sahā world ［娑婆世界］ (;  shaba-sekai): This world, which is full of suffering. Often translated as the world of endurance. Sahā means the earth; it derives from a root meaning “to bear” or “to endure.” For this reason, in the Chinese versions of Buddhist scriptures, sahā is rendered as endurance. In this context, the sahā world indicates a world in which people must endure suffering. It is also defined as an impure land, a land defiled by earthly desires and illusions, in contrast with a pure land. The sahā world describes the land where Shakyamuni Buddha makes his appearance and instructs living beings. In Buddhist scriptures, the sahā world indicates either Jambudvīpa, which is one of the four continents of ancient Indian cosmology, or the entire world containing all four continents. It also indicates the major world system, considered to be the realm of Shakyamuni’s instruction. In some Buddhist scriptures, including the Lotus and Vimalakīrti sutras, it is held that the sahā world, this world full of distress and suffering, is in itself a pure land, the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light. In the “Life Span” (sixteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni states, “Ever since then I have been constantly in this sahā world, preaching the Law, teaching and converting,” indicating that the place where the Buddha dwells, the Buddha land, is in fact the sahā world.