Amitabha 阿彌陀佛／無量光佛

Amitabha from a thangka in the personal collection of Sogyal Rinpoche

Amitabha (Skt. Amitābha; Tib. འོད་དཔག་མེད་, Öpamé or སྣང་བ་མཐའ་ཡས་, Nangwa Tayé; Wyl. snang ba mtha' yas) — the Buddha of Boundless Light, belonging to the lotus family (one of the five buddha families). The Amitabhavyuha Sutra tells us that many aeons ago, as the monk Dharmakara, he generated bodhichitta in the presence of the Buddha Lokeshvara. At that time, he made fifty-one vows to lead all beings to his pure realm of Sukhavati.

On a deeper level, as Sogyal Rinpoche says, Amitabha "represents our pure nature and symbolizes the transmutation of desire, the predominant emotion of the human realm. More intrinsically, Amitabha is the limitless, luminous nature of our mind."

Teachings Given to the Rigpa Sangha

• Sogyal Rinpoche, Sydney, 22 February 2011.

Internal Links

• Brief Amitabha Mönlam
• Sukhavati