Pure Land Buddhism: Theory and Practice
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Introduction It is easy to critique Pure Land Buddhism in its current modus operandi. I do it myself. It’s an easy target because of its façade of superstition and magic, religious overtones and seemingly exotic teachings with its dependence on the “one true Buddha”. They really don’t say, “one true Buddha”, I sort of made that up myself. And it does seem sort of odd to walk into a Buddhist temple to find a very Protestant Christian looking and sounding service. But not all Pure Land schools operate the same way. Some are very “protestant like” and others are very traditional. It depends on which school is hosting the service. Recently while presenting a talk on the Buddhist Doctrine of Mind at the Jung Center of Chicago a member of the audience came to me and said she had been studying Buddhism for 10 years and just could not understand the Pure Land Buddhists because they thought they could be saved by simply chanting “Amitabha Buddha” over and over aga...
