Harris/B5M, 42. What is Pure Land Buddhism?

Pure Land Buddhism is an umbrella term for a variety of schools of Mahayana Buddhism which draw on the three Pure Land Sutras. It is characterized by gratitude and devotion to the Buddha Amitābha, more commonly known by his Japanese name, Amida. There is evidence of Pure Land thought in Northern India/Central Asia in the first century of the Common Era, and it was to become dominant among a variety of traditions practiced in East Asia, and particularly in Japan.