The Lotus Sutra and the Pure Land Sutras, written down 2,000 years ago, have more than ever a profound significance for our lives today. The Lotus Sutra, expounded for the bodhisattvas and other advanced beings on the Buddha Path, expounds the salvation through faith in Amida Buddha in an indirect way. The Three Pure Land Sutras expound the salvation through faith in Amida Buddha directly and openly. We live in troubled times that fulfill the Buddha's prophecy about the 'end days' of the Dharma, where many teachers abound but none has the full truth. In the Pure Land tradition, begin in ancient India and developed in China and later Japan a thousand years ago, it is conceded that the various and sundry practices of the Buddha Path (called the "path of sages") is no longer effective for most people, but the path of Nembutsu (faith in Amida Buddha to save us) is open and available to all who accept it in their hearts without doubt. This essay goes into further detail and, through the wisdom of the ancient sutras, offers hope to all who seek to end the cycle of suffering in their lives now and forever.
