佛說阿彌陀經 聞名執持
《阿彌陀經》一千八百多字，真正說『要怎麼去』的，只有這一段——一百五十來字。
行法之前的那句否定
「舍利弗！不可以少善根福德因緣得生彼國。」
說行法之前，先說了一句否定。它擋住的是一個很自然的想法：那裡既然那麼好，隨便做點善事、隨便念幾聲，總該有機會吧。
不可以。
但這句話立刻引出一個矛盾：既然十念也能往生，何以又說少善根不生？
古來的答覆很平實：說十念得生，是為了接引懈怠的人；說要多善因緣，是為了對治精進的人。或廣或略，道理並不相違。
同一件事，對不同的人要說不同的話。
持的不是音節
「若有善男子、善女人，聞說阿彌陀佛，執持名號」。
怎麼聞？古來給了兩條路：從善友那裡聽到，或者自己翻閱經典。
然後是持名。不是觀想，不是修定，不是誦一部長經——是持住一個名字。
而這個名字前一段剛解釋過：光明無量、壽命無量。所以持的不是一串音節，是那兩件事：遍照無礙，永不斷絕。
可以自己查的四個字
這四個字是全經的重心。
古來的解釋樸素得出人意料，沒有推到三昧的高度：一心，是中間更沒有間隔；不亂，是專注而不散。
就這樣。一心＝不間斷，不亂＝不散亂。
這個解釋的好處是可以被檢查。三昧深淺無從自量，但有沒有斷、有沒有散，當下就知道。它把一個聽起來很高的要求，還原成一件可以著手的事。
「若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日、若五日、若六日、若七日」——七個「若」連下，是全經唯一一處這樣的排比。經文沒有規定必須七日，一到七都列出來，一個不省。
自己站住，還是被扶住
「其人臨命終時，阿彌陀佛與諸聖眾，現在其前。」「是人終時，心不顛倒，即得往生阿彌陀佛極樂國土。」
不顛倒是什麼意思？——不移正念。
不是沒有痛苦，不是身體安穩，不是走得漂亮。是那一刻，心裡的正念沒有被移開。
有一件事要誠實說出來：玄奘的譯本在同一個位置作「慈悲加祐，令心不亂」——說那心之所以不亂，是佛的慈悲加祐使然。
一個像是自己站住了，一個像是被扶住了。這一處差別牽涉自力與他力之判，二本並錄，不判孰為正義。
念佛怎麼抵得過那麼多惡業
最重的一個疑難：惡業無量無邊，念幾天佛怎麼消得掉？
古來答以三義三譬——造罪用的是虛妄心，念佛用的是真實心，以實除虛，就像千年的黑暗擋不住早晨第一道日光；造罪是染污的意，念佛是清淨的心，淨勝染劣，就像小孩揮刀能斷千丈之索，一星火花能燒萬束之薪。
三個譬喻是同一個意思：量大不等於力強。
惡業的量，與念佛的質，不在同一個秤上。
The Amitābha Sūtra runs to something over eighteen hundred characters. The part that actually says how one goes there is this passage alone — some hundred and fifty characters.
The Negation That Comes Before the Practice
“Śāriputra! One cannot, with meagre roots of goodness, merit, and causal conditions, attain birth in that land.”
Before the practice is stated, a negation is stated. What it blocks is a very natural thought: that land being so good, surely a little good done here and there, a few recitations uttered as they come, must leave one some chance.
One cannot.
But this line at once draws out a contradiction: since ten moments of mindfulness also bring birth there, why is it said that meagre roots of goodness do not?
The answer handed down is thoroughly plain: to say that ten moments attain birth is to draw in those who are indolent; to say that abundant good and causal conditions are required is to address those who are diligent. Whether stated at length or in brief, the principle is not contradicted.
One and the same matter must be spoken of differently to different people.
What Is Held Is Not a String of Syllables
“If there be a good man or a good woman who hears others speak of the Buddha Amitābha and holds fast to the name.”
And how is it heard? Two routes are handed down: hearing it from a good friend, or searching out and reading the scriptures oneself.
Then comes the holding of the name. Not visualization, not the cultivation of concentration, not the recitation of a long sūtra — it is holding on to a name.
And this name the preceding passage explained only a moment ago: light measureless, life measureless. What is held is not a string of syllables but those two things: illumination that pervades without obstruction, and that which never comes to an end.
Four Words You Can Check for Yourself
These four characters are the centre of gravity of the whole sūtra.
The explanation handed down is plain beyond expectation, and does not raise the phrase to the height of samādhi: single-minded means there is no interval at all in between; undisturbed means focused and unscattered.
That is all. Single-minded equals unbroken; undisturbed equals unscattered.
The merit of this explanation is that it can be checked. The depth or shallowness of samādhi cannot be measured by oneself, but whether there has been a break, and whether there has been scattering, is known at once. It reduces a requirement that sounds very high to something that can be taken in hand.
“Whether one day, or two days, or three days, or four days, or five days, or six days, or seven days” — seven occurrences of “whether” running on in succession, the only such parallelism in the whole sūtra. The sūtra does not prescribe seven days; it sets out one through seven, omitting none.
Standing on One's Own, or Being Held Up
“When that person draws near the end of life, the Buddha Amitābha, together with the whole holy multitude, appears before him.” “At the time of this person’s death, the mind is not inverted, and he straightway attains birth in the land of Ultimate Bliss of the Buddha Amitābha.”
What does “not inverted” mean? — right mindfulness is not moved.
Not the absence of pain, not a body at ease, not a graceful departure. It is that in that moment the right mindfulness within has not been moved away.
One thing must be said honestly: Xuanzang’s translation reads, at the very same position, “compassion adds its protection, causing the mind not to be disturbed” — saying that the mind’s freedom from disturbance comes about through the Buddha’s compassion adding its protection.
The one is as though he stood firm of himself; the other as though he were held up. This divergence touches the adjudication of self-power and other-power. Both recensions are recorded, and no judgement is made as to which is the right meaning.
How Could Mindfulness of the Buddha Match So Much Evil Karma?
The weightiest difficulty: evil karma is measureless and boundless; how could a few days’ mindfulness of the Buddha wipe it out?
The answer handed down is in three reasons with three similes — the mind that commits offences is a false and deluded mind, the mind mindful of the Buddha is a true and real mind, and to remove the false by means of the real is as a thousand years of darkness cannot withstand the first light of morning; committing offences is a defiled intent, mindfulness of the Buddha a pure mind, and the pure being superior to the defiled inferior is as a child wielding a blade can cut through a rope a thousand fathoms long, and a single spark of fire can burn ten thousand bundles of firewood.
The three similes say one thing: great quantity is not the same as great strength.
The quantity of evil karma and the quality of mindfulness of the Buddha are not weighed on the same scale.
