淨土境觀要門

The Pure Land Dharma-gate is the principal path that leads sentient beings of the present age out of birth and death; it is the sturdy vessel that carries everyone straight across the five destinies. Once one ascends to that realm, one forever no longer regresses, but obtains a celestial body that freely flies everywhere, while food and drink appear of themselves. Moreover, one joins the pure assembly, constantly meets the Buddha, hears the Dharma, and swiftly enters the rank of the noble ones.

There one need not fear harm from sentient creatures such as tigers, wolves, lions, mosquitoes, gnats, lice, and fleas; nor is one oppressed by insentient conditions such as cold, heat, wind, and rain. The practitioner is born within a lotus flower, his lifespan immeasurable, free of the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness, and death, enjoying nothing but joy alone; therefore it is called the World of Utmost Bliss.

Because they wished to help the deluded sentient beings of this world depart from suffering, Śākyamuni Tathāgata opened the gate of subduing, and the Compassionate Father Amitābha pointed out the path of embracing and receiving. The reason these venerable ones exhausted their words in admonition, earnestly counseling and instructing, praising the Pure Land, and urging everyone to be reborn there, is precisely this. Therefore very many of the religious and the lay, the worthy and the sages of the Western Heaven and of this realm, have dedicated their merit and vowed to be reborn there; and at the moment of their death they beheld the Buddha and accomplished their original vow.

The records and biographies have set down these matters in full. Yet the lowly ordinary beings, craving and clinging to sounds and forms defiled by impurity, willingly endure being submerged in birth and death, without a single thought of seeking liberation. They are like a person who enters a village to attend to his affairs: if he does not first arrange a place of temporary lodging, then when night falls he must surely wander out in the road.

How pitiable is his plight at that time! But among the supremely virtuous who weary of suffering and seek joy, there are likewise very many who have aroused the mind to recite the Buddha's name, while very few who know the realm of contemplative visualization. For this reason I will set forth a general account of a few matters, hoping that those who believe and delight may have a gate by which to enter the Way, so that their painstaking ascetic effort may not be expended in vain.

(Upon entering the place of practice, one should contemplate and call to mind the Three Jewels, and then sincerely and ardently make this vow: "The essential nature of myself and of the sentient beings within the dharma-realm is not two, not different from the essential nature of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Yet I and sentient beings are still deluded, while the Buddhas and bodhisattvas have already awakened. This very day, for the sake of all sentient beings within the dharma-realm, I seek birth in the Pure Land of Peace and Nurture; therefore I enter this place of practice to recite the scriptural texts and to invoke and call upon the Buddha's name…" as has been clearly set forth in the supplementary ritual of mental visualization within the Lotus Samādhi Practice Manual.)

The Sūtra of Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life states: "If a person, with utmost mind, seeks birth in the Western Quarter, he should first contemplate an image of the Buddha, one zhang and six chi tall, standing upon the surface of the lake. For as was said before, the Buddha's body is boundless, and the mind-power of ordinary beings cannot see or know it." Thus the body that bears eighty thousand marks of excellence can be seen only by bodhisattvas of the Ten Faiths; it is not the contemplative realm of ordinary beings of beginning mind.

Therefore one is taught to contemplate the Buddha's body as one zhang and six chi. Even so, the practitioner need not contemplate the entire body with these thirty-two marks, but need only contemplate one mark and enter deeply. That is, contemplate the mark of the white tuft of hair between the Buddha's two eyebrows, naturally manifesting before one.

If the contemplation of this mark is accomplished, then one may shift to contemplating the other marks upon the body without any hindrance.

When this contemplative practice has ripened, the mind's eye clearly sees, between the two eyebrows, a single tuft of hair white as snow, one zhang[1] and five inches long, five inches in circumference, with eight angles on the outside and hollow within. This tuft of hair is soft and supple, curling toward the right, upright, manifesting clear and radiant upon the Buddha's countenance, moreover transparent and brilliantly luminous beyond all expression.

