Amitābha (“immeasurable light”), or Amitāyus (“immeasurable lifespan”), are the Sanskrit names of a Buddha who in Mahāyāna Buddhism is represented as the supernatural ruler of “the Land of Bliss” (Sukhāvatī), a paradise-like world in the Western part of the universe. According to the doctrine associated with his name and commonly called Amidism (from the Japanese form, Amida), he is a superhuman saviour. Amitābha belongs wholly