pure land ［浄土］ ( jōdo): A Buddha’s land. The term is contrasted with impure land, meaning the sahā world, this world that is tainted with suffering and desire. A Buddha’s land is said to be blissful and free from impurity and is therefore called a pure land. Buddhism sets forth two views concerning the relationship of the sahā world and the pure land. The first is that the pure land is another realm entirely, physically removed from the sahā world. Examples of this view are belief in the Pure Emerald World of Medicine Master Buddha in the east, and in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land of Perfect Bliss in the west. (The term Pure Land in capitals generally indicates Amida’s land.) The second view, represented in the Lotus Sutra and the Vimalakīrti Sutra, is that no pure land exists apart from the sahā world: the sahā world reveals either its pure aspect or impure aspect in response to the purity or impurity of the hearts and minds of those inhabiting it. One with a pure heart thus dwells in a pure land here and now. Collectively, when people purify their hearts and minds, the society or world where they live becomes a pure land.