佛說阿彌陀經 不退與發願

For five passages the sūtra has been speaking of that place: what is there, what the Buddha there is called, why he is so called. The hearer has stood outside all the while, looking on.

This passage turns the words around for the first time: “Beings who hear this should make the aspiration, wishing to be born in that land.”

Non-Retrogression Is a Property of the Place

“Those beings born in the land of Ultimate Bliss are all Abibazhi.” — Abibazhi is a Sanskrit word; its sense in Chinese is non-retrogression.

Retrogression is the most real situation of one who practises: the resolve made today has thinned by tomorrow; what was clear while reading the scripture is forgotten as soon as something happens.

Of old, non-retrogression was divided into five: trust does not retrogress, station does not retrogress, realization does not retrogress, practice does not retrogress, the afflictions do not cause retrogression.

And why does one dwelling there not retrogress? The answer is not “because that place is superb”; it is a list of five absences: no entanglement of sickness and pain, nothing that runs counter to practice, the scriptures and the Dharma constantly recited, good works constantly carried on, lasting concord with no contention.

Then one line is added: in this world people often retrogress, and turning those five around one will know why. And another: they are also drawn by objects of desire, and so have many retreats and setbacks.

Non-retrogression is not some marvellous blessing conferred; it is the sum of a set of conditions. The sūtra wrote five passages of that setting, and only here says what the setting is for.

Where Desire Remains, Turning Back Remains

In the Tang this was a real question: the palace of Maitreya in Tuṣita is also delightful and its companions are also many; why must it be the west?

The old answer is set out in ten comparisons. The most telling of them is this: in the west practice does not retrogress, in the heavenly palace practice may. For Tuṣita is still within the three realms and still has objects of desire; while objects of desire remain, retrogression remains.

The conclusion comes in eight characters: birth in the west is urged, forsaking the inferior and seeking the superior. Nor is it said that Tuṣita is bad — taken by itself Tuṣita surpasses the human world; only beside the western land does it appear slightly inferior.

The Real Reason Is the Company

The whole passage comes to rest in its last line: “For what reason? Because one can be gathered together in one place with such persons of superior goodness as these.”

So much has been said — non-retrogression, the final birth, the ten superiorities — and yet what is raised as the “for what reason” is the people.

The old gloss on this line used several pieces of this land’s own lore: to study together and bring one’s work to completion, one must rely on good conditions; Mencius’s mother moved house three times for her son’s sake, to a good place, and Confucius, thirsty, would not drink from the Robber’s Spring. To draw near the good is to stand beside orchids and take on their fragrance; to befriend the evil is to walk into a fishmonger’s stall and come away reeking.

So birth in the west is urged in order to draw near to excellent companions.

Where the Making of the Aspiration Is Placed

The order of this passage is worth seeing clearly: first what becomes of one who goes (non-retrogression, the final birth), then in the middle the one line “one should make the aspiration,” and then at once why it is worth going.

The making of the aspiration does not stand at the very front — people are not told to make it and then given the explanation; nor at the very end — it is not mentioned in passing once the reasoning is done.

The aspiration grows out of seeing clearly. It is not demanded; it is explained.

Only in the next passage does the sūtra begin to speak of how to go.

Kumārajīva’s translation, T12n0366, from “Again, Śāriputra! Those beings born in the land of Ultimate Bliss” to “gathered together in one place with such persons of superior goodness as these.” The bracketed figures at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The newly born are all non-retrogressive〕（0347b04）Again, Śāriputra! Every being born in the land of Ultimate Bliss is, without exception, Abibazhi (a Sanskrit word, also transcribed Aweiyuezhi, whose sense in Chinese is “non-retrogression”).

〔2 · Those of the final birth are very many〕（0347b05）Among them, moreover, there are many bodhisattvas of the final birth (“to supply” means to supply what is lacking; “station” means the position. Bodhisattvas of this class have their causal practice complete through the ten grounds and have passed the kalpas of three asaṃkhyeya periods; at the end of this one life alone they will attain right awakening.) Their number is very great, not such as counting can know; it can be spoken of only by the span of immeasurable, boundless asaṃkhyeya kalpas.

〔3 · Urging the aspiration for birth there〕（0347b07）Śāriputra! Beings who hear this should make the aspiration, wishing to be born in that land.

〔4 · For what reason〕（0347b08）For what reason? Because one can then be gathered together in one place with such many persons of superior goodness as these.

For five passages the sūtra has been speaking of that place: what is there, what the Buddha there is called, why he is so called.

The hearer has stood outside all the while, looking on.

This passage turns the words around for the first time: “Śāriputra! Beings who hear this should make the aspiration, wishing to be born in that land.”

