A Little Bird Told Me: The Magical Birds of the Pure Land

Abstract:This article considers the unique case of the birds in Amitābha’s Pure Land, Sukhāvatī. Pure Land scriptures highlight the two main roles of the birds: their ornamental beauty and their amplification of the Dharma through their birdsong. In addition to the scriptures, the birds appear in Chinese commentarial and liturgical literature and popular tales. Although scriptures indicate that the birds are Amitābha’s skillful creations, they provided a familiar connection in this life to the Pure Land for those who aspired to be reborn there. This allowed for Pure Land practitioners to reimagine their spaces to gain a momentary experience of the Pure Land on earth.摘要:本文研究阿彌陀佛淨土的奇珍異鳥。淨土經典闡述鳥類有兩種特色：它們美麗的外表和出和雅音的鳥鳴。除了佛教經典之外，淨土的奇珍異鳥也出現在論疏、禮拜儀式文以及通俗文學之中。雖然淨土經典特別強調鳥類只是阿彌陀的方便力所顯示，它們能與一般希望求生淨土的人作為生活上的連結。這樣一來，淨土信仰者能想像阿彌陀佛淨土的特殊空間，並連結到現世間的經驗。