Wishing to contemplate this mark, the practitioner must first thoroughly comprehend the meaning that "the myriad dharmas all arise from mind, the myriad things are all transformations of consciousness." The scripture states: "The mind encompasses the entire universe, its measure pervades realms as numerous as the Ganges' sands." It also states: "The mind is like a skilled painter, depicting all manner of bodily forms;

the myriad things in the world are all created by the mind." Thus the Land of Utmost Bliss as dependent recompense—with its jeweled trees, jeweled ground, jeweled ponds, and so forth—together with the ocean-assembly[2] of Amitābha's direct recompense, complete with the thirty-two marks—are originally complete within our own mind, created by our own mind, and do not come into being from another's mind.

If one can penetrate this thoroughly, only then may one discuss "contemplating the Buddha by means of this very mind," only then may one speak of "the Pure Land of mind-only, the Amitābha of one's own original nature." Therefore the Contemplation Sūtra states: "The Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, are the body of the dharma-realm. This body enters into the mind-contemplation of all sentient beings." The Great Master Zhiyi of Tiantai explained this passage with two meanings: first, on the basis of the meaning of mutual interpenetration of stimulus and response; second, on the basis of the meaning of the mutual correspondence of understanding and entering.

Without the first meaning, this contemplation would not be contemplation of the Buddha. Without the second meaning, there would be a Buddha outside the mind. Thus the mutual correspondence of understanding and entering is "this very mind"; the mutual interpenetration of stimulus and response is "contemplation of the Buddha." As for the explanation of "this mind makes the Buddha, this mind is the Buddha"—from the standpoint of cultivating contemplation it is said "the mind makes," and from the standpoint of "originally complete" it is said "the mind is." These passages are recorded in the eighth chapter, on the Contemplation of the Image.

Accordingly one may combine them and say: "This mind makes the sun, this mind is the sun; this mind makes Mahāsthāmaprāpta, this mind is Mahāsthāmaprāpta." And so on through the nine grades—contemplation arising in accordance with each object is likewise in every case thus. But "contemplating the Buddha by means of this very mind" is also called "contemplating the Buddha with reference to mind." "With reference to mind" is spoken from the standpoint of relying upon the Buddha; "this very mind" is spoken from the standpoint of "originally complete," for because it is "originally complete," therefore it is "this very." Whenever any one meaning is raised, it necessarily encompasses both ideas.

This contemplative realm, though very many have explained it, has not yet been explained correctly. Now, I will first cite the old theories to assess them, and afterward formally set forth the view of our own school. The Dharma Master Jingjue holds that one gathers the Buddha into the mind and only then contemplates—this, he says, is contemplating the Buddha.

But in that case the mind contemplates the Western Quarter while the object is in the Eastern Land; the object and the contemplation are thus disparate, so how could one be born in the Western Quarter? It also trespasses upon the practice of directly contemplating the mind. The Dharma Master Guangzhi holds that gathering the mind into the Buddha is called contemplating the Buddha; but I say this is precisely directly contemplating the Buddha, so why did the Patriarch make mind-contemplation the cardinal principle?

According to the views of these two masters, one must first thoroughly awaken to "the myriad dharmas are mind-only" and only then contemplate the mind; one must first thoroughly comprehend "the myriad dharmas are Buddha-only" and only then contemplate the Buddha. This practice is like the practice of constant sitting… directly contemplating the Three Paths[3], which is precisely directly contemplating the mind, directly contemplating the Buddha.

The two masters debated endlessly without being able to resolve it, and so they went to seek out the Patriarch Zhili of Siming. The Patriarch then refuted both theories: "It is neither gathering the Buddha into the mind, nor gathering the mind into the Buddha, but is precisely 'contemplating the Buddha with reference to mind.' Why? Because Amitābha and the Pure Land are originally complete within our own mind.

