Pure Land Buddhism is currently still one of the most popular forms of religion in East Asia, and is practised by most East Asian monks. In the early Pāli scriptures, as well as in some customs in traditional Buddhist societies, traces can still be found of the period during which Buddhism competed with nāga worship and assimilated some of its features. I’m 80 years old and I’m still trying to change myself. When the emperor felt that some of Hōnen’s monastics acted inappropriately, Hōnen was banished to a remote province for four years. Whereas Hōnen had emphasized mostly devotion to the Buddha Amitābha, he did not do so exclusively: Shinran, on the other hand, taught a path of devotion to only the Buddha Amitābha. Apart from Shinran, other priests who emphasized faith in their interpretations were also banished, as their teachings were often embraced by a following which did not accept the authority of the aristocrats in power. In the fifteenth century, Rennyo (1415-99)-a disciple of Shinran, considered the second founder of Shinran’s Jōdo Shinshu school-tried to reform the school. As with Jōdo Shinshu, some forms of Zen Buddhism arose as a reaction to Tendai Buddhism. All of these developments led Buddhism to include many deities into its system of faith, but each deity was given his place and role, subordinate to the Buddha.

According to religious studies scholar Donald Swearer, bodhisattvas, relic worship, and hagiographies of Buddhist masters were ways for Buddhism to adapt to pre-Buddhist deities and animistic beliefs, by fitting these into the Buddhist thought system. Pure Land Buddhist meditations were initially practiced by Huiyuan (334-416 CE) on Mount Lu with the founding of the White Lotus Society. East Asian Buddhist movements like the Chinese White Lotus were transformations of such animistic beliefs. This opens up new options for those of us who work on countries often treated as “outliers”-cases located both geographically and conceptually at the periphery of our collective analysis of the Middle East as a region. Although early Buddhism already emphasized letting-go of self-conceit by practising the dharma, in the later Pure Land tradition this was drawn further by stating that people should give up all “self-power” and let the healing power of Amitābha do the work of attaining salvation for them.

Buddhism did not only appropriate deities into the religion, but also adapted its own teachings. Nevertheless, deities had a role in Buddhist cosmology from its early days. In many Buddhist traditions, there is a concept of a time when the world will end. Of course, I’ll never hear the end of it otherwise. Dōgen believed enlightenment was possible in this life-even the secular life-and he did not believe in the idea of the Age of Dharma Decline. Central to Pure Land Buddhism is the idea that the current age humans live in is the Age of Dharma Decline (mofa, mappō), the final stage of the current Buddha’s dispensation. Although Buddhism does recognize the existence of deities, Buddhas and other enlightened beings are considered to be different, in that they are seen as outside of the cycle of existence. How many are there? But even in Japan, there was much debate as to what emphasis to give to the active efforts of the devotee (i.e. self power, jiriki) on the one hand, and the total reliance on Amitābha Buddha and his vow on the other hand (i.e. faith in other-power / tariki).

The other-power approach was emphasized by the Pure Land schools of Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu which focused on faith based devotional Pure Land practices exclusively (especially nembutsu). Other schools like Tendai, Shingon and Kegon allowed for an approach which made room for self-power and numerous meditative practices. The most important Pure Land master was Shandao (613-681), who emphasized the recitation of the name of the Buddha Amitābha (the practice of nianfo; Jp: nembutsu), combined with several other practices as a way for ordinary people to be reborn in the Pure Land. Avalokiteśvara is strongly connected to the Buddha Amitābha, as it is believed that he lives in the same Pure Land, and will come to the rescue of those who invoke the name of the Buddha Amitābha. Amitābha Buddha; secondly, a deep trust in the vow that Amitābha Buddha had taken, and a conviction one’s own low nature; and finally, a desire to dedicate the merits accrued from doing good deeds to being born in the Pure Land where Amitābha Buddha was believed to live.