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Abhirati (lit. "The Joyous") is the eastern pure land associated with Akshobhya in Mahayana Buddhism.[1] It is described in the Akṣobhyatathāgatasyavyūha Sūtra (Taishō Tripiṭaka, 313), which was first translated into Chinese by Lokakṣema by 186 CE.[2]
Although Abhirati emerged in the earliest era of Mahayana thought, Abhirati is far less widely known than Sukhāvatī, the pure land of Amitābha that has been the sole focus of Pure Land Buddhism since the Tang dynasty.[3]
References
- ^ Nattier 2000, p. 72.
- ^ Nattier 2000, p. 76.
- ^ Nattier 2000, p. 74.
Bibliography
- Nattier, Jan (2000). "The Realm of Aksobhya: A Missing Piece in the History of Pure Land Buddhism". Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. 23 (1): 71–102.
- Strauch, Ingo (2010). "More missing pieces of Early Pure Land Buddhism: New evidence for Akṣobhya and Abhirati in an early Mahāyāna sūtra from Gandhāra". Eastern Buddhist. 41: 23–66.
