遊心安樂道

CHAPTER I: THE FUNDAMENTAL TENET FOR ESTABLISHING THE TEACHING

The mind-nature of sentient beings is perfectly interpenetrating and unobstructed, vast as empty space and still and limpid as the great ocean. Because it is like empty space, its Essence is equal and has no particular characteristic that can be grasped; how, then, could there be a pure place and a defiled place? Because it is like the great ocean, its nature is gentle and adaptable, always responding to conditions without opposition; how, then, could there not be times of movement and times of stillness?

Thus, beings may be driven by the winds of sensory objects and continually revolve within the five turbidities^[2], perpetually sinking in the ocean of suffering; or, through the power of wholesome qualities, they may sever the four currents^[3] and proceed directly to the ever-tranquil other shore. From the standpoint of the equality of the awakened nature, both movement and stillness are but a great dream, for there is neither here nor there; the pure land and the defiled land are originally but one mind, and samsara and nirvana are not two extremes.

Yet one who wishes to return to the source of awakening must accumulate merit before this can be accomplished, whereas one who follows the current of the dream can never attain awakening. Therefore, the traces left by the sages may be distant or near, and the teachings of the Dharma may at times flourish and at times decline. Thus, Shakyamuni Buddha manifested in this Saha world to restrain the five evils and encourage the practice of virtue, while Amitabha Tathagata teaches and transforms beings in that Land of Peace and Nurturance, establishing the nine grades of rebirth.

Such skillful means employed by the Buddhas in teaching and transforming beings cannot be fully described.

The Land of Ultimate Bliss presented here is precisely the response brought forth by profound and hidden vows and practices, and the manifested fruit of lofty virtues. Its eighteenfold perfect purity^[4] transcends the three realms, and the excellent characteristics of its five sense faculties far surpass those of the heavens of the Six Desires. The flavor of Dharma and the fragrance of treasures nourish body and mind; how could there be the suffering of hunger and thirst by day or night?

Fragrant breezes continually blow cool through jeweled groves, and there is utterly no anxiety over cold or heat, summer or winter. Hosts of sages assemble together and constantly bathe in the water of eight qualities^[5] within lotus ponds; thereby, those born in this land forever bid farewell to this wearisome age. Good companions travel together, journeying throughout the Buddha lands of the ten directions; thereby, they entirely leave behind sorrows that are difficult to console.

Moreover, they constantly hear the sounds of the Dharma being taught and thereby enter the Signless, and they behold the Buddha’s radiant light and awaken to the Unborn. Because they awaken to the Unborn, there is nowhere they are not born; because they enter the Signless, they manifest forms everywhere. Its purity and bliss are ultimate, and thus the mind cannot fathom them; it is without boundary or limit, and thus words cannot fully convey it.

Such is the Pure Land, praised by the Buddhas of the ten directions, who exhort beings to seek rebirth there, and it is the dwelling place relied upon by the noble assemblies of the Three Vehicles. Yet upon careful examination, the Tathagata’s intent in praising it and exhorting beings to seek rebirth there is precisely to receive and deliver those of middling and inferior capacities. Because the Saha world is defiled and intermixed, it presents many conditions for regression, whereas the Land of Peace and Nurturance is a jeweled realm of complete peace and well-being, where there is only progress and no regression.

Therefore, the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith states: “Sentient beings who have only recently begun to study this Dharma wish to seek right faith, yet their minds are often timid and weak. Because they dwell in this Saha world, they fear that they will be unable to encounter the Buddhas and personally make offerings to them. Finding it difficult to perfect their faith, their resolve consequently regresses.”

It should therefore be known that the Tathagata possesses many supremely excellent skillful means for firmly sustaining the mind of faith. One such means is the cause and condition of single-mindedly recollecting the Buddha, through which beings may, in accordance with their vows, attain rebirth in a Buddha land in another direction, constantly encounter the Buddha, and forever leave the evil paths far behind. As taught in the sutras: “If a person single-mindedly recollects Amitabha Buddha in the World of Ultimate Bliss and dedicates the wholesome roots they have cultivated toward the aspiration for rebirth in the World of Ultimate Bliss, they will immediately attain rebirth there, constantly encounter the Buddha, and never again regress.

If a person contemplates the Dharma Body of Suchness of Amitabha Buddha and constantly cultivates with diligence, they will ultimately attain rebirth there and achieve Right Concentration.” Although all ordinary beings may recollect the Buddha, until they reach the stage of the Ten Understandings^[6], they remain in a position subject to regression. In a defiled land, there are four conditions that cause people to regress; in a pure land, there are four conditions that prevent regression:

1. In a pure land, life is long and free from illness, and therefore there is no regression; in a defiled land, life is short and illness is abundant, and therefore there is regression.

2. In a pure land, there are Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and good and wise spiritual friends, and therefore there is no regression. As the sutra teaches: “...They dwell together in one place with people of supreme goodness”; in a defiled land, there are many unwholesome companions, and therefore there is regression. In a pure land, there are no women, so all objects of the six faculties are conditions conducive to advancing in the cultivation of the path; therefore, there is no regression. As the sutra teaches: “When the eyes behold forms, the mind of bodhi immediately arises…”; because there are women in a defiled land, there is regression.

4. In a pure land, there are only wholesome states of mind, and therefore there is no regression. The sutra states: “There is not even the slightest thought of committing evil”; because a defiled land contains unwholesome and karmically indeterminate states of mind, there is regression. Furthermore, both sutras state: “Those who attain rebirth there all attain non-retrogression”; they do not say that only those who have already attained non-retrogression can be reborn there. This is like people in the Saha world, who experience all three kinds of feeling^[7]; if they are born in that land, they have neither painful feeling nor neutral feeling, but only pleasant feeling.

In summary, those at the First Bhumi and above possess complete freedom through their compassionate vows and can be reborn anywhere; why, then, would they need exhortation? Those at the Ten Understandings and beyond have a definitely established spiritual lineage^[8] and no longer need fear regression; therefore, they too are not the principal audience^[9]. Those at the Ten Faiths and below, as well as ordinary beings, have not yet made their resolve firm and therefore rise or fall according to conditions.

Because they loathe the defiled land and delight in the pure land, the Buddha earnestly exhorts them. In the Western Land, life is long, and through cultivation in a single lifetime one enters the bhumis^[10]; in the Saha world, life is short, and even after laboring for many kalpas one may still regress. Therefore, the Avatamsaka Sutra states: “One kalpa in this Saha world is equal to one day and one night in the Western Land of Peace and Bliss.

In this manner, even one kalpa in the final world among a million asamkhya worlds is equal to only one day and one night in the land of the Tathagata Bhadramukha within the World of the Supremely Excellent Lotus.”

CHAPTER II: DETERMINING THE LOCATION OF THE LAND OF ULTIMATE BLISS

Buddha lands pervade everywhere and have neither East nor West; yet, in order to receive and deliver beings of many different capacities, here and there are provisionally revealed. Consequently, when discussing the location of the pure land, the One Vehicle and the Three Vehicles present different explanations. According to the One Vehicle, the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss belongs to the Ocean of Worlds of the Lotus Treasury. Why is this so? Because the perfectly interpenetrating realm of the Ten Buddhas^[11] cannot be expressed. What Samantabhadra perceives at the causal stage^[12] is limitless. According to the Three Vehicles, the Western Pure Land is divided into four lands:

– The Land of Dharma-Nature

– The Land of True Reward

– The Land of Enjoyment

– The Land of Transformation.

The Lands of Dharma-Nature and True Reward consist purely of the single flavor of peace and bliss and pervade the dharma realm; no other lands can compare with them. The Lands of Enjoyment and Transformation respond to vows and manifest according to beings’ spiritual responsiveness, revealing various directions and locations in accordance with the inclinations of sentient beings’ capacities. Therefore, the Shorter Sukhavativyuha Sutra states: “West of here, beyond more than one hundred thousand kotis of Buddha lands, there is a world called Ultimate Bliss.” We shall now briefly set forth four pairs of contrasts to explain the relative status of that world in terms of purity and impurity.

They are: cause and effect, complete and incomplete, pure and mixed, and Right Concentration and non-Right Concentration.

– CAUSE AND EFFECT

The dwelling places of bodhisattvas at and below the Vajra Stage are called Lands of Retribution, not Pure Lands, because they have not yet become free from the painful fruits of tribulation. Only the Buddha’s dwelling place may be called a Pure Land, because all afflictions, tribulations, and defilements have been utterly extinguished. On the basis of this meaning, the Humane Kings Sutra says: “The Three Worthies and Ten Sages^[13] dwell in Lands of Retribution; only the Buddha dwells in a Pure Land. All sentient beings temporarily dwell in Lands of Retribution; only bodhisattvas at the Vajra Stage^[14] dwell in a Pure Land.”

– COMPLETE AND INCOMPLETE

The dwelling places of bodhisattvas from the Eighth Bhumi upward are called Pure Lands because they have completely transcended the three realms and are endowed with four kinds of completeness. None of the dwelling places of bodhisattvas at and below the Seventh Bhumi are yet called Pure Lands, because they have not completely transcended the three realms, or have transcended the three realms only by relying on the power of their vows.

They lack the four kinds of completeness: complete bliss, complete purity, complete freedom from calamity, and complete sovereignty. When bodhisattvas at and below the Seventh Bhumi emerge from contemplation, a karmically resultant, indeterminate mind^[15] sometimes arises, and the four delusions associated with manas^[16] sometimes become active. At such times, they are not completely pure and are not entirely free from affliction and tribulation.

This is not so from the Eighth Bhumi upward. On the basis of this meaning, the Mahayana-samgraha states: “The supramundane-beyond-the-supramundane Dharma is produced through the efficacy of wholesome mundane dharmas.”

Explanation: The Two Vehicles are called supramundane, while the stages from the Eighth Bhumi upward through Buddhahood are called supramundane beyond the supramundane. Supramundane dharmas counteract mundane dharmas, whereas supramundane-beyond-the-supramundane dharmas counteract supramundane dharmas. Taking the four conditions^[17] as their characteristics, this pure land arises from wholesome supramundane-beyond-the-supramundane merit, not from the cause of the Truth of Origination.

3. PURE AND MIXED

The dwelling places of those of the Two Vehicles and ordinary beings are not called pure worlds. Only the dwelling places of bodhisattvas of the Ten Bhumis are called pure worlds. The former lands are not purely and entirely pure; only the latter lands are purely and entirely pure.

On the basis of this meaning, the Yogacarabhumi says: “Worlds are immeasurable, but they are divided into two kinds: pure and impure. In a pure world there are absolutely no hell beings, hungry ghosts, or animals, nor are there the desire realm, the form realm, or the formless realm. Assemblies of bodhisattvas dwell therein, and therefore it is called a pure world.

Bodhisattvas of the Third Bhumi, through the power of their vows, take birth in that land. There are absolutely no ordinary beings^[18] there, nor even sravakas or pratyekabuddhas. Only bodhisattvas may be born there.”

Explanation: This Third Bhumi was originally the Bhumi of Joy. Because the teaching is based on the seven stages, this Third Bhumi is the Stage of Pure and Excellent Aspiration. The seven stages are formed by grouping together the thirteen stages.

4. RIGHTLY ESTABLISHED AND NOT RIGHTLY ESTABLISHED

A place into which all three groups of sentient beings are born is a defiled land; only a place inhabited solely by the Group Rightly Established is called a Pure Land. It also includes those who have attained the four fruits of sravakahood and ordinary beings at the four stages preparatory to the Path, but it contains neither the Group Wrongly Established nor the Group Not Definitely Established.

Regarding the Group Rightly Established, all sentient beings are gathered into three groups. As the Infinite Life Sutra says: “All sentient beings born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss dwell in the Group Rightly Established.” Why is this? Because in that Buddha-land there are none belonging to the Group Wrongly Established or the Group Not Definitely Established.

What are the characteristics of these three groups? Generally speaking, icchantikas belong to the Group Wrongly Established. Those of the Two Vehicles who have reached the Summit Stage or above, and bodhisattvas who have reached the Abiding of Initial Resolution or above, are regarded as belonging to the Group Rightly Established.

Those who have entered the path^[19] but have not yet attained those stages belong to the Group Not Definitely Established, yet they certainly will not regress or sever their roots of goodness. This is called the Group Rightly Established.

According to the Yogacarabhumi, there are two kinds of right establishment: first, right establishment by inherent nature; second, right establishment developed through cultivation. Among the five lineages^[20], those of the bodhisattva lineage do not commit the Five Heinous Offenses^[21] or sever their roots of goodness; they are therefore called the Group Rightly Established by Inherent Nature. Those of the Two-Vehicle lineages and of the indeterminate lineage may commit the Five Heinous Offenses and sever their roots of goodness.

When they sever their roots of goodness, they are called the Group Wrongly Established. After restoring their roots of goodness, but before entering the path, such persons belong to the Group Not Definitely Established. Once they have entered the path, they fall into three classes: those of superior faculties are inherently rightly established as soon as they enter the path; those of middling faculties become rightly established upon reaching the Stage of Warmth; and those of inferior faculties become rightly established upon reaching the Summit Stage.

All others belong to the Group Not Definitely Established. Thus, when persons of indeterminate lineage enter the Mahayana directly, arouse faith, and cultivate the path, their faith becomes fully established after ten thousand kalpas, and only then are they called rightly established. The Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana expounds this meaning in terms of the Group Rightly Established through Cultivation.

Bodhisattvas who inherently possess the bodhisattva lineage, however, attain non-retrogression forever as soon as they enter the Mahayana directly. They are not driven by the power of karma to fall into evil realms. Therefore, as soon as such persons enter the ranks of the Ten Faiths, they immediately attain non-retrogression, unlike the persons of indeterminate nature described above.

All this is said with reference to defiled lands. With regard to attaining birth in a pure land, those of the fixed Two-Vehicle nature cannot be reborn there, though they may be reborn there after entering nirvana without remainder. Among those of indeterminate nature, if all three classes arouse the aspiration, they can all be born in a Pure Land. Upon birth in a Pure Land, they immediately enter the Group Rightly Established because they are sustained by the power of external conditions.

The meaning of the Three Groups has thus been briefly distinguished.

The present sutra calls the Land of Infinite Life a Pure Land according to the fourth approach. Why? Because it seeks to gather in both the Mahayana and the Hinayana, guiding ordinary beings and sages alike to be born in that most excellent land and proceed together toward the Great Way.

As the passage below states: “If, after I attain Buddhahood, the people of my land do not dwell in the Group Rightly Established and are not certain to attain cessation, may I not attain Perfect Enlightenment.” It also says: “If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sravakas in my land can be counted and their number known, may I not attain Perfect Enlightenment.” Yet the Treatise says that women, those with deficient faculties, and those of the Two Vehicles cannot be born there.

This refers to those of the fixed Two-Vehicle nature who have not yet entered nirvana without remainder and have not aroused the Mahayana aspiration; it does not refer to sravakas of indeterminate nature or to those of fixed nature after emerging from nirvana without remainder. The sutra speaks in this way to make this distinction. According to this principle, the two meanings do not contradict each other.

Furthermore, when it says that women and those with deficient faculties cannot be born there, it means that upon being born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss they are no longer women or persons with deficient faculties. It does not mean that women and others cannot attain rebirth there, for Lady Vaidehi did attain rebirth there. The Drum-Sound King Dharani Sutra records: “Amitabha Buddha had a father named Moon-Superior Wheel-Turning Sage King and a mother named Excellent and Wondrous Countenance,” and so forth.

