Aaron P. Proffitt is associate professor of Japanese studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Aaron Proffitt combines two terms that are usually considered distinct—"Esoteric" and "Pure Land"—to show that both traditions as we know them today in Japan were incubated in the same historical and intellectual context. Their disambiguation did not happen until much later, and much of the reification happened in modernity. . . . With scholarly acumen, Proffitt shows that Esoteric Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism were not mutually exclusive categories, but rather elements existing in the same cultural sphere, each influencing and shaping the other." - Joie Szu-Chiao Chen, Buddhadharma (Summer 2023)

Aaron P. Proffitt is associate professor of Japanese studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Aaron Proffitt combines two terms that are usually considered distinct—"Esoteric" and "Pure Land"—to show that both traditions as we know them today in Japan were incubated in the same historical and intellectual context. Their disambiguation did not happen until much later, and much of the reification happened in modernity. . . . With scholarly acumen, Proffitt shows that Esoteric Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism were not mutually exclusive categories, but rather elements existing in the same cultural sphere, each influencing and shaping the other." - Joie Szu-Chiao Chen, Buddhadharma (Summer 2023)

Aaron P. Proffitt is associate professor of Japanese studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Aaron Proffitt combines two terms that are usually considered distinct—"Esoteric" and "Pure Land"—to show that both traditions as we know them today in Japan were incubated in the same historical and intellectual context. Their disambiguation did not happen until much later, and much of the reification happened in modernity. . . . With scholarly acumen, Proffitt shows that Esoteric Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism were not mutually exclusive categories, but rather elements existing in the same cultural sphere, each influencing and shaping the other." - Joie Szu-Chiao Chen, Buddhadharma (Summer 2023)