The Descent of Amida

Genshin (also known as Eshin) was one of the founders of Jodo (Pure Land) Buddhism. This movement promoted a pietistic form of Buddhism that emphasized the central importance of putting one's entire faith in the Buddha Amida (in Sanskrit, Amitabha), who is the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life. In his famous text, The Essentials of Salvation, Genshin taught that it was safer for most people to rely on the compassionate grace of Amida in order to be reborn into the Pure Land in the next life, rather than aspire to achieve enlightenment through independent effort.

In the present world of conflicts and temptations, the path to personal salvation was lined with so many pitfalls that, practically speaking, it was only by achieving rebirth in the Pure Land that one could hope to acquire the inner equanimity and spiritual detachment necessary for nirvana.

Genshin's work represents both the horrors of hell and the blissful condition of paradise with a vividness that continues to inspire many Buddhists to this day. This large painting, which is preserved at the Museum Reihokan on Mt. Koya, is said to have been based on an actual visionary encounter with the Buddha Amida that Genshin experienced during meditation.

While many scholars believe that Genshin painted it himself, others hold that it was at most created under his direction. According to Tsunoda et al., “it is recognized as probably the greatest of Japanese religious paintings” (190).