The Infinite Life Sutra The Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra

The Infinite Life Sutra (Sanskrit: Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra) is a Mahayana Buddhist text and a primary text of Pure Land Buddhism. The sutra describes in great detail the Land of Bliss (Sukhavati) and its inhabitants, how they are able to attain rebirth there and provides a detailed account of the various levels and beings in the Mahayana Buddhist cosmology. In the Longer Sukhavativyuha Sutra, the Buddha begins by describing to his attendant Ananda a past life of the Buddha Amitabha. He states that in a past life, Amitabha was once king who renounced his kingdom, and became a bodhisattva monk named Dharmakara (Dharma Storehouse). Under the guidance of the Buddha Lokesvararaja (World Sovereign King), innumerable Buddha countries throughout the ten directions were revealed to him. After meditating for five eons as a bodhisattva, he then made the forty-eight vows of vows to save all sentient beings, and through his great merit created the realm of Sukhavati.