佛說觀無量壽佛經 樹想

Placement of the passage as a whole. This unit is the fourth of the sixteen contemplations. The whole passage runs to four hundred and fourteen characters and is one of the longest among the first six contemplations of the good done in concentration. From 「地想成已」—“once the image of the ground has been accomplished” the sūtra concludes what precedes and gives rise to what follows, generally raising the name of the contemplation and directly teaching the rule of procedure (contemplate them one by one; form the image of rows of trees in seven layers); next it gives the substance and measure of the trees (eight thousand yojanas high); next the differing jewel-colours of their flowers and leaves; next the pearl nets, the palaces, the youths and the necklaces above the trees; next it clarifies how row answers to row while flowers grow and fruit is set; next the measure and colour of the leaves and the colour and appearance of the flowers; next the power and function of the fruit (becoming banners and pennants and jeweled canopies, within which are reflected all the buddha-deeds of the three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system); and last it distinguishes the order in which the contemplation is accomplished, concludes generally, and judges right from wrong. What is essential in this contemplation is 「次第」, order — the sūtra twice gives 「一一觀之」, contemplate them one by one, and Shandao’s Commentary in Four Fascicles further sets out a sixfold order (root · trunk and branches through to flowers and fruit · nets and palaces · the youths’ necklaces · the measure of the leaves and the light and colour of flowers and fruit · pennants and canopies and the buddha-deeds), which makes this one of the passages in the whole sūtra where the levels of the method of contemplation are most plainly seen. There are nine items of collation (with two further items recorded by extension), and in five of them the wording of the base text stands exactly opposite the graphs used in Shandao’s commentary; see the ninth topic.

I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement

Shandao’s Commentary in Four Fascicles divides this contemplation into ten segments:

「四、就寶樹觀中，亦先舉，次辨，後結。即有其十。」—“Fourth, within the contemplation of the jeweled trees there is likewise first the raising, next the distinguishing, and last the conclusion — there are ten in all” 〔T37n1753 0264a22〕.

The commentary’s ten topics stop at the general conclusion, and at the end of this contemplation it sets up no separate topic for showing the contemplation to be wrong or right; this is set side by side with the last item of variant reading in the ninth topic, recorded without adjudication.

The witness column · Zhiyi’s outline of this passage (recorded without adjudication):

「第四樹觀。文三：初、明結前生後；次、「觀寶樹」下，正明觀行；「是為」下，結。」—“The fourth, the contemplation of the trees. The text has three parts: first, clarifying the concluding of what precedes and the giving rise to what follows; next, from ‘contemplate the jeweled trees’ onward, directly clarifying the practice of contemplation; and from ‘this is’ onward, the conclusion” 〔T37n1750 0192a07〕. 「正觀中有五：一、明樹體；二、明莊嚴相；三、明生法；四、「有大光明」下，現佛國土；五「見樹莖葉」下，結觀也。」—“Within the direct contemplation there are five: first, clarifying the substance of the trees; second, clarifying the appearances of adornment; third, clarifying the manner of their growing; fourth, from ‘they have a great radiance’ onward, the manifesting of the buddha-lands; fifth, from ‘seeing the trunk and leaves of the tree’ onward, the conclusion of the contemplation” 〔T37n1750 0192a08〕.

Zhiyi’s three topics and five items agree broadly in their spans with Shandao’s ten topics, but the one is spare where the other is dense. Both commentaries stop at the conclusion of the contemplation, and neither sets up a topic for showing the contemplation to be wrong or right. Recorded without adjudication.

II. Collation with the Alternate Translations — recorded without adjudication

There is no second Chinese translation of this sūtra — there is no alternate translation against which to collate. Recorded honestly.

Parallel passages in the other sūtras of this same axis (not alternate translations, recorded without adjudication) — the text of rows of trees in seven layers and of jeweled nets is present in both:

The difference among the three sūtras (recorded without adjudication): in both of the other two the seven layers are given as the general appearance of 「四寶周匝圍繞」, of the four precious substances encircling it all about, whereas this sūtra gives numbers — the height of the trees (eight thousand yojanas), the measure of the leaves (exactly equal in length and breadth, twenty-five yojanas), the layers of net (seven), the number of palaces (five hundred koṭis), and the youths’ necklaces (five hundred koṭis of Shijiapilengqie maṇi jewels). The fullness or brevity of number is the most conspicuous difference between this sūtra and the other two. Shandao further states of himself that he has discussed the meaning of the seven layers at length in his exposition of the Amitābha Sūtra: 「或有一寶為一樹者，或二三四乃至百千萬億不可說寶為一樹者，此義《彌陀經》義中已廣論竟。故名七重也。」—“There are cases where one jewel makes one tree, and cases where two, three, four, and on to a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of jewels beyond telling make one tree; this meaning has already been discussed at length in the exposition of the Amitābha Sūtra. Hence they are called seven layers” 〔T37n1753 0264b02〕.

