The Cult of the Pure Land of Maitreya in Paekche and Silla in the Three Kingdoms Period

Abstract

Although the cult of Amitabha was the representative form of Pure Land belief in Korean Buddhism after the Unified Silla period, this form of belief and worship was not seen in the Three Kingdoms period when the cult of Maitreya flourished. It was understood that even the Pure Land where the Buddha resides was related to the cult of Maitreya. Although all of the Three Kingdoms display features of the cult of Maitreya, there are significant differences between Koguryo, Paekche, and Silla with respect to the characteristics of the Pure Land of Maitreya. In the case of Koguryo, such things as Tusita Heaven and assemblies under the dragon flower tree, which are found in the Maitreya sutras, became the faith in the Pure Land of Maitreya. In Paekche and Silla, however, the features of a belief system in Tusita Heaven or assemblies under a dragon flower tree in the distant future are not seen. Rather, both states believed that Maitreya would appear in their own countries in the present and the characteristics of a belief in the manifestation of the Pure Land in the present, in which Maitreya will come and go frequently, are seen.