佛說觀無量壽佛經 日想
十六觀的第一觀，所觀的不是極樂，是太陽。
先要有「一處」
佛沒有先說看什麼，先說心放在哪裡：「汝及眾生應當專心，繫念一處，想於西方。」
不是先有西方，是先有「一處」。心若還在六塵上到處走，說了西方也接不住。
只有一個條件
接著經文簡別了一次，而簡別的標準低得出奇：「一切眾生自非生盲，有目之徒，皆見日沒。」
除了生下來就看不見的人，其餘的人都合格。
不問根器，不問功課，不問有沒有天眼。上一段佛才說過「汝是凡夫，心想羸劣，未得天眼，不能遠觀」，這一段就把所觀之境放在一個凡夫的眼睛剛好夠得著的地方——一件全世界的人都做過的事：看太陽下山。
閉上眼睛，它還在
作法只有一句：「正坐西向，諦觀於日，令心堅住，專想不移。」
而驗收的標準是另一句：「既見日已，閉目開目皆令明了。」
睜著眼看得見，那可能只是眼睛的事；閉上眼睛它還在，才是心的事。
至於那輪日長什麼樣子，經文只給了四個字：「狀如懸鼓」。
一把往後要用十五次的尺
全段收在一個判上：「作是觀者，名為正觀。若他觀者，名為邪觀。」
正邪之分不在境界高低，只在一件事：所想的與所現的，是不是同一個。
這把尺在第一觀立下，往後十五觀都要用它量。
而立尺的地方，是一片再平常不過的黃昏。
In the first of the sixteen contemplations, what is contemplated is not Ultimate Bliss. It is the sun.
First There Must Be a One Place
The Buddha does not first say what to look at. He first says where to put the mind: “You and all sentient beings should make the mind single, bind your thought to one place, and form the image of the west.”
The west does not come first; the one place comes first. If the mind is still wandering over the six dusts, the west can be named and nothing will catch it.
Only One Condition
The sūtra then sets one group aside, and the standard by which it does so is astonishingly low: “Every sentient being who is not blind from birth, everyone who has eyes, sees the sun set.”
Apart from those who have been unable to see since birth, everyone else qualifies.
Nothing is asked about capacity, nothing about accumulated practice, nothing about whether one has the divine eye. In the passage just before, the Buddha had said, “You are an ordinary person; your power of forming images is weak and frail, you have not yet obtained the divine eye, and you cannot see at a distance.” This passage then places the object to be contemplated exactly where the eyes of an ordinary person can just reach it — at something everyone in the world has already done: watching the sun go down.
Eyes Shut, It Is Still There
The method is one sentence: “Sit upright facing the west and look closely at the sun; make the mind stand firm, and hold the image single without letting it shift.”
The test of it is another: “Once the sun has been seen, let it be clear and distinct whether the eyes are closed or open.”
That it can be seen with the eyes open may be no more than the doing of the eyes. That it is still there with the eyes shut — that is the doing of the mind.
As for what that orb looks like, the sūtra gives four words only: its shape like a suspended drum.
A Measuring Rod to Be Used Fifteen More Times
The whole passage closes on a judgment: “To make this contemplation is called right contemplation; to make another contemplation is called wrong contemplation.”
The division between right and wrong does not lie in how high or low the object seen is. It lies in one thing only: whether what was imaged and what appeared are the same.
This rod is set up in the first contemplation, and the fifteen that follow will all be measured by it.
And the place where it is set up is an evening as ordinary as evenings come.
大正藏 T12n0365〔起 T12 0341c27〕。段／行首〔T12 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔T12 0341c27〕佛告韋提希：「汝及眾生應當專心，繫念一處，想於西方。云何作想？凡作想者，一切眾生自非生盲，有目之徒，皆見日沒。當起想念，正坐西向，諦觀於日，令心堅住，專想不移。見日欲沒，狀如懸鼓。既見日已，閉目開目皆令明了。是為日想，名曰初觀。作是觀者，名為正觀。若他觀者，名為邪觀。」
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.
宋畺良耶舍譯《佛說觀無量壽佛經》T12n0365 正宗分之首，自「佛告韋提希」至「若他觀者，名為邪觀」。段首（…）＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔一·總告總勸〕（0341c27）佛告訴韋提希：『你和眾生都應當專一其心，把念頭繫在一個地方，想著西方。
〔二·牒所觀之事〕（0341c29）要怎麼作這個想呢？凡是作想的人，一切眾生只要不是生下來就眼盲的（從母胎裡出來眼睛就看不見東西，才叫生盲；生盲的人不能教他作日想，因為他不認得日輪的光相。除了生盲以外，是後來因緣患眼的人，教他作日想都能成就，因為他在還沒有患眼的時候，已經認得日輪光明等相了），凡是有眼睛的人，都看得見太陽落下去。
〔三·正教觀察〕（0342a01）應當生起這樣的想念：端正地坐著，面向西方，仔細地觀看太陽，使心堅固安住，專一其想而不移動。看見太陽將要落下，那形狀像一面懸著的鼓。
〔四·辨觀成之相〕（0342a03）已經見到太陽之後，閉上眼睛、張開眼睛，都要讓它明明了了。
〔五·總結〕（0342a04）這就叫做日想，名為第一觀。作這樣的觀，名為正觀；若作其他的觀，名為邪觀。』
Translated in the Liu Song by Kālayaśas, The Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life, T12n0365, the head of the main body of the sūtra, from “The Buddha said to Vaidehī” down to “to make another contemplation is called wrong contemplation.” The figures at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.
〔一 · General Charge and General Exhortation〕（0341c27）The Buddha told Vaidehī: “You and all sentient beings should make the mind single, bind your thought to one place, and form the image of the west.
〔二 · Citing the Matter to Be Contemplated〕（0341c29）How is this image to be formed? Of all who form the image, every sentient being who is not blind from birth (one whose eyes, from the time he came out of the mother’s womb, could not see things is what is called blind from birth; one blind from birth cannot be taught to form the image of the sun, because he does not know the luminous appearance of the sun’s orb; apart from those blind from birth, one whose eyes were afflicted by later circumstance can be taught to form the image of the sun and will succeed in it, because before his eyes were afflicted he already knew the brightness and the other appearances of the sun’s orb) — everyone, that is, who has eyes — sees the sun set.
〔三 · Directly Teaching How to Observe〕（0342a01）You should raise up this thought and image: sit upright facing the west and look closely at the sun; make the mind stand firm, and hold the image single without letting it shift. See the sun as it is about to set, its shape like a suspended drum.
〔四 · Distinguishing the Sign That the Contemplation Is Accomplished〕（0342a03）Once the sun has been seen, let it be clear and distinct whether the eyes are closed or open.
〔五 · General Conclusion〕（0342a04）This is called the image of the sun, and it is named the first contemplation. To make this contemplation is called right contemplation; to make another contemplation is called wrong contemplation.”
韋提希求的是極樂國土，佛答應教她。而佛教她的第一件事，是坐下來，面向西，看太陽落下去。
這一段只有一百三十五字，是全經最短的段落之一。善導《觀經四帖疏》把它判作正宗分的第一句所在——序分那一長串王宮之事，到這裡才算說完；智顗《觀無量壽佛經疏》則把十六觀分成三截，前六觀看依報、次七觀看正報、後三觀說三輩往生，這一觀是第一截的第一。兩家所判不同，各自的理由都在自己的書裡。此下所講的是經。
佛沒有直接給那個國土
前一段裡，佛已經放光把十方諸佛的淨土全現在金臺上讓她看過了。她也已經挑定了極樂。
照理說，接下來該直接教她怎麼看那個國土。
但佛先說的是：「汝及眾生應當專心，繫念一處，想於西方。」
先不說看什麼，先說心要放在哪裡。而且不是放在西方，是「繫念一處」——先要有「一處」，才談得上是哪一處。
眾生的心散動，識比猿猴還躁，一遍六塵就再也停不住。不捨掉攀緣、不託身於靜處，這個「一處」根本立不起來。所以歷來的讀法把這一句拆成八個「一」：一身、一心、一迴向、一處、一境界、一相續、一歸依、一正念——八件事全是一，然後才叫想成就。
「自非生盲」
接著經文說了一句很少見的話：「凡作想者，一切眾生自非生盲，有目之徒，皆見日沒。」
先簡別出一種人：生下來就眼盲的。
生盲，是從母胎裡出來眼睛就看不見東西。這種人不能教他作日想，因為他不認得日輪的光相——沒有見過的東西，無從去想。
但這句話真正的分量在後半：除了生盲以外，後來因緣患眼的人，教他作日想都能成就。因為他在還沒有患眼的時候，已經認得日輪光明的相了；如今眼雖然壞了，只要善取那個相、正念堅持，不限什麼時節，一樣能成。
也就是說，這一觀的門檻不是眼力，是曾經見過。
而經文用來作門檻的，是一件全世界的人都見過的事——太陽下山。
經文沒有要求誰先有神通、先得天眼、先積多少功課。它只問一句：你見過日落嗎？見過，就有得作。這一問是連著上一段來的——上一段佛才剛說過「汝是凡夫，心想羸劣，未得天眼，不能遠觀」，此處立刻把所觀之境放低到一個凡夫的眼睛正好夠得著的地方。
為什麼偏偏是日
古來注家在此設了一問：她求的是極樂之境，佛既然答應說了，為什麼先教她住心觀日？
答有三意。
第一，指方有在。日正東出，直西沒；彌陀佛國就在日沒的那一頭，直西超過十萬億剎。要眾生識境住心，先得有一個方向可指。不取冬夏兩時，只取春秋二際——因為那兩季日出正東、日落正西，方位最準。
一個看不見的國土，藉著一個天天看得見的東西定了方位。
第二，識知自己的業障有多重。這一意最出人意料，下一節單說。
第三，識知彼土的光相。極樂依正二報的種種莊嚴光明，內外照曜，超過這個太陽百千萬倍。若你不認得那邊的光是什麼樣子，就先看這一輪日的光明之相——先有一個最低的參照，才知道所謂『超過百千萬倍』是超過什麼。
三意合起來說的是同一件事：這一輪日，是此界唯一夠格拿來比的東西。娑婆是一間暗屋，觸目所及沒有一樣可以比方彼土；只有朗日舒輝，還能寄想遠標於極樂。
日輪上的三種雲
第二意值得停久一點。
當一個人真按這個法子坐定——身正、心不散、緩緩轉心去看那輪日——利根的人一坐就見明相現前，或者像一枚錢那麼大，或者像一面鏡子那麼大。
而就在那片明亮上，他會看見自己業障的輕重。
一種是黑障，像黑雲遮日；一種是黃障，像黃雲遮日；一種是白障，像白雲遮日。日被雲遮著，就不能朗然顯照；眾生的業障也是這樣，遮住淨心之境，使心照不明。
這是一個很誠實的設計：修行的進度不必問人，看那輪日亮到什麼程度就知道。
看見了怎麼辦？經文沒有說，而行門裡說了：嚴飾道場、安置佛像、洗浴著淨衣、燒名香，向佛形像懺悔無始以來身口意所造的一切；要悲涕雨淚，深生慚愧，內徹心髓，切骨自責。懺完再回來照前法坐，若那三障盡除、所觀之境朗然明淨，這叫頓滅；若一懺只除一色、要幾次才除盡，這叫漸除。
至於什麼時候懺，古人的話很不客氣：像滾水烈火燒到身上，一覺得就得立刻甩開——哪裡容得下等時候、等地方、等因緣、等人，才開始除。
閉目開目皆令明了
正教觀察只有一句：「當起想念，正坐西向，諦觀於日，令心堅住，專想不移。」
身要正、面要向西、眼要諦觀、心要堅住、想要不移——五件事一件不缺。
然後是觀成的驗證：「既見日已，閉目開目皆令明了。」
睜著眼看得見不算，閉上眼還在，才算成。因為睜眼所見可能是眼睛的事，閉眼還在的才是心的事。