The three expressions 「釋迦毘楞伽摩尼」, 「閻浮檀金」 and 「帝釋瓶」 yield nothing in either of the other two sūtras — 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 none of the three occurs. Recorded honestly.

III. Scriptural and Treatise Grounding (the “eye”)

That the trees are free of outflows is bound to the freedom from outflows of Amitābha’s mind:

「此明諸寶林樹皆從彌陀無漏心中流出，由佛心是無漏故，其樹亦是無漏也。」—“This clarifies that the jeweled groves and trees all flow forth from Amitābha’s outflow-free mind; because the Buddha’s mind is free of outflows, those trees too are free of outflows” 〔T37n1753 0264b08〕.

A treatise cited in proof — here the commentary cites a hymn as its warrant:

「讚云：「正道大慈悲，出世善根生，淨光明滿足，如鏡日月輪。」」—“The hymn says: ‘Great compassion of the right path, born of world-transcending roots of good; its pure radiance is complete, like a mirror, like the orbs of sun and moon’” 〔T37n1753 0264b10〕.

Because it is a realm without arising, there is no growing by degrees:

「言量者，一一樹高三十二萬里，亦無老死者，亦無小生者，亦無初生漸長者，起即同時頓起，量數等齊。」—“As for the measure: each tree is three hundred and twenty thousand li high; there are none that grow old and die, none that are small and newly grown, and none that are newly born and grow by degrees. They arise all at once and together, and their measure and number are equal throughout” 〔T37n1753 0264b11〕. 「彼界位是無漏無生之界，豈有生死漸長之義也。」—“That station is a realm without outflows and without arising; how should the sense of growing by degrees through birth and death be found in it?” 〔T37n1753 0264b13〕.

The trees of this world are born, grow old, sicken and die, while the trees of that world arise all at once and are equal throughout — this is the place in the passage where the dependent recompense is most plainly bound to the meaning of non-arising.

The place of this contemplation among the dependent recompense — by Shandao’s judgment in the Section on the Profound Meaning, this contemplation falls within the domain of the true support: 「言真依者，即從瑠璃地下至寶樓觀已來是其真依。」—“As for ‘the true support,’ from the beryl ground down to the contemplation of the jeweled towers is its true support” 〔T37n1753 0246c19〕.

Why 「想」, image, is used — here the commentary explains why this is called forming an image and not contemplating:

「言想者，未閑真觀自在隨心，要藉假想以住心，方能證益也。」—“As for ‘the image,’ one is not yet at ease in that true contemplation which is free and follows the mind, and must borrow a provisional image in order to settle the mind; only then can the benefit be realized” 〔T37n1753 0264b05〕.

The scriptural warrant Zhiyi attaches to this contemplation: nothing was found in this passage — Zhiyi’s outline of this contemplation in the Commentary on the Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life, T37n1750 (0192a07–0192a10), has been searched, and it cites neither sūtra nor treatise. Recorded honestly.

IV. Essentials of the Commentary on This Passage (the Commentary in Four Fascicles, line by line)

The meaning of the seven layers — the commentary does not take seven rows as the measure:

「此明彌陀淨國廣闊無邊，寶樹寶林豈以七行為量也。」—“This clarifies that Amitābha’s pure land is broad and boundless; how should its jeweled trees and jeweled groves be measured at seven rows?” 〔T37n1753 0264a26〕. 「今言七重者，或有一樹，黃金為根，紫金為莖，白銀為枝，碼碯為條，珊瑚為葉，白玉為華，真珠為果，如是七重互為根莖乃至華果等，七七四十九重也。」—“To say ‘seven layers’ now is this: there is a single tree in which gold is the root, purple gold the trunk, white silver the branches, agate the twigs, coral the leaves, white jade the flowers, and pearl the fruit; these seven layers serve one another in turn as root and trunk and on to flower and fruit, which makes seven times seven, forty-nine layers” 〔T37n1753 0264a27〕. 「或有一寶為一樹者，或二三四乃至百千萬億不可說寶為一樹者，此義《彌陀經》義中已廣論竟。故名七重也。」—“There are cases where one jewel makes one tree, and cases where two, three, four, and on to a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of jewels beyond telling make one tree; this meaning has already been discussed at length in the exposition of the Amitābha Sūtra. Hence they are called seven layers” 〔T37n1753 0264b02〕.

