Mark Unno looks at the rich history behind Pure Land Buddhism — the tradition based on the enlightened realm of Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. In the past two decades, there has been increasing awareness in America of Pure Land Buddhism as a major development of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. While Zen Buddhism is still better known in the West, Pure Land Buddhism [...]
About Mark Unno
Touching the Ocean of Boundless Compassion
Mark Unno reflects on compassion as immersion into the sufferings of samsara, like a raindrop falling into the ocean. I remember as a small child the experience of my first pet. Our family had traveled to Japan because my father’s study had taken us there. We rented an old, traditional wooden house in Tokyo where year round the wind whistled easily past windows and doors [...]
Understanding Dukkha
Konin Cardenas, Mark Unno, Thubten Chodron, and Bhikkhu Bodhi examine what dukkha is, why it matters, and how we can approach it in our lives. From the Winter 2017 issue of Buddhadharma. Buddhadharma: Dukkha is the starting point of Buddhist teachings, but not everyone speaks about it in the same way. Speaking from your own tradition, what does dukkha mean? Bhikkhu [...]
If It Sounds Too Good to Be True…
When we pray, says Mark Unno, it’s important not to get caught up in magical thinking or to become attached to specific outcomes. Just praying is enough. When we think about prayer in a Buddhist context, we find there are at least two major types: prayers for and prayers of. Prayers for are directed to future fulfillment of specific goals. These might include prayers for [...]
The Path of Foolish Beings
Who are the foolish beings? According to the Shin tradition of Pure Land Buddhism, we all are. Mark Unno explains that only by becoming aware of our limited self and acknowledging our fundamental foolishness can we realize the oneness of all beings and the limitless flow of compassion. One of the implications of the Mahayana Buddhist idea of emptiness is that the important [...]
