Essay On Pure Land

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Introduction
Amidst people in different locations, times and civilizations we see a lot of same descriptions of Utopia or Pure Land. It is as if we have a unified idea of what a Heaven, Pure Land, or Paradise is. The characteristics of these heavenly realms are very similar between different cultures. The concepts of having infinite space, light, beauty, great peace, perfection and comfort are present in both Pure Land Buddhist ideals and Christianity. The most important distinction of this other world however is the idea that there is no feeling of time in any conception of Heaven. There is no hurry in any description of Heaven and there is no place to go, we have already arrived. In Heaven or the Pure Land people do not have to worry about being late for a meeting, having to hurry in order to enjoy themselves, and they never need to be 'pressed for time'; in these realms time as it is related to earth has no meaning. The experience of this other realm can be described as serene joy that is wholesome. There are of course many differences between Pure Land Buddhism and Christianity, but the fundamental idea of Heaven is prevalent in both religions.
The Pure Land
Pure Land Buddhism is derived as the easy way to enlightenment, that is to say that even a lay person is able to achieve enlightenment through the Pure Land if they are willing. It revolves around faith on Amida Buddha, the Buddha of infinite light and infinite life. Unlike the gurus of the former age, it is extremely difficult for beings to practice and attain siddhis in our degenerate age. The Pure Land is a simpler, but not lesser, path that allows one to achieve enlightenment. If a person dedicates their life to chanting the phrase “Namuamidabutsi” with a single focus...

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...must be granted immortality by God through resurrection. “All human beings had to pay for sin with death, unless, to complete the economic symbolism, they were redeemed-literally meaning "bought back"-by Christ (Abrahamic Transcendence pg. 173). Heaven is, fundamentally, the utmost culmination for which all Christians strive for; it is “fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1024). In Heaven, the sanctified carry on blissfully conforming to God’s will in affinity to all life, they will rule with Christ for eternity. The general belief is that there will be an individual judgment after your death where God will grant you immortality in heaven or in hell and then a universal judgment where all of mankind on earth, in heaven, and in hell will have their final reckoning in front of God.

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