到這一步，會有三昧的定樂現前，身心內外融液，不可思議。
最容易失掉的那一刻
而恰恰在這一刻，最容易失掉。
古來的讀法在此下了一句很重的提醒：見到這個境的時候，務必攝心令定，不得起貪取之心。一起貪心，心水就動；心一動，淨境當下就沒了。或動、或暗、或黑，或現出青黃赤白種種雜色，再也定不下來。
補救的辦法也極簡單：知道是自己貪心動了念，就安心正念，還從本處起——動相即除，靜心還現。
我們大概都認得這個過程。好不容易安靜下來，剛覺得『有了』，那一念『有了』自己就把它弄沒了。
正觀與邪觀
全段收在一個判上：「作是觀者，名為正觀。若他觀者，名為邪觀。」
判準是什麼？
觀日而見日，心與境相應，是正；觀日而不見日，卻見出別的雜境來，心與境不相應，是邪。
這個判準裡沒有一句是關於境界高低的。它只問一件事：你要看的，和你看見的，是不是同一個。
所以邪觀不是指看見了可怕的東西，也不是指心術不正。心裡想的是日，眼前現出來的卻是別的，那就叫不相應——縱使現出來的是一片光明、一座樓閣，只要不是所觀的那一個，一樣是邪。這個判法把「觀」定死在相應二字上，不留給人自我解釋的餘地。
而這一判並非只管這一觀——以下十五觀的邪正得失，一同於此。第一觀立下的不只是一個所觀之境，是一把往後十五觀都要用的尺。
經文於是把整個十六觀的次第，架在一件最平常的事上：一個人，坐下來，向西，看太陽落下去。
承衍——兩副眼看同一輪落日
上來是這一段經文自身的義。此下另以隋唐兩副眼旁照——鏡非經，只是同一輪落日，換兩種讀法來看。
善導一路是《觀經四帖疏》的讀法。他把正宗分定在這一句上，並自陳「今定立正宗，與諸師不同」。他釋此觀分五段：總告總勸、牒所觀事、正教觀察、辯觀成相、總結。三意之答出於他；坐法之詳出於他——跏趺正坐、右脚著左髀上、左手安右手上、令身正直、合口而齒不相近、舌抵上腭以通氣道；散五大於五方而唯留識大「湛然凝住，猶如圓鏡」，也出於他。業障三色、懺悔頓漸、貪心動境，皆是他所出的行門細目。在他，這一觀是「假依」——日輪是此界相似可見之境，非彼國真實無漏之境，藉假以入真。
智顗一路是《觀無量壽佛經疏》的讀法。他釋此觀甚簡：「示令繫心」，然後逐句標科而止於「「是為」下，結也」。他所繫的義不在行法而在除疑——「教令正觀，為除疑心」，並引大本所明，以疑惑心修功德而生彼國者落在邊地、復受胎生，故須作此觀以除疑惑。滅罪與否，他留到第三地觀才判：「前水是想，不能滅罪。地觀是實，故能除斷也。」而他在自己那篇序裡，用的正是這一觀的譬：「落日懸鼓，用標送想之方」。
一路把這一輪日讀成行門的入口，量到坐姿與呼吸；一路把它讀成除疑的方便，量到位次與滅罪。
而經自己只說了一句：見日欲沒，狀如懸鼓。
What Vaidehī asked for was the land of Ultimate Bliss, and the Buddha consented to teach her. The first thing he taught her was to sit down, face the west, and watch the sun go down.
This passage runs to only one hundred and thirty-five characters and is one of the shortest in the sūtra. Shandao’s Commentary on the Contemplation Sūtra in Four Fascicles judges it to be the place where the first sentence of the main body stands — the long train of events in the royal palace that makes up the introduction is only now finished. Zhiyi’s Commentary on the Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life instead cuts the sixteen contemplations into three lengths: the first six contemplate the dependent recompense, the next seven the direct recompense, and the last three speak of birth in that land by the three grades — and this contemplation is the first of the first length. The two houses judge differently, and each keeps its reasons in its own book. What is set out below is the sūtra.
The Buddha Did Not Hand Over That Land Directly
In the passage just before, the Buddha had already sent out light and made all the pure lands of the buddhas of the ten directions appear on a golden dais for her to see. She had already settled on Ultimate Bliss.
By rights, what should come next is direct instruction in how to look at that land.
But what the Buddha says first is this: “You and all sentient beings should make the mind single, bind your thought to one place, and form the image of the west.”
Before saying what is to be looked at, he says where the mind is to be put. And it is not put in the west; it is bound to one place — there must first be a one place before there can be any question of which place it is.
The minds of sentient beings are scattered and restless; consciousness is more restless than a monkey, and once it has ranged over the six dusts it can no longer be brought to a stop. Unless entanglement is let go of and the body entrusted to stillness, this one place cannot be set up at all. And so the readings handed down have split this one sentence into eight ones: one body, one mind, one dedication and direction, one place, one object, one continuity, one refuge, one right mindfulness — eight things, every one of them one, and only then is the image called accomplished.
“Unless One Is Blind from Birth”
The sūtra then says something rarely met with: “Of all who form the image, every sentient being who is not blind from birth, everyone who has eyes, sees the sun set.”
One kind of person is first set aside: the one blind from birth.
Blind from birth means that from the time he came out of the mother’s womb his eyes did not see things. Such a person cannot be taught to form the image of the sun, because he does not know the luminous appearance of the sun’s orb — what has never been seen cannot be imaged.
But the real weight of the sentence lies in its second half: apart from those blind from birth, one whose eyes were afflicted by later circumstance can be taught to form the image of the sun and will succeed in it. Before his eyes were afflicted he already knew the appearance of the sun’s brightness; now, though the eyes are ruined, if only he takes up that appearance well and holds it firmly in right mindfulness, with no limit set of season or time, he will succeed all the same.
That is to say, the threshold of this contemplation is not eyesight. It is having once seen.
And what the sūtra sets as the threshold is something everyone in the world has seen — the sun going down.
The sūtra does not require that anyone first possess supernormal powers, first obtain the divine eye, first accumulate a certain amount of practice. It asks a single question: have you seen the sun set? If you have, there is something here for you to do. That question follows directly from the passage before, where the Buddha had just said, “You are an ordinary person; your power of forming images is weak and frail, you have not yet obtained the divine eye, and you cannot see at a distance.” Here the object to be contemplated is at once set low enough that the eyes of an ordinary person can just reach it.
Why the Sun of All Things
The commentators of old set a question here: what she asked for was the objects of Ultimate Bliss, and since the Buddha consented to teach, why did he first teach her to settle the mind and contemplate the sun?
The answer is given in three intents.
First, the direction pointed to has a definite place. The sun rises due east and sets due west; Amitābha’s buddha-land lies at the far end of that setting, straight west beyond a hundred thousand koṭis of lands. If sentient beings are to know the object and settle the mind, there must first be a direction that can be pointed to. Not the two seasons of winter and summer, but only the two junctures of spring and autumn — because in those two the sun rises due east and sets due west, and the bearing is most exact.
A land that cannot be seen has its bearing fixed by something that can be seen any day.
Second, knowing how heavy one’s own karmic obstruction is. This intent is the most unexpected of the three, and the next section takes it up alone.
Third, knowing the luminous appearance of that land. The manifold adornments and radiance of the twofold recompense of Ultimate Bliss, dependent and direct, shine within and without, surpassing this sun a hundred thousand ten-thousandfold. If you do not know what the light over there is like, then look first at the appearance of the brightness of this one orb — only with a lowest term of comparison in hand does one know what it is that surpassing a hundred thousand ten-thousandfold surpasses.
The three intents taken together say one and the same thing: this one orb is the only thing in this world fit to be set beside that land. The Sahā world is a dark house, and nothing the eye falls on can serve to compare with that land; only the bright sun spreading its radiance can still let the image be lodged and Ultimate Bliss be marked from afar.
Three Kinds of Cloud on the Sun’s Orb
The second intent is worth pausing over longer.
When someone truly sits down by this method — body upright, mind unscattered, the mind turned slowly to look at that orb — one of sharp faculties sees the bright appearance present before him in a single sitting, perhaps the size of a coin, perhaps the size of a mirror’s face.