The Cien line marks this as “urging birth in that land,” with “the two groups, new and old, differing in the causes of their practice” before it and “the benefit of the urged birth” after. Read as three sections together, the intent of the text becomes clear — it means to say plainly first what becomes of one who goes, and only then to open its mouth and urge people to go.

Those Born There Do Not Turn Back

“Those beings born in the land of Ultimate Bliss are all Abibazhi.”

Abibazhi is a Sanskrit word, also transcribed Aweiyuezhi; its sense in Chinese is “non-retrogression.”

Retrogression is the most real situation of one who practises. The resolve made today has thinned by tomorrow; what was clear while reading the scripture is forgotten as soon as something happens; half an hour of quiet sitting ends, one stands up, and everything is as it was. The difficulty of practice is half in the starting and half in the keeping on.

The received reading divides non-retrogression into five: trust does not retrogress, station does not retrogress, realization does not retrogress, practice does not retrogress, and the afflictions do not cause retrogression — one is not made to turn back by the afflictions. Trust will not fade, station will not be lost, what has been realized will not slip away, practice will not break off, the afflictions cannot pull one aside.

Then someone asks: dwelling in the Pure Land, why does one not retrogress?

The answer is not “because that place is superb.” It is a list of five absences: first, no entanglement of sickness and pain; second, nothing that runs counter to practice; third, the scriptures and the Dharma constantly recited; fourth, good works constantly carried on; fifth, lasting concord, with none of the matters of contention and dispute. Therefore no retrogression.

And this line matters most: “In this world people often retrogress; the reverse of these should be understood accordingly.”

Turn those five around and they are the reasons for retrogression here — sickness and pain entangling one, things running counter to practice without cease, the scriptures long unread, good works long undone, contention on every side unending. One line is added: “Moreover, being drawn by objects of desire, they have many retreats and setbacks.”

Non-retrogression is not some marvellous blessing conferred; it is the sum of a set of conditions. The sūtra wrote five passages of that setting, and only here says what the setting is for.

There Also Dwell Those Soon to Become Buddhas

“Among them there are many of the final birth, their number very great.”

What is the final birth? “To supply” means to supply what is lacking; “station” means the position. Bodhisattvas of this class have their causes complete through the ten grounds and the kalpas of three asaṃkhyeya periods fulfilled; at the end of this one life they will attain right awakening — the next position is buddhahood.

The received reading gives the instance easiest to grasp: Maitreya now dwells in the heavens and his fruit will be accomplished in the time to come; in one life he will supply the station of the Greatly Awakened One and in three assemblies deliver immeasurable multitudes. This is that class.

And of such persons there, “their number is very great, not such as counting can know; it can be spoken of only by the span of immeasurable, boundless asaṃkhyeya kalpas.”

They cannot be counted out; their multitude can be spoken of only by a length of time.

The vow of the larger Sūtra of Measureless Life takes up this very line: “Should I attain buddhahood, when the hosts of bodhisattvas of the lands of other quarters come to be born in my land, they shall each in the end reach the final birth” — by the power of the original vow, one born there enters at once the station of the final birth.

Why Not Tuṣita

Here a thoroughly practical question is raised: the palace of Maitreya in Tuṣita is also delightful and its companions are also many; why must people be urged toward the west?

In the Tang this was a real question and not a rhetorical one — ascent to Tuṣita and birth in the west were two paths running side by side.

The answer is set out in ten comparisons. The ten superiorities of the Pure Land: the dwelling of the converting master is superior, the length of life of those converted is superior, the land is not bound to the realms, the pure quarter is free of desire, no women dwell there, practice does not retrogress, the pure quarter is not defiled, the land is adorned, mindfulness of the Buddha gathers in the feelings, ten recollections bring birth in that land. The ten inferiorities of the heavenly palace answer them one by one: the land dwelt in is inferior, the lifespan of those converted is shortened, it is bound to and belongs to the realms, that heaven has desire, men and women dwell mixed together, practice may retrogress...

Of the ten, the pairing of “practice does not retrogress” against “practice may retrogress” is the most to the point. Tuṣita is still within the three realms and still has objects of desire; while objects of desire remain, retrogression remains. This is one line of reasoning with the five absent conditions above.

The conclusion comes in eight characters: “birth in the west is urged, forsaking the inferior and seeking the superior.” It is not said that Tuṣita is bad — “if one speaks of Tuṣita, it is indeed superior to the human world” — only that beside the western land it appears slightly inferior.

Why One Would Want to Go: Because of the People There

The last line is where the whole passage comes to rest: “For what reason? Because one can be gathered together in one place with such persons of superior goodness as these.”

So much has been said before — non-retrogression, the final birth, the ten superiorities — and yet what is actually raised as the “for what reason” is the company.

