觀無量壽佛經義疏
Chinese title:觀無量壽佛經義疏
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Yuanzhao
The Sahā world is defiled, and the myriad kinds of sentient beings dwell together within it; the Land of Bliss is pure, and all beings of supreme goodness dwell there together. Knowing this world to be a thorny forest[1] and a prison of the womb[2], one should firmly resolve to leave it forever; toward that jeweled land[3] and golden ponds[4], one should settle the mind and proceed directly along the single path of return.
The words of the World-Honored One—his tide-like voice[5] earnestly praising the Land of Bliss—are recorded throughout the scriptures; and many accounts of assemblies of practitioners who cultivated single-mindedly, attained realization, and gained seats in the highest grade are preserved in historical records and biographies. Because the capacities of sentient beings differ greatly, the skillful means employed to teach and transform them likewise comprise many Dharma gates.
Some follow fixed sessions of esoteric mantra recitation; some exclusively recite the Buddha’s name; some set fixed periods for seated meditation; others maintain lifelong vegetarianism and observe the precepts, and so forth. Each accords with its time and with the capacities of practitioners, and all are clearly recorded throughout the scriptures. Yet only this practice of right contemplation fully reaches the realization of non-arising.
It is truly a wondrous Dharma gate for dispelling doubts and overcoming hindrances, and a marvelous medicine for attaining deathless longevity!
Upon careful consideration, many people in former times recited this text, and even now there are not a few who delight in hearing it. From my youth, I, this humble one, studied this text deeply and early; thus I no longer lament that throughout myriad past kalpas I did not know the path of return, but rejoice greatly that henceforth I have a destination toward which to turn. Nevertheless, the treatise masters who composed commentaries each favored the particular tenets of a single school, causing later students who read them to remain uncertain about the course of practice.
For this reason, I have carefully examined the terms and principles[6], compared ancient and modern interpretations, selected what is excellent, and omitted redundant ideas. I merely transmit and do not create; how could I dare slight the worthies of former generations? I have organized everything under a coherent guiding principle, hoping thereby to leave something for students of later ages.
Though the text is concise, its purport lies in practice. To see the moon, one must rely upon the pointing finger; once the moon has been seen, one should no longer cling to the finger. To cross to the other shore, one must rely upon a boat; once the crossing is complete, the boat should be left behind.
Out of compassion for sentient beings of future ages, may I not fail Queen Vaidehī’s request; reverently accepting the ancient injunction, how could I forget the kindness of Venerable Ānanda in proclaiming the teaching once again?
May the explanations presented here assist practitioners in attaining rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss!
In explaining this scripture, I shall first set forth its doctrinal categories so that its general purport may be clearly understood, and only afterward explain the meaning of the scriptural text.
SECTION ON DOCTRINAL CATEGORIES
The doctrinal categories are divided into four sections:
– The reasons for establishing the teaching.
– The scope encompassed by the teaching.
– Determining its central tenet.
– Distinguishing similarities and differences.
I. THE REASONS FOR ESTABLISHING THE TEACHING
This has two sections:
– A general account of the reason the Buddha established the teachings of his lifetime.
– A specific account of the reason this scripture’s teaching was established.
I.1. THE REASON FOR ESTABLISHING THE TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA’S LIFETIME
The World-Honored One, the Greatly Awakened One, manifested a responsive trace from his original ground[7] because he wished to reveal the Buddha’s knowledge and vision to sentient beings and enable them to awaken to and enter it[8]. Thus, in response to the appropriate conditions, he manifested in the world and carried out the work of liberating beings, accomplishing a magnificent undertaking.
The scripture states: “Everything the Buddhas do is solely for one purpose: to reveal the Buddha’s knowledge and vision to sentient beings and enable them to awaken to and enter it.” We should understand that from the manifestation of his birth until his entry into nirvana, although the verbal teachings[9] given throughout the Buddha’s lifetime differed as Half and Full Teachings[10], they were all intended to enable ordinary beings to awaken fully to their own true mind, which is equal and not different from the essential nature of the Dharma-realm of sentient beings and of the Tathagatas throughout the ten directions.
This mind possesses immeasurable and innumerable supreme qualities, encompassing all mundane and supramundane dharmas. It is originally pure, vast, and boundless. Cause and effect, circumstantial and direct recompense, mountains, rivers, earth, oceans, and lands as numerous as dust motes throughout the Dharma-realms of the ten directions are all phenomena within our own mind, like drifting bubbles upon the great ocean or a wisp of cloud suspended in the sky.
As the scripture states: “This mind becomes the Buddha; this mind is the Buddha. The ocean of the Buddhas’ right and universal knowledge[11] arises from mental contemplation.” One should therefore understand that this very mind is the originally pure essence of bodhi and nirvana, the One True Realm[12] of the Mahayana, and no other dharma.
Thus, the Scripture on the Divination of the Effects of Good and Evil Actions[13] states: “The One True Realm means the essential mind of sentient beings. From the beginning, it has been the ultimate single characteristic, neither arising nor ceasing; its intrinsic nature is pure, perfect, and all-pervasive throughout the ten directions. Yet because sentient beings have for many lives been perfumed by the darkness and delusion of ignorance, various realms falsely appear.
They then give rise to attachment to self and what belongs to self, sink into birth and death, and fail to awaken to it themselves.” The Buddha-Tathagata awakened to this mind and, out of compassion for sentient beings who had not yet awakened, mercifully opened and revealed many skillful means and expounded the scriptures. When the Buddha taught the Avatamsaka Sutra, he implicitly revealed the gate of sudden awakening; when he expounded the principle of the Four Noble Truths, he explicitly revealed the method of gradual cultivation.
The essential nature of true suchness is not different, but skillful means comprise many gates.
The scripture states: “Those of inferior wisdom delight in the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle and do not believe that they themselves can become Buddhas.” It also states: “Although many Dharma gates are taught, in truth there is only the One Buddha Vehicle.” In some cases, to destroy delusion and realize truth in this land, one must employ self-power; therefore the Mahayana and Hinayana scriptures were expounded. In other cases, to be born in another land, hear the Dharma, and awaken to the Way, one must rely upon other-power; therefore rebirth in a Pure Land was taught.
Although this land and that land differ, all these are skillful means enabling beings to awaken to their own minds and thoroughly comprehend all dharmas. Only afterward do they arouse the Mahayana mind, cultivate the path of bodhi, seek awakening above, and transform beings below[14], ultimately attaining Buddhahood. Because of wisdom, they do not remain within birth and death; because of compassion, they do not abide in nirvana.
They manifest birth and death in order to teach the Dharma and liberate beings throughout worlds as numerous as dust motes. Since sentient beings are inexhaustible, the practices, vows, bodies, and lands[15] are likewise inexhaustible.
The Avatamsaka Sutra states: “I know that all Buddhas throughout the ten directions never ultimately enter nirvana; they manifest doing so only because they wish to tame and guide sentient beings!” The Lankavatara Sutra likewise teaches: “There is no Buddha who enters nirvana, nor is there any nirvana of a Buddha. This is the great causal occasion[16] for which Buddhas manifest in the world.” All Buddhas throughout the ten directions are likewise; how could this apply only to Buddha Śākyamuni? This, then, is the reason the teaching was established.
I.2. THE SPECIFIC REASON FOR ESTABLISHING THIS TEACHING
The Pure Land teaching arose in response to Queen Vaidehī’s request. Because Prince Ajātaśatru rebelled and imprisoned his father the king, causing him to suffer in confinement, the queen was overwhelmed with anguish and grief. From afar, she turned toward Vulture Peak[17] and implored the Buddha to save her. Moved by compassion, the Buddha immediately came to the dark prison. He first set forth the three pure forms of merit[18] as the common conditions for deliverance and then taught the sixteen contemplations, revealing the wondrous method for attaining rebirth. I shall now briefly present ten points from the Sutra on the Contemplation of Amitāyus Buddha:
1) Out of compassion for sentient beings who endure manifold sufferings and have no means of attaining liberation.
The scripture states: “After the Buddha’s passing into extinction, sentient beings will be oppressed by the five kinds of suffering[19], turbidity, evil, and unwholesomeness.”
It also states: “For all sentient beings of future ages who seek liberation from suffering, this contemplation of the ground[20] is taught.”
2) Out of compassion for sentient beings bound by karma and having no means of attaining liberation.
The scripture states: “It eliminates grave offenses of birth and death accumulated throughout eight billion kalpas, and even throughout immeasurable billions of kalpas.”
3) Because of compassion for sentient beings who are shrouded by the obstruction of afflictions and are unable to eliminate them.
The sutra states: “Today, out of compassion for all sentient beings in future ages who will be troubled and harmed by afflictions, the Tathagata teaches pure karma.”
4) Because of compassion for sentient beings whose merit and virtue are meager and who suffer poverty and lowliness.
The sutra states: “Merely visualizing an image of the Buddha brings immeasurable merit; how much more so does fully contemplating the bodily marks of the Buddha.”
It also states: “Thus, if bodhisattvas merely hear the Buddha’s name, they still obtain immeasurable merit; how much more so if they contemplate him carefully with utmost sincerity.”
5) Because of compassion for sentient beings who are far removed from the Buddha, follow what is wrong, and abandon what is right.
The sutra states: “If anyone is mindful of the Buddha, that person will sit at the place of awakening and be born into the family of the Buddhas, and so forth.”
6) Because of the wish to enable sentient beings to relinquish all defiled attachments and abide in a pure realm.
The sutra states: “If anyone is mindful of the Buddha, one should know that this person is born by transformation within a white lotus[21].”
7) Because of the wish to enable the minds of sentient beings to attain concentration with ease.
The sutra states: “One should single-mindedly bind one’s thoughts to a single object and think only of the Western Land. If one does not attain concentration upon a single direction, it is difficult to accomplish samadhi.”
8) Because of the wish to enable sentient beings to behold the bodily marks of the Buddha and accomplish the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi.
9) Because of the wish to help sentient beings behold the bodily marks of the Buddha and encounter the Buddha Amitayus.
10) Because of the wish to enable sentient beings to attain Buddhahood swiftly.
The sutra states: “When the mind recollects the Buddha, that very mind is the thirty-two marks, and so forth.” The Amitabha Sutra states: “Those born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss never regress from unsurpassed bodhi.”
The Buddha’s intent is profound and wondrous, beyond the full comprehension of ordinary beings. Thus, by presenting these ten points, which encompass everything, the reasons for teaching this sutra become as plainly visible as the palm of one’s hand!
II. THE SCOPE OF THE DOCTRINES EMBRACED BY THIS TEACHING
There are three sections:
– Discussing the establishment of pure and mixed teachings in the two realms.
– Distinguishing Mahayana from Hinayana, and Gradual from Sudden.
– Distinguishing definitive meaning from provisional meaning.
II.1. DISCUSSING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PURE AND MIXED TEACHINGS IN THE TWO REALMS
There are two parts: the contemplative teaching for entering the Path in the Saha world, and the contemplative teaching for rebirth in the Pure Land.
1) The contemplative teaching for entering the Path in the Saha world
The Saha world has the five turbidities; the karma of sentient beings may be heavy or light, and their capacities and dispositions differ. Because their faculties are mixed, the doctrines taught are likewise not uniform. Thus, the Mahayana and Hinayana teachings differ, and the Separate and Perfect teachings are distinct. From ancient times to the present, the patriarchal masters have classified the teachings delivered by the Buddha during his lifetime in differing ways, alternately rejecting and establishing various systems. This is extensively discussed in other treatises and cannot be fully presented here.
2) The contemplative teaching for rebirth in the Pure Land
The Land of Ultimate Bliss is entirely filled with pure spiritual companions who cultivate solely the Mahayana Dharma. Although sentient beings born in that land are divided into nine grades, all of them bring forth the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi, diligently apply themselves to practice, and will certainly attain the wondrous fruit of bodhi without ever regressing. Therefore, the Treatise on Rebirth states: “Followers of the Two Vehicles are not born there. Although that land has shravaka disciples, they are all persons who previously brought forth the Mahayana mind and temporarily cultivated the Provisional Vehicle[22], but do not abide in the fruit of the Hinayana.”
Thus, it is clear that the establishment of teachings in the two realms is not the same. Consequently, there is no need to labor over classifying the Pure Land sutras.
II.2. DISTINGUISHING MAHAYANA FROM HINAYANA, AND GRADUAL FROM SUDDEN
In the Classification of the Teaching’s Characteristics section of the Tiantai Commentary, it is pointed out that this sutra belongs to the Vaipulya Mahayana teaching. According to the Two Piṭakas, this teaching belongs to the Bodhisattva Piṭaka. According to the categories of Gradual and Sudden, this sutra belongs to the Sudden Teaching.
The commentary of Master Huiyuan[23] likewise regards this sutra as belonging to the Dharma wheel of the Sudden Teaching. Vaidehi and the others attained acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas directly from the state of ordinary beings, rather than by proceeding through the Hinayana. Therefore, it is known that this sutra is a Sudden Teaching.
In terms of the teachings delivered by the Buddha during his lifetime, the contemplative teaching of the Amitabha Sutra is the Perfect and Sudden Dharma of the One Buddha Vehicle and belongs to no other vehicle whatsoever. Dharma Master Ciyun said: “Surveying the entirety of the Hinayana scriptures, there is not a single word about the Pure Land, much less any exhortation to seek rebirth there. Moreover, the Hinayana never discusses any other Buddha, nor does it contain a single word about Buddha Amitabha.
Thus, once the Pure Land of Amitabha enters one’s ears, the Mahayana seed of Buddhahood has already been planted.” Would it not therefore be a great loss for someone neither to hear nor believe it?
