Sukhavati

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Sukhavati ( Sanskrit सुखावती sukhāvatī ; Tibetan བདེ་ བ་ ཅན་ Wylie bde ba can ; Chinese  極樂 , Pinyin jílè ; Vietnamese Cực lạc ; Japanese 極 楽 gokuraku ), "the joyful" (sa. Sukha-vat ), is the name of the pure one Land (sa. Buddhakṣetra , literally “Buddha field”) of Buddha Amitabha , who is worshiped in Amitabha Buddhism and has great importance in Vajrayana . Followers of these traditions hope to be reborn in his "Pure Land". There are also other Pure Lands in Buddhism that are assigned to other Buddhas.

Amitabha in Sukhavati

There are pictures that show the way how to work with Amitabha and Sukhavati. In the middle you can see the Buddha Amitabha . Above his head is the connection with the higher dimension ( nirvana , emptiness and happiness in one), symbolized by a stupa and a blue sky. To the left of Amitabha sits the Bodhisattva of Power ( Vajrapani ), to his right the Bodhisattva of Compassion ( Avalokiteshvara ). It takes inner calm (Amitabha), self-discipline and love for all beings in order to realize enlightenment and the paradise consciousness. Amitabha sends light to all people to help them on their spiritual path. He wishes a happy world full of happy people. Many spiritual practitioners can be seen in various forms at its feet.

Two ways are described to awaken the so-called enlightenment energy. On the one hand one can visualize Amitabha in his paradise (Sukhavati), think his name as a mantra and pray to him that he will lead one on the way to Sukhavati.

The second way is to visualize yourself as Amitabha and the world as Paradise Sukhavati. You are the meditating Buddha Amitabha, you send out light to all people and wish a happy world. A typical Buddhist perspective is to realize that you have everything in your life to practice spiritually and one day become a Buddha yourself . It is important to recognize the abundance in life and to awaken the enlightenment energy (the water in paradise) every day.

Origin of teaching

The teaching of Sukhavati is mainly based on the Small Sukhavativyuha Sutra and the Great Sukhavativyuha Sutra, in which Buddha Shakyamuni teaches his disciples to be born in this land as an excellent means of enlightenment.

Origin of Sukhavati

In general, a Buddha has laid the roots for his particular work through his practice on the path to enlightenment. The special thing about Buddha Amitabha are his vows, in which he has sworn that he will only attain Buddhahood if he will manifest a pure land with his Buddhahood, in which beings can take birth who have an impure spirit and have not yet reached a stage of realization achieved. This land is said to be such that they can practice there without hindrance and then attain full Buddhahood. According to the Buddhist myth, this land came into being with his enlightenment an immeasurably long time ago.

Constitution of Sukhavati

The land of the Buddha Amitabha is in the west and there he teaches the Buddhist Dharma . It is called the Pure Land because the beings there do not suffer, but only know different joys.

In the middle of the country is Buddha Amitabha with the bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara on his right and Vajrapani on his left. He is surrounded by a large number of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

There are seven rows of grids, nets, and trees made up of four types of gemstones that stretch across the land. Gentle winds blow through them, producing music and announcing the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha . There are also ponds, decorated seven times, which are filled with water of eight excellent properties and from which steps of gold, silver and precious stones extend. Lotus flowers of sublime beauty and purity grow in the ponds, with fragrances emanating from them and emitting light.

Heavenly music can be heard all over the land and the ground is made of gold. The people of the country collect flowers that rain from the sky and offer them to the Buddhas who teach the Dhamma. Rare and beautiful birds sing melodious songs of Buddhist teachings six times a day. The individual appearances in Sukhavati are understood as different manifestations of the teachings of the Buddha, so that the residents can mature into Buddhahood in joy.

Birth in Sukhavati

Birth in Sukhavati does not take place in a womb, but in a lotus . The cause of the birth there is on the one hand the vow of Amitābha and on the other hand the wish to be born again there. In the pure land schools of China and Japan this is mainly expressed by reciting Amitabha's name ( Nianfo ).

Meditation practice

The practice is to seek birth in Sukhavati after death. This is considered to be a particularly easy path to enlightenment . In Tibetan Buddhism there is also a special meditation that is performed when dying (bo. Phowa ). Especially in the pure land schools, but also in Tibetan Buddhism, Sukhavati can already be experienced in this life on earth by continually reciting the name Amitabhas and visualizing the country and its Buddha.

iconography

Amitabha is often shown in the company of the bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani . Sometimes Buddha Amitabha also surround the Eight Great Bodhisattvas in the iconographic representation .

literature

  • Luis O. Gomez: The Land of Bliss. The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1996, ISBN 0-8248-1760-5 . (good English synopsis of the classic Indian texts on Sukhavati)
  • Volker Zotz The Buddha in the Pure Land. Diederichs, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-424-01120-7 (easy-to-read introduction to the Sukhavati tradition)

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