Pure Lands in Japanese Religion

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Today the term "Pure Land Buddhism" in the context of Japanese Religion commonly refers to the particular pure land inhabited by the Buddha called Amida. But in fact all buddhas and advanced bodhisattvas "purify" their physical environment, and thus their locales are termed "pure lands" (jodo ...), understood in contrast to the mundane samsaric existence of ordinary beings, who inevitably reside in "defiled lands" (edo ...). Traditionally the most well-read description of what a pure land is and how one might…