大正藏 T12n0366〔起 T12 0347b09〕。段／行首〔T12 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔T12 0347b09〕「舍利弗！不可以少善根福德因緣得生彼國。舍利弗！若有善男子、善女人，聞說阿彌陀佛，執持名號，若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日、若五日、若六日、若七日，一心不亂。其人臨命終時，阿彌陀佛與諸聖眾，現在其前。是人終時，心不顛倒，即得往生阿彌陀佛極樂國土。舍利弗！我見是利，故說此言。若有眾生聞是說者，應當發願生彼國土。
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
姚秦鳩摩羅什譯《佛說阿彌陀經》T12n0366，自「舍利弗！不可以少善根福德因緣得生彼國」至「應當發願生彼國土」。段首（…）＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔一·遮少善〕（0347b09）舍利弗！不可以用微少的善根、福德、因緣，得以生到那個國土。
〔二·說多因·執持名號〕（0347b10）舍利弗！如果有善男子（梵語烏波索迦，漢語意思是「近事男」，能堅持五戒、堪可親近承事比丘僧）、善女人（梵語烏波斯迦，也持五戒、堪可承事比丘尼），聽到人說阿彌陀佛，就執持這個名號，或者一天、或者兩天、或者三天、或者四天、或者五天、或者六天、或者七天，一心不亂（「一心」是說中間更沒有間隔，「不亂」是說專注而不散）。
〔三·聖眾來迎〕（0347b13）這個人臨到命終的時候，阿彌陀佛與許多聖眾，就現在他的面前。
〔四·眾生往生〕（0347b14）這個人命終的時候，心不顛倒（也就是不移動正念），就能夠往生到阿彌陀佛的極樂國土。
〔五·結勸往生〕（0347b15）舍利弗！我看見這樣的利益，所以說這番話。如果有眾生聽到這番話，應當發願，生到那個國土去。
Kumārajīva’s translation, T12n0366, from “Śāriputra! One cannot, with meagre roots of goodness, merit, and causal conditions, attain birth in that land” to “they should set forth the aspiration to be born in that land.” The bracketed figures at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.
〔1 · Barring the meagre good〕（0347b09）Śāriputra! One cannot, by means of meagre roots of goodness, meagre merit, and meagre causal conditions, attain birth in that land.
〔2 · Declaring the abundant causes · holding fast to the name〕（0347b10）Śāriputra! If there be a good man (Sanskrit upāsaka, which in Chinese means “a man who draws near and serves” — one able to keep the five precepts firmly and fit to draw near and serve the saṅgha of bhikṣus) or a good woman (Sanskrit upāsikā, who likewise keeps the five precepts and is fit to serve the bhikṣuṇīs), who hears others speak of the Buddha Amitābha and thereupon holds fast to this name — whether for one day, or two days, or three days, or four days, or five days, or six days, or seven days — single-minded and undisturbed (“single-minded” says that there is no interval at all in between; “undisturbed” says focused and unscattered).
〔3 · The holy multitude comes to welcome〕（0347b13）When this person draws near the end of life, the Buddha Amitābha, together with the whole holy multitude, appears before him.
〔4 · Birth in that land〕（0347b14）At the time of this person’s death, the mind is not inverted (that is, right mindfulness is not moved), and he is able to attain birth in the land of Ultimate Bliss of the Buddha Amitābha.
〔5 · The concluding exhortation to birth there〕（0347b15）Śāriputra! Seeing a benefit such as this, I therefore speak these words. If there are beings who hear these words, they should set forth the aspiration to be born in that land.
《阿彌陀經》一千八百多字，寫那個國土用了六段，寫佛名用了一段，勸發願用了一段。真正說『要怎麼去』的，只有這一段。
而這一段只有一百五十來字。
慈恩一路把它判為正宗分第二大文「明極樂之因殊」，分五節：遮少善、說多因、聖眾來迎、眾生生往、結勸往生。從遮除一個錯誤的想法起，到指出正行，到臨終之相，到往生之果，到再勸一次——一段之內走完全程。
先關一扇門
「舍利弗！不可以少善根福德因緣得生彼國。」
經文說行法之前，先說了一句否定。
這一句常被讀得很快，其實它擋住的是一種很自然的想法：那裡既然那麼好，隨便做點善事、隨便念幾聲，總該有機會吧。
不可以。
而這一句立刻引出一個尖銳的矛盾。歷來的注家自己把它問了出來：既然說十念彌陀就能頓生淨土，那果報如此顯著而因行如此微少，為什麼這裡又說少善因緣不能生？
答得極其平實：十念得生淨土，是為了接引懈怠的眾生；反過來談多善因緣，是為了對治精進勤學的人。或廣或略，道理並不相違。
同一件事，對不同的人要說不同的話。對懈怠的人說「十念也能生」，是不讓他放棄；對用功的人說「少善根不能生」，是不讓他輕忽。兩句話都是真的，只是各有各的對象。
這個回答值得記住。淨土教裡「易行」與「難行」之爭，多半起於把一句對別人說的話當成對自己說的。
執持名號
「若有善男子、善女人，聞說阿彌陀佛，執持名號」。
善男子的梵語是烏波索迦，漢語意思是「近事男」——能堅持五戒、堪可親近承事比丘僧的人；善女人是烏波斯迦，同樣持五戒、承事比丘尼。這兩個稱呼不是泛稱一切人，是有分量的。
「聞說阿彌陀佛」怎麼聞？歷來的讀法給了兩條路：一是從善友那裡聽到這阿彌陀教中往生之事，二是自己翻閱經典。有人講給你聽，或者自己讀到——兩條都算。
然後是「執持名號」。
不是觀想，不是修定，不是誦一部長經。是持住一個名字。
而這個名字，經文在前一段剛剛解釋過：光明無量、壽命無量。所以持的不是一串音節，是那兩件事——遍照無礙，與永不斷絕。
一心不亂
這四個字是全經的重心，也是歷代爭論最多的四個字。
慈恩一路的解釋非常樸素，沒有把它推到三昧的高度：
執持佛名號一日乃至七日「一心」的意思，是中間更沒有間隔，所以叫一心；「不亂」的意思，是專注而不散。
就這樣。一心＝不間斷，不亂＝不散亂。
這個解釋的好處在於它可以被檢查。三昧深淺無從自量，但「有沒有斷」「有沒有散」是當下就知道的。它把一個聽起來很高的要求，還原成一件可以著手的事。
至於「若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日、若五日、若六日、若七日」——七個「若」字連下來，是全經唯一一處這樣的排比。經文沒有規定必須七日，它把一到七都列出來，一個都不省。
玄奘的譯本在這裡作「若一日夜，或二、或三、或四、或五、或六、或七，繫念不亂」——簡潔，但也少了那份一個一個數過去的鄭重。
誰可以念
這裡有一個唐代讀者真實的疑難，注家把它提了出來：《淨土論》說「女人及根缺，二乘種不生」，那女子與六根有缺的人豈不是去不了？與這裡說的善男子善女人如何相違？
答覆是：只要女子念佛，心意專精，命終欲生，便轉成男子而生淨土，有什麼不可以；根缺的人也是一樣。
這個回答用的是當時的語言與世界觀，今一字不改地轉述，也不代它改寫。要看清楚的是它所作的事：它把一句看似排除人的經文，讀成一句不排除人的話。
疏家還連引了幾部經來說念佛之行：《文殊般若經》說隨彼國土佛名一心誦念、願往生者必得往生；《觀佛三昧經》說念佛三昧欲得成就有五因緣——持戒不犯、不起邪見、不生諂慢、不恚不嫉、勇健精進；《鼓音聲經》說七日七夜六時禮拜；《賢愚經》說持戒專念七日亦得往生。
一段之內引了七部經論。這不是炫博，是在說：持名這件事，不是這一部小經孤零零的主張。
臨命終時
「其人臨命終時，阿彌陀佛與諸聖眾，現在其前。」
「其人」是誰？就是前面那個七日念佛的行人。「臨命終時」，是這一報壽命將要終了的時候。那時候，那位佛與極樂國土的菩薩、聲聞現身在念佛修行人的面前。
歷來的注家在這裡舉了一個實例：如梁朝的珍禪師，見到白銀臺，或見化佛來迎。
一個具體的人名，一個具體的景象。經文說的事，在疏家的時代已經有人說自己遇見了。
心不顛倒
「是人終時，心不顛倒，即得往生阿彌陀佛極樂國土。」
不顛倒是什麼意思？——不移正念。
不是沒有痛苦，不是身體安穩，不是走得漂亮。是那一刻，心裡的正念沒有被移開。
而這裡有一件事必須誠實說出來。玄奘的譯本在同一個位置作：「慈悲加祐，令心不亂。」
羅什本說「是人終時，心不顛倒」——那是行者自己的心相；玄奘本說是佛的慈悲加祐使他的心不亂。
一個像是自己站住了，一個像是被扶住了。
這一處差別不是文字之異，它牽涉到自力與他力之判。二本並錄，一字不改，不判孰為正義——此非譯注所能決。
念佛怎麼可能抵得過那麼多惡業
最後一個疑難，也是最重的一個：眾生的惡業無量無邊，念幾天佛怎麼可能消得掉，就能往生淨土？
疏家引《十疑論》答以三義，每一義配一個譬喻：
一是在心：造罪用的是虛妄心，念佛用的是真實心；以真實除虛妄有什麼不可以——就像千年的黑暗，擋不住早晨第一道日光。
二是在境：造罪所緣的是顛倒的境界，念佛所緣的是勝妙的功德；以真遣偽有什麼不可以。
三是在淨：造罪是染污的意，念佛是清淨的心；淨勝染劣，哪裡能相比——就像小孩子揮刀能斬斷千丈長的繩索，一星火花能燒盡萬束柴薪。
三個譬喻是同一個意思：量大不等於力強。千年的暗積得再厚，也不能與一線光相抗；千丈的索綁得再長，一刀就斷；萬束的薪堆得再高，一星火就著。
惡業的量，與念佛的質，不在同一個秤上。
承衍——二鏡同釋一心不亂
上來是本段自身的義。此下另以唐代兩副眼旁照——鏡非經，只是同一個行法，換兩種讀法來看。
慈恩一路是窺基《通贊疏》的讀法，而本段是全帙引證最密之處——一段之內引《淨土論》《文殊般若經》《觀佛三昧經》《鼓音聲經》《賢愚經》《平等覺經》《大阿彌陀經》《十疑論》《觀經》《華嚴》，凡十部。
他釋「一心不亂」不入三昧之高，只以「更無間隔」「專注無散」二義定之；釋「心不顛倒」只以「不移正念」四字了之。全段最要之四語，他都解得極短——與他釋六鳥羽色、釋七寶梵名時的鋪陳截然不同。
要緊的地方他反而不多說。這也是一種讀經的分寸。
善導一路在《法事讚》中全文轉誦本段——他的誦本也作「心不顛倒」，與羅什底本同——誦畢接一段高讚，其中有兩句正面釋這個行法：「教念彌陀專復專」「七日七夜心無間」。
把兩面鏡子擺在一起看：慈恩說一心是「更無間隔」、不亂是「專注無散」；善導唱的是「專復專」「心無間」。一個用義解的語言，一個用讚唄的語言，說的竟是同一件事——不間斷，不散亂。
唐代兩條路數迥異的讀法，在全經最要緊的四個字上相遇了。並錄不判，不作源流之辨。
一路把行相拆到可以著手，一路把行相唱進讚裡。並錄不判，各還其位。
The Amitābha Sūtra runs to something over eighteen hundred characters. Six passages describe that land, one passage describes the Buddha’s name, one passage exhorts the setting forth of aspiration. The passage that actually says how one goes there is this one alone.
