[Buddha-l] Where are the Pure Lands?

[Wong Weng Fai]

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008, jkirk wrote:

> The myths (E. Asian? Not sure of Indian) locate the Pure Land in the West
> somewhere, but none say precisely where.

There are pure lands (Buddha fields) in all the ten directions. The one in 
the West of ours (Sukhavati) happens to have more connections and is thus 
better known to us.

The idea is that whenever a Buddha is present (or whose Dharma remains in 
effect), there is a sphere of influence established by him that because of 
his infinite good karma and wisdom is pure. So even in our Saha world, 
Buddha Sakyamuni established a pure land. It is, however, only accessible 
to the faithful who both believe and practice his teachings. As a teacher 
told me before, some one who is a non-believer, even in the presence of 
the Buddha will see nothing more than a monk. A non-believer witnessing 
Buddha's enlightenment under the Bodhi tree will see nothing but a monk 
quietly meditating under a tree. The faithful will witness an altogether 
different experience.

W.F. Wong