I would like to begin with a passage from the Contemplation Sutra quoted by Shinran Shonin in the Chapter on Practice from the Kyogyoshinsho.

The light emanating from Amida Buddha's features and marks shines everywhere throughout the worlds of the ten quarters, grasping and never abandoning sentient beings of the nembutsu. (CWS 47) 

When you walk into the Hondo of the Midwest Buddhist Temple one of the first things you see is the Amida Buddha Statue. The large size of the statue is somewhat unusual for a Jodo Shinshu temple but our founding minister, Rev. Kono, wanted people to see this first when they walked in. I think you would agree it has an amazing presence.

Amida Buddha is a cosmic Buddha and not a historical figure but is the personification or embodiment of Infinite light and life or universal wisdom and boundless compassion. The image symbolically represents ultimate reality and helps us ordinary people grasp the vast complexity of our existence.

Amida Buddha is not a deity to be worshipped, is not a divine savior, does not have supernatural power and is not omnipotent. Amida Buddha is not considered a supreme being who created the universe and now resides somewhere to watch over me, judging my thoughts and actions according to some divine standard. Amida does not live in temporal time, and is neither male nor female.

What Amida Buddha does represent is the working of wisdom and compassion we experience in our lives. It is the ultimate reality that the historical Buddha awakened to in his enlightenment. It is represented anthropomorphically to help us understand what is difficult to understand.

The sacred story of Bodhisattva Dharmakara to make vows to become Amida Buddha and to establish the Pure Land to liberate all beings is difficult to believe, but what matters is what the story means. It expresses the deeper truth about the existence of the working of Amida. Another way to think about Amida Buddha is the content of Shakyamuni Buddha's enlightenment. 

Think of Amida as the dynamic spiritual power manifesting as wisdom and compassion that I am made aware of in the ordinary experience of my daily life. Wisdom helps me to see myself and life as they really are, not just as I wish them to be. Compassion enhances my appreciation for things and assures me that I am embraced by a wider community and not forsaken as an isolated individual. If you look from the side, the statue leans slightly forward reminding us that Amida’s compassion is dynamic and is always coming towards us.

The Amida statue has a great deal of symbolism. It can evoke a deeply spiritual feeling. It stands on a lotus, which is a widely used symbol of Buddhism. Lotus flowers grow in the murkiest mud, not in spite of that but because of it. It symbolizes the purity and perfection unaffected by the seeming impurity that surrounds it. It is symbolic of us who have imperfections and limitations but can still grow from this foundation. It is a reminder of our potential. Amida Buddha is a symbol of that which we should become.

The hand gestures are called mudras. The thumb and index fingers join to form a circle or wheel of perfection indicating no beginning and no end. The right hand is raised to shoulder level with palm facing outward symbolizing light or Wisdom. The left hand hangs down with palm facing outward, symbolizing life or Compassion.

To be continued …