And this passage is only some hundred and fifty characters long.
The Cien line judges it to be the second major section of the main body, “the distinctiveness of the causes of Ultimate Bliss,” and divides it into five sections: barring the meagre good, declaring the abundant causes, the holy multitude coming to welcome, beings going and being born there, and the concluding exhortation to birth there. From the removal of one mistaken notion, to the pointing out of the right practice, to the marks of the end of life, to the fruit of birth in that land, to one more exhortation — within a single passage the whole course is run.
First a Door Is Closed
“Śāriputra! One cannot, with meagre roots of goodness, merit, and causal conditions, attain birth in that land.”
Before the sūtra states the practice, it states a negation.
This line is often read past quickly. What it in fact blocks is a very natural thought: that land being so good, surely a little good done here and there, a few recitations uttered as they come, must leave one some chance.
One cannot.
And this line immediately draws out a sharp contradiction. The commentators of old put the question themselves: since it is said that ten moments of mindfulness of Amitābha bring immediate birth in the Pure Land, so that the fruit is conspicuous while the cause is slight, why is it said here that meagre good and causal conditions do not bring birth there?
The answer given is thoroughly plain: that ten moments of mindfulness attain birth in the Pure Land is meant to draw in beings who are indolent; that abundant good and causal conditions are spoken of instead is meant for those who are diligent and studious. Whether stated at length or in brief, the principle is not contradicted.
One and the same matter must be spoken of differently to different people. To the indolent, “ten moments of mindfulness will also bring birth there” — so that they do not give up. To those already at work, “meagre roots of goodness will not bring birth there” — so that they do not take it lightly. Both sentences are true; each has its own hearer.
That answer is worth keeping. In the Pure Land teaching the dispute between easy practice and difficult practice arises for the most part from taking a sentence spoken to someone else as spoken to oneself.
Holding Fast to the Name
“If there be a good man or a good woman who hears others speak of the Buddha Amitābha and holds fast to the name.”
The Sanskrit for “good man” is upāsaka, which in Chinese means “a man who draws near and serves” — one able to keep the five precepts firmly and fit to draw near and serve the saṅgha of bhikṣus; “good woman” is upāsikā, who likewise keeps the five precepts and serves the bhikṣuṇīs. These two designations are not general terms for everyone; they carry weight.
And how is the Buddha Amitābha heard spoken of? The readings handed down give two routes: one is to hear of the matter of birth in that land, within this teaching of Amitābha, from a good friend; the other is to search out and read the scriptures oneself. Someone speaks of it in your hearing, or you come upon it in your own reading — both count.
Then comes the holding fast to the name.
Not visualization, not the cultivation of concentration, not the recitation of a long sūtra. It is holding on to a name.
And this name the sūtra explained only a passage ago: light measureless, life measureless. What is held, then, is not a string of syllables but those two things — illumination that pervades without obstruction, and that which never comes to an end.
Single-Minded and Undisturbed
These four characters are the centre of gravity of the whole sūtra, and also the four over which there has been the most dispute.
The explanation of the Cien line is remarkably plain, and does not raise the phrase to the height of samādhi:
the meaning of “single-minded,” in holding fast to the Buddha’s name for one day up to seven days, is that there is no interval at all in between, and that is why it is called single-mindedness; the meaning of “undisturbed” is focused and unscattered.
That is all. Single-minded equals unbroken; undisturbed equals unscattered.
The merit of this explanation is that it can be checked. The depth or shallowness of samādhi cannot be measured by oneself, but whether there has been a break, and whether there has been scattering, is known at once. It reduces a requirement that sounds very high to something that can be taken in hand.
As for “whether one day, or two days, or three days, or four days, or five days, or six days, or seven days” — seven occurrences of “whether” running on in succession, the only such parallelism in the whole sūtra. The sūtra does not prescribe that it must be seven days; it sets out one through seven, omitting none.
Xuanzang’s translation reads here “whether for one day and night, or two, or three, or four, or five, or six, or seven, the thought bound fast and undisturbed” — concise, but wanting that gravity of counting them off one by one.
Who May Be Mindful
Here is a difficulty real to a Tang reader, which a commentator raised: the Treatise on the Pure Land says that women, those deficient in faculties, and those of the two-vehicle seed are not born there. Would women, then, and those deficient in the six faculties, be unable to go? And how does that stand against the good man and good woman spoken of here?
The reply: simply, when a woman is mindful of the Buddha with utmost intent and concentration, and at the end of life wishes to be born there, she is turned into a man and thereupon born in the Pure Land — what is there in this that cannot be? So too for those deficient in faculties.
