Buddhists regard the material world as defiled land (as opposed to the Pure Land of paradise). The present world is illusory, so one should cultivate oneself in order to gain enlightenment and break free from the cycle of birth, aging, sickness and death in which one is constrained by the power of karma.
佛家認為現實世界是穢土，今世是幻覺，因此人要修證，以解脫生老病死、業力輪迴之苦，才可能超離穢土、往生極樂世界。