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In one type of group practice, participants usually recite this mantra three times after reciting the Heart Sutra or the Amitabha Sutra. The word "rebirth" tends to make people think that this mantra is only about "being reborn", and that it can only serve the particular purpose of going to the Pure Land.
The 7th century Pure Land patriarch Shandao commented on the sutra in his Fashizan 法事讚 (Praise for Dharma Rites), which focuses on the rites associated with the recitation of the sutra. [2] It was also commented on by Sengzhao (384–414), Zhiyi (538–597 CE), Wohnyo , Huijing (578-645 CE) and Kuiji (632-682 CE).
The earliest known reference to Amitābha in a sutra is the Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra, translated into Chinese by Lokakṣema in 179 CE, with the discovery of a Gandhari language fragment of that sutra announced in 2018. [5] Amitabha is mentioned in numerous Buddhist sources. For example, Kenneth Tanaka writes:
Sutra chanting was one of the auxiliary methods taught by Pure Land patriarchs like Shandao. [100] The chanting of dhāraṇīs is a similar method. One popular Pure Land dhāraṇī is the Pure Land Rebirth dhāraṇī (往生淨土神咒 Wangsheng Jingtu Shenzhou) is another method in Pure Land Buddhism.
People often resort to methods such as chanting or recitation of Buddhist scriptures to help the deceased. [10] [11] For most Chinese funerals, if a Buddhist ceremony is chosen, the practice of recitation of the Amitabha Sutra and the name of Amitabha is an important part of death rites. [12]
For most funerals that follow the tradition of Chinese Buddhism, common practices include chanting the name of Amitabha, or reciting Buddhist scriptures such as the Sutra of The Great Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Amitabha Sutra, Diamond Sutra or a combination of classic Buddhist scriptures, such as the Great Compassion Mantra, the Heart Sutra, the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra and ...
The belief was that a person who had accumulated much bad karma, and possible rebirth in Hell would be immediately freed and allowed a favorable rebirth into the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. This practice is known as dosha-kaji (土砂加持) in Japanese. Today, the mantra remains one of the most popular mantras in Shingon Buddhism
The Udayagiri stupa for example, houses Vairocana, Amitabha, Aksobhya and Ratnasambhava in the four cardinal directions of the stupa. [ 8 ] According to Kimiaki Tanaka, this basic four cardinal directions Buddha model, combined with Vairocana Buddha from the Avatamsaka sutra , developed into the later tantric five Buddha families (which changed ...