I should have given some background. The advent and rise of the Mahayana and its subsequent branches was due primarily, if not exclusively, to the fact that some were of the idea that the Dhamma in its original and pure form was beyond the capacity of the common people. And they happen to be right ! The Buddha himself had said that it is difficult. In fact it had taken the prompting of Brahma Sahampati to convince Him to teach for the sake of the very few who would understand. Toward the end of AN 7.72, the Buddha states what kind of mindset a bhikkhus has to develop in order to be finally freed from defilements . The sutta is a ghastly account of how to develop that mindset. No wonder 60 of those monks ‘spewed hot blood’.
So, ‘out of compassion’ a smoother path had to be devised for the common folk. The deeper aspects of Dhamma were declared optional and unnecessary. Only have faith, and ” hey presto ” the Pure Land is yours!! It is the same for those who are told “Have faith in Jesus” and salvation is yours. The (relatively) few who have striven so hard, life after life, to be freed from the shackles of raga, dvesha and moha and from all taints and defilements attain the Best at the end. And those who only believe attain the Best at the very start- having done nothing .Where is the justice? Now we will be told ” believing also is a cause.”!! A philosophy for the people has to be invented too. Those who have seen Dhamma, even ever so little, will easily see through it.