Celestial Buddha Amitabha surrounded by pure land scenes and figures.

Amitabha Buddha, who is also called Amita or Amida Buddha, probably is the best known of the Dhyani Buddhas. In particular, devotion to Amitabha is at the center of Pure Land Buddhism, one of the largest schools of Mahayana Buddhism in Asia.

Amitabha Buddha reigns over Sukhavati, the western paradise, also called the Pure Land. Those reborn in the Pure Land experience the joy of hearing Amitabha teach the dharma until they are ready to enter Nirvana.

Amitabha symbolizes mercy and wisdom. He is associated with the third skandha, that of perception. Tantric meditation on Amitabha is an antidote to desire. He is sometimes pictured in between the bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta.

Detailed print on cloth with red and gold brocade with gold details.  Rainbow fringe at bottom.  Two hanging loops at top. 

Image 9.5" x 13" / Brocade 17" x 26"

About the Dharma Friendship Foundation

Under the guidance of Alan Wallace, DFF was founded in Seattle in 1985 in order to make it possible for Gen Lamrimpa to come and teach in the USA for an extended period of time. Born in Tibet in 1934, Gen Lamrimpa became a refugee in India after the 1959 abortive uprising against Communist Chinese rule in Tibet . Gen Lamrimpa was known as an accomplished meditator and a true yogi, although, like all genuine masters, he remained humble and unostentatious. For many years before coming to Seattle he meditated in a stone and mud hut in the mountains above Dharamsala , India . Once in Seattle , he led a one-year samatha retreat at Cloud Mountain Retreat Center , providing earnest Western practitioners the possibility to practice under his guidance. His book Calming the Mind (Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca New York), first published as Samatha Meditation, is the record of some of the teachings he gave during this time. After teaching in the USA for two years, Gen Lamrimpa returned to Dharamsala to continue his practice. He came back to Seattle to teach in late 1992 for several months before returning to India . “Gen la” passed away in meditation in 2004. 

DFF was extremely fortunate to have had Venerable Thubten Chodron as its resident teacher and spiritual advisor for many years. In 2002, Ven. Chodron moved from Seattle in order to begin Sravasti Abbey, an abbey for nuns, monks, and laypeople. She continued to function as the Spiritual Adviser of DFF until September, 2005, when with her blessing and encouragement, the Board of DFF formally requested Yangsi Rinpoche to be our new spiritual adviser.

From 2005 to the present, Yangsi Rinpoche has guided DFF, generously offering public teachings and empowerments as well as an annual two week Mahamudra retreat. Much as Atisha brought the pure Dharma teachings from India to Tibet in the eleventh century, Rinpoche has worked closely with the DFF Board and the broader community, to continue the task of planting the Dharma in American soil, and in the hearts of its people.

Dharma Friendship Foundation