It may be said that the land in which that Buddha teaches and transforms beings is a transformation land, whereas the Treatise regards it as an enjoyment land; alternatively, “father” and “mother” may refer to the parents of a Dharma teaching, as in the Vimalakirti Sutra. According to this principle, the two accounts do not contradict each other. The pure lands described through the four approaches above are all lands brought to fulfillment by the practices and vows of the Tathagata.

They are not lands produced by the power of those who attain birth there, and are entirely unlike the vessel-world of a defiled land, which is formed solely by the painful karmic fruits of sentient beings. Therefore, such lands are collectively called pure lands.

CHAPTER III: TRIBULATIONS ARISING FROM DOUBT AND DELUSION

First, the objects of doubt are explained; next, the methods for counteracting doubtful thoughts. Finally, the relative superiority and inferiority of birth by transformation and birth from a womb in that realm are discussed.

– First, concerning the objects of doubt: if people cultivate various merits with a doubtful mind and aspire to be born in that realm, they do not clearly understand the Buddha’s Wisdom, the Inconceivable Wisdom, the Incommensurable Wisdom, the Vast Wisdom of the Mahayana, and the Supreme, Unsurpassed, Unequaled, and Peerless Wisdom. They doubt and do not believe in these wisdoms, yet they still believe in transgression and merit, cultivate wholesome karma, and aspire to be born in that realm. Such beings are born in palaces in that realm, but for five hundred years they do not hear of the Three Jewels. The place where they are born is called the borderland.

The Inconceivable Wisdom is the Wisdom of Accomplishing Activities. This wisdom is capable of accomplishing inconceivable deeds: although the Buddha’s body is no taller than one zhang and six chi, the crown of his head cannot be seen; although its capacity is no greater than a pore, it can encompass all worlds throughout the ten directions; a single thought in which one recites the Buddha’s name can eradicate grave transgressions accumulated over many kalpas; and ten thoughts recollecting the Buddha’s virtues can bring about birth in the supreme reward-land beyond the three realms. Such things cannot be fathomed; therefore, it is called the Inconceivable Wisdom.

The Incommensurable Wisdom is the Wisdom of Wondrous Observation. This wisdom observes inconceivable objects, meaning that all dharmas are like illusions and dreams, neither existent nor nonexistent, beyond language and cut off from conceptual thought. Those who cling to language cannot fathom it; therefore, it is called the Incommensurable Wisdom.

The Vast Wisdom of the Mahayana is the Wisdom of Equality. This wisdom is vast and is not the same as that of the Hinayana. Because there is no self, all are the self; because all are the self, all are equally embraced and accepted. Through the power of wisdom that recognizes the identity of essence, it universally carries all sentient beings and brings them to unsurpassed bodhi; therefore, it is called the Vast Wisdom of the Mahayana.

The Supreme, Unsurpassed, Unequaled, and Peerless Wisdom is precisely the Tathagata’s Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom. First, the fundamental consciousness is transformed, and afterward it returns to the source of mind. Because it illuminates all things, it is called the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom. This wisdom possesses five excellences:

1. Unequaled: The liberation body is attained by the practitioners of the Two Vehicles as well, whereas the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom is the Dharma body, which those of the Two Vehicles cannot attain.

2. Peerless: The three preceding wisdoms are gradually realized by bodhisattvas, whereas the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom is realized only by a Buddha, with whom no one can compare.

3. Supreme: It utterly surpasses the Inconceivable Wisdom.

4. Unsurpassed: It far exceeds the Incommensurable Wisdom.

5. Excellent: It is more expansive than the Vast Wisdom of the Mahayana.

Because of these five excellences, it is called the Supreme, Unsurpassed, Unequaled, and Peerless Wisdom.

This explains the four objects of doubt arising from delusion.

– Second, the methods for counteracting doubt are explained. If people are not upright in mind, hold wrong views and arrogance, possess only a shallow aspiration for the Way, and do not understand the four wisdoms, they give rise to four doubts.

The first is doubt concerning the activities of the Wisdom of Accomplishing Activities. Upon hearing a sutra state, “Those who recollect the Buddha for ten thoughts will attain birth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss,” they fail to understand clearly and consequently give rise to doubt, reasoning that the Buddhist sutras teach the paths of wholesome and unwholesome karma and that transgression and merit are never lost; if the burden of transgression is heavy, it becomes an obstruction.

How, then, can people who have committed evil throughout their lives eradicate all their transgressions merely through ten thoughts, attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, enter Right Concentration, forever depart from the three evil paths, and ultimately attain the fruit of Non-Retrogression? Moreover, since beginningless time they have given rise to various afflictions, revolved within the three realms^[22], and become mutually entangled.

If the two cycles of affliction^[23] have not been severed, how can they escape the three realms merely through ten thoughts? To eliminate this doubt arising from wrong views, the Inconceivable Wisdom is set forth. To reveal the vast power of the Buddha’s wisdom, it makes what is near become far and what is far become near; it transforms what is heavy into what is light and what is light into what is heavy.

Although such things truly occur, they cannot be fathomed.

Therefore, one should simply place wholehearted faith in what the sutras teach and should not attempt to fathom it with one’s own shallow understanding. To arouse faith, it is necessary to explain and illustrate it through concrete examples. Suppose firewood had been accumulated for a thousand years into a pile hundreds of feet high, yet a single small flame consumed it completely in one day. How could one object that firewood amassed for a thousand years could not possibly be burned away in a single day?

Again, suppose a lame person strove to walk by his own strength: it would take him many days to travel a single yojana. Yet if he boarded a boat and relied upon the power of the wind, he could travel a thousand miles in one day. How could one object that a lame person could not possibly travel a thousand miles in one day? If even the power of a boatman in the mundane world can accomplish such deeds beyond conception, how could the spiritual power of the Tathagata, the Dharma King, fail to accomplish inconceivable deeds? This is the method for counteracting the first doubt.

The second doubt concerns the object contemplated by the Wisdom of Wondrous Observation. The sutras praise the Buddha’s wisdom as the Wisdom of Wondrous Observation. Dharmas are neither existent nor nonexistent; they are far removed from the two extremes^[24], yet do not cling to the Middle Way^[25].

Failing to understand this clearly, people give rise to doubt and reason as follows: As we now see and know, heavy objects descend and light objects rise. To say that what is light does not rise and what is heavy does not descend would be meaningless. Dharmas arising through causes and conditions are likewise.

If they are truly not nonexistent, then they exist; if they are not existent, then they are nonexistent. To say that what is not nonexistent does not fall into existence, and that what is not existent does not fall into nonexistence, is just like saying that what is heavy does not descend and what is light does not rise. Therefore, one should know that this teaching consists of words without reality.

Such calculation falls into extreme views. If one clings to dependent arising as truly existent, one falls into superimposition; if one clings to conditioned arising as entirely nonexistent, one falls into denigration^[26]. If one holds that conventional truth exists while ultimate truth does not, one clings to the two extremes and falls into contradictory discourse.

If one holds that dharmas are neither existent nor nonexistent and clings to a single middle, one falls into the discourse of delusion. The Shih Lun^[27] states: “Neither existent nor nonexistent is the discourse of delusion.” To counteract this erroneous view, the Incommensurable Wisdom is established, while also revealing that dharmas are extremely profound, beyond language and cut off from conceptual thought; they cannot be conceived or calculated, nor can their meaning be understood merely by following words.

As the Yogacara Treatise states: “What are the profound and difficult-to-perceive dharmas? They are all dharmas. Why is this so?

Because the foremost profound and difficult-to-perceive Dharma is the intrinsic nature of all dharmas. This intrinsic nature is free from conceptual proliferation and transcends language. Yet only by relying upon language can it be apprehended, perceived, and experienced; therefore, all dharmas are called profound and difficult to perceive.” This is the method for counteracting the second doubt.

The third doubt concerns the meaning of the Wisdom of the Equality of Nature—namely, equality. As stated in the sutra: “All sentient beings possess consciousness. Whatever possesses consciousness will attain bodhi.” Failing to understand this, one gives rise to doubt and thinks: “If it is said that all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature, that all will be delivered without exception, and that all will attain unsurpassed bodhi, then although sentient beings are numerous, they must eventually be exhausted.

Consequently, the final Buddha would possess no virtue of benefiting others, since no sentient beings would remain to be taught and transformed; therefore, he certainly could not become a Buddha, because his merit would be deficient. If he possessed no merit from teaching and transforming beings, this would not accord with the principle of the Path. How could there be any reason for one deficient in merit to become a Buddha!” Having formed such erroneous thoughts, one slanders the Mahayana and does not believe in the meaning that all are equally delivered.

To counteract such narrow and clinging doubt, the Great-Vehicle Vast Wisdom is established. Because it reveals the vast wisdom of the Buddha, which conveys all sentient beings into nirvana without remainder, it is called the Great Vehicle. Because this wisdom’s capacity to convey beings is limitless and boundless, it is called Vast Wisdom.

This is because space is boundless, sentient beings are innumerable, the three times are limitless, and samsara has neither beginning nor end. Since sentient beings have neither a beginning nor an end, the Buddhas likewise have neither a beginning nor an end. If the Buddhas had a beginning to their attainment, then before that there would have been neither the fruit of Buddhahood nor the sacred teaching.

Since there would have been no sacred teaching, they could not have heard the Dharma and thereby perfumed their minds. To become a Buddha without having heard the Dharma and received its perfuming would be an effect arising without a cause. This would be mere words without reality.

Reasoning from this principle, the Buddhas have no beginning. Although in truth they have no beginning, there is not a single Buddha who was not originally an ordinary being. Although they were ordinary beings, their continuous transformation and advancement had no beginning.

From this, it may be inferred that sentient beings have no end. Although in truth they have no end, all will eventually attain Buddhahood. Although all will attain Buddhahood, their continuous transformation and advancement has no end.

Therefore, one must believe that the Wisdom of the Equality of Nature universally delivers all beings without limit. Thus, the Great-Vehicle Vast Wisdom is established to counteract this third doubt.

The fourth doubt concerns the meaning of the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom, which universally illuminates all objects. One doubts as follows: Since space is boundless, worlds are likewise boundless. Since worlds are boundless, sentient beings are likewise boundless.

Since sentient beings are boundless, their faculties, desires, natures, and so forth are also without bounds; how, then, can they all be known? Must one cultivate gradually in order to know them, or are they suddenly illumined without any need for cultivation? If they are suddenly illumined without cultivation, then all ordinary beings should equally possess such illumination, since none of them has cultivated and there is no distinct cause.

If, through cultivation in successive stages, one ultimately comes to know them all, then all objects must have boundaries and limits. That which is boundless yet can be exhausted truly does not accord with reason! Whether one advances or retreats, neither position can be established; how, then, can all be universally illumined so that this may be called the Wisdom of All Modes?

To counteract these two doubts, the Unequaled, Incomparable, Supreme and Most Excellent Wisdom is established. This Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom surpasses the other three wisdoms, transcends the two truths, is unique and without a second, goes beyond the two barriers^[28], and even transcends the absence of barriers. It should simply be accepted in faith and cannot be measured; hence it is called the Supreme and Most Excellent Wisdom.

Why must one give rise to faith in it? Just as boundless worlds do not extend beyond space, the myriad objects, though without limit, are contained within the single source of mind. The Buddha’s wisdom is free from characteristics and returns to the source of the one mind.

Wisdom and the source of the one mind perfectly interpenetrate without difference. Because Initial Enlightenment^[29] is identical with Original Enlightenment^[30], no object among the myriad objects lies outside wisdom. Reasoning from this principle, limitless wisdom penetrates all objects, for boundless wisdom illuminates boundless objects.

As the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith states: “All objects originally arise from the one mind and are free from thought. Because sentient beings delusively perceive objects, their minds have range and limitation. Because they delusively give rise to thoughts and do not accord with the Dharma-nature, they cannot clearly understand.

The Buddhas, the Tathagatas, are free from the characteristics of seeing, and there is nowhere they do not encompass. Because the true mind is the essential nature of all dharmas, it illuminates all delusive dharmas and possesses the function of great wisdom and immeasurable skillful means. In accordance with what is appropriate for sentient beings, they reveal all meanings of the Dharma.

Therefore, it is called the Wisdom of All Modes.” This is the Unequaled, Incomparable, Supreme and Most Excellent Wisdom. Because there is no place from which it sees, there is nowhere it does not see. In this way, the fourth doubt is counteracted.

If one fails to grasp the intent and interprets the meaning merely according to the words, then both finitude and infinitude become errors; or, based upon the meaning of finitude, the meaning of infinitude is provisionally established. If a person does not resolve these four doubts, then even if born in that land, that person will still remain in the border region^[31]. If, however, a person’s mind’s eye is not yet bright and that person does not yet clearly understand the domain of the four wisdoms described above, but humbly looks up to and seeks the Tathagata, wholeheartedly believing in and submitting to the Buddha-Dharma, then such a person will, in accordance with the grade of their practice, be born in that land and will not dwell in the border region.

Those born in the border region constitute a separate class and do not belong to the nine grades. Therefore, one should not recklessly give rise to doubts and confusion.

– Third, an explanation of the relative superiority and inferiority of transformation birth^[32] and womb birth in that land.

The Sutra of Immeasurable Life states: “At that time, the Buddha addressed the Venerable Ananda and Bodhisattva Maitreya, saying:

– Do you see that land, from the ground up to the Heaven of the Pure Abodes, and how all the things therein are naturally wondrous, pure, and adorned?

– World-Honored One, we see them! — Ananda replied.

– Do you hear the mighty voice of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life resounding throughout all worlds to teach and transform sentient beings?

– World-Honored One, we hear it!

– Do you see the sentient beings of that land dwelling in palaces made of the seven treasures, hundreds of thousands of yojanas^[33] in extent, and making offerings to the Buddhas throughout the ten directions entirely without obstruction?

– World-Honored One, we see them!

– Some sentient beings in that land are womb-born. Do you know this?

– World-Honored One, we know it!

– Those who are womb-born dwell in palaces, some one hundred yojanas and some five hundred yojanas in extent. Each sentient being therein naturally enjoys pleasures like those in the Trayastrimsa Heaven.

At that time, Bodhisattva Maitreya addressed the Buddha, saying:

– World-Honored One! Through what causes and conditions are some sentient beings in that land womb-born while others are transformation-born?

The Buddha said to Bodhisattva Maitreya:

– There are sentient beings who cultivate various merits with a mind of doubt and aspire to be born in that land. They do not understand clearly and, moreover, harbor doubts about the Buddha’s Wisdom, Inconceivable Wisdom, Ineffable Wisdom, Vast Mahayana Wisdom, and Unequaled, Peerless, Supremely Excellent Wisdom. Yet because they believe in transgression and merit, cultivate wholesome dharmas, and aspire to be born in that land, they are born within those palaces and dwell there for five hundred years, without seeing the Buddha, hearing the sutras and Dharma, or seeing bodhisattvas, shravakas, and the assembly of sages. Therefore, sentient beings born in that land in this way are said to undergo birth from a womb. If sentient beings believe in and understand the Buddha’s Wisdom, up to and including the Supremely Excellent Wisdom, perform various meritorious deeds, and with a mind of faith dedicate them toward bodhi, they are spontaneously born by transformation within seven-jeweled lotus flowers, seated in the full lotus posture. In the space of a flash, their physical characteristics become magnificent, and they fully accomplish all merits, with wisdom like that of bodhisattvas.

