Hey Grizzly,
I am glad someone started a new thread on a religious topic.
In relation to the “Greater Vehicle” tradition, I think that there is more to be said in relation to the different sects’ beliefs than what is only found in the Qing-tu (Pure Land)sect. There are quite a few Mahayana sects out there.
That being said, I am curious as to where your information comes from in relation to the Pure Land afterlife beliefs. Is it specifically textual, or based on discussions with a Pure Land monk/believer? From a textual point of view I believe that you are correct, but many of the texts were written during a time when Buddhism was in intense competition with (and often against)Chinese Popular beliefs. There was a definite need to define what was permissible and what was not for believers. However, this is often not really the case with modern day Buddhism.
It seems that the success of a foreign religion on Chinese soil has much to do with how well it is “absorbed” by Chinese Popular Religion. It may even be that there is a case to be made for there being no real religious differentiation in the religious life of China. What I mean by this is that regardless of the religious sects one belongs to (and very often it is more than one), one ultimately practices Chinese Religion, freely moving among beliefs and practices, based on one’s religious agenda. Now obviously this may not be the case with the better educated monks of a specific sect. However, I was personally surprised at the amount of monks who still burned money etc., even higher up on the monastic food chain.
Now as to the practitioners of the Pure Land sect being met by Amitofo (Amitabha) and associated compadres at the gates of the Pure Land of the West, this is correct. However, from my readings this is only the case for the most pious of believers. It is for the most part a case of one’s merit being judged accordingly.
The case of the afterlife of Chinese Religion is one that is as complicated as the pre-modern imperial bureaucracy ( and the modern “communist” one in Mainland China as well). When an individual dies, he/she is hauled before the courts of the underworld with the Lord of the Underworld Tudigong sitting in judgement. The case is evaluated and then sent to the proper office for processing. After being processed, the person is sent to the appropriate level of the underworld (or the Heavens {this includes the Pure Land}), all which is based on accumulated merit. However, some accounts have this processing being helped along by Bodhisattvas, or in the Daoist case, Immortals. For the most pious, there are even cases that upon the instant of death, completely by-pass any such processing, proceeding immediately to the Daoist Heavens, or the Pure Land of the West.
The Celestial (and Underworld) bureaucracy is inhabited by many beings, both Buddhist and Daoist in nature. The accounts of these realms are numerous, and depending on the author’s personal beliefs, can be more Daoist or Buddhist in nature.
As to your comment on the Buddhist and Popular religious languages being cognates with quite different meanings, this is sometimes the case. However, Chinese religious language has since the time of ther Han dynasty (and possibly before) been one that freely utilizes correlative systems of cosmology, and gives many different meanings to many a sign, god, etc., based on context.
I hope this is of interest.
Regards,
Tssuila