Therefore one relies upon that Buddha-fruit, complete with the thirty-two marks, to perfume the essential nature of the dharma-body originally complete within our own mind. If the contemplative wisdom is accomplished, then the Buddha naturally manifests. Therefore the Commentary on the Wondrous Cardinal Principle states: 'Relying upon that dependent and direct recompense to perfume our own mind-nature, the mind-nature easily arouses'—this is precisely the meaning."

Question: "Contemplating the Buddha with reference to mind" is merely the object that is contemplated. Does this object then also encompass the contemplation that does the contemplating?

Answer: The single word "contemplating" is the contemplation that does the contemplating; the two words "mind" and "Buddha" are the object that is contemplated.

Question: If so, then is the object that is contemplated false or true?

Answer: Our school's discussion of object and contemplation is entirely different from the other theories. Directly contemplating the true mind and the true Buddha both belong to the Buddha-realm. Therefore, whenever we speak of contemplating the mind or contemplating the Buddha, both belong to the false object; what is essential lies in thoroughly awakening to the false being identical to the true, and there is no need to destroy the false and only then attain the true.

The other theories say that the false is destroyed and only then does the true manifest. This is the meaning of "severing the nine [realms] by means of dependence on principle," that is, by relying on the manifestation of principle to destroy the cultivated evil of the nine realms and to manifest the cultivated good of the Buddha-realm. This is a method of severance and extinction, belonging to the Inclined and Separate Teachings, and is not the wondrous contemplation of the Perfect Teaching.

Question: In "contemplating the Buddha with reference to mind," the Buddha is a person of the fruit, so how can he be deemed false? If he is false, then is the World-Honored One Amitābha an ordinary being?

Answer: For the practitioner of beginning mind, when he has not yet forgotten the external object and still sees that there is another Buddha, then all of it is false—it is likewise the aggregates and entrances outside the mind. Thus you should know: the fault lies in oneself; what has it to do with the Buddha!

Question: The object that is contemplated does not lie outside the dharmas internal and external to the mind. The mind belongs to the inside, the Buddha belongs to the outside. Now you say "contemplating the Buddha with reference to mind"—is this not contemplating both inside and outside? If so, then one must surely both look upward to contemplate the Buddha and bow the head downward to illumine the mind, like a foot that has already stepped across the threshold of the door yet still hesitates. In that case, how, after all, is one to apply the mind?

Answer: This question is most unsatisfactory. Now I will set forth the error of one such theory, and afterward present the correct meaning. As for the first meaning, the predecessors determined that the object belongs to the outside and the contemplation belongs to the mind.

This theory has two errors: one, it falls into the fault of contemplating both inside and outside; two, in saying the contemplation belongs to the mind, it commits the fault of losing the true mind. For the practitioner of beginning mind must rely upon the false mind to contemplate the response-body of Amitābha, and only when he manifests the Buddha's true essence does he avoid this fault. Although the Patriarch did say "mind-only contemplation is established," this is precisely using the threefold contemplation to contemplate the object created by the false mind.

If this contemplative practice is accomplished, then the true Buddha manifests. Therefore you should know that this theory is gravely mistaken.

Now let me set forth the correct meaning. One must know that our mind is not confined by place or location, as was cited from the scripture before. Therefore the Venerable Zhanran of Jingxi said: "When we speak of mind-only, how could it refer to the true mind alone?

You should know that the afflicted mind too is all-pervading. You still do not know that the afflicted mind is all-pervading, so how could you understand that the form of birth and death is all-pervading? Why is form all-pervading?

Because form is identical to mind." If so, then there is no need to gather the Buddha into the five-aggregate body in the Eastern Land, nor to look upward to contemplate the Buddha and bow the head downward to illumine the mind. Now we determine that the object lies outside the mind, yet the object is also mind, so there is no need to gather the Buddha into the mind. This alone is truly "contemplating the Buddha with reference to mind." To explain it thus not only fathoms deeply the Buddha's intent but also transcends ordinary sentiment.