Furthermore, Bodhisattva Maitreya! Great bodhisattvas in other Buddha lands give rise to the wish to behold, revere, and make offerings to Amitayus Buddha and the assembly of bodhisattvas and shravakas. After their lives end, the bodhisattvas of those lands are also born in the Buddha land of Amitayus, spontaneously appearing by transformation within seven-jeweled lotus flowers.

Maitreya, you should know that those who are spontaneously born by transformation all possess supreme wisdom, whereas those who undergo birth from a womb are without wisdom. For five hundred years, they do not encounter the Buddha, hear the sutras and Dharma, meet the bodhisattvas and assembly of shravakas, make offerings to the Buddhas, know the bodhisattvas’ rules of practice, or cultivate merit. You should know that these people lack wisdom because of the doubts they harbored in their previous lives.

It is like a wheel-turning sage-king who has a prison made of the seven jewels, magnificently adorned in every respect, with beds and canopies arranged and banners and parasols suspended. If any prince commits an offense, his royal father confines him there, locks him in golden chains, and places him under strict guard. He is then provided with food and drink, clothing and bedding, and every kind of incense, flower, music, and entertainment.

He lives like the wheel-turning king himself and lacks nothing whatsoever. What do you think? Would these princes willingly enjoy the pleasures of that place?

Bodhisattva Maitreya replied:

– No, they would not! They would seek every possible means and appeal to those with influence in the hope of escaping from that place.

The Buddha told Bodhisattva Maitreya:

– These sentient beings are just the same! Because they doubted the Buddha’s Wisdom, they were born within seven-jeweled palaces through birth from a womb. Although they suffer no punishment and do not entertain even a single evil thought, they endure the suffering of not encountering the Three Jewels or being able to make offerings and cultivate wholesome dharmas for five hundred years. Although they enjoy many pleasures, these do not equal the joy of the Buddha land of Amitayus. If these sentient beings recognize the root of their former transgression, repent and reform themselves, and seek to escape from that place, they will immediately be born, in accordance with their wishes, in the Buddha land of Amitayus, where they may reverently make offerings and travel throughout immeasurable and innumerable other Buddha lands to cultivate various merits. Maitreya, you should know that if any bodhisattva gives rise to doubt, that bodhisattva immediately loses great benefit. Therefore, one must clearly believe in the unsurpassed wisdom of all Buddhas.”

The words of the Tathagata are true. If one doubts them, later regret will come too late; one must be cautious!

CHAPTER V: SETTING FORTH THE GRADES OF REBIRTH

The Sutra on the Contemplation of Amitayus teaches that birth in that Buddha land does not fall outside the nine grades. Thus, that sutra states:

“I humbly beseech the Blessed One to expound fully for me a place free from sorrow. I wish to attain rebirth there and take no delight in the defiled realm of Jambudvipa, for this defiled realm is filled with hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, and many kinds of unwholesomeness. I vow that in my future life I shall no longer hear evil words or see evil people. I now prostrate myself with all five limbs touching the ground, bow my head before the Blessed One, and beg to repent. I pray that the Buddha will teach me, day after day, to contemplate pure karma!

At that time, the Blessed One emitted a golden light from between his eyebrows, illuminating immeasurable worlds throughout the ten directions. The light then returned to the crown of his head and transformed into a golden platform resembling Mount Sumeru^[34], within which the pure and wondrous lands of the Buddhas of the ten directions all appeared. Some lands were formed from a combination of the seven jewels, while others consisted entirely of lotus flowers… Immeasurable Buddha lands such as these were magnificently revealed, enabling Queen Vaidehi to see them.

At that time, Queen Vaidehi said:

– Blessed One! Although these Buddha lands are pure and radiant, I now wish to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss of Amitabha Buddha. I pray that the Blessed One will teach me contemplation and right concentration!

The Buddha told Vaidehi:

– You should know that Amitabha Buddha is not far from here. You should concentrate your thoughts and contemplate that land; you will then accomplish pure karma. I shall now explain all manner of illustrations to you in detail, so that all sentient beings of future generations who wish to cultivate pure karma may be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Those who wish to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss must fulfill the following: First, cultivate the ten wholesome courses of karma and refrain from killing. Second, receive and uphold the Three Refuges, observe all the precepts completely, and commit no breach of proper conduct. Third, arouse the mind of bodhi, deeply believe in cause and effect, read and recite the Mahayana scriptures, and encourage practitioners to advance. These three matters are called pure karma.

The Buddha told Vaidehi:

– You should now know that these three matters are precisely the true causes of pure karma practiced by the Buddhas of the ten directions throughout the three periods of time.”

The Buddha explained to Ananda and Vaidehi the highest level of the highest grade of rebirth: “If anyone aspires to be born in that land and gives rise to three kinds of mind, that person will immediately attain rebirth there. What are these three kinds of mind? First, the sincere mind; second, the profound mind; and third, the mind that dedicates merit and makes the vow for rebirth. Those who possess these three minds will immediately be born in that land.

Furthermore, there are three kinds of sentient beings worthy of attaining rebirth: first, those who possess loving-kindness and compassion, refrain from killing, and perfectly observe the precepts; second, those who single-mindedly read and recite the Mahayana scriptures; and third, those who practice the six recollections^[35], dedicate their merit, and vow to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Those who possess all these merits and contemplate for a period of one to seven days will immediately attain rebirth.

When they are about to be born in that land, because of their courageous vigor, they behold Amitabha Buddha and the two bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta, together with innumerable transformation Buddhas, hundreds of thousands of bhikshus, the great assembly of shravakas, and seven-jeweled palaces belonging to immeasurable devas. Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, holding a golden lotus pedestal in his hands, approaches the practitioner together with Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta.

Amitabha Buddha emits a great radiance that illuminates the practitioner’s body, and the bodhisattvas extend their hands to welcome and guide the practitioner. Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, and innumerable other bodhisattvas praise and extol the practitioner and encourage the mind of bodhi. Having seen this, the practitioner rejoices exceedingly and sees their own body seated upon a vajra pedestal, following the Buddhas.

In the time it takes to snap one’s fingers, the practitioner is born in that land. After being born there, the practitioner sees the Buddha’s physical body complete with all its marks and sees the bodhisattvas complete with their physical marks. Lights and jeweled groves proclaim the wondrous Dharma.

Upon hearing it, the practitioner immediately realizes the Patience of the Non-Arising of Dharmas and, in a single instant, makes offerings to the Buddhas throughout the lands of the ten directions. In the presence of those Buddhas, the practitioner successively receives predictions of buddhahood, returns to that land, and attains immeasurable hundreds of thousands of dharani gateways.”

Upper Grade, Middle Birth: The practitioner does not uphold, read, or recite the Mahayana scriptures, but clearly understands their meaning and purport. Regarding the Ultimate Truth, the practitioner’s mind remains unshaken; the practitioner deeply believes in cause and effect, does not slander the Mahayana, and dedicates this merit with the aspiration to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. When a practitioner of this Dharma approach is about to die, Amitabha Buddha comes before the practitioner together with Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, and an immeasurable great assembly surrounding them, bearing a golden dais in their hands.

They praise the Dharma child, saying: “You have cultivated the Mahayana and clearly understood the Truth of Ultimate Meaning; therefore, I have now come to welcome and guide you.” At the same time, hundreds of thousands of transformation Buddhas extend their hands to receive the practitioner. The practitioner sees himself seated upon a dais of pure gold, joins his palms, and praises the Buddhas. Within a single thought, he is born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The dais of pure gold becomes like a great jeweled flower arising in the seven-jeweled pool, and after one night it opens. The practitioner’s bodily appearance becomes the color of pure gold, and beneath his feet are also seven-jeweled lotus flowers. The Buddhas and bodhisattvas simultaneously emit rays of light that shine upon the practitioner’s body, whereupon his eyes immediately open and become clear.

Owing to the causes of cultivation from his previous life, the practitioner hears everywhere voices expounding the profound and wondrous Truth of Ultimate Meaning. He then steps down from the golden dais, joins his palms, bows to the Buddha, and praises the World-Honored One. After seven days, he attains non-retrogression from unsurpassed bodhi and flies throughout the ten directions to make offerings to the Buddhas.

Then, in the presence of the Buddhas, he cultivates the various meditative concentrations. After one minor kalpa, he realizes the Patience of Non-Arising and directly receives a prediction of Buddhahood.

Upper Grade, Lower Birth: The practitioner also believes in cause and effect, does not disparage the Mahayana, brings forth the mind of unsurpassed bodhi, and dedicates this merit with the aspiration to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. When the practitioner approaches death, Amitabha Buddha comes together with Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, and their retinue, holding a golden lotus dais and transforming into five hundred Buddhas to welcome and guide this person.

The five hundred transformation Buddhas simultaneously extend their hands to receive the practitioner and praise him, saying: “Dharma child! You are now pure and have brought forth the mind of unsurpassed bodhi; I have come to welcome and guide you.” Upon seeing this, the practitioner immediately sees himself seated upon the golden lotus dais. Once he is seated upon it, the flower closes and follows the World-Honored One, and he is born within the seven-jeweled pool.

After one day and one night, the lotus opens, and within seven days he beholds the Buddha. Although he sees the Buddha’s body, his mind does not yet discern the Buddha’s excellent marks. Only after twenty-one days does he discern them.

He hears musical sounds expounding the wondrous Dharma and is also able to travel throughout the ten directions to make offerings to the Buddhas. In the presence of the Buddhas, he hears the sublime Dharma. After one minor kalpa, he realizes the gateway to the clear understanding of the hundred dharmas^[36] and abides in the Ground of Joy.

These are the characteristics of birth in the upper group and constitute the fourteenth contemplation.

Middle Grade, Upper Birth: If there are sentient beings who uphold the Eight Precepts of the One-Day Retreat, cultivate the various precepts, and do not commit the Five Heinous Offenses or other transgressions, and who dedicate these roots of goodness with the aspiration to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, then, when they are about to die, Amitabha Buddha and an assembly of bhikshus, surrounded by their retinue, emit golden rays of light and come to the practitioners.

They expound the teachings of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self, and praise renunciation, through which one is freed from all suffering. Upon seeing them, the practitioners’ hearts become exceedingly joyful. They see themselves seated upon lotus daises, kneel upright with palms joined, and bow their heads before the Buddhas.

Before they can raise their heads, they are born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and the lotus flowers immediately open. As soon as the flowers begin to open, they hear voices praising the Four Noble Truths and immediately attain arhatship, complete with the Three Insights^[37], the Six Superknowledges^[38], and the Eight Liberations^[39].

Middle Grade, Middle Birth: If sentient beings uphold the Eight Precepts of the One-Day Retreat, observe the shramanera precepts, or observe the full precepts and all rules of deportment without deficiency for one day and one night, and dedicate this merit with the aspiration to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, being perfumed by cultivation with the fragrance of morality, then, when practitioners who cultivate in this way approach death, they see Amitabha Buddha and his retinue emitting golden rays of light and holding seven-jeweled lotus flowers as they come before them.

The practitioners themselves hear a voice in the sky praising them, saying: “Good men and faithful women! You are virtuous people who follow the teachings of the Buddhas of the three times; I have come to welcome and guide you!” At that moment, the practitioners see themselves seated upon lotus flowers. The lotus flowers immediately close, and they are born in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

After seven days upon the jeweled ground, the flowers begin to open. They open their eyes, join their palms, and praise the World-Honored One. Hearing the Dharma, they rejoice and attain stream-entry.

After half a kalpa, they become arhats.

Middle Grade, Lower Birth: If there is a man or woman who devotedly supports and cares for his or her parents and practices benevolence and compassion, then, when that person’s life ends, he or she encounters a good spiritual friend who clearly explains the joys and splendors of Amitabha Buddha’s land and the forty-eight great vows of Bhikshu Dharmakara^[40]. Upon hearing these things, the practitioner immediately relinquishes the mortal body and, within the time it takes a strong man to bend and extend his arm, is born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. After seven days, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta expound the Dharma to the practitioner. Having accepted it in faith, the practitioner becomes an arhat after one minor kalpa.

Lower Grade, Upper Birth: If sentient beings commit evil karma and, although they do not disparage the Mahayana scriptures, perform evil deeds without knowing shame, then, when such practitioners approach death, they encounter a good spiritual friend who recites for them the names of the twelve divisions of the Mahayana scriptures^[41]. By hearing the names of these scriptures, they extinguish exceedingly grave evil karma accumulated over a thousand kalpas.

A wise person further instructs them to join their palms and recite, “Namo Amitabha Buddha.” By reciting the Buddha’s name, they extinguish the offenses of birth and death accumulated over five billion kalpas^[42]. At that time, that Buddha immediately dispatches transformation Buddhas and transformed manifestations of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, who come before those persons and praise them, saying: “Good man!

Because you have recited the names of the Buddhas, you have extinguished your grave offenses; I have come to welcome and guide you.” When these words have been spoken, the practitioner immediately sees the transformation Buddha’s light filling the entire house. Rejoicing at this sight, the practitioner relinquishes the mortal body, mounts a jeweled lotus flower, follows the transformation Buddha, and is born in the jeweled pool.

After forty-nine days, the lotus flower begins to open. As soon as it begins to open, the Greatly Compassionate Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara emits great brilliant rays of light, comes before the practitioner, and expounds the twelve profound and wondrous divisions of scripture. Having heard them, the practitioner believes and understands and brings forth the mind of unsurpassed bodhi.

After ten minor kalpas, the practitioner perfects the gateway to the clear understanding of the hundred dharmas and enters the First Ground. Those of this Lower Grade, Upper Birth hear the names of the Buddhas, the name of the Dharma, and the name of the Sangha, and thereby immediately attain rebirth in the Pure Land.

Lower Grade, Middle Birth: If there are sentient beings who violate the Five Precepts, the Eight Precepts observed on fast days, and the Complete Precepts; steal property belonging to the universal Sangha or the presently assembled Sangha; and preach impure teachings without any sense of shame, using evil karma to enrich themselves—such offenders, because of their evil karma, ought to fall into hell. When their lives are about to end, the various fires of hell surge upon them all at once.

Yet, through encountering a good spiritual friend who, with great compassion, teaches them about the majestic virtue of Amitabha Buddha’s ten powers, clearly explains that Buddha’s wondrous power and radiant light, and also praises morality, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge and vision of liberation, upon hearing this they are immediately freed from the offenses of birth and death accumulated throughout eighty kotis of kalpas.

The raging fires of hell are transformed into cool, wholesome breezes that scatter celestial flowers. Upon every flower are transformation Buddhas and bodhisattvas who come to welcome and guide them. In the span of a single thought, they attain birth within a lotus flower in a seven-jeweled pond.

After six kalpas, the lotus flower opens. Bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta employ the Brahma voice to transform them and expound the profound and wondrous Mahayana scriptures. Upon hearing this Dharma, they immediately arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi.

Lower Grade, Lower Birth: If there are sentient beings who commit unwholesome karma—the Five Heinous Offenses, the Ten Evils, and all manner of unwholesome deeds—such foolish persons, because of their evil karma, ought to fall into the evil destinies and undergo boundless suffering for many kalpas. Yet, when their lives are about to end, they encounter a good spiritual friend who transforms them, teaches them the Dharma, and instructs them to recollect the Buddha.