And on that very brightness he sees whether his own karmic obstruction is light or heavy.
One kind is the black obstruction, like a black cloud obstructing the sun; one is the yellow obstruction, like a yellow cloud obstructing the sun; one is the white obstruction, like a white cloud obstructing the sun. The sun, obstructed by cloud, cannot shine forth brightly; the karmic obstruction of sentient beings is likewise, screening the object of the pure mind so that the mind cannot illumine clearly.
This is a very honest arrangement: one need not ask another how far one has come in practice; one need only see how bright that orb has become.
And once it is seen, what then? The sūtra does not say, but the gate of practice does: adorn the place of practice, set up an image of the Buddha, bathe clean and put on pure garments, burn fine incense, and before the Buddha’s image repent of everything done by body, speech, and mind from the beginningless past; weep in sorrow with raining tears, give rise to deep shame that penetrates within to the marrow of the heart, and reproach oneself to the bone. When the repentance is finished, return and sit as before. If those three obstructions are wholly removed and the object contemplated is bright and clear, this is called sudden extinction; if one repentance removes only one colour and several are needed before all are gone, this is called gradual removal.
As for when to repent, the words of the ancients are blunt: it is like boiling water or fire burning the body — the moment one feels it, one throws it off. How could there be room to wait for the time, wait for the place, wait for the conditions, wait for the person, and only then begin?
Clear and Distinct Whether the Eyes Are Closed or Open
The direct teaching of how to observe is a single sentence: “You should raise up this thought and image: sit upright facing the west and look closely at the sun; make the mind stand firm, and hold the image single without letting it shift.”
The body upright, the face west, the eyes looking closely, the mind standing firm, the image not shifting — five things, and not one of them missing.
Then comes the test of accomplishment: “Once the sun has been seen, let it be clear and distinct whether the eyes are closed or open.”
Seeing it with the eyes open does not count; only its remaining when the eyes are shut counts as accomplished. For what is seen with the eyes open may be a matter of the eyes; what remains when the eyes are shut is a matter of the mind.
At this step the settled bliss of samādhi comes to be present, and body and mind, within and without, melt and flow beyond all conceiving.
The Moment It Is Most Easily Lost
And it is at precisely this moment that it is most easily lost.
The readings handed down set down a heavy warning here: when this object is seen, one must by all means gather the mind and make it settled, and must not let a mind of craving and grasping arise. Let a craving mind arise, and the water of the mind stirs; let the mind stir, and the pure object is gone that instant. It may stir, or darken, or blacken, or bring out a jumble of blue and yellow and red and white, and settle no more.
The remedy is equally simple: know that it is one’s own craving mind that has moved, then settle the mind in right mindfulness and start again from where it began — the stirring appearance is removed, and the still mind appears again.
We probably all recognize this process. Quiet is reached with difficulty, and just as one feels there it is, that very thought of there it is undoes it.
Right Contemplation and Wrong Contemplation
The whole passage closes on a judgment: “To make this contemplation is called right contemplation; to make another contemplation is called wrong contemplation.”
What is the criterion?
Contemplating the sun, one sees the sun: mind and object correspond, and that is right. Contemplating the sun, one does not see the sun but brings out other mixed objects instead: mind and object do not correspond, and that is wrong.
There is not a word in this criterion about how high or low the object seen is. It asks one thing only: is what you meant to look at the same as what you saw?
Wrong contemplation therefore does not mean seeing something dreadful, nor does it mean a crooked intent. What is in the mind is the sun, and what appears before it is something else: that is what non-correspondence means. Even if what appears is a spread of light or a storied tower, so long as it is not the one thing contemplated, it is wrong all the same. This way of judging pins contemplation down to correspondence and leaves no room for anyone to explain himself out of it.
And this judgment does not govern only this one contemplation — for the fifteen that follow, wrong and right, gain and loss, are one and the same as here. What the first contemplation sets up is not merely an object to be contemplated; it is a measuring rod that the fifteen to come will all have to use.
The sūtra thus frames the whole sequence of the sixteen contemplations upon the most ordinary of things: a person sits down, faces west, and watches the sun go down.
Carrying Forward — Two Eyes on the Same Setting Sun
The above is the meaning of this passage of the sūtra itself. Below, two eyes, one of the Sui and one of the Tang, cast their light from the side — the mirror is not the sūtra; only the same setting sun, seen through two ways of reading.
The Shandao line is the reading of the Commentary on the Contemplation Sūtra in Four Fascicles. He fixes the main body at this sentence and states of himself, “the main body that I now fix and establish differs from that of the other masters.” He divides this contemplation into five segments: the general charge and general exhortation, citing the matter to be contemplated, directly teaching how to observe, distinguishing the sign of accomplishment, and the general conclusion. The answer in three intents comes from him; the detail of the manner of sitting comes from him — sitting upright with legs crossed, the right foot on the left thigh, the left hand laid on the right hand, the body straight and upright, the mouth closed but the teeth not touching, the tongue propped against the palate so that the breath passages are free. So too does the scattering of the five great elements to the five directions, leaving only the great element of consciousness “resting clear and gathered, like a round mirror.” The three colours of karmic obstruction, sudden and gradual repentance, and the craving mind that stirs and loses the object are all fine articles of the gate of practice that he sets out. For him this contemplation is the “provisional support” — the sun’s orb is an object of this world that resembles and can be seen, not the real, outflow-free object of that land, and one enters the true by way of the provisional.
