ABSTRACT
Pure Land Buddhism is not well known in the West. Although Japanese Pure Land has made some inroads in North America due to Japanese immigration to that continent, even there temples remain predominantly Japanese in ethnicity. Pure Land is a devotional strand of Buddhism. Originating in India, it developed into separate schools in China and, particularly, Japan. Whilst in the past, scholars within Japanese Pure Land had little interest in linking the movement to other Buddhist traditions, since the mid-nineteenth century, factions within Jodo Shinshu, the largest Japanese Pure Land school, became keen to understand the roots of the tradition in its Indian and Chinese precursors. The faith experience of Pure Land, shinjin, is described as absolute and unwavering. Westerner converts to Buddhism often have ambivalent feelings about questions of faith. They have often been attracted to the tradition because it offers spiritual practice without requiring beliefs. Pure Land Buddhism has often been hailed as offering potential for dual belonging.