II.3. DISTINGUISHING DEFINITIVE MEANING FROM PROVISIONAL MEANING
Master Ciyun said: “The Buddha’s teachings are of two kinds: first, the Hinayana teaching of provisional meaning; second, the Mahayana teaching of definitive meaning. Within the Mahayana, there are likewise definitive and provisional meanings.” The Pure Land teaching is precisely the definitive Dharma within the Mahayana teaching of definitive meaning. The sutra states: “Search carefully throughout the ten directions: there is absolutely no other vehicle, but only the One Buddha Vehicle.” This is precisely the meaning expressed here!
“Definitive meaning” means realizing that the Pure Land is present within one’s own mind and is nowhere distant; awakening to Amitabha Buddha means awakening to one’s own intrinsic nature—how could there be another Buddha? Thus, although consciousness takes lodging in a land a thousand realms away, it is truly present within one’s own mind; although one’s physical form is entrusted to a lotus among the nine grades, how could it transcend a single kshana?
Therefore, the sutra states: “This mind becomes the Buddha; this mind is the Buddha.” This is precisely the revelation of the Buddha’s knowledge and vision to sentient beings. How could any definitive Mahayana teaching surpass this doctrine?
The Mahasthamaprapta’s Perfect Penetration section of the Shurangama Sutra states: “If sentient beings constantly recollect the Buddha and are mindful of the Buddha, then in the present or the future they will certainly behold the Buddha and will not be far from the Buddha” (meaning that they will swiftly attain Buddhahood). Moreover, in the Lotus Sutra, the Tathagata personally bestows a prediction of rebirth. The Medicine King Chapter states: “If anyone receives and upholds this sutra, that person will immediately attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and so forth.” The Avatamsaka teaching also records Bodhisattva Samantabhadra personally making vows and dedicating merit.
The concluding passage of the section on Samantabhadra’s Great Vows states: “When the time of death arrives, within a single kshana one will immediately attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and so forth.” Therefore, one should know that whether the land or the reward body is pure or defiled depends entirely upon the minds of sentient beings. Because their essential nature is empty and quiescent, rebirth encounters no obstruction; and because the true mind pervades everywhere, accepting and relinquishing cause no impediment.
Alas! Students of later generations fail to realize the meaning of Mind-Only[24]. Having gained only a little insight, they immediately regard it as the Pure Land, claiming that when the mind is pure, the land is pure, and that there is no need to rely upon other-power; that the Buddha is their own mind, so why seek him externally? They regard Amitabha Buddha as existing outside the mind and ridicule the Land of Ultimate Bliss as another land. Therefore, Master Ciyun said: “Some claim that the Pure Land is within the mind, so why seek it externally? When the mind is pure, the land is pure; why labor to seek rebirth in a distant Pure Land?”
Explanation: You do not clearly understand the meaning of the land and one’s own mind, and thus consider your mind to be narrow and perceive the Western Land as existing outside the mind. If you realize that a single thought of mind pervades everywhere, then even a mote of dust pervades everywhere; the lands a hundred thousand kotis of worlds away are contained within a span—how could they be outside the mind? People in the world merely speak of principle in the abstract and discard cause and effect.
If one says that there is only mind and does not believe that external dharmas exist, one not only slanders the Dharma but also maligns the mind itself, thereby incurring downfall for myriad kalpas. How lamentable! Those who falsely establish notions of right and wrong to obstruct the Pure Land are truly evil spiritual teachers!
The sages and worthies of old, moved by profound compassion, tirelessly explained and revealed this teaching. If one applies one’s mind to careful and thorough study, one will certainly thereby attain extraordinary realization!
III. DISCUSSION OF THE CENTRAL TENET
There are three sections:
– Determining the central tenet of the sutra.
– Explaining phenomena and principle.
– Distinguishing the differences among methods of contemplation.
III.1. DETERMINING THE CENTRAL TENET OF THE SUTRA
The central tenet is the principal meaning of an entire sutra, and therefore it must be explained. Master Tiantai said: “This sutra takes the contemplating mind as its central tenet.” This establishes the central tenet in terms of that which contemplates. Is not the contemplation of the Buddha’s dependent and primary recompenses itself the contemplating mind?
Patriarchs Huiyuan and Shandao both said: “The central purports expounded in the sutras differ from one another. This sutra takes the Buddha-Contemplation Samadhi as its central tenet.” This establishes the central tenet in terms of both that which contemplates and that which is contemplated. Although the sixteen contemplations of the dependent and primary recompenses differ from one another, their chief purpose is the contemplation of the Buddha, as a later passage of the sutra states: “In the very midst of contemplation, one personally attains the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi; recollection itself is contemplation.” If this referred generally to all Buddhas, it would also pertain to other sutras; here, however, the title of the sutra clearly specifies the Buddha Amitayus.
The Sutra on the Samadhi of Contemplating the Buddha records: “The Buddha told Ananda: This Buddha-Contemplation Samadhi is medicine for all sentient beings who have committed offenses, a protective wall for those who have broken the precepts, a guide for those who have lost their way, eyes for the blind, wisdom for the ignorant, a bright lamp in darkness, a valiant general who destroys the bandits of affliction, the sphere in which all Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, journey and teach, and the source from which the great Shurangama samadhis arise….” It also records: “If a person constantly contemplates even one pore of the Buddha, that person is said to practice the samadhi of recollecting the Buddha.
Because that person recollects the Buddha, the Buddhas of the ten directions will constantly appear before them and expound the true Dharma. That person will then be able to give rise to the Buddhas of the three times—how much more so if they fully contemplate the Buddha’s form-body.”
It further records: “If anyone among the four assemblies of the Buddha’s disciples slanders the Mahayana sutras, commits the five heinous offenses, violates the four grave precepts, steals property belonging to the Sangha, violates the pure conduct of a bhikshuni, breaks the precepts of the Eightfold Fasting Observance, commits many evil deeds, and gives rise to numerous wrong views…, yet for one day and one night fixes their thoughts directly before them and wholeheartedly visualizes one of the Buddha’s excellent marks, then all offenses and karmic obstructions will be completely eradicated.” From this we know that the merit of contemplating the Buddha is truly inconceivable.
This is because one gathers in the deluded mind so that it may inwardly accord with the true object of contemplation. Relying upon the Buddha’s merit and wisdom, one is aided in escaping destitution and adversity; through the Buddha’s loving-kindness and compassion, one is rescued from drowning in samsara. This is the foremost battle for destroying evil and the first gateway for entering the Path.
Therefore, the Shurangama Sutra states: “Without relying upon expedient means, one’s own mind awakens of itself, just as a person permeated by incense comes to bear its fragrance. This is called Adornment with Fragrance and Light.”
III.2. EXPLAINING PHENOMENA AND PRINCIPLE
Principle is a provisional designation for empty quiescence; phenomena is a general term for all activities. Although the names are two, their true essence is one and the same, just as water, when stirred, gives rise to waves, and ink forms written characters. Although waves assume myriad forms, their wet nature is one; although written characters differ in hundreds and thousands of ways, the color of the ink is not two.
If the mind abides in quiescence and both subject and object cease, this is precisely contemplation of principle. If the mind is disturbed and agitated, with grasping and rejecting clearly present, this is precisely contemplation of phenomena. Thus, principle and phenomena stand opposed and have not yet been perfectly integrated.
Now, according to Tiantai’s Treatise on the Ten Doubts[25]: “The wise person earnestly seeks birth in the Pure Land while realizing that the essence of birth is unobtainable; this is true non-arising. The ignorant person is bound by life, and upon hearing of birth, gives rise to a view of birth; upon hearing of non-arising, gives rise to a view of non-arising. Such a person does not know that birth is itself non-arising and that non-arising is itself birth.
Failing to understand this principle, they arbitrarily generate disputes over right and wrong. How mistaken this is! Therefore, one should know that realization of phenomena is itself principle, and principle does not exist apart from phenomena.
This is true non-arising and is therefore called wondrous contemplation.”
Furthermore, according to the contemplative repentance and phenomenal repentance taught by the Nanshan Vinaya school, capacities are divided into two kinds: keen and dull. Those of keen capacity who realize principle understand that all dharmas abide in the mind; those of dull capacity who have not yet realized it must rely upon phenomenal practices. Other sutras teach contemplation of principle only for those of superior capacity.
The contemplations in this sutra encompass both keen and dull capacities. When those of keen capacity cultivate them, all are contemplations of principle; when those of dull capacity cultivate them, all are subsumed under phenomenal visualization. Although those of keen and dull capacities cultivate differently, they all attain rebirth.
After being born in that land, however, their stages differ in depth, and their attainment of the Path is correspondingly faster or slower. From ancient times to the present, three different explanations have been given. The first holds that all sixteen objects of wondrous contemplation are contemplations of principle.
The second, based on the scriptures, holds that all of them, from beginning to end, are contemplations of phenomena. The third maintains that only the ninth object—the Contemplation of the Buddha[26]—is a contemplation of principle, while the other fifteen are contemplations of phenomena.
Here it is held that the first explanation excludes those of middling and inferior capacities; the second fails to address those of superior capacity; and the final explanation treats principle and phenomena as two separate paths, entirely incapable of interpenetration.
Whenever principle is realized, all dharmas are principle; how, then, could one dharma be right and another wrong? I have carefully examined the sutras and have seen only that they set forth the objects to be contemplated; they do not distinguish differences between principle and phenomena. Does this not mean that those who contemplate have keen or dull capacities and that their understanding may be penetrating or obstructed, so that each may enter according to the measure of their own capacity?[27]
The eminent monk Bianxiu of the Tang dynasty once said to someone: “In the past, I heard that the Dharma approach of cultivating rebirth in the Western Land was a Mahayana teaching characterized by form. This is merely a shallow and worthless statement that fails to realize contemplation of principle. Why? Because every word uttered is itself nature; every thought that arises is suchness; every form and every fragrance is the Middle Way—how much more so is my right mindfulness?” Upon carefully considering these words, one knows that he deeply comprehended the central tenet of the sutra, yet he did not make clear that this sutra also embraces those of middling and inferior capacities.
Question: How does one cultivate contemplation of principle in this sutra?
Answer: There are two aspects of cultivation:
1- The mind that contemplates: its essence is the presently active consciousness that remembers and reflects. As the sutra says: “One should give rise to a visualization and carefully contemplate the sun.”
2- The object contemplated: its essence is the adornment of Amitabha Buddha’s dependent and primary recompenses, namely, the sixteen objects set forth in the sutra.
Only when that which contemplates and that which is contemplated inwardly accord with one another is the practice of contemplation accomplished.
Question: If the mind arises and takes an object as its condition, how can this be called contemplation of principle?
Answer: Clearly understand that this mind and its object are entirely arisen through causes and conditions, and that arising through causes and conditions is itself non-arising. The essence that neither arises nor ceases is precisely the principle of non-arising.
The Treatise on Ten Doubts states: “Dharmas neither arise nor cease. Dharmas arise through the conjunction of causes and conditions and do not possess any fixed self-nature. When one seeks the essence of ‘arising,’ it is ultimately unobtainable.” When this arisen dharma arises, it comes from nowhere; therefore, it is called non-arising. When this dharma ceases, it goes nowhere; therefore, it is called non-ceasing. One must not suppose that apart from arising through causes and conditions, there is some other dharma that neither arises nor ceases!
The principle of contemplation presented here is based entirely upon the words of the treatise: one uses the mind arisen through causes and conditions to contemplate an object arisen through causes and conditions. Although mind and object differ, their conditioned arising is one. That which contemplates is the mind; the object contemplated is the Buddha.
The dharma of mind and the dharma of Buddha are both inconceivable. The Avatamsaka Sutra says: “The three dharmas—mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—are without difference.” This is precisely its meaning! Therefore, practitioners must first open the wisdom-eye and attain an unobstructed understanding free of doubt.
Only afterward should they diligently practice morning and evening, thought after thought keeping the mind fixed upon and recollecting the wondrous circumstantial and direct recompenses of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and courageously seeking rebirth there. Only then will mind and object not obstruct one another. Their essence is originally non-arising in itself; it cannot be made non-arising through contrivance.
Thus, one clearly understands that the source from which all worldly and supramundane dharmas arise—even speech and silence—is the wondrous principle. Not only is this contemplation such, but all Mahayana contemplations established throughout the Buddha’s lifetime of teaching are likewise the wondrous principle.
– The Lotus Sutra records: “Contemplate all dharmas as empty, as bearing the mark of true suchness, as equal, and as free from distortion.” It also says: “All dharmas have no possession, do not permanently abide, and neither arise nor cease.”
– The Contemplation of Samantabhadra says: “One should know that all dharmas are Buddha-Dharma.”
– The Vimalakirti Sutra says: “All dharmas are themselves the mark of bodhi.”
– The Avatamsaka Sutra says: “All dharmas are unborn; all dharmas are unceasing.” It also says: “Clearly understand that the self-nature of all dharmas has no possession. By thus clearly understanding the Dharma-nature, one sees Vairocana Buddha.”
– The Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra says: “All conditioned dharmas are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, and so forth.”
Such statements are recorded throughout the sutra treasury and cannot all be cited. If one abandons dharmas and then discusses the wondrous principle, one falls into wrong views and becomes far removed from the true path. The Vimalakirti Sutra says: “It is like building a palace: if it is built upon open ground, it can easily be constructed without obstruction; but it can never be built in empty space!” When the Buddhas teach the Dharma, they always rely upon the Two Truths[28], neither destroying provisional designations nor failing to expound the true mark of all dharmas. Such is the compass of the Buddha’s mind; the correct principle is everywhere one and the same. Those who wish to advance in cultivation must study and examine it carefully.