This reply uses the language and the world-picture of its own time; it is transmitted here without the alteration of a character, and no rewriting is done on its behalf. What is to be seen clearly is what it does: it reads a scriptural sentence that appears to exclude people as a sentence that excludes no one.
Several sūtras are further cited in succession on the practice of mindfulness of the Buddha: the Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says that one who recites single-mindedly according to the name of the buddha of that land, and aspires to be born there, will certainly attain birth there; the Sūtra on the Samādhi of Contemplating the Buddha says that for the samādhi of mindfulness of the Buddha to be brought to completion there are five causal conditions — keeping the precepts without transgression, not giving rise to wrong views, not producing flattery or arrogance, neither hating nor envying, valiant and vigorous exertion; the Sūtra of the Drum Sound says: for seven days and seven nights make obeisance at the six periods; the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish says that keeping the precepts and being intently mindful for seven days likewise attains birth there.
Seven works of sūtra and treatise cited within a single passage. This is no display of erudition; it says: holding the name is not the isolated claim of this one short sūtra.
When Drawing Near the End of Life
“When that person draws near the end of life, the Buddha Amitābha, together with the whole holy multitude, appears before him.”
Who is “that person”? Just the practitioner of the seven days’ mindfulness spoken of above. “When drawing near the end of life” is when the lifespan of this one recompense is about to come to its end. At that time, that Buddha, with the bodhisattvas and the śrāvakas of the land of Ultimate Bliss, appears before the one who has been practising mindfulness of the Buddha.
The commentators of old give an instance here: as the meditation master Zhen of the Liang dynasty saw a terrace of white silver, or saw transformation-buddhas coming to welcome him.
A definite name, a definite scene. What the sūtra speaks of, someone in the commentator’s own age had already said he met with.
The Mind Not Inverted
“At the time of this person’s death, the mind is not inverted, and he straightway attains birth in the land of Ultimate Bliss of the Buddha Amitābha.”
What does “not inverted” mean? — right mindfulness is not moved.
Not the absence of pain, not a body at ease, not a graceful departure. It is that in that moment the right mindfulness within has not been moved away.
And here one thing must be said honestly. Xuanzang’s translation reads, at the very same position: “compassion adds its protection, causing the mind not to be disturbed.”
Kumārajīva’s recension says “at the time of this person’s death, the mind is not inverted” — that is the state of the practitioner’s own mind; Xuanzang’s recension says that it is the Buddha’s compassion, adding its protection, that causes his mind not to be disturbed.
The one is as though he stood firm of himself; the other as though he were held up.
This divergence is not one of wording; it touches the adjudication of self-power and other-power. Both recensions are recorded, not one character altered, and no judgement is made as to which is the right meaning — this is not for a translation with notes to decide.
How Could Mindfulness of the Buddha Ever Match So Much Evil Karma?
The last difficulty, and the weightiest: beings’ evil karma is measureless and boundless; how could a few days’ mindfulness of the Buddha ever wipe it out, so that one attains birth in the Pure Land?
The answer, drawn from the Treatise on Ten Doubts, is in three reasons, each reason paired with a simile:
The first lies in the mind: the mind that commits offences is a false and deluded mind, while the mind mindful of the Buddha is a true and real mind; to remove the false by means of the real — what is there in this that cannot be? It is as a thousand years of darkness cannot withstand the first light of morning.
The second lies in the object: what the committing of offences takes as its object is an inverted realm, while what mindfulness of the Buddha takes as its object is excellent and wondrous merit; to dispel the counterfeit by the true — what is there in this that cannot be?
The third lies in purity: committing offences is a defiled intent, mindfulness of the Buddha a pure mind; the pure being superior and the defiled inferior, how are they to be set against one another? It is as a child wielding a blade can cut through a rope a thousand fathoms long, and a single spark of fire can burn ten thousand bundles of firewood.
The three similes say one thing: great quantity is not the same as great strength. However thick a thousand years of darkness has piled up, it cannot stand against a single line of light; however long a rope of a thousand fathoms is bound, one stroke severs it; however high ten thousand bundles of firewood are heaped, one spark sets them alight.
The quantity of evil karma and the quality of mindfulness of the Buddha are not weighed on the same scale.
Carrying Forward — Two Mirrors, One Reading of “Single-Minded and Undisturbed”
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 practice, seen through two ways of reading.
The Cien line is the reading of Kuiji’s Comprehensive Praise Commentary, and this passage is the most densely documented place in the whole edition: within one passage he cites the Treatise on the Pure Land, the Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, the Sūtra on the Samādhi of Contemplating the Buddha, the Sūtra of the Drum Sound, the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish, the Sūtra of Equal Awakening, the Great Amitābha Sūtra, the Treatise on Ten Doubts, the Contemplation Sūtra, and the Flower Ornament — ten works in all.
He explains “single-minded and undisturbed” without raising it to the height of samādhi, fixing it by the two senses “no interval at all in between” and “focused and unscattered”; and he settles “the mind not inverted” with four characters only: right mindfulness is not moved. The four weightiest phrases in the whole passage he explains most briefly of all — quite unlike the elaboration with which he treats the plumage of the six birds, or the Sanskrit names of the seven precious substances.
Where the matter is weightiest he says least. That too is a measure in the reading of scripture.
The Shandao line recites this whole passage in the Liturgical Hymns — his recited text also reads “the mind is not inverted,” agreeing with Kumārajīva’s base text — and the recitation is followed by a lofty hymn, within which two lines expound this practice directly: “taught mindfulness of Amitābha, concentrated and concentrated again,” and “for seven days and seven nights the mind is without interval.”
Set the two mirrors side by side: the Cien line says that single-mindedness is “no interval at all in between” and that undisturbedness is “focused and unscattered”; the Shandao line sings “concentrated and concentrated again,” “the mind without interval.” One uses the language of doctrinal exposition, the other the language of hymn — and what they say turns out to be the same thing: unbroken, unscattered.
Two Tang ways of reading, utterly unlike in method, meet on the four most important characters in the whole sūtra. Recorded in parallel without adjudication; no argument is made as to source and derivation.
One takes the shape of the practice apart until it can be taken in hand; the other sings the shape of the practice into a hymn. Recorded in parallel without adjudication, each restored to its own place.
