Sutra of Immeasurable Life

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(Chin. 無量壽經, Wúliàngshòu jīng; Skt. Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra (the Larger Sūtra))

Also: • Wuliangshou jing • Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra • Larger Sutra on Amitayus • Infinite Life Sutra • Wu-liang-sheu-king

A Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, also known as the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra, and one of the three principal scriptures of the Pure Land tradition. It concerns Amitābha, also called Amitāyus, and his western Pure Land, Sukhāvatī. Śākyamuni recounts the vows of the bodhisattva Dharmākara, who became Amitābha, and describes Sukhāvatī and the path to birth there for the attainment of awakening. The widely used Chinese version contains forty-eight vows  (BDK, The Three Pure Land Sutras).
The Chinese title means “Sūtra of Immeasurable Life”. Early translations are associated with Lokakṣema (second century CE) and Zhi Qian (third century); the attribution of the surviving versions has been reassessed by scholars  (R. K. Payne, “Aparimitāyus: ‘Tantra’ and ‘Pure Land’ in Medieval Indian Buddhism?”, 2007, p. 281). The version entitled Wuliangshou jing, numbered T360 in the Taishō canon, is traditionally attributed to Saṃghavarman (Kang Sengkai). Scholars have also identified it with the translation made by Buddhabhadra and Baoyun in 421; the question remains disputed  (Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions, T0360).

J. Edkins gives the title as Wu-liang-sheu-king. In the quotation from his work in the third volume of The Secret Doctrine (1897, p. 429), it appears as Ku-liang-sheu-King, apparently a misprint when compared with the source. Edkins’s reference to the Han dynasty should be understood as referring to the early history of Chinese translations, rather than dating every version of the sūtra  (J. Edkins, Chinese Buddhism, ch. VII, p. 171; H. P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, vol. III, p. 429).

Publications:

The Larger Sutra on Amitāyus, in The Three Pure Land Sutras. Translated from the Chinese by Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart. Revised 2nd ed. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2003, pp. 1-62

CTD entry in Russian: Сутра о неизмеримой жизни

Other resources:

Mentions

Mentioned in:

H. P. Blavatsky, The “Doctrine of the Eye” & the “Doctrine of the Heart,” or the “Heart’s Seal” – quotation from J. Edkins on the antiquity and spread of Pure Land teaching (The Secret Doctrine, 1897, III:429)

DATA

Title for references: Sutra of Immeasurable Life
Short description: A Mahāyāna sūtra on the vows of Amitābha Buddha and birth in his Pure Land, Sukhāvatī, and one of the principal scriptures of the Pure Land tradition.