The gloss of 「行」, row: 「言行者，彼國林樹雖多，行行整直而無雜亂。」—“As for ‘row,’ although the groves and trees of that land are many, row after row they stand straight and orderly with no confusion” 〔T37n1753 0264b04〕.

The third of the four matters of mingled adornment: 「三明一一華葉轉互不同，瑠璃色中出金色光，如是轉相間雜。」—“The third clarifies that each flower and leaf differs from the next by turns: from within the colour of beryl comes forth a golden light, and so they are interchanged and intermingled” 〔T37n1753 0264b18〕.

Flower and fruit do not come forth from within: 「華實開時，不從內出，斯乃法藏因深，致使自然而有。」—“When flower and fruit open they do not come forth from within; this is because Dharmākara’s practice in the causal stage was deep, and so they are there of themselves” 〔T37n1753 0264c02〕.

Two places where a simile is borrowed — twice the commentary points out that the sūtra here borrows a simile:

「三明恐疑不識借喻以顯，如天瓔珞。」—“The third clarifies that, lest there be doubt and they be unrecognized, a simile is borrowed to show them forth: like the necklaces of the heavens” 〔T37n1753 0264c06〕. 「四明葉有妙華，色比天金，相喻火輪。」—“The fourth clarifies that the leaves bear fine flowers whose colour is compared to the gold of heaven and whose appearance is likened to a wheel of fire” 〔T37n1753 0264c07〕. 「二明借喻以標果相。」—“The second clarifies that a simile is borrowed to mark out the appearance of the fruit” 〔T37n1753 0264c11〕.

What appears in the jeweled canopies: 「四明寶蓋圓明內現三千之界，依正二嚴種種相現。」—“The fourth clarifies that the jeweled canopies are round and bright, and that within them appears the three-thousandfold realm, the manifold appearances of the twofold adornment, dependent and direct, being displayed” 〔T37n1753 0264c12〕.

The sixfold order in which the contemplation is accomplished — the most important article of the gate of practice in this passage:

「三明一一起心住境。先觀樹根，次想莖枝乃至華菓，次想網宮，次想童子瓔珞，次想葉量華菓光色，次想旛蓋廣現佛事。」—“The third clarifies raising the mind and settling it upon the object one by one. First contemplate the root of the tree; next form the image of the trunk and branches and on to the flowers and fruit; next the nets and palaces; next the youths’ necklaces; next the measure of the leaves and the light and colour of the flowers and fruit; next the pennants and canopies displaying the buddha-deeds at large” 〔T37n1753 0264c20〕. 「既能一一次第觀之者，無不明了也。」—“Whoever can contemplate them one by one in order will find that nothing fails to be clear” 〔T37n1753 0264c23〕.

The commentary further gives two hymns at this contemplation:

「又讚云：「備諸珍寶性，具足妙莊嚴，無垢光炎熾，明淨曜世間。」」—“Again the hymn says: ‘Furnished with the natures of every rare jewel, complete in fine adornment; its stainless light blazes and flames, bright and pure it illumines the world’” 〔T37n1753 0264b20〕. 「又讚云：「彌陀淨國寶樹多，四面垂條，天衣挂繞，寶雲含蓋，化鳥連聲，旋轉臨空，奏法音而入會，他方聖眾聽響以開心，本國能人見形而取悟。」」—“Again the hymn says: ‘In Amitābha’s pure land the jeweled trees are many; on all four sides their twigs hang down, heavenly garments drape and wind about them, jeweled clouds hold canopies within them, transformed birds join their voices, wheeling and turning over the sky, sounding the notes of the Dharma as they enter the assembly; the holy hosts of other quarters hear the sound and their minds are opened, and the capable ones of that land see the forms and take awakening from them’” 〔T37n1753 0264b21〕.

V. Divergent Readings of the Commentators (in parallel columns — recorded without adjudication)

The two houses stand far apart in this contemplation in density and spareness: Shandao gives ten topics and Zhiyi three; Shandao sets out articles on the seven layers, on the non-arising of the trees, and on the order in which the contemplation is accomplished, while Zhiyi marks only the five items — the substance of the trees, the appearances of adornment, the manner of their growing, the manifesting of the buddha-lands, and the conclusion of the contemplation — without expounding their meaning. Yet the rendered name of 「釋迦毘楞伽」 is Zhiyi’s alone, and Shandao has none. Each is full where the other is brief; both are recorded, and no reconciliation is imposed.