Because those persons are tormented by suffering, they are unable to recollect the Buddha. The good spiritual friend tells them: “If you cannot recollect him, you should invoke the Buddha of Infinite Life.” Thus, with utmost sincerity and without allowing the sound of their recitation to cease, they complete ten invocations of Namo Amitabha Buddha. By invoking the Buddha’s name, with each thought they are freed from the offenses of birth and death accumulated throughout eighty kotis of kalpas.

After their lives end, they see before them a golden lotus flower resembling the sun, and in the span of a single thought they attain birth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. They remain within the lotus flower for fully twelve great kalpas before it opens. Bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta, with voices of great compassion, clearly expound to them the true nature of all dharmas and the means of eradicating offenses.

Upon hearing this, they rejoice and immediately arouse the aspiration for bodhi.

Explanation: Concerning these nine grades, there are, in brief, two interpretations:

The first interpretation explains that all those born among these nine grades are bodhisattvas at the Ten Faiths. According to whether they advance or regress, perform good or commit evil, and rise or fall in differing ways, they are divided into nine grades. The three upper grades are those at the Ten Faiths who proceed directly from the foundation of non-retrogression.

Because their practice may be profound or shallow, they constitute the three upper grades. The three middle grades consist of bodhisattvas who regress from the Mahayana aspiration and arouse the Hinayana aspiration, and who regress from Mahayana practice to cultivate Hinayana practice. Because their practice may be profound or shallow, they constitute the three middle grades.

The three lower grades consist of those who regress from the Mahayana aspiration and follow the current of birth and death, and who regress from Mahayana practice and commit offenses leading to birth and death. Because their offenses may be grave or light, they constitute the three lower grades.

The second interpretation explains that those who arouse the aspiration for bodhi and cultivate the bodhisattva practices constitute the three upper grades according to whether their practice is shallow or profound. Those who arouse the aspiration for bodhi and cultivate the practices of the sravakas constitute the three middle grades according to whether their practice is shallow or profound. Those who arouse neither of these two aspirations and cultivate neither Mahayana nor Hinayana practices, but merely follow the mind of birth and death and commit offenses leading to birth and death, constitute the three lower grades according to whether their offenses are grave or light.

The foregoing is a brief discussion of the nine grades. If examined in detail, one of the Upper Grade, Upper Birth arouses the three kinds of mind. As the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith states: “The stage of arousing the aspiration through the fulfillment of faith is the final mind of the Ten Faiths; if one is born in that land, one immediately attains the Patient Acceptance of the Non-arising of Dharmas.” This is called the Contemplation of Conditions Patient Acceptance of Non-arising, for the Sutra of the Jeweled Necklace of the Primary Activities states: “At the stage of the Ten Understandings, one attains the Patient Acceptance of Non-arising.” One of the Upper Grade, Middle Birth is at the initial stage of the Ten Faiths.

One kalpa in this land is equal to one day in that land. After one minor kalpa, that person attains the Patient Acceptance of the Non-arising of Dharmas. This is called the realization of the principle of the Patient Acceptance of Non-arising, namely, the First Bhumi itself.

One of the Upper Grade, Lower Birth is an ordinary person prior to the Ten Faiths who reverently believes in and takes refuge in the Three Jewels, receives the bodhisattva precepts, believes in cause and effect, does not malign the Mahayana, and arouses the aspiration for the unsurpassed path. Therefore, for seven days, that person sees only the Buddha’s body, while the mind is not yet lucid. After twenty-one days, that person sees and hears everything with perfect clarity.

This means that the person has not yet attained realization but sees the Tathagata solely through karmic consciousness. Only after twenty-one days does the person enter the ranks of the Ten Understandings and see that the Buddha appears solely from the mind. After three minor kalpas, the person enters the Stage of Joy.

A minor kalpa in that land is equal to an asamkhya kalpa in this land. Therefore, one of the Middle Grade enters the First Bhumi after one minor kalpa, while one of the Lower Grade does so after three minor kalpas. Because bodhisattvas at the stage of practice based on resolute understanding may have keen or dull faculties, their practice may be diligent or indolent.

Although the time taken may be long or short, the merit of their practice is equal. The remaining grades below may be understood by analogy with this.

Among the middle grades, those of the Middle Grade, Upper Birth belong to the stages of Warmth, Summit, Patience, and the factors conducive to discernment^[43]. Those of the Middle Grade, Middle Birth belong to the Factors of Liberation, which are the first three Preparatory Stages among the Seven Preparatory Stages^[44]. Those of the Middle Grade, Lower Birth are ordinary persons inclined toward goodness who have not yet reached the Stage of the Five Methods for Stilling the Mind. All three grades attain intermediate nirvana in the present life^[45], but they are divided into three grades according to differences within the final half-kalpa of their present lives.

The three lower grades include all ordinary persons who follow evil karma and commit offenses such as the Five Heinous Offenses, differing in gravity or lightness. Because they encounter favorable conditions, hear the Dharma, and eradicate their offenses, they constitute three grades; there are no other distinct stages whatsoever. According to the Sutra of Infinite Life, the three grades are combined. The sutra records:

“The Buddha said to Ananda:

– If any sentient beings are born in that land, they all enter the Assembly Assured of Right Determination. Why is this so? Because in that Buddha-land there are neither those in the Assembly Assured of Wrong Determination nor those in the Assembly Not Yet Assured. The immeasurable Buddhas, the Tathagatas throughout the ten directions, all praise and extol the inconceivable power of the merit and virtue of the Buddha of Infinite Life. If sentient beings hear his name and, with joyful faith—even for a single thought—sincerely transfer their merit and aspire to be born in that land, they immediately attain rebirth there and abide in the stage of non-retrogression, except for those who commit the Five Heinous Offenses and malign the true Dharma.”

The Buddha said to Ananda:

“All devas and humans throughout the worlds of the ten directions who sincerely aspire to be born in that land are divided into three levels:

Those of the upper level are people who have left their homes, severed desire, gone forth as sramanas, aroused the aspiration for bodhi, single-mindedly recollected the name of the Buddha of Infinite Life, cultivated various merits and virtues, and aspired to be born in that land. When the lives of these sentient beings end, they behold the Buddha of Infinite Life appearing before them together with the great assembly.

Following the Buddha of Infinite Life, they are born in his land, spontaneously attaining transformation birth within flowers made of the seven jewels. They abide in the stage of non-retrogression, possess courageous wisdom, and freely exercise spiritual powers. Therefore, Ananda, if any sentient beings in this Saha world wish to behold the Buddha of Infinite Life, they should arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi and cultivate various merits and virtues; they will then attain birth in his land.”

The middle grade consists of devas and humans throughout the worlds of the ten directions who sincerely aspire to be born in that land. Although they do not leave the household life to become śramaṇas or cultivate great merits, they nevertheless arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi, single-mindedly recite the name of the Buddha Amitayus, cultivate wholesome karma to whatever extent they can, observe the fasting precepts, erect stupas and images, make offerings to śramaṇas, hang banners, light lamps, scatter flowers, and burn incense, dedicating these deeds toward their aspiration to be born in that land.

When these people approach the end of their lives, the Buddha Amitayus, together with a great assembly, manifests before them a body fully endowed with excellent marks, its radiance blazing as brilliantly as that of the Buddha himself. They immediately follow that manifested Buddha and are born in his land, where they abide in the Stage of Non-Retrogression. Their merit and wisdom are nearly equal to those of the highest grade.

The lower grade consists of devas and humans throughout the worlds of the ten directions who sincerely desire to be born in that land. Even if they are unable to perform the slightest meritorious deed, through arousing the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi and single-mindedly reciting the name of the Buddha Amitayus for as many as ten recollections, they aspire to be born in that land. If they hear the profound and wondrous Dharma, joyfully believe and delight in it without giving rise to doubt, and even for a single thought recollect that Buddha and sincerely aspire to be born in his land, then, when their lives end, they see that Buddha in a dream and immediately attain rebirth there.

Their merit and wisdom are nearly equal to those of the middle grade. One must carefully contemplate these principles to acquire an upright mind and practice.”

In summary, the sages of the Three Vehicles, those of the Three Worthy Stages and the Seven Expedient Stages, beginning with those who have aroused the aspiration for the Two Vehicles, provisional-vehicle bodhisattvas up to those preceding the Path of Expedient Means, the fourfold assembly of men and women, those without sexual faculties, those with both faculties, and even the eight classes of dragons, spirits, and others—if they arouse the bodhi-mind, single-mindedly recite the name of Amitabha Buddha, become weary of the evil and defiled realm, and delight in the Pure Land, then, when death approaches and right mindfulness becomes present, they will all attain rebirth there.

If people practice courageously and diligently, their contemplative practice is lucid, and their minds remain undistracted at death, they will all attain rebirth in the highest category. Even those who, at death, continuously maintain ten recollections will attain birth in the lowest category. Here, bodhisattvas have three grades of rebirth, followers of the Two Vehicles have three grades, and ordinary beings likewise have three grades; each class contains nine categories.

The sutras, however, do not present these distinctions clearly and in detail, but discuss only in general the nine categories of the Great Vehicle, the Lesser Vehicle, and ordinary beings. In truth, careful examination reveals many differences. Considering the essential purport of the Contemplation Sutra and the Forty-Eight Vows, the rebirth of ordinary beings is primary, while that of sages is secondary.

That sutra speaks only of all future beings who are harmed by the hostile bandits of the afflictions; therefore, it reveals the place of purity to encourage everyone to seek rebirth there and does not discuss bodhisattvas. Among ordinary beings, those who slander the Great Vehicle cannot attain rebirth there, because they have severed their roots of goodness. Among followers of the Two Vehicles, those who are attached to a literal and limited understanding of the Dharma likewise cannot attain rebirth there, because they do not believe that Pure Lands exist throughout the ten directions.

Bodhisattvas who do not aspire to rebirth there also cannot attain rebirth, because they uphold vast practices and vows. As for arhats of the Two Vehicles who have nothing more to learn, whether or not they are attached to a limited understanding of the Dharma, they can all attain rebirth there, because there is nowhere in the defiled three realms for them to take birth. Such is the general meaning of the categories of rebirth.

CHAPTER VI: DISCUSSION OF WHETHER REBIRTH IS DIFFICULT OR EASY

This chapter consists of two parts:

– Explaining the superiority and inferiority of the places

– Discussing whether rebirth is difficult or easy

1. Explaining superiority and inferiority:

Generally speaking, in terms of true virtue, how could there be any inferiority? Because they are all Dharma Kings, they are all called Sugatas. Their reward bodies possess the myriad powers, and their reward lands are filled with splendid scenes.

Yet, to liberate sentient beings, they sometimes dwell in defiled lands filled with mountains, hills, pits, and ravines, while pure lands consist entirely of precious substances. If the places themselves are discussed, however, there are differences of superiority and inferiority. The Tusita heavenly palace rests in empty space, whereas the Land of Ultimate Bliss stands securely upon the ground.

Thus, there is a distinction between devas and humans. If this realm is compared with that realm, the heavenly realm is superior to the human realm. If purity and defilement are discussed, Tusita is a defiled realm, while Ultimate Bliss is a pure realm.

Broadly distinguished, the two realms differ in fourteen respects.

The land of the Tusita heaven is confined; men and women live together; sensual defilement remains active; regression occurs; and its inhabitants live for four thousand years, though some among them also die prematurely. The same applies to their bodily forms. Moreover, their minds constantly give rise to the three natures: wholesome, unwholesome, and indeterminate.

Therefore, if their minds engage with the unwholesome nature, they will fall into hell. The three feelings of pain, pleasure, and neutrality all arise there, and the six sensory objects cause people to become heedless. Sons are born from their fathers’ knees, and daughters from their mothers’ knees.

Only the bodhisattva presides over the teaching of the Dharma; some attain the fruit of sagehood, while others attain nothing. The Western Land is entirely the opposite of this realm. Considered according to these principles, the Western Land is far superior.

2. Discussing whether rebirth is difficult or easy: One teaching holds that rebirth in the Western Land is easy, whereas birth in Tusita is difficult. There are seven reasons:

1. Ultimate Bliss is a human realm, so birth there is easy. Tusita is a heavenly realm, so birth there is difficult.

2. To be born in Ultimate Bliss, one need only observe the five precepts. To be born in Tusita, one must fully cultivate the ten wholesome courses of karma.

3. To attain rebirth in Ultimate Bliss, only ten recollections are required. To be born in Tusita, one must fully practice generosity and observe the precepts.

4. Rebirth in Ultimate Bliss is attained entirely by relying upon Amitabha Buddha’s Forty-Eight Great Vows. Birth in Tusita depends solely upon one’s own power.

5. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and others come from Ultimate Bliss to this realm to encourage beings to attain rebirth there. Nothing of this kind occurs regarding Tusita.

6. All sutras and treatises praise Ultimate Bliss and encourage rebirth there. Tusita is praised in only one sutra.

7. From ancient times to the present, most eminent masters have aspired toward Ultimate Bliss, while few have aspired toward Tusita.

For these reasons, it is held that rebirth in Ultimate Bliss is easy, whereas birth in Tusita is difficult.

Another teaching holds that birth in Tusita is easy, whereas rebirth in Ultimate Bliss is difficult. This is because the Palace of Contentment is located within this very realm and is accepted in faith by followers of both the Great and Lesser Vehicles. Since it is a transformation body, rebirth there is assured.

According to the Sutra on Maitreya’s Rebirth Above, if the fourfold assembly practices the Six Paramitas, and members of the eight classes rejoice upon hearing the name, repent of evil karma, cultivate the ten wholesome deeds, and dedicate the merit with the aspiration for rebirth, they will all attain birth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

According to the Abhidharma-samuccaya, “the intention referring to another time”^[46] means that a person who aspires to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss will attain rebirth there, but at another time. It is like commerce, in which one gains a thousand coins from a single coin. Therefore, the sutra says: “One cannot attain rebirth through causes and conditions consisting of only scant roots of goodness.”

Vasubandhu’s Treatise^[47] states: “Women, those with deficient faculties, and followers of the Two Vehicles cannot attain rebirth there.” Moreover, the white urna mark of Amitabha Buddha is like five Mount Sumerus; how could ordinary beings possibly behold such a mark? There is no lack of evidence for meanings such as these. Therefore, of the myriad people who aspire to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, all attain rebirth there.

Some say that the principles of the two teachings above are not entirely exhaustive. In general, whether attaining rebirth is difficult or easy depends entirely upon causes and conditions. The condition is the Great Compassion of Shared Substance of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

The cause is the arousing of aspiration and the cultivation of practice by the nine classes of people within the four assemblies. Although the Great Compassion of Shared Substance does not discriminate among people, differences nevertheless arise because of the karma of sentient beings. If a person’s karmic causes have matured, that person will attain rebirth in accordance with their aspiration.

It is not because one is a deva or human that rebirth is difficult; rather, obstructions arise from purity and impurity. If someone lacks the causes of aspiration and practice, that person could not evoke a response even if the Buddha were directly before them; how then could merely sharing the same land make rebirth easy? Furthermore, through the transformation body, one may immediately behold the Tathagata face to face.

Thus, in the city of Rajagriha, more than three hundred million households lived together, yet did not hear the name of the Tathagata. In the city of Nalaka, however, nine billion people, though living so far away and separated by such great distances, still came to behold and pay homage to the Tathagata’s golden form. From this one should understand that the practices aroused by sentient beings flourish or perish according to their dependence upon superior conditions.

Some are by nature connected with Amitabha, while others have long been connected with Maitreya. According to their respective affinities, each swiftly attains the Way. If there is no such affinity, however, much effort is expended for little benefit.