考據Apparatus
全段定位 本段為正宗分第二大文「明極樂之因殊」之全域，是全經唯一正說行法之處——「執持名號」「一心不亂」「心不顛倒」三語皆出此段。窺基於此分五節：遮少善、說多因、聖眾來迎、眾生生往、結勸往生。二本於此有一處極重之異：羅什作「是人終時，心不顛倒」，玄奘作「慈悲加祐，令心不亂」——一屬行者自持，一屬佛力加祐；本帙並錄不判。
一、科判定位
「自下第二舉極樂之因殊。文分五段：一、遮少善；二、說多因；三、聖眾來迎；四、眾生生往；五、結勸往生。」〔T37n1758 0343b01〕
| 疏節 | 經文所據 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 一·遮少善 | 「不可以少善根福德因緣得生彼國。」 | 〔T12n0366 0347b09〕 |
| 二·說多因 | 「聞說阿彌陀佛，執持名號」〔T12n0366 0347b10〕…「一心不亂。」 | 〔T12n0366 0347b12〕 |
| 三·聖眾來迎 | 「其人臨命終時，阿彌陀佛與諸聖眾，現在其前。」 | 〔T12n0366 0347b13〕 |
| 四·眾生生往 | 「是人終時，心不顛倒，即得往生阿彌陀佛極樂國土。」 | 〔T12n0366 0347b14〕 |
| 五·結勸往生 | 「若有眾生聞是說者，應當發願生彼國土。」 | 〔T12n0366 0347b16〕 |
疏標各節：「第二說多因也。」〔T37n1758 0343b15〕、「第三聖眾來迎也。」〔T37n1758 0343c07〕、「第四眾生往生。」〔T37n1758 0343c13〕。本段跨疏之卷界——通贊疏卷中訖於「理不相違」〔T37n1758 0343b07〕，卷下自「舍利弗！若有善男子、善女人聞說阿彌陀」〔T37n1758 0343b13〕起。
二、異譯對勘（T367 玄奘本·異同誌錄不判）
| 位 | 羅什 T12n0366 | 玄奘 T12n0367 |
|---|---|---|
| 所聞之境 | 「聞說阿彌陀佛」〔T12n0366 0347b10〕 | 「得聞如是無量壽佛無量無邊不可思議功德名號、極樂世界功德莊嚴，聞已思惟」〔T12n0367 0350a07〕——兼舉佛名與國土莊嚴，且加「思惟」一節 |
| 行法 | 「執持名號，若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日、若五日、若六日、若七日，一心不亂。」〔T12n0366 0347b11〕 | 「若一日夜，或二、或三、或四、或五、或六、或七，繫念不亂。」〔T12n0367 0350a09〕——作「一日夜」，作「繫念不亂」 |
| 來迎 | 「阿彌陀佛與諸聖眾，現在其前。」〔T12n0366 0347b13〕 | 「無量壽佛與其無量聲聞弟子、菩薩眾俱前後圍繞，來住其前」〔T12n0367 0350a11〕 |
| 心之不亂由誰 | 「是人終時，心不顛倒，即得往生阿彌陀佛極樂國土。」〔T12n0366 0347b14〕 | 「慈悲加祐，令心不亂；既捨命已，隨佛眾會，生無量壽極樂世界清淨佛土。」〔T12n0367 0350a13〕 |
| 結勸 | 「若有眾生聞是說者，應當發願生彼國土。」〔T12n0366 0347b16〕 | 「一切皆應信受發願，如說修行，生彼佛土。」〔T12n0367 0350a18〕——多「如說修行」一節 |
誌錄不判五事，其中第四事最重：羅什本「心不顛倒」為行者臨終之心相，玄奘本「慈悲加祐，令心不亂」則明言其不亂由佛之加祐而致。二本於同一位置各出一語，本帙一字不改，二說並錄，不判孰為正義——此非文字之異而涉自力他力之判，非本帙可決，逐條誌錄。
三、經論宗依（眼）
窺基釋本段引經論十部，為全帙一段之最：
- 「《淨土論》云：女人及根缺，二乘種不生。」〔T37n1758 0343b23〕
- 「《文殊般若經》云：若人欲生他方現在淨妙國土者，應當隨彼國土佛名，一心誦念，願往生者，必得往生。」〔T37n1758 0343b26〕——corpus 內對讀點：
canon/prajna/wenshu/ - 「《觀佛三昧經》云：此念佛三昧，欲使成就，有五因緣：一、持戒不犯；二、不起邪見；三、不生諂慢；四、不恚不嫉；五、勇健精進。」〔T37n1758 0343b28〕
- 「《鼓音聲經》云：令念彼佛名號，七日七夜六時禮拜。」〔T37n1758 0343c02〕
- 「《賢愚經》云：持戒專念七日，亦得往生。」〔T37n1758 0343c03〕
- 「《平等覺經》及《大阿彌陀經》並說三輩得生」〔T37n1758 0343c04〕
- 「《十疑論》說有三義故能敵惡業」〔T37n1758 0343c17〕
- 「又《觀經》云：於念念中滅除八十億劫生死之罪。」〔T37n1758 0343c25〕
- 「又《華嚴》云：將欲沒者令其憶念想見如來，命終得生淨土。」〔T37n1758 0343c28〕
四、本段釋要（通贊疏逐文）
少善與多善之難——遮少善節末，疏自設一問：
「十念彌陀頓生淨土，據斯所說果著因微，何故少善因緣不生彼土？」〔T37n1758 0343b04〕
答曰：「十念得生淨土，接引懈怠眾生；却談多善因緣，乃被精進勤學者。或廣或略，理不相違。」〔T37n1758 0343b06〕
善男子·善女人之名義：「善男子者，梵云烏波索迦，此云近事男，索者男聲也，堅持五戒堪可親近承事比丘僧故。」〔T37n1758 0343b16〕
聞說阿彌陀佛之二途：「聞說阿彌陀佛者，謂於善友處聞此阿彌陀教中往生之事，或自尋覽。」〔T37n1758 0343b20〕
一心不亂之定義（本段最要）：
「執持佛名號一日乃至七日一心者，更無間隔，故名曰一心。不亂者，專注無散也。」〔T37n1758 0343b21〕
女人根缺之難：「只如女子念佛，至意專精，命盡欲生，轉成男子便生淨土，有何不可；根缺亦爾。」〔T37n1758 0343b24〕
臨命終時之義：「臨命終時者，此一報壽命臨欲終時」〔T37n1758 0343c08〕；來迎之實例——「如梁朝珍禪師見白銀臺或見化佛來迎也。」〔T37n1758 0343c10〕
心不顛倒之義：「第四眾生往生。不顛倒者，不移正念也」〔T37n1758 0343c13〕
念佛何以能敵惡業（三義三譬）：
「《十疑論》說有三義故能敵惡業：一者在心，為造罪是虛妄心，念佛是真實心，以實除虛有何不可，如千年之闇不能拒朝日之光」〔T37n1758 0343c17〕
「如童子撝刀能斷千丈之索，一星之火能燒萬束之薪。」〔T37n1758 0343c23〕
臨終助念之行儀：「西域之人臨命終時皆以幡像前引，親友知識助念彌陀令發往生之意，是此教也。」〔T37n1758 0343c26〕
五、諸家異釋（雙鏡分欄·誌錄不判）
| 鏡 | 逐字 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 慈恩（窺基·唐） | 「更無間隔，故名曰一心。不亂者，專注無散也。」 | 〔T37n1758 0343b22〕 |
| 善導系（善導《法事讚》·唐） | 「願往生願往生。極樂無為涅槃界。隨緣雜善」 | 〔T47n1979 0433b22〕 |
善導《法事讚》全文轉誦本段〔T47n1979 0433b15〕起（誦本亦作「心不顛倒」〔T47n1979 0433b18〕，同底本）；誦畢接高讚，其中正面釋本段行法：「故使如來選要法。教念彌陀專復專。」〔T47n1979 0433b23〕、「七日七夜心無間。長時起行倍皆然。臨終聖眾持華現。」〔T47n1979 0433b24〕。
二鏡於「一心不亂」之釋遙相印：慈恩曰「更無間隔」「專注無散」，善導曰「專復專」「心無間」——義解與行儀二路，於此四字所見略同。誌錄，不作源流之判。
六、術語（首見名相）
| 名相 | 釋義所據 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 善男子 | 「梵云烏波索迦，此云近事男」 | 〔T37n1758 0343b16〕 |
| 善女人 | 「善女人者，烏波斯迦，斯者是女聲也」 | 〔T37n1758 0343b18〕 |
| 一心 | 「更無間隔，故名曰一心。」 | 〔T37n1758 0343b22〕 |
| 不亂 | 「不亂者，專注無散也。」 | 〔T37n1758 0343b23〕 |
| 臨命終時 | 「此一報壽命臨欲終時」 | 〔T37n1758 0343c08〕 |
| 心不顛倒 | 「不顛倒者，不移正念也」 | 〔T37n1758 0343c13〕 |
「執持名號」一語，疏於 01 單元釋「今現在說法」時已先出——「法者執持名號之法，即是教法也」〔T37n1758 0338a19〕，是以後文釋前文之例。
七、譬喻·修辭
- 經文本身無譬喻——全段直陳行法與果，是全經最無文飾之一段。
- 鏡疏用譬三枚（皆出《十疑論》一段）：「如千年之闇不能拒朝日之光」〔T37n1758 0343c20〕、「如童子撝刀能斷千丈之索」〔T37n1758 0343c23〕、「一星之火能燒萬束之薪」〔T37n1758 0343c24〕——三譬皆以小者勝大者立喻，所對治者是「惡業無量，念佛何能敵之」之疑。
- 修辭：「若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日、若五日、若六日、若七日」——七「若」連下，是全經唯一之連續排比；玄奘本則作「或二、或三……或七」，簡而不疊。
八、徵引承衍
- 《文殊般若經》為證〔T37n1758 0343b26〕——corpus 內對讀點：
canon/prajna/wenshu/（般若軸，一行三昧所出）。此為本帙跨軸承衍第三見（03 引《法華經》、05 引《大智度論》）。 - 《觀經》為證〔T37n1758 0343c25〕——本軸內對讀點：
canon/jingtu/guanjing/。 - 本段被本帙 corpus 其餘各帙徵引者，零命中（已查
canon/全樹）。
九、校本定位
大正藏校記（<app>）本單元域內零命中——0347b09–0347b17 無 <app> 條目。全經行法所繫之一段，底本與宋元明流布諸本無一字之異，誌之。
善導誦段之界與本帙分段之界不合一處：本單元第一節「不可以少善根福德因緣得生彼國」，善導誦本置於前一誦段之末〔T47n1979 0433a24〕——即與上一單元「得與如是諸上善人俱會一處」〔T47n1979 0433a23〕連誦，其後方「下接高讚」〔T47n1979 0433a25〕；本單元其餘四節則自「舍利弗。若有善男子善女人」〔T47n1979 0433b14〕另起一誦段。即：善導以「遮少善」收前段，本帙依窺基科判以之起本段。二家分段各異，誌錄不判——分段是否隨誦本改，本帙誌錄不判。
gaiji：本單元零命中。 夾註：本單元零命中。
Placement of the passage as a whole. This passage is the entire domain of the second major section of the main body, “the distinctiveness of the causes of Ultimate Bliss.” It is the one place in the whole sūtra where the practice itself is directly taught — the three phrases “hold fast to the name,” “single-minded and undisturbed,” and “the mind not inverted” all issue from here. Kuiji divides it into five sections: barring the meagre good, declaring the abundant causes, the holy multitude coming to welcome, beings going and being born there, and the concluding exhortation to birth there. At one point the two recensions diverge with the greatest weight: Kumārajīva has “at the time of this person’s death, the mind is not inverted,” while Xuanzang has “compassion adds its protection, causing the mind not to be disturbed” — the one belongs to the practitioner’s own holding, the other to the Buddha’s added protection; this edition records both without adjudication.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