III.3. DISTINGUISHING THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF CONTEMPLATION
The methods of contemplation taught throughout the Buddha’s lifetime of teaching are divided into five kinds:
1) General contemplation of all dharmas, as the sutra says: “Contemplate all dharmas as empty.”
2) Specific contemplation of one’s own mind, as in the Great Calming and Contemplation, the Contemplation of Returning to the Source, the Contemplation of the Dharma Realm, the Contemplation of Purifying the Mind, and so forth.
3) Specific contemplation of form, as the sutra says: “Contemplate the true mark of the body; contemplating the Buddha is also thus,” as well as contemplation of impurity, contemplation of the white bones, and so forth.
4) Contemplation of both form and mind, as the sutra says: “Illuminating contemplation reveals that the five skandhas are all empty,” as well as contemplation of the twelve ayatanas, contemplation of the eighteen dhatus, contemplation of counting the breath, and so forth.
5) Contemplation of extraordinary objects, as the sutras teach: contemplation of the Buddha, contemplation of bodhisattvas, and so forth.
The method of contemplation in the Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life is precisely the fifth kind.
Within this contemplation of extraordinary objects, there are again five types:
Contemplation of the Buddha’s noble marks, namely contemplation of the thirty-two marks of the Buddhas.
Contemplation of the Dharma practice of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, namely contemplation of the bodily form of the bodhisattva riding a white elephant with six tusks.
Contemplation of the bodhisattvas Medicine King and Superior Medicine, namely contemplation of the bodily forms, practices, and vows of these two bodhisattvas.
Contemplation of Maitreya Buddha’s Tusita Heaven, namely contemplation undertaken to seek rebirth in the Inner Court of the Tusita celestial palace.
Contemplation of the circumstantial and direct recompenses of Amitabha Buddha’s land in order to seek rebirth in the Pure Land, namely the contemplation taught in this sutra.
The first three contemplations eradicate karma and destroy obstructions; the latter two concern joyful aspiration and the vow to attain rebirth.
Furthermore, the fourth contemplation contemplates the realm of the devas within the Saha world, whereas the fifth contemplates the pure realm of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. However, the method for entering the path in this world primarily lies in contemplating the mind[29], while rebirth in the Pure Land requires visualization of the Buddha. Six points are presented here to compare the contemplation of mind in this world with the method of contemplation taught in the Contemplation Sutra:
In contemplating the mind, one gathers one’s thoughts and returns them to the mind; in this sutra, one directs the mind toward an external object. The sutra says: “With one-pointed mind, firmly fix the thoughts and carefully contemplate Amitabha Buddha.” The Tiantai Commentary says: “Contemplating the setting sun suspended in the sky serves to indicate the direction upon which the mind should be focused in visualization.”
Contemplation of the mind is not restricted to any of the four deportments; this sutra, however, requires one to sit upright.
Contemplation of the mind is not confined to any particular place; this sutra, however, requires one to face west.
Contemplation of the mind does not distinguish among different times; this sutra, however, requires excluding the times of eating, drinking, urinating, and defecating. The Sutra on Contemplating the Buddha records: “Except during the times of urination and defecation.” The Sutra on the Contemplation of the Ground records: “Except only during the times of eating and drinking.”
Contemplation of the mind severs delusions and realizes the principle; this sutra accomplishes pure karma and elicits the response of rebirth.
Contemplation of the mind readily provokes demonic karma; this sutra receives the protection of the awe-inspiring virtue of the Buddhas.
From this brief presentation of six differences, one can understand that contemplation of the mind and the Pure Land gate of contemplation are as far apart as heaven and earth.
Question: Can the sixteen contemplations taught here be called contemplation of the mind?
Answer: If one realizes that objects arise from the mind, then the circumstantial and direct recompenses of Amitabha Buddha are all mind! Yet I fear that turning back to seek within oneself in order to realize the numinous nature belongs to the teachings of other sutras and is not the correct method of contemplation taught in this sutra.
Question: Some maintain that the Buddha-Dharma is exceedingly lofty and that the Dharma realm of sentient beings is exceedingly vast, and therefore contemplation of the mind alone should be taken as essential. Yet this sutra teaches contemplation of the Buddha. Are these not contradictory?
Answer: The methods of contemplation universally embrace beings of all capacities, yet each capacity has its own essential method. If one seeks to sever delusions, realize the truth, and enter the path in this world, contemplation of the mind is essential. If one seeks rebirth in the Pure Land, cultivates causes, and obtains their resultant recompense, contemplation of the Buddha is supreme. Other sutras discuss severing delusions and realizing the truth, taking contemplation of the mind as essential; hence, they contain such statements. One must not suppose that sentient beings and the Buddha are two utterly separate and mutually incompatible dharmas. The Buddha-Contemplation Samadhi universally encompasses even the future; this meaning is not false!
Question: That mind and Buddha are without distinction is the definitive meaning of the Supreme Vehicle. Since contemplation is now being discussed, why must such a forced distinction be made?
Answer: Although principle and the fundamental nature are originally integrated, practices and characteristics differ. If cultivation is to have a basis of reliance, there must necessarily be a corresponding object and wisdom. An ancient worthy said: “Contemplating the Buddha is of two kinds: First, contemplating one’s own mind and seeing the Buddha through samadhi; second, contemplating the Western Land and, from the cause, experiencing the Buddha’s fruition.” Contemplation of mind in other sutras means contemplating one’s own mind and thereby seeing the Buddha; whereas the sixteen contemplations in this sutra are precisely the contemplation of the Western Land and the seeing of the Buddha’s fruition. Based on these two distinctions, no doubt remains.
The Tiantai Treatise on Ten Doubts states: “Those who seek rebirth there give rise to visualization from the mind, taking as their object the resplendent major and minor marks of Amitabha Buddha. They also contemplate the adornments of the seven treasures in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, as in the sixteen contemplations of the Sutra of Immeasurable Life….” This is evidence for the practice of contemplating the Buddha in this sutra.
Question: The sutra says: “If one sees me by means of form or seeks me by means of sound, that person practices a deviant path and cannot see the Tathagata.” Is not contemplating the Buddha as an object now precisely seeking the Buddha through sound and visible form?
Answer: The thirty-two excellent marks are like the bright moon appearing in a hundred rivers; the Four Unhindered Eloquences[30] and the Eight Qualities of the Voice[31] resemble echoes resounding from a deep valley. Yet if one dives into the water to grasp the moon or enters the depths of the valley to seek the sound, one entirely fails to understand emptiness and cannot see the Buddha. One who has realized the principle is not like this!
Understanding clearly that form is not form, what hindrance could there be to rightly visualizing the Buddha’s honored countenance? Penetrating that sound is not sound, what obstruction could there be to listening attentively to the wondrous Dharma? Therefore, the Avatamsaka Sutra states: “Visible form is not the Buddha, and sound is likewise so; yet apart from visible form and sound, one also cannot behold the Buddha’s spiritual power.” Having heard these subtle and wondrous words, how could one still harbor doubts?
IV. DISCERNING SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
There are two parts: a general and specific presentation of the reward body and reward land; and an analysis of what earlier and later theories refute and establish.
IV.1. GENERAL AND SPECIFIC PRESENTATION OF THE REWARD BODY AND REWARD LAND
There are two sections: presenting the Buddha’s reward body; and presenting the Buddha’s reward land.
1. Presenting the Buddha’s Reward Body
There are many kinds of Buddha bodies. Sutras and treatises describe them according to the capacities and circumstances of beings, without fixing a single classification. Here, following the Tiantai Jiechu, four teachings are presented:
One body: the Dharma body.
Two bodies: the True Body and the Response Body.
Three bodies: the Dharma Body, Reward Body, and Response Body.
Four bodies: the Dharma Body, Reward Body, Response Body, and Transformation Body.
– The treatise states: “Vairocana Buddha takes the universally wondrous true Dharma as his body; Rocana Buddha takes the fruition rewarded by the perfection of practice as his body; Shakyamuni Buddha takes responsive manifestations[32] arising in accord with beings’ spiritual receptivity as his body, and takes unfixed transformations according to conditions as his body. All Buddhas fully possess these four bodies.” Regarding the body of Amitabha Buddha, the sutra says: “The Buddha Tathagatas are the body of the Dharma-realm,” namely, the Dharma Body and Reward Body. “Six hundred thousand kotis of nayutas” refers to the Response Body in the Pure Land; he may manifest a vast body filling all of space, or a smaller body sixteen feet tall, together with innumerable transformation Buddhas within his aureole[33]. It also says: “The transformation bodies of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life are innumerable; even the white cranes, peacocks, kalavinkas, geese, mandarin ducks, and so forth are all transformations produced by Amitabha Buddha, and are all transformation bodies.” Thus, if the Response Body and Transformation Body are combined, there are three bodies; if they are distinguished, there are four bodies. It should therefore be known that the body of Amitabha Buddha’s fruition and virtue in the Western Land is the Dharma Body, the Reward Body, the Response Body, and the Transformation Body. The Buddha bodies are of one essence, neither one nor different, and he manifests them according to beings’ spiritual receptivity. When the Manifest Body emerges from the Fundamental Body, one body becomes innumerable bodies; when the manifestations are gathered back into the fundamental, innumerable bodies become one body. The Avatamsaka Sutra says that all the bodies of all Buddhas are one Dharma Body; this is precisely its meaning!
– Master Huiyuan’s Commentary states: “Thus, regarding the lifespans of the Buddhas, there is the True Body and there is the Response Body. The True Body is inexhaustible, while the Response Body has a lifespan that may be long or short.”
– The Sutra of the Prophecy of Avalokiteshvara states: “Although the lifespan of Amitabha Buddha is immeasurable, it will nevertheless come to an end. This is because, after he enters nirvana, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva will attain the position of succession and be known as the Tathagata Universal Light, King of the Mountain of Meritorious Virtue.” On this basis, it is certainly known that this is the Response Body!
– The Treatise on Ten Doubts states: “Ordinary beings subject to outflows see, according to their measure, the coarse marks of the Buddha’s body; this is the Buddha’s Response Body. Bodhisattvas see the subtle marks; this is the Reward Body.” Therefore, it should be known that seeing the Reward Body or the Response Body depends entirely upon one’s capacities; how could the Buddha’s body be fixed in this manner? It is like the reflection of the moon appearing in water, differing according to the vessel that holds the water. If the vessel is large, the moon’s reflection is full; if the vessel is small, the moon’s reflection is incomplete. Its fullness or incompleteness is due to the vessel, not because the moon’s reflection expands or contracts. When the water is clear, the reflection appears; when the water is turbid, the reflection disappears. Appearance and disappearance are both due to the clarity or turbidity of the water; how could they be caused by the moon’s reflection coming or going? If this analogy is used to illustrate the lifespan of the Dharma Body, every doubt is resolved. Therefore, the Nirvana Sutra states: “The Buddha told Cunda: You should not now speculate whether the lifespan of the Buddhas is long or short. This is because all phenomena bear the character of illusion; within them, the Tathagata teaches and transforms by the power of skillful means without becoming attached.”
Furthermore, the Avatamsaka Sutra states: “The treasury of the Tathagata’s Dharma Body pervades the entire world. Though present within the world, it is not defiled or attached. It is like water, which may be clear or turbid, while the moon’s reflection neither comes nor goes.
It should be known that the Dharma Body pervading the entire world is likewise so.” It also says: “Like an illusionist who conjures myriads of scenes, those scenes come from no place of origin and, when they depart, go to no destination.” The nature of illusion is neither measurable nor immeasurable, yet amid the great assembly it manifests what is measurable or immeasurable. With this quiescent and concentrated mind, one cultivates roots of goodness and brings forth all Buddhas.
Neither measurable nor immeasurable, both the measurable and the immeasurable are illusory characteristics. Penetrating all lands, one does not cling to measure or immeasurability. From this it is clearly known that the essence of the Buddha’s body cannot be fathomed and cannot be expressed in words or thought.
How could it be subject to discussion?
2. Presenting the Buddha’s Reward Land
There are two parts: presenting the reward land; and discerning erroneous views.
First, presenting the reward land.
The lands of the Buddhas are manifold and immeasurable.
The Avatamsaka Sutra states: “Buddha lands are as numerous as the dust motes in worlds and cannot be reckoned.”
The Lotus Sutra states: “Suppose one were to grind the minute dust motes in a great trichiliocosm into ink, then travel eastward across a thousand lands, placing one dot in each land, proceeding in this manner until all the ink was exhausted, and so forth….”
The Amitabha Sutra states: “In each of the ten directions there are Buddha lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.”
Thus, it is known that Buddha lands can never be exhausted. In brief, Buddha lands do not go beyond two kinds:
– The Land of Dharma-Nature
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment states: “Buddhas and sentient beings share the same Dharma-nature.”
The Sutra on the Contemplation of Samantabhadra states: “Vairocana Buddha pervades all places, and his dwelling place is called the Land of Eternal Quiescent Light. The eternally abiding Dharma-nature is the dwelling place to which all Buddhas constantly come and go; it is provisionally called the Land of Recompense, but in truth it is not a Land of Recompense.” This is called the Pure Land of Mind-Only. The lifting of a foot is itself the place of enlightenment; it is neither pure nor defiled, yet does not obstruct purity or defilement; there is neither coming nor going, yet coming and going are not hindered.
Master Ciyun said: “The pure and the defiled throughout the ten directions are alike gathered into the mind within a single kshana; the comings and goings of the three times occur while one’s footprints have not shifted within a single thought. This is because sentient beings, though deluded concerning this Dharma-nature, never lose it; although they use it throughout the entire day, they remain unaware of it. All Buddhas awaken to it yet attain nothing, and therefore rely on skillful means to bring forth its functioning.” Only one who has attained the fruit of Wondrous Awakening can abide in it.
