中尊 阿弥陀 AMITA YUS BHA
THE
PURE
LAND
OF
WEST
中尊 阿弥陀 AMITA YUS BHA
ただ
漢字をあてがっているだけだよ！
南山堂
なんまんだあーー
なんまんだーーーー
ですよ
それでいいらしいよ
THE PURE LAND OF WEST
Amitābha[2] (Sanskrit: अमिताभ, IPA: [ɐmɪˈtaːbʱɐ]) is the principal Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. He is also known as Amitāyus, which is understood to be his enjoyment body (Saṃbhogakāya).[3] In Vajrayana Buddhism, Amitābha is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, and the purification of aggregates with deep awareness of the emptiness of all phenomena. The name Amitābha means "Infinite Light", and the name Amitāyus means "Infinite Life".
In the Mandala of the Two Realms, Amitābha is associated with the Diamond Realm, while Amitāyus appears in the Womb Realm.[4]
Doctrine
Ming dynasty (1368–1644) statue of Amitābha in Huayan Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
Buddha Amitābha in Tibetan Buddhism, traditional thangka painting
The Great Buddha of Kamakura in the Kōtoku-in temple
Gilt-bronze statue of Amithabha from 8th century Silla, Korea. Located at Bulguk-sa temple.
Bronze statue of Amitābha Buddha, 17th century, Khải Tường Temple, Vietnam
Statue of the Buddha Amitāyus (Mongolia, 18th century)
Attainment of Buddhahood
According to the Larger Sūtra of Immeasurable Life, Amitābha was, in very ancient times and possibly in another system of worlds, a monk named Dharmākara. In some versions of the sūtra, Dharmākara is described as a former king who, having come into contact with Buddhist teachings through the buddha Lokeśvararāja, renounced his throne. He then resolved to become a Buddha and to create a buddhakṣetra (literally "buddha-field", often called a "Pureland" or "Buddha Land": a realm existing in the primordial universe outside of ordinary reality, produced by a buddha's merit) possessed of many perfections. These resolutions were expressed in his forty-eight vows, which set out the type of Pureland Dharmākara aspired to create, the conditions under which beings might be born into that world, and what kind of beings they would be when reborn there.
In the versions of the sutra widely known in China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan, Dharmākara's eighteenth vow was that any being in any universe desiring to be reborn into Amitābha's pure land (Chinese: 淨土; pinyin: jìngtǔ; Japanese pronunciation: jōdo; Korean: 정토; romaja: jeongto; Vietnamese: tịnh độ) and calling upon his name with sincerity, even as few as ten times will be guaranteed rebirth there. His nineteenth vow promises that he, together with his bodhisattvas and other blessed Buddhists, will appear before those who, at the moment of death, call upon him. This openness and acceptance of all kinds of people has made belief in pure lands one of the major influences in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Pure Land Buddhism seems to have first become popular in Gandhara, from where it spread to China infused with Taoists and Confucian philosophy before spreading to Central and East Asia.
The sutra goes on to explain that Amitābha, after accumulating great merit over countless lives, finally achieved buddhahood and created a pure land called Sukhāvatī (Sanskrit: "possessing happiness"). Sukhāvatī is situated in the uttermost west, beyond the bounds of our own world. By the power of his vows, Amitābha has made it possible for all who call upon him to be reborn into this land, there to undergo instruction by him in the dharma and ultimately become bodhisattvas and buddhas in their turn (the ultimate goal of Mahāyāna Buddhism). From there, these same bodhisattvas and buddhas return to our world to help yet more people while still residing in his land of Sukhāvatī, whose many virtues and joys are described.
References in Sutras
The earliest known reference to Amitābha in a sutra is the Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra, translated into Chinese by Lokakṣema in 179 CE, with the discovery of a Gandhari language fragment of that sutra announced in 2018.[5] Jeff Wilson writes that over a fifth of the sutras in the Taishō Tripiṭaka reference Amitābha,[6] but three sutras in particular have become seen as canonical in East Asian Buddhism:[7]
Amitayurdhyana Sutra
Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra
Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra
Amitābha is understood as the Buddha of comprehensive love. Amitābha's pure land is described as being in the West, and he works for the enlightenment of all beings (represented iconographically as a blessing Buddha). The Amitayurdhyana Sutra recommends and describes at length the practice of visualising Amitābha and the Pure Land. The other two sutras do not detail visualisation practices, and have been interpreted in different ways, such as the nianfo practice of repeatedly saying Amitābha's name. Other practices developed from these sutras include practices at the time of death, such as visualising Amitābha in the heaven (sun) over their head (Western horizon), think his name as a mantra, and leaving the body as a soul through the acupuncture point Bai Hui (百會).[citation needed]
Vajrayāna Buddhism
Amitābha is also known in Tibet, Mongolia, and other regions where Tibetan Buddhism is practiced. In the Highest Yogatantra of Tibetan Buddhism, Amitābha is considered one of the Five Dhyāni Buddhas (together with Akṣobhya, Amoghasiddhi, Ratnasambhava, and Vairocana), who is associated with the western direction and the skandha of saṃjñā, the aggregate of distinguishing (recognition) and the deep awareness of individualities. His consort is Pāṇḍaravāsinī.[8][9][10][11][12] His two main disciples (the same number as Gautama Buddha) are the bodhisattvas Vajrapani and Avalokiteśvara, the former to his left and the latter to his right. In Tibetan Buddhism, there exist a number of famous prayers for taking rebirth in Sukhāvatī (Dewachen). One of these was written by Je Tsongkhapa on the request of Manjushri (For a discussion and translation of the most important prayers in the Tibetan tradition see Halkias).[13]
The Panchen Lamas[14] and Shamarpas[15] are considered to be emanations of Amitābha.
