The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra: A General Explanation

Hsuan Hua

Jul 2013 · Buddhist Text Translation Society

About this ebook

The so-called ‘’shorter’’ Amitabha Sutra has been and is a foundation of spirituality for millions of Buddhist believers throughout the ages. The Sutra describes the magnificent Buddhist “heaven,” the Pure Land, where conditions are perfect for the practice of the Buddhist path. The sutra also describes the method for being reborn to that land, namely mindfulness of its Buddha, Amitabha. Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua’s accompanying commentary amplifies the text and explains its main concepts by providing many interesting anecdotes involving the Buddha and his disciples. This volume, combining the Sutra with Master Hua’s commentary, succeeds not only in introducing the practice and thought of Pure Land Buddhism, also referred to as Mahayana Buddhism, but effectively presents a lucid introduction to this Buddhism as it is practiced today.

About the author

The Buddhist Text Translation Society (BTTS) is dedicated to making the principles of the Buddhadharma available to Western readers in a form that can be directly applied to practice. Since 1972, the Society has been publishing English translations of sutras, instructional handbooks on meditation and moral conduct, and biographies. Most of the Society’s sutra translations are accompanied by contemporary commentary, based on lectures spoken by Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua.
The accurate and faithful translation of the Buddhist Canon into English and other Western languages is one of the primary objectives of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association (DRBA), the parent organization of the Buddhist Text Translation Society. Translators, bilingual reviewers, English editors, and bilingual certifiers are anonymous members of BTTS.