PureLand-China

=__** Pureland-China BUDDHISM by Brian Ouellette **__=



__** Three things everyone should know about Pureland Buddhism in China: **__
Three things that everyone know about Pureland Buddhism is China are: 1. Pureland Buddhism does not ONLY exist in China, but it also exists in other Asian countries including Japan and Korea. 2. Pureland Buddhism is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism 3. The basic Mahayana concept is to acheive Nirvana, but as we move further and further away from the time of the Buddha, it is coming more difficult to attain Nirvana

=__** Critical Vocabulary/ Major concepts: **__=

1) __zongjiao-__ literally translates into English as "religion." But also, in Sino-Chinese tranlation, it means "lineage teaching. 2) __zhuzong-__ this word is translated into english as "ancestors." This word is crucial because some scholars say that the Chinese do not have a religion. The chinese religious masters are careful in tracking their lineage because they are not sure as to what religion their ancestors were a part of. Vocabulary words 1 and 2 are related because zongjiao is translated as religion or as lineage teaching. They relate because zongjiao is the word for lineage teaching while zhuzong refers to the ancestors in which the people are trying to find and to learn about.

3) __Shangdi__- Di is the chinese word for Lord, and Shangdi refers to the word "Lord-on-high." The Shangdi was the supreme diety who reigned over a host of nature dieties, like kings rule over their courts. 4)__Tian__- tian is the word for heaven. This word is the preferred term for a divine power or god during the Zhou period. Vocabulary words 3 and 4 are connected because Tian is the broad sense of heaven and Shangdi is the more specific sense because it focuses on the diety ruling over nature. =__** Historical timeline (major developments): **__=

=== 624-560 BCE- this time period was birth of Siddartha. This is a signifcant event because if Siddartha was not born out of his mothers right side of her hip then the legend would not have started, ultimately making the religion non-existent. === 65 CE- First historic proof of Buddhist community in China. The move that began in India traveled from Central India, journeyed over the Himalayas, and made its way into the oriental countries such as China, Japan, and Korea. This was also the beginning of Buddhism spreading throughout China. 100-200 CE- translators began translating Indian Buddhist texts using mostly Taoist terminology. This was a good thing as well as a bad thing. It was good because they were making strides to understand the Buddhist tradition and faith. But it was also bad because since it was being translated in Taoist terms, the Chinese people started to think it was another form of Taoism. 480- Indian Master Bodhidharma travels as a Buddhist missionary to China, as a follower of the Lanka School he is considered the forefather of Ch'an and Zen. One of the most followed religions in China was founded because of the work of Master Bodhidharma. I also find it unique that his name is bodhidharma which symbolizes the tree that Siddartha meditated under as well as doing ones duty as a Buddhist. 1950- This recent event is the communist attack on the Buddhist religion.

=**__ Geography __**=



This is a basic map of China, this is just to show what part of the world we are in and how it is in relation to India where Buddhism began.

This is a photograph of, it is thought to be the home and founding place of Pureland Buddhism in China. It is considered to be one of the most holy sites for the Pure land Buddhist faith.

=**__ Monastic __**=

Pureland Buddhism in China mainly focuses on the figure of Amitabha, Buddha of Infinite Light, who is one of the 5 Wisdom Buddha's. His Pureland Paradise is located at Sukhavati. The type of practicing that these Pureland Buddhist do chanting a mantra out of devotion to Amida. They do this to ask for a sincere and proper state of mind so they one day they will be able to live in Sukhavati, the Pure Land.

The other 4 out of the 5 Great Buddhas of Wisdom: Vairocana- Buddha Supreme and Eternal Akshobhya- Immovable or Unshakable Buddha Ratnasambhava- Source of Precious things Amogasiddha- Almighty Conquerer or Lord of Karma

=**__ Lay Practice __**=

This image shows how the people in the Pureland Buddhist community meditate to the god, Amitabha.



This image of the Pureland Buddhist monks indicates the uniform that the people in the monastery had to follow. They were forced to wear the orange-reddish robes as well as a shaved head. The shaved head indicates there entrance into the monastic life style. This is compared to being baptized and confirmed in the Christian faith.

This image is an example of what people had to eat during the day. They tried to maintain a steady diet, also the monks collected food at the beginning at the beginning of the day from whoever would donate some of their food. This is a classic monk tradition to beg for food each day. This is the practice of Pureland monks, it is a series of chants asking Amitabha for a proper state of mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozKDpz_G3JQ This video is an example of the Pureland Buddhists of China chanting to the god Amitabha, the god of Inifinite Light. There are more chants and more gods that people can worship. =**__ Scriptures and Poetry __**=

One sacred story from Pureland Buddhism is the story of Amitabha, in Buddhist Concepts of God, Non-violence, and Religious Tolerance, by Paul Carus. One chapter in particular is named King Kanishka. This chapter is about a king who has a dream that he goes into battle, but in this battle he is not a king, just an ordinary human. When he comes out of the battle he is victorious. This relates to the vocab words Shangdi and tian because before he was in battle, he was a king. Also, after the battle has one he goes into a state of mind that makes him able to not see the destruction around him, and ultimately reach his state of Nirvana. This shows the power of Amitabha, the god of Infinite light, because he gave King Kanishka the power to see through the death around him and find the light into Nirvana. This is an example of doing ones dharma as well. Since he did his dharma on the battle field he was able to reach his enlightenment.