How much more so when, from the Buddha's own golden mouth, he drew this analogy: "It is like holding up a mirror to look at oneself—then one sees the image of one's face. That image of the face manifesting within the mirror originally lies outside. How then could one gather the image of the face into one's own body and only thus call it the image of oneself?" This too is directing the mind toward the Western Quarter so as to create the cause for rebirth.

Although the mind is universally pervading, without place or location, yet through delusion it is confined and limited. Now, using the wondrous understanding to harmonize this confined and limited mind as identical to the Buddha, one accomplishes the Three Truths and the Threefold Contemplation. Thus the mirror is an analogy for the contemplative practice; the act of holding it up is an analogy for cultivating contemplation; seeing the image is an analogy for the contemplative practice being accomplished, seeing the Buddha of one's own original nature.

When the contemplative practice is not yet accomplished, the image already lies outside—this is an analogy for the mind, which need not be gathered back into one's own body. This simile is already evident; it is only that people do not thoroughly comprehend it.

Question: "Contemplating the Buddha with reference to mind" is necessarily outside, and the object belongs to the illusory and false. These meanings are already clear, leaving nothing further to be doubted. But please explain the essential meaning of using the Threefold Contemplation to embody and realize this false object as the subtle and wondrous Three Truths!

Answer: When with single mind and single thought one exclusively contemplates the white tuft of hair between the two eyebrows, without departing from it in the slightest, then one clearly sees that this object is complete with all dharmas. Now, do these marks arise from one's own body, or do they manifest from the mind? They are obtained neither from the body nor from the mind.

Likewise, one does not obtain the Buddha's mind from one's own body, nor does one obtain the Buddha's form from one's own mind. Why is this so? Because the Buddha's mind is no-mind and the Buddha's form is no-form; one cannot use form and mind to seek samādhi.

Since the object that is contemplated is empty, the contemplation that does the contemplating is also still and silent. Both the contemplating and the contemplated are extinguished, not falling into consciousness and conception. Although this "emptiness" cannot be grasped, yet it can be seen in accordance with one's mindfulness.

It is like a mirror reflecting the face, where the image of the face manifests within the mirror. It is like the bhikṣu contemplating the white bones, who sees the bones emit countless rays of light. This light is brought by no one, and there truly are no white bones; all is created by the mind.

All is like an illusion, like a magical transformation. The Buddha has never come to where we are, and we too have never gone to the Buddha; the mind does not of itself know the mind, the mind does not of itself see the mind. The mind that has conception is delusion; the mind without conception is nirvāṇa.

This dharma cannot be pointed out and displayed; all is created by mindful conception. Even if there is mindfulness, it too is empty, without anything possessed. Here, the Threefold Contemplation is spoken with reference to that which contemplates; the Three Truths are spoken with reference to that which is contemplated.

The Truth and the contemplation are not two; the contemplating and the contemplated are as one. Therefore the Patriarch said: "The Three Truths and the Threefold Contemplation, though three, are not three; three yet one, one yet three, without reliance and without dependence. The Truth and the contemplation, though their names differ, are yet identical in essence; thus the contemplating and the contemplated, though two, are not two"—this is precisely this point.

Question: Within a single mind, the Threefold Contemplation is complete, and the whole Three Truths are but a single object, neither before nor after, and only then does it become the Perfect-and-Sudden Samādhi. But according to what you have just said, it seems there is sequence and order. Then where is the meaning of "single mind"?

Answer: Although in speaking of it there is before and after, when applying the mind it is simultaneous. Moreover, contemplating the mark of the white tuft of hair is identical to one's own mind, and outside the mind there is no dharma; yet that dharma after dharma cannot be grasped—this is precisely emptiness; and those marks again manifest clearly and distinctly—this is precisely the provisional. The provisional is the object; the emptiness is the contemplation.

