Amitabha             

阿弥陀佛

　　Amitabha or Amida (Sanskrit name for "Infi- nite Light”), Buddha of compassion in Mahayana Buddhism, whose cult is central to the Pure Land sects that are found throughout East Asia includ- ing China, Korea and Japan. (The term Buddha is a religious designation appfied to persons who are thought to have achieved an awakened state, or enlightenment-nirvana-and have retumed to earth.)
　　阿弥陀佛或弥陀(梵文名意为“无量光”)是大乘佛教中的慈悲佛。净土宗派的核心是对阿弥陀佛的崇拜，该宗可见于整个东亚地区，包括中国、朝鲜和日本。(“佛”一语是宗教术语，专指那些被认为已经达到了开悟的状态，证菩提入涅?后再回到世间的人)

　　According to the religious text the Sukhavativyuha Sutra (Description of the West- ern Paradise Sutra), the principal source for Amidisrn (the cult of Amitabha Buddha) was a monk ca#ed Dharmakara, who rived in unspeci- fied ancient times. The Buddha Lokesvararaja instructed him about the great beauty of the Bud- dhist heavens, ca/led Buddha Lands, where the 80 preceding Buddhas were believed to reside. Dharmakara began as a bodhisattva, a person who, on the verge of nirvana, refuses entry in or- der to aid others on earth. He set for himself 48 vows to fulfil/, which, he proclaimed, would allow him to reach nirvana. The 18th vow was to estab- lish a Buddha Land that was much more splen- did than the others. In this Buddha Land, he would receive those followers who faithfully chanted the nembutsu (known in Sanskrit as narno amitabha- buddhaya and in Japanese as namu amida butsu and in Chinese as namo amitofo), a petition to the Amitabha Buddha, of whom Dharmakara would be the first incarnation, for salvation and rebirth into his Buddha Land, known as the Pure Land. This vow was accomplished when he achieved enlightenment as the Amitabha Buddha.
　　按照《(小)无量寿经》(描绘西方乐七的经典)，弥陀信仰(阿弥陀佛崇拜)主要起源于一位生活于无量久远时的法藏比丘。世间㈠住王佛向他教说了被称作佛国的佛教天堂的美好。那里据悉曾生有过去八十位佛。法藏比斤先成菩萨一一这是一种处在涅?边缘但为了救助世人而拒绝进入其中的人。他为自己立下了要实现的四十八人愿。其中第十八愿表示要建立一个较以往佛国更加庄严妙好的佛土。在此佛土，他将接引一切至心虔诚的念佛(梵语中的“南无阿弥塔巴佛陀耶”。口语中的“南莫阿弥达补至”，汉语中的“南无阿弥陀佛”)者，一切向阿弥陀佛祈愿的人。法藏比丘将是阿弥陀佛土的第一个化生者。他为救度世人而再生于彼的国土就称作净土。他的誓愿得以实现是在他证菩提而成佛时。

　　Established in the 6th century in China and Korea and in the 12th century in Japan, the Pure Land sects still have many followers, especially in Japan's Jodo Shinshu(True Pure Land sect). Classical Japanese art abounds with images of Amida, often welcoming the faithful to the Pure Land. Amitabha is also held to have manifested himself on earth as the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Kannon in Japanese). The most important of the transcendant beings known as cosmic Buddha, he has a distinctive tradition established in his name and is also venerated in Buddhist writings called Tantra.
　　净土宗成立于6世纪时的中国和高丽(朝鲜)，12世纪时的日本，至今仍有大量信徒，特别是日本的净土真宗。日本古典艺术中随处可见阿弥陀佛像，常常是接引信众往净土的模样。人们认为，就象观世自在(日本人称为“观音”)一样，阿弥陀佛也会在人间示现。阿弥陀最重要的超越性存在身是大日如来，(密教中)有以他的名字命名的鲜明传统，他在佛教的怛特罗经典(密典)中又极受崇敬。