VI. Terms (first occurrences — all glosses drawn from the two mirrors)

The anchor of the entry 「釋迦毘楞伽」 stands at the tenth contemplation — Zhiyi gives no rendered name at this contemplation; his rendering stands at the contemplation of Avalokiteśvara (where the sūtra again gives this jewel-name). That gloss is here taken to serve, and the anchor where it actually stands is marked. Recorded honestly.

The names 「閻浮檀金」, 「帝釋瓶」, 「頗梨」, 「馬腦」 and 「琥珀」 — neither commentary glosses them separately in this passage. The whole of the Commentary in Four Fascicles, T37n1753, and of Zhiyi’s commentary, T37n1750, has been searched: the two expressions 「閻浮檀」 and 「帝釋瓶」 yield nothing at all. Recorded honestly; this edition does not supply a gloss in their stead.

The graph of 「車𤦲」 — the base text reads 「車𤦲」 〔T12n0365 0342b06〕 (twice); the Song, Yuan and Ming witnesses read 硨磲 (in the collation notes, see the ninth topic). Each is recorded verbatim according to the witness cited, and the graph of one witness is not used to alter another — this is the general rule of naming followed by every edition on this Pure Land axis.

The transcribed names in this passage are several (yojana, beryl, Jambūnada, crystal, giant-clam shell, agate, Śakra, Shijiapilengqie maṇi and the rest), and the only one for which the two commentaries give a rendered name is 「釋迦毘楞伽」 (as transmitted by Zhiyi, his gloss standing at the tenth contemplation); for the rest they give none, and this edition makes no restoration of Sanskrit forms.

VII. Similes and Rhetoric

Four similes the sūtra uses of itself:

In three of these the commentary states of itself that a simile is borrowed: 「三明恐疑不識借喻以顯，如天瓔珞。」—“The third clarifies that, lest there be doubt and they be unrecognized, a simile is borrowed to show them forth: like the necklaces of the heavens” 〔T37n1753 0264c06〕; 「四明葉有妙華，色比天金，相喻火輪。」—“The fourth clarifies that the leaves bear fine flowers whose colour is compared to the gold of heaven and whose appearance is likened to a wheel of fire” 〔T37n1753 0264c07〕; 「二明借喻以標果相。」—“The second clarifies that a simile is borrowed to mark out the appearance of the fruit” 〔T37n1753 0264c11〕 — the reason is the same as in the two contemplations before: what is spoken of does not exist in this world, and so what this world does have is borrowed to show it forth.

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 similes):

Three things may be recorded as rhetoric. First, the whole passage is built on the bone of 「一一」, one by one, which occurs eight times — contemplate them one by one, each tree eight thousand yojanas high, each flower and leaf, upon each tree, between each layer of net, each youth, each leaf of the trees, contemplate them one by one in order — passing from the tree to the leaf, to the net, to the palace, to the youth, to the necklace, dividing inward level by level and never falling into confusion. Second, the colours issue from one another to make a chain: beryl issues gold, crystal issues red, agate issues giant-clam shell, giant-clam shell issues green pearl — four turns and no more, gathered up at the last by 「珊瑚琥珀一切眾寶以為映飾」, coral, amber, and all the host of jewels serving as reflecting ornament. Third, the closing section turns from the utterly small back to the utterly great: a single leaf, a single flower, a single fruit — and in the jeweled canopy into which that fruit is transformed, 「映現三千大千世界一切佛事；十方佛國亦於中現」, all the buddha-deeds of the three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system are reflected and the buddha-lands of the ten directions appear within it as well — the canopy of one fruit displaying the ten directions is the momentum on which this passage closes.