Who are the persons of superior goodness? Just those spoken of before: śrāvakas immeasurable and boundless, those born there who have all become non-retrogressive, bodhisattvas of the final birth beyond counting. All are in the west, gathered in one place.

And here the received reading cites several pieces of this land’s own lore to say the thing, a usage rare in the whole commentary:

To study under the same teacher and bring one’s work to completion, one must rely on good conditions; and households that turn to enmity are always sustained by evil factions. Mencius’s mother moved house three times for her son’s sake, to a good place; Confucius, thirsty, would not drink from the Robber’s Spring — both because they were ashamed of evil and longed for good. To draw near the good is to stand beside orchids and take on their fragrance; to befriend the evil is to walk into a fishmonger’s stall and come away reeking.

So birth in the west is urged in order to draw near to excellent companions.

The Newly Born and the Long Resident, in One Place

There is a structure hidden in this passage that is easy to slide past.

The received reading marks it as “the two groups, new and old, differing in the causes of their practice” — those newly born, and those long since there, differ in their causal practice. The newly born “are all Abibazhi,” non-retrogressive from the moment of arrival; among the long resident “there are many of the final birth,” whose next step is buddhahood.

At one end are those just through the door; at the other, those about to graduate. And the sūtra writes them into the front and the back of a single sentence, with nothing between but the words “among them.”

This is the same manner of writing as the roster of the introduction. There Śāriputra, whose wisdom stood out, was listed together with Cūḍapanthaka, born beside a road; the arhats who had cut off the afflictions were listed together with Ānanda, who was still in training. Here those newly born are set in one land with those about to become buddhas.

The distance is not wiped out — non-retrogression and the final birth are two different stations, and the sūtra says so plainly. But neither does the distance become a partition: they are “gathered together in one place.”

So that last line, “gathered together in one place with such persons of superior goodness as these,” is not saying “one day you will be in the company of formidable people.” It says that there, the difference of station does not constitute separation. Those who have just arrived and those about to become buddhas are within one assembly.

Study and practice here often mean that what is above is out of reach when one looks up, and there is no one to talk with when one looks down. There it is not so.

Two Things Within One Passage

Look back at the structure of this passage: first what becomes of one who goes (non-retrogression, the final birth), then why it is worth going (the ten superiorities and inferiorities, the persons of superior goodness), and between them the one line “one should make the aspiration.”

That the making of the aspiration is placed just here is deliberate. It does not stand at the very front — people are not told to make the aspiration and then given the explanation; nor at the very end — it is not mentioned in passing once the reasoning is done. It is set between “what the people there are like” and “who the people there are.”

The aspiration grows out of seeing clearly. The sūtra first writes that place plainly, then says the one line that one should make the aspiration, and then at once supplies a reason. The aspiration is not demanded; it is explained.

Only in the next passage does the sūtra begin to speak of how to go.

Carrying Forward — One Way Weighs Superior and Inferior, One Way Chants Non-Retrogression

Above is the meaning of this passage itself. Below, two Tang eyes cast their light from the side — the mirror is not the sūtra; only the same urging of the aspiration, seen through two ways of reading.

The Cien line is the reading of Kuiji’s Comprehensive Praise Commentary. The division of non-retrogression into five, the answer of the five absent conditions, the gloss on the final birth, the instance of Maitreya, the pairing of the ten superiorities against the ten inferiorities, the sense of “persons of superior goodness” — the whole frame of the present piece comes from there. And that in explaining the final birth he cites the vows of the larger sūtra as witness is one more instance of reading the shorter sūtra and taking witness from the larger (the first at the passage of the many birds, on “there are no three evil destinies”).

What shows his manner of reading most in this passage is that set of allusions from this land: Mencius’s mother, the Robber’s Spring, the fragrant orchid, the fishmonger’s stall. Throughout the Comprehensive Praise Commentary on this sūtra his figures are drawn mostly from within the Buddhist canon; at the line “gathered together in one place with persons of superior goodness” he suddenly takes up Confucian examples. The principle of choosing one’s friends and one’s dwelling was something readers of this land already knew — and he borrows that ready knowledge to say a matter of the Buddha’s Dharma.

The Shandao line recites this whole passage in the Liturgical Hymns, and in the hymn there is a line of his own: “The nine grades alike turn back and gain non-retrogression. Abibazhi is precisely non-arising.” Those born in the nine grades all turn back into non-retrogression, and Abibazhi is precisely non-arising. The way of doctrinal analysis divides non-retrogression into five kinds and lists the five absent conditions; the way of ritual practice finishes the chant in seven characters: Abibazhi is precisely non-arising.

One way sets the two paths of birth side by side and weighs them; the other chants non-retrogression into a hymn. Both are recorded without adjudication, each restored to its own place.