The raigō depicts Amida Buddha descending from the Pure Land on golden clouds with a host of bodhisattvas to welcome a dying believer. This iconic scene shaped Japanese attitudes toward death for centuries and became a major genre of Buddhist art.
The Byōdō-in Phoenix Hall was designed as a physical representation of the raigō scene, with Amida's gilt-wood sculpture surrounded by cloud-borne bodhisattvas recreating the welcoming descent in three-dimensional form.
Kannon participates in the raigō alongside Amida and Seishi Bosatsu, descending on golden clouds to welcome the dying. Kannon holds a lotus throne to receive the departing soul in this iconic scene of Pure Land salvation.
When a Pure Land devotee approaches death, Seishi Bosatsu descends as part of the raigō — the welcoming procession from the Western Paradise — joining his palms in reverence beside Amida and Kannon on golden clouds.
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