Sukhavati

The word is the feminine form of sukhāvat ("full of joy; blissful"),[1][2] from sukha ("delight, joy") and -vat ("full of").[3]

Sukhavati is known by different names in other languages. East Asian names are based on Chinese translations, and longer names may consist of the words "Western", "Blissful" and "Pure Land" in various combinations. Some names and combinations are more popular in certain countries. Due to its importance, Sukhavati is often simply called "The Pure Land" without distinguishing it from other pure lands.

* Only common in Chinese.

In the final part of the Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra, Gautama Buddha discusses the nine levels into which those born into the pure land are categorized.[4]

In Tibetan Buddhism, the world of Sukhavati is invoked during Buddhist funerals as a favorable destination for the deceased.[4] Such rituals are often accompanied with the tantric technique of phowa ("transference of consciousness") to the pure land of Amitābha, performed by a lama on the behalf of the departed. Halkias (2013:148) explains that "Sukhavati features in funeral rites and scriptures dedicated to the ritual care of the dead ('das-mchod). The structure and performance of Tibetan death ceremonies varies according to a set sequence of events...For the duration of these rites, the consciousness of the dead is coaxed into increasing levels of clarity until the time for the ritual transference to Sukhavati."

Raigō (来迎, "welcoming approach") in Japanese Buddhism is the appearance of the Amida on a "purple" cloud (紫雲) at the time of one's death.[5] The most popular belief is that the soul would then depart to the Western Paradise. A number of hanging scroll paintings depict the western paradise.

A number of temples are named after Sukhāvatī:

• Kek Lok Si, Malaysia
• Kek Look Seah, Malaysia
• Jile Temple, Harbin, China
• Shinshōgokuraku-ji, Kyoto, Japan

• 
  Painting of Amitabha in Sukhavati. Tibet, circa 1700.
• 
  Amitābha welcomes Chūjō-hime to the Western Paradise.Japan, 16th century.[6]
• 
  Silk painting of the paradise of Amitabha (Sukhavati). Japan, Heian period, 794-1185.

• Sukhāvatīvyūha, two sūtras
• Naraka (concept of hell in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism)

• Inagaki, Hisao, trans. (2003), The Three Pure Land Sutras (PDF), Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, ISBN 1-886439-18-4, archived from the original on May 12, 2014{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
• Tanaka, Kenneth K. (1987). Where is the Pure Land?: Controversy in Chinese Buddhism on the Nature of Pure Land, Pacific World Journal (New Series) 3, 36-45
• Halkias, Georgios (2013). Luminous Bliss: a Religious History of Pure Land Literature in Tibet. With an Annotated Translation and Critical Analysis of the Orgyen-ling golden short Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra. University of Hawai‘i Press.
• Johnson, Peter, trans. (2020). The Land of Pure Bliss, Sukhāvatī: On the Nature of Faith & Practice in Greater Vehicle (Mahāyāna) Buddhism, Including The Scripture About Meditation on the Buddha ‘Of Infinite Life’ (Amitāyur Buddha Dhyāna Sūtra, 觀無量壽佛經) and a full translation of Shandao's Commentary on it , An Lac Publications, ISBN 978-1-7923-4208-0

Wikiversity has learning resources about Sukhavati

• The Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, the Amitabha Sutra
• Dol-po-pa’s: A Prayer for Birth in Sukhāvatī