Four kinds of lands
four kinds of lands
四土 (Jpn shi-do
A classification established by the T'ient'ai school of the various types of lands mentioned in the sutras. They are: (
1) The Land of Sages and Common Mortals, also referred to as the Land of Enlightened and Unenlightened Beings. Here ordinary people of the six paths, or the six lower of the Ten Worlds, live together with the sages of the four noble worlds, or the four higher of the Ten Worlds.
(2) The Land of Transition, which is inhabited by voice-hearers, cause-awakened ones, and bodhisattvas in the lower stages of practice.
3) The Land of Actual Reward, a realm inhabited by bodhisattvas in the higher stages of practice.
(4) The Land of Eternally Tranquil Light, or simply the Land of Tranquil Light, where a Buddha lives. This Buddha land is free from impermanence and impurity.