The Zhiyi line is the reading of the Commentary on the Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life. He explains this contemplation very briefly: “it shows and directs the binding of the mind”; then he marks the outline sentence by sentence and stops at “from ‘this is’ onward is the conclusion.” The meaning he attaches lies not in method but in the removal of doubt — “right contemplation is taught and directed in order to remove the doubting mind” — and he cites what the larger sūtra makes clear, that those who cultivate merits with a doubting mind and are born in that land fall into the border region and further undergo womb-birth; hence this contemplation must be made, to remove doubt. Whether offences are extinguished he leaves until the third contemplation, the contemplation of the ground, before judging: “the water before was image and cannot extinguish offences. The contemplation of the ground is actual, and so can cut them off.” And in the preface to his own fascicle, the simile he uses is precisely this one: “the setting sun, a suspended drum, used to mark the direction in which the image is sent.”
One line reads this orb as the entrance to the gate of practice, and measures it down to posture and breath; the other reads it as the expedient for removing doubt, and measures it by position in the stages and by the extinction of offences.
And the sūtra itself has said only this: seeing the sun about to set, its shape like a suspended drum.
考據Apparatus
全段定位 本單元為十六觀之第一觀，亦是善導《四帖疏》所判正宗分之首句所在。經文先總告總勸（專心繫念、想於西方），次牒所觀之事（自非生盲，皆見日沒），次正教觀察（正坐西向，諦觀於日），次辨觀成之相（閉目開目皆令明了），末總結而判正邪。全段一百三十五字，是全經最短之一單元，而定善十三觀自此起。底本末十六字「作是觀者，名為正觀。若他觀者，名為邪觀。」為宋元明三本與流布本所無，是本單元校勘之要目，見目九。
一、科判定位
正宗分之總判與起處：
「從此已下，次辯正宗，即有其十六。」〔T37n1753 0261b05〕 「從日觀初句下，至下品下生已來，是其正宗。」〔T37n1753 0261b07〕
本單元起句即正宗分之起句。此判係善導自立，並自陳與他家不同：
「今定立正宗，與諸師不同。」〔T37n1753 0261b06〕 「從日觀已上，雖有多義不同，看此文勢，但是由序也。」〔T37n1753 0261b08〕
日觀之內部，疏分五段：
「就初日觀中，先舉，次辨，後結。即有其五。」〔T37n1753 0261b11〕
| 疏之五段 | 疏標起訖（逐字） | 錨 | 本帙白話段位 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一·總告總勸 | 「一、從佛告韋提下，至想於西方已來，正明總告總勸。」 | 〔T37n1753 0261b12〕 | 〔一〕 |
| 二·牒所觀事 | 「二、從云何作想下，至皆見日沒已來，正明牒所觀事。」 | 〔T37n1753 0261b25〕 | 〔二〕 |
| 三·正教觀察 | 「三、從當起想念下，至狀如懸鼓已來，正教觀察。」 | 〔T37n1753 0262a27〕 | 〔三〕 |
| 四·辨觀成相 | 「四、從既見日已下，至明了已來，辯觀成相。」 | 〔T37n1753 0262b01〕 | 〔四〕 |
| 五·總結 | 「五、從是為已下，總結。上來雖有五句不同，廣明日觀竟。」 | 〔T37n1753 0262b16〕 | 〔五〕 |
witness 分欄·智顗疏之科（誌錄不判）：
「第一日觀。示令繫心。「佛告」下，略明繫念，總勸修觀。「云何」下，正明作日觀。」〔T37n1750 0191c15〕 「「一切有目皆見日沒」下，舉所觀境。「當起想」下，正教觀察。「是為」下，結也。」〔T37n1750 0191c16〕
十六觀之總分，智顗別立三分：
「就十六觀，分文為三，初六觀觀其依果，次七觀觀其正報，後三明三輩九品往生也。」〔T37n1750 0191c12〕
二疏於本段之科，起訖大體相合而末節不同——善導之第五段「五、從是為已下，總結」收「是為日想，名曰初觀」以下全文；智顗之末科作「「是為」下，結也」，其下不另立顯觀邪正一科。而智顗於第三地觀以下則屢立此科：「「作是觀」下，顯觀邪正。」〔T37n1750 0192a04〕，第六總觀、第九佛身觀、第十觀音觀亦然。本段末十六字之異讀（見目九）與此科之有無並列於此，誌錄不判，不作因果之斷。
二、異譯對勘
本經漢地無第二譯本——已查大正藏第十二冊 T12n0360–T12n0396 諸經題名，《佛說觀無量壽佛經》止此一本，無異譯可勘。誠實記之。
同軸他經有無平行之日觀？零命中——已查《佛說阿彌陀經》T12n0366、《稱讚淨土佛攝受經》T12n0367 全篇，無「日想」「日沒」「懸鼓」之文。十六觀為本經所獨有。誠實記之。
三、經論宗依（眼）
日觀之位在定善之首：
「從日觀下至十三觀已來名為定善。三福九品名為散善。」〔T37n1753 0247b23〕
定善之所出，即序分韋提希之請；請語二事，疏各為之釋：
「言思惟者，即是觀前方便，思想彼國依正二報總別相也。」〔T37n1753 0247b28〕 「言正受者，想心都息緣慮並亡，三昧相應名為正受。」〔T37n1753 0247c02〕
日想在依報中屬「假依」——善導於玄義分辨依報之真假：
「言假者，即日想、水想、氷想等是其假依，由是此界中相似可見境相故。」〔T37n1753 0246c17〕 「言真依者，即從瑠璃地下至寶樓觀已來是其真依。由是彼國真實無漏可見境相故。」〔T37n1753 0246c19〕
日輪是此界可見之境，非彼國之境；以此界相似可見者為所託，故名假依。此即本觀之所以立於十六觀之首的義據。
「觀」之一字，疏亦自釋：「言觀者照也，常以淨信心手以持智慧之輝，照彼彌陀正依等事。」〔T37n1753 0247a05〕
智顗於本觀所繫之經證，出於《大經》：
「教令正觀，為除疑心。大本所明，以疑惑心修諸功德生彼國者，落在邊地，復受胎生。」〔T37n1750 0191c18〕 「障者，大本言「唯除五逆誹謗正法」，故須作觀。」〔T37n1750 0191c20〕
誌錄不判：善導以三意釋先教日觀之故（見目四），智顗則以除疑惑、除障釋之。二家所繫之義不同，並錄。
四、本段釋要（四帖疏逐文）
總告總勸——何以須專心繫念：
「此明眾生散動，識劇猨猴，心遍六塵，無由暫息。」〔T37n1753 0261b19〕 「自非捨緣託靜，相續注心，直指西方簡餘九域。」〔T37n1753 0261b22〕 「是以一身、一心、一迴向、一處、一境界、一相續、一歸依、一正念，是名想成就，得正受。」〔T37n1753 0261b23〕
生盲之簡——
「言生盲者，從母胎中出眼即不見物者，名曰生盲。」〔T37n1753 0261c03〕 「此人不得教作日觀，由不識日輪光相故。」〔T37n1753 0261c04〕 「除生盲以外遇緣患者，教作日觀盡得成就。」〔T37n1753 0261c05〕 「今雖患目，但令善取日輪等相，正念堅持，不限時節，必得成就。」〔T37n1753 0261c07〕
何以先教觀日——疏設問而以三意答之：
「問曰：「韋提上請願見極樂之境，及至如來許說，即先教住心觀日，有何意也？」」〔T37n1753 0261c09〕 「此有三意。」〔T37n1753 0261c11〕
| 意 | 疏文逐字 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 一·識境住心，指方有在 | 「一者欲令眾生識境住心，指方有在。不取冬夏兩時，唯取春秋二際。其日正東出，直西沒。彌陀佛國，當日沒處，直西超過十萬億剎即是。」 | 〔T37n1753 0261c11〕 |
| 二·識知自業障輕重 | 「二者欲令眾生識知自業障有輕重。」 | 〔T37n1753 0261c14〕 |
| 三·識知彼土光相 | 「三者欲令眾生識知彌陀依正二報，種種莊嚴光明等相，內外照曜，超過此日百千萬倍。」 | 〔T37n1753 0262a21〕 |
第三意之用法：「行者等若不識彼境光相者，即看此日輪光明之相。」〔T37n1753 0262a23〕；總結其故：「為此義故，世尊先教作日想觀也。」〔T37n1753 0262a26〕
第二意所繫之觀法——疏於此出坐法與想法之全式：
「初欲住心時，教令跏趺正坐，右脚著左髀上與外齊，左足安右髀上與外齊，左手安右手上，令身正直」〔T37n1753 0261c15〕 「合口齒勿相近，舌柱上㗁為令咽喉及鼻中氣道宣通故。」〔T37n1753 0261c18〕
次教散五大於五方（地散西方、水散北方、風散東方、火散南方、空合十方），末乃：
「又想身之五大皆空，唯有識大湛然凝住，猶如圓鏡，內外明照，朗然清淨。」〔T37n1753 0261c28〕 「作此想時，亂想得除，心漸凝定，然後徐徐轉心諦觀於日。」〔T37n1753 0261c29〕 「其利根者，一坐即見明相現前。當境現時，或如錢大，或如鏡面大。」〔T37n1753 0262a02〕 「於此明上，即自見業障輕重之相。」〔T37n1753 0262a03〕
三障之相與懺法——
「一者黑障，猶如黑雲障日。二者黃障，又如黃雲障日。三者白障，如似白雲障日。」〔T37n1753 0262a04〕 「此日猶雲障故，不得朗然顯照。眾生業障亦如是。障蔽淨心之境，不能令心明照。」〔T37n1753 0262a06〕 「行者若見此相，即須嚴飾道場安置佛像，清淨洗浴著淨衣，又燒名香」〔T37n1753 0262a08〕 「極須悲涕雨淚，深生慚愧，內徹心髓，切骨自責。」〔T37n1753 0262a12〕 「此名頓滅障也。」〔T37n1753 0262a15〕、「或一懺即盡者，名利根人也。」〔T37n1753 0262a15〕、「此名漸除，不名頓滅也。」〔T37n1753 0262a17〕 「既自識業相如是，唯須勤心懺悔」〔T37n1753 0262a18〕
正教觀察與觀成之相——
「此明正身威儀面向西方，守境住心堅執不移，所期皆應。」〔T37n1753 0262a28〕 「此明標心見日，制想除緣，念念不移，淨相了然而現。」〔T37n1753 0262b02〕 「即得三昧定樂，身心內外融液，不可思議。」〔T37n1753 0262b04〕
觀成之後最易失處——
「好須攝心令定，不得上心貪取。若起貪心，心水即動，以心動故淨境即失。」〔T37n1753 0262b05〕 「即自安心正念，還從本起，動相即除，靜心還現。」〔T37n1753 0262b10〕
正邪之判與其通例——
「已下諸觀，邪正得失，一同此也。」〔T37n1753 0262b12〕 「觀日見日，心境相應，名為正觀。觀日不見日，乃見餘雜境等，心境不相應，故名邪也。」〔T37n1753 0262b12〕
日之所以可託——
「斯乃娑婆之闇宅，觸事無以比方。唯有朗日舒輝，寄想遠標於極樂。」〔T37n1753 0262b14〕
疏於次觀（水想）回顧本觀，重申此義：「日輪常照，以表極樂之長暉。」〔T37n1753 0262b21〕、「但以娑婆闇宅，唯日能明。」〔T37n1753 0262b23〕
五、諸家異釋（分欄並錄·誌錄不判）
| 事 | 善導《四帖疏》（唐） | 錨 | 智顗疏（隋·天台） | 錨 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 正宗分之起 | 「從日觀初句下，至下品下生已來，是其正宗。」 | 〔T37n1753 0261b07〕 | 「「爾時世尊放眉間光」下，第二、正說。文為三：初明淨業、次辯妙觀、三利益。」 | 〔T37n1750 0191a10〕 |
| 十六觀之總分 | 依報／正報之通別真假（玄義分「言假者，即日想、水想、氷想等是其假依」） | 〔T37n1753 0246c17〕 | 「就十六觀，分文為三，初六觀觀其依果，次七觀觀其正報，後三明三輩九品往生也。」 | 〔T37n1750 0191c12〕 |
| 何以先教觀日 | 三意：識境住心指方有在／識知自業障輕重／識知彼土光相超此日百千萬倍 | 〔T37n1753 0261c11〕 | 「教令正觀，為除疑心。」 | 〔T37n1750 0191c18〕 |
| 本觀能否滅罪 | 就日觀不言滅罪；唯以懺悔滅障——「此名頓滅障也。」 | 〔T37n1753 0262a15〕 | 於第三地觀處立判：「前水是想，不能滅罪。地觀是實，故能除斷也。」 | 〔T37n1750 0192a05〕 |
| 末節之科 | 第五段總結收「是為」以下全文，別出「觀日見日，心境相應，名為正觀」 | 〔T37n1753 0262b12〕 | 「「是為」下，結也。」——不另立顯觀邪正之科 | 〔T37n1750 0191c17〕 |
二家於本觀之著力處判然不同：善導於此出坐法、出五大散想之次第、出業障三色之相、出懺悔之儀與頓漸之別、出貪心動境之戒——皆是行門之事；智顗則以除疑惑、除障為義，於行法不設細目，而以滅罪與否之判留待地觀。二說並錄，不設調停。
六、術語（首見名相·釋義皆自二鏡）
| 名相 | 疏釋逐字 | 錨 | 鏡 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 生盲 | 「言生盲者，從母胎中出眼即不見物者，名曰生盲。」 | 〔T37n1753 0261c03〕 | 善導 |
| 觀 | 「言觀者照也，常以淨信心手以持智慧之輝，照彼彌陀正依等事。」 | 〔T37n1753 0247a05〕 | 善導 |
| 思惟 | 「言思惟者，即是觀前方便，思想彼國依正二報總別相也。」 | 〔T37n1753 0247b28〕 | 善導 |
| 正受 | 「言正受者，想心都息緣慮並亡，三昧相應名為正受。」 | 〔T37n1753 0247c02〕 | 善導 |
| 假依 | 「言假者，即日想、水想、氷想等是其假依，由是此界中相似可見境相故。」 | 〔T37n1753 0246c17〕 | 善導 |
| 正觀·邪觀 | 「觀日見日，心境相應，名為正觀。觀日不見日，乃見餘雜境等，心境不相應，故名邪也。」 | 〔T37n1753 0262b12〕 | 善導 |
| 定善 | 「從日觀下至十三觀已來名為定善。三福九品名為散善。」 | 〔T37n1753 0247b23〕 | 善導 |
