/lit/ - Literature

>>21838402
Pure Land Buddhism, as a Dharma Gate, arose around the same time that other salvific religions arose in India, Central Asia, and the Middle East. It's likely that the various faiths had some influence upon one another. Pure Land differs from Christianity in certain ways though. For one, the Pure Land is not a heaven, but rather a purified training ground that can be used to become higher than a God, and eventually leave the Pure Land in a sense to deliver sentient beings, whereas Christians believe that their heaven is eternal and they aren't ever leaving it. There is also the fact that in the Western Pure Land sutras they describe the fact that petitioners in that land can travel to countless Buddha worlds to learn teachings and make offerings, all in the time it takes to eat a meal. Christians, again, do not believe they will go elsewhere to offer anything to other deities while in Heaven. It does require faith and practice to get to the Pure Land, but it's considered the easiest path available to both normal people and sages.