=__** Buddha Images (of the Pureland Buddhism tradition): **__=

This image illustrates three gods in the Pureland Buddhism faith. The god to the left is Aksobhya, the middle is Vairocana, and the god to the right is Amitabha. These three gods are 3 out of the 5 Great Gods in the Pureland faith. Just like Hinduism, there is more then one god that a person can worship, since Vairocana is centerend in this photo it is likely that it is the main god.

This is a photograph of a Pureland Buddha. His right arm is bent and his thumb and index finger at touching, creating a circle. The other armis rested by his side but the thumb and index finger are touching. This is an example of life and eternal life. The main goal of a Pureland Buddhist, same as an Indian Buddhist, is to achieve nirvana. In order to acheive nirvana, one must pass through many lives. It is a like a wheel of life that you go around until you find what you have been searching for. It is called the raigo mudra, it is also called a dharma wheel because the less times you go around the wheel, the better dharma you have done.



This picture is a description of the practice that pureland buddhists do. In the middle of the gathering there is Amitabha, the god of Infinite Life. The people surrounding him are Pureland Buddhists who believe in him. The people are practicing their chants to Amitabha asking him for there proper state of mind.

=__** Pilgrimage Sites **__=

This view of China shows four pilgrimage sites in China. These sites are Datong, Mt. Wutai, Taiyuan, and Pingyoa.

Mt. Wutai is considered to be the most Holy Land in Chinese Pureland Buddhism. Mt. Wutai is one of four holy Buddhist mountains. It is very holy, 360 temples were built in these mountains during the Tang Dynasty, but now only 47 of them exist.

This is an image of Datong, China. I found this picture to be extremely interesting because of how it is built. It is amazing that it is practically hanging off of a cliff and it appears to be a one sided building. The significance of this building is because it was located between the inner and outer part of the Great Wall meaning it was a very popular place to travel to. Within the Datong, contains beautiful monasteries and grottoes. This place is "the land of Buddhism."

=**__ Current Events __**=

Article 1 "Interfaith Gathering Focuses on Women" This article was written about an event that happened on October 2, 2010. This article talks about the faiths that the women belonged to, as well as the womens role in that particular faith. For example, women from Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, and Islamic faiths gathered at this meeting. The main purpose of this article is to show that although men may be the only people to do certain things in the church, such as priests must be males, women also play an active role in faith. But it does more then talk about women's roles, its also an argument against some rights of women. Women are equal to men, so why can they not do the same things as men? Which brings us back to the Catholic church idea, Why can't women be priests? So overall, the point of this article is to discuss womens roles in religion as well as womens rights.

Article 2 Caroline Brazier Workshop Caroline Brazier is the teacher of a workshop "Common Ground: Treading the Pureland Way" in the Buddhist Temple in Marin. She teaches about both Jodo Shinshu as well as Amidashu traditions. Caroline is also a "teacher" in the sense that when she speaks with pshycotherapists, she has a pureland buddhist influence. Caroline is not just a teacher, but also an other, she has written 5 books on Buddhism and therapy.

=**__ Personal Reactions __**=

Pureland Buddhism is a very fascinating topic to study and teach about. It is interesting how a religion that started central to southern India and traveled all the way China. While it was on its way though, it had drastic changes made to it. The basic concepts of the Buddhism's are similar but the God's and practices are very different. Indian Buddhism focuses mainly on doing one's karma and dharma, and they strongly follow the story of Siddartha. As the religion began to travel northeast it passed through many different types of people and different styles of religion. When it finally reached China it had changed in certain aspects but the idea stayed the same. The Pureland Chinese Buddhists believed in dharma and karma, but they had different gods as well different ways of practicing worship to these gods. The chants that they Pureland Buddhists sang were very interesting, how they repeated certain things and asked for certain things from these gods. The other part i found to be interesting was how the religion traveled. In this time period there were no cars, airplanes, email, or text messaging. These missionaries needed to travel by walking or by riding an animal. They had to overcome serious obstacles, the biggest being getting over the Himalayan Mountains.

Citation

1. Willard G. Oxtoby, //World Religions, Eastern Traditions, Second Edition (//Oxford University Press, 2002) 199-208. 2. http://viewonbuddhism.org/time-line.html 3. http://events.sfgate.com/mill-valley-ca/events/show/148702665-caroline-brazier-workshop 4. http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=345063&paper=88&cat=104 5. [] 6. http://www.buddha-dharma.eu/mudra-in-Pure-Land-tradition.html 7. http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/sects/pure_land.htm 8. http://buddhism.about.com/od/purelandbuddhism/a/pureland.htm 9. http://huntingtonarchive.osu.edu/resources/maps.html 10. **h** ttp://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/ami/ami07.htm