To penetrate clearly, not defiled by the object, is precisely the extinguishing of the provisional. To penetrate clearly, not purified by wisdom, is precisely the extinguishing of emptiness. Neither defiled nor purified, both object and contemplation lost, both contemplating and contemplated dissolved—this is precisely the Middle Way; how then could there be before and after!

If we discuss it according to the provisional contemplation, it is likewise thus. The white tuft of hair manifesting clearly, like the white bones emitting light, is the provisional. That mark cannot be grasped—this is precisely emptiness.

That mark is brought by no one, and there are no white bones—this is precisely the Middle. If we discuss it according to the Middle contemplation, this means penetrating thoroughly that this white tuft of hair is neither empty nor provisional. If the mind has conception, it is delusion; if the mind is without conception, it is nirvāṇa; this dharma cannot be pointed out and displayed, all being created by mindful conception, departing from the two extremes.

Both being extinguished is precisely both being illuminated. Because both are illuminated, therefore emptiness and the provisional are clear; because extinguishing and illuminating are simultaneous, therefore there is no before and after. Thus, one dharma being empty means all dharmas are empty, so the three contemplations are all empty.

One dharma being provisional means all are provisional, so the three contemplations are all provisional. One dharma being the Middle means all dharmas are the Middle, so the three contemplations are all the Middle—neither before nor after, severing and cutting off thought and deliberation.

Question: The dependent and direct recompense of the Pure Land is ten myriad lands away from here, so why do you speak of the Pure Land of mind-only, the Amitābha of one's own original nature? Moreover, the scripture also says that the Buddha Amitābha is not far from here?

Answer: This statement must be explained according to the meaning of the Three Truths and the Threefold Contemplation, and only then will all doubt be ended. Why? Because according to the meaning of "without losing the original essence, east and west are clear and distinct," there is no obstacle in their being ten myriad lands apart—this is the wondrous provisional.

According to the meaning of "identical in essential nature, not separated by the slightest," this is precisely the wondrous emptiness. According to the meaning of "neither one nor different," both marks being extinguished, this is the wondrous Middle. It is likewise that one is identical to all, and therefore there is no obstacle to saying they are far apart; all is identical to one, and therefore there is no obstacle to saying it is near; it is neither one nor all, and therefore there is no obstacle to saying it is neither far nor near.

Applying this to grasping, relinquishing, neither grasping nor relinquishing, or to joining, scattering, neither joining nor scattering… it is likewise thus. In the first six chapters of the Cessation and Contemplation, this has been clearly explained. The scriptures expound broadly upon the wondrous understanding, discoursing directly upon the meaning of "the dharmas are originally complete," all speaking of the wondrous dharma of the Three Truths.

By this completeness in Principle there is then the function in Phenomena. Because it is "identical to the provisional," the self-essence is not lost; not far yet far, therefore there is the matter of rebirth in that land. Again, because it is "identical to emptiness," it is identical in essential nature; by the majestic power of the Buddha, by the power of samādhi, because within a single thought one sees the Buddha, because the mind abides in concentration, because it is as swift as the snap of the fingers—therefore not near yet near, and yet there truly is no matter of rebirth in that land.

The twofold negation of the two extremes is neither birth nor non-birth. Phenomena being already identical to Principle is precisely wondrous Phenomena; but while the Buddha was yet in the world, the faculties of sentient beings were keen and sharp, so to raise any one matter is to be complete with all three matters. Therefore the Amitābha Sūtra (the smaller version) speaks only of the Buddha being far away; the Sūtra of the Sixteen Contemplations speaks only of the Buddha being near.

Since far and near are illuminated together, then necessarily far and near are likewise still together. Thus far and near, yet neither far nor near; birth is identical to non-birth, non-birth is identical to birth—neither birth nor non-birth. People of the present age understand only on the level of words, grasping only one side, unable to fathom it completely.

