| Summary: | 碩士 === 佛光大學 === 佛教學系 === 104 === Having been introduced into China from its native India, Buddhism managed to incorporate the ethical values of the Middle Kingdom and adapt to the Chinese social environment, and at the time of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, gradually evolved into the 8 major Chinese Buddhist schools or sects, namely, the Three Sastra School, the Pure Land School, the Discipline School, the Ch’an (Zen) School, the Tian Tai School, the Dharmalaksana/Idealism School, the Hua Yen School and the Esoteric or Yoga School. They developed differently with time and had varied achievements. Among them the faith of Amitabha Pure Land began in the period spanning East Han Dynasty and the two Jin Dynasties, with the introduction of the Amitabha Pure Land scriptures into China and their translation into Chinese; it consolidated its development during the North and South Dynasties Period, and culminated in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. After the Tang Dynasty, the Amitabha Pure Land faith was absorbed into the actual practice of various schools, giving rise to the phenomenon of “Amitabha in every house and Avalokitesvara (Kuan Yin) in every home”. The faith of Amitabha of the Pure Land School has remained solid through the test of time.
In Chapter 5, which carries the title The Easy Means, of the Dasabhumikavibhasasastra by Nagarjuna, all the means of reaching the Land of Never Receding are divided into the hard ones and the easy ones; and to be re-born in the Pure Land of Ultimate Happiness in the West through external power, which is the power of Amitabha’s own vow, is classified as an easy means. There are records of scriptures about saints and worthies re-born in the Pure Land of the West since the Jin Dynasties. This thesis proposes to analyze such records and relevant contemporary publications, to study the similarity and difference of historical and modern-time incidents of rebirth in the Pure Land as well as the details of contemporary records of rebirth in the West, and to serve as reference for advanced cultivation of the Amitabha means by modern people.
The “rebirth in Pure Land” referred to in this thesis is the study “specifically of the records of rebirth in the Amitabha Pure Land of Ultimate Happiness in the West”. The thesis comprises 5 chapters. The first chapter “Introduction” outlines the motive, objectives, ambits and methodology of the study, the study of texts and review of relevant literature, as well as the limitations encountered during its writing. Chapter 2, entitled “The Understanding and Practice of Amitabha Pure Land”, expounds the 48 vows of Amitabha, the 3 food supplies of faith, vow and practice, the 5 sutras and 1 sastra of Amitabha Pure Land, as well as the ways to practical cultivation for rebirth in the West. Chapter 3, “The Explanation and Analysis of rebirth in the West Actual Records”, sums up and centrally analyzes all Records of Saints and Worthies of the Pure Land up to the early days of the Republic of China, and then collate, categorize and explain the various records of rebirth in the West since the founding of the Republic of China. Chapter 4, “Study of Actual Cases of Success rebirth in the West in Recent Times”, explains the study in the title. Chapter 5 is the “Conclusion”.
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