Amita (Buddha)

Amitabha’s body is the color of gold,
The splendor of his hallmarks has no peer.
The light of his brow shines round a hundred worlds,
Wide as the sea are his eyes pure and clear.
Shining in his brilliance by transformation
Are countless Bodhisattvas and infinite Buddhas.
His forty-eight vows will be our liberation,
In nine lotus-stages we reach the farthest shore.
Homage to the Buddha of the Western Pure Land,
Kind and Compassionate Amitabha.
(RH 137-138; UW 28)

The Buddha Amita is the Buddha of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. He is also known as Amitabha ‘infinite light’, and Amitayus ‘infinite life’.

“Both Amitabha Buddha and Shakyamuni Buddha were people who became Buddhas . . . . ” (AS 11)

1) Ch. a mi to fo (Jap. ‘Amida’); 2) Skt. amita, amitabha, amitayus; 3) Pali —.

See also: pure land, Five Types of Buddhist Study and Practice- Pure Land, Buddha-recitation,
Avalokiteshvara (Bodhisattva).

BTTS References: AS 10-11, 20; UW 28-29, 131-135, 215-217; SM IV 53; SM V 10-11.