「初觀」之名——經文自標「名曰初觀」〔T12n0365 0342a04〕；十六觀之名目，智顗於答請處逐一列出：「一日觀、二水觀、三地觀、四樹觀、五池觀」〔T37n1750 0191c07〕以下十六。二家皆以此為第一，無異。
「懸鼓」——經文自用之譬，二疏皆牒而未別釋其物；智顗於卷首序中以之標本經之綱：「落日懸鼓，用標送想之方；大水結氷，實表瑠璃之地。」〔T37n1750 0186c06〕
本段經文無梵語音寫，二疏於本段亦未出梵形，本帙不代擬。
七、譬喻·修辭
經文自用之譬一：「見日欲沒，狀如懸鼓」〔T12n0365 0342a03〕——以懸鼓狀落日之形。全段唯此一譬，餘皆直教。
鏡疏自立之譬（非經文所有，錄以備考，不與經譬相混）：
| 譬 | 疏文逐字 | 錨 | 所顯 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 猿猴 | 「此明眾生散動，識劇猨猴，心遍六塵，無由暫息。」 | 〔T37n1753 0261b19〕 | 散心之相 |
| 雲障日 | 「一者黑障，猶如黑雲障日。二者黃障，又如黃雲障日。三者白障，如似白雲障日。」 | 〔T37n1753 0262a04〕 | 業障蔽心 |
| 圓鏡 | 「唯有識大湛然凝住，猶如圓鏡，內外明照，朗然清淨。」 | 〔T37n1753 0261c28〕 | 五大散盡後之識 |
| 心水 | 「若起貪心，心水即動，以心動故淨境即失。」 | 〔T37n1753 0262b06〕 | 貪心動則境失 |
| 湯火燒身 | 「譬如湯火燒身一覺即却，豈容徒待時、待處、待緣、待人方始除也。」 | 〔T37n1753 0262a20〕 | 懺悔不待時 |
| 闇宅朗日 | 「斯乃娑婆之闇宅，觸事無以比方。唯有朗日舒輝，寄想遠標於極樂。」 | 〔T37n1753 0262b14〕 | 日之所以堪託 |
修辭上可記者二：①全段以「是為」「名曰」「名為」三度收束，一句判其名（日想）、一句判其次（初觀）、一句判其邪正——由事而名、由名而次、由次而判，三層相疊。②「閉目開目皆令明了」以二相對舉而歸於一，是本經觀成之定式，後諸觀屢見同型之語。
八、徵引承衍
- 今譯注諸帙之內徵引本單元經文者，零命中（已查全樹：「狀如懸鼓」「諦觀於日」「日想」諸語，除本帙原典層與鏡源逐行檔外，他帙無一命中）。誠實記之。
- 本軸內部之對讀點：《阿彌陀經》帙考據層所引《觀經》諸文，分在本帙樹想（04）至下輩生想（16）之域，不涉本單元。
- 本觀之義在本經內部的承衍：疏明言本觀之正邪判為以下諸觀之通例——「已下諸觀，邪正得失，一同此也。」〔T37n1753 0262b12〕；次觀（水想）之立，亦以本觀為對照而起：「日輪常照，以表極樂之長暉。復恐彼地不平，類此穢國之高下。」〔T37n1753 0262b21〕
- 智顗以本觀之譬入其卷首序——「落日懸鼓，用標送想之方」〔T37n1750 0186c06〕，是本段一語為全經綱目之一例。
九、校本定位
大正藏校記（<app>）於本單元域內共二處：
| 錨 | 底本 | 異讀 | 見證 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0342a02 | 「日」 | 日欲沒之處 | 宋·元·明 |
| 0342a04 | 「作是觀者，名為正觀。若他觀者，名為邪觀。」十六字 | 無此十六字 | 宋·元·明·流布本 |
第一條——底本作「諦觀於日」，宋元明三本於「日」下更有「欲沒之處」四字。所觀者是日，或是日欲沒之處，二本所標不同。誌錄不判。
第二條為本單元最重之異讀——底本末十六字，宋元明三本與流布本皆無。大正藏原式將此字數與下一單元首十二字（自「佛告阿難及韋提希」至「初觀成已」）併記為二十八字之闕；今行校記分作十六字、十二字二條，本帙依今行之分而記其界。不據以改底本一字，不代裁其孰為原文。
與此異讀相涉而並錄者二事：①善導疏牒有此十六字之義，並就之立正邪之判〔T37n1753 0262b12〕；②智顗疏於本觀之末科唯作「「是為」下，結也」〔T37n1750 0191c17〕，不立顯觀邪正一科，而於第三地觀以下則屢立之〔T37n1750 0192a04〕。二事並錄，不作因果之斷，不以一疏之科證一本之文。
gaiji：本單元零命中。
夾註（place="inline" note）：本單元零命中。
全形空格（U+3000）：本單元零命中。
CBETA 新增校注：本單元零命中（本經五條之最早者在〔T12n0365 0342a12〕，屬下一單元）。
Placement of the passage as a whole. This unit is the first of the sixteen contemplations, and it is also where Shandao’s Commentary in Four Fascicles locates the opening sentence of the main body. The sūtra first gives the general charge and general exhortation (make the mind single, bind the thought, form the image of the west); next it cites the matter to be contemplated (all who are not blind from birth see the sun set); next it directly teaches how to observe (sit upright facing west and look closely at the sun); next it distinguishes the sign that the contemplation is accomplished (let it be clear and distinct whether the eyes are closed or open); and it closes with a general conclusion that judges right from wrong. The whole passage runs to one hundred and thirty-five characters and is one of the shortest units in the sūtra, yet the thirteen contemplations of the good done in concentration begin here. The last sixteen characters of the base text, 「作是觀者，名為正觀。若他觀者，名為邪觀。」—“To make this contemplation is called right contemplation; to make another contemplation is called wrong contemplation,” are absent from the Song, Yuan, and Ming witnesses and from the current-circulation printing — the chief item of collation in this unit; see the ninth topic.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
The general judgment of the main body and the point at which it begins:
「從此已下，次辯正宗，即有其十六。」—“From here on, the main body is next distinguished, and it has sixteen parts” 〔T37n1753 0261b05〕. 「從日觀初句下，至下品下生已來，是其正宗。」—“From the first sentence of the contemplation of the sun down to the lowest birth of the lowest grade is its main body” 〔T37n1753 0261b07〕.
The opening sentence of this unit is thus the opening sentence of the main body. This judgment is Shandao’s own, and he states of himself that it differs from other masters:
「今定立正宗，與諸師不同。」—“The main body that I now fix and establish differs from that of the other masters” 〔T37n1753 0261b06〕. 「從日觀已上，雖有多義不同，看此文勢，但是由序也。」—“Everything above the contemplation of the sun, though it holds many differing meanings, is, if one looks at the momentum of the text, only the causal introduction” 〔T37n1753 0261b08〕.
Within the contemplation of the sun the commentary marks five segments:
「就初日觀中，先舉，次辨，後結。即有其五。」—“Within the first contemplation of the sun there is first the raising, next the distinguishing, and last the conclusion — there are five in all” 〔T37n1753 0261b11〕.
| The commentary’s five segments | The commentary’s marked span (verbatim) | Anchor | Segment in this edition’s Plain Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · General charge and general exhortation | 「一、從佛告韋提下，至想於西方已來，正明總告總勸。」—“First, from ‘the Buddha told Vaidehī’ down to ‘form the image of the west,’ directly clarifies the general charge and general exhortation.” | 〔T37n1753 0261b12〕 | 〔一〕 |
| 2 · Citing the matter to be contemplated | 「二、從云何作想下，至皆見日沒已來，正明牒所觀事。」—“Second, from ‘how is the image to be formed’ down to ‘all see the sun set,’ directly clarifies the citing of the matter to be contemplated.” | 〔T37n1753 0261b25〕 | 〔二〕 |
| 3 · Directly teaching how to observe | 「三、從當起想念下，至狀如懸鼓已來，正教觀察。」—“Third, from ‘one should raise up this thought and image’ down to ‘its shape like a suspended drum,’ directly teaches how to observe.” | 〔T37n1753 0262a27〕 | 〔三〕 |
| 4 · Distinguishing the sign of accomplishment | 「四、從既見日已下，至明了已來，辯觀成相。」—“Fourth, from ‘once the sun has been seen’ down to ‘clear and distinct,’ distinguishes the sign that the contemplation is accomplished.” | 〔T37n1753 0262b01〕 | 〔四〕 |
| 5 · General conclusion | 「五、從是為已下，總結。上來雖有五句不同，廣明日觀竟。」—“Fifth, from ‘this is’ onward is the general conclusion. Although the five sentences above differ among themselves, the extensive clarification of the contemplation of the sun is herewith finished.” | 〔T37n1753 0262b16〕 | 〔五〕 |
The witness column · Zhiyi’s outline of this passage (recorded without adjudication):
「第一日觀。示令繫心。「佛告」下，略明繫念，總勸修觀。「云何」下，正明作日觀。」—“The first, the contemplation of the sun. It shows and directs the binding of the mind. From ‘the Buddha told’ onward briefly clarifies the binding of thought and generally exhorts the cultivation of contemplation. From ‘how’ onward directly clarifies the forming of the image of the sun” 〔T37n1750 0191c15〕. 「「一切有目皆見日沒」下，舉所觀境。「當起想」下，正教觀察。「是為」下，結也。」—“From ‘all who have eyes see the sun set’ onward raises the object to be contemplated. From ‘one should raise up the image’ onward directly teaches how to observe. From ‘this is’ onward is the conclusion” 〔T37n1750 0191c16〕.
For the general division of the sixteen contemplations, Zhiyi sets up a threefold scheme of his own:
「就十六觀，分文為三，初六觀觀其依果，次七觀觀其正報，後三明三輩九品往生也。」—“Taking the sixteen contemplations, the text divides into three: the first six contemplate the dependent fruit, the next seven contemplate the direct recompense, and the last three clarify birth in that land by the three grades and the nine grades” 〔T37n1750 0191c12〕.