He is frequently invoked in Tibet either as Amitābha – especially in the phowa practices or as Amitāyus – especially in practices relating to longevity and preventing an untimely death.
In Shingon Buddhism, Amitābha is seen as one of the thirteen Buddhas to whom practitioners can pay homage. Shingon, like Tibetan Buddhism, also uses special devotional mantras for Amitābha, though the mantras used differ. Amitābha is also one of the Buddhas featured in the Womb Realm Mandala used in Shingon practices, and sits to the west, which is where the Pure Land of Amitābha is said to dwell.
Mantras
Amitābha is the center of a number of mantras in Vajrayana practices. The Sanskrit form of the mantra of Amitābha is ॐ अमिताभ ह्रीः (Devanagari: oṃ amitābha hrīḥ), which is pronounced in Japanese as Namu Amida Butsu and in its Tibetan version as Om ami dewa hri (Sanskrit: oṃ amideva hrīḥ). His mantra in Shingon Buddhism is Om amirita teizei kara um (Japanese: オン・アミリタ・テイゼイ・カラ・ウン), which represents the underlying Indic form oṃ amṛta-teje hara hūṃ.
In addition to using the mantras listed above, many Buddhist schools invoke Amitābha's name in a practice known as nianfo (念佛) in Chinese and nembutsu in Japanese.
Names in various languages
Tang dynasty Amitābha sculpture, Hidden Stream Temple Cave, Longmen Grottoes, China
Stone statue of Amitābha Buddha, Lý dynasty, Phật Tích Temple, Vietnam
Statues of a Buddha triad in Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery in Hong Kong, enshrining Sakyamuni in the centre, Bhaisajyaguru on the left and Amitābha on the right
The proper form of Amitābha's name in Sanskrit is Amitābha, masculine, and the nominative singular is Amitābhaḥ. This is a compound of the Sanskrit words amita ("without bound, infinite") and ābhā ("light, splendor"). Consequently, the name is to be interpreted as "he who possesses light without bound, he whose splendor is infinite".
The name Amitāyus (nominative form Amitāyuḥ) is also used for the Sambhogakāya aspect of Amitābha, particularly associated with longevity.[citation needed] He is mostly depicted sitting and holding in his hands a vessel containing the nectar of immortality. In Tibetan Buddhism, Amitāyus is also one of the three deities of long life (Amitāyus, White Tara and Uṣṇīṣavijayā). Amitāyus being a compound of amita ("infinite") and āyus ("life"), and so means "he whose life is boundless".
In Chinese, 阿彌陀佛, pronounced "Ēmítuófó", is the Chinese pronunciation for the Sanskrit name of the Amitābha Buddha (Amida Buddha). The "e mi tuo" is the transliteration of the Sanskrit word "amita" which means "boundless" (無量, "wuliang"). "Fo" is the Chinese word for "Buddha".[16]
In Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese, the same Chinese characters used for Amitābha are used to represent his name, though they are pronounced slightly differently:
Vietnamese: A Di Đà Phật
Korean: Amita Bul
Japanese: Amida Butsu.
In addition to transliteration, the name Amitābha has also been translated into Chinese using characters which, taken together, convey the meaning "Infinite Light": 無量光 (Wúliàngguāng). In the same fashion, the name Amitāyus ("Infinite Life") has been translated as 無量壽 (Wúliàngshòu). These translated names are not, however, very commonly used.
In Japanese, Amitābha is also called Amida Nyorai (Japanese: 阿弥陀如来, "the Tathāgata Amitābha").
In Tibetan, Amitābha is called འོད་དཔག་མེད་ Wylie: 'od dpag med, THL: Öpakmé and in its reflex form as Amitāyus, ཚེ་དཔག་མེད་ Wylie: tshe dpag med, THL: Tsépakmé. They are iconographically distinct.