Different force

The other power or the power of the other ( skt. Para-bala ; Chinese  他 力 , Pinyin tālì , W.-G. t'a-li , hgl. 타력, taryeok ; Japanese 他 力 , tariki ; viet. Tha lực ; Tib. gzhan gyi stobs ) is a central concept in Amitabha Buddhism and denotes the power of a Buddha or Bodhisattva (mostly Amitabha ), which must be hoped or trusted for salvation.

The “other power” is in contrast to the “own power” or “power of the self” (skt. Sva-bala , sva-tantra , svabāhu-bala , adhyātma-bala , vīrya ; chin. 自力 , zìlì , tzu-li ; hgl. 자력, jaryeok ; jap. 自力 , jiriki ; viet. tự lực ), which in Amitabha Buddhism is at best understood as a “skillful means” ( upāya ). Amitabha Buddhism rejects the idea that one can redeem oneself through one's own abilities - especially not in the age of the degeneration of the Buddha-Dharma . This is a radical departure from the concepts of prehistoric and early Buddhism, in which great emphasis was placed on the fact that enlightenment is a state that the subject must first attain through their own efforts or insights.

In fact, an essential goal in Amitabha Buddhism is usually not the mental-spiritual entry into Nirvana through the process of enlightenment, but the actual physical entry into the Pure Land of Amitabha, which one can experience at the moment of death through complete surrender to his own Other strength and trust in his vow would be granted.

Trust in the Other Power is usually only practiced in the schools of the Pure Land by reciting the Nembutsu , with the individual schools differing in how often, when, and in which spirit this must happen.

Once realized in the believer, so the common doctrine, the other power of Amitabha works entirely through him. The acts of the believer would henceforth be completely “spontaneous” or “natural” (chin. 自然 , zìrán , tzu-jan ; hgl. 자연, jayeon ; jap. 自然 , jinen ; viet. Tự nhiên ), in them they manifest themselves Other power consistently through the principle of the outgoing transfer of merit (Japanese 往 相 廻向, ōsō-ekō ; Amitabha transfers his karmic merit to the believer) and the returning merit transfer (Japanese 還 相 廻向, gensō-ekō ; the believer helps other sentient beings, in the sense of Mahayana Buddhism).