Contemplation Sutra
From Buddhist Encyclopedia
Three Jewels
Buddha . Dharma . Sangha
Three Dharma Seals
Anicca . Dukkha . Anatta
Karma . Rebirth
Samsara . Nirvana
Four Noble Truths
Seven Sets
Four Frames of Reference
Four Right Exertions
Four Bases of Power
Five Faculties
Five Strengths
Seven Factors of Awakening
Noble Eightfold Path
Bodhisattva
Four Great Vows
Ten Great Vows
The Contemplation Sutra is one of the three major Buddhist sutras found within the Pure Land branch of Buddhism. It is considered the shortest of the three, and begins with a story where a prince named Ajatasatru was influenced by the Buddhist traitor, Devadatta, to murder his father in order to ascend the throne.
Ajatasatru killed his father, and nearly killed his mother, Queen Vaidehi, but after advice from his other ministers relented and threw his mother in prison.
Lamenting her fate, Queen Vaidehi prayed to the Buddha for help, and had a vision of him. In this vision, the Buddha told her that even though she was in prison, she could still obtain salvation through devotion to another Buddha named Amitabha. The Buddha goes on to describe Amitabha and how one could obtain rebirth in his Western Paradise (Sukhavati in Sanskrit).
