-name tirelessly.”

　　“She turned her m ind to buddha-name recitation and practiced it wholeheartedly, never slacking off.”

　　“The older he became, the more earnest he was in reciting the buddha-name.” This is the message of the Pure Land life stories.

　　The climax of a typical Pure Land biography comes in the subject”s death scene, when buddha-name recitation is rewarded and the Pure Land teachings are confirmed.

　　The believer dies peacefully, even joyously, with mind and body composed, in full confidence of rebirth in paradise, reciting the buddha-name. Often the Pure Land devotee is able to predict his or her own death in advance, and calmly bid farewell to loved ones. Some-times the believer receives reassuring visits from Amitabha in dreams or visions to prepare her or him to face the end.

　　Various signs give proof that the dying person is about to be reborn in the Pure Land. Uncanny fragrances and supernatural colored lights fill the room…

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