pure land

TheJourney

for those of you who believe in such a thing, is it possible for this world to become a pure land? Or do you have to be reborn there after death? Or if you get enlightened do you enter a pure land? or what?

questionful

I don't think anyone that knows is around.

Jeffrey

You create a pureland. This is at the bodhisattva level of practice. Which means that you have realized (directly) that all beings can be saved by the dharma. Thats ALL beings including animals and demons and so forth. At that level you also see the buddha directly through samboghakaya. And you have realized emptiness directly (as opposed to intellectually).

You can also be drawn into the pure land of a bodhisattva (or buddha) and partake should you form a relationship to one. Here or after death.

Invincible_summer

There are schools within the Pure Land tradition that emphasize "building a Pure land on Earth."

Dharma Drum Mountain being one and Fo Guang Shan another.

PietroPumokin

You create a pureland. This is at the bodhisattva level of practice. Which means that you have realized (directly) that all beings can be saved by the dharma. Thats ALL beings including animals and demons and so forth.

this would be a great realization to truly bite in to and if you did, you would most assuredly be in a pure land then.. what is a place but in the mind, so i would say it is quite easy to enter into a pure land in the
"hre and NOW"
ESPECIally when you purify your karma and live among pur ebeings.... or rather.... see only the purity in impure beings (or karma-driven beings) ... i dunno. i would go to a Pure Land sect temple if you're REALLY interested... i assume they can tell you a lot.... coming from a zen perspective we just say the pure land is within you, right here and right now... just meditate and it will come to you. but in addition to that, when you really intensify your practice and purify your negative karma, things will be more like you're in a pure land for you.... the earth will be sweeter once you realize something like what jeffrey mentioned, and REALly realize it, i would assume.

hjym2_

Hey

I have practised pure land path for some years now.
I'd say this world probably becomes pure land for any dharma practitioner when they attain enlightenment. That is huge attainment, anyway. We practise pureland path because of this, because of the difficulty of attaining enlightenment in this life. If you do practises with the goal of attaining rebirth in the pureland after this life, you may still achieve it in this life too. Those two are not contradictory.

Teachings says that we live on time when reaching englightenment is very hard and rare. That's why there is teachings for being reborn in pureland of Amitabha. Getting rebirth there is relatively easy and once there, you are forever freed from cycle of samsara and can only continue towards Buddhahood.

Short sutra:
http://www.cttbusa.org/amitabha/amitabha.htm

Long sutra:
http://www.e-sangha.com/alphone/363.html

I find those sutras very inspiring. They describe well the qualities of Amitabha and the pureland etc.

shenpennangwa

TheJourney wrote: »

for those of you who believe in such a thing, is it possible for this world to become a pure land? Or do you have to be reborn there after death? Or if you get enlightened do you enter a pure land? or what?

It varies.
Some pure lands are different realms that one is "born" into, some are associated with the "karmic vision" of the individual.
There are a lot of different ideas and methods associated with pure lands.