Pure Land liturgy

[Clint Davis]

Um..where is it? Why is Buddhist liturgy so hard to find? Is there a Pure Land Prayer Book somewhere? Why not? I do what I can here at home, including chanting the Name, prostrations, etc. but if there are ancient Pure Land communities and devotional traditions, why do I have to devise it all and cobble it all together myself? Not that devising your own liturgy is a bad thing, I actually rather enjoy it; but it would be nice to have something to build upon or start with.

[Susthama]

I think our Japanese Buddhist friends have a highly developed liturgy which I think our Jodo friends in the west can attest to and we at Amida Trust have our own service book that we use which you will find if you go to the main page of this site on the side bar on the right hand side. If you scroll down far enough you'll see it along with the Pureland sutras.

[Clint Davis]

Duh, well there it is. How about that. Thanks so much, I'll see how it works out, it looks very interesting.

[Brad Walker]

I have a Pure Land recitation handbook that I got from my way place. They get their materials from somewhere in Taiwan. Unfortunately, I feel there is a tremendous cultural gap between Chinese and American outlooks on just about everything. So, between the language barrier and the cultural barrier, I am of the opinion that it is best to feel things out for one's self.

What really needs to happen, in my humblest of opinions, is that a western style and understanding of Buddhism must take place. Obviously, this is happening with or without our intentions of doing so. Do you think it would be better to actively take action -like Imperial Chinese did in translation of the Dharma- or, should we just take the whole Tripiṭaka and widdle away what doesn't work for westerners?