Material: Bronze. Cast. Handmade. Antique

Size: Approximately 28 cm in height (Medium-sized Buddha statue)

Description: Amitabha Buddha (Sanskrit: Amitābha, Tibetan: འོད་དཔག་མེད་, Ö-pa-me) is one of the **Five Dhyani Buddhas (Five Wisdom Buddhas)** in Tibetan Buddhism, belonging to the **Padma family**, and representing the principal deity of **Sukhavati (Tibetan: བདེ་བ་ཅན་, Dewachen)**. He symbolizes **discerning wisdom (all-seeing wisdom)**, responsible for transforming **greed** (raga) into wisdom, and is red in color, holding a lotus symbol.

Main Roles and Functions:

1. **The Core Buddha of the Pure Land School:**

- Although Tibetan Buddhism is primarily based on Tantra and Vajrayana, the Pure Land school (rebirth in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss) remains an important practice, especially prevalent in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools.

- Practitioners can achieve rebirth in the Western Pure Land after death and avoid the cycle of rebirth by reciting the Buddha's name (Namo Amitabha Buddha or the Tibetan "Om Amitabha Padme"), visualizing the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and making aspirations for rebirth there.

2. **Deity Yoga and Initiation:**

- In Tantric practices, Amitabha Buddha is the deity of both the longevity mantra and the rebirth mantra (as in the "Amitabha Pure Land Aspiration Prayer").

- He is often paired with Avalokiteshvara (Chenchen Tsering, Lord of the Lotus Family) and Mahasthamaprapta to form the "Western Trinity," symbolizing compassion, wisdom, and power.

3. **Folk Beliefs and Funeral Rituals:**

- After a Tibetan dies, lamas perform the **Phowa (consciousness transference)** ritual to guide the deceased's consciousness to the Pure Land of Amitabha, with Amitabha Buddha as the primary guide.

- Many Tibetans spend their lives reciting the **Amitabha mantra (ཧྲཱིཿ or ཨོཾ་ཨ་མི་དྷེ་ཧྲཱིཿ ཧཱུྃ)**, praying for the Buddha's guidance at the time of death.

The Myth of Amitabha Buddha (Tibetan Version)

The Tibetan Buddhist origin story of Amitabha Buddha is primarily based on the *Infinite Life Sutra* (Tibetan translation) and the *Sukhavati Aspiration Prayer*, blending narratives from both exoteric and esoteric Buddhism:

1. **Vows Made in the Ancient Buddha Era (Forty-Eight Great Vows)**

- Countless eons ago, Amitabha Buddha was still the monk Dharmakara, who made forty-eight great vows before the Buddha Lokesvararaja.

- The most famous is the **Eighteenth Vow**: "If anyone recites my name and wishes to be reborn in my land, even with ten recitations, and is not reborn there, may I not attain perfect enlightenment." (Tibetan: བདག་གི་མཚན་འཛིན་ནས་ངའི་ཞིང་དུ་སྐྱེ་བར་སྨོན་ན།) བསྐལ་པ་བཅུ་ཡང་མི་སྐྱེ་ན། བླ་མ་མཆོག་མི་ལེན།）

2. **The Creation of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss**

- The Bhikkhu Dharmakara observed the ten directions of the world, selected the most excellent Dharma among **two hundred and ten billion Buddha-lands**, contemplated it for **five kalpas**, and vowed to establish the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

- After his vow is fulfilled, he becomes Amitabha Buddha, and the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss possesses the following:

- Seven-jeweled ponds, water possessing eight virtues, and Vajra sand ground

- Rows of jeweled trees, magnificent pavilions

- Birds sing the Dharma, and the wind blows through the jeweled trees, producing wondrous sounds

- There are no three evil realms; all beings are reborn in lotuses

3. **The Connection with Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta**

- The Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss has **countless Bodhisattvas**, among whom **Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva** is Amitabha Buddha's **left attendant**, representing great compassion; **Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva** is Amitabha Buddha's right attendant, representing great wisdom.

- According to Tibetan legend, Avalokiteshvara vowed: "If sentient beings suffer in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, I vow not to attain enlightenment." Therefore, he often appears in the Saha world to save them.

4. **Unique Tibetan Legend: Padmasambhava and Amitabha**

- Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) is considered an incarnation of Amitabha (Tibetan: སངས་རྒྱས་འོད་དཔག་མེད་ཀྱི་སྐུ་རྡོ་རྗེ་འཆང་).

- In the biography of Padmasambhava, he was born from the Pure Land of Bliss in a lotus flower in the kingdom of Uddiyana, and later went to Tibet to propagate Tantric Buddhism, becoming the "Second Buddha" of Tibetan Buddhism.

Summary Diagram (Tibetan Perspective)

```

Amitabha Buddha (Western Buddha)

│

┌────────────┼────────────┐

│ │ │

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva

(Great Compassion) (Pure Land Dharma) (Great Wisdom)

│ │ │

Saving Sentient Beings, Reciting Buddha's Name for Rebirth in the Pure Land, Longevity and Wisdom

```

**Core Practice Mantra** (Tibetan):

> ཨོཾ་ཨ་མི་དྷེ་ཧྲཱིཿ ཧཱུྃ

> (Om Ami Dhe Hrih Hung) — Visualize the red syllable "ཧྲཱིཿ" emitting light, purifying karmic obstacles, and leading to rebirth in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. In Tibet, Amitabha Buddha is not only the lord of the distant Pure Land, but also the **guide at the time of death** and the **compassionate father of folk beliefs**. He shares the same spirit of "reciting the Buddha's name for rebirth in the Pure Land" as the Han Chinese Pure Land school, but also incorporates the visualization, initiation, and Phowa practices of Tantric Buddhism, becoming the ultimate hope for Tibetans.