Pure Land Buddhism fully accepts the general Buddhist teaching on karma and merit, yet it places these within a distinctive framework of reliance on Amitabha Buddha. Traditional Buddhist practice emphasizes the gradual accumulation of merit through ethical conduct, meditation, and wisdom. Pure Land thought, however, holds that in the present degenerate age, beings are so deluded and spiritually weakened that self-generated merit alone is not a reliable path to liberation. Ordinary good karma still has value, but it is regarded as insufficient to secure awakening by one’s own power. This shift does not deny karma; rather, it reorients how karmic causality is understood in relation to liberation.

At the heart of this reorientation is the contrast between “self-power” and “other-power.” Self-power refers to the attempt to attain liberation through one’s own practices and accumulated virtue. Other-power, by contrast, points to the inconceivable store of merit amassed by Amitabha over countless eons, which is then dedicated to sentient beings. Pure Land teaching holds that rebirth in Amitabha’s realm is grounded primarily in this transferred merit. Devotional practices such as reciting Amitabha’s name function as the karmic link that opens one to this vast reservoir of merit.

In this perspective, the decisive karmic condition is not the sheer quantity of one’s own good deeds, but sincere faith and entrusting oneself to Amitabha’s vow. Recitation of the Buddha’s name is not merely a mechanical act; it is the concrete expression of trust in Amitabha’s salvific power. Through such entrusting, Amitabha’s merit is said to overshadow and embrace the karmic burdens of the practitioner, making Pure Land rebirth possible even for those with heavy negative karma. Once reborn in that purified realm, practice unfolds under ideal conditions, allowing for the gradual purification of remaining defilements and the eventual realization of Buddhahood.

Personal merit, then, is not discarded but placed in a supporting role. Good actions and ethical conduct help create favorable conditions and naturally arise as expressions of gratitude for Amitabha’s compassion. Yet they are not regarded as the primary engine driving one toward liberation. The emphasis falls on a humble recognition of the limits of self-effort and a corresponding openness to the boundless merit of Amitabha. In this way, Pure Land Buddhism transforms the understanding of karmic merit from a solitary project of spiritual accumulation into a relationship of trust in a Buddha’s vow-power.