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Another Look at the Kanmuryojukyo (“The Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life Sutra”)



Author(s)

Kenneth Lee

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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2025.03.019

California State University, Northridge, USA

The Kanmuryojukyo (“The Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life Sutra”) is among the three principle canons of Pure Land Buddhism (Jpn. Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu) along with Amitayus Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra. Although the original Sanskrit text was never found, it was translated into Chinese by a monk named Kalayasas in the 5th century and became an influential text in Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia with the help of commentaries written by notable Chinese scholars, such as Shandao in the 7th century. The sutra contains the story of Queen Vaidehi who is imprisoned by her murderous son Ajatasattu and visited by Shakyamuni Buddha in response to her prayer to be born in Amitabha’s pure land. Though in prison, the Buddha tells her how to be liberated and reborn in the pure land by meditating sixteen visualizations.

Contemplation Sutra, Amitayus, Pure Land Buddhism, Sukhavati, Dharmakara

Journal of Literature and Art Studies, March 2025, Vol. 15, No. 3, 251-261