The great scholar D.T. Suzuki is best known for his work on Zen. In "The Buddha of Infinite Light" Suzuki explores the "Pure Land" or "Shin" Buddhist tradition. This is the most widely followed Buddhist tradition in Japan.
The book consists of lectures Suzuki gave in 1958 to the American Buddhist Acadamy, New York City. They were first published in 1970 and were revised and edited by Professor Taitetsu Unno of Smith College in 1997.
The book is short but dense. It is not a mere summary of the Pure Land Tradition, valuable as that is for those coming to it without background, but a development and an interpretation of it.
Pure Land differentiates between an other-power, or Oya-sama in the spiritual life, in which we respond to a source outside ourself, and a self-power. Most Buddhist teachings, particularly the Theravada tradition, rely on self-power. The practitioner has to work out his own salvation through meditation and right practice and following the eight-fold path.
As I understand it, Pure Land is an other directed form of Buddhism which views Amida Buddha as the source of love, compassion, and the source of salvation. I don't think it quite equates to the Western concept of God, difficult as that concept is to explain. By reflection on Amida Buddha and the chanting of his name, the Pure Land Buddhist hopes to attain the Pure Land with the ultimate goal of Nirvana.
Suzuki writes (page 24)"Pure Land is right here, and those who have eyes can see it around them. And Amida is not presiding over an ethereal paradise; his pure Land is this defiled earth itself." Thus, contrary to what may be the usual interpretation of the Pure Land, Suzuki does not equate the Pure Land to an other worldy heaven but places it within us and our lives to be achieved by faith, practice, and sincerity.This interpretation, I think, tends to establish points of similarity between Pure Land (Shin) and Zen.
This is a learned book with discussions of Buddhist texts and history. As with his works on Zen, Suzuki draws illuminating parallels with western religious thinkers, particularly Eckhart. There is also a chapter I found particularly eloquent on Pure Land Myokinin. This is a term that applies to devoted followers who have attained spiritual understanding but who are not ordinarily learned in a traditional academic sense. Pure Land provides a form of salvation open to everybody willing to trust in Amida rather than an exercise that appeals only to the learned.
This would probably not be the best introduction to Buddhism for a person approaching it for the first time. The book explains the Pure Land tradition shortly but in depth. It shows the appeal of the movement. It thus does not simply present an interpretation of a foreign religious tradition but can help readers of all persuasions understand something of the nature of spiritual life.
