Amitābha Buddha

This fine statue of Amitābha Buddha is from Japan during the Kamakura period (1185-1333). Although a time of great violence and political discord, Buddhism flourished in Japan during the Kamakura. Amitābha, or "infinite light", is the principal Buddha of the Pure Land, or Jōdo Shū sect, one of several schools of Buddhism that came to prominence during this period. Sōtō Zen, founded by Eihei Dogen, was also a product of the Kamakura period. [NOTE: Statue is from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; wood with gold leaf, ca. 1250].