Therefore, the mother of the householder was converted by Rahula, while a deva of the Realm of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception awakened to the Way through Sariputra. Thus, if one concentrates one’s mind upon the Honored One whom one reveres and earnestly seeks to cultivate pure karma, attaining rebirth is as easy as the snap of a finger. Why contend merely over whether it is difficult or easy?

If one arouses the resolve with firm determination and without hindrance, the six practices^[48] are easy to carry out, and the nine grades are not difficult to cultivate. Though one’s karmic offenses may be numerous, they dissolve like darkness when illuminated by sunlight. Though the road ahead may be dark and obstructed, it opens and becomes passable like a blocked route cleared by a royal seal.

Yet students are like those who “mark the boat to seek the sword”^[49], and practitioners like those who “wait by a tree stump for a rabbit”^[50]. They doubt the truthful words uttered by the broad and long tongue that covers a thousand worlds, yet accept the hollow croaking of a frog lying at the bottom of a well, deluded concerning the single mind. Are they not people who hoard gravel while throwing away precious jewels?

Alas! How truly pitiable!

CHAPTER VII: RAISING DOUBTS IN ORDER TO DISPEL DOUBTS

Question: The Commentary on the Compendium of the Mahayana presents the teaching of an “intention referring to another time.” Is this not intended to dispel doubt?

Answer: That treatise explains both what refers to another time and what does not. If one merely arouses the aspiration, it refers to another time. If aspiration and practice are cultivated together, it does not refer to another time.

If Bodhisattva Vasubandhu determined that the practice of ten recollections was an intention referring to another time, why did he compose the Treatise on Rebirth to encourage people to attain rebirth? Moreover, the teaching of the Contemplation Sutra arose because Lady Vaidehi gave birth to the rebellious son Prince Ajatashatru. Because of this, she became weary of the land of the Five Turbidities and aspired to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The Buddha then taught her the three meritorious practices^[51] and the sixteen methods of contemplation, while also exhorting sentient beings to seek rebirth there. He even encouraged those who had committed the Five Heinous Offenses and the Ten Evil Deeds to attain rebirth. Lady Vaidehi was the person who requested the Buddha to teach about the Pure Land.

Although she dwelt in the Five Turbidities and had given birth to a rebellious son, the Buddha declared that all could attain rebirth there. From this it is immediately evident that ordinary beings presently dwelling in the land of the Five Turbidities can nevertheless attain rebirth.

Question: Vaidehi was a bodhisattva who, in order to liberate sentient beings, manifested in the body of a woman and gave birth to a rebellious son. How could she truly have been an ordinary being?

Answer: Even supposing that she truly was a bodhisattva appearing through manifestation and assuming a woman’s body to teach sentient beings, she necessarily concealed her actual powers and appeared the same as an ordinary being in order to gather in and transform those of the same kind. Thus, by manifesting as an ordinary being, dwelling in the realm of the Five Turbidities, and fully knowing their sufferings, she guided them toward rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The Compendium Treatise states: “Because merely arousing the aspiration refers to another time, we know that cultivating the three meritorious practices, the sixteen methods of contemplation, and seven days of mindfulness of the Buddha certainly does not refer to another time.”

Question: The Treatise on Rebirth states: “Women, those with deficient faculties, and followers of the Two Vehicles cannot attain rebirth.” Why is it said here that all three classes can attain rebirth?

Answer: In principle, this is indeed so: if the seed is absent, one certainly cannot attain rebirth. Concerning the proper seed: in this realm, some possess the nature of a man and others the nature of a woman. If one possesses the cause of being a woman, one will certainly experience the female faculty as its result.

Even if such a person cultivates the practices for rebirth in the Pure Land, she cannot attain rebirth there, because there are no women in the Pure Land. This is fixed karma; it is precisely a karmic obstruction and cannot be overcome. The same applies to those with deficient faculties, such as the blind and the deaf.

If they repent and eliminate those causes, they will not be born among such classes of people. Followers of the Two Vehicles, having planted the causes of the Two Vehicles and not believing in the Mahayana or in the Pure Lands throughout the ten directions, likewise cannot attain rebirth. The word “seed” presented in the treatise refers precisely to a seed of fixed karma.

Question: If so, why does the Contemplation Sutra state: “Those who uphold the Five Precepts attain rebirth, and upon hearing the teaching of the Four Noble Truths, they realize the fruit of arhatship,” and so forth?

Answer: According to the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, these are not followers of the benighted Dharma^[52]. They believe that Buddhas and Pure Lands exist throughout the ten directions and therefore arouse the aspiration to attain rebirth. After they realize the fruit of arhatship, the Buddha teaches them the Lotus Sutra and exhorts them to arouse the resolve to dedicate their merits toward the Mahayana.

Question: The evil karma of sentient beings is extremely heavy and obstructs the Pure Land. A small amount of goodness cannot eliminate such evil karma. Why, then, does the Contemplation Sutra state: “At the time of death, through ten recollections, one attains rebirth”?

Answer: The mind is the master of karma and the source of rebirth. At the time of death, the mind is like the eye and can guide all karma. If, at the time of death, the mind thinks of evil, it leads forth evil karma; if the mind thinks of goodness, it leads forth wholesome karma. It is like clouds gathering wherever a dragon goes. If the mind turns toward the Western Land, karma likewise follows the mind there.

Question: In the Sutra of Questions Asked by Maitreya, the discussion of the ten recollections states: “They are not the recollections of ordinary beings, nor are they mingled with thoughts of the fetters.” Here, all sentient beings are ordinary beings whose fetters have not yet been severed. How, then, can they be mindful of the Buddha and attain rebirth?

Answer: According to what that sutra says, only a Buddha can attain rebirth there, while other sentient beings cannot, because even bodhisattvas of the Tenth Bhumi, at their final stage of mind, still possess two kinds of ignorance. Here it is explained that “thoughts of an ordinary being” means that if a person does not arouse the bodhi-mind and aspire to transcend the three realms and attain Buddhahood, but merely recollects the Buddha and seeks rebirth there, then this is precisely the recollection of an ordinary being, and that person absolutely cannot attain rebirth there.

Therefore, one must arouse the bodhi-mind. “Not mingled with thoughts of the fetters” means that one need only single-mindedly and continuously contemplate the Buddha’s excellent marks. If one’s mouth recites the Buddha’s name while one’s mind pursues the five sensual desires, this is recollection mingled with thoughts of the fetters.

In recollecting the Buddha, the mind must be pure, the opposite of the fetters.

Question: Sentient beings have accumulated evil karma as vast as mountains. How can ten recollections eradicate it? Even if these were multiplied into hundreds of thousands or tens of millions, they would still be very few. If evil karma is not completely eliminated, how can one attain rebirth in the Pure Land?

Answer: There are three meanings:

1. If, at the time of death, a person has right mindfulness present before them, that mind can guide the wholesome karma created since beginningless time, together with the wholesome karma created in this very life; all mutually assist one another, and that person immediately attains rebirth there.

2. The names of all Buddhas are accomplished through countless myriads of virtues. Therefore, if a person can recollect the Buddha’s name for even a single thought, within that thought they have recollected countless myriads of virtues and can thus eradicate sinful karma. Evil karma obstructs rebirth there; now that evil karma has been eliminated, what further obstacle could there be? Therefore, in the section on rebirth in the lowest grade, it is said: “By virtue of recollecting the Buddha’s name, with each thought one eliminates the sins of birth and death accumulated throughout eight billion kalpas.”

3. Evil karma from beginningless time arises entirely from the deluded mind, while the merit of recollecting the Buddha arises from the true mind. The true mind is like the sun, and the deluded mind is like darkness. When the true mind arises, the deluded mind is immediately dispelled, just as darkness vanishes as soon as the sun appears. Because of these three meanings, it is said that anyone who accomplishes ten recollections at the time of death will certainly attain rebirth there!

Question: The Pure Land is supremely excellent and wondrous. It is the Jeweled Lotus Treasury, the dwelling place of the Dharma King, and not a place for ordinary beings to cultivate. Properly speaking, ordinary beings should cultivate in the land of ordinary beings, while noble ones teach and transform in the bodhimanda of noble ones. How could lowly ordinary beings attain rebirth in this wondrous place?

Answer: If ordinary beings are not permitted to roam within a pure realm, why would the Dharma King enter the realm of the Five Turbidities? Although he is the Dharma King, he enters the realm of the Five Turbidities because he wishes to teach and transform sentient beings. Although they are ordinary beings, they are born in the pure realm because they wish to make offerings to the Buddhas.

Furthermore, Amitabha Buddha made forty-eight great vows, first and foremost for all ordinary beings, and only thereafter also for the noble ones of the three vehicles. Thus, it should be understood that the essential purpose of the Pure Land was originally intended for ordinary beings, while noble ones are only secondary. Furthermore, bodhisattvas at the Ten Understandings and above do not fear rebirth in the evil destinies and therefore need not vow to be reborn in the Pure Land.

From this it is known that the profound purpose of the Pure Land Dharma gate was originally intended for ordinary beings, not for bodhisattvas.

Question: Those who encounter wholesome conditions enter among the nine grades, frequently contemplate the meaning of the scriptures, and relinquish the angry mind. But if there are evil people who do not know how to cultivate goodness and who, after death, fall into the three evil destinies, can expedient means be employed to rescue their departed spirits, remove their karmic obstructions, and enable them to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss?

Answer: When deluded sentient beings find it difficult to comprehend, the noble teachings provide wondrous methods of rescue. Therefore, the Chapter on the Accomplishment of the Abhiseka Mantra in fascicle 28 of the Amoghapasa Divine Transformation Mantra Sutra states:

“At that time, throughout all lands of the ten directions, all Tathagatas of the three periods, together with Vairocana Tathagata, simultaneously extended their fearless right arms and touched the crown of King Pure Lotus Radiance. At the same time, they jointly proclaimed the Amogha Great Abhiseka Light Mantra, saying:

“Án a mộ già giáp oa phế lỗ giả nã ma ha mẫu nại la ma nĩ bát đầu ma nhập phược la bả la miệt đả dã hồng”.

If sentient beings anywhere hear this Great Abhiseka Light Mantra recited from two or three up to seven times, all their sinful obstructions will immediately be eliminated. If sentient beings have committed the Ten Evils, the Five Heinous Offenses, and the Four Grave Offenses in numbers as countless as motes of dust filling this world, and when their bodies decay and their lives end they fall into the evil destinies, one should empower sand and pebbles with this mantra 108 times, then go to the sita-vana^[53] and scatter them over the deceased person’s bones, or scatter them over the grave.

Those departed spirits may already have fallen into the hells, among hungry ghosts, among asuras, or among animals; yet through the true original vows of the All-Amogha Tathagata and Amogha Vairocana Tathagata, together with the empowering power of the sacred Great Abhiseka Light Mantra contained in the sand, radiant light will immediately shine upon their bodies. Consequently, all their karmic retributions will be eliminated, they will cast off their bodies of suffering, and they will be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, transformationally born within lotus flowers.

Until they attain bodhi, they will never again fall into lower states. Scriptural passages such as these are found widely everywhere.

Alas! The evil karma one creates oneself brings painful results, as a shadow follows a form. How lamentable!

In peril and distress, one is alone, with no one to offer aid. Were it not for the great compassion of shared substance^[54] and the secret method of universal deliverance, how could the gates of the dark paths be opened from afar, enabling one to ascend the lotus dais? Although there is no principle whereby another acts and I receive the result, the power of dependent arising is inconceivable.

Thus, it should be understood that encountering sand empowered by the sacred mantra constitutes a condition. If one does not encounter such sand and pebbles, how could a time for liberation even be spoken of? The power of great compassion pervades everywhere, and the true words are never false.

If one neither accepts them in faith nor practices them, later regret will come too late! Thus, those who do not accept them in faith vainly fail to requite profound kindness, and the day of repayment grows ever more remote. Those who accept them in faith and practice accordingly guide departed souls into lotus flowers, establish the practice of filial devotion, and, through the fortunate encounter with the mantra, enable them easily to attain liberation.

Among a hundred honorable people, there should be none who does not reverently practice it. If scattering sand over a grave can even enable one to transcend the three realms, how much more so when the body wears clothing empowered by the sacred mantra and the ears hear the sound of the mantra being recited!

Notes:

^[1] Hundred-Seat Humane King Sutra: On a single day, one hundred seats are established for lectures on the Humane King Sutra (TĐĐPB).

^[2] Five Turbidities: five kinds of impurity that arise during the kalpa of decline. According to fascicle 5 of the Karunapundarika Sutra and fascicle 98 of the Fayuan Zhulin, the Five Turbidities refer to:

1. Turbidity of the Kalpa: During the kalpa of decline, when the human lifespan decreases to thirty years, famine occurs; when it decreases to twenty years, epidemics occur; and when it decreases to ten years, warfare occurs. All sentient beings in the world suffer harm.

2. Turbidity of Views: The True Dharma has vanished, the Semblance Dharma gradually arises, heterodox teachings begin to appear, and wrong views grow increasingly powerful, causing people to cease cultivating wholesome dharmas.

3. Turbidity of Afflictions: Sentient beings are filled with sensual desire, greed, and miserliness; they delight in contention, flattery, and deceit, and embrace heterodox teachings, causing their minds and spirits to become troubled and confused.

4. Defilement of Sentient Beings: Sentient beings are for the most part wicked and cruel; they are neither filial nor respectful toward their parents and elders, do not fear the consequences of evil deeds, do not cultivate merit, do not practice wise giving, and do not observe the fasting precepts.

5. Defilement of Lifespan: In ancient times, human beings had a lifespan of eighty thousand years. In the present age, because evil karma has increased, lifespans have gradually diminished, and those who live to be one hundred are exceedingly rare.

Among the Five Defilements, the Defilement of the Kalpa is the general category, while the other four Defilements are its particular aspects. Among the four Defilements, the Defilement of Views and the Defilement of Afflictions constitute the essential basis from which the Defilement of Sentient Beings and the Defilement of Lifespan arise (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 3044).

^[3] Four Floods (also called the Four Torrential Floods, Four Great Torrential Rivers, or Four Torrential Rivers): Four kinds of afflictions as powerful as raging floods, which sweep away the wholesome roots of sentient beings. “Flood” is another name for affliction.

1. Flood of Sensual Desire: The cognitions and perceptions that arise through the correspondence of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body with forms, sounds, odors, tastes, and tangible objects—these are what are commonly called the Five Desires.

2. Flood of Existence: Greed, conceit, and delusion in the form realm and formless realm.

3. Flood of Views: Mistaken and biased ideas and interpretations. For example, wrong views that the world is finite or infinite, that the world is eternal or impermanent, or conjectures that after the Tathagata enters nirvana he continues to exist or ceases to exist—all belong to the category of the Flood of Views.

4. Flood of Ignorance: Afflictions associated with delusion. Each of the three realms has five floods of ignorance, making fifteen floods of ignorance in all.

According to the Abhidharmakosha, fascicle 20, twenty-nine delusions—such as greed, anger, conceit, doubt, and entanglements in the desire realm—constitute the Flood of Sensual Desire; twenty-eight delusions—such as greed, conceit, and doubt in the form realm and formless realm—constitute the Flood of Existence; thirty-six attachments to views in the three realms constitute the Flood of Views; and fifteen kinds of ignorance in the three realms constitute the Flood of Ignorance (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. V, p. 4718).

