 This openness and acceptance of all kinds of people has made belief in pure lands one of the major influences in Mahāyāna Buddhism.Pure Land Buddhism seems to have first become popular in Gandhara, from where it spread to Central Asia and China.The sutra goes on to explain that Amitābha, after accumulating great merit over countless lives, finally achieved buddhahood and created a pure land called "Sukhāvatī" (Sanskrit