"Among the many varieties of Buddhism， the Pure Land teaching most deserves the epithet 'other-worldly，' often erroneously applied to Buddhism as a whole. Pure Land doctrine teaches that this world is an arena of unavoidable suffering and frustration， and holds out the vivid prospect of rebirth in another， better world， where sickness， pain and death do not exist. This world is a hopeless trap， from which we can escape only by the power of Amitabha. Unless we attain rebirth in the Pure Land， peace and happiness， to say nothing of enlightenment， are beyond reach ... From a Buddhist perspective， it is the modern 'this-worldly' orientation to life that is a form of unrealistic escapism and unwarranted pessimism about human possibilities. It is unrealistic because it seeks the meaning of life in gratifications that can only be temporary and partial: it seeks escape from mortality in transient pleasures. It is unnecessarily pessimistic because it ignores or denies the transcendental capacity inherent in humankind: 'turning one's back on enlightenment to join with the dusts.'" （J.C. Cleary， Pure Land， Pure Mind， Introduction.）
"Here we find an important point of soteriological convergence between Pure Land ritual/meditative manuals and Pure Land hagiographical collections. In certain respects， it requires us to re-evaluate the way in which the long-range goal of rebirth in the Pure Land functions within the lives of Pure Land believers. It is easy， but perhaps ultimately misleading， to think of Pure Land spirituality as having a morbid obsession with death and the afterlife just because its stated aim is rebirth in Sukhavati. This is especially so if we are to take （Masters） Zunshi and Shandao （Shan tao） seriously when they claim that sustained practice of nienfo （Buddha Recitation） will bring a vision of the Buddha in this very life. In effect， such a vision of Amitabha does more than confirm that one is destined for the Pure Land in the near future， for it implies that one already has access to the Buddha now. Thus it becomes a mark of sainthood that is virtually equivalent （in anticipated form） to the irreversibility on the Bodhisattva path that will formally be achieved when one is reborn in the Pure Land itself. In this respect， it represents a kind of Pure Land 'Enlightenment' experience that is equally compelling and equally vital to establishing religious identity and authority as the 'seeing into one's original nature' of Chan （Zen）."