The Prajnaparamita Sutra for Humane Kings states: “Only a Buddha dwells in the Pure Land”; this refers precisely to this Land of Recompense!
– The Land of Responsive Transformation:
Buddha lands as numerous as motes of dust, whether pure or defiled, are all responsively manifested by the Buddhas according to the capacities of sentient beings in order to gather in and transform them. Among these, in response to bodhisattvas there is the Land of True Recompense.
The Prajnaparamita Sutra for Humane Kings states: “The Three Worthies and Ten Sages dwell in this Land of Recompense.” In response to practitioners of the Two Vehicles, there is the Land of Skillful Means.
The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom states: “Beyond the three realms there is a Pure Land in which shravakas and pratyekabuddhas are born. There they receive bodies of Dharma-nature and are not born through bodies subject to sectional birth and death.” In response to sages and ordinary beings, there is the Land of Shared Dwelling. The Land of Shared Dwelling is of two kinds: the defiled Land of Shared Dwelling and the pure Land of Shared Dwelling.
Shakyamuni Buddha manifests in a defiled land, but this does not mean that he has no pure land; Amitabha Buddha teaches and transforms beings in a pure land, but this does not mean that he has no defiled land. Thus, in the defiled Land of Shared Dwelling, the sages are those of the Great and Lesser Vehicles, comprising the three vehicles, while ordinary beings include all six good and evil destinies. In the pure Land of Shared Dwelling, the sages are those of the Great Vehicle who have attained sudden awakening, while ordinary beings consist only of devas and humans.
These two Lands of Recompense clearly show that all lands accord with the capacities and conditions of sentient beings. Dharma-nature is that upon which they depend, while Responsive Transformation is that which depends upon it.
The Shurangama Sutra states: “Empty space arises within Great Awakening, like a bubble floating upon the sea; the worlds as numerous as motes of dust, subject to outflows, all arise in dependence upon empty space.” Great Awakening is the Land of Dharma-nature, while the worlds as numerous as motes of dust are Lands of Responsive Transformation. Lands of Responsive Transformation depend upon empty space, and empty space depends upon the Land of Dharma-nature.
Through careful reflection, one can clearly understand the dependent and that upon which it depends, the root and the branches. The land presented in this sutra is precisely the pure Land of Shared Dwelling in which Amitabha Buddha is presently teaching and transforming beings. Furthermore, in the West there are innumerable pure lands, and among those who have attained Buddhahood there is Amitabha in his Land of Shared Dwelling.
It is therefore necessary to identify it precisely. In ancient times, Bhikshu Dharmakara made vows and cultivated until he attained Buddhahood as Amitabha Buddha in the Pure Land of Sukhavati. This is precisely the meaning of the land manifested upon the luminous dais[34]!
Second, making distinctions to eliminate errors
“Pure Land” is a term indiscriminately used in many sutras and texts, and therefore clear distinctions must be made. Consider the statement: “When the mind is pure, the land is pure.” Although people often cite this sentence, they do not clearly understand its source. It originally comes from the Vimalakirti Sutra.
That sutra explains that bodhisattvas select and establish pure lands because the pure lands of all Buddhas necessarily arise in dependence upon the collective karma of sentient beings throughout the ten directions. Over the course of myriad kalpas, bodhisattvas teach and transform sentient beings so that they cultivate wholesome karma, and then gather the pure karma of those beings to establish such pure lands. The sutra states: “A bodhisattva selects a Buddha land in accordance with the sentient beings whom he teaches and transforms.
Therefore, know that an upright mind is the bodhisattva’s Pure Land. When the bodhisattva attains Buddhahood, sentient beings free from deceit are born in that land. Likewise, the Ten Wholesome Actions are the bodhisattva’s Pure Land.
When the bodhisattva attains Buddhahood, sentient beings who cultivate the Ten Wholesome Actions are born in that land. It further says that if a bodhisattva wishes his land to be pure, he should purify his own mind; as his mind becomes pure, the Buddha land becomes pure.” The sutra contains many passages expressing this meaning, which cannot all be presented here.
The Golden Light Sutra states: “May I in a future life attain a pure land endowed with such subtle, wondrous, and supreme merit as that of the Buddha, the World-Honored One.”
The Lotus Sutra states: “He teaches hundreds of thousands of millions of sentient beings, establishes them securely in the Great Vehicle Dharma, and purifies his own Buddha land.” It also states: “Having few desires and becoming weary of samsara is to purify one’s own Buddha land.”
The Vimalakirti Sutra states: “Constantly cultivate the Pure Land and teach and transform sentient beings.” All such passages clearly explain the bodhisattva’s cultivation of the Pure Land Dharma. Furthermore, the Vimalakirti Sutra states: “Brahma King Shikhin[35] said to the Venerable Shariputra: I see the land of Shakyamuni Buddha as pure as the palace of the Paranirmita-vashavartin Heaven. The Buddha pressed his great toe against the earth, and immediately all kinds of precious treasures throughout the great trichiliocosm adorned the land, making it like the Pure Land of the Buddha Precious Adornment.” It further states: “The Buddha land is always pure in this way.”
– Furthermore, the Nirvana Sutra states: “When the Buddha was about to enter nirvana, the sala grove was transformed into a Pure Land.” The sutra states: “At that time, through the Buddha’s spiritual power, the earth throughout the great trichiliocosm became soft and smooth and was adorned with various precious treasures, resembling the Land of Sukhavati of the Buddha Infinite Life in the West.” Likewise, the Pure Land of Sukhavati manifested upon the luminous dais and the land seen by the assembly, as recorded in the concluding section on the benefits[36] of this sutra, were all transformations manifested through the Tathagata’s spiritual power. This is called manifesting the land of the Precious King upon the tip of a hair.
The Prajnaparamita Sutra for Humane Kings states: “Only a Buddha dwells in the Pure Land.”
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment states: “The lands of sentient beings share one Dharma-nature; the hells and heavenly palaces are all Pure Lands.” These all refer to the noumenal land of Dharma-nature, called the Land of Eternal Quiescent Light.
The Lotus Sutra states: “When the kalpa comes to an end and sentient beings suffer the calamity of being consumed by a great conflagration, my land is not burned or destroyed.” This is precisely Shakyamuni Buddha’s Land of Recompense.
The pure lands cited in the sutras above are not the Pure Land of Sukhavati of Amitabha Buddha discussed in this sutra. Pure lands of these various kinds are extensively discussed in the sutras and treatises. If they are distinguished according to the principles set forth above, there will be no error or confusion.
IV.2. DISCUSSION OF THE REFUTATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF DOCTRINES, ANCIENT AND MODERN
This section contains five topics:
– Presentation of the meritorious practices and contemplations[37]
– Clear explanation of meditative virtue and non-meditative virtue[38]
– Presentation of stages of attainment
– Explanation of demonic teachings
– Clarification of erroneous transmission
1. Presentation of the meritorious practices and contemplations
The sutra states: “Vaidehi requested: I beseech the World-Honored One to teach me how to contemplate and how to attain right absorption[39]!”
Explanation: The Buddha used the Three Meritorious Practices to instruct her in contemplation and the sixteen contemplations to guide her toward right absorption.
The Profound Meaning Section of the Contemplation Sutra[40] by Master Shandao states: “The treatise masters correlate contemplation with the Three Meritorious Practices and correlate right absorption with the sixteen contemplations.” This interpretation is not accepted here.
The Avatamsaka Sutra states: “Contemplation and right absorption are merely different names for samadhi.” In her earlier request, Vaidehi said only: “Teach me to contemplate the pure sphere of practice.” Thus it is known that contemplation and right absorption refer solely to her inquiry concerning the method of contemplation. The preparatory means preceding contemplation are called contemplation; the accomplishment of right contemplation is called right absorption.
However, one who cultivates contemplation must also cultivate meritorious karma to assist in the accomplishment of contemplative wisdom. First the three kinds of merit are presented, and afterward the practice of contemplation is set forth. The three kinds of merit are like precious cargo, while contemplative wisdom is like the mast of a ship.
In this way, phenomena and principle mutually support one another, and merit and wisdom operate together. How, then, could one cultivate contemplation merely by sitting still in one place, without serving one’s teachers and patriarchs or parents, without observing the precepts, and without reciting and studying the Mahayana scriptures? Therefore, practitioners must cultivate wholesome karma to assist in accomplishing right contemplation.
How far could a cart with one wheel or a bird with one wing go? This will be explained more clearly and in detail in the passage below.
2. Meditative Good and Non-meditative Good
Master Shandao’s Profound Meaning Section of the Contemplation Sutra states: “The first thirteen contemplations are meditative good; the three kinds of merit and the nine grades are non-meditative good.” This interpretation is not accepted here. For if one followed that classification, there would properly be only thirteen contemplations; how then could they be called the sixteen contemplations? Moreover, in the passage below concluding the highest grade among the nine grades, it says: “This is the contemplation for those of the highest rank in the highest grade of birth; it is the fourteenth contemplation.” The middle and lower ranks are likewise.
How, then, could the final three contemplations be called non-meditative good? Merely using this point to seek rebirth is enough for that assertion to collapse of itself. The Nirvana Sutra consistently admonishes: “Rely on the Dharma, not on the person.” This will be distinguished more clearly in the later section concerning the nine grades.
3. Presentation of the Spiritual Stages
The Profound Meaning states: “From ancient times until the present, the treatise masters have all held that the Three Worthies and Ten Sages of the Mahayana correspond to the three grades of the highest rank; that the Two Classes of Ordinary Beings and the Four Fruits[41] of the Hinayana correspond to the three grades of the middle rank; and that ordinary beings and beginners in the Mahayana, according to whether their offenses are grave or light, correspond to the three grades of the lower rank.” The text has already refuted this, so there is no need to cite it here.
It is now held that only after relying upon the nine grades of rebirth described below may the spiritual stages be discussed as the treatise masters did. Furthermore, according to the sutra text, all those in this land who seek rebirth are ordinary beings; hence one should follow the teaching in the Profound Meaning. The text cites ten passages from the sutra as evidence.
Upon examining them, one may say that the ancient interpretations are incorrect.
The sutra states:
1. “I shall now explain these analogies clearly for you, and also enable all ordinary beings in future generations who wish to cultivate pure karma to attain rebirth in the Western Land.”
2. “The Tathagata now teaches pure karma for those beings of future generations who are harmed by the bandits of affliction.”
3. “The Tathagata will now teach Vaidehi and the beings of future generations to contemplate the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.”
4. “Vaidehi said to the Buddha: ‘Through the Buddha’s awe-inspiring power, I am able to see the Land of Ultimate Bliss. After the Buddha’s parinirvana, however, how will beings in the defiled evil age, oppressed by the five kinds of unwholesome suffering, be able to see Amitabha Buddha’s land?’”
5. “You and all beings should concentrate your minds; even those who are not blind from birth can all see the setting sun.”
6. “The Buddha told Ananda: ‘You must preserve the Buddha’s teaching and expound the contemplation of the ground for those beings of future generations who wish to escape suffering.’”
7. “Vaidehi said to the Buddha: ‘Through the Buddha’s awe-inspiring power, I am now able to see Amitabha Buddha and the two bodhisattvas. How should beings of future generations contemplate them?’”
8. “The Buddha told Vaidehi: ‘You and the beings of future generations who wish to contemplate Amitabha Buddha should give rise to the thought of contemplation, and so forth…’”
9. “The Buddha-Tathagatas are the body of the Dharma realm and enter into the contemplating minds of all beings. Therefore, when your minds contemplate the Buddha…”
10. “As in the nine grades, each one says: ‘If there are beings…’”
The ten sutra passages above demonstrate that the Tathagata taught the sixteen contemplations for beings submerged in the cycle of birth and death, not for the Mahayana and Hinayana Worthies and Sages. (These are all passages from the Profound Meaning.) Clearly, passages 1, 2, 4, and 5 among the ten passages above are especially important. One should therefore know that this sutra is specifically intended for fettered ordinary beings in the defiled evil age, so that by cultivating it they may swiftly attain birth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.
4. Explanation of Demonic Teachings
Some maintain that when those who cultivate pure karma for rebirth in the Western Land approach death, all the signs that appear to them are demonic phenomena. This comes from people who neither recite nor study the scriptures, take no delight in cultivation and practice, and are fond of uttering deviant words that obstruct the right faith of others, causing no small amount of harm. It must therefore be explained clearly.
There are four kinds of mara[42]: 1) the mara of the five skandhas; 2) the mara of afflictions; 3) the mara of death; and 4) the heavenly mara. The first three kinds of mara all abide within your own body and mind. Only the fourth, the heavenly mara, dwells in the heavens of the Desire Realm.
Buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest in accordance with beings’ capacities to help them abandon evil and cultivate good. Only those possessing great attainment in practice are capable of disturbing that kind of mara. When ordinary beings cultivate the path without their minds being established in right concentration, they will certainly be troubled by mara.
If the mind is genuine, mara has no power to cause disturbance. Thus, one should clearly understand that mara lies within oneself and does not come from elsewhere. It is like a seductive spirit in the world that uses beauty to bewitch people’s minds.
Yet it certainly dares not approach a person whose mind is upright and whose countenance is stern. If that person deliberately casts a sidelong glance at it, however, he will surely be bewitched. I shall now cite various teachings to dispel these doubts:
One teaching holds: Within the great radiance, there are no demonic occurrences. It is like broad daylight, when a thief finds it difficult to carry out his activities.
One teaching holds: In this land, one should contemplate the mind. Conversely, if one contemplates bodily characteristics, many demonic occurrences will arise. This sutra contemplates the true realm of Amitabha Buddha’s fruition and virtues; therefore, there are no demonic occurrences.