Therefore the Treatise on the Ten Doubts states: "People of the present age, as soon as they hear 'birth' spoken, immediately grasp it as actual birth; hearing 'non-birth,' they immediately grasp it as actual non-birth"—this is precisely falling into this fault. How sorrowful! If one does not, on the basis of the three dharmas of Principle's completeness, discuss the three dharmas of Phenomena's function, then one will meet with the fault of dharmas arising from the mind, and will moreover incur the censure of "severing the nine by means of dependence on principle"—how could this be the Dharma-gate of the Perfect and Sudden?

If it were not so, why does the Commentary on the Wondrous Cardinal Principle cite the three powers from the Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra as proof? The three powers are the power of the Buddha, the power of samādhi, and the power of one's own merit. Are not the first two powers the function in Phenomena?

Is not the latter one power the completeness in Principle? But sentient beings of the present age who wish to establish a practice for cultivation must clearly distinguish the gate of entering into Principle and the place of arousing contemplation. Because sentient beings are still deluded and have not yet awakened to Principle, therefore in the seventh chapter, on Right Cultivation, the ten objects such as the aggregates and so forth are set forth, with the aim of distinguishing and selecting the object that is to be contemplated.

Here it is likewise so; as was discussed before, because one does not see this intent, is this not delusion and error?

Question: How are the "mind-only" in "the Pure Land of mind-only, the Amitābha of one's own original nature" the same as and different from the "mind-only" in "form-only, mind-only" of the Ten Gates of Non-duality?

Answer: The Pure Land of mind-only is the aggregate-object that is contemplated; the Amitābha of one's own original nature is the Dharma-gate used for revealing, and is likewise the contemplation that does the contemplating. One need only raise the one, and both meanings are revealed. The Ten Gates of Non-duality, on the basis of the wondrous form and wondrous mind of the Three Truths, discourse upon mind-only. Therefore neither-form-nor-mind is "emptiness"; being-form, being-mind is identical to the provisional; form-only, mind-only is the Middle. This is discoursing in terms of the Middle Way that severs all opposition, and is therefore called wondrous form and wondrous mind—how could it be conflated with the mind and the aggregate-object contemplated in the Pure Land of mind-only?

Once one has examined the golden needle carefully, then afterward one need only look of oneself to know whether it is correct or not. If one sees that the bodily marks of the two bodhisattvas already resemble those of the Buddha Amitābha, then one must distinguish them clearly. The scripture states: "One need only look at the head to know whether it is Avalokiteśvara or Mahāsthāmaprāpta." Upon the crown of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara's head there is a fleshly cowl resembling a lotus flower not yet opened, pink in color, bright and glossy.

But upon the fleshly cowl of the bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta there is a jeweled vase, from which light radiates brilliantly. When reciting the names of these bodhisattvas, one should likewise contemplate the forms and marks described above. If one recites the pure ocean-assembly, then one should contemplate the devas and those of the Three Vehicles surrounding one Buddha and two bodhisattvas.

The forms and conditions of the objects and contemplations described are all the same as above.

If one does not diligently cultivate the practice, how could it be called Perfect Cultivation? Therefore, having no alternative, I have set these matters down as my hand moved; but because of my advanced age and failing eyesight, I have not had time to check the text, and there are surely many mistakes and omissions. I beg the reader's indulgence.

Three days before the Winter Solstice, in winter of the third year of the Zhida era (1310).

Notes:

[1] One zhang 一丈: an ancient Chinese unit of length measurement. One zhang equals ten chi (feet), each chi being about three Western inches and more.

[2] Ocean-assembly: the assembly of monks living in harmony, like the great ocean that has but a single salty taste.

[3] Directly contemplating the Three Paths: directly contemplating the afflictions, which is identical to prajñā; contemplating karma, which is identical to liberation; contemplating suffering, which is identical to the dharma-body.