The two commentaries agree broadly in the spans of their outlines of this passage but differ in the last segment. Shandao’s fifth segment, 「五、從是為已下，總結」—“fifth, from ‘this is’ onward is the general conclusion” — gathers in the whole of the text from 「是為日想，名曰初觀」—“this is called the image of the sun, and it is named the first contemplation” onward; Zhiyi’s last item is 「「是為」下，結也」—“from ‘this is’ onward is the conclusion,” and under it he sets up no separate topic for showing the contemplation to be wrong or right. Yet from the third contemplation, the contemplation of the ground, onward Zhiyi repeatedly sets up just that topic: 「「作是觀」下，顯觀邪正。」—“from ‘makes this contemplation’ onward shows the contemplation to be wrong or right” 〔T37n1750 0192a04〕, and so also at the sixth, the general contemplation, at the ninth, the contemplation of the Buddha’s body, and at the tenth, the contemplation of Avalokiteśvara. The variant reading of the last sixteen characters of this passage (see the ninth topic) and the presence or absence of that topic are set side by side here, recorded without adjudication; no causal inference is drawn between them.
II. Collation with the Alternate Translations — recorded without adjudication
There is no second Chinese translation of this sūtra. The titles of the sūtras in the twelfth volume of the Taishō canon, T12n0360 through T12n0396, have been searched: The Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life stands alone, and there is no alternate translation against which to collate. Recorded honestly.
Is there a parallel contemplation of the sun in the other sūtras of this same axis? Nothing was found. The whole of The Amitābha Sūtra, T12n0366, and of The Sūtra on Praising the Pure Land and the Buddha’s Embrace, T12n0367, has been searched, and neither contains any text of 「日想」 (the image of the sun), 「日沒」 (the sun setting), or 「懸鼓」 (a suspended drum). The sixteen contemplations belong to this sūtra alone. Recorded honestly.
III. Scriptural and Treatise Grounding (the “eye”)
The place of the contemplation of the sun is at the head of the good done in concentration:
「從日觀下至十三觀已來名為定善。三福九品名為散善。」—“From the contemplation of the sun down to the thirteenth contemplation is called the good done in concentration. The three kinds of merit and the nine grades are called the good done in a scattered mind” 〔T37n1753 0247b23〕.
The good done in concentration issues from Vaidehī’s request in the introduction; her request names two matters, and the commentary glosses each:
「言思惟者，即是觀前方便，思想彼國依正二報總別相也。」—“As for ‘reflection,’ it is the expedient prior to contemplation: to think out the general and the particular characteristics of the twofold recompense, dependent and direct, of that land” 〔T37n1753 0247b28〕. 「言正受者，想心都息緣慮並亡，三昧相應名為正受。」—“As for ‘right reception,’ the imaging mind wholly rests and discursive concerns all vanish; correspondence with samādhi is called right reception” 〔T37n1753 0247c02〕.
Among the dependent recompense, the image of the sun belongs to what is called 「假依」, the provisional support — Shandao distinguishes the true from the provisional in the dependent recompense in the Section on the Profound Meaning:
「言假者，即日想、水想、氷想等是其假依，由是此界中相似可見境相故。」—“As for ‘the provisional,’ the image of the sun, the image of water, the image of ice and the like are its provisional support, because they are objects of this world that resemble it and can be seen” 〔T37n1753 0246c17〕. 「言真依者，即從瑠璃地下至寶樓觀已來是其真依。由是彼國真實無漏可見境相故。」—“As for ‘the true support,’ from the beryl ground down to the contemplation of the jeweled towers is its true support, because they are the real, outflow-free, visible objects of that land” 〔T37n1753 0246c19〕.
The orb of the sun is an object visible in this world, not an object of that land; because what is taken as a support is something of this world that resembles and can be seen, it is called provisional support. This is the doctrinal ground on which this contemplation stands first among the sixteen.
The single word 「觀」 the commentary also glosses of its own accord: 「言觀者照也，常以淨信心手以持智慧之輝，照彼彌陀正依等事。」—“As for ‘contemplating,’ it is illumining: constantly, with the hand of a mind of pure trust, one holds the radiance of wisdom and illumines the direct and the dependent matters of Amitābha” 〔T37n1753 0247a05〕.
The scriptural warrant Zhiyi attaches to this contemplation comes from the larger sūtra:
「教令正觀，為除疑心。大本所明，以疑惑心修諸功德生彼國者，落在邊地，復受胎生。」—“He teaches and directs right contemplation in order to remove the doubting mind. As the larger sūtra makes clear, those who cultivate merits with a doubting mind and are born in that land fall into the border region and further undergo womb-birth” 〔T37n1750 0191c18〕. 「障者，大本言「唯除五逆誹謗正法」，故須作觀。」—“As for obstruction, the larger sūtra says ‘excepting only those who commit the five heinous acts and slander the right Dharma’; hence contemplation must be made” 〔T37n1750 0191c20〕.
Recorded without adjudication: Shandao gives three intents for why the contemplation of the sun is taught first (see the fourth topic); Zhiyi explains it by the removal of doubt and the removal of obstruction. What the two houses attach here is not the same meaning, and both are recorded.
IV. Essentials of the Commentary on This Passage (the Commentary in Four Fascicles, line by line)
The general charge and general exhortation — why the mind must be made single and the thought bound:
「此明眾生散動，識劇猨猴，心遍六塵，無由暫息。」—“This clarifies that sentient beings are scattered and restless: consciousness is fiercer than a monkey, and the mind ranges over the six dusts with no way to rest even briefly” 〔T37n1753 0261b19〕. 「自非捨緣託靜，相續注心，直指西方簡餘九域。」—“Unless one lets go of entanglement and entrusts oneself to stillness, pouring the mind out in continuity, pointing straight to the west and setting aside the other nine regions...” 〔T37n1753 0261b22〕. 「是以一身、一心、一迴向、一處、一境界、一相續、一歸依、一正念，是名想成就，得正受。」—“Therefore one body, one mind, one dedication and direction, one place, one object, one continuity, one refuge, one right mindfulness — this is called the accomplishment of the image and the attainment of right reception” 〔T37n1753 0261b23〕.
The setting aside of those blind from birth —
「言生盲者，從母胎中出眼即不見物者，名曰生盲。」—“As for ‘blind from birth,’ one whose eyes, from the time he came out of the mother’s womb, did not see things is called blind from birth” 〔T37n1753 0261c03〕. 「此人不得教作日觀，由不識日輪光相故。」—“Such a person may not be taught to make the contemplation of the sun, because he does not know the luminous appearance of the sun’s orb” 〔T37n1753 0261c04〕. 「除生盲以外遇緣患者，教作日觀盡得成就。」—“Apart from those blind from birth, one whose eyes were afflicted by later circumstance can be taught to make the contemplation of the sun and will wholly succeed in it” 〔T37n1753 0261c05〕. 「今雖患目，但令善取日輪等相，正念堅持，不限時節，必得成就。」—“Though his eyes are now afflicted, if only he takes up well the appearance of the sun’s orb and the rest, holds it firmly in right mindfulness, and sets no limit of season or time, he will necessarily succeed” 〔T37n1753 0261c07〕.
Why the sun is taught first — the commentary poses the question and answers it with three intents:
「問曰：「韋提上請願見極樂之境，及至如來許說，即先教住心觀日，有何意也？」」—“Question: ‘Vaidehī above asked to see the objects of Ultimate Bliss, and when the Tathāgata consented to teach, he first taught her to settle the mind and contemplate the sun. What is the intent of this?’” 〔T37n1753 0261c09〕. 「此有三意。」—“There are three intents in this” 〔T37n1753 0261c11〕.
| Intent | The commentary verbatim | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Knowing the object and settling the mind, so that the direction pointed to has a definite place | 「一者欲令眾生識境住心，指方有在。不取冬夏兩時，唯取春秋二際。其日正東出，直西沒。彌陀佛國，當日沒處，直西超過十萬億剎即是。」—“The first is to make sentient beings know the object and settle the mind, so that the direction pointed to has a definite place. He does not take the two seasons of winter and summer, but only the two junctures of spring and autumn. Then the sun rises due east and sets due west. Amitābha’s buddha-land lies where the sun sets, straight west beyond a hundred thousand koṭis of lands — that is it.” | 〔T37n1753 0261c11〕 |
| 2 · Knowing whether one’s own karmic obstruction is light or heavy | 「二者欲令眾生識知自業障有輕重。」—“The second is to make sentient beings know that their own karmic obstruction is light or heavy.” | 〔T37n1753 0261c14〕 |
| 3 · Knowing the luminous appearance of that land | 「三者欲令眾生識知彌陀依正二報，種種莊嚴光明等相，內外照曜，超過此日百千萬倍。」—“The third is to make sentient beings know that the twofold recompense of Amitābha, dependent and direct, with its manifold adornments and radiance and the rest of its characteristics, shines within and without, surpassing this sun a hundred thousand ten-thousandfold.” | 〔T37n1753 0262a21〕 |
How the third intent is used: 「行者等若不識彼境光相者，即看此日輪光明之相。」—“If practitioners and the rest do not know the luminous appearance of that object, let them look at the appearance of the brightness of this sun’s orb” 〔T37n1753 0262a23〕; and the reason is gathered up: 「為此義故，世尊先教作日想觀也。」—“It is for this reason that the World-Honored One first taught the contemplation that forms the image of the sun” 〔T37n1753 0262a26〕.
The method of contemplation attached to the second intent — here the commentary sets out the full form of sitting and of forming the image:
「初欲住心時，教令跏趺正坐，右脚著左髀上與外齊，左足安右髀上與外齊，左手安右手上，令身正直」—“When first about to settle the mind, he directs one to sit upright with the legs crossed: the right foot placed upon the left thigh, level with its outer edge; the left foot set upon the right thigh, level with its outer edge; the left hand laid upon the right hand; and the body made straight and upright” 〔T37n1753 0261c15〕. 「合口齒勿相近，舌柱上㗁為令咽喉及鼻中氣道宣通故。」—“Close the mouth, but do not let the teeth touch; prop the tongue against the palate, so that the passages of breath in the throat and in the nose may be free and open” 〔T37n1753 0261c18〕.