One teaching holds: Those who are mindful of the Buddha are all protected and kept in mind by the Buddhas. Since they are protected and kept in mind by the Buddhas, how could there be any mara?
One teaching holds: If demonic occurrences necessarily arose for those who cultivate pure karma, the Buddha should have taught methods for overcoming them, as in the Prajnaparamita, Lankavatara, and other sutras. If the Buddha had not taught such methods, beings would fall into mara’s net. Yet none of the Pure Land sutras speaks of mara; thus one clearly knows that this Dharma is entirely free of mara.
Dharma Master Qingwen of Shanyin had genuine faith in this Dharma gateway and explained it with great clarity. His words are now quoted:
Question: Some say that when one approaches death, seeing Buddhas and bodhisattvas emit rays of light, bear lotus pedestals, play celestial music, and arrive amid extraordinary fragrances to welcome and guide one to rebirth are all demonic occurrences. What is to be said of this claim?
Answer: Some people rely on the Śūraṅgama Sutra to cultivate samadhi and may at times arouse the māras of the skandhas. Some rely on Mahayana treatises to cultivate samadhi and may at times arouse external māras (heavenly māras). Some rely on the treatise Calming and Contemplation to cultivate samadhi and may at times arouse time-demons[43].
All these people cultivate meditative concentration, but they rely solely on their own power. Because their minds inherently contain the seeds of māra, these seeds are now stirred by concentration, and thus such demonic phenomena arise. If one understands them and applies the appropriate countermeasures, they can be eliminated.
If one gives rise to a mind that clings to the existence of sages and ordinary beings, one will be obstructed by māra. Here it is maintained that the practice of the Buddha-recollection samadhi specifically relies upon the Buddha’s power. Just as no one dares commit an offense near the king, so it is because Amitabha Buddha possesses the great power of compassion, the great power of vows, the great power of wisdom, the great power of samadhi, the great power of spiritual majesty, the great power to destroy falsehood, the great power to subdue māras, the far-seeing power of the divine eye, the all-pervading hearing power of the divine ear, the power to penetrate the minds of sentient beings,
and the power of the Tathagata’s universally illuminating radiance to shelter and protect those who recollect the Buddha.
Possessing such inconceivable powers and merits, could he possibly be unable to protect those who recollect the Buddha from obstructions when they are about to die? If he could not protect them, where would the power of compassion be? If he could not eliminate demonic obstructions, where would the power of wisdom, the power of samadhi, the power of spiritual majesty, the power to quell evil māras, and the power to remove obstructions be?
If he did not observe them and allowed those who recollect the Buddha to be obstructed by māras, where would the far-seeing power of the divine eye, the all-pervading hearing power of the divine ear, the power to penetrate the minds of sentient beings, and so forth be? The sutra states: “The radiance of Amitabha Buddha’s marks and excellent characteristics illuminates all worlds throughout the ten directions, sheltering and protecting sentient beings who recollect the Buddha.” If it were held that those who recollect the Buddha could still be obstructed by māras at the time of death, where would be the power of the Tathagata’s universally illuminating radiance to shelter and protect them?
Moreover, the auspicious visions experienced at death by those who recollect the Buddha, as described in the sutras, are all taught in the Buddha’s words; how could they be derided as demonic obstructions? We must now decisively dispel such perverse doubts so that right faith may arise.
The Śūraṅgama Sutra states: “Within the mind of meditative concentration, one sees Vairocana Buddha seated upon the Celestial Radiance Platform, surrounded by ten Buddhas.” This is a phenomenon apprehended by a mind of spiritual awakening. Because the luminous mind of wisdom universally illuminates all worlds, one temporarily attains such a vision; it is not the realization of sagehood.
The Sizhong Commentary states: “When one cultivates the Buddha-recollection samadhi, if the realm appearing before one accords with what the sutras teach, it is called a correct sign. If one cultivates other contemplative practices, then even if one sees the form of a Buddha, it is not a correct sign, because the mind and its object do not correspond.” How much more so when one contemplates true suchness, which originally involves no grasping at any characteristics, yet attachment nevertheless arises—how could that not be māra? Sizhong Dong’s judgment is indeed precise. Nevertheless, the preceding explanations have still been cited in full in order to sever the obstruction of doubt forever.
5. Identifying Erroneous Transmissions
The Pure Land teaching began with the White Lotus Society on Mount Lu during the Eastern Jin dynasty. Later, Pure Land patriarchs such as Shandao, Huiri, Shaokang, and others, down to the Chan masters and Dharma lecturers of earlier generations in our own dynasty, also widely expounded the Dharma-gate of Buddha-recollection. Yet only Dharma Master Ciyun of Tianzhu Monastery thoroughly investigated the doctrine and propagated it so that it flourished for a time. The Dharma Master compiled such works as the Greater and Lesser Amitabha Repentance Rites, Biographies of Rebirth, Verses on Right Faith, Poems on the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi, and various illustrative charts, which circulated throughout the world; but afterward, few continued his legacy.
As time passed and circumstances changed, many errors arose in the transmission, and before long this Pure Land teaching was on the verge of extinction. Even those who had heard of and practiced it mostly relied only on conjecture. Unless the matter is clearly distinguished, I fear that students of later generations will become even more confused. I shall now cite roughly several examples so that discerning persons may understand this clearly!
In China, Confucian writings also speak of the West. For example, the Zhou Shu Yi Ji states: “When the Buddha was born, auspicious clouds appeared in the sky.” Grand Astrologer Su You submitted a memorial to the king, saying: “A Great Sage has appeared in the West. A thousand years from now, his teaching will spread throughout this land.” Later, when the Buddha entered nirvana, twelve white rainbows appeared in the sky, extending from south to north. Grand Astrologer Hu Duo submitted a memorial, saying: “This is an omen that the Great Sage in the West has entered extinction!”
Furthermore, Liezi states: “Long ago, Grand Steward Bi of the Shang dynasty asked Confucius: Who is a sage? Confucius replied: In the West there is a sage! He does not govern, yet the people are not disorderly; he does not preach, yet the people naturally place their faith in him; he does not instruct or transform them, yet the people naturally practice accordingly…”
Wenzhongzi said: “The Buddha-Dharma is the teaching of the West, while China has only Zhongni!”
Later, Confucian scholars mostly regarded Buddhism as a teaching of the West because India lay west of China. Thus, this does not correspond to the West spoken of in this sutra.
To explain briefly: One sun, one moon, one Mount Sumeru, and four continents constitute one world. One thousand such worlds are called a small thousandfold world-system; one thousand small thousandfold world-systems are called a medium thousandfold world-system; and one thousand medium thousandfold world-systems are called a great thousandfold world-system. The realm being taught and transformed by Śākyamuni Buddha is called Southern Jambudvīpa in this sutra, and it is only one continent within one world.
China is merely one corner of this continent. The Five Regions of India[44] lie at the very center of Jambudvīpa, while China lies to their southeast. Because that land is viewed from this land, Southern India is called the West.
But Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land lies beyond the great thousandfold world-system and, moreover, more than one hundred thousand koṭis of lands farther away.
Master Zhizhe said: “The Western Pure Land transcends the three realms.” Thus, it is sufficiently clear that the Western Pure Land and Western India in this Jambudvīpa are as vastly different in their relative distance as heaven and earth. How could they be regarded as the same!
Upon careful consideration, from ancient times to the present there have been two kinds of obstruction that cause people not to believe in the Pure Land: obstruction caused by others and obstruction caused by oneself.
First, Obstruction Caused by Others
Heterodox theories circulate in the world, and because people do not distinguish right from wrong, they do not faithfully accept the Buddha’s teachings. Here only a few points are briefly presented; it is impossible to set them all forth.
For example, the Biography of Huibu in fascicle seven of the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks records: “Although this land is pure, it is not what I aspire to. Even if I were to enjoy the bliss of the Dharma within a lotus flower for ten kalpas, it would not equal undergoing suffering in the three evil destinies in order to rescue sentient beings.” Here it is maintained that this assertion may be accepted only in the case of a bodhisattva who has attained patient acceptance of dharmas. A bodhisattva who has not attained such patient acceptance cannot even save himself; how could he save others?
The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom states: “That an ordinary being, bound by afflictions, could possess great compassion and save sentient beings is utterly impossible.” This is clearly explained in the Treatise on Ten Doubts, where the first doubt is refuted. Some maintain: “If a pure mind is itself the self-nature Western Land, why is it necessary to seek birth in a Pure Land elsewhere?” This principle indeed exists, but it refers to the Dharma-nature principle-land taught in the scriptures, not to what this sutra expounds.
Thus, ordinary beings who remain bound and have not attained the patience concerning dharmas—even if they were suddenly to awaken to their own minds—how could they continuously maintain purity? However lofty and wondrous a teaching may be, if it cannot universally embrace beings of every capacity, it is merely empty talk; how could one enter into it?
It is also asserted: “The Western Land is 108,000 li distant from this realm.” This likewise mistakes Western India for the Western Pure Land. The sutra states: “Westward from here, beyond a hundred thousand kotis of Buddha lands, there is a world called Ultimate Bliss.” How could it be merely some eighteen thousand li away?
These are only a few representative misconceptions; the others need not be discussed.
Some maintain that these sixteen contemplations are intended only for those of inferior faculties. Here, however, it is held that this sutra teaches the practice through which those of the Supreme Vehicle attain Buddhahood by the perfect and sudden path. The statement “This mind is Buddha” comes from this very sutra! As soon as Vaidehi heard the teaching, she eradicated ignorance and attained the patience of non-arising, while five hundred female attendants aroused the bodhi-mind. Could they all have been persons of inferior faculties?
It is also asserted that, when practitioners mindful of the Buddha are about to die and experience Buddhas and bodhisattvas coming to welcome and guide them, these are merely manifestations of karma within their own minds, and that in reality no Buddha comes from another direction. Upon carefully examining this claim, one finds many errors in it.
– First, it disbelieves the Buddha’s teaching. The circumstances of the nine grades experienced at death by practitioners mindful of the Buddha, as described in the Contemplation Sutra, were all taught by the Buddha.
– Second, it disbelieves the power of the Buddha’s vows. With great loving-kindness and compassion, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas vow to relieve suffering and bestow happiness, never abandoning a single sentient being.
– Third, it disbelieves Buddha-nature. The essential nature of all Buddhas and sentient beings is equal; wherever there is a stimulus, there must be a response. If a Buddha did not respond and did not possess the three bodies in their fullness, he would not be a Buddha.
How can one obstructed by these three forms of disbelief possibly have faith?
Others say: “Only foolish ordinary people who study Buddhism seek rebirth in the Pure Land.” Here it is held that the Infinite Life Sutra states that bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions all aspire to be reborn in the Pure Land. Moreover, the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Mahasthamaprapta both vow to be reborn there. Could bodhisattvas who are one lifetime away from Buddhahood and have attained non-retrogression possibly be foolish ordinary beings?
Furthermore, the Biographies of Eminent Monks of the Liang Dynasty mentions eminent monks from the Eastern Jin and later periods, such as Daosheng (355–434), Daorong (?–?), Huiyuan (334–416), Huichi (337–412), Nanyue Huisi (515–577), and Tiantai Zhiyi (538–597), as well as the eighteen eminent worthies of Mount Lu, all of whom practiced this Pure Land Dharma-gate. Could they too have been foolish ordinary beings? You are now tightly bound within the three realms, revolving through the five defilements and undergoing every kind of anguish, yet you do not wish to seek liberation.
This is utterly contrary to the wise and truly inverted! If you had attained the power of patience and delighted in remaining within the three realms to save sentient beings, why would you utter such words and obstruct the practice of others?
It is also asserted: “Mindfulness of the Buddha and the cultivation of contemplation in order to seek rebirth in the Pure Land are all attachment and grasping at characteristics, and are truly contrary to the practice of transcending the three realms!” Here it is held that “attachment” and “non-attachment,” “grasping” and “non-grasping,” depend entirely upon whether one’s understanding is clear or deluded. Could it be that whenever one sees cultivation and observance, one considers it attachment to characteristics, while those who indulge themselves and do not restrain their minds are deemed persons of penetrating realization?
Moreover, when the Buddha taught non-attachment to characteristics, he meant not clinging to the four characteristics[45]—self, person, sentient being, and life span—and not abiding in the characteristics of the dharmas being practiced, so as to eliminate attachment to persons and attachment to dharmas and thereby realize the emptiness of persons and the emptiness of dharmas. When did he ever teach that focusing one’s mindfulness and diligently advancing in cultivation constituted attachment to characteristics?
Furthermore, worldly people contend over self and others, flaunt power, crave sights and sounds, pursue fame and profit, amass possessions, and cling to wives and children…. These things have bound people since beginningless time. The Buddha exhorts them to stay far away, yet instead they become ever more attached.
Since beginningless time, they have never practiced the samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha. The Buddha exhorts them to cultivate it, yet instead they doubt it and regard it as attachment to characteristics. Sentient beings are indeed deluded and inverted to such an extent!
Here it is held that cultivating the samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha is certainly not attachment to characteristics. Why? Because the Buddha’s body is without characteristics; what, then, is there to grasp?
Therefore, the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom states: “One who plants in the Buddha’s field of merit is said to hold fast with single-minded concentration! Therefore, one should accordingly offer incense and flowers in inexhaustible worship of the Buddha.” Could the treatise master Nagarjuna[46] have failed to understand “prajnaparamita”? Could he also have regarded “holding fast” as attachment to characteristics?
