Korea Journal of Buddhist StudiesISSN:1598-0642(Print)불교학연구회

“A Verse on Amita Buddha’s Pure Nature” is a text in which Wonhyo’s view on Pure Land is well portrayed. Bojo Chinul cited the poem as one source which supports the Sudden Enlightenment Gradual Cultivation theory, but Kim Sang- hyun and Bo-kwang did not scrutinize the context of the theory that appeared in “A Verse on Amita Buddha’s Pure Nature.”This article began from that point. Bojo Chinul’s Sudden Enlightenment and Gradual Cultivation theory is based on Avatamsaka. First, the perspective of Avatamsaka, which claims that the moment of spiritual awakening is the moment of attaining Buddhahood, had actually supported the Sudden Enlightenment and Gradual Cultivation theory. Second, gradual cultivation, which is the self-discipline after sudden enlightenment, was the Samantabhadra practice in the Avataṁsaka dimension, which extensively benefits mankind. After understanding “A Verse on Amita Buddha’s Pure Nature,” another problem surfaces: The distance between “A Verse on Amita Buddha’s Pure Nature” and Sukhavatīvyūhasūtra. Can the verse be evaluated as the geya (repeated praise) which summarizes the contents of the sutra?I did not see it. It is because some distance exists between “A Verse on Amita Buddha’s Pure Nature” and Sukhavatīvyūhasūtra. That is, Wonhyo’s hermeneutical pre-understanding of Sukhavatīvyūhasūtra is reflected in the verse, and that under-standing is based on Avataṁsaka thought, or sudden enlightenment. On the other hand, Dharmākara Bodhisattva’s attaining Buddhahood in Sukhavatīvyūhasūtra took five kalpas after the practices of the bodhisattva path. It was the self-discipline prior to sudden enlightenment.