「自下第二舉極樂之因殊。文分五段：一、遮少善；二、說多因；三、聖眾來迎；四、眾生生往；五、結勸往生。」—“From here below is the second, which raises up the distinctiveness of the causes of Ultimate Bliss. The text divides into five sections: first, barring the meagre good; second, declaring the abundant causes; third, the holy multitude coming to welcome; fourth, beings going and being born there; fifth, the concluding exhortation to birth there” 〔T37n1758 0343b01〕
| Section in the commentary | Scriptural basis | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Barring the meagre good | 「不可以少善根福德因緣得生彼國。」—“One cannot, with meagre roots of goodness, merit, and causal conditions, attain birth in that land.” | 〔T12n0366 0347b09〕 |
| 2. Declaring the abundant causes | 「聞說阿彌陀佛，執持名號」—“hears others speak of the Buddha Amitābha and holds fast to the name” 〔T12n0366 0347b10〕 … 「一心不亂。」—“single-minded and undisturbed.” | 〔T12n0366 0347b12〕 |
| 3. The holy multitude coming to welcome | 「其人臨命終時，阿彌陀佛與諸聖眾，現在其前。」—“When that person draws near the end of life, the Buddha Amitābha, together with the whole holy multitude, appears before him.” | 〔T12n0366 0347b13〕 |
| 4. Beings going and being born there | 「是人終時，心不顛倒，即得往生阿彌陀佛極樂國土。」—“At the time of this person’s death, the mind is not inverted, and he straightway attains birth in the land of Ultimate Bliss of the Buddha Amitābha.” | 〔T12n0366 0347b14〕 |
| 5. The concluding exhortation to birth there | 「若有眾生聞是說者，應當發願生彼國土。」—“If there are beings who hear this teaching, they should set forth the aspiration to be born in that land.” | 〔T12n0366 0347b16〕 |
The commentary marks each section as it comes: 「第二說多因也。」—“This is the second, declaring the abundant causes” 〔T37n1758 0343b15〕; 「第三聖眾來迎也。」—“This is the third, the holy multitude coming to welcome” 〔T37n1758 0343c07〕; 「第四眾生往生。」—“The fourth: beings’ birth in that land” 〔T37n1758 0343c13〕. This passage crosses a fascicle boundary in the commentary: the middle fascicle of the Comprehensive Praise Commentary closes at 「理不相違」—“the principle is not contradicted” 〔T37n1758 0343b07〕, and the lower fascicle opens at 「舍利弗！若有善男子、善女人聞說阿彌陀」—“Śāriputra! If there be a good man or a good woman who hears others speak of Amitābha” 〔T37n1758 0343b13〕.
II. Collation with the Alternate Translation (T367, Xuanzang) — recorded without adjudication
| Position | Kumārajīva, T12n0366 | Xuanzang, T12n0367 |
|---|---|---|
| What is heard | 「聞說阿彌陀佛」—“hears others speak of the Buddha Amitābha” 〔T12n0366 0347b10〕 | 「得聞如是無量壽佛無量無邊不可思議功德名號、極樂世界功德莊嚴，聞已思惟」—“comes to hear the name, of measureless, boundless and inconceivable merit, of this Buddha of Measureless Life, and the merit and adornment of the world of Ultimate Bliss, and having heard, ponders them” 〔T12n0367 0350a07〕 — it raises both the Buddha’s name and the adornment of the land, and adds a further item, pondering |
| The practice | 「執持名號，若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日、若五日、若六日、若七日，一心不亂。」—“holds fast to the name — whether one day, or two days, or three days, or four days, or five days, or six days, or seven days — single-minded and undisturbed.” 〔T12n0366 0347b11〕 | 「若一日夜，或二、或三、或四、或五、或六、或七，繫念不亂。」—“whether for one day and night, or two, or three, or four, or five, or six, or seven, the thought bound fast and undisturbed.” 〔T12n0367 0350a09〕 — it reads one day and night, and reads the thought bound fast and undisturbed |
| The coming to welcome | 「阿彌陀佛與諸聖眾，現在其前。」—“the Buddha Amitābha, together with the whole holy multitude, appears before him.” 〔T12n0366 0347b13〕 | 「無量壽佛與其無量聲聞弟子、菩薩眾俱前後圍繞，來住其前」—“the Buddha of Measureless Life, together with his measureless śrāvaka disciples and his multitude of bodhisattvas, surrounding him before and behind, comes and stands before him” 〔T12n0367 0350a11〕 |
| By whom the mind is kept undisturbed | 「是人終時，心不顛倒，即得往生阿彌陀佛極樂國土。」—“At the time of this person’s death, the mind is not inverted, and he straightway attains birth in the land of Ultimate Bliss of the Buddha Amitābha.” 〔T12n0366 0347b14〕 | 「慈悲加祐，令心不亂；既捨命已，隨佛眾會，生無量壽極樂世界清淨佛土。」—“compassion adds its protection, causing the mind not to be disturbed; and when life has been laid down, following the Buddha’s assembly, he is born in the pure buddha-land, the world of Ultimate Bliss of Measureless Life.” 〔T12n0367 0350a13〕 |
| The concluding exhortation | 「若有眾生聞是說者，應當發願生彼國土。」—“If there are beings who hear this teaching, they should set forth the aspiration to be born in that land.” 〔T12n0366 0347b16〕 | 「一切皆應信受發願，如說修行，生彼佛土。」—“all should receive it in faith and set forth the aspiration, practising as it is taught, and be born in that buddha-land.” 〔T12n0367 0350a18〕 — it has a further item, practising as it is taught |
Recorded without adjudication, five items in all; of these the fourth carries the greatest weight. In Kumārajīva’s recension 「心不顛倒」—“the mind is not inverted” is the state of the practitioner’s own mind at the end of life; in Xuanzang’s recension 「慈悲加祐，令心不亂」—“compassion adds its protection, causing the mind not to be disturbed” states expressly that the mind’s freedom from disturbance comes about through the Buddha’s added protection. At one and the same position the two recensions each set down a phrase of their own. This edition alters not one character, records both readings in parallel, and does not adjudicate which is the right meaning — this is not a divergence of wording only but touches the adjudication of self-power and other-power, which is not for this edition to decide; each item is so recorded.