The prajnaparamita teaching of the emptiness of dharmas fundamentally enables those who cultivate the six paramitas not to abide in characteristics. If one did not cultivate the six paramitas, what need would there be for prajnaparamita? Those who have truly attained the Way realize “cultivation without cultivation, mindfulness without mindfulness.” This is called “cultivating throughout the day without perceiving cultivation, and practicing mindfulness throughout the day without ever having practiced mindfulness.” The Diamond Prajnaparamita Sutra states: “Without self, person, sentient being, or life span, one cultivates all wholesome dharmas and will certainly attain unsurpassed bodhi.” Therefore,
know that bodhisattvas who have attained realization have all previously cultivated wholesome deeds.
Some also maintain: “When practitioners are about to die, if banners, canopies, lotus flowers, and the like appear before them, they should not reject them.” Here it is held: “Among the states that appear before one at the time of death, some arise through the responsive influence of right mindfulness and wholesome karma, while others are summoned by evil created through a deviant mind. How could they all be regarded as the work of Mara?
Moreover, evil states silently appear according to the karma that leads one onward; how could they be accepted or rejected merely according to your wishes? If persons have created karma for which they deserve to fall into the three evil destinies, evil states appear before them as death approaches. Why are they unable to reject them?
Therefore, know that this is an erroneous statement unworthy of belief!
Some make this vow: “From now until I attain perfect awakening, if I have not yet realized the Way, may my body not suffer illness or premature death, and at the moment of death may I see no evil states. When born as a human being, may I be intelligent and upright; may I not be born in corrupt and evil countries or encounter violent rulers. Wherever I may be born, may I encounter the Buddha, hear the Dharma, leave home in the purity of youth, and live harmoniously within the Sangha.” Here it is held that if one is born in the Pure Land, there will be absolutely none of the calamities of illness, premature death, evil countries, violent rulers, and so forth; one will naturally encounter the Three Jewels and leave home to become a monastic.
Such a vow is made only because the person does not know that there is a Pure Land. It resembles Chen Chuling’s vow: “May I become a human being again and be born in level, urban places….” Since he was a Confucian scholar, he need not be reproached. Yet some Chan masters who expound the Way likewise hold many such views.
They all say: “I only vow that in my next life I shall not lose the body of a man and that I may leave home to study the Way.” One should therefore ask them: “You are already a man who has left home; you should seek only to transcend the three realms. Why do you instead seek to become a man so that you may once again leave home, utterly lacking any aspiration to advance?”
Second, self-created obstructions
There are six kinds:
Some people think to themselves that rebirth in the Pure Land is difficult: “I do not possess sufficient strength and dare not aspire beyond my capacity; it is enough merely to seek not to lose a human body.”
Others think: “I have broken the precepts, violated the fast, committed many evil deeds, and accumulated grave and profound offenses. How could I possibly be reborn in the Western Pure Land?”
Still others think that the Buddha’s teaching concerning the Western Land was merely a provisional expedient intended to guide sentient beings to concentrate upon doing good, and that it has no actual existence whatsoever. Therefore, when they see people cultivating the Pure Land practice, they ridicule them.
Some think: “Those who are intelligent, talented, wise, and of keen faculties directly awaken to their own minds, and all their actions accord with the Way. How could they be placed in the same class as those inferior people who cultivate by reciting the Buddha’s name?”
Some think that human life consists of a body provisionally formed through the conjunction of vital energy and blood. When one dies, the bones and remains disintegrate, and everything returns to nothingness; how, then, could there be a Pure Land in which to be reborn?
Some say that, when death approaches, one gives rise to the contemplation of seizing the intermediate-state embryo; within a single kshana, one’s karmic result is transformed, without passing through the stage of dwelling in the womb.
Here it is maintained that the karmically recompensed body and mind are formed by deeds accumulated throughout many lifetimes; how could there be a spiritual self that seizes karmic recompense? I humbly consider that the numinous consciousness has already entered and depended upon that womb; when the previous recompense is exhausted, it undergoes rebirth, and this is not some other intermediate-state embryo. Even supposing that it could be seized, why labor mentally to give rise to contemplations seeking entry into a womb?
It is unclear for what reason one would thus act contrary to the aspiration to leave the household life and contrary to the Dharma gate of liberation. How much more so when the Buddha, out of compassion, revealed the Pure Land and earnestly exhorted, transformed, guided, and led beings throughout the Mahayana scriptures. Those who see with their eyes and hear with their ears yet still doubt and slander it willingly resign themselves to sinking in samsara and do not aspire to liberation from the three realms.
The Tathagata calls such people pitiable. Sentient beings do not understand that this Dharma gate is special and extraordinary: it makes no distinction between the worthy and the foolish, takes no account of monastics or laity, does not consider whether cultivation is swift or slow, and does not ask whether the offenses committed are grave or light. One need only give rise to resolute faith, and one immediately obtains the seed of rebirth.
Dharma Master Ciyun said: “Only the Pure Land practice of the Land of Peace and Bliss is a direct path worthy of cultivation. If any among the four assemblies wish swiftly to destroy ignorance and forever extinguish all grave and minor offenses, such as the five rebellious offenses, the ten evil deeds, and so forth, they should cultivate according to this Dharma gate. If anyone wishes to restore the purity of the precept essence of a bhikshu or shramanera, attain the samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha, and perfect the bodhisattva paramitas, that person should study and cultivate this Dharma.
If anyone wishes, as death approaches, to be free from all terrifying circumstances, for the mind to become light and easeful, for bodhisattvas to appear before them and extend their hands to guide them, and, immediately upon leaving the defilements of the world, to attain non-retrogression and, without passing through many kalpas, to attain non-arising, that person should cultivate this Dharma gate.” How could one not believe and follow the Dharma words of the ancient worthies?
The five points above merely present a brief outline of the essentials. The other points cannot all be enumerated here; they will be presented in detail in the explanatory text.
According to the Kaiyuan Catalogue of the Tripitaka[47], this sutra had two translations. The earlier translation has been lost. The present version was translated by Kalayashas.
The Biographies of Eminent Monks records: “Kalayashas, whose name is translated into Chinese as ‘Glory of the Age,’ was a native of the Western Regions. He was upright by nature, had few desires, and was thoroughly versed in the Tripitaka. In the first year of the Yuanjia era (424) of the Liu Song dynasty, the Master arrived at the imperial capital of China.
Emperor Wen revered and supported him greatly and therefore issued an edict inviting him to reside at Daolin Monastery on Mount Zhong. There, Senghan requested the Master to translate this sutra and the Sutra on the Contemplation of the Bodhisattvas Medicine King and Superior Medicine, with Senghan serving as scribe. Later, the Master traveled through Min and Shu[48], teaching and transforming beings.
Before long, he returned and passed away at Jiangling.”
Furthermore, several treatise masters of earlier dynasties had already written explanations of this sutra. During the Sui dynasty, Dharma Master Huiyuan[49] and Great Master Zhiyi of Tiantai each composed chapters and commentaries explaining it; during the Tang dynasty, Venerable Shandao also composed the Profound Meaning. All these works circulated in the world, but each master followed his own doctrinal position, alternately rejecting and establishing different interpretations. The explanations presented here select the excellent ideas from them all. Although there were naturally many erroneous passages, these have been corrected.
END OF THE UPPER FASCICLE
Notes:
[1] Thorn forest: the defiled and turbid saha world.
[2] Womb-prison: birth from a womb, one of the four modes of birth. The suffering endured by a person within the mother’s womb resembles confinement in a prison. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. VI, p. 5024).
[3] Jeweled land: the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.
[4] Golden pond: a pond of the seven treasures in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
[5] Tidal voice (ocean-tide voice): a voice that resounds like the waves of the sea, commonly used as a metaphor for the voice of a Buddha or bodhisattva, or to indicate the responsive manifestations of Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
– The Maharatnakuta Sutra, fascicle 40 (Taisho 11, 231c), records: “The speech of the Tathagata manifests in accordance with the various kinds of beings in order to transform them. It is inconceivable, and I shall now speak of it briefly. Shariputra! The words of the Tathagata are easy to understand, easy to know, and gentle (…) They are the voice of Brahma, a voice like the ocean tide and thunderclouds, (…) measureless as empty space, a voice perfected by every kind of subtle wonder.”
– The Shurangama Sutra, fascicle 2, records: “The Buddha aroused compassion, took pity upon Ananda and the assembly, and, with a voice like the ocean tide, instructed the entire gathering.” (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 1755).
[6] Names and principles (names and meanings): appellations and their underlying meanings. For example, in the statement “All conditioned formations are impermanent,” “all conditioned formations” is the “name,” while “impermanent” is the “meaning.”
Name: the designation that represents the essential nature of dharmas.
Meaning: the true meaning of the essential nature of dharmas.
A name is an appellation through which the true meaning of the essential nature of dharmas is understood. Yet a name is only provisionally established. Although it can indicate content, its meaning is still not the essential nature of the dharmas themselves. Therefore, name and meaning have two relationships: identity and non-identity.
– Identity: The names of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, for example, already encompass their vast, inconceivable vows and merits. Thus, the name does not differ from the true meaning of the Dharma essence: name is meaning, and meaning is name. This is called the identity of name and meaning, the inseparability of name and meaning, or the non-duality of name and meaning; it is also synonymous with the non-duality of name and essence. Mantras, incantations, and so forth also belong to the identity of name and meaning.
– Non-identity: For example, when one says “fire,” there is no heat. Merely saying “fire” is only the name, not actual fire, and therefore it is not hot. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 1034).
[7] Original Ground and Manifest Trace (also called Origin and Trace): In order to save sentient beings, Buddhas and bodhisattvas emanate from their true bodies many transformation bodies that appear in the world to teach and transform sentient beings. Shakyamuni Buddha attained Buddhahood in the inconceivably distant past—the Gate of Origin—but manifested an inferior responsive body sixteen feet tall—the Gate of Trace—in order to teach and transform sentient beings. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 274; vol. VI, p. 5664).
[8] Opening, Revealing, Awakening, and Entering: an expression from the Lotus Sutra describing the purpose for which the Buddha appears in the world. Opening: opening the Tathagata-garbha; Revealing: displaying and showing it; Awakening: comprehending and awakening to it; Entering: entering into and realizing the Buddha’s knowledge and vision. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 2263).
[9] Vocal Teaching: The Dharma taught through sound. This is precisely the sound-object among the Six Objects through which the Buddha teaches the Dharma. The latter part of Fascicle 7 of the Mohe Zhiguan states: “These are the Gradual, Sudden, Indeterminate, Secret, Tripitaka, Shared, Distinct, and Perfect Teachings. If one understands this meaning, one will understand the differentiation and integration of the Vocal Teaching and the path of transforming beings.” (PQĐTĐ, vol. 7, p. 6496)
[10] Half and Full: The two teachings of the Half and the Full—the Half-Word Teaching and the Full-Word Teaching. Half-words are letters, while full words are formed by combining letters into words and sentences. Of the five chapters of the Vyākaraṇa Treatise, the first, the Siddham chapter, explains that half-words give rise to words; completing the study of all five chapters is called the Full-Word Teaching.
Buddhism borrows the term Half-Word Teaching to designate the nine categories of scriptures of the śrāvaka Lesser Vehicle, while the Full-Word Teaching designates the Vaipulya scriptures of the Great Vehicle.
According to Fascicle 8 of the Nirvana Sutra, when the Buddha first taught the Dharma, he taught half-words, presenting them as the basis of all dharmas—for example, grammar, incantations, literature, and the skandhas were all held to be real dharmas. Ordinary beings study and take these as fundamental, but later come to understand that these dharmas are not real dharmas. Furthermore, worldly Dharma is the Half Teaching, while supramundane Dharma is the Full Teaching.
In summary, from the standpoint of doctrinal classification, the Buddha’s entire body of teachings is divided into the Half and the Full, or the Provisional and the Real. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. I, p. 266)
[11] Ocean of Right and Universal Knowledge: The ocean of Right and Universal Knowledge, namely, the Buddha’s Right and Universal Knowledge. Because the knowledge of all Buddhas is correct, profound, and vast like the ocean and cannot be fathomed, it is likened to an ocean. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. I, p. 929)
[12] Realm of the One Reality: 1. The realm of true and impartial awakening; 2. The intrinsically pure essence of the minds of sentient beings; 3. The Dharma-body of the Tathagata. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. III, p. 3241)
[13] Sutra on Divining and Examining: A scripture in two fascicles, translated by Bodhidīpa during the Sui dynasty in China and included in volume 17 of the Taishō Tripiṭaka. The scripture concerns teachings imparted by Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva in accordance with the Buddha’s intent, guiding sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age to cultivate wholesome karma. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. I, p. 917)
[14] Seeking Above and Transforming Below: Above, one seeks the teachings of the Buddhas; below, one transforms and delivers sentient beings. This constitutes the practice of the bodhisattva path. One genuinely and supremely cultivates for both one’s own benefit and that of others, personally seeking bodhi while transforming and delivering sentient beings so that they may realize bodhi. Seeking bodhi above is benefiting oneself; transforming sentient beings below is benefiting others. The myriad practices of bodhisattvas do not extend beyond these two. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. VI, p. 5723)
[15] Body and Land: The body and land experienced by ordinary beings, Buddhas, or bodhisattvas; that is, the direct and circumstantial recompenses. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. VI, p. 5146)
[16] The Great Cause and Condition (The One Great Cause and Condition): The stimulus and response concerning one great matter. The Numerical Categories of the Tripiṭaka states: “‘One’ means the one true characteristic. Because the essence and nature of the one true characteristic are vast and great, it is called ‘Great.’ The manner in which the Tathagata appears in the world to deliver sentient beings is called the ‘Matter.’ Sentient beings inherently possess this one true characteristic and are able to become responsive capacities that move the Buddha; hence this is called the ‘Cause.’ The Tathagata has realized this one true characteristic and gives rise to a response in order to deliver sentient beings;
hence this is called the ‘Condition.’” All Tathagatas appear in the world to reveal and demonstrate the true characteristic inherently possessed by sentient beings, enabling all to awaken to and enter the Buddha’s knowledge and vision.
