Jodo

See also: jodo, jōdo, and jōdō

English

Alternative forms

• jodo

Etymology

A borrowing of Japanese 浄土 (Jōdo, literally “Pure Land”), q.v.

Proper noun

Jodo

1. (Japanese Buddhism) Synonym of Pure Land: a sect of Buddhism and its primary afterlife, the seat of the Amida Buddha.
   • 1727, Engelbert Kaempfer, translated by John Gaspar Scheuchzer, History of Japan, volume I, page 287:

     ...zealous persons, chiefly the followers of the Sect of Siodo...

   • 1886, Bunyiu Nanjio, chapter IX, in A Short History of the Twelve Japanese Buddhist Sects:

     The Jō-do-shū, or Pure Land sect.

   • 1876, William Elliot Griffis, Mikado's Empire, page 233:

     In 1579, the two great sects of Nichiren and Jōdo held a great discussion upon religious subjects.

   • 1901, R.L. Halsey, The Religion of Japan & the Present Attitude of the Japanese, page 13:

     In the far off West there is said to be the home of Amida... He is free from the chain of transmigration and enjoys a conscious and happy immortality in ‘Jodo’,—that is, in the Pure Land.

   • 1938, Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Zen Buddhism and Its Influence on Japanese Culture, page 37:

     The Jōdo appeals naturally more to plebeian requirements because of the simpleness of its faith and teaching.

   • 2012, Atsuyoshi Fujiwara, Theology of Culture in a Japanese Context, page 175:

     Jodo Buddhism... had in its structure a grace-based doctrine of salvation of trusting in its goddess that was similar to the doctrine of grace in Christianity.

Noun

Jodo (uncountable)

1. (Japanese Buddhism) Alternative letter-case form of jodo: any of various other pure lands.
   • 1999 Nov., Prabuddha Bharata, p. 877:

     Simple faith in Buddha's grace was all that one needed to cross this ocean of samsara to the Jodo or 'Pure Land'.

References

• “Jodo, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.