III. Scriptural and Treatise Grounding (the “eye”)
In explaining this passage Kuiji cites seven works of sūtra and treatise, the most for any one passage in this edition:
- 「《淨土論》云：女人及根缺，二乘種不生。」—“The Treatise on the Pure Land says: women, those deficient in faculties, and those of the two-vehicle seed are not born there.” 〔T37n1758 0343b23〕
- 「《文殊般若經》云：若人欲生他方現在淨妙國土者，應當隨彼國土佛名，一心誦念，願往生者，必得往生。」—“The Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says: if a person wishes to be born in a pure and wondrous land presently existing in another quarter, he should recite single-mindedly according to the name of the buddha of that land; one who aspires to be born there will certainly attain birth there.” 〔T37n1758 0343b26〕 — the point of comparative reading within this corpus:
canon/prajna/wenshu/ - 「《觀佛三昧經》云：此念佛三昧，欲使成就，有五因緣：一、持戒不犯；二、不起邪見；三、不生諂慢；四、不恚不嫉；五、勇健精進。」—“The Sūtra on the Samādhi of Contemplating the Buddha says: for this samādhi of mindfulness of the Buddha to be brought to completion there are five causal conditions: first, keeping the precepts without transgression; second, not giving rise to wrong views; third, not producing flattery or arrogance; fourth, neither hating nor envying; fifth, valiant and vigorous exertion.” 〔T37n1758 0343b28〕
- 「《鼓音聲經》云：令念彼佛名號，七日七夜六時禮拜。」—“The Sūtra of the Drum Sound says: let him be mindful of that Buddha’s name, and for seven days and seven nights make obeisance at the six periods.” 〔T37n1758 0343c02〕
- 「《賢愚經》云：持戒專念七日，亦得往生。」—“The Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish says: keeping the precepts and being intently mindful for seven days, one likewise attains birth there.” 〔T37n1758 0343c03〕
- 「《平等覺經》及《大阿彌陀經》並說三輩得生」—“The Sūtra of Equal Awakening and the Great Amitābha Sūtra both speak of three grades attaining birth there” 〔T37n1758 0343c04〕
- 「《十疑論》說有三義故能敵惡業」—“The Treatise on Ten Doubts says that for three reasons it can match evil karma” 〔T37n1758 0343c17〕
- 「又《觀經》云：於念念中滅除八十億劫生死之罪。」—“Again, the Contemplation Sūtra says: in each successive moment of mindfulness the sins of eighty koṭis of kalpas of birth-and-death are extinguished.” 〔T37n1758 0343c25〕
- 「又《華嚴》云：將欲沒者令其憶念想見如來，命終得生淨土。」—“Again, the Flower Ornament says: one who is about to sink is made to recall and to behold in thought the Tathāgata, and at the end of life attains birth in the Pure Land.” 〔T37n1758 0343c28〕
IV. Essentials of the Commentary on This Passage
The difficulty of the meagre good and the abundant good — at the close of the section barring the meagre good, the commentary sets a question of its own:
「十念彌陀頓生淨土，據斯所說果著因微，何故少善因緣不生彼土？」—“Ten moments of mindfulness of Amitābha bring immediate birth in the Pure Land; by what is thus said, the fruit is conspicuous while the cause is slight. Why then does meagre good and causal conditions not bring birth in that land?” 〔T37n1758 0343b04〕
The answer: 「十念得生淨土，接引懈怠眾生；却談多善因緣，乃被精進勤學者。或廣或略，理不相違。」—“That ten moments of mindfulness attain birth in the Pure Land is to draw in beings who are indolent; that abundant good and causal conditions are spoken of instead is addressed to those who are diligent and studious. Whether stated at length or in brief, the principle is not contradicted.” 〔T37n1758 0343b06〕
The names “good man” and “good woman”: 「善男子者，梵云烏波索迦，此云近事男，索者男聲也，堅持五戒堪可親近承事比丘僧故。」—“As for ‘good man,’ in Sanskrit upāsaka, here rendered ‘a man who draws near and serves’; ‘suo’ is the masculine sound. He is so called because he keeps the five precepts firmly and is fit to draw near and serve the saṅgha of bhikṣus.” 〔T37n1758 0343b16〕
Two ways of hearing the Buddha Amitābha spoken of: 「聞說阿彌陀佛者，謂於善友處聞此阿彌陀教中往生之事，或自尋覽。」—“As for ‘hears others speak of the Buddha Amitābha’: it means that from a good friend he hears of the matter of birth in that land within this teaching of Amitābha, or else he searches it out and reads it himself.” 〔T37n1758 0343b20〕
The definition of “single-minded and undisturbed” (the weightiest point of this passage):
「執持佛名號一日乃至七日一心者，更無間隔，故名曰一心。不亂者，專注無散也。」—“As for holding fast to the Buddha’s name for one day up to seven days ‘single-mindedly’: there is no interval at all in between, and it is therefore called single-mindedness. ‘Undisturbed’ means focused and unscattered.” 〔T37n1758 0343b21〕
The difficulty of women and of those deficient in faculties: 「只如女子念佛，至意專精，命盡欲生，轉成男子便生淨土，有何不可；根缺亦爾。」—“Simply, when a woman is mindful of the Buddha with utmost intent and concentration, and at the end of life wishes to be born there, she is turned into a man and thereupon born in the Pure Land — what is there in this that cannot be? So too for those deficient in faculties.” 〔T37n1758 0343b24〕
The sense of “drawing near the end of life”: 「臨命終時者，此一報壽命臨欲終時」—“As for ‘when drawing near the end of life’: it is when the lifespan of this one recompense is about to come to its end” 〔T37n1758 0343c08〕; an instance of the coming to welcome — 「如梁朝珍禪師見白銀臺或見化佛來迎也。」—“As when the meditation master Zhen of the Liang dynasty saw a terrace of white silver, or saw transformation-buddhas coming to welcome him.” 〔T37n1758 0343c10〕
The sense of “the mind not inverted”: 「第四眾生往生。不顛倒者，不移正念也」—“The fourth: beings’ birth in that land. ‘Not inverted’ means that right mindfulness is not moved” 〔T37n1758 0343c13〕
Why mindfulness of the Buddha can match evil karma (three reasons, three similes):
「《十疑論》說有三義故能敵惡業：一者在心，為造罪是虛妄心，念佛是真實心，以實除虛有何不可，如千年之闇不能拒朝日之光」—“The Treatise on Ten Doubts says that for three reasons it can match evil karma. The first lies in the mind: the mind that commits offences is a false and deluded mind, while the mind mindful of the Buddha is a true and real mind. To remove the false by means of the real — what is there in this that cannot be? It is as a thousand years of darkness cannot withstand the light of the morning sun” 〔T37n1758 0343c17〕
「如童子撝刀能斷千丈之索，一星之火能燒萬束之薪。」—“As a child wielding a blade can cut through a rope a thousand fathoms long, and a single spark of fire can burn ten thousand bundles of firewood.” 〔T37n1758 0343c23〕
The rite of assisted mindfulness at the end of life: 「西域之人臨命終時皆以幡像前引，親友知識助念彌陀令發往生之意，是此教也。」—“When the people of the western regions draw near the end of life, a banner and an image are in every case borne before them, and kinsfolk and acquaintances aid the mindfulness of Amitābha so as to arouse in them the intent to be born in that land: this is the teaching here.” 〔T37n1758 0343c26〕