Apart from this matter, nothing accords with the Tathagata’s original intention in appearing in the world. The One Great Matter refers to turning delusion into awakening. According to the various scriptures, the Great Matter in the Lotus Sutra is the Buddha’s knowledge and vision; in the Nirvana Sutra, it is Buddha-nature; and in the Infinite Life Sutra, it is rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
The Skillful Means Chapter of the Lotus Sutra states: “The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the world solely because of the cause and condition of the One Great Matter.” (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. II, p. 1307)
[17] Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain (Mount Gṛdhra, Vulture Peak): Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa. In Chinese it is translated as Spirit Vulture Mountain or Vulture-Head Spirit Mountain. This mountain lies northeast of Rājagṛha, the capital of Magadha in Central India. It was a celebrated place where the Buddha often went to teach the Dharma.
One account says that the mountain’s summit resembles a vulture, while another says that many vultures inhabited its summit; thus it was named Vulture Peak.
This was a place where the Buddha expounded the wondrous Dharma on many occasions. King Bimbisāra of Magadha, who was a contemporary of the Buddha, wished to come and hear the Dharma; therefore, he undertook many great construction works from halfway up the mountain to its summit. A path approximately three kilometers long was paved with stone steps, each more than ten paces wide.
On the summit was a platform from which the Buddha taught the Dharma in ancient times… In addition, this was where Devadatta rolled down a rock in an attempt to harm the Buddha. There was also the stone chamber where the Buddha, Śāriputra, and the assembly of śrāvakas entered samādhi; the place where the Venerable Ānanda encountered disturbances from Māra; and the place where the Buddha proclaimed the Lotus Sutra, the Large Prajnaparamita Sutra, the Sutra of the Most Excellent King of Golden Light, and the Infinite Life Sutra. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol.
III, p. 2115)
[18] Three Kinds of Pure Merit (Three Kinds of Pure Karma): The three principal causes of pure karma, which are also the three causes of rebirth in the Pure Land:
1- Filially care for one’s parents, respectfully serve one’s teachers and elders, maintain a compassionate heart and refrain from killing, and cultivate the ten wholesome karmas;
2- Receive and uphold the Three Refuges, fully observe all precepts, and refrain from violating proper deportment;
3- Give rise to the aspiration for bodhi, deeply believe in cause and effect, read and recite the Great Vehicle scriptures, and encourage those who practice. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. V, p. 4079)
[19] Five Sufferings: Five kinds of suffering and affliction. The scriptures and treatises give differing accounts of these Five Sufferings. Here they are presented according to the Sutra of the Phrases and Passages on the Five Sufferings: 1. The suffering of celestial beings; 2. The suffering of the human realm; 3. The suffering of animals; 4. The suffering of hungry ghosts; 5. The suffering of hell beings.
[20] Contemplation of the Ground: The contemplation of the ground, one of the sixteen contemplations. One contemplates that below are standards of the seven treasures supporting the ground of lapis lazuli. Upon the lapis lazuli ground, cords of pure gold are closely interwoven, and each treasure emits five hundred rays of multicolored light. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. VI, p. 5246)
[21] Puṇḍarīka Flower (puṇḍarỵka): The white lotus flower. The puṇḍarīka is very large and fragrant, with white petals that shimmer like silver, and it commonly grows in Lake Anavatapta. This flower grows in mud yet remains unstained by it; therefore, scriptures and treatises often use it as a metaphor for Buddha-nature and Dharma-nature, which abide amid afflictions yet are not defiled by them. According to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wondrous Dharma, before this flower opens, it is called utpala; when it is about to wither, it is called kamala; and while it is in bloom, it is called puṇḍarīka. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. IV, p. 3583)
[22] Provisional Vehicle: Also called the Provisional Teaching or the Skillful Means Teaching, this is a provisionally established teaching—that is, a gateway to the teachings devised through temporary skillful means to accord with the inclinations of sentient beings. It is a skillful means established to guide practitioners into the Real Teaching; once they have reached the realm of the Real Teaching, the Provisional Teaching must be relinquished.
The counterpart of the Provisional Teaching is the Real Teaching, or the True Teaching, which is the ultimate, genuine teaching—that is, the teaching proclaimed from the true meaning of the Buddha’s inner realization. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. IV, pp. 3892–3893)
[23] Venerable Huiyuan’s Commentary: Commentary on the Meaning of the Infinite Life Sutra (one fascicle), composed by Jingying Huiyuan during the Sui dynasty.
[24] Mind-Only: Everything that exists in the universe is manifested through the transformations of mind; apart from mind, no dharma exists. Mind is the sole true essence of all phenomena. (Huệ Quang Buddhist Dictionary, vol. II, p. 1147)
[25] Tiantai Treatise on the Ten Doubts (Treatise on the Ten Doubts concerning the Pure Land, Treatise on the Ten Doubts concerning Amitabha, Collection of Doubts concerning the Western Land): A treatise in one fascicle, composed by Tiantai Zhiyi during the Sui dynasty and included in volume 47 of the Taisho Tripitaka. Based on the Pure Land Dharma-gate of rebirth, its contents present ten questions and then answer them in sequence… (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. VI, p. 5261).
[26] The Ninth Contemplation: Contemplation of the Buddha (Contemplation of the Buddha’s Body, Contemplation of the Perception of All Physical Bodies Universally): the visualization of the true body of the Buddha of Infinite Life. By practicing this contemplation, one will be able to see all Buddhas.
[27] Entering: The Yogacara-bhumi, p. 22, fascicle 37, states: “Entering means attaining the empowering strength of pure faith; or, as a householder, abandoning evil conduct and undertaking and upholding the precepts of training; or, as one gone forth, abandoning sensual desires and undertaking and upholding the precepts of training.”
[28] The Two Truths: the Ultimate Truth and the Conventional Truth.
The Ultimate Truth (Truth of Supreme Meaning, Truth of the Highest Meaning): the true and impartial principle that can be known only by the wisdom of the noble ones.
The Conventional Truth (Worldly Conventional Truth, Worldly Truth, Concealing Truth): the phenomenal characteristics of the world as perceived by deluded cognition. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. IV, p. 3313)
[29] Contemplation of the mind: contemplating and illuminating one’s own mind in order to clarify its intrinsic nature. The Tiantai school especially and frequently uses the expression “contemplation of the mind.” Such terms as the threefold contemplation in a single mind and the three thousand realms in a single thought are all related to contemplation of the mind. To cultivate the threefold contemplation in a single mind is to contemplate a single deluded thought of one’s own mind as provisional, empty, and the Middle.
The objects of contemplation are the mind, the Buddha, and sentient beings; among these, contemplating one’s own mind is the easiest. Moreover, contemplating one’s own mind is also the most important, because one’s mind is the root of all phenomena; hence the intrinsic nature of one’s own mind is emphasized as the object of contemplation. The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra of the Wondrous Dharma, section 2 of the first fascicle, states: “How do the Dharma-gates presented above differ from the mind?
It is only because the Dharma of sentient beings is too vast and the Buddha-Dharma too lofty and profound that they are extremely difficult for beginners. Yet mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—the three are no different; one need only contemplate one’s own mind, which is easier.” (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. IV, p. 3812)
[30] The Fourfold Eloquence (Four Unobstructed Eloquences, Four Unobstructed Understandings): four powers of understanding—that is, intellectual comprehension—and of free, unhindered verbal expression—that is, eloquence. Because all four have wisdom as their essence, they are called the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. In terms of the power of understanding, they are called the Four Unobstructed Understandings; in terms of the power of verbal expression, they are called the Four Unobstructed Eloquences. Because they are means for teaching and transforming sentient beings, they are also called the Four Dharmas of Transformation.
According to fascicle 27 of the Abhidharmakosa, the Four Unobstructed Understandings are:
1) Unobstructed understanding of the Dharma (Dharma-pratisaṃvid): freely expounding and comprehending the terminology, phrases, and literary formulations of the Dharma, while also making determinations without obstruction.
2) Unobstructed understanding of meaning (Artha-pratisaṃvid): thoroughly comprehending the principles and meanings expressed by the Dharma, while also making determinations without obstruction.
3) Unobstructed understanding of language (Nirktipratisaṃvid): freely and without obstruction mastering the regional languages of various places.
4) Unobstructed understanding of eloquence (Pratibhna-pratisaṃvid): proclaiming the Dharma without obstruction in accordance with right principle; this is also called Delight in Preaching. It means skillfully responding to what others seek and taking delight in teaching the Dharma. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. V, p. 4898).
[31] The Eight Tones (Eight Kinds of Pure Tones, Eight Kinds of Brahma Tones, Eight Brahma Qualities): eight kinds of vocal tone. The Tathagata’s speech is pure and harmonious and possesses eight kinds of supreme virtue, enabling sentient beings who hear it to immediately awaken and understand:
1) The supremely excellent tone (the ear-delighting voice): although all devas, practitioners of the Two Vehicles, and bodhisattvas possess exceedingly beautiful voices, none has reached perfection. Only the Buddha’s voice never wearies those who hear it and enables them to enter the wondrous path. It is the finest of all voices.
2) The gentle and tender tone: because of his wholesome mind, the Buddha speaks gentle words that delight those who hear them and cause them to relinquish attachment and obstinacy.
3) The harmonious and fitting tone: the Buddha constantly abides in the Middle Way and skillfully explains it with ease. He emits a harmonious and proper voice, causing those who hear it to give rise to delight and realize the principle.
4) The venerable and wise tone: the Buddha’s station of majestic virtue is exalted, and his wisdom is perfectly penetrating. The Buddha’s voice causes those who hear it to become respectful and their wisdom to open and shine brightly.
5) The un-effeminate tone: abiding in the Surangama Samadhi, the Buddha possesses the majestic virtue of a great hero. His voice inspires reverent awe in all who hear it, and the celestial maras and non-Buddhist practitioners all submit to him.
6) The unmistakable tone: the Buddha’s wisdom is perfect and luminous, illuminating all without obstruction. His speech is mature, true, and free from error, enabling all who hear it to attain right view.
7) The deep and far-reaching tone: the Buddha’s wisdom is profound, and the station of his practices and vows is supreme. His voice travels from near to far, pervading the ten directions. When heard nearby it is not loud, and when heard from afar it is not faint, enabling all to awaken to the exceedingly profound principle.
8) The inexhaustible tone: the Tathagata’s practices and vows are endless; moreover, he abides in the inexhaustible treasury of Dharma. Therefore, his voice enables those who hear it to discover its meaning.
The eight qualities above describe the virtues of the Buddha’s voice. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 366).
[32] Responsive manifestations: manifestations bestowed in response to beings. Buddhas and bodhisattvas respond to the capacities and conditions of sentient beings by manifesting various bodies from their fundamental essence in order to deliver them. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. VII, p. 5934).
[33] Circular aureole: the radiance, or circular halo, emitted from the crown of a Buddha or bodhisattva.
The Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life (Taisho 12, 343b) states: “The circular aureole of Amitabha Buddha is like a hundred kotis of three-thousandfold great-thousand world systems; within that aureole are a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of transformation Buddhas, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.” (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. VII, p. 6029).
[34] The lands appearing upon the radiant dais: Pure Lands appearing upon the golden dais. The radiant dais is a golden dais formed from the Buddha’s radiance. According to the introductory section of the Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life: “At that time, the Blessed One emitted light from between his eyebrows.
That light was the color of pure gold and illuminated immeasurable worlds throughout the ten directions. It then returned and gathered above the crown of the Buddha’s head, transforming into a golden dais like Mount Sumeru. The subtle, wondrous, and pure lands of the Buddhas of the ten directions all appeared within it.” Queen Vaidehi, weary of and wishing to escape all suffering and seeking rebirth in a Pure Land, saw that among all the Pure Lands, the Land of Utmost Bliss in the West was the purest, and she therefore sought birth in Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land.
In truth, the Pure Lands of the ten directions manifested by the Blessed One are intrinsically neither superior nor inferior to one another. The Buddhas are also equal in severing delusions and realizing truth, fulfilling their practices and perfecting fruition. Yet, in accordance with beings’ capacities, some lands are concealed and others revealed; thus, to teach beings according to their faculties, the Blessed One concealed the excellence of the other Pure Lands and revealed only the surpassing excellence of Amitabha Buddha’s Western Pure Land in order to guide and receive Queen Vaidehi. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. IV, p. 3828); (Ding Fubao Dictionary).
[35] Brahma King Conch Topknot: a Brahma king with a spiral-shaped topknot upon the crown of his head. He once engaged in questions and answers with the Venerable Sariputra at the Vimalakirti assembly. The first fascicle of the Sutra on the Contemplation of the Dharma of the Mind-Ground states: “The venerable Brahma King Conch Topknot has the ability to see the Western Pure Land.” (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 2471).
[36] Attainment of benefits: a section in the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra, established by Master Shandao of the Tang dynasty in China when he newly divided the scriptural text of the Royal Palace Assembly in the Sutra of Infinite Life.
Ordinarily, a sutra text is divided into three parts: the Introductory Section, the Main Doctrinal Section, and the Dissemination Section; this is known as the threefold division of a sutra. Master Shandao, however, divided the three original sections of the Royal Palace Assembly into four, adding the Attainment of Benefits Section after the Main Doctrinal Section. This section begins with the words, “When these words were spoken…” and ends with the words, “the devas aroused the aspiration.” According to Master Shandao’s classification, it comprises five categories: the general recapitulation of the entire preceding section, the persons capable of hearing the Dharma, the benefits attained by Vaidehi, the benefits attained by the female attendants,
and the benefits attained by the devas. (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol.