Next he teaches the scattering of the five great elements to the five directions (earth to the west, water to the north, wind to the east, fire to the south, space merged with the ten directions), and only then:
「又想身之五大皆空，唯有識大湛然凝住，猶如圓鏡，內外明照，朗然清淨。」—“Again, form the image of the five great elements of the body as all empty, with only the great element of consciousness resting clear and gathered, like a round mirror illumining within and without, bright and pure” 〔T37n1753 0261c28〕. 「作此想時，亂想得除，心漸凝定，然後徐徐轉心諦觀於日。」—“When this image is formed, scattered images are removed and the mind gradually gathers into concentration; only then does one slowly turn the mind to look closely at the sun” 〔T37n1753 0261c29〕. 「其利根者，一坐即見明相現前。當境現時，或如錢大，或如鏡面大。」—“One of sharp faculties, in a single sitting, sees the bright appearance present before him. When the object appears, it may be the size of a coin or the size of a mirror’s face” 〔T37n1753 0262a02〕. 「於此明上，即自見業障輕重之相。」—“Upon this brightness one then sees for oneself the appearance of one’s karmic obstruction, whether light or heavy” 〔T37n1753 0262a03〕.
The appearances of the three obstructions and the method of repentance —
「一者黑障，猶如黑雲障日。二者黃障，又如黃雲障日。三者白障，如似白雲障日。」—“The first is the black obstruction, like a black cloud obstructing the sun. The second is the yellow obstruction, again like a yellow cloud obstructing the sun. The third is the white obstruction, like a white cloud obstructing the sun” 〔T37n1753 0262a04〕. 「此日猶雲障故，不得朗然顯照。眾生業障亦如是。障蔽淨心之境，不能令心明照。」—“Because this sun is obstructed by cloud, it cannot shine forth brightly. The karmic obstruction of sentient beings is likewise: it screens the object of the pure mind and cannot let the mind illumine clearly” 〔T37n1753 0262a06〕. 「行者若見此相，即須嚴飾道場安置佛像，清淨洗浴著淨衣，又燒名香」—“If the practitioner sees this appearance, he must adorn the place of practice and set up an image of the Buddha, bathe himself clean and put on pure garments, and burn fine incense” 〔T37n1753 0262a08〕. 「極須悲涕雨淚，深生慚愧，內徹心髓，切骨自責。」—“He must weep in sorrow with raining tears, give rise to deep shame that penetrates within to the marrow of the heart, and reproach himself to the bone” 〔T37n1753 0262a12〕. 「此名頓滅障也。」—“This is called the sudden extinction of the obstruction” 〔T37n1753 0262a15〕; 「或一懺即盡者，名利根人也。」—“One in whom a single repentance exhausts it is called a person of sharp faculties” 〔T37n1753 0262a15〕; 「此名漸除，不名頓滅也。」—“This is called gradual removal, and it is not called sudden extinction” 〔T37n1753 0262a17〕. 「既自識業相如是，唯須勤心懺悔」—“Once one has thus known for oneself the appearance of one’s karma, one must only repent with a diligent mind” 〔T37n1753 0262a18〕.
Directly teaching how to observe, and the sign that the contemplation is accomplished —
「此明正身威儀面向西方，守境住心堅執不移，所期皆應。」—“This clarifies that with the body’s bearing upright and the face turned toward the west, guarding the object and settling the mind, holding firm without shifting, what is hoped for is wholly answered” 〔T37n1753 0262a28〕. 「此明標心見日，制想除緣，念念不移，淨相了然而現。」—“This clarifies that when the mind is set on seeing the sun, the image is held in check and entanglements removed, and thought after thought does not shift, the pure appearance becomes clear and manifest” 〔T37n1753 0262b02〕. 「即得三昧定樂，身心內外融液，不可思議。」—“One then attains the settled bliss of samādhi, and body and mind, within and without, melt and flow beyond all conceiving” 〔T37n1753 0262b04〕.
Where it is most easily lost once accomplished —
「好須攝心令定，不得上心貪取。若起貪心，心水即動，以心動故淨境即失。」—“One must gather the mind well and make it settled, and must not let the mind rise up to grasp with craving. If a craving mind arises, the water of the mind at once stirs; and because the mind stirs, the pure object is at once lost” 〔T37n1753 0262b05〕. 「即自安心正念，還從本起，動相即除，靜心還現。」—“Then settle the mind in right mindfulness and start again from where it began: the stirring appearance is removed, and the still mind appears again” 〔T37n1753 0262b10〕.
The judgment of right and wrong, and its force as a general rule —
「已下諸觀，邪正得失，一同此也。」—“In all the contemplations below, wrong and right, gain and loss, are one and the same as here” 〔T37n1753 0262b12〕. 「觀日見日，心境相應，名為正觀。觀日不見日，乃見餘雜境等，心境不相應，故名邪也。」—“Contemplating the sun, one sees the sun: mind and object correspond, and this is called right contemplation. Contemplating the sun, one does not see the sun but sees other mixed objects and the like: mind and object do not correspond, and it is therefore called wrong” 〔T37n1753 0262b12〕.
Why the sun can be taken as a support —
「斯乃娑婆之闇宅，觸事無以比方。唯有朗日舒輝，寄想遠標於極樂。」—“This is the dark house of the Sahā world, where nothing one meets can serve for comparison. Only the bright sun spreading its radiance lets the image be lodged and Ultimate Bliss be marked from afar” 〔T37n1753 0262b14〕.
At the next contemplation, the image of water, the commentary looks back on this one and states the same meaning again: 「日輪常照，以表極樂之長暉。」—“The sun’s orb shines constantly, and so represents the long radiance of Ultimate Bliss” 〔T37n1753 0262b21〕; 「但以娑婆闇宅，唯日能明。」—“It is only that in the dark house of the Sahā world the sun alone can give light” 〔T37n1753 0262b23〕.
V. Divergent Readings of the Commentators (in parallel columns — recorded without adjudication)
| Point | Shandao, Commentary in Four Fascicles (Tang) | Anchor | Zhiyi’s commentary (Sui, Tiantai) | Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where the main body begins | 「從日觀初句下，至下品下生已來，是其正宗。」—“From the first sentence of the contemplation of the sun down to the lowest birth of the lowest grade is its main body.” | 〔T37n1753 0261b07〕 | 「「爾時世尊放眉間光」下，第二、正說。文為三：初明淨業、次辯妙觀、三利益。」—“From ‘at that time the World-Honored One emitted light from between his brows’ onward is the second part, the direct teaching. The text has three parts: first clarifying pure karma, next distinguishing the wondrous contemplation, third the benefit.” | 〔T37n1750 0191a10〕 |
| The general division of the sixteen contemplations | The common and the particular, the true and the provisional, within the dependent and the direct recompense (Section on the Profound Meaning: 「言假者，即日想、水想、氷想等是其假依」—“as for the provisional, the image of the sun, the image of water, the image of ice and the like are its provisional support”) | 〔T37n1753 0246c17〕 | 「就十六觀，分文為三，初六觀觀其依果，次七觀觀其正報，後三明三輩九品往生也。」—“Taking the sixteen contemplations, the text divides into three: the first six contemplate the dependent fruit, the next seven contemplate the direct recompense, and the last three clarify birth in that land by the three grades and the nine grades.” | 〔T37n1750 0191c12〕 |
| Why the sun is taught first | Three intents: knowing the object and settling the mind so that the direction pointed to has a definite place; knowing whether one’s own karmic obstruction is light or heavy; knowing that the luminous appearance of that land surpasses this sun a hundred thousand ten-thousandfold | 〔T37n1753 0261c11〕 | 「教令正觀，為除疑心。」—“He teaches and directs right contemplation in order to remove the doubting mind.” | 〔T37n1750 0191c18〕 |
| Whether this contemplation can extinguish offences | Of the contemplation of the sun he does not speak of extinguishing offences; obstruction is extinguished by repentance alone — 「此名頓滅障也。」—“This is called the sudden extinction of the obstruction.” | 〔T37n1753 0262a15〕 | He sets up the judgment at the third contemplation, the contemplation of the ground: 「前水是想，不能滅罪。地觀是實，故能除斷也。」—“The water before was image and cannot extinguish offences. The contemplation of the ground is actual, and so can cut them off.” | 〔T37n1750 0192a05〕 |
| The outline of the final segment | The fifth segment, the general conclusion, gathers in the whole of the text from 「是為」 onward, and separately draws out 「觀日見日，心境相應，名為正觀」—“contemplating the sun, one sees the sun: mind and object correspond, and this is called right contemplation” | 〔T37n1753 0262b12〕 | 「「是為」下，結也。」—“From ‘this is’ onward is the conclusion” — with no separate topic set up for showing the contemplation to be wrong or right | 〔T37n1750 0191c17〕 |
Where the two houses put their weight in this contemplation is plainly different: Shandao sets out here the manner of sitting, the sequence for scattering the five great elements, the appearances of the three colours of karmic obstruction, the rite of repentance with its distinction of sudden and gradual, and the warning that a craving mind stirs and loses the object — all matters of the gate of practice. Zhiyi takes the removal of doubt and the removal of obstruction as the meaning, sets up no fine articles of method, and leaves the judgment of whether offences are extinguished to the contemplation of the ground. Both readings are recorded, and no reconciliation is imposed.