^[4] Eighteen Perfect Purities (also called the Eighteen Perfections): The eighteen perfectly fulfilled virtues of the Pure Land in which the Buddhas abide, referring to the Buddhas' reward bodies. They are: 1. Perfect purity of physical characteristics; 2.

Perfect purity of appearance; 3. Perfect purity of extent; 4. Perfect purity of place; 5.

Perfect purity of cause; 6. Perfect purity of effect; 7. Perfect purity of the sovereign; 8.

Perfect purity of assistance; 9. Perfect purity of the retinue; 10. Perfect purity of sustaining; 11.

Perfect purity of karma; 12. Perfect purity of benefit; 13. Perfect purity of fearlessness; 14.

Perfect purity of the dwelling place; 15. Perfect purity of the path; 16. Perfect purity of the vehicle; 17.

Perfect purity of the gateway; 18. Perfect purity of the basis of reliance (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. VI, p. 5186).

^[5] Water of Eight Qualities (Water of Eight Meritorious Qualities): Water possessing eight excellent qualities. In a Buddha's Pure Land there are sublime ponds whose waters possess eight qualities: clarity, coolness, sweetness, softness and lightness, moistening, peacefulness and harmony, removal of hunger and thirst, and nourishment of the faculties. Likewise, the seven seas surrounding Mount Sumeru are filled with water possessing eight qualities: sweet, cold, soft, light, pure, odorless, causing no pain in the throat when drunk, and causing no pain in the stomach when drunk (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 370).

^[6] Ten Understandings (Ten Abodes): The ten abodes in the bodhisattva's course of cultivation, namely stages eleven through twenty in the bodhisattva's fifty-two stages. They are: 1. Abode of the Initial Resolve; 2. Abode of Preparing the Ground; 3. Abode of Cultivation; 4. Abode of Noble Birth; 5. Abode of Perfecting Skillful Means; 6. Abode of the Right Mind; 7. Abode of Non-Retrogression; 8. Abode of the True Youth; 9. Abode of the Dharma Prince; 10. Abode of Consecration.

^[7] Three Feelings (Three Sensations): The three kinds of feeling that arise when the six faculties come into contact with the six sense objects:

– Painful Feeling: Experiencing disagreeable objects and circumstances that oppress the body and mind.

– Pleasant Feeling: Experiencing agreeable objects and circumstances that bring joy to the body and mind.

– Neutral Feeling (Neither-Painful-nor-Pleasant Feeling): Experiencing neutral objects and circumstances, wherein the body and mind are neither oppressed nor delighted.

These Three Feelings are present in all six faculties and pertain to both the contaminated and the uncontaminated. Alternatively, each feeling is itself divided into two kinds: that which corresponds to the five consciousnesses is called bodily feeling, and that which corresponds to mental consciousness is called mental feeling (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. V, p. 4220).

^[8] Determinate Lineage: A lineage certain to attain its corresponding fruition. This refers to three lineages—the determinate bodhisattva lineage, determinate pratyekabuddha lineage, and determinate shravaka lineage—among the five kinds of determinate lineage inherently possessed by all sentient beings. Because these are respectively certain to attain Buddhahood, the fruition of a pratyekabuddha, and the fruition of an arhat, they are called Determinate Lineages.

^[9] Proper Capacity: A capacity suited to and capable of receiving the teaching. The Jōdo Shinshū school in Japan holds that evil ordinary beings are the proper recipients of the Other-Power of the Fundamental Vow; hence there are doctrines such as “evil persons are the proper recipients” and “women are the proper recipients.” Moreover, among all capacities, the proper capacity is that of one who, upon arousing the aspiration, immediately attains rebirth in the Pure Land (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 928).

^[10] Entering the Bhumi: Advancing to the First Bhumi. Mahayana bodhisattvas must pass through fifty-two stages of cultivation: the Ten Faiths, Ten Abodes, Ten Practices, Ten Dedications of Merit, Ten Bhumis, Equal Enlightenment, and Wondrous Enlightenment. Of these, advancing to the first of the Ten Bhumis is called Entering the Bhumi and requires cultivation throughout one great asamkhyeya kalpa. The period from the First Bhumi through the completion of the Tenth Bhumi requires cultivation throughout two asamkhyeya kalpas (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 1465).

^[11] Realm of the Ten Buddhas: The ten kinds of Buddha bodies taught in the Avatamsaka Sutra. When discussing the ocean of fruition, the Huayan school presents the Ten Buddhas as the realm of the Ten Buddhas within oneself; when discussing the Buddha body, it holds that the Ten Buddhas are the Tathagata endowed with ten bodies. These are called the Ten Bodies and the Ten Buddhas. In fascicle 2 of the Huayan Kongmu Zhang, Master Zhiyan divides the Ten Buddhas into two categories: the Ten Buddhas of the Realm of Understanding and the Ten Buddhas of the Realm of Practice.

I. Ten Buddhas of the Realm of Understanding: The realm illuminated through the contemplative wisdom and awakened understanding of bodhisattvas at the causal stages within the Perfect Teaching of the Huayan school. Although the individual realms differ from one another, they are divided into ten kinds according to these distinctions and collectively called the Ten Buddhas of the Realm of Understanding. According to fascicle 26 of the Avatamsaka Sutra in the old translation, the Ten Bodies are:

1. Body of sentient beings: The world of sentient beings.

2. Body of lands: The world of lands.

3. Body of karmic retribution: The causes and conditions through which the preceding two bodies are experienced, namely delusions and karma.

The preceding three bodies comprise the defiled aspect.

4. Shravaka body.

5. Pratyekabuddha body.

These two bodies refer to the fruitions of the Two Vehicles: shravakas and pratyekabuddhas.

6. Bodhisattva body: One who, at the causal stage, seeks the fruition of Buddhahood.

7. Tathagata body: The Buddha who is ultimately perfect and complete.

8. Wisdom body: The wisdom capable of realization possessed by practitioners of the Three Vehicles and by Buddhas.

9. Dharma body: The principle of Dharma realized by practitioners of the Three Vehicles and by Buddhas.

The preceding six bodies comprise the pure aspect.

10. Space body: Phenomenal emptiness, which also encompasses ultimate emptiness, and which is the basis upon which the preceding bodies rely. From the shravaka body onward, these belong to the world of the wisdom of perfect enlightenment.

II. Ten Buddhas of the Realm of Practice: The ultimate fruition of Buddhahood realized through the cultivation of bodhisattvas within the Perfect Teaching of the Huayan school. This Buddha-fruition entirely transcends the realm illuminated by the awakened understanding of bodhisattvas at the causal stages. These Ten Buddhas of the Realm of Practice are distinguished according to the virtues of the single Buddha body. According to fascicle 43 of the Avatamsaka Sutra in the old translation, the Ten Buddhas are:

1. Buddha of Perfect Enlightenment (Unattached Buddha): The Buddha-fruition in which the wisdom of enlightenment is perfect and complete.

2. Buddha of Vows: The Buddha who, through the power of vows, brings forth all virtues.

3. Buddha of Karmic Retribution: Karma is the cause of the myriad practices, while retribution is the body adorned with excellent marks. Through sublime meritorious karma, the Buddha obtains a wondrous physical body adorned with excellent marks, thereby inspiring faith in sentient beings.

4. Abiding Buddha: the pure essence of consciousness preserves the wholesome roots and, in accordance with conditions, brings about the attainment of Perfect Enlightenment.

5. Transformation Buddha (Nirvana Buddha): a Buddha who manifests entry into extinction.

6. Dharma-Realm Buddha: the Dharma-body completely pervades the Dharma-realm, taking the Dharma-realm as the substance of Dharma.

7. Mind Buddha: the Buddha-mind is tranquil and lucid, abiding in the true nature of Consciousness-Only.

8. Samadhi Buddha: the Buddha constantly abides in meditative concentration without attachment.

9. Nature Buddha: the Buddha uses the wisdom of equality to illuminate the original nature and further realizes the source of the true nature of Original Enlightenment.

10. Wish-Fulfilling Buddha: both the one who transforms and those who are transformed accord with every wish, universally encompassing all sentient beings (TĐBKTT).

^[12] The Causal Stage of Samantabhadra: The Huayan Kongmu Zhang, fascicle 4, sets forth two kinds: Samantabhadra of the Three Vehicles and Samantabhadra of the One Vehicle. Each kind has three levels—Person, Understanding, and Practice—and hence they are called the Six Kinds of Samantabhadra.

Within Samantabhadra of the Three Vehicles, the Person is Bodhisattva Samantabhadra; Understanding is the realization of the principle of gathering the Three and returning them to the One, directed toward the One Vehicle; and Practice is the practice of Samantabhadra. Within Samantabhadra of the One Vehicle, the Person is Bodhisattva Samantabhadra as described in the Entering the Dharma-Realm chapter; Understanding is the universality and profound penetration described in the sixty gateways of practice in the Samantabhadra chapter—the inconceivable realm of mutual interpenetration and inclusion; and Practice refers to the ten minds of Samantabhadra and the ten vows and practices of Samantabhadra (TĐPH Huệ Quang, vol. IV, p. 3716).

^[13] The Three Worthies and Ten Sages:

– The Three Worthies: three stages of cultivating wholesome roots in order to subdue afflictions and bring the mind into harmony. The Three Worthies differ between the Lesser Vehicle and the Great Vehicle.

+ The Three Worthies of the Lesser Vehicle: the stages of cultivating contaminated wholesome roots (that is, the aids conducive to liberation), comprising three stages:

1. Stage of the Five Contemplations for Stilling the Mind: the stage in which the Five Contemplations for Stilling the Mind are used to arrest the five conditions of greed, anger, delusion, the view of self, and distraction.

2. Stage of Mindfulness of Specific Characteristics: the stage of contemplating the specific characteristics of impurity, suffering, impermanence, and non-self in relation to body, feeling, mind, and dharmas; at the same time, one contemplates the common characteristics of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self.

3. Stage of Mindfulness of General Characteristics: the stage of collectively contemplating the common characteristics of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self within the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

– The Three Worthies of the Great Vehicle: this refers to bodhisattvas prior to the Ten Grounds. This stage comprises three distinct groups of Ten Minds:

1. Ten Abodes: the mind accords with principle and abides steadfastly without moving. The Ten Abodes comprise: the Abode of Arousing the Mind, the Abode of Preparing the Ground, the Abode of Cultivation, the Abode of Noble Birth, the Abode of Perfect Skillful Means, the Abode of the Right Mind, the Abode of Non-Retrogression, the Abode of the True Youth, the Abode of the Dharma Prince, and the Abode of Consecration.

2. Ten Practices: by carrying out these practices, one advances toward the fruition. The Ten Practices comprise: the Practice of Joy, the Practice of Benefiting Others, the Practice Free from Opposition, the Practice of Unyielding Perseverance, the Practice Free from Deluded Confusion, the Practice of Skillful Manifestation, the Practice of Non-Attachment, the Practice Difficult to Attain, the Practice of Wholesome Dharma, and the Practice of Truth.

3. Ten Dedications: dedicating the causes toward the fruition. The Ten Dedications comprise: the Dedication of Saving All Sentient Beings While Transcending the Characteristics of Sentient Beings, the Indestructible Dedication, the Dedication Equal to All Buddhas, the Dedication Reaching All Places, the Dedication of the Inexhaustible Treasury of Merit, the Dedication of Entering the Wholesome Roots of Universal Equality, the Dedication of Equally Conforming with All Sentient Beings, the Dedication of the Characteristic of Suchness, the Dedication of Liberation Without Bondage or Attachment, and the Dedication of Entering the Immeasurable Dharma-Realm (TĐPH Huệ Quang, vol. V, p. 4107).

– The Ten Sages: The Combined Commentary on the Sutra of the Benevolent Kings’ Prajnaparamita, middle fascicle, maintains that the Three Worthies are the thirty minds preceding the Ten Grounds, while the Ten Sages are the bodhisattvas of the Ten Grounds. This is because the bodhisattvas of the Ten Grounds have all already severed delusion and realized the true nature (TĐPH Huệ Quang, vol. VI, p. 5309).

^[14] The Vajra Stage (the Ten Dedications, the Ten Vajra Minds): the ten minds cultivated by bodhisattvas prior to the Ten Grounds, recorded in the upper fascicle of the Brahma’s Net Sutra. That is, upon proceeding from the ten minds of nurturing growth into the steadfast cultivation of patience, there are ten vajra minds directed toward the fruition: the Mind of Faith, the Mind of Mindfulness, the Mind of Dedication, the Mind of Penetrating Understanding, the Upright Mind, the Mind of Non-Retrogression, the Mahayana Mind, the Markless Mind, the Mind of Wisdom, and the Indestructible Mind.

From these Ten Vajra Minds, one enters the steadfast patience of the sages. The Combined Annotated Commentary on the Brahma’s Net Sutra, fascicle 2, by Master Zhixu of the Ming dynasty, holds that these ten vajra minds are equivalent to the Ten Faiths of the Perfect Teaching; the Commentary on the Bodhisattva Precept Text of the Brahma’s Net Sutra, upper fascicle, holds that the ten vajra minds are precisely the Ten Dedications (TĐPH Huệ Quang, vol.

VI, p. 5232).

^[15] Karmic Recompense of the Morally Indeterminate: morally indeterminate karma, being neither wholesome nor unwholesome, yields neither the fruit of suffering nor the fruit of happiness (TĐPH Huệ Quang, vol. V, p. 4737).

^[16] The Four Delusions of Manas (the Four Fundamental Afflictions): delusion regarding self, the view of self, pride of self, and attachment to self. Consciousness-Only teaches that these are the four fundamental afflictions that correspond with and arise together with the manas consciousness. Delusion regarding self is ignorance, meaning failure to understand the characteristic of self and confusion concerning the principle of non-self; the view of self is attachment to self, meaning the false apprehension of non-self dharmas as a self; pride of self is arrogance, meaning that reliance upon the apprehended self causes the mind to become exalted;

attachment to self is craving for self, meaning that the mind constantly gives rise to craving and attachment toward the apprehended self (TĐPH Huệ Quang, vol.

V, p. 4834).

^[17] The Four Conditions: the four conditions that serve as the bases for the arising of all conditioned dharmas. There are two explanations:

– According to the Lesser Vehicle teaching:

– Condition as Cause: the direct internal cause that produces a result; for example, when a sprout grows from a seed, the seed itself is the condition as cause of the sprout. In the term “condition as cause,” “cause” is also understood as “condition.”

– Immediately Antecedent Condition: the cause whereby one preceding kshana gives way and opens the path for a subsequent kshana to arise within the continuity of mind and mental factors. It is also the operative power of mind and mental factors whereby, when a preceding kshana in the past ceases, the subsequent kshana arises in the present…

– Condition as Object: this refers to all objects apprehended by mind and mental factors; that is, the direct and indirect conditions produced in the inner mind by all external things.

– Dominant Condition: all causes and conditions, apart from the three conditions mentioned above, that assist or do not obstruct the arising of a phenomenon.

– According to the Great Vehicle teaching:

– Condition as Cause: all dharmas among conditioned dharmas that are capable in themselves of producing their own results. Thus, a wheat seed produces a wheat plant, and a rice seed produces a rice plant. This condition as cause has three essential natures.

a. Seeds: all wholesome, defiled, and morally indeterminate dharmas contained within the alaya consciousness. At different times, these seeds can produce seeds of their own kind (seeds producing seeds), while also producing actual manifestations of their own kind (seeds producing manifestations).

b. Actual Manifestations: this refers to the actual functioning of the seven evolving consciousnesses (eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, mental consciousness, and manas consciousness), which have the capacity to perfume the fundamental consciousness (the eighth consciousness) and form seeds of their own kind within it (manifestations perfuming seeds).

