Title of the Sutra
First, there is the title of the sutra to explain.
[This scripture is called The Amitabha Sutra Spoken by Buddha.] This sutra takes its title from the one who expounds it and from the one of whom he speaks.
Buddha is the master teacher, the one who expounds the scripture in this world, that is, Sakyamuni. By the power of his vows of great compassion, he was born here in the world of the Five Turbidities. As the one who was first to awaken, his mission was to bring enlightenment to those who were to awaken later. Buddha is the one who knows all and sees all.
Buddha speaks the sutra with joy in his heart. Buddha's intention is to liberate sentient beings. Since the potential of sentient beings to achieve enlightenment is ripe, Buddha expounds for them these Pure Land teachings which are difficult to believe, and enables his listeners to reach ultimate liberation. That's why he is filled with joy.
Amitabha Buddha is the one Sakyamuni refers to in the sutra. Amitabha is the guide of the Pure Land. By the power of his forty-eight vows, he receives the sentient beings who have vowed to practice Buddha-remembrance by invoking the Buddha-name and enables them to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and never fall back from there. The Sanskrit name "Amitabha" means "Infinite Life" and also "Infinite Light". The essential point is that everything about him is infinite: his merits and his wisdom, his supernatural powers and his power in the Path, his embodiment and his environment, his work in expounding the Buddhist teachings and liberating sentient beings.
A sutra is any teaching from the golden mouth of a Buddha.
These terms taken together make up the title of the scripture: The Amitabha Sutra Spoken by Buddha. The three categories -- teachings, practices, and inner truth (noumenon), which each sutra should have -- can each be explained in both general and particular senses, as set out in the T'ien-t'ai system.