V. Divergent Readings of the Commentators (two mirrors in parallel — recorded without adjudication)
| Mirror | Verbatim | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Cien (Kuiji, Tang) | 「更無間隔，故名曰一心。不亂者，專注無散也。」—“There is no interval at all in between, and it is therefore called single-mindedness. ‘Undisturbed’ means focused and unscattered.” | 〔T37n1758 0343b22〕 |
| Shandao line (Shandao, Liturgical Hymns, Tang) | 「願往生願往生。極樂無為涅槃界。隨緣雜善」—“Aspire to be born there, aspire to be born there. Ultimate Bliss is the unconditioned realm of nirvāṇa. Mixed good done as circumstances allow” | 〔T47n1979 0433b22〕 |
Shandao’s Liturgical Hymns recites this whole passage beginning at 〔T47n1979 0433b15〕 — the recited text likewise reads 「心不顛倒」—“the mind is not inverted” 〔T47n1979 0433b18〕, agreeing with the base text. The recitation is followed by a lofty hymn, within which the practice of this passage is expounded directly: 「故使如來選要法。教念彌陀專復專。」—“Therefore the Tathāgata chose out the essential Dharma, and taught mindfulness of Amitābha, concentrated and concentrated again.” 〔T47n1979 0433b23〕 and 「七日七夜心無間。長時起行倍皆然。臨終聖眾持華現。」—“For seven days and seven nights the mind is without interval; over long stretches, taking up the practice, it is doubly so throughout. At the end of life the holy multitude appears, bearing flowers.” 〔T47n1979 0433b24〕
The two mirrors accord at a distance in their reading of “single-minded and undisturbed”: the Cien mirror says 「更無間隔」—“no interval at all in between” and 「專注無散」—“focused and unscattered”; the Shandao line sings 「專復專」—“concentrated and concentrated again” and 「心無間」—“the mind without interval.” The way of doctrinal exposition and the way of ritual practice see much the same thing in these four characters. Recorded; no judgement is made as to source and derivation.
VI. Terms (first occurrences)
| Term | Verbatim gloss | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Good man 善男子 | 「梵云烏波索迦，此云近事男」—“In Sanskrit upāsaka, here rendered ‘a man who draws near and serves’” | 〔T37n1758 0343b16〕 |
| Good woman 善女人 | 「善女人者，烏波斯迦，斯者是女聲也」—“As for ‘good woman,’ upāsikā; ‘si’ is the feminine sound” | 〔T37n1758 0343b18〕 |
| Single-mindedness 一心 | 「更無間隔，故名曰一心。」—“There is no interval at all in between, and it is therefore called single-mindedness.” | 〔T37n1758 0343b22〕 |
| Undisturbed 不亂 | 「不亂者，專注無散也。」—“‘Undisturbed’ means focused and unscattered.” | 〔T37n1758 0343b23〕 |
| Drawing near the end of life 臨命終時 | 「此一報壽命臨欲終時」—“when the lifespan of this one recompense is about to come to its end” | 〔T37n1758 0343c08〕 |
| The mind not inverted 心不顛倒 | 「不顛倒者，不移正念也」—“‘Not inverted’ means that right mindfulness is not moved” | 〔T37n1758 0343c13〕 |
The phrase 「執持名號」—“hold fast to the name” had already been glossed earlier: in Unit 01, explaining 「今現在說法」—“is at present expounding the Dharma,” the commentary says 「法者執持名號之法，即是教法也」—“the Dharma is the dharma of holding fast to the name, which is the teaching itself” 〔T37n1758 0338a19〕. It is an instance of a later passage explaining an earlier one.
VII. Similes and Rhetoric
- The scriptural text itself contains no simile — the whole passage states the practice and its fruit directly, and is among the least ornamented passages in the sūtra.
- The mirror commentary uses three similes (all from one passage of the Treatise on Ten Doubts): 「如千年之闇不能拒朝日之光」—“as a thousand years of darkness cannot withstand the light of the morning sun” 〔T37n1758 0343c20〕; 「如童子撝刀能斷千丈之索」—“as a child wielding a blade can cut through a rope a thousand fathoms long” 〔T37n1758 0343c23〕; 「一星之火能燒萬束之薪」—“a single spark of fire can burn ten thousand bundles of firewood” 〔T37n1758 0343c24〕 — all three take the small overcoming the great as their figure, and what they address is the doubt 「惡業無量，念佛何能敵之」—“evil karma is measureless; how can mindfulness of the Buddha match it?”
- Rhetoric: 「若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日、若五日、若六日、若七日」—“whether one day, or two days, or three days, or four days, or five days, or six days, or seven days” — seven occurrences of “whether” running on in succession, the only continuous parallelism in the whole sūtra; Xuanzang’s recension reads 「或二、或三……或七」—“or two, or three … or seven,” brief and without the repetition.
VIII. Citation and Carrying Forward
- The Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra cited as witness 〔T37n1758 0343b26〕 — the point of comparative reading within this corpus:
canon/prajna/wenshu/(the prajñā axis, whence the single-practice samādhi issues). This is the third instance of cross-axis carrying forward in this edition (Unit 03 cites the Lotus Sūtra, Unit 05 the Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom). - The Contemplation Sūtra cited as witness 〔T37n1758 0343c25〕 — the point of comparative reading within this axis:
canon/jingtu/guanjing/. - Of citation of this passage by the other editions of this corpus, nothing is found (the whole
canon/tree has been searched).
IX. Placement Among the Recensions
The Taishō collation notes (<app>) yield nothing within the domain of this unit — from 0347b09 to 0347b17 there is no <app> entry. In the one passage on which the practice of the whole sūtra rests, the base text and the Song, Yuan, Ming and current-circulation printings do not differ by a single character. So recorded.
At one point Shandao’s recitation boundary does not coincide with this edition’s division: the first section of this unit, 「不可以少善根福德因緣得生彼國」—“One cannot, with meagre roots of goodness, merit, and causal conditions, attain birth in that land,” is placed by Shandao’s recited text at the end of the preceding recitation segment 〔T47n1979 0433a24〕 — that is, recited continuously with the previous unit’s 「得與如是諸上善人俱會一處」—“attain to dwell together in one place with such persons of superior goodness as these” 〔T47n1979 0433a23〕, after which comes 「下接高讚」—“below follows the lofty hymn” 〔T47n1979 0433a25〕; the remaining four sections of this unit then begin a fresh recitation segment at 「舍利弗。若有善男子善女人」—“Śāriputra. If there be a good man or a good woman” 〔T47n1979 0433b14〕. That is: Shandao closes the preceding segment with the barring of the meagre good, whereas this edition, following Kuiji’s doctrinal outline, opens the present passage with it. The two divide the text differently; recorded without adjudication — whether the division should follow the recited text remains an open question.
Gaiji: nothing in this unit. Inline gloss: nothing in this unit.