– Immediately Antecedent Condition: mind and mental factors arise because the preceding thought gives rise to the subsequent thought; thought follows thought continuously, without any interval.- Condition as Object: when the object of mind and mental factors becomes a cause and thereby brings about the arising of mind and mental factors as its result, that object of mind and mental factors is called the condition as object.

– Predominant condition: as in the doctrine of the Lesser Vehicle, this refers to the causes and conditions, apart from the three conditions mentioned above, that give rise to all dharmas. However, the scope of this condition is extremely broad. Predominant conditions are further divided into two kinds: favorable predominant conditions and unfavorable predominant conditions (Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. V, p. 4761).

^[18] Heterogeneous beings: translated into Chinese by meaning as “ignorant heterogeneous beings”—another name for ordinary beings. Because ignorance and wrong views cause them to create evil karma, ordinary beings must undergo cyclic existence within the six realms and experience differing forms of karmic retribution. According to the first part of volume 2 of the Commentary on the Treatise on the Establishment of Consciousness-Only, “heterogeneous being” has two meanings:

1. Differing destinations: noble ones are born only in the human and heavenly realms, whereas heterogeneous beings are born throughout all five realms.

2. Transformation and difference: heterogeneous beings undergo transformations and give rise to wrong views and so forth. “Being” means a class of beings; because they belong to a class different from that of noble ones, they are called heterogeneous beings (Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 1066).

^[19] Entry: verse 22 in volume 37 of the Yogācārabhūmi states: “Entry means attaining the predominant power of pure faith; or, as a householder, abandoning evil conduct and undertaking the precepts; or, as a monastic, abandoning sensual desires and undertaking the precepts” (TĐĐPB).

^[20] Five distinct natures: the five different natures of sentient beings, determined by the seeds within the ālaya consciousness and incapable of being changed by any means. This is the doctrine of the Dharma Characteristics school. The five natures are:

1. Determinate nature of the Śrāvaka Vehicle: a person possessing the complete uncontaminated seeds capable of attaining arhatship.

2. Determinate nature of the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle: a person possessing the complete uncontaminated seeds capable of attaining the fruit of a pratyekabuddha.

3. Determinate nature of the Tathagata Vehicle: a person possessing the complete uncontaminated seeds capable of attaining Buddhahood.

4. Indeterminate nature: a person who possesses uncontaminated seeds but whose capacity has not yet been determined as belonging to any one of the Three Vehicles. There are four kinds of indeterminate nature:

a) The dual indeterminate nature of bodhisattva and śrāvaka: a person possessing the two kinds of seeds for the fruit of Buddhahood and the fruit of arhatship.

b) The dual indeterminate nature of pratyekabuddha and bodhisattva: a person possessing the two kinds of seeds for the fruit of Buddhahood and the fruit of a pratyekabuddha.

c) The dual indeterminate nature of śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha: a person possessing the two kinds of seeds for the fruit of arhatship and the fruit of a pratyekabuddha.

d) The triple indeterminate nature of śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva: a person possessing the three kinds of seeds for the fruit of arhatship, the fruit of a pratyekabuddha, and the fruit of Buddhahood.

5. Natureless: although such persons possess none of the uncontaminated seeds of the Three Vehicles, they possess contaminated seeds through which they may attain birth among gods or humans.

^[21] Five heinous offenses: five extremely evil offenses contrary to the Way. According to the doctrine of the Lesser Vehicle, the five heinous offenses are: killing one’s mother, killing one’s father, killing an arhat, causing the body of a Buddha to bleed, and disrupting the harmony of the Sangha. The first two offenses destroy the field of gratitude, while the latter three destroy the field of virtue. Those who commit these five offenses will fall into the Hell of the Five Uninterrupted Torments. The offense of disrupting the harmony of the Sangha is divided into two kinds:

1. Disrupting the Karman Sangha: separating from the community in which one has lived, establishing a new community, and separately conducting such acts as the uposatha and Sangha procedures.

2. Disrupting the Dharma-Wheel Sangha: venerating another teacher, establishing a different doctrine, and organizing a separate community.

According to volume 4 of the Sūtra Spoken by the Great Satyaka Nirgrantha, the five grave offenses are:

1. Destroying monasteries and stupas, burning sutras and sacred images, seizing the property of the Three Jewels, or ordering others to do these things.

2. Slandering the teachings of the Śrāvaka Vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, or even the Mahayana.

3. Obstructing monastics from practicing cultivation, or killing monastics.

4. Committing any one of the five heinous offenses of the Lesser Vehicle.

5. Maintaining that karma and its results do not exist, committing the ten evil deeds, or, without fear of retribution in future lives, ordering others to commit the ten evil deeds.

In volume 5 of the Commentary on the Sutra of the Sovereign Kings of the Supreme Golden Light, Master Huệ Chiếu combines the offenses of killing one’s father and killing one’s mother among the five heinous offenses of the Lesser Vehicle into a single offense, while adding the offense of slandering the Buddha-Dharma, thereby establishing five heinous offenses applicable to all Three Vehicles (Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 2983).

^[22] Three realms: the three spheres of existence, comprising the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm.

– Realm of Desire: the world of sentient beings who still possess sexual desire, emotional desire, desire for form, and desire for food.

– Realm of Form: the world of sentient beings who have abandoned the sexual desire and desire for food belonging to the Realm of Desire, but who still possess purified material form.

– Formless Realm: the world of sentient beings who possess only feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. In this world there is nothing material, nor are there bodies, palaces, or lands; there is only consciousness abiding deeply in meditative concentration (Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. V, p. 4103).

^[23] Two classes of afflictions: 1. Fundamental afflictions: comprising the six major afflictions of greed, anger, delusion, pride, doubt, and wrong views; 2. Secondary afflictions: comprising twenty kinds of affliction that arise in dependence upon the fundamental afflictions, such as wrath, resentment, concealment, spite, jealousy, miserliness, and so forth.

In the sutras and treatises, this term has several different meanings:

I. According to volume 55 of the Yogācārabhūmi, these two kinds of afflictions are:

1. Fundamental afflictions: referring to the delusion of ignorance. Because this kind of affliction is the root from which other afflictions arise, it is called a fundamental affliction.

2. Secondary afflictions: referring to the delusions of views and thought. Because this kind of affliction gives rise to greed, anger, delusion, and other afflictions according to favorable or unfavorable objects, they are called secondary afflictions.

II. According to volume 7 of the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, these two kinds of afflictions are:

1. Afflictions of inward attachment: referring to afflictions arising from failure to understand the inner mind clearly, thereby giving rise to attachments such as the view of a self and extreme views.

2. Afflictions of outward attachment: referring to afflictions arising from failure to understand external objects clearly, thereby giving rise to craving and attachment such as greed, anger, and delusion.

I. According to volume 8 of the Commentary on the Avatamsaka Sutra, these two kinds of afflictions are:

1. Latent afflictions: referring to the seeds of ignorance and affliction that lie dormant within the storehouse consciousness and are capable of producing delusive defilements.

2. Manifest afflictions: referring to greed, anger, delusion, and other afflictions that manifest when the six sense faculties encounter the six sense objects (Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. IV, p. 3334).

^[24] Two extremes: two extreme positions. The treatises explain this doctrine in different ways:

– Volume 4 of the Treatise on the Middle Way: the two extremes refer to existence and nonexistence, or permanence and impermanence.

– The latter volume of the Treatise Conforming to the Middle Way: the two extremes refer to eternalism and annihilationism.

– In the Compendium of the Mahayana translated by Master Xuanzang, Master Vasubandhu explains that the two extremes refer to superimposition and diminution.

– Volume 3 of the Supplementary Practices to Great Calming and Contemplation: the two extremes refer to emptiness and provisional existence (Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. IV, p. 3284).

^[25] Middle Way: the upright middle path that abandons extremes and inclines neither toward any one side nor toward any particular viewpoint or method.

The Middle Way is a fundamental standpoint of Buddhism and is esteemed by both the Mahayana and the Lesser Vehicle. Thus, although its meaning may vary in depth, all schools use it to express the central principle of their teachings. The meaning of the Middle Way is called the Meaning of the Middle Way, and the truth of the Middle Way is called the Principle of the Middle Way. Because the Middle Way reveals the true character of the universe and all phenomena, and because the Middle Way is itself the True Character, it is called the True Character of the Middle Way (Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. VII, p. 5845).

^[26] Superimposition and diminution (the two attachments): two forms of attachment.

– Superimposition is emotional attachment—the attachment that clings to dharmas as truly existent and inclines toward the extreme of existence.

– Diminution means the emotional attachment to the view that dharmas do not exist, inclining toward the extreme of nonexistence (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. IV, p. 3286).

^[27] Explanatory Treatise:

1. Explanatory Treatise: the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra. The Exoteric Teaching considers it a work explaining the Large Prajñāpāramitā Sutra, or an abbreviated name for the Mahāyāna Treatise, while the Esoteric Teaching considers it a commentary on the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna.

2. Explanatory treatises: treatises that explain the scriptures.

3. Explanatory treatise: an explanation of the wording and meaning of a sutra (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. VI, p. 5449).

^[28] Two barriers (twofold barrier): two levels of mutually opposed views, such as delusion and awakening, existence and nonexistence, cause and effect, ordinary beings and sages. Those attached to names and characteristics regard delusion and awakening, cause and effect, and so forth as two different dharmas that do not encompass one another, thereby making them two mutually opposed dharmas. If one is no longer bound by these attachments to views, one can enter the absolute realm. Delusion and awakening, cause and effect, are merely two aspects of a single dharma, sharing one essence and functioning as one another’s essence and activity. Thus, a barrier or pass is used as a metaphor for the obstruction created by such views (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. III, p. 2598).

^[29] Initial Awakening: the awakening attained through the course of cultivation. The Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna states that the ālaya-consciousness has two aspects: awakening and non-awakening. Awakening is further distinguished into Initial Awakening and Original Awakening.

Through acquired cultivation, one gradually severs and destroys the deluded defilements that have persisted since beginningless time and awakens to the innate source of mind; this is called Initial Awakening. It is also the arousing of the aspiration to practice, progressively giving rise to wisdom that severs delusions, destroying ignorance, and returning to the pure original nature of Original Awakening. The Mahāyāna teaches that the human mind has from the beginning been tranquil and unmoving, neither arising nor ceasing, pure and undefiled; this is called Original Awakening.

Later, when the wind of ignorance arises, it produces the activities of conventional consciousness, from which the various distinctions of the world emerge; this is called Non-Awakening. Upon hearing the Buddha-Dharma, one brings forth Original Awakening, permeates Non-Awakening, and simultaneously merges into unity with Original Awakening; this is called Initial Awakening (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. VI, p. 5430).

^[30] Original Awakening: the inherently present nature of awakening—that is, the pure essence fully endowed with the characteristic of equality, always containing the luminous virtue of great wisdom and remaining far removed from the discriminating thoughts of the conventional world. The original nature of that source of mind is the essence of awakening, pure from the beginning, and is therefore called Original Awakening. The Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna of the Exoteric Teaching, the Explanatory Treatise on the Mahāyāna of the Esoteric Teaching, and the doctrines of the Japanese Tiantai school all explain the concepts of Original Awakening and Initial Awakening, but their principal meanings differ (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. I, p. 276).

^[31] Borderland: a remote and secluded place whose inhabitants are unable to see or hear the Buddha-Dharma.

The borderland of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss: those who cultivate merit but still harbor doubt are, in accordance with that karmic response, reborn here after death and are unable to see or hear the Buddha-Dharma for five hundred years (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. I, p. 518).

^[32] Transformation birth: beings born not from parents but solely through the power of karma, such as beings in the hells, devas, beings in the intermediate state, humans in the initial cosmic age, dragons, garuḍas, and so forth. Although beings born by transformation possess complete bodies and faculties, they leave no corpse when they die. Therefore, among the four modes of birth, this is the highest.

According to the Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 9, beings born by transformation take birth wherever they desire. According to the Pure Land school, beings reborn in Ultimate Bliss are also said to be born by transformation (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. II, p. 1866).

^[33] Yojana: an ancient Indian unit of length. The Sanskrit term is Yojana, meaning “yoking,” and derives from the root “Yuj,” referring to the distance an ox bearing a yoke travels in one day. According to the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, fascicle 2: “One yojana denotes the distance traveled by the king’s army in one day.” There are various theories concerning the measurement of a yojana:

1. Conversion into krośas: according to Indian custom, as well as the Chapter on the Display of Arts in the Extensive Play Sutra, fascicle 4, and the Chapter on the Analysis of Time in the Mātaṅga Sutra, latter fascicle, four krośas constitute one yojana. However, Buddhist scriptures such as the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, fascicle 21, the Mahāvibhāṣā Treatise, fascicle 136, and the Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 12, calculate eight krośas as one yojana.

2. There are also various theories when calculated according to Chinese measurements: according to the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, fascicle 2, one yojana was formerly calculated as twenty kilometers, according to Indian reckoning as fifteen kilometers, and according to Buddhist reckoning as eight kilometers. According to Huiyuan’s Phonetic Glosses on the Mūlasarvāstivāda Ekottara-karman, fascicle 3, translated by Yijing, Indian national custom calculates it as sixteen kilometers, while Buddhist reckoning calculates it as six kilometers (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. I, p. 1115).

^[34] Mount Sumeru: also called Mount Wondrous Height, Mount Excellent Height, Mount Excellent Light, Mount Virtuous Height, Mount Virtuous Accumulation, Mount Wondrous Light, and Mount An Minh Do.

Originally a mountain in Indian mythology and subsequently adopted by Buddhism, it is regarded as a lofty mountain standing at the exact center of a small world-system. With this mountain as the center, eight concentric mountain ranges and eight concentric seas surround it, together forming a world (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. V, p. 4614).

^[35] Six Recollections: six subjects that practitioners of the Buddha’s path must constantly recollect.

1. Recollection of the Buddha: recollecting the immeasurable merit, great loving-kindness, and great compassion of the Buddhas.

2. Recollection of the Dharma: recollecting the Three Baskets and the twelve divisions of scripture taught by the Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings.

3. Recollection of the Sangha: recollecting the members of the Sangha, who are fully endowed with morality, concentration, and wisdom and serve as fields of merit for sentient beings.

4. Recollection of Morality: recollecting the moral precepts, which possess great power and can eliminate the evil afflictions of sentient beings.

5. Recollection of Giving: recollecting generosity, which has great merit and can eliminate the greed and stinginess of sentient beings.

6. Recollection of Devas: recollecting that the devas of the three realms have attained their present joyful karmic rewards through the wholesome roots they cultivated in former lives by observing pure precepts, practicing generosity, and developing wisdom through hearing the Dharma (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. III, p. 2549).

^[36] Gateway to the Clear Understanding of the Hundred Dharmas: the gateway of wisdom that clearly and thoroughly comprehends the hundred dharmas, attained by a bodhisattva at the Ground of Joy (the First Ground). Regarding the one hundred dharmas of the Gateway to the Clear Understanding of the Hundred Dharmas, the scriptures and treatises present the following views:

1. The Treatise on the Sutra of the Ten Grounds, fascicle 3, states that the hundred dharmas refer to the various Dharma gateways.

