Leena Damle
Amitabha Buddha Ten
A beautiful statue of Amitabha Buddha sitting on a Lotus Base, handmade from copper alloy and 24 K gold with gold paint on his face.
His hands are in Samadhi mudra holding a vessel in his hands containing the nectar of immortality.
Long ago, Amitabha was a king who renounced his kingdom to become a monk. Called Dharmakara Bodhisattva, the monk practiced diligently for five eons and realized enlightenment and became a buddha.
Amitabha in Sanskrit literally means boundless light, boundless happiness and boundless life. Amitabha, who is also called Amita or Amida Buddha, is one of the most ancient dhayani buddhas. Amitabha presides over a celestial paradise called Sukhavati, or "realm of bliss," also called the Pure Land, which in Buddhism is understood to be a state of consciousness. Those reborn in the Pure Land experience the joy of hearing Amitabha teach the dharma until they are ready to enter Nirvana. This is the Land of Amitabha Buddha, the world of utmost joy without suffering. With the spiritual power of Amitabha Buddha, all beings in this world will understand Buddhism easily and practice diligently, and attain enlightenment eventually. Therefore by reciting Amitabha Buddha's name, Buddhist followers hope that they will be born in this Pure Land after their lives on earth. They even worship at times holding a patra on the same posture. Amitabha is one of the most popular and well-known Buddha.
In particular, devotion to Amitabha is at the center of Pure Land Buddhism, one of the largest schools of Mahayana Buddhism in Asia. According to the Mahayana scriptures, Amitabha possesses infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva named Dharmakara. Amitabha is translatable as ‘Infinite Light,’ hence Amitabha is often called ‘The Buddha of Infinite Light.’
Amitabha, the Buddha of Boundless Light, embodies the energy of compassion that flows out into the universe.
Amitabha symbolizes mercy and wisdom. He is associated with the third skandha, that of perception. Tantric meditation on Amitabha is an antidote to desire. He is sometimes pictured in between the bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta.
Depicted in the mudra or gesture of meditation, he holds a begging bowl, a symbol of infinite openness and receptiveness or a vessel containing the nectar of immortality.
Amitabha is the fourth and most ancient of the five Transcendental Buddhas that embody the five primordial wisdoms meditation. He presides over the Buddha realm Sukavati (Tibetan: Dewachen), a Pure Land that is the expression of his own field of pure expression and nothing else. Amitaba is the Lord of the Padma or Lotus family and is the pure expression of the wisdom of discriminating awareness, which transmutes the poison of attachment and desire. He and the other Lotus family members support the gradual unfolding of one's spiritual petals into enlightenment. Amitaba is red in color, sits in the full-lotus posture with his two hands resting on his lap in the MUDRA of meditative equipoise. He is most often depicted in thankas flanked by two eminent bodhisattvas, Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and Vajrapani, the Bodhisattva of Power. It is the special vow of Amitaba that to benefit beings that are caught in the realm of their own confusion and suffering that if they remember his name with faith at the time of their death they will take rebirth in Sukavati. Through this they will achieve enlightenment and not again fall into a realm of suffering. This is due to the power of the merit of Buddha Amitaba's virtuous activities accumulated throughout his countless lives as a bodhisattva. Because of this, meditation upon Amitaba is widespread and very popular. He is the particular focus of the faith of the Pure land Schools of Buddhism and of the meditative training of Powas or Transference of Consciousness that enables one to transfer their consciousness into the field of pure perception of Sukhavati, the Realm of Great Bliss at the time of their death. In some mandalas, Amitaba is depicted in union with his Wisdom Consort Gokarmo, who embodies the pure element of fire.
Amitabha Buddha Ten
A beautiful statue of Amitabha Buddha sitting on a Lotus Base, handmade from copper alloy and 24 K gold with gold paint on his face.
His hands are in Samadhi mudra holding a vessel in his hands containing the nectar of immortality.
Long ago, Amitabha was a king who renounced his kingdom to become a monk. Called Dharmakara Bodhisattva, the monk practiced diligently for five eons and realized enlightenment and became a buddha.
Amitabha in Sanskrit literally means boundless light, boundless happiness and boundless life. Amitabha, who is also called Amita or Amida Buddha, is one of the most ancient dhayani buddhas. Amitabha presides over a celestial paradise called Sukhavati, or "realm of bliss," also called the Pure Land, which in Buddhism is understood to be a state of consciousness. Those reborn in the Pure Land experience the joy of hearing Amitabha teach the dharma until they are ready to enter Nirvana. This is the Land of Amitabha Buddha, the world of utmost joy without suffering. With the spiritual power of Amitabha Buddha, all beings in this world will understand Buddhism easily and practice diligently, and attain enlightenment eventually. Therefore by reciting Amitabha Buddha's name, Buddhist followers hope that they will be born in this Pure Land after their lives on earth. They even worship at times holding a patra on the same posture. Amitabha is one of the most popular and well-known Buddha.
In particular, devotion to Amitabha is at the center of Pure Land Buddhism, one of the largest schools of Mahayana Buddhism in Asia. According to the Mahayana scriptures, Amitabha possesses infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva named Dharmakara. Amitabha is translatable as ‘Infinite Light,’ hence Amitabha is often called ‘The Buddha of Infinite Light.’
Amitabha, the Buddha of Boundless Light, embodies the energy of compassion that flows out into the universe.
Amitabha symbolizes mercy and wisdom. He is associated with the third skandha, that of perception. Tantric meditation on Amitabha is an antidote to desire. He is sometimes pictured in between the bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta.
Depicted in the mudra or gesture of meditation, he holds a begging bowl, a symbol of infinite openness and receptiveness or a vessel containing the nectar of immortality.
Amitabha is the fourth and most ancient of the five Transcendental Buddhas that embody the five primordial wisdoms meditation. He presides over the Buddha realm Sukavati (Tibetan: Dewachen), a Pure Land that is the expression of his own field of pure expression and nothing else. Amitaba is the Lord of the Padma or Lotus family and is the pure expression of the wisdom of discriminating awareness, which transmutes the poison of attachment and desire. He and the other Lotus family members support the gradual unfolding of one's spiritual petals into enlightenment. Amitaba is red in color, sits in the full-lotus posture with his two hands resting on his lap in the MUDRA of meditative equipoise. He is most often depicted in thankas flanked by two eminent bodhisattvas, Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and Vajrapani, the Bodhisattva of Power. It is the special vow of Amitaba that to benefit beings that are caught in the realm of their own confusion and suffering that if they remember his name with faith at the time of their death they will take rebirth in Sukavati. Through this they will achieve enlightenment and not again fall into a realm of suffering. This is due to the power of the merit of Buddha Amitaba's virtuous activities accumulated throughout his countless lives as a bodhisattva. Because of this, meditation upon Amitaba is widespread and very popular. He is the particular focus of the faith of the Pure land Schools of Buddhism and of the meditative training of Powas or Transference of Consciousness that enables one to transfer their consciousness into the field of pure perception of Sukhavati, the Realm of Great Bliss at the time of their death. In some mandalas, Amitaba is depicted in union with his Wisdom Consort Gokarmo, who embodies the pure element of fire.