II, p. 1461).
[37] Contemplation of merit: also called merit and wisdom, meaning adornment with merit and wisdom. Merit consists in cultivating wholesome deeds such as generosity and so forth. Contemplation means mindful contemplation of the truth. Merit pertains to benefiting others, while contemplation pertains to benefiting oneself. The Profound Preface to the Chapter on the Origins and Transmission of the Pure Land records: “Cultivate merit and wisdom together.” (Đinh Phúc Bảo Dictionary)
[38] Meditative good and non-meditative good: Meditative good is the cultivation of goodness with a concentrated mind; it is the practice of contemplating the Buddha Samadhi. Non-meditative good consists of wholesome karma cultivated with a distracted mind. Masters Huiyuan, Zhiyi, and Jizang all regarded the sixteen contemplations in the Sutra of the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life as comprising meditative good and non-meditative good.
Master Huiyuan held that cultivating the three kinds of merit is called rebirth through non-meditative good, while cultivating the sixteen proper contemplations is called rebirth through meditative good. Master Shandao, however, regarded the first thirteen contemplations as meditative good and the final three contemplations as non-meditative good.
The Section on the Profound Meaning of the Contemplation Sutra (Taishō 37, 246b) records: “The essential gateway is precisely the gateway of meditation and the gateway of non-meditation in this Contemplation Sutra. Meditation means ending thought in order to settle the mind; non-meditation means abandoning evil in order to cultivate goodness.” (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 1531; vol. V, p. 4243).
[39] Right reception (Sampatti): the state of meditative concentration in which all distracted thoughts and mental considerations have ceased and the object of contemplation is directly received. Through the power of concentration, body and mind attain peace and bliss, just as a bright mirror, without intentional thought, clearly reflects all things. The Section on the Profound Meaning of the Contemplation Sutra records: “Right reception: all mental conceptions cease, all mental considerations are forgotten, and samadhi is attained in correspondence.” (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 945).
[40] Section on the Profound Meaning: the section that explains the profound purport of an entire sutra. This Section on the Profound Meaning is found in Master Shandao’s four-fascicle Commentary on the Sutra of the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life from the Tang dynasty. Its contents include a verse expressing the vow to take refuge in the Three Jewels and seven gateways of profound meaning, such as the Preface to the Title, Explanation of the Name, and so forth, which elucidate the essential purport of the Sutra of the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life. (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 2016).
[41] The two classes of ordinary beings and the four fruits:
– The two classes of ordinary beings, also called the two kinds of ordinary beings: practitioners of the Three Vehicles who have not yet reached the stage of the path of seeing occupy the stage of ordinary beings. There are two such stages:
1. External ordinary beings: those who develop faith by hearing the teachings, such as those at the stage of the Three Worthies in the Lesser Vehicle or the stage of the Ten Faiths in the Mahayana.
2. Internal ordinary beings: those who genuinely practice the teachings and draw near to the stage of the noble ones, such as those at the Four Wholesome Roots in the Lesser Vehicle or at the stage of the Ten Abodes and above in the Mahayana. (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. IV, p. 3332).
– The four fruits: the four stages of fruition realized by shravakas of the Lesser Vehicle. In successive order, they are the fruit of stream-entry, the fruit of once-returning, the fruit of non-returning, and the fruit of arhatship. In addition, fascicle 6 of the Abhidharmakosha lists the fruit of establishment, the fruit of preparatory practice, the fruit of concord, and the fruit of cultivation. (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. V, p. 4837)
[42] The four maras (S. Catvro mrh): four kinds of maras that rob human beings of their physical life and their life of wisdom.
1. Mara of the skandhas (Skandha-mra): also called the mara of the five aggregates or the mara of the five groups. These are the five skandhas—form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—which aggregate to produce the suffering of birth and death. These conditioned factors of samsara are harmful because they rob beings of the life of wisdom.
2. Mara of the afflictions (S. Kle‘sa-mra): the 108 afflictions within the body that disturb and confuse the minds of sentient beings, rob them of the life of wisdom, and prevent them from attaining bodhi.
3. Mara of death (Mṛyu-mra): it disperses the body composed of the four great elements, bringing about death and preventing practitioners from extending the life of wisdom.
4. Mara as a divine being (Deva-putra-mra): also called the mara who is a divine being of the Heaven of Freely Enjoying Others’ Transformations. This Mara King dwells in the sixth heaven of the desire realm. He frequently harms people’s wholesome undertakings, envies the Dharma of the worthies and noble ones, and creates disturbances that prevent practitioners from attaining supramundane wholesome roots.
Of these four kinds of maras, the first three are internal maras, while the fourth is an external mara. (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. V, p. 4083).
[43] Time-haunting spirit (essence-haunting ghost): one of three kinds of ghosts. At the hour of Tí (midnight), this ghost transforms into the spirit of a rat, assumes the appearance of a young man or young woman, or manifests frightening forms to intimidate or delude a person seated in meditation. At that time, the meditator should discern what hour it is. If it is the hour of Tí, the meditator knows that the being is of the rat kind; by directly calling out its name, the apparition will dissolve of itself. (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. VI, p. 5619).
[44] The Five Regions of India: the five regions—East, West, South, North, and Central—of India during the medieval period.
According to fascicle 2 of the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, the territory of the Five Indies was as follows: its circumference exceeded 90,000 li; on three sides it bordered the sea, while to the north it adjoined the Snow Mountains. In geographical shape, it was broad in the north and narrow in the south, resembling a half-moon, and comprised more than seventy kingdoms. (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 3029).
[45] The four marks (the four marks of self and person, the four views, or the four marks of the objects of consciousness): four erroneous attachments concerning the individual body and mind of a sentient being, taught in the Diamond Prajnaparamita Sutra translated by Master Kumarajiva. They are:
1. The mark of a self: with regard to the dharmas of the five skandhas, sentient beings falsely cling to the self and what belongs to the self as truly existent.
2. The mark of a person: with regard to the dharmas of the five skandhas, sentient beings falsely cling to the self born in the human realm as a person distinct from beings in the other destinies.
3. The mark of a sentient being: with regard to the dharmas of the five skandhas, sentient beings falsely cling to the self as arising in dependence upon the conjunction of the five skandhas—form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.
4. The mark of a living being: with regard to the dharmas of the five skandhas, sentient beings falsely cling to the self as living for a certain period, from birth until death, with a lifespan that may be long or short and differs from person to person. (Huệ Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. V, p. 4854).
[46] Treatise Master Nagarjuna (Long Meng, Long Sheng): Patriarch of the Madhyamaka school in India, the thirteenth patriarch in the lineage of Dharma transmission in China, and patriarch of eight schools in Japan. He was born around the second or third century into a Brahmin family in southern India. From childhood, he was exceptionally intelligent and perceptive, mastering the four Vedas, astronomy, geography, prophetic lore, esoteric texts, and various occult arts.
He once studied the art of invisibility with three close friends and secretly entered the royal palace in pursuit of sensual pleasure. When the affair was discovered, his three friends were beheaded by the king, while he alone escaped. Through this event, he realized that sensual desire is the root of suffering.
He then entered the mountains, went before a Buddha stupa, renounced the household life, and received the precepts. After ordination, he studied the Tripitaka but found it insufficient. He subsequently went to the Himalayas, where an elder bhiksu gave him Mahayana scriptures.
Although he understood their true meaning, he was not yet able to comprehend them fully. Because he had refuted the doctrines of non-Buddhist treatise masters, an attitude of deviant arrogance arose in him. He established new precepts of his own, wore a new kind of robe, and dwelt alone in a crystal chamber.
Seeing this, the bodhisattva Great Dragon took pity on him and led him into the Dragon Palace, where he bestowed upon him immeasurable Mahayana scriptures. At that time, the king of southern India believed in and venerated Brahmanism and attacked Buddhism. Nagarjuna went there to teach and transform him, causing the king to abandon Brahmanism and take refuge in Buddhism.
Thereafter, he devoted himself to propagating the Dharma, wrote numerous commentaries on Mahayana scriptures, and established a systematic foundation for Mahayana learning, enabling the Prajnaparamita teaching of the emptiness of intrinsic nature to spread widely throughout India. In his old age, he lived on Black Wind Mountain and had a disciple named Aryadeva. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 2491).
[47] The Kaiyuan Catalog of the Buddhist Canon (Kaiyuan Catalog, Kaiyuan Catalogue, Zhisheng Catalog): a catalog in twenty fascicles compiled by Master Zhisheng in the eighteenth year of the Kaiyuan era (730) during the Song dynasty in China; it is included in volume 55 of the Taisho Tripitaka. The complete catalog is divided into two parts:
1/ General Catalog of the Collected Scriptures: (fascicles 1 through 10), corresponding to the Great Catalog. Following the chronological order of translation, this section lists 176 translators and 2,278 works of sutra, vinaya, and treatise belonging to the Mahayana and Hinayana, totaling 7,046 fascicles translated over a period of 664 years, from 67 during the Eastern Han dynasty to 730 during the Tang dynasty….
2/ Separate Catalog of the Vehicles and Canon: (fascicles 11 through 20). This section follows the cataloging system of the Fajing Catalog and corresponds to the Standard Catalog for Admission into the Canon and the Catalog of Works Presently Admitted into the Canon. This Separate Catalog of the Vehicles and Canon principally takes the sutras as its basis and divides them into seven categories:
a) Catalog of works having both an identified translator and an extant translation (fascicles 11 through 13).
b) Catalog of works having an identified translator but no extant translation (fascicles 14 through 15).
c) Catalog of independently circulating branch texts: scriptures circulated separately within a particular branch (fascicle 16).
d) Catalog of abridgments and the removal of prolix repetitions: omitting cumbersome and repetitive material (fascicle 17).
e) Catalog supplementing omissions and gathering lost works: adding what remained deficient or omitted (fascicle 17).
f) Catalog for renewed examination of doubtful works: clarifying matters of uncertainty (fascicle 18).
g) Catalog of spurious works that confound the authentic: a catalog of apocryphal scriptures (fascicle 18).
h) Catalog of admission into the Canon: a catalog of 1,076 scriptural works comprising 5,048 fascicles admitted into the Canon (the final two fascicles).
The statement, “Altogether comprising more than 5,000 fascicles of scriptures,” originated from this point.
This work records its material with great completeness and clarity and became the model for later catalogs of scriptures and editions of the Great Canon. (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 2255).
[48] Min-Shu: Fujian Province, China.
[49] Dharma Master Huiyuan (523–592) (also called Sui Yuan, Xiao Yuan, Da Yuan, or Bei Yuan): an eminent Chinese monk of the Southern Path branch of the Dilun school who lived during the Sui dynasty. His family name was Li, and he was a native of Dunhuang in Gansu. At the age of thirteen, the Master paid homage to the sramana Sengsi and requested permission to renounce the household life. At sixteen, he followed Vinaya Master Zhan to Yedu County (present-day Linzhang County, Henan Province), where he studied numerous Mahayana and Hinayana scriptures. At twenty, under Master Fashang, he received the full precepts and studied the Four-Part Vinaya and other vinaya texts with Master Dayin….
During the Northern Zhou dynasty, Emperor Wu ordered the destruction of scriptures and images and compelled sramanas to return to lay life. None among the Sangha dared to resist or remonstrate; the Master alone courageously came forward to debate the matter. In a stern voice he addressed the emperor: “Your Majesty now relies upon your royal power to destroy the Three Jewels; this is the conduct of one holding wrong views.
Avici hell makes no distinction between the noble and the lowly. Is Your Majesty not afraid?” The emperor angrily replied: “If it will bring peace and happiness to the people, I am willing to accept every suffering in hell.” In the end, the emperor nevertheless destroyed the Buddhadharma. At that time, the Master went into seclusion on Western Mountain in Ji Commandery, devoting himself to upholding and reciting the Lotus Sutra and the Vimalakirti Sutra while praying that the Buddhadharma would not perish.
When the Sui dynasty arose, the Master began lecturing on the Dharma in Luoyi. His fame spread far and wide, and great numbers came to take refuge. Emperor Wen also held him in high esteem and issued an edict appointing him Director of Sramanas in Luozhou.
The Master established additional lecture halls in places such as Zezhou, Dingzhou, Shangdang, and elsewhere. On many occasions, in obedience to imperial summons, he returned to the Western Capital and personally entered the palace to teach the Dharma to the emperor and his officials. The emperor was greatly delighted and issued an edict directing the Master to reside at Xing善 Monastery.
Not long afterward, Jingying Monastery was built, where he devoted himself exclusively to teaching. Because he resided at Jingying Monastery, he was also called Huiyuan of Jingying Monastery, to distinguish him from Huiyuan of Mount Lu. In 587, the emperor conferred upon him the title Great Virtuous One.
In 592, the emperor again issued an edict appointing him to preside over the translation bureau, where he verified meanings and polished the wording. In his later years, the Master also studied the Mahayana-samgraha under Master Tanqian. Because he deeply studied nearly all the schools of thought current in his time and was thoroughly versed in literary principles, people called him the Lofty Patriarch of the Interpretation of Meaning.
The Master passed away in 592 at the age of seventy.
Works: Compendium of the Meaning of the Mahayana (26 fascicles), Record of the Meaning of the Treatise on the Sutra of the Ten Grounds (14 fascicles), Commentary on the Avatamsaka Sutra (7 fascicles), Record of the Meaning of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra (20 fascicles), Commentary on the Lotus Sutra (7 fascicles), Record of the Meaning of the Vimalakirti Sutra (4 fascicles), Record of the Meaning of the Srimala Sutra (3 fascicles), and Commentary on the Meaning of the Infinite Life Sutra (1 fascicle). (Hue Quang Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 2007).
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