There is a debate among Pure Land Buddhists as to how we should explain this Pure Land. Is it a place far, far away or is it all around us? It is interesting to note that both of these approaches can be found historically within the Buddhist tradition. In his book Pure Land: History, Tradition, and Practice, Charles B. Jones states that “these competing ideas – that buddha-lands exist and have definite locations and that a buddha-land is only this present world perceived correctly – represent two sides of a controversy in later Pure Land developments” (Page 29).  Also see the essay Buddhism and Secular Subjectivities (Pages 70-78) by David L. McMahan in the book titled Secularizing Buddhism: New Perspectives on a Dynamic Tradition.

I have always preferred the second option – the Pure Land is located in the Here-and-Now. We even have this view stated poetically by Thich Nhat Hanh in our service book.

Here is the Pure Land

Here is the Pure Land

The Pure Land is here

I smile in mindfulness

And dwell in the present moment

The Buddha is seen in an autumn leaf

The Dharma is a floating cloud

The Sangha body is everywhere

My true home is right here.

But a counter argument can be made that “the first option raises the possibility that the Pure Land could provide an escape from suffering for all beings while the second indicates that one needs to engage in grueling long-term practice to purify one’s own mind if one wishes to gain a pure land” (Page 30). McMahan also states that this utopian language of a Pure Land far, far away can also be used as a challenge to the status quo by offering a new spiritual vista. Rather than offering practices to help us improve our lot in the secular world; it instead provides a new narrative in which to orient our lives, transcending our normal ways of thinking.

This reminded me of a song from my youth. It is I’ll Take You There by The Staple Singers, released in 1972. They had a background in gospel music so I had assumed that this was a song about literally, physically going to a Christian heaven. But what if this song is a protest song, a song that is challenging cultural norms by offering a new and different way of living and seeing. Perhaps they are offering an otherworldly utopia as an alternative. One that represents a new way of living and seeing as opposed to merely making improvements at the margins. For example, the following lyrics from this song seem to be suggesting so.

I know a place

Ain't nobody cryin’

Ain’t nobody worried

Ain’t no smilin’ faces

Lyin’ to the races

You gotta let me take you there

Take you over there

This is not merely an improved version of our world but rather a new world, separated from our own due to a revolutionary change in thinking. The context has completely shifted underneath our feet. This is not an attempt at improving our current social structures but suggesting that we replace them with brand new ones. It would be a new land where race and ethnicity have no currency. Where gender and sexuality are no longer binary labels. A land where the need to place each individual within a specific, predetermined box no longer exists.

Understanding this literary device has really helped me deeply appreciate the effectiveness of the first option of a Pure Land far, far away as something profoundly transformational, one that challenges the very basis of our normal ways of thinking and seeing. This is the power of metaphor, myth and narrative. Rather than practicing our way out of delusion we can instead adopt a new narrative as our life story.  This can be more easily done when we recast our story within a new locale.

This topic will be explored in more detail along the EVERYDAY BUDDHIST Course Pathway with our latest course offering titled 25-A. Metaphors, Myths and Narratives. For this and our entire course offering you can subscribe for $10/month or save $25 with an annual subscription of just $95/year for unlimited access to all new courses and content.