2. The Record of Exploring the Profundities of the Avataṃsaka Sutra, fascicle 11: the hundred dharmas refer to the Dharma gateways of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas, rather than merely to the number one hundred.

3. According to the Chapter on the Names of Worthies and Sages in the Sutra of the Bodhisattva’s Garland of the Fundamental Deeds, first fascicle: the hundred dharmas are formed from the ten minds of faith—the mind of faith, the mind of mindfulness, the mind of diligence, the mind of wisdom, the mind of concentration, the mind of non-retrogression, the mind of dedication, the mind of protection, the mind of morality, and the mind of vows—each of which contains ten minds, thereby forming one hundred dharmas. Only after perfectly accomplishing the ten minds of the Ten Faiths can a bodhisattva enter the First Ground.

4. According to Fatong’s Record Explaining the Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life and Siming Zhili’s Subcommentary on the Wondrous Essential Meaning of the Commentary on the Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, fascicle 6, the hundred dharmas are the five categories of the hundred dharmas of the Faxiang school.

5. According to the Record Explaining the Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life: the ten mental-factor dharmas are feeling, perception, volition, contact, desire, wisdom, mindfulness, liberation, recollection, and concentration. When one mental factor arises, the other nine arise in mutual dependence, thereby forming one hundred dharmas (TĐPH Huệ Quang, Vol. I, p. 222).

^[37] Three Knowledges: three forms of clear and unobstructed wisdom that thoroughly comprehend three matters: knowledge of past lives, the divine eye, and the exhaustion of the outflows.

1. Knowledge of past lives: the wisdom that clearly knows the circumstances of oneself and sentient beings from one lifetime up to hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of lifetimes.

2. Knowledge of the divine eye: the wisdom that clearly knows the circumstances of the deaths and births of sentient beings—when they die and when they are born, their favorable or unfavorable forms; how, through causes and conditions associated with wrong Dharma, they accomplish evil conduct and, after death, are born in an evil realm; or how, through causes and conditions associated with the true Dharma, they accomplish wholesome conduct and, after death, are born in a good realm…

3. Knowledge of the exhaustion of the outflows: the wisdom that knows in accordance with reality and realizes the principle of the Four Noble Truths, liberates the mind from the outflows, and eradicates all afflictions… (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. V, p. 4131).

^[38] Six superknowledges: the six wondrous, unobstructed, and sovereign functions manifested by Buddhas and bodhisattvas through the power of concentration and wisdom. They are: the superknowledge of miraculous powers, the superknowledge of the divine ear, the superknowledge of others’ minds, the superknowledge of past lives, the superknowledge of the divine eye, and the superknowledge consisting in the realization of the knowledge of the exhaustion of the outflows (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 2579).

^[39] Eight liberations: eight powers of concentration that enable practitioners to abandon sensual desire pertaining to the Form Realm and Formless Realm:

1. While inwardly retaining perceptions of form and sensual desire, one contemplates external forms for liberation.

2. While inwardly free from perceptions of form and sensual desire, one contemplates external forms for liberation.

3. Through the purity of the body, one realizes and fully abides in liberation.

4. Transcending perceptions of form, extinguishing perceptions of resistance, and not attending to perceptions of diversity, one enters the sphere of infinite space and fully abides in liberation.

5. Transcending the entire sphere of infinite space, one enters the sphere of infinite consciousness and fully abides in liberation.

6. Transcending the entire sphere of infinite consciousness, one enters the sphere of nothingness and fully abides in liberation.

7. Transcending the entire sphere of nothingness, one enters the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception and fully abides in liberation.

8. Transcending the entire sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, one enters the cessation of perception and feeling, fully realizes it through the body, and fully abides in liberation (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 390).

^[40] Dharmākara: the Dharma name of Amitābha Buddha before he attained Buddhahood. According to the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sutra, upper fascicle, innumerable kalpas ago in the past, during the time of the Tathagata Lokeśvararāja, there was a king who heard the Buddha teach the Dharma and immediately aroused the unsurpassed resolve. He relinquished his throne and renounced the household life, taking the name Dharmākara.

Having beheld twenty-one billion Buddha lands, he made forty-eight great vows. Because the Dharma teachings he preserved were never lost and were amassed in great abundance, the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sutra translates his name as Dharmākara, “Treasury of Dharma”; the Assembly of the Tathagata of Infinite Life in the Mahāratnakūṭa Sutra, fascicle 17, translated during the Tang dynasty, renders it as “Abode of Dharma”; the Mahayana Sutra of the Adornment of Infinite Life, translated during the Song dynasty, renders it as “Maker of Dharma”; and the Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra renders it as “Dharma-nature” (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol.

IV, p. 3543).

^[41] The twelve divisions of the Mahayana scriptures: twelve categories of sutras distinguished according to their mode of presentation and the content of their teachings:

1. Sutra (prose): prose passages that directly record the Buddha’s teachings.

2. Geya (reiterative verse): verses that restate and explain the teachings given in the prose passages.

3. Vyākaraṇa (prediction): originally passages explaining doctrinal meanings; in later usage, it refers especially to the Buddha’s prior confirmation of what his disciples would accomplish in the future.

4. Gāthā (independent verse): independent verses that directly record the Buddha’s teachings without repeating the meaning of preceding prose passages.

5. Udāna (spontaneous discourse): the Buddha expounds a teaching on his own initiative without waiting for someone to request the Dharma.

6. Nidāna (causes and conditions): records the causes and conditions for the Buddha’s exposition of the Dharma and instruction of beings, such as the introductory chapters of sutras.

7. Avadāna (parable): uses parables to explain the meaning of the Dharma.

8. Itivṛttaka (accounts of past events): scriptures concerning the past conduct of the Buddha and his disciples, apart from Jātaka tales. Scriptures beginning with the phrase “Thus the Buddha spoke” also belong to the category of accounts of past events.

9. Jātaka (birth stories): scriptures concerning the practices of great compassion cultivated by the Buddha in his past lives.

10. Vaipulya (extensive teachings): scriptures that expound vast and profound doctrinal meanings.

11. Adbhutadharma (marvelous and unprecedented events): accounts of rare and marvelous deeds of the Buddha and his disciples.

12. Upadeśa (doctrinal exposition): the Buddha analyzes and distinguishes the essential nature of all dharmas, thereby clarifying their meaning (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. VI, p. 5274).

^[42] According to the canonical text, No. 1965, pp. 116–117:

“南無阿彌陀佛。稱佛名故。除五十億劫生死之罪。爾時彼佛即遣化佛化觀世音化大勢至至行者前”

^[43] Stage of decisive discernment: the stage of the supreme mundane dharma.

^[44] Seven expedient stages (also called the Seven Stages of Expedient Means, the Seven Worthies, the Seven Stages of the Worthies, or the Seven Stages of Preparatory Practice): the seven stages preceding entry into the śrāvaka path of seeing. They are: the contemplation for the fivefold settling of the mind, the establishment of mindfulness concerning specific characteristics, the establishment of mindfulness concerning common characteristics, the dharma of warmth, the dharma of the summit, the dharma of patience, and the supreme mundane dharma (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. VI, p. 5372).

^[45] Present nirvana: the fruit of non-returning, one of the four fruits of the śrāvaka path. A noble one in the Desire Realm who eliminates all remaining delusions and enters nirvana is therefore said to attain “present nirvana” (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 1820).

^[46] Intention referring to another time (also called intention concerning another time or intention concerning a later occasion): the Tathagata teaches the Dharma with an intention referring to another time. This is one of the four intentions and signifies a benefit to be obtained at another time. It is taught that those who recite and retain the name of Prabhūtaratna Buddha will assuredly never regress from unsurpassed bodhi, or that those who merely make a vow will immediately attain rebirth in the Buddha land of Sukhāvatī. Because the Tathagata wished to exhort indolent people who did not delight in practice, he spoke of benefits to be obtained at another time rather than benefits obtained at that very moment.

The Commentary on the Mahayana Compendium, fascicle 6 (Taishō 31, 194b), states: “Those of indolent wholesome roots advance to virtues of the highest grade by reciting and retaining the name of Prabhūtaratna Buddha.”

The Buddha spoke of virtues of the highest grade for people whose practice was shallow, wishing them to abandon indolence and cultivate diligently. It does not mean that merely by reciting the Buddha’s name they would attain non-retrogression and assuredly realize unsurpassed bodhi. This is like a single gold coin that, through commerce conducted over a long period, produces a thousand gold coins; the thousand gold coins are not obtained in a single day. One gold coin is the cause that gives rise to a thousand gold coins. The Tathagata’s intention is likewise: reciting and retaining the Buddha’s name is the cause of non-retrogression from bodhi (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 546).

^[47] Vasubandhu: a great Indian treatise master who lived around the fourth or fifth century. A native of Puruṣapura in Gandhāra, North India, he was the second son of the Brahmin state preceptor Kauśika. At first, he and his elder brother Asaṅga studied the Sarvāstivāda school.

Asaṅga entered directly into the Mahayana, while Vasubandhu turned to the Sautrāntika school and resolved to reform the doctrines of the Sarvāstivāda… Initially, Vasubandhu criticized Mahayana Buddhism, maintaining that the Mahayana was not a teaching spoken by the Buddha. Later, through the skillful instruction of Asaṅga, he awakened to the principles of the Mahayana and came to believe in, revere, and propagate its essential doctrines.

He composed many treatises and commentaries, laying the foundation for the Yogācāra school of Mahayana Buddhism. His important works, numbering more than forty, include: the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (30 fascicles), the Commentary on the Mahayana Compendium (15 fascicles), the Treatise on the Sutra of the Ten Stages (12 fascicles), the Treatise on the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sutra, the Extensive Commentary on the Hundred-Verse Treatise, the Treatise on the Bodhi Mind, the Thirty Verses on Consciousness-Only, the Mahayana Treatise Illuminating the Gate of the Hundred Dharmas, and the Upadeśa on the Sutra of Infinite Life… (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol.

VI, p. 5408).

– Vasubandhu’s Treatise (fully titled Vasubandhu’s Commentary on the Mahayana-samgraha): one of the five commentaries on the Mahayana-samgraha. This treatise was composed by Master Vasubandhu to explain Master Asanga’s Mahayana-samgraha. It has three translations: the translation by Master Paramartha during the Chen dynasty, consisting of 15 fascicles and titled Commentary on the Mahayana-samgraha; the translation by Master Gupta during the Sui dynasty, consisting of 10 fascicles and titled Explanatory Treatise on the Mahayana-samgraha; and the translation by Master Xuanzang during the Tang dynasty, consisting of 10 fascicles and titled Commentary on the Mahayana-samgraha (TĐĐPB).

^[48] Six practices (the Dharma of Six Practices): according to the Commentary on the Sutra of Contemplating Maitreya’s Ascension to the Tusita Heaven, lower fascicle, p. 295b:

1. Diligently cultivate and plant meritorious karma in the three fields of Reverence, Gratitude, and Compassion.

2. Carefully preserve dignified conduct and the precepts, and freely observe the prescribed rules.

3. Diligently sweep and clean monasteries and stupas, and adorn places of practice in accordance with the prescribed teachings.

4. Make offerings of incense and flowers, and, as appropriate, provide the requisites of food and drink, clothing, lodging, medicine, and so forth.

5. Ordinary beings enter the conditioned samadhi with outflows, while noble beings enter the unconditioned samadhi without outflows and accordingly attain dhyana.

6. Read and recite the scriptures, expound the teachings, and cultivate the ten Dharma practices, and so forth.

^[49] Notching the boat to seek the sword (the notched-boat analogy): the story of notching the boat to seek a sword appears in the chapter “Examining the Present” of the Lüshi Chunqiu. The story records: “A man crossing a river inadvertently dropped his sword into the water. He hurriedly cut a notch into the boat to mark the place where the sword had fallen. The boat had already moved elsewhere, yet the man still followed the notch and dived into the river to search for the sword. In the end, no matter how long he searched, he could not find it.”

In the Chan school, this expression refers to foolish and attached students who lack flexibility in responding to a master’s methods and teachings (TĐPH Huệ Quang, vol. III, p. 2276).

^[50] Guarding a tree stump while waiting for a hare: Legend relates that during the Warring States period, a farmer in the state of Song saw a hare dash headlong into a tree stump and die. He therefore abandoned all his plowing, sat embracing the stump, and waited for another hare to dash headlong into it again (Sino-Vietnamese Dictionary, VNNH, Phan Văn Các, chief editor, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House, 2001, p. 1309).

^[51] Three Meritorious Practices (three kinds of pure merit, three kinds of pure karma): the three principal causes of pure karma, which are also the three causes for rebirth in the Pure Land:

1. Be filial and care for one’s parents, serve and respect teachers and elders, cultivate a compassionate heart and refrain from killing, and practice the ten wholesome kinds of karma.

2. Receive and uphold the Three Refuges, fully observe the precepts, and do not transgress the rules of dignified conduct.

3. Awaken bodhicitta, deeply believe in cause and effect, read and recite the Mahayana scriptures, and encourage practitioners in their cultivation (TĐPH Huệ Quang, vol. V, p. 4079).

^[52] Ignorant of the Dharma: the Hinayana adherents who are ignorant of the Dharma and the Hinayana adherents who are not ignorant of the Dharma.

Hinayana adherents ignorant of the Dharma refers to the Two Vehicles of shravakas and pratyekabuddhas who are ignorant of the Mahayana principle of the emptiness of dharmas. Because those of the Two Vehicles realize only the emptiness of persons, cling firmly to the existence of dharmas, and do not understand the Mahayana truth of the twofold emptiness, they are disparagingly called “ignorant of the Dharma.”

Hinayana adherents not ignorant of the Dharma refers to the Two Vehicles of shravakas and pratyekabuddhas who both realize the Hinayana principle and understand the Mahayana principle. Although they are all Hinayana adherents, there are differences in the depth of their understanding. Because they can turn their Hinayana minds toward the Mahayana, they are also called the Hinayana adherents who have redirected their minds (the Two Vehicles who have redirected their minds). In Great Master Xianshou’s fivefold classification of the teachings, they are placed within the Initial Teaching of the Mahayana (TĐPH Huệ Quang, vol. III, p. 2907).

^[53] Sitavana: according to Xuanying’s Sounds and Meanings, fascicle 7, “Sitavana, in full called Sītavana, means the Cold Grove. This forest is deep and frigid, and is therefore named the Cold Grove. It lies beside the city of Rajagriha, and most of the dead are brought here. Today, ‘Sitavana’ is a general term for a place where the bodies of the dead are abandoned.” It is also called the Forest of Fear (TĐPH Hán-Việt, PVNCPHVN, Hanoi Publishing House, 1994, vol. II, p. 1492).

^[54] Great compassion arising from identity of substance: regarding sentient beings and oneself as being of one substance, one gives rise to impartial compassion in order to relieve suffering and bestow happiness. Bodhisattvas from the First Bhumi onward regard the suffering of sentient beings as their own suffering and give rise to boundless sympathy. The Mahaparinirvana Sutra, fascicle 16 of the Northern edition, states: “When parents see their child afflicted by illness, they experience anguish, sympathy, grief, and anxiety at every moment. A bodhisattva-mahasattva is likewise: seeing sentient beings bound by afflictions, they grieve, suffer, and worry, like a mother cherishing her newborn child, to such an extent that blood issues from every pore” (TĐPH Huệ Quang, vol. II, p. 1598).