VI. Terms (first occurrences — all glosses drawn from the two mirrors)
| Term | The commentary’s gloss, verbatim | Anchor | Mirror |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blind from birth | 「言生盲者，從母胎中出眼即不見物者，名曰生盲。」—“As for ‘blind from birth,’ one whose eyes, from the time he came out of the mother’s womb, did not see things is called blind from birth.” | 〔T37n1753 0261c03〕 | Shandao |
| Contemplation | 「言觀者照也，常以淨信心手以持智慧之輝，照彼彌陀正依等事。」—“As for ‘contemplating,’ it is illumining: constantly, with the hand of a mind of pure trust, one holds the radiance of wisdom and illumines the direct and the dependent matters of Amitābha.” | 〔T37n1753 0247a05〕 | Shandao |
| Reflection | 「言思惟者，即是觀前方便，思想彼國依正二報總別相也。」—“As for ‘reflection,’ it is the expedient prior to contemplation: to think out the general and the particular characteristics of the twofold recompense, dependent and direct, of that land.” | 〔T37n1753 0247b28〕 | Shandao |
| Right reception | 「言正受者，想心都息緣慮並亡，三昧相應名為正受。」—“As for ‘right reception,’ the imaging mind wholly rests and discursive concerns all vanish; correspondence with samādhi is called right reception.” | 〔T37n1753 0247c02〕 | Shandao |
| Provisional support | 「言假者，即日想、水想、氷想等是其假依，由是此界中相似可見境相故。」—“As for ‘the provisional,’ the image of the sun, the image of water, the image of ice and the like are its provisional support, because they are objects of this world that resemble it and can be seen.” | 〔T37n1753 0246c17〕 | Shandao |
| Right contemplation · wrong contemplation | 「觀日見日，心境相應，名為正觀。觀日不見日，乃見餘雜境等，心境不相應，故名邪也。」—“Contemplating the sun, one sees the sun: mind and object correspond, and this is called right contemplation. Contemplating the sun, one does not see the sun but sees other mixed objects and the like: mind and object do not correspond, and it is therefore called wrong.” | 〔T37n1753 0262b12〕 | Shandao |
| The good done in concentration | 「從日觀下至十三觀已來名為定善。三福九品名為散善。」—“From the contemplation of the sun down to the thirteenth contemplation is called the good done in concentration. The three kinds of merit and the nine grades are called the good done in a scattered mind.” | 〔T37n1753 0247b23〕 | Shandao |
The name 「初觀」, the first contemplation — the sūtra marks it of itself, 「名曰初觀」—“it is named the first contemplation” 〔T12n0365 0342a04〕; and the names of the sixteen contemplations Zhiyi sets out one by one where he answers the request: 「一日觀、二水觀、三地觀、四樹觀、五池觀」—“first the contemplation of the sun, second the contemplation of the water, third the contemplation of the ground, fourth the contemplation of the trees, fifth the contemplation of the pool” 〔T37n1750 0191c07〕, and so through the sixteen. Both houses take this one as the first, with no divergence.
「懸鼓」, the suspended drum — a simile the sūtra uses of itself; both commentaries cite it and neither glosses the object separately. Zhiyi, in the preface at the head of his fascicle, uses it to mark the governing theme of the whole sūtra: 「落日懸鼓，用標送想之方；大水結氷，實表瑠璃之地。」—“The setting sun, a suspended drum, is used to mark the direction in which the image is sent; the great water freezing into ice truly represents the ground of beryl” 〔T37n1750 0186c06〕.
This passage of the sūtra contains no Sanskrit transcription, and the two commentaries give no Sanskrit form here; this edition does not supply one in their stead.
VII. Similes and Rhetoric
The one simile the sūtra uses of itself: 「見日欲沒，狀如懸鼓」—“seeing the sun about to set, its shape like a suspended drum” 〔T12n0365 0342a03〕 — the shape of the setting sun given by a suspended drum. This is the only simile in the passage; the rest is direct instruction.
Similes set up by the mirror commentaries (not present in the sūtra, recorded here for reference and not to be confounded with the sūtra’s own simile):
| Simile | The commentary verbatim | Anchor | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| The monkey | 「此明眾生散動，識劇猨猴，心遍六塵，無由暫息。」—“This clarifies that sentient beings are scattered and restless: consciousness is fiercer than a monkey, and the mind ranges over the six dusts with no way to rest even briefly.” | 〔T37n1753 0261b19〕 | The look of a scattered mind |
| Cloud obstructing the sun | 「一者黑障，猶如黑雲障日。二者黃障，又如黃雲障日。三者白障，如似白雲障日。」—“The first is the black obstruction, like a black cloud obstructing the sun. The second is the yellow obstruction, again like a yellow cloud obstructing the sun. The third is the white obstruction, like a white cloud obstructing the sun.” | 〔T37n1753 0262a04〕 | Karmic obstruction screening the mind |
| The round mirror | 「唯有識大湛然凝住，猶如圓鏡，內外明照，朗然清淨。」—“only the great element of consciousness resting clear and gathered, like a round mirror illumining within and without, bright and pure.” | 〔T37n1753 0261c28〕 | Consciousness once the five great elements are scattered |
| The water of the mind | 「若起貪心，心水即動，以心動故淨境即失。」—“If a craving mind arises, the water of the mind at once stirs; and because the mind stirs, the pure object is at once lost.” | 〔T37n1753 0262b06〕 | A craving mind stirs and the object is lost |
| Boiling water and fire burning the body | 「譬如湯火燒身一覺即却，豈容徒待時、待處、待緣、待人方始除也。」—“It is like boiling water or fire burning the body: the moment one feels it one throws it off. How could one merely wait for the time, wait for the place, wait for the conditions, wait for the person, and only then begin to remove it?” | 〔T37n1753 0262a20〕 | Repentance does not wait |
| The dark house and the bright sun | 「斯乃娑婆之闇宅，觸事無以比方。唯有朗日舒輝，寄想遠標於極樂。」—“This is the dark house of the Sahā world, where nothing one meets can serve for comparison. Only the bright sun spreading its radiance lets the image be lodged and Ultimate Bliss be marked from afar.” | 〔T37n1753 0262b14〕 | Why the sun can bear being taken as a support |
Two things may be recorded as rhetoric. First, the passage closes three times over, with 「是為」 (this is), 「名曰」 (it is named), and 「名為」 (is called): one sentence settles its name, the image of the sun; one settles its place in the sequence, the first contemplation; one settles it as right or wrong — from the matter to the name, from the name to the sequence, from the sequence to the judgment, three layers laid one upon another. Second, 「閉目開目皆令明了」 — let it be clear and distinct whether the eyes are closed or open — sets two states over against each other and returns them to one; this is the fixed form in which this sūtra states that a contemplation has been accomplished, and speech of the same type recurs in the contemplations that follow.
VIII. Citation and Carrying Forward
- Within this corpus, nothing cites the scriptural text of this unit. The whole tree has been searched for 「狀如懸鼓」 (its shape like a suspended drum), 「諦觀於日」 (look closely at the sun), and 「日想」 (the image of the sun): apart from the source layer of this edition and the line-by-line mirror files, no other edition yields a single hit. Recorded honestly.
- The point of cross-reading within this axis: the passages of the Contemplation Sūtra cited in the apparatus layer of the Amitābha Sūtra volume fall within the domain running from the contemplation of the trees (04) to the contemplation of birth in the lowest grade (16), and do not touch this unit.
- How the meaning of this contemplation carries forward inside the sūtra itself: the commentary states outright that the judgment of right and wrong made here is the general rule for all the contemplations that follow — 「已下諸觀，邪正得失，一同此也。」—“In all the contemplations below, wrong and right, gain and loss, are one and the same as here” 〔T37n1753 0262b12〕; and the next contemplation, the image of water, is likewise set up with this one as its foil: 「日輪常照，以表極樂之長暉。復恐彼地不平，類此穢國之高下。」—“The sun’s orb shines constantly, and so represents the long radiance of Ultimate Bliss. Then, fearing that the ground there might be uneven, resembling the heights and hollows of this defiled land...” 〔T37n1753 0262b21〕
- Zhiyi takes the simile of this contemplation into the preface at the head of his fascicle — 「落日懸鼓，用標送想之方」—“The setting sun, a suspended drum, is used to mark the direction in which the image is sent” 〔T37n1750 0186c06〕 — one instance of a single phrase of this passage serving as a governing theme for the whole sūtra.
IX. Placement Among the Recensions
The Taishō collation notes (<app>) within the domain of this unit come to two in all:
| Anchor | Base text | Variant | Witnesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0342a02 | 「日」 (the sun) | 日欲沒之處 (the place where the sun is about to set) | Song · Yuan · Ming |
| 0342a04 | The sixteen characters 「作是觀者，名為正觀。若他觀者，名為邪觀。」 (to make this contemplation is called right contemplation; to make another contemplation is called wrong contemplation) | These sixteen characters absent | Song · Yuan · Ming · current-circulation printing |
The first — the base text reads 「諦觀於日」, look closely at the sun, while the Song, Yuan, and Ming witnesses add, after 「日」, the sun, the four characters 「欲沒之處」, the place where it is about to set. Whether what is contemplated is the sun, or the place where the sun is about to set, is marked differently by the two. Recorded without adjudication.
The second is the weightiest variant in this unit — the last sixteen characters of the base text are absent from the Song, Yuan, and Ming witnesses and from the current-circulation printing alike. The Taishō’s original form recorded this character count together with the first twelve characters of the next unit (from 「佛告阿難及韋提希」, the Buddha told Ānanda and Vaidehī, through 「初觀成已」, once the first contemplation has been accomplished) as a single lacuna of twenty-eight characters; the collation notes as now current divide this into two items, of sixteen characters and of twelve, and this edition records the boundary according to the current division. Not one character of the base text is altered on that account, and no judgment is made in their stead as to which is the original text.
Two matters bearing on this variant are recorded alongside it: first, Shandao’s commentary cites the meaning of these sixteen characters and sets up upon them the judgment of right and wrong 〔T37n1753 0262b12〕; second, Zhiyi’s commentary gives as the last item of its outline of this contemplation only 「「是為」下，結也」—“from ‘this is’ onward is the conclusion” 〔T37n1750 0191c17〕, setting up no topic for showing the contemplation to be wrong or right, whereas from the third contemplation, the contemplation of the ground, onward he repeatedly does set one up 〔T37n1750 0192a04〕. Both matters are recorded, no causal inference is drawn between them, and the outline of one commentary is not used to prove the text of one witness.
Gaiji: nothing found in this unit.
Inline glosses (place="inline" notes): nothing found in this unit.
Ideographic space (U+3000): nothing found in this unit.
Newly added CBETA collation notes: nothing found in this unit (the earliest of the five in this sūtra stands at 〔T12n0365 0342a12〕, which belongs to the next unit).