Amitābha

In the onset of the 16th century, separate rulers ruled the northern part of China. However, the southern remained under the dynasties. As a result, the non-Chinese rulers controlled the northern part. The Buddhists in southern China continued to translate the Buddhist texts into Chinese, and they wrote comments on various texts. The southern rulers were devoted Buddhists who ensured everything was constructed and done according to the religion. The rulers led to the expansion of the earlier…

the Chinese translation were the only to survive. Chinese Mahayana eventually influenced the forming of more sects such as the Emptiness sect, a more metaphysical sect intermingled with old Chinese ideas. Or the Pure Land movement, which prays to Amitabha, or the Buddha of infinite light. Or the Chan movement, which, along with Pure Land, offered practitioners nirvana without years of…

239. The Crossing. Bill Viola. 1996 C.E. video/sound installation. Bill Viola’s The Crossing, created in 1996 C.E., is a room-sized video installation that is made up of a large two-sided screen onto which two video sequences are projected at the same time. They each open in the same fashion: having a male figure walking slowly towards the front of the camera, his body dramatically lit from above, appearing to glow against the black background. After some time, he pauses and stands completely…

Within Western religions, it is common that people who practice these religions believe in God and are able to be saved from the sins that they harbor. However, not all religions view gods in the same way. As opposed to the Christian belief that there is only one God, some religions believe in the existence of numerous gods and goddesses, while others believe there is no God. In Hinduism and Buddhism, the concept of gods and similar supernatural beings can be alike and differ between the two…

Chinese schools that were opened were the Chan and Pure Land schools. Meditation was emphasized at the Chan School as a way to gain insight and to experience Enlightenment in human life. The Pure Land School emphasized the practice of reciting the name Amitabha Buddha. The idea of the recitation is that if people recite his name and have sincere faith they can be reborn into the Pure Land where it is easier to achieve Enlightenment. Both of these schools became popular…

Xuanzang's "New Translation Method" In the process of Xuanzang's translation of Buddhist texts, he proposed a "New Translation Method"( ZANG et. al, 2013) which has a tremendous impact in the early development of translation practice. In early development of Buddhist translation method in China, Chinese translation of Buddhist scriptures from the East Han Dynasty to West Jin Dynasty are mostly based on the translated work by Northern Hu Dynasty in Central Asia, the original Sanskrit Buddhist…

Chan Meditation initially grabbed my attention with the concept that the endurance of pain can be used as a tool for the development of concentration. I was first introduced to Chan meditation after participating in a short group meditation sit, held at a park in Downey and organized by the Lu mountain temple. The participants mainly discussed pain, and how concentrating on the discomfort can help relieve it. This experience left me with three major questions; what is Chan Buddhism? ; Why do…

Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha Gautama lived about 2500 years ago in what is now Nepal and northern India. After undergoing a profound realization of the nature of life, death, and existence, Gautama became known as "the Buddha," which means "awakened one.” The Buddha taught people how to realize enlightenment for themselves through direct experiences, not through beliefs and dogmas like in other religions. Although Buddhism was founded in…