Amitābha

Amitābha (Sanskrit pronunciation: [əmiˈt̪aːbʱə]), also Amida or Amitāyus, is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Amitābha is the principal buddha in Pure Land Buddhism, a branch of East Asian Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, Amitābha is known for his longevity attribute, magnetising red fire element, the aggregate of discernment, pure perception and the deep awareness of emptiness of phenomena. According to these scriptures, Amitābha possesses infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva named Dharmakāra. "Amitābha" is translatable as "Infinite Light," hence Amitābha is also called "The Buddha of Immeasurable Life and Light".

Doctrine

According to the Larger Sūtra of Immeasurable Life, Amitābha was, in very ancient times and possibly in another system of worlds, a monk named Dharmakāra. In some versions of the sūtra, Dharmakāra is described as a former king who, having come into contact with Buddhist teachings through the buddha Lokeśvararāja, renounced his throne. He then resolved to become a buddha and so to come into possession of a buddhakṣetra ("buddha-field", a realm existing in the primordial universe outside of ordinary reality, produced by a buddha's merit) possessed of many perfections. These resolutions were expressed in his forty-eight vows, which set out the type of buddha-field Dharmakāra aspired to create, the conditions under which beings might be born into that world, and what kind of beings they would be when reborn there.

Amitabha (disambiguation)

Amitabh or Amitabha may refer to:

Amitabha (bird)

Amitabha urbsinterdictensis is an ancient bird from the Middle Eocene (approximately 50 million years before the present) in North America. One specimen has been found to date. Bonnie Gulas-Wrobleski and Anton Wrobleski described and named it in 2002.

Specimens

The only known specimen of A. urbsinterdictensis is the type, AMNH 30331, which consists of a partial skeleton, including an incomplete humerus, scapula, sternum, and pelvis. It is from the Bridger Formation of Wyoming, which is of Middle Eocene age.

Relationships

In their 2002 paper, Gulas-Wrobleski and Wrobleski found A. urbsinterdictensis to be a crown-group galliform, and a member of the "phasianoids", the group that also includes such birds as peacocks, pheasants, and turkeys.Gerald Mayr criticized this analysis. A 2009 study by Daniel Ksepka found the species to belong neither to the crown nor the stem of the galliformes, but rather to have affinities to the rails.

Name

Explaining their choice of name, Gulas-Wrobleski and Wrobleski wrote, "urbsinterdictensis refers to the "Forbidden City" locality of Wyoming. Amitabha is for Amitabha Buddha, the bodhisattva of enlightenment and compassion, who commonly adopts the form of a peacock when incarnated in the material world".