Kuiji's Reinterpretation of Amitabha's Physicality: Implications for Yogācāra and Pure Land

This conference paper examines Kuiji’s (632–682) Forest of Meaning of the Three Bodies as a key Yogācāra intervention in Tang-dynasty debates over buddha-body theory and the accessibility of Pure Lands, particularly that of Amitābha. Focusing on Kuiji’s use of Sanskrit compound analysis, doctrinal synthesis, and hetuvidyā logic, the paper shows how grammatical structure functions as a hermeneutical tool for reinterpreting dharmakāya, saṃbhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya. Kuiji’s analysis allows him to reconcile apparently conflicting scriptural positions while maintaining that, in ultimate truth, there are neither bodies nor non-bodies, and that the three bodies arise only in conventional truth according to perceptual capacity and causal conditions. The paper argues that this framework resists reductive “single-body” interpretations of Amitābha and instead articulates a relational, perspectival model of buddhahood grounded in Yogācāra epistemology. Presented at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting (online), June 2024.