VIII. Citation and Carrying Forward

• Kuiji’s Comprehensive Praise Commentary on the Amitābha Sūtra cites this passage in two places:
  • 「《觀經》云：一一樹上有七重網，皆是真珠，一一網間有五百億妙華宮殿，如梵王宮。」—“The Contemplation Sūtra says: upon each tree there are seven layers of net, all of them pearl; between each layer of net there are five hundred koṭis of palaces of fine flowers, like the palace of the Brahmā King” 〔T37n1758 0338c11〕 — examining this sūtra now, 「一一樹上有七重網」—“upon each tree there are seven layers of net” 〔T12n0365 0342b08〕 and 「一一網間有五百億妙華宮殿，如梵王宮」—“between each layer of net there are five hundred koṭis of palaces of fine flowers, like the palace of the Brahmā King” 〔T12n0365 0342b08〕 both stand in this unit; but the four characters 「皆是真珠」, all of them pearl, yield nothing in this sūtra (which reads 「妙真珠網彌覆樹上」—“nets of fine pearl spread over and cover the trees” 〔T12n0365 0342b07〕). What the commentary cites differs slightly from the base text; it is recorded verbatim and not adjudicated.
  • 「又《觀經》云：一一樹高八千由旬，一一樹葉縱廣二十五由旬，而作異色。一一華葉之中，皆有七寶光也。」—“Again the Contemplation Sūtra says: each tree is eight thousand yojanas high; each leaf of the trees is twenty-five yojanas in length and breadth and takes on a different colour; and within each flower and leaf there is the light of the seven precious substances” 〔T37n1758 0339a01〕 — this sūtra reads 「一一樹高八千由旬」—“each tree is eight thousand yojanas high” 〔T12n0365 0342b03〕 and 「一一樹葉，縱廣正等二十五由旬」—“each leaf of the trees is exactly equal in length and breadth, twenty-five yojanas” 〔T12n0365 0342b14〕. The commentary’s citation omits the two characters 「正等」, exactly equal, and its last two sentences are not the text of this sūtra. Recorded without adjudication.
  • The point of cross-reading within this axis: the apparatus layer of the Amitābha Sūtra volume.
• The general hymn at the end of the Section on the Good of Concentration gathers this contemplation into one line: 「寶樹垂瓔間雜果，池流德水注華中，寶樓寶閣皆相接」—“jeweled trees hang down their necklaces with fruits set among them; the pools flow with water of excellent qualities, pouring in among the flowers; jeweled towers and jeweled pavilions all join one to another” 〔T37n1753 0270a20〕.
• Nothing among the remaining editions of this corpus cites this passage — the whole tree has been searched for 「釋迦毘楞伽」, 「如帝釋瓶」 and 「妙真珠網彌覆樹上」: apart from the source layer of this edition, the line-by-line mirror files, and the commentary’s citation within the Amitābha Sūtra volume on the same axis, no other edition yields a single hit. The expression 「七重行樹」 does yield hits in other editions, but what those hits attach to is the look of the City of Many Fragrances in the Prajñā division — the appearance of that city as cited in the Great Calming and Contemplation volume, and the sevenfold moat and rows of trees in seven layers of the chapter on Sadāprarudita in the Smaller Prajñāpāramitā volume — and not the text of this sūtra; each is distinguished in its place and none is counted as carrying forward. Recorded honestly.

IX. Placement Among the Recensions

Within the domain of this unit the Taishō collation notes come to eleven in all: nine variant readings of the Taishō and two items recorded by extension (in the currently circulating form; where an item is recorded by extension, the collation note of the base text stands elsewhere and its rule reaches this place, marked in parentheses below):

The last item, 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 「樹想成已」, once the image of the trees has been accomplished), makes up the Taishō’s original single item 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 these variants are recorded alongside them (recorded without adjudication):

① In five places within this unit the outline and the citations of Shandao’s commentary agree with the graph of one or several of the Song, Yuan, Ming and current-circulation witnesses (the witnesses differ item by item; following the table of the ninth topic: agate against 碼碯, necklace against 瓔, and welling up against 涌 are Song · Yuan · Ming · current-circulation printing; trees against 林 is Song alone; and turning against 婉 is Song · current-circulation printing) — they are set out one by one:

Each is recorded in its place; the commentary is not used to alter the sūtra, nor the sūtra the commentary, and no inference is drawn from this as to the witness the commentary followed. (In the item at 0342b05, 「碼碯為條」 comes from the commentary’s own gloss of the seven layers and is not a citation of the sūtra; it is listed for reference, and its character differs from that of the other four, which do cite the sūtra — both facts are marked.)

② Neither commentary sets up a topic for showing the contemplation to be wrong or right at the end of this contemplation — Shandao’s ten topics on the contemplation of the jeweled trees stop at 「十、從是為下，總結」—“tenth, from ‘this is’ onward is the general conclusion” 〔T37n1753 0264c24〕; Zhiyi’s contemplation of the trees stops at 「五「見樹莖葉」下，結觀也」—“fifth, from ‘seeing the trunk and leaves of the tree’ onward, the conclusion of the contemplation” 〔T37n1750 0192a10〕. This is set side by side with the variant reading of the last sixteen characters, recorded without adjudication, and no causal inference is drawn between them.

Gaiji: two occurrences in this unit, both of 「𤦲」 (#CB00006 · U+249B2 · a CBETA missing character), within the single line at 〔T12n0365 0342b06〕 (「出車𤦲光；車𤦲色中」). The graph of the base text is kept as it stands and is not replaced by the current standard form. 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.