This book is a translation from the Chinese of a major commentary on the "Amitabha Sutra," the key text of Pure Land Buddhism. Its author is the distinguished seventeenth century T'ien-t'ai Master Ou-i, subsequently honored as the ninth Patriarch of the Pure Land school. As far as is known, it is the first time this work has ever been rendered into a Western language. This 1997 Second Edition, with Foreword, Notes and Glossary by Van Hien Study Group, is presented by the Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada.