無量壽經優波提舍 觀察門三種莊嚴Treatise on Birth in That Land: The Upadeśa on the Sūtra of Measureless Life · The Gate of Contemplation: The Three Kinds of Adornment
觀察門是五門裡最長的一門。論把一個國土、一位佛、一群菩薩，拆成二十九件事來看。
先說它像什麼，再說它不像什麼
「彼佛國土功德莊嚴者，成就不可思議力故。如彼摩尼如意寶性，相似相對法故。」
如意寶能雨下人所求的一切。但論說的是「相似」——寶珠要人求才給，那裡不求而有；寶珠給衣食，那裡給的是道。
十七件事，每件都回到一句偈
「觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴者，有十七種事應知。」
清淨、量、性、形相、種種事、妙色、觸、莊嚴（水、地、虛空）、雨、光明、聲、主、眷屬、受用、無諸難、大義門、一切所求滿足。每一件，論都說「偈言」某句「故」——長行沒有離開偈一步。
其中大義門說得最細：「淨土果報離二種譏嫌過應知：一者體；二者名。」沒有那三種人，也沒有那三種名字。「等者，平等一相故。」
然後論說，這只是「略說」。
八件事看佛，四件事看菩薩
「觀佛功德莊嚴成就者，有八種應知。」座、身、口、心、眾、上首、主、不虛作住持。第八件後面接了一句：「即見彼佛，未證淨心菩薩畢竟得平等法身，與淨心菩薩無異」——見到那位佛，還沒證淨心的，也畢竟與證了的一樣。
「觀彼菩薩有四種正修行功德成就應知。」不離一土而遍至十方；一念一時普照諸佛會；遍供諸佛「無有分別心」；哪裡沒有三寶，就到哪裡「遍示令解如實修行」。
收成一句
「此三種成就願心莊嚴，略說入一法句故。一法句者，謂清淨句。清淨句者，謂真實智慧無為法身故。」
二十九件事，收成一句：清淨。清淨再往裡看，是真實智慧、無為法身。
然後論把清淨分成兩面：「一者器世間清淨；二者眾生世間清淨。」國土是器，佛與菩薩是眾生。「如是一法句，攝二種清淨應知。」
拆開，是為了看清每一件；收起，是為了知道它們本來是一件。
The gate of contemplation is the longest of the five. The treatise takes one land, one Buddha, and a company of bodhisattvas apart into twenty-nine things in order to look at them.
First Say What It Is Like, Then Say What It Is Not Like
“The adornment of merit of that buddha-land is the accomplishment of inconceivable power. It is like the nature of the wish-fulfilling maṇi jewel—a dharma of resemblance and correspondence.”
A wish-fulfilling jewel rains down whatever is asked for. But the treatise says “resemblance”—the jewel gives only when asked; there, things are present without asking. The jewel gives clothing and food; what that land gives is the path.
Seventeen Things, Each Returning to a Line of Verse
“In contemplating the adornment of merit of that buddha-land, there are seventeen things that should be known.”
Purity, measure, nature, form, the various things, wondrous color, touch, adornment (water, ground, sky), rain, light, sound, the lord, the retinue, enjoyment, absence of hardship, the gate of the great meaning, the fulfillment of all that is sought. For each, the treatise says “because the verse says” such a line—the prose never steps away from the verse.
The gate of the great meaning is stated in most detail: “It should be known that the reward of the pure land is free of two kinds of fault of reproach: one in substance, one in name.” Those three kinds of people are not there, and neither are those three names. “‘Equal’ means of one equal mark.”
Then the treatise says this was only “briefly stated.”
Eight Things to See the Buddha, Four to See the Bodhisattvas
“In contemplating the accomplishment of the Buddha’s adornment of merit, there are eight kinds that should be known.” Seat, body, speech, mind, assembly, leader, lord, sustaining that is not in vain. After the eighth comes a line: “On seeing that Buddha, the bodhisattva who has not yet realized the pure mind in the end attains the dharma-body of equality, no different from the bodhisattvas of pure mind”—on seeing that Buddha, those who have not yet realized the pure mind are in the end no different from those who have.
“It should be known that those bodhisattvas have four kinds of accomplishment of merit in right practice.” Not leaving one land yet reaching the ten directions; in one thought and at one time shining on all the buddhas’ assemblies; making offerings to all the buddhas “without a discriminating mind”; wherever there are no three jewels, going there to show them “so that all understand and practice in accordance with reality.”
Gathered into One Phrase
“These three accomplishments are the adornment of the mind of the vow; briefly stated, they enter one dharma-phrase. The one dharma-phrase is the phrase of purity. The phrase of purity is the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom.”
Twenty-nine things, gathered into one phrase: purity. Look further into purity, and it is true wisdom, the unconditioned dharma-body.
Then the treatise divides purity into two faces: “first, the purity of the vessel world; second, the purity of the world of sentient beings.” The land is the vessel; the Buddha and the bodhisattvas are the beings. “Thus the one dharma-phrase gathers the two kinds of purity; this should be known.”
Taking apart is for seeing each thing clearly; gathering is for knowing they were one thing all along.
大正藏 T26n1524〔起 T26 0231b24〕。段／行首〔T26 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔T26 0231b24〕云何觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴？彼佛國土功德莊嚴者，成就不可思議力故。如彼摩尼如意寶性，相似相對法故。觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴者，有十七種事應知。何者十七？一者清淨功德成就；二者量功德成就；三者性功德成就；四者形相功德成就；五者種種事功德成就；六者妙色功德成就；七者觸功德成就；八者莊嚴功德成就；九者雨功德成就；十者光明功德成就；十一者聲功德成就；十二者主功德成就；十三者眷屬功德成就；十四者受用功德成就；十五者無諸難功德成就；十六者大義門功德成就；十七者一切所求功德成就。清淨功德成就者，偈言「觀彼世界相，勝過三界道」故。量功德成就者，偈言「究竟如虛空，廣大無邊際」故。性功德成就者，偈言「正道大慈悲，出世善根生」故。形相功德成就者，偈言「淨光明滿足，如鏡日月輪」故。種種事功德成就者，偈言「備諸珍寶性，具足妙莊嚴」故。妙色功德成就者，偈言「無垢光焰熾，明淨曜世間」故。觸功德成就者，偈言「寶性功德草，柔軟左右旋，觸者生勝樂，過迦旃隣陀」故。莊嚴功德成就者，有三種應知。何等三？一者水；二者地；三者虛空。莊嚴水者，偈言「寶華千萬種，彌覆池流泉，微風動華葉，交錯光亂轉」故。莊嚴地者，偈言「宮殿諸樓閣，觀十方無礙，雜樹異光色，寶欄遍圍繞」故。莊嚴虛空者，偈言「無量寶交絡，羅網遍虛空，種種鈴發響，宣吐妙法音」故。雨功德成就者，偈言「雨華衣莊嚴，無量香普熏」故。光明功德成就者，偈言「佛慧明淨日，除世癡闇冥」故。妙聲功德成就者，偈言「梵聲語深遠，微妙聞十方」故。主功德成就者，偈言「正覺阿彌陀，法王善住持」故。眷屬功德成就者，偈言「如來淨華眾，正覺華化生」故。受用功德成就者，偈言「愛樂佛法味，禪三昧為食」故。無諸難功德成就者，偈言「永離身心惱，受樂常無間」故。大義門功德成就者，偈言「大乘善根界，等無譏嫌名，女人及根缺，二乘種不生」故。淨土果報離二種譏嫌過應知：一者體；二者名。體有三種：一者二乘人；二者女人；三者諸根不具人。無此三過故，名離體譏嫌。名亦三種，非但無三體，乃至不聞二乘、女人、諸根不具三種名故，名離名譏嫌。等者，平等一相故。一切所求功德滿足成就者，偈言「眾生所願樂，一切能滿足」故。略說彼阿彌陀佛國土莊嚴十七種功德，示現如來自身利益大功德力，成就利益他功德成就故。彼無量壽佛土莊嚴，第一義諦妙境界，十六句及一句次第說應知。 〔T26 0232a15〕云何觀佛功德莊嚴成就？觀佛功德莊嚴成就者，有八種應知。何等八種？一者座莊嚴；二者身莊嚴；三者口莊嚴；四者心莊嚴；五者眾莊嚴；六者上首莊嚴；七者主莊嚴；八者不虛作住持莊嚴。 何者座莊嚴？偈言「無量大寶王，微妙淨華臺故」。何者身莊嚴？偈言「相好光一尋，色像超群生」故。何者口莊嚴？偈言「如來微妙聲，梵響聞十方」故。何者心莊嚴？偈言「同地水火風，虛空無分別」故。無分別者，無分別心故。何者眾莊嚴？偈言「天人不動眾，清淨智海生」故。何者上首莊嚴？偈言「如須彌山王，勝妙無過者」故。何者主莊嚴？偈言「天人丈夫眾，恭敬繞瞻仰」故。何者不虛作住持莊嚴？偈言「觀佛本願力，遇無空過者，能令速滿足，功德大寶海」故。即見彼佛，未證淨心菩薩畢竟得平等法身，與淨心菩薩無異，淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩畢竟同得寂滅平等故。略說八句，示現如來自利利他功德莊嚴次第成就應知。 云何觀菩薩功德莊嚴成就？觀菩薩功德莊嚴成就者，觀彼菩薩有四種正修行功德成就應知。何等為四？一者於一佛土身不動搖，而遍十方種種應化，如實修行常作佛事。偈言「安樂國清淨，常轉無垢輪，化佛菩薩日，如須彌住持」故，開諸眾生淤泥華故。二者彼應化身，一切時不前不後，一心一念放大光明，悉能遍至十方世界教化眾生，種種方便修行所作，滅除一切眾生苦故。偈言「無垢莊嚴光，一念及一時，普照諸佛會，利益諸群生」故。三者彼於一切世界無餘，照諸佛會大眾無餘，廣大無量供養恭敬讚歎諸佛如來。偈言「雨天樂華衣，妙香等供養，讚佛諸功德，無有分別心」故。四者彼於十方一切世界無三寶處，住持莊嚴佛法僧寶功德大海，遍示令解如實修行。偈言「何等世界無，佛法功德寶，我皆願往生，示佛法如佛」故。 又向說佛國土功德莊嚴成就、佛功德莊嚴成就、菩薩功德成就，此三種成就願心莊嚴，略說入一法句故。一法句者，謂清淨句。清淨句者，謂真實智慧無為法身故。此清淨有二種應知。何等二種？一者器世間清淨；二者眾生世間清淨。器世間清淨者，向說十七種佛國土功德莊嚴成就，是名器世間清淨。眾生世間清淨者，如向說八種佛功德莊嚴成就、四種菩薩功德莊嚴成就，是名眾生世間清淨。如是一法句，攝二種清淨應知。
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.
婆藪槃豆菩薩造、元魏菩提流支譯《無量壽經優波提舍》T26n1524 長行觀察門之廣說，自「云何觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴」至「如是一法句，攝二種清淨應知」：先觀佛國土十七種莊嚴，次觀佛八種莊嚴，次觀菩薩四種正修行，終以三種莊嚴略入一法句、一法句攝二種清淨。段首（…）＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔一·國土莊嚴總標〕（0231b24）要怎樣觀察那佛國土的功德莊嚴呢？那佛國土的功德莊嚴，是因為成就了不可思議之力的緣故。就像那摩尼如意寶珠的性能一樣，是以相似之處相對比照之法來說的緣故。
〔二·十七種名目〕（0231b27）觀察那佛國土的功德莊嚴，有十七種事應當了知。是哪十七種呢？第一是清淨功德成就；第二是量功德成就；第三是性功德成就；第四是形相功德成就；第五是種種事功德成就；第六是妙色功德成就；第七是觸功德成就；第八是莊嚴功德成就；第九是雨功德成就；第十是光明功德成就；第十一是聲功德成就；第十二是主功德成就；第十三是眷屬功德成就；第十四是受用功德成就；第十五是無諸難功德成就；第十六是大義門功德成就；第十七是一切所求功德成就。
〔三·清淨功德成就〕（0231c08）所謂清淨功德成就，是因為偈頌說「觀彼世界相，勝過三界道」——觀察那個世界的相狀，它勝過三界的種種道——的緣故。
〔四·量功德成就〕（0231c09）所謂量功德成就，是因為偈頌說「究竟如虛空，廣大無邊際」——究竟如同虛空一般，廣大而沒有邊際——的緣故。
〔五·性功德成就〕（0231c10）所謂性功德成就，是因為偈頌說「正道大慈悲，出世善根生」——那國土是從正道的大慈悲、從出世間的善根所生——的緣故。
〔六·形相功德成就〕（0231c11）所謂形相功德成就，是因為偈頌說「淨光明滿足，如鏡日月輪」——清淨的光明圓滿充足，就像明鏡、像日輪月輪一樣——的緣故。
〔七·種種事功德成就〕（0231c12）所謂種種事功德成就，是因為偈頌說「備諸珍寶性，具足妙莊嚴」——具備種種珍寶的體性，圓滿具足微妙的莊嚴——的緣故。
〔八·妙色功德成就〕（0231c14）所謂妙色功德成就，是因為偈頌說「無垢光焰熾，明淨曜世間」——沒有垢染的光焰熾盛，明亮清淨，照耀世間——的緣故。
〔九·觸功德成就〕（0231c15）所謂觸功德成就，是因為偈頌說「寶性功德草，柔軟左右旋，觸者生勝樂，過迦旃隣陀」——以寶為性的功德之草，柔軟而向左右旋轉；觸到的人生起殊勝的快樂，勝過觸到天竺的迦旃隣陀柔軟草——的緣故。
〔十·莊嚴功德成就〕（0231c16）所謂莊嚴功德成就，有三種應當了知。是哪三種呢？第一是水；第二是地；第三是虛空。
〔十一·莊嚴水〕（0231c18）所謂莊嚴水，是因為偈頌說「寶華千萬種，彌覆池流泉，微風動華葉，交錯光亂轉」——千萬種寶華，遍滿覆蓋著池沼、溪流與泉水；微風吹動華葉，光彩交錯，紛然流轉——的緣故。
〔十二·莊嚴地〕（0231c20）所謂莊嚴地，是因為偈頌說「宮殿諸樓閣，觀十方無礙，雜樹異光色，寶欄遍圍繞」——在宮殿與諸樓閣中，觀看十方毫無障礙；種種寶樹放出各異的光色，寶製的欄楯周遍圍繞——的緣故。
〔十三·莊嚴虛空〕（0231c21）所謂莊嚴虛空，是因為偈頌說「無量寶交絡，羅網遍虛空，種種鈴發響，宣吐妙法音」——無量珍寶交互連綴，羅網遍布虛空；種種寶鈴發出聲響，宣說吐露微妙的法音——的緣故。
〔十四·雨功德成就〕（0231c23）所謂雨功德成就，是因為偈頌說「雨華衣莊嚴，無量香普熏」——如雨般降下天華與天衣作為莊嚴，無量的妙香普遍熏染——的緣故。
〔十五·光明功德成就〕（0231c24）所謂光明功德成就，是因為偈頌說「佛慧明淨日，除世癡闇冥」——佛的智慧光明清淨，如同太陽，除去世間愚癡的黑暗——的緣故。
〔十六·妙聲功德成就〕（0231c25）所謂妙聲功德成就，是因為偈頌說「梵聲語深遠，微妙聞十方」——清淨的梵聲，言語深遠，微妙地傳聞於十方——的緣故。
〔十七·主功德成就〕（0231c26）所謂主功德成就，是因為偈頌說「正覺阿彌陀，法王善住持」——正覺的阿彌陀佛，作為法王善加住持——的緣故。
〔十八·眷屬功德成就〕（0231c28）所謂眷屬功德成就，是因為偈頌說「如來淨華眾，正覺華化生」——如來清淨蓮華中的聖眾，都是從正覺之華化生的——的緣故。
〔十九·受用功德成就〕（0231c29）所謂受用功德成就，是因為偈頌說「愛樂佛法味，禪三昧為食」——愛樂佛法的滋味，以禪定三昧作為食物——的緣故。
〔二十·無諸難功德成就〕（0232a01）所謂無諸難功德成就，是因為偈頌說「永離身心惱，受樂常無間」——永遠離開身與心的種種苦惱，所受的快樂恆常不間斷——的緣故。
〔二十一·大義門功德成就〕（0232a02）所謂大義門功德成就，是因為偈頌說「大乘善根界，等無譏嫌名，女人及根缺，二乘種不生」——那是大乘善根所成的境界，平等一相，連招人譏嫌的名稱都沒有；女人、諸根殘缺的人，以及二乘的種子，都不在那裡生起——的緣故。淨土的果報遠離兩種招人譏嫌的過失，應當了知：第一是就體而言；第二是就名而言。就體而言有三種：第一是二乘人；第二是女人；第三是諸根不具足的人。因為沒有這三種過失，所以稱為遠離體上的譏嫌。就名而言也有三種：不但沒有這三種體，甚至連二乘、女人、諸根不具這三種名稱都聽不到，所以稱為遠離名上的譏嫌。所說的「等」，是平等一相的緣故。
〔二十二·一切所求功德滿足成就〕（0232a09）所謂一切所求功德滿足成就，是因為偈頌說「眾生所願樂，一切能滿足」——眾生所願求、所愛樂的，一切都能滿足——的緣故。
〔二十三·略說十七種〕（0232a11）以上是簡略地說那阿彌陀佛國土莊嚴的十七種功德，是要顯示如來自身利益的大功德力，以及成就利益他人的功德成就的緣故。
〔二十四·第一義諦妙境界〕（0232a13）那無量壽佛國土的莊嚴，是第一義諦的微妙境界；這十六句以及一句，應當了知是依次第而說的。
〔二十五·佛八種名目〕（0232a15）要怎樣觀察佛的功德莊嚴成就呢？觀察佛的功德莊嚴成就，有八種應當了知。是哪八種呢？第一是座莊嚴；第二是身莊嚴；第三是口莊嚴；第四是心莊嚴；第五是眾莊嚴；第六是上首莊嚴；第七是主莊嚴；第八是不虛作住持莊嚴。
〔二十六·座莊嚴〕（0232a20）什麼是座莊嚴？是偈頌所說「無量大寶王，微妙淨華臺」——以無量的大寶王，莊嚴成微妙清淨的蓮華臺——的緣故。
〔二十七·身莊嚴〕（0232a21）什麼是身莊嚴？是因為偈頌說「相好光一尋，色像超群生」——相好的光明有一尋之廣，色身形像超越一切眾生——的緣故。
〔二十八·口莊嚴〕（0232a22）什麼是口莊嚴？是因為偈頌說「如來微妙聲，梵響聞十方」——如來微妙的音聲，清淨的梵音響徹十方——的緣故。
〔二十九·心莊嚴〕（0232a23）什麼是心莊嚴？是因為偈頌說「同地水火風，虛空無分別」——如同地、水、火、風與虛空，沒有分別——的緣故。所說的「無分別」，是沒有分別心的緣故。
〔三十·眾莊嚴〕（0232a24）什麼是眾莊嚴？是因為偈頌說「天人不動眾，清淨智海生」——天人之中不可動搖的大眾，是從如來清淨的智慧大海中所生——的緣故。
〔三十一·上首莊嚴〕（0232a25）什麼是上首莊嚴？是因為偈頌說「如須彌山王，勝妙無過者」——如同須彌山王，殊勝微妙，沒有能超過的——的緣故。
〔三十二·主莊嚴〕（0232a27）什麼是主莊嚴？是因為偈頌說「天人丈夫眾，恭敬繞瞻仰」——天人與丈夫大眾，恭敬地圍繞瞻仰——的緣故。
〔三十三·不虛作住持莊嚴〕（0232a28）什麼是不虛作住持莊嚴？是因為偈頌說「觀佛本願力，遇無空過者，能令速滿足，功德大寶海」——觀察佛的本願力，遇到的人沒有一個空空錯過；能使人迅速圓滿具足功德的大寶海——的緣故。
〔三十四·即見彼佛〕（0232a29）一旦見到那尊佛，尚未證得淨心的菩薩，最終必定得到平等法身，與淨心菩薩沒有差異；淨心菩薩與上地的諸菩薩，最終必定同樣得到寂滅平等的緣故。
〔三十五·略說八句〕（0232b03）簡略地說這八句，是要顯示如來自利、利他的功德莊嚴依次第成就，應當了知。
〔三十六·菩薩四種總標〕（0232b05）要怎樣觀察菩薩的功德莊嚴成就呢？觀察菩薩的功德莊嚴成就，是觀察那裡的菩薩具有四種正修行的功德成就，應當了知。是哪四種呢？
〔三十七·第一正修行〕（0232b07）第一，在一個佛國土中身體不動搖，卻遍至十方，作種種應化，如實修行，常作佛事。這是因為偈頌說「安樂國清淨，常轉無垢輪，化佛菩薩日，如須彌住持」——安樂國清淨，恆常轉動無垢的法輪；化佛與菩薩如同太陽，又如須彌山般安住持守——的緣故；是為了使眾生開出淤泥中的蓮華的緣故。
〔三十八·第二正修行〕（0232b11）第二，那些應化之身，在一切時中不分先後，在一心一念之間放出大光明，全都能遍至十方世界教化眾生，以種種方便修行所作，滅除一切眾生之苦的緣故。這是因為偈頌說「無垢莊嚴光，一念及一時，普照諸佛會，利益諸群生」——無垢莊嚴的光明，在一念、在同一時間，普照諸佛的法會，利益一切眾生——的緣故。
〔三十九·第三正修行〕（0232b15）第三，他們在一切世界無有遺餘，照及諸佛法會大眾也無有遺餘，以廣大無量的供養、恭敬、讚歎，奉事諸佛如來。這是因為偈頌說「雨天樂華衣，妙香等供養，讚佛諸功德，無有分別心」——如雨般降下天樂、天華、天衣與妙香作為供養，讚歎佛的種種功德，沒有分別之心——的緣故。
〔四十·第四正修行〕（0232b18）第四，他們在十方一切世界中沒有三寶的地方，住持莊嚴佛、法、僧三寶的功德大海，普遍開示，使眾生了解而如實修行。這是因為偈頌說「何等世界無，佛法功德寶，我皆願往生，示佛法如佛」——哪個世界沒有佛法功德之寶，我都願往生到那裡，如佛一般開示佛法——的緣故。
〔四十一·入一法句〕（0232b22）再者，前面所說的佛國土功德莊嚴成就、佛功德莊嚴成就、菩薩功德成就，這三種成就都是願心所莊嚴的，簡略地說，是歸入一法句的緣故。所謂一法句，是指清淨句。所謂清淨句，是指真實智慧無為法身的緣故。
〔四十二·二種清淨〕（0232b25）這清淨有兩種，應當了知。是哪兩種呢？第一是器世間清淨；第二是眾生世間清淨。所謂器世間清淨，就是前面所說十七種佛國土功德莊嚴成就，這稱為器世間清淨。所謂眾生世間清淨，就是如前面所說八種佛功德莊嚴成就、四種菩薩功德莊嚴成就，這稱為眾生世間清淨。像這樣，一法句攝盡兩種清淨，應當了知。
Composed by the bodhisattva Vasubandhu and translated in the Northern Wei by Bodhiruci, the Upadeśa on the Sūtra of Measureless Life, T26n1524: the extensive exposition of the gate of contemplation in the prose, from “How does one contemplate the adornment of merit of that buddha-land?” to “in this way the one dharma-phrase gathers in the two kinds of purity; this should be known.” It first contemplates the seventeen adornments of the buddha-land, next the eight adornments of the Buddha, next the four kinds of right practice of the bodhisattvas, and ends by gathering the three kinds of adornment, in brief, into the one dharma-phrase, which in turn gathers in the two kinds of purity. The figures at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.
〔一 · The Adornments of the Land: General Heading〕（0231b24）How does one contemplate the adornment of merit of that buddha-land? The adornment of merit of that buddha-land is so because it accomplishes a power beyond conceiving. It is like the nature of the maṇi wish-fulfilling jewel—spoken of by the method of setting like against like, by way of resemblance.
〔二 · The Names of the Seventeen〕（0231b27）In contemplating the adornment of merit of that buddha-land there are seventeen matters that should be known. What are the seventeen? The first is the accomplishment of the merit of purity; the second, the accomplishment of the merit of measure; the third, the accomplishment of the merit of nature; the fourth, the accomplishment of the merit of form; the fifth, the accomplishment of the merit of the various things; the sixth, the accomplishment of the merit of wondrous color; the seventh, the accomplishment of the merit of touch; the eighth, the accomplishment of the merit of adornment; the ninth, the accomplishment of the merit of rain; the tenth, the accomplishment of the merit of light; the eleventh, the accomplishment of the merit of sound; the twelfth, the accomplishment of the merit of the lord; the thirteenth, the accomplishment of the merit of the retinue; the fourteenth, the accomplishment of the merit of enjoyment; the fifteenth, the accomplishment of the merit of freedom from all hardship; the sixteenth, the accomplishment of the merit of the gate of the great meaning; the seventeenth, the accomplishment of the merit of all that is sought.
〔三 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Purity〕（0231c08）The accomplishment of the merit of purity is so because the verse says, “Contemplate the aspect of that world: it surpasses the paths of the three realms”—that is, when one contemplates the appearance of that world, it surpasses every path of the three realms.
〔四 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Measure〕（0231c09）The accomplishment of the merit of measure is so because the verse says, “ultimately like empty space, vast and without bound”—in the end it is like empty space, vast and without any limit.
〔五 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Nature〕（0231c10）The accomplishment of the merit of nature is so because the verse says, “from the right path and great compassion, from supramundane roots of good it arises”—that land is born of the great compassion of the right path and of roots of good that transcend the world.
〔六 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Form〕（0231c11）The accomplishment of the merit of form is so because the verse says, “its pure light is full and complete, like a mirror, like the orbs of the sun and the moon”—its pure light is whole and sufficient, like a bright mirror, like the disk of the sun and the disk of the moon.
〔七 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of the Various Things〕（0231c12）The accomplishment of the merit of the various things is so because the verse says, “endowed with the nature of every kind of jewel, complete in wondrous adornment”—it possesses the nature of all manner of precious things and is fully endowed with subtle adornment.
〔八 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Wondrous Color〕（0231c14）The accomplishment of the merit of wondrous color is so because the verse says, “its stainless radiance blazes in fullness, bright and pure, shining on the world”—its flames of light, free of every stain, blaze strongly, bright and pure, illuminating the world.
〔九 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Touch〕（0231c15）The accomplishment of the merit of touch is so because the verse says, “the grass of merit, formed of the nature of jewels, is soft and turns to the left and to the right; those who touch it give rise to a surpassing pleasure, greater than Jiazhanlintuo”—the grass of merit whose nature is jewel is soft and turns now left, now right; whoever touches it gives rise to a surpassing pleasure, beyond that of touching Jiazhanlintuo, the soft grass of India.
〔十 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Adornment〕（0231c16）The accomplishment of the merit of adornment is of three kinds, which should be known. What are the three? The first is water; the second, the ground; the third, space.
〔十一 · The Adornment of Water〕（0231c18）The adornment of water is so because the verse says, “jewel-flowers of a thousand myriad kinds cover the pools, the streams, and the springs; a gentle breeze stirs the flowers and leaves, which cross one another, and their brilliance flows and shifts in profusion”—jewel-flowers of a thousand myriad kinds spread over and cover the pools, the streams, and the springs; when a gentle breeze moves the flowers and leaves, their brilliance crosses back and forth and turns in profusion.
〔十二 · The Adornment of the Ground〕（0231c20）The adornment of the ground is so because the verse says, “from the palaces and the many towers one looks out on the ten directions without obstruction; the jewel-trees give off lights of different colors, and jewel-railings encircle them all around”—from within the palaces and the many towers one looks upon the ten directions without the least obstruction; trees of every kind of jewel give off lights of differing colors, and railings made of jewels surround them on every side.
〔十三 · The Adornment of Space〕（0231c21）The adornment of space is so because the verse says, “measureless jewels are interlaced and linked, and nets spread across the whole of space; bells of every kind ring out, proclaiming the subtle sound of the Dharma”—measureless precious things are joined to one another, and nets spread throughout space; jewel-bells of every kind give forth their sound, proclaiming and pouring out the subtle sound of the Dharma.
〔十四 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Rain〕（0231c23）The accomplishment of the merit of rain is so because the verse says, “flowers and robes rain down as adornment, and measureless fragrances perfume everywhere”—heavenly flowers and heavenly robes come down like rain as adornment, and measureless wondrous fragrances perfume all places.
〔十五 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Light〕（0231c24）The accomplishment of the merit of light is so because the verse says, “the Buddha’s wisdom, like a bright and pure sun, dispels the darkness of the world’s folly”—the Buddha’s wisdom, bright and pure like the sun, removes the darkness of the world’s ignorance.
〔十六 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Wondrous Sound〕（0231c25）The accomplishment of the merit of wondrous sound is so because the verse says, “Brahmā sounds, their words profound and far-reaching, are subtly heard in the ten directions”—pure Brahmā sounds, whose words are deep and far-reaching, are heard subtly throughout the ten directions.
〔十七 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of the Lord〕（0231c26）The accomplishment of the merit of the lord is so because the verse says, “Amitābha of right awakening, as Dharma-king, well abides and sustains”—the Buddha Amitābha, the rightly awakened, as king of the Dharma, well abides in that land and sustains it.
〔十八 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of the Retinue〕（0231c28）The accomplishment of the merit of the retinue is so because the verse says, “the assembly within the Tathāgata’s pure flower are born by transformation from the flower of right awakening”—the holy assembly within the Tathāgata’s pure lotus are all born by transformation from the flower of right awakening.
〔十九 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Enjoyment〕（0231c29）The accomplishment of the merit of enjoyment is so because the verse says, “they delight in the taste of the Buddha’s Dharma and take meditation and samādhi as their food”—they love and delight in the flavor of the Buddha’s Dharma, and the samādhi of meditation is their food.
〔二十 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of Freedom from All Hardship〕（0232a01）The accomplishment of the merit of freedom from all hardship is so because the verse says, “forever free of the afflictions of body and mind, they receive pleasure constantly and without interruption”—they have left behind for ever every affliction of body and of mind, and the pleasure they receive is constant and unbroken.
〔二十一 · The Accomplishment of the Merit of the Gate of the Great Meaning〕（0232a02）The accomplishment of the merit of the gate of the great meaning is so because the verse says, “a realm of Mahāyāna roots of good, equal, with not even a name that invites reproach; women and those deficient in faculties, and the seed of the two vehicles, do not arise there”—it is a realm formed of the roots of good of the Great Vehicle, equal and of a single mark, where there is not even a name that invites reproach; women, those whose faculties are incomplete, and the seed of the two vehicles do not arise there. The recompense of the pure land is free of two kinds of fault that invite reproach; this should be known. The first concerns substance; the second concerns name. As to substance there are three kinds: first, persons of the two vehicles; second, women; third, persons whose faculties are incomplete. Because these three faults are absent, it is called free of reproach in substance. As to name there are likewise three kinds: not only are these three substances absent, but one does not even hear the three names—the two vehicles, women, and the incomplete in faculties; hence it is called free of reproach in name. What is called “equal” is so because all is equal and of a single mark.
〔二十二 · The Accomplishment of the Fulfillment of the Merit of All That Is Sought〕（0232a09）The accomplishment of the fulfillment of the merit of all that is sought is so because the verse says, “whatever beings aspire to and delight in, all of it can be fulfilled”—whatever beings vow for and love, every bit of it can be brought to fulfillment.
〔二十三 · The Seventeen in Brief〕（0232a11）The above is a brief account of the seventeen merits of the adornment of the land of that Buddha Amitābha. It is given to show the great power of merit by which the Tathāgata benefits himself, and the accomplishment of the merit by which he accomplishes the benefit of others.
〔二十四 · The Wondrous Realm of the Ultimate Truth〕（0232a13）The adornment of the land of that Buddha of Measureless Life is the wondrous realm of the ultimate truth; these sixteen phrases and the one phrase, it should be known, are spoken in their proper order.
〔二十五 · The Names of the Buddha’s Eight〕（0232a15）How does one contemplate the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the Buddha? In contemplating the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the Buddha there are eight kinds that should be known. What are the eight? The first is the adornment of the seat; the second, the adornment of the body; the third, the adornment of speech; the fourth, the adornment of the mind; the fifth, the adornment of the assembly; the sixth, the adornment of the leader; the seventh, the adornment of the lord; the eighth, the adornment of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain.
〔二十六 · The Adornment of the Seat〕（0232a20）What is the adornment of the seat? It is what the verse speaks of: “a king of measureless great jewels, a wondrous, pure flower-dais”—a lotus-dais, subtle and pure, adorned with measureless great king-jewels.
〔二十七 · The Adornment of the Body〕（0232a21）What is the adornment of the body? It is so because the verse says, “the light of his marks and signs extends one fathom; the image of his form surpasses all beings”—the light of his marks and signs spreads a full fathom, and the image of his physical form surpasses every kind of being.
〔二十八 · The Adornment of Speech〕（0232a22）What is the adornment of speech? It is so because the verse says, “the Tathāgata’s wondrous voice, a Brahmā resonance heard in the ten directions”—the subtle voice of the Tathāgata, a pure Brahmā sound, resounds throughout the ten directions.
〔二十九 · The Adornment of the Mind〕（0232a23）What is the adornment of the mind? It is so because the verse says, “like earth, water, fire, wind, and space, without discrimination”—like earth, water, fire, wind, and space, it has no discrimination. What is called “without discrimination” is so because there is no discriminating mind.
〔三十 · The Adornment of the Assembly〕（0232a24）What is the adornment of the assembly? It is so because the verse says, “the unmoving assembly of gods and humans, born from the sea of pure wisdom”—the assembly among gods and humans that cannot be shaken is born from the great sea of the Tathāgata’s pure wisdom.
〔三十一 · The Adornment of the Leader〕（0232a25）What is the adornment of the leader? It is so because the verse says, “like Sumeru, king of mountains, surpassingly wondrous, with none beyond him”—like Sumeru, the king of mountains, surpassing and wondrous, with none that can exceed him.
〔三十二 · The Adornment of the Lord〕（0232a27）What is the adornment of the lord? It is so because the verse says, “the assembly of great men among gods and humans surrounds him in reverence and gazes up at him”—the great assembly of gods, humans, and great men encircles him with reverence and gazes up at him.
〔三十三 · The Adornment of Abiding and Sustaining That Is Not in Vain〕（0232a28）What is the adornment of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain? It is so because the verse says, “contemplate the power of the Buddha’s original vow: of all who meet it, not one passes by in vain; it can swiftly bring to fullness the great jewel-sea of merit”—when one contemplates the power of the Buddha’s original vow, not one of those who meet it passes it by empty-handed; it can bring a person swiftly to the complete fullness of the great jewel-sea of merit.
〔三十四 · At Once Seeing That Buddha〕（0232a29）Once they see that Buddha, bodhisattvas who have not yet realized the pure mind will in the end attain the dharma-body of equality, no different from the bodhisattvas of pure mind; and the bodhisattvas of pure mind and all the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds will in the end attain alike the equality of quiescence.
〔三十五 · The Eight Phrases in Brief〕（0232b03）These eight phrases, spoken in brief, show the Tathāgata’s adornment of the merit of self-benefit and of benefiting others, accomplished in its proper order; this should be known.
〔三十六 · The Bodhisattvas’ Four: General Heading〕（0232b05）How does one contemplate the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the bodhisattvas? To contemplate the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the bodhisattvas is to contemplate that the bodhisattvas there possess the accomplishment of the merit of four kinds of right practice; this should be known. What are the four?
〔三十七 · The First Right Practice〕（0232b07）First, in one buddha-land their bodies do not move, yet they pervade the ten directions with every kind of responsive manifestation, practicing in accordance with reality and constantly doing the work of buddhas. This is because the verse says, “the Land of Peace and Bliss is pure, ever turning the stainless wheel; manifested Buddhas and bodhisattvas, like the sun, abide and sustain like Sumeru”—the Land of Peace and Bliss is pure, and the stainless wheel of the Dharma is ever turning there; manifested Buddhas and bodhisattvas are like the sun, and like Mount Sumeru they abide and hold firm. It is so in order to open the lotus that grows from the mire for beings.
〔三十八 · The Second Right Practice〕（0232b11）Second, those responsive bodies, at all times, neither before nor after, in one mind and one thought send forth a great light, and are all able to reach the worlds of the ten directions and teach beings, practicing and acting by every kind of skillful means so as to remove the suffering of all beings. This is because the verse says, “stainless, adorned light, in one thought and at one time, shines everywhere on the assemblies of the buddhas, benefiting every kind of being”—their stainless, adorned light, in a single thought and at one and the same time, shines over all the assemblies of the buddhas and benefits every being.
〔三十九 · The Third Right Practice〕（0232b15）Third, in all worlds without exception, and shining on the great assemblies of all the buddhas without exception, they serve the buddhas, the tathāgatas, with offerings, reverence, and praise vast and measureless. This is because the verse says, “they rain down heavenly music, heavenly flowers, and heavenly robes, with wondrous fragrances and the like, as offerings, and praise the merits of the buddhas without any discriminating mind”—they send down like rain heavenly music, heavenly flowers, heavenly robes, and wondrous fragrances as offerings, and they praise every merit of the buddhas with no discriminating mind.
〔四十 · The Fourth Right Practice〕（0232b18）Fourth, in all the worlds of the ten directions where there are no Three Jewels, they abide in and sustain, and adorn, the great sea of merit of the Three Jewels—Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha—showing it everywhere so that beings understand and practice in accordance with reality. This is because the verse says, “what worlds are there that lack the jewel of the Buddha’s Dharma and merit? I vow to be born in all of them, to show the Buddha’s Dharma as a buddha does”—whatever world lacks the jewel of the Buddha’s Dharma and merit, I vow to be born there, and to show the Buddha’s Dharma as a buddha shows it.
〔四十一 · Entering the One Dharma-Phrase〕（0232b22）Further, the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the buddha-land, the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the Buddha, and the accomplishment of the merit of the bodhisattvas spoken of above—these three accomplishments are all adorned by the mind of the vow, and, spoken of in brief, they enter the one dharma-phrase. The one dharma-phrase is the phrase of purity. The phrase of purity is the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom.
〔四十二 · The Two Kinds of Purity〕（0232b25）This purity is of two kinds, which should be known. What are the two? The first is purity of the vessel world; the second, purity of the world of sentient beings. Purity of the vessel world is the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the buddha-land in seventeen kinds spoken of above; this is called purity of the vessel world. Purity of the world of sentient beings is, as spoken of above, the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the Buddha in eight kinds and the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the bodhisattvas in four kinds; this is called purity of the world of sentient beings. In this way the one dharma-phrase gathers in the two kinds of purity entirely; this should be known.
長行到了觀察門，便放慢下來，把偈裡一句一句看過的東西重新數過：國土十七種莊嚴，佛八種，菩薩四種，合二十九種；然後說這二十九種「略說入一法句」。曇鸞《往生論註》把這一大段判作解義分的第三重「觀行體相」與第四重「淨入願心」，並在國土十七種莊嚴（含水、地、虛空三支）底下各問同一句話：「此云何不思議？」——這一句是論文沒有的，是他替讀的人問的；佛八種與菩薩四種，他另以釋義與問答承之。此下所講的是論。
不可思議，像一顆如意珠
論先給國土一個總的性格：「彼佛國土功德莊嚴者，成就不可思議力故。如彼摩尼如意寶性，相似相對法故。」
不可思議力是什麼力？古來的讀法先列五種不可思議——眾生多少、業力、龍力、禪定力、佛法力——然後說這個國土有兩種力：「一者業力，謂法藏菩薩出世善根大願業力所成；二者正覺阿彌陀法王善住持力所攝。」一個是因地的願業，一個是果上的住持。
為什麼拿摩尼寶來比？因為諸佛入涅槃時留碎身舍利福眾生，眾生福盡，舍利變為摩尼如意寶珠；轉輪王得之，置於長竿頭發願，虛空便雨下所需之物，「滿足天下一切人願」。安樂國土「以安樂性種種成就故」，也是這樣。
但論說的是「相似相對」，不是『相同』。相似在哪裡？寶珠要人求才雨，彼土「性滿足成就故，無所乏少」；寶珠只能給衣食願，不能給無上道願、無量身願。「片取彼性為喻，故言相似相對。」一個譬喻先說它像在哪裡，再說它不像在哪裡。
十七件事，每一件問一句
論接著數：「觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴者，有十七種事應知。」然後逐一回到偈句：某功德成就者，偈言某某故。而古來的讀法在每一次都追問：這怎麼不可思議？
清淨。「有凡夫人煩惱成就亦得生彼淨土，三界繫業畢竟不牽，則是不斷煩惱得涅槃分，焉可思議？」——這是全段第一個不可思議，也是最要緊的一個：煩惱沒斷，卻不被三界之業牽住。
量。彼國人天要宮殿樓閣，廣一由旬或千由旬，「隨心所成，人各如此」；十方往生者一時一日之頃算數不知其多少，「而彼世界常若虛空，無迫迮相」。「彼國土量能成眾生心行量，何可思議？」
性。「譬如迦羅求羅蟲其形微小，若得大風身如大山，隨風大小為己身相。」生安樂者亦如是，一生彼正道世界即成就出世善根、入正定聚——「亦如彼風非身而身」。
形相。「夫忍辱得端正，我心影嚮也。」此界的端正要靠忍辱修來；彼土一生即「無瞋忍之殊，人天色像平等妙絕，蓋淨光之力也」。光不是心行，卻做了心行的事。
種種事。一寶十寶百千種寶，「隨心稱意無不具足；若欲令無，儵焉化沒」。心得自在，有過於神通。
妙色。「其光曜事則映徹表裏，其光曜心則終盡無明。光為佛事，焉可思議？」
觸。「夫寶例堅強而此柔軟，觸樂應著而此增道。」觸樂本該生染著，這裡反而增道。古來舉了一位菩薩名愛作，形容端正，人生染著，而經言「染之者，或生天上、或發菩提心」。
三種：水、地、虛空。為什麼這三樣並說？因為六大之中，識屬眾生世間，火彼中無，風不可見、無住處，剩下可見可莊嚴的就是這三種。水為什麼不可思議？彼土人天非水穀身，清淨成就，無四時寒暑，水本無用——「不須而有，當有所以」。經裡說那水「意欲令水沒足，水即沒足；欲令至膝，水即至膝」，調和冷暖，隨意而至，又出佛聲、法聲、僧聲、寂靜聲、空無我聲，「無有三塗苦難之名，但有自然快樂之音，是故其國名曰安樂」。一個國土的名字，從它的水聲裡來。「此水為佛事，安可思議？」地呢？「此莊嚴事如淨明鏡，十方國土淨穢諸相善惡業緣一切悉現」，彼中人天見之，「探湯不及之情自然成就」——不用人勸，看一眼便不敢作惡。虛空呢？「其有聞者，塵勞垢習自然不起，風觸其身皆得快樂」。聲為佛事。
雨。風吹散華遍滿佛土，日夜六返；一一寶華出三十六百千億光，一一光中出三十六百千億佛，「普為十方說微妙法」。華為佛事。
光明。「光明非慧能為慧用，焉可思議？」
妙聲。經言「若人但聞彼國土清淨安樂，剋念願生，亦得往生，則入正定聚」——「此是國土名字為佛事」。
主。「住名不異不滅，持名不散不失，如以不朽藥塗種子，在水不瀾、在火不燋，得因緣則生。」生到安樂淨土的人後來若願生三界教化眾生，「雖生三界雜生水火中，無上菩提種子畢竟不朽」——因為經過了正覺阿彌陀的善住持。 眷屬。彼土「莫非是阿彌陀如來正覺淨華之所化生，同一念佛無別道故，遠通夫四海之內皆為兄弟也」。
受用。「乘佛願為我命，焉可思議？」
無諸難。「經言「身為苦器、心為惱端」，而彼有身有心而受樂無間，安可思議？」
大義門。論在這裡多說了幾句：「淨土果報離二種譏嫌過應知：一者體；二者名。」體有三——二乘人、女人、諸根不具人；名也有三——連這三種名字也聽不到。「等者，平等一相故。」古來的讀法再加一層：願往生者「本則三三之品，今無一二之殊，亦如淄澠〔食陵反〕一味」。九品來的人，到了那裡沒有一二之分。
一切所求滿足。「又欲捨彼壽命向餘國生，修短自在，隨願皆得。未階自在之位而同自在之用，焉可思議？」
十七件事問完，可以看見同一個答案：這個國土的每一樁事都在做佛事——水、影、聲、華，連名字都是。
略說，和一條看的次序
十七種說完，論自己說：「略說彼阿彌陀佛國土莊嚴十七種功德，示現如來自身利益大功德力，成就利益他功德成就故。」
為什麼叫「略說」？「言略者，彰彼淨土功德無量，非唯十七種也。」
而這一句還說了一件事：國土莊嚴雖然是利他，自利之義也在其中。「夫須彌之入芥子、毛孔之納大海，豈山海之神乎？毛芥之力乎？能神者神之耳。」
論接著說：「彼無量壽佛土莊嚴，第一義諦妙境界，十六句及一句次第說應知。」第一義諦是什麼？「第一義諦者，佛因緣法也。」一句是總，十六句是別。古來的讀法在這裡解釋了這十七句為什麼要這樣排。起頭是一個疑：偈首說「歸命無礙光如來願生安樂國」，有人會疑——生是眾累之本，棄生願生，生何時盡？答：彼土是「阿彌陀如來清淨本願無生之生，非如三有虛妄生也」。法性清淨畢竟無生，說生，是就得生者之情說的。這一疑解了，十七句的次序才成立：初句是總相——清淨，過三界道；然後一句問出一句：既知清淨，過三界有何相？所以觀量。既知量，量以何為本？所以觀性。一路問到觸、問到離染、問到誰為主誰為眷屬，最後問大義門滿不滿——所以觀所求滿足。
十七件事不是一張清單，是一條問出來的路。佛的八句後來也排了同樣的次序：既知國土，應知其主；主坐在哪裡，所以先觀座；一路問到「主有何增上」，所以末觀不虛作住持。
而這一條路的終點，古來的讀法說得明白：「觀此十七種莊嚴成就能生真實淨信，必定得生彼安樂佛土。」我們通常以為信在觀之前；這裡說信從觀生。
這裡還有一問值得留下：上面說「知生無生」，那是上品人的事；下下品人憑十念往生，豈不是取實有之生？取實生便墮二執——怕不得往生，怕又生起生之迷惑。答：「譬如淨摩尼珠置之濁水，水即清淨。」人雖有無量生死罪濁，「聞彼阿彌陀如來至極無生清淨寶珠名號，投之濁心，念念之中罪滅心淨，即得往生」。又如冰上燃火，火猛則冰解，冰解則火滅——下品人雖不知法性無生，但以稱名力願生彼土，「彼土是無生界，見生之火自然而滅」。
看佛的八件事
「云何觀佛功德莊嚴成就？觀佛功德莊嚴成就者，有八種應知。」座、身、口、心、眾、上首、主、不虛作住持。
座與身，論只牒偈；古來的讀法說：「若欲觀座，當依《觀無量壽經》」「若欲觀佛身，當依《觀無量壽經》」——不另立說。
心業，論自己解了四個字：「無分別者，無分別心故。」而古來的讀法在身、口、心三業上展開了一段很切身的話：凡夫以身口意三業造罪輪轉三界，所以諸佛菩薩莊嚴三業，「用治眾生虛誑三業也」。怎麼治？眾生以身見受三塗身、卑賤身、醜陋身，見阿彌陀如來相好光明身，「如上種種身業繫縛皆得解脫，入如來家畢竟得平等身業」；眾生以憍慢誹謗正法、毀訾賢聖，應受拔舌苦、瘖瘂苦，聞阿彌陀如來名號、說法音聲，口業繫縛皆得解脫，畢竟得平等口業；眾生以邪見心生分別，若有若無、若是若非、若好若醜，「以分別故，長淪三有」，若遇阿彌陀如來平等光照、聞平等意業，意業繫縛皆得解脫，畢竟得平等意業。你的三業是怎麼綁住你的，這一段說得一樣不少；佛的三業如何一一對治，也說得一樣不少。
於是來了三個連環的問。心是覺知相，怎麼能同地水火風無分別？答：「心雖知相，入實相則無知也。譬如蛇性雖曲，入竹筒則直。」心入實相可令無知，那一切種智呢？答：「凡心有知則有所不知，聖心無知故無所不知。無知而知，知即無知也。」既無所不知，豈不是知種種法、有種種分別？答：「諸法種種相皆如幻化，然幻化象馬非無長頸鼻手足異，而智者觀之豈言定有象馬分別之耶？」
眾、上首、主三事，論只牒偈。眾莊嚴「天人不動眾，清淨智海生」——古來的讀法說那海是佛一切種智，「不宿二乘、雜善、中下死屍」，不動是「成就大乘根，不可傾動」。上首莊嚴「如須彌山王，勝妙無過者」——見有如來眾中或有強梁與佛並治者，所以願「唯一法王更無俗王」。主莊嚴「天人丈夫眾，恭敬繞瞻仰」——見有大眾不甚恭敬，如比丘以十四難相要、外道假入伺短，所以願天人大眾恭敬無倦；只說天人，因「淨土無女人及八部鬼神故也」。
第八事，不虛作住持。「不虛作住持功德成就者，蓋是阿彌陀如來本願力也。」什麼是虛作？「人有輟〔止也，貞劣反〕餐養士，或疊起舟中，積金盈庫而不免餓死，如斯之事觸目皆是。得非作得、在非守在，皆由虛妄業作，不能住持也。」什麼是不虛作？「依本法藏菩薩四十八願、今日阿彌陀如來自在神力，願以成力、力以就願，願不徒然、力不虛設，力願相符畢竟不差，故曰成就。」
論在這八事之後接了一句極重的話：「即見彼佛，未證淨心菩薩畢竟得平等法身，與淨心菩薩無異，淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩畢竟同得寂滅平等故。」古來所牒的這一句略有不同——「未證淨心菩薩畢竟得證平等法身，與淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩畢竟同得寂滅平等」，少了「無異，淨心菩薩」六字，多一個「證」字；兩讀並存，義不相違。平等法身是誰？「八地已上法性生身菩薩也。」此菩薩得報生三昧，能一處一念一時遍十方世界供養諸佛、教化眾生，「初無往來想、供養想、度脫想」。未證淨心菩薩是誰？「初地已上七地已還諸菩薩也。」他們也能現身無佛國土施作佛事，但「要須作心入三昧乃能，非不作心」——要起心才能入，所以叫未得淨心。這樣的菩薩願生安樂淨土，見阿彌陀佛時，「與上地諸菩薩畢竟身等法等」。古來的讀法在這裡說了一句：「龍樹菩薩、婆藪槃頭菩薩輩願生彼者，當為此耳。」造這部論的人自己，就是為了這一件。
有人問：《十地經》說菩薩逐地進趣，怎麼見佛就與上地菩薩身等法等？答：「言畢竟者，未言即等也。畢竟不失此等，故言等耳。」那何必說？答：菩薩於七地中得大寂滅，「上不見諸佛可求、下不見眾生可度，欲捨佛道證於實際」，若不得十方諸佛神力加勸，即便滅度，與二乘無異——「菩薩若往生安樂見阿彌陀佛，即無此難，是故須言畢竟平等」。再引本願「超出常倫諸地之行，現前修習普賢之德」——他方淨土的菩薩或可不從一地至一地。有樹名好堅，地生百歲，一日長高百丈；見松生長日不過寸的人，聞之何能不疑？「夫非常之言不入常人之耳，謂之不然亦其宜也。」
看菩薩的四件事
「云何觀菩薩功德莊嚴成就？觀菩薩功德莊嚴成就者，觀彼菩薩有四種正修行功德成就應知。」
為什麼叫「正修行」？「真如是諸法正體，體如而行則是不行，不行而行名如實修行。體唯一如而義分為四，是故四行以一正統之。」四件事是一件事的四面。
一，「於一佛土身不動搖，而遍十方種種應化，如實修行常作佛事」。無垢輪是什麼？「佛地功德也。」法身如日，應化身光遍諸世界；「言日未足以明不動，復言如須彌住持也」。論文多了一句「開諸眾生淤泥華故」——經言「高原陸地不生蓮華，卑濕淤泥乃生蓮華」，凡夫在煩惱泥中，為菩薩開導，能生佛正覺華。
二，「一切時不前不後，一心一念放大光明，悉能遍至十方世界教化眾生」。不動而至還容或有先後；一念一時則無前無後。
三，「於一切世界無餘，照諸佛會大眾無餘，廣大無量供養恭敬讚歎諸佛如來」。無餘，是沒有一個世界、一個佛會不到。古來的讀法引了一句肇公的話：「法身無像而殊形並應，至韻無言而玄籍彌布，冥權無謀而動與事會。」
四，「於十方一切世界無三寶處，住持莊嚴佛法僧寶功德大海，遍示令解如實修行」。前三句雖說遍至，都是有佛的國土；「若無此句，便是法身有所不法、上善有所不善」。
收進一句話
二十九種說完，論回頭：「又向說佛國土功德莊嚴成就、佛功德莊嚴成就、菩薩功德成就，此三種成就願心莊嚴，略說入一法句故。」
願心莊嚴——這三種成就是由本四十八願等清淨願心所莊嚴的。「因淨故果淨，非無因、他因有也。」
入一法句——廣的是二十九句，略的是一句。為什麼要示現廣略相入？「諸佛菩薩有二種法身：一者法性法身、二者方便法身。由法性法身生方便法身、由方便法身出法性法身，此二法身異而不可分、一而不可同，是故廣略相入統以法名。菩薩若不知廣略相入，則不能自利利他。」
一法句是什麼？論說：「一法句者，謂清淨句。清淨句者，謂真實智慧無為法身故。」三句展轉相入——依什麼名為法？以清淨故。依什麼名為清淨？以真實智慧無為法身故。真實智慧是實相智慧，「實相無相，故真智無知也」；無為法身是法性身，「法性寂滅，故法身無相也」。然後是這一段最深的兩句：「無相故能無不相，是故相好莊嚴即法身也。無知故能無不知，是故一切種智即真實智慧也。」前面二十九種莊嚴，到這裡全收進了法身——不是莊嚴之外另有法身，是相好莊嚴即是法身。
論最後把清淨再分二種：「一者器世間清淨；二者眾生世間清淨。」十七種國土莊嚴是器世間清淨，八種佛、四種菩薩是眾生世間清淨。「如是一法句，攝二種清淨應知。」為什麼要分？「夫眾生為別報之體、國土為共報之用，體用不一，所以應知。」為什麼又不異？「然諸法心成，無餘境界，眾生及器復不得異、不得一」。器是什麼？「謂彼淨土是彼清淨眾生之所受用，故名為器。」「要二俱潔乃得稱淨，是以一清淨名必攝二種」。
最後一問：眾生清淨是佛與菩薩，那裡的人天算不算？答：「得名清淨，非實清淨。」灌頂王子初生具三十二相，雖未能作轉輪王事，亦名轉輪王，「以其必為轉輪王故」。彼諸人天亦如是，「皆入大乘正定之聚，畢竟當得清淨法身，以當得故得名清淨」。
我們讀到這裡，大概能看出這一段的形狀：先把一個國土拆成二十九件事，再把二十九件收回一句，最後連那一句也拆成體與用兩面——拆，是為了看清；收，是為了不把它當作二十九樁風景。
承衍——十九次「此云何不思議」
上來是這一段論文自身的義。此下另以曇鸞《往生論註》旁照——鏡非論，只是同一個國土，換一個人來問。
曇鸞在國土十七種莊嚴底下問「此云何不思議？」——水、地、虛空各一問，合十九次——是這一卷註最可辨認的手筆。論只說『某功德成就者，偈言某某故』，不說為什麼；曇鸞替它說了十九次為什麼；佛八種與菩薩四種，他改以釋義、問答與次第承之。「不斷煩惱得涅槃分」「光明非慧能為慧用」「乘佛願為我命」「國土名字為佛事」這些話，都是他的，不是論的。十七句次序的『既知……是故次觀……』，也是他排的。
淨入願心一重，二種法身——法性法身與方便法身——是他立的名；「無相故能無不相」「無知故能無不知」是他的推；淨食淨器之喻、灌頂王子之喻，皆出於他。身口意三業對治眾生虛誑三業一段，三問三答心之無知而知一段，七地大寂滅之難與好堅樹一段，也都是他在論文空白處寫下的。
而論自己只說：「如是一法句，攝二種清淨應知。」
When the prose reaches the gate of contemplation it slows down and counts again what the verses had looked at line by line: seventeen adornments of the land, eight of the Buddha, four of the bodhisattvas—twenty-nine in all. Then it says that these twenty-nine, “briefly stated, enter one dharma-phrase.” Tanluan’s Commentary on the Treatise on Birth in That Land judges this long passage to be the third and fourth sections of the explanation of meaning, “the substance and marks of the practice of contemplation” and “purity entering the mind of the vow,” and under each of the seventeen adornments of the land (including the three branches of water, ground, and sky) he asks the same question: “In what way is this inconceivable?”—a question the treatise does not ask, which he asks on behalf of the reader; the eight adornments of the Buddha and the four of the bodhisattvas he carries with glosses and questions of another kind. What follows here is the treatise.
Inconceivable, Like a Wish-Fulfilling Jewel
The treatise first gives the land a general character: “The adornment of merit of that buddha-land is the accomplishment of inconceivable power. It is like the nature of the wish-fulfilling maṇi jewel—a dharma of resemblance and correspondence.”
What power is inconceivable power? The old reading first lists the five inconceivable things—the number of beings, the power of karma, the power of dragons, the power of meditation, the power of the Buddha-Dharma—and then says this land has two powers: “first, the power of karma, namely what was accomplished by the great vow and karma of the bodhisattva Dharmākara’s supramundane roots of good; second, what is held by the power of the Dharma-king Amitābha, the right awakening, abiding and sustaining it well.” One is the vow-karma of the causal stage; the other is the sustaining power of the result.
Why compare it to a maṇi jewel? Because when the buddhas enter nirvāṇa they leave relics to benefit beings; when the beings’ merit is exhausted, the relics become wish-fulfilling maṇi jewels; a wheel-turning king who obtains one sets it on a tall pole and makes a vow, and from the sky rain down whatever is needed, “filling the wishes of all people under heaven.” The Land of Peace and Bliss, “because of the accomplishment of the various natures of Peace and Bliss,” is like this.
But the treatise says “resemblance and correspondence,” not sameness. Where is the resemblance? The jewel rains only when someone asks; that land, “because its nature is accomplished in fullness, lacks nothing.” The jewel can give wishes for clothing and food, not the wish for the unsurpassed path or for measureless bodies. “A part of its nature is taken as a simile; hence ‘resemblance and correspondence.’” A simile first says where it resembles, then says where it does not.
Seventeen Things, and a Question Asked of Each
The treatise then counts: “In contemplating the adornment of merit of that buddha-land, there are seventeen things that should be known.” And one by one it returns to the verse: the accomplishment of such-and-such merit, “because the verse says . . .” Seventeen times.
And the old reading, each time, presses further: in what way is this inconceivable?
Purity. “There are ordinary people whose afflictions are complete who nonetheless attain birth in that pure land, and the binding karma of the three realms in the end does not drag them back—this is to attain a share in nirvāṇa without cutting off the afflictions. How could it be conceived?” This is the first inconceivable thing in the passage, and the most important: the afflictions not yet cut off, and yet one is not dragged back by the karma of the three realms.
Measure. The gods and humans of that land, if they want palaces and towers a yojana wide or a thousand, “have them formed according to their minds, each person so”; those born there from the ten directions in a single moment of a single day cannot be numbered, “and yet that world is always like empty space, with no mark of being hemmed in.” “The measure of that land can accomplish the measure of beings’ mental conduct—how could it be conceived?”
Nature. “It is like the Jialuoqiuluo insect, whose form is tiny, but which, when it meets a great wind, becomes as large as a mountain, taking the size of the wind as its own body.” So it is with those born in Peace and Bliss: born into that world of the right path, they at once accomplish supramundane roots of good and enter the group of right fixity—“like that wind, which is not a body and yet becomes one.”
Form. “Patience brings a fair appearance—my own mind casts its reflection.” In this world a fair appearance must be earned by patience; there, once born, “there is no difference of angry and patient; the forms of gods and humans are equal and wondrously perfect—this is the power of the pure light.” The light is not mental conduct, yet does what mental conduct does.
The various things. One jewel, ten, a hundred thousand kinds, “according to the mind, as one wishes, nothing lacking; if one wishes them gone, in a flash they vanish.” The mind obtains a mastery beyond supernormal power.
Wondrous color. “Where its light shines on things, it penetrates them inside and out; where it shines on the mind, it ends ignorance completely. Light doing the Buddha’s work—how could it be conceived?”
Touch. “Jewels are by rule hard, yet these are soft; the pleasure of touch ought to produce attachment, yet this increases the path.” The pleasure of touch should breed attachment; here it furthers the way instead. The old reading names a bodhisattva called Aizuo, of fair appearance, to whom people became attached, and the sūtra says “those who were attached to him were either born in the heavens or gave rise to the aspiration for awakening.”
Three kinds: water, ground, and sky. Why are these three said together? Because of the six elements, consciousness belongs to the world of sentient beings, fire is absent there, wind cannot be seen and has no dwelling; what remains visible and adornable is these three. Why is the water inconceivable? The gods and humans there have no bodies of water and grain, their purity is accomplished, there are no four seasons of heat and cold—water has no use—“not needed, yet there; there must be a reason.” The sūtra says of that water, “if they wish the water to cover the foot, it covers the foot; if they wish it to reach the knee, it reaches the knee,” warm or cool as they please, and it sounds forth the Buddha, the Dharma, the Saṃgha, the sound of stillness, of emptiness and no-self, “there is no name of the sufferings of the three evil paths, but only the sound of natural happiness, and therefore that land is called Peace and Bliss.” A land’s name comes from the sound of its water. “This water does the Buddha’s work—how could it be conceived?” And the ground? “These adornments are like a clear bright mirror; the pure and defiled marks of the lands of the ten directions, the conditions of good and evil karma, all appear in it,” and the gods and humans there, seeing this, “naturally accomplish the feeling of one who draws back from boiling water”—no one need exhort them; one look and they dare not do evil. And the sky? Jeweled nets and virtuous winds: “those who hear it find that the dust of toil and the habits of defilement do not arise; the wind touching their bodies, all attain happiness.” Sound does the Buddha’s work.
Rain. Wind scatters flowers over the whole land six times a day and night; from each jeweled flower come thirty-six hundred thousand koṭis of lights, and in each light thirty-six hundred thousand koṭis of buddhas, “speaking the subtle Dharma everywhere for the ten directions.” Flowers do the Buddha’s work.
Light. “Light is not wisdom, yet can do wisdom’s work—how could it be conceived?”
Wondrous sound. The sūtra says, “if a person only hears that that land is pure and blissful and keeps the aspiration to be born there, he too attains birth there and enters the group of right fixity”—“this is the name of a land doing the Buddha’s work.”
The lord. “To abide means not to differ and not to perish; to sustain means not to scatter and not to be lost—like smearing a seed with an incorruptible medicine, so that in water it does not rot and in fire it does not char, and when conditions are met it sprouts.” One born in the pure land of Peace and Bliss who later wishes to be born into the three realms to teach beings, “though born into the three realms, amid the water and fire of mixed births, the seed of unsurpassed awakening in the end does not rot”—because it has passed through the good sustaining of Amitābha, the right awakening.
The retinue. That land “is wholly born by transformation from the pure flower of the right awakening of the Tathāgata Amitābha, by one and the same recollection of the Buddha with no other path, so that, reaching far, all within the four seas are brothers.”
Enjoyment. “To ride the Buddha’s vow as one’s life—how could it be conceived?”
Absence of hardship. “The sūtra says, ‘the body is a vessel of suffering, the mind the source of affliction,’ yet there they have body and mind and enjoy unbroken pleasure—how could it be conceived?”
The gate of the great meaning. Here the treatise says a few words more: “It should be known that the reward of the pure land is free of two kinds of fault of reproach: one in substance, one in name.” Three in substance—persons of the two vehicles, women, and the deficient in faculties; three in name—even these three names are not heard. “‘Equal’ means of one equal mark.” The old reading adds a layer: those who aspire to be born there are “originally of nine ranks, have now no difference of first and second, like the rivers Zi and Sheng becoming one taste.” People who come from nine grades have no first or second once there.
The fulfillment of all that is sought. “And if they wish to give up their life there and be born in another land, long or short is at their disposal, and whatever they wish they obtain. Not yet at the stage of mastery, yet with the use of mastery—how could it be conceived?”
When the seventeen questions are done, one answer can be seen through them: every single thing in this land is doing the Buddha’s work—water, reflection, sound, flowers, even the name.
“Briefly Stated,” and an Order of Looking
After the seventeen, the treatise says: “Briefly stated, the seventeen kinds of merit that adorn Amitābha’s buddha-land show the great power of the Tathāgata’s merit in benefiting himself, and the accomplishment of merit in benefiting others.”
Why “briefly”? “To say ‘briefly’ makes clear that the merit of that pure land is measureless, not only seventeen.”
And this sentence says one more thing: though the adornment of the land is for the benefit of others, the meaning of self-benefit is in it too. “Sumeru entering a mustard seed, a pore taking in the great sea—is this the marvel of the mountain and the sea? the power of the pore and the seed? It is the one who can work marvels who works them.”
The treatise goes on: “The adornment of the land of the Buddha of Measureless Life is the wondrous object of the supreme truth; it should be known that the sixteen phrases and the one phrase are spoken in sequence.” What is the supreme truth? “The supreme truth is the Buddha’s dharma of causes and conditions.” One phrase is the general, sixteen are the particular. The old reading explains here why the seventeen are arranged as they are. It begins from a doubt: the opening verse says “I take refuge in the Tathāgata of Unobstructed Light and aspire to be born in the Land of Peace and Bliss,” and someone will doubt—birth is the root of existence, the source of every burden; to give up birth and aspire to birth, when will birth ever end? The answer: that land is “the birth that is no birth of the Tathāgata Amitābha’s pure original vow, not like the false birth of the three kinds of existence.” The nature of things is pure and ultimately unborn; to speak of birth is to speak from the feeling of the one born. Once this doubt is settled, the order of the seventeen phrases stands: the first phrase is the general mark—purity, surpassing the three realms; then each phrase asks forth the next: knowing purity, what mark does surpassing the three realms have? So contemplate measure. Knowing measure, what is measure rooted in? So contemplate nature. And on, through touch, through freedom from defilement, through who is lord and who is retinue, until the last question—is the gate of the great meaning full or not?—so contemplate the fulfillment of all that is sought.
The seventeen things are not a list; they are a road that is questioned into being. The Buddha’s eight phrases were later arranged in the same way: knowing the land, one should know its lord; where does the lord sit, so first contemplate the seat; and on until “what increase has the lord?”—so last contemplate the sustaining that is not in vain.
And the end of this road the old reading states plainly: “Contemplating these seventeen accomplished adornments can give rise to true pure faith, and one certainly attains birth in that buddha-land of Peace and Bliss.” We usually assume faith comes before contemplation; here faith is born from contemplation.
One more question is worth keeping. It was said above that one “knows birth to be no birth”—that is the business of those of the highest grade; one of the lowest grade who is born by ten thoughts, does he not grasp a real birth? Grasping a real birth, he falls into two attachments—fear of not attaining birth, fear of the delusion of birth arising again. The answer: “It is like a pure maṇi jewel placed in muddy water: the water at once becomes clear.” Though a person has the mud of measureless sins of birth and death, “hearing the name of the Tathāgata Amitābha, the utterly unborn, pure jewel, and casting it into the muddy mind, thought by thought his sins are extinguished and his mind purified, and he at once attains birth.” And as fire burning on ice—when the fire is fierce the ice melts, and when the ice melts the fire goes out—one of the lower grade, though he does not know that the nature of things is unborn, by the power of calling the Buddha’s name makes the intention to be born and aspires to that land; “that land is the realm of no birth, and the fire of seeing birth goes out of itself.”
The Eight Things to See in the Buddha
“How does one contemplate the accomplishment of the Buddha’s adornment of merit? In contemplating it, there are eight kinds that should be known.” Seat, body, speech, mind, assembly, leader, lord, and sustaining that is not in vain.
For seat and body the treatise only cites the verse, and the old reading says: “if one wishes to contemplate the seat, one should rely on the Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life”; “if one wishes to contemplate the Buddha’s body, one should rely on the Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life”—it sets up no separate account.
For the mind, the treatise itself glosses four words: “‘without discrimination’ means without a discriminating mind.” And the old reading unfolds, across body, speech, and mind, a passage that touches very close: ordinary beings make sin with the three karmas of body, speech, and mind and turn in the three realms, so the buddhas and bodhisattvas adorn their three karmas “to cure the false and deceptive three karmas of beings.” How? Beings, through the view of a self, receive bodies in the three evil paths, lowly bodies, ugly bodies; seeing the body of the Tathāgata Amitābha with its marks and its light, “all such bonds of bodily karma are released, and they enter the Tathāgata’s house and in the end attain the equal karma of body.” Beings, through arrogance, slander the right Dharma and revile the sages and deserve the sufferings of a torn-out tongue and of muteness; hearing the Tathāgata Amitābha’s name of utmost virtue and the sound of his speaking the Dharma, their bonds of verbal karma are released and they in the end attain the equal karma of speech. Beings, through wrong view, give rise to discrimination—existent or not, right or wrong, fair or ugly—and “through discrimination sink long in the three existences”; meeting the Tathāgata Amitābha’s equal light, hearing his equal mental karma, their bonds of mental karma are released and they in the end attain the equal karma of mind. How your three karmas bind you, this passage states without omission; and how the Buddha’s three karmas cure them one by one, it states without omission too.
Then three linked questions. The mind has the mark of awareness and knowing; how can it be like earth, water, fire, and wind, without discrimination? Answer: “Though the mind has the mark of knowing, entering true reality it is without knowing. As a snake’s nature is crooked, yet entering a bamboo tube it is straight.” If the mind entering true reality can be made to be without knowing, what of omniscience? Answer: “The ordinary mind, having knowing, has what it does not know; the sage’s mind, without knowing, has nothing it does not know. Knowing without knowing—knowing is precisely not-knowing.” If there is nothing it does not know, does it not know all kinds of dharmas and so have all kinds of discrimination? Answer: “The various marks of dharmas are all like illusion; and yet illusory elephants and horses are not without the differences of long necks, trunks, hands, and feet—but would the wise, looking on them, say there is really an elephant and a horse to be distinguished?”
The assembly, the leader, and the lord—for these three the treatise only cites the verse. The adornment of the assembly, “the assembly of gods and humans, unmoving, born from the sea of pure wisdom”—the old reading says that sea is the Buddha’s omniscience, which “does not lodge the two vehicles, mixed good, or the corpses of the middling and the low,” and that unmoving means “having accomplished the Mahāyāna root, they cannot be shaken.” The adornment of the leader, “like the king of Mount Sumeru, surpassing and wondrous, with none above him”—seeing that in some tathāgatas’ assemblies there were the overbearing, or kings who ruled alongside the Buddha, he vowed “a single Dharma-king and no worldly king.” The adornment of the lord, “the assembly of gods and great men reverently surrounds and gazes up at him”—seeing assemblies not wholly reverent, a monk who pressed the Buddha with the fourteen difficult questions, outsiders who entered the assembly only to spy for faults, he vowed that gods and humans would revere him without weariness; only gods and humans are named, because “in the pure land there are no women and no spirits of the eight classes.”
The eighth thing: the sustaining that is not in vain. “The accomplishment of the merit of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain is the power of the Tathāgata Amitābha’s original vow.” What is “in vain”? “There are men who deny themselves meals to support retainers, or heap up ships, or fill their storehouses with gold and yet cannot avoid starving to death—such things are everywhere before one’s eyes. What is obtained is not obtained by one’s doing, what is kept is not kept by one’s guarding; all is wrought by false karma, and cannot be sustained.” What is “not in vain”? “Relying on the forty-eight vows of the bodhisattva Dharmākara of old, and the free spiritual power of the Tathāgata Amitābha today: the vow becomes power, the power fulfills the vow; the vow is not idle, the power is not set up for nothing; power and vow match and in the end do not differ—hence ‘accomplishment.’”
After these eight the treatise adds an extremely weighty sentence: “On seeing that Buddha, the bodhisattva who has not yet realized the pure mind in the end attains the dharma-body of equality, no different from the bodhisattvas of pure mind; and the bodhisattvas of pure mind and the bodhisattvas of the upper grounds in the end equally attain the equality of quiescence.” The old reading quotes this sentence slightly differently—“the bodhisattva who has not yet realized the pure mind in the end realizes the dharma-body of equality, and together with the bodhisattvas of pure mind and the bodhisattvas of the upper grounds in the end equally attains the equality of quiescence”—lacking the six characters “no different from . . . the bodhisattvas of pure mind” (the mirror reads “together with the bodhisattvas of pure mind and the bodhisattvas of the upper grounds”), and with one more word, “realizes”; both readings stand, and their meaning does not conflict. Who has the dharma-body of equality? “Bodhisattvas of the eighth ground and above, born from the nature of things.” Such a bodhisattva attains the samādhi of reward-birth and by its power can, from one place, in one thought, at one time, reach the worlds of the ten directions, make offerings to all the buddhas and their great assemblies, and in measureless worlds where there are no three jewels manifest and teach in every way, “from the first without any thought of coming or going, of offering, of delivering.” Who are the bodhisattvas who have not yet realized the pure mind? “Bodhisattvas from the first ground up to the seventh.” They too can manifest bodies in buddhaless lands and do the Buddha’s work, but “they must set the mind to enter samādhi before they can; it is not without setting the mind”—they must raise an intention to enter, and so are called not yet pure in mind. Such bodhisattvas, aspiring to be born in the pure land of Peace and Bliss and seeing the Buddha Amitābha, “are in the end equal in body and equal in dharma with the bodhisattvas of the upper grounds.” The old reading adds a sentence here: “That the bodhisattva Nāgārjuna, the bodhisattva Vasubandhu, and their like aspired to be born there was for this.” The one who composed this treatise did so for this very thing.
Someone asks: the Sūtra of the Ten Grounds says bodhisattvas advance ground by ground; how can they be equal in body and dharma with the bodhisattvas of the upper grounds the moment they see the Buddha? Answer: “To say ‘in the end’ is not to say ‘immediately.’ It is because in the end they do not lose this equality that it is called equality.” Then why say it at all? Answer: a bodhisattva in the seventh ground attains great quiescence, “sees above no buddhas to be sought and below no beings to be delivered, and wishes to abandon the buddha-path and realize the ultimate limit”; if at that time he does not receive the encouragement of the spiritual power of the buddhas of the ten directions, he at once passes into cessation, no different from the two vehicles—“if a bodhisattva is born in Peace and Bliss and sees the Buddha Amitābha, he has no such danger; therefore it must be said: in the end, equality.” And the original vow is cited: “surpassing the practice of the ordinary grounds, manifesting before them the cultivation of the virtues of Samantabhadra”—the bodhisattvas of other pure lands may well not go from one ground to the next. There is a tree called Haojian; it grows underground for a hundred years, and then in one day rises a hundred fathoms—one who has seen a pine grow less than an inch a day, hearing of it, how could he not doubt? “Uncommon words do not enter common ears; that they are thought untrue is only to be expected.”
The Four Things to See in the Bodhisattvas
“How does one contemplate the accomplishment of the bodhisattvas’ adornment of merit? In contemplating it, it should be known that those bodhisattvas have four kinds of accomplishment of merit in right practice.”
Why “right practice”? “True suchness is the right substance of all dharmas; to act as suchness is to be without acting, and acting without acting is called practice in accordance with reality. The substance is only one suchness, but its meaning is divided into four; therefore the four practices are governed by one rightness.” The four things are four faces of one thing.
First, “in one buddha-land the body does not move, yet it reaches everywhere in the ten directions in every kind of response and transformation, practicing in accordance with reality and ever doing the Buddha’s work.” What is the stainless wheel? “The merit of the Buddha-ground.” The dharma-body is like the sun, the lights of the transformation-bodies spread through all worlds; “to say ‘sun’ is not enough to show immobility, so it also says ‘sustaining like Sumeru.’” The treatise adds a clause—“because they open the lotus of beings in the mud”—and the sūtra says, “on high plateaus and dry land the lotus does not grow; in low, wet mud the lotus grows”: ordinary beings in the mud of the afflictions, guided by the bodhisattvas, can bring forth the flower of a buddha’s right awakening.
Second, “at all times, neither before nor after, in one mind and one thought they send out great light and can reach everywhere in the worlds of the ten directions to teach beings.” The previous says reaching without moving, which might still allow a before and after; this says one thought at one time, with no before or after.
Third, “in all worlds without remainder, shining on the assemblies of all the buddhas without remainder, with vast, measureless offerings, reverence, and praise they serve the buddhas, the tathāgatas.” Without remainder means there is no world and no buddha-assembly they do not reach. The old reading cites a line of Sengzhao: “The dharma-body has no image, yet in differing forms it responds to all; the utmost tone has no words, yet the profound scriptures spread abroad; the hidden power has no scheme, yet in its movement it meets each matter.”
Fourth, “in all worlds of the ten directions where there are no three jewels, they sustain and adorn the great sea of the merit of the jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha, showing it everywhere so that all understand and practice in accordance with reality.” The first three, though they speak of reaching everywhere, speak of lands where there is a buddha; “without this phrase, the dharma-body would have somewhere it is not the Dharma, and the highest good somewhere it is not good.”
Gathered into a Single Phrase
When the twenty-nine are done the treatise turns back: “Moreover, the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the buddha-land spoken of above, the accomplishment of the Buddha’s adornment of merit, and the accomplishment of the bodhisattvas’ merit—these three accomplishments are the adornment of the mind of the vow; briefly stated, they enter one dharma-phrase.”
The adornment of the mind of the vow—these three accomplishments are adorned by the pure mind of the forty-eight vows of old. “Because the cause is pure the result is pure; it is not without a cause, nor from another cause.”
Entering one dharma-phrase—the broad is the twenty-nine phrases; the brief is one. Why show the broad and the brief entering each other? “The buddhas and bodhisattvas have two kinds of dharma-body: the dharma-body of the nature of things, and the dharma-body of skillful means. From the dharma-body of the nature of things arises the dharma-body of skillful means; from the dharma-body of skillful means issues the dharma-body of the nature of things. These two dharma-bodies are different yet cannot be divided, one yet cannot be made the same; therefore the broad and the brief enter each other and are governed under the name ‘dharma.’ If a bodhisattva does not know that the broad and the brief enter each other, he cannot benefit himself or others.”
What is the one dharma-phrase? The treatise says: “The one dharma-phrase is the phrase of purity. The phrase of purity is the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom.” The three phrases enter one another in turn—by what meaning is it called dharma? By purity. By what meaning is it called purity? By the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom. True wisdom is the wisdom of true reality: “true reality has no mark, hence true wisdom has no knowing”; the unconditioned dharma-body is the body of the nature of things: “the nature of things is quiescent, hence the dharma-body has no mark.” Then the two deepest sentences of the passage: “Because it has no mark it can be without any mark lacking; therefore the adornment of marks and signs is precisely the dharma-body. Because it has no knowing it can be without anything unknown; therefore omniscience is precisely true wisdom.” The twenty-nine adornments are here all gathered into the dharma-body—not that there is a dharma-body apart from the adornments, but that the adornment of marks and signs is the dharma-body.
Finally the treatise divides purity again into two: “first, the purity of the vessel world; second, the purity of the world of sentient beings.” The seventeen adornments of the land are the purity of the vessel world; the eight of the Buddha and four of the bodhisattvas are the purity of the world of sentient beings. “Thus the one dharma-phrase gathers the two kinds of purity; this should be known.” Why divide? “Beings are the substance of individual reward, the land is the function of shared reward; substance and function are not one, and therefore this should be known.” Why not different? “Yet all dharmas are made by the mind, and there is no other realm; beings and vessel, again, can be neither different nor one.” What is a vessel? “That pure land is what those pure beings receive and use; hence it is called a vessel.” “Only when both are clean can it be called pure; therefore the one name ‘purity’ must gather both kinds.”
A last question: the purity of sentient beings means buddhas and bodhisattvas—do the gods and humans there count? Answer: “They are called pure, not actually pure.” As a crown prince at birth has the thirty-two marks and, though he cannot yet do the work of a wheel-turning king, is called a wheel-turning king, “because he will certainly become one.” So too the gods and humans there: “all have entered the group of right fixity of the Mahāyāna and will in the end attain the pure dharma-body; because they will attain it, they are called pure.”
Reading to here, we can probably see the shape of this passage: first a land is taken apart into twenty-nine things, then the twenty-nine are gathered back into one phrase, and finally even that phrase is divided into two faces, substance and function—taking apart, in order to see clearly; gathering, in order not to take it for twenty-nine pieces of scenery.
Carrying Forward — Nineteen Times, “In What Way Is This Inconceivable?”
What came above is the meaning of this passage of the treatise in itself. Below, it is seen once more in the mirror of Tanluan’s Commentary on the Treatise on Birth in That Land—a mirror is not the treatise; it is the same land, questioned by another.
Tanluan’s asking “in what way is this inconceivable?” under the seventeen adornments of the land—once each for water, ground, and sky, nineteen times in all—is the most recognizable stroke in this fascicle of the commentary. The treatise says only “the accomplishment of such-and-such merit, because the verse says . . .” and does not say why; Tanluan supplies the why nineteen times; for the eight adornments of the Buddha and the four of the bodhisattvas he turns instead to glosses, questions and answers, and sequence. “To attain a share in nirvāṇa without cutting off the afflictions,” “light is not wisdom, yet can do wisdom’s work,” “to ride the Buddha’s vow as one’s life,” “the name of a land doing the Buddha’s work”—these are his words, not the treatise’s. The order of the seventeen phrases—“knowing this, so next contemplate that”—he arranged.
In the section on purity entering the mind of the vow, the two dharma-bodies—of the nature of things and of skillful means—are names he established; “because it has no mark it can be without any mark lacking,” “because it has no knowing it can be without anything unknown,” are his inference; the similes of the clean food and the clean vessel and of the crown prince are his. The passage on the three karmas curing beings’ three false karmas, the three questions and answers on the mind’s knowing without knowing, the danger of great quiescence in the seventh ground and the Haojian tree—all these too he wrote into the blank spaces of the treatise.
And the treatise itself says only: “Thus the one dharma-phrase gathers the two kinds of purity; this should be known.”
考據Apparatus
全段定位 本單元為觀察門之廣說，全論長行最長之段：先問「云何觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴」，總答以「成就不可思議力」，並以摩尼如意寶性相似相對為喻；次列國土十七種名目，逐一以『某功德成就者，偈言……故』牒偈釋名，其第八開為水、地、虛空三事，第十六附釋二種譏嫌；次略結十七種為示現自利利他、為第一義諦妙境界。次觀佛八種莊嚴，終以「即見彼佛」明未證淨心菩薩畢竟得平等法身。次觀菩薩四種正修行。末以三種成就為願心所莊嚴，略入一法句，一法句即清淨句、即真實智慧無為法身；清淨又分器世間、眾生世間二種。曇鸞《往生論註》卷下判此一段為解義分十重之第三重「觀行體相」與第四重「淨入願心」；第三重中，國土十七句每句皆設「此云何不思議？」之問，佛八句則多云「此觀義已彰前偈」。二十九種莊嚴之名目，論之名目表、論之逐條釋句、曇鸞之牒文三者不盡一致，見目九；論「與淨心菩薩無異」一語，曇鸞牒文所無，見目四、目九。
一、科判定位
解義分十重之第三、第四重——卷下十重總標：
「論曰。已下，此是解義分。此分中義有十重：一者願偈大意、二者起觀生信、三者觀行體相、四者淨入願心、五者善巧攝化、六者離菩提障、七者順菩提門、八者名義攝對、九者願事成就、十者利行滿足。」〔T40n1819 0835a06〕
第三重之內分——曇鸞標目：
「觀察體相者，此分中有二體：一者器體、二者眾生體。器分中又有三重：一者國土體相、二者示現自利利他、三者入第一義諦。」〔T40n1819 0836a28〕 「眾生體者，此分中有二重：一者觀佛、二者觀菩薩。」〔T40n1819 0839b08〕
| 曇鸞之科 | 標目（逐字） | 錨 | 論文所當 | 本單元之段 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 重3·器體·國土體相 | 「國土體相者：」 | 〔T40n1819 0836b02〕 | 總標＋十七種 | 〔一〕至〔二十二〕 |
| 重3·器體·示現自利利他 | 「示現自利利他者：」 | 〔T40n1819 0838c02〕 | 略說十七種 | 〔二十三〕 |
| 重3·器體·入第一義諦 | 「入第一義諦者：」 | 〔T40n1819 0838c10〕 | 第一義諦妙境界 | 〔二十四〕 |
| 重3·眾生體·觀佛 | 「觀佛者：」 | 〔T40n1819 0839b09〕 | 佛八種·即見彼佛·略說八句 | 〔二十五〕至〔三十五〕 |
| 重3·眾生體·觀菩薩 | 「觀菩薩者：」 | 〔T40n1819 0840c23〕 | 菩薩四種正修行 | 〔三十六〕至〔四十〕 |
| 重4·淨入願心 | 「已下是解義中第四重，名為淨入願心。淨入願心者：」 | 〔T40n1819 0841b03〕 | 願心莊嚴·一法句·二種清淨 | 〔四十一〕〔四十二〕 |
一單元含曇鸞二重——第三重之結語與第四重之起在同一行：「觀行體相竟。」〔T40n1819 0841b03〕 是曇鸞之重界在〔四十〕〔四十一〕之間；本單元之界則在第四重之末，與曇鸞「以當得故得名清淨。」〔T40n1819 0841c27〕 之訖相合（同行其後「善巧攝化」屬下一單元）。第三重之名，總標作「觀行體相」，標目作「觀察體相者」，結語又作「觀行體相竟」，並錄。
十七種之章門與提釋——曇鸞先列名目，自言其次：「先舉章門，次續提釋。」〔T40n1819 0836c17〕
十七句之總別與起次——曇鸞以初句為總、下十六為別，並逐句說其相生之次：
「十七句中總別為二：初句是總相，所謂是清淨佛土過三界道。彼過三界有何相？下十六種莊嚴功德成就相是也。」〔T40n1819 0838c27〕 「既知量，此量以何為本？是故觀性。」〔T40n1819 0839a01〕 「既知大義門，宜知大義門滿不滿？是故次觀所求滿足。」〔T40n1819 0839a18〕
八句之次第——曇鸞釋論『略說八句……次第成就』：
「此云何次第？前十七句是莊嚴國土功德成就。既知國土相，應知國土之主，是故次觀佛莊嚴功德。彼佛若為莊嚴？於何處坐？是故先觀座。」〔T40n1819 0840c11〕 「既知是主，主有何增上？是故次觀莊嚴不虛作住持。八句次第成已。」〔T40n1819 0840c22〕
四行以一正統之——「體唯一如而義分為四，是故四行以一正統之。」〔T40n1819 0840c27〕
廣略之數——曇鸞以二十九句為廣、一法句為略：「上國土莊嚴十七句、如來莊嚴八句、菩薩莊嚴四句為廣，入一法句為略。」〔T40n1819 0841b10〕
曇鸞卷上與卷下之重釋——二十九種莊嚴，曇鸞於卷上逐偈已釋「佛本何故起此莊嚴」（屬偈頌部之單元）；卷下本段再牒論之長行，國土十七種改設「此云何不思議？」之問，佛八種則自言「此觀義已彰前偈。」〔T40n1819 0839b11〕 二處所釋之重不同，並存。
本單元起訖——起「云何觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴？」〔T26n1524 0231b24〕（同行其前「作願迴向為首，成就大悲心故。」屬上一單元），訖「如是一法句，攝二種清淨應知。」〔T26n1524 0232c02〕。全單元一千八百四十六字（含標點），純漢字一千五百五十九字。
二、異譯對勘
本論無異譯；偈頌所依之《無量壽經》經文，見偈頌部之目三。本段長行所牒偈句，與偈頌部之論偈同出一本；長行所牒與論偈、鏡牒之異文，見目九。
三、經論宗依（眼）
曇鸞所引之經——本段曇鸞明引經文凡十餘處，或標經名，或但云「經言」：
| 曇鸞所引（逐字） | 鏡錨 | 經之本文（可核者） | 經錨 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「若欲觀座，當依《觀無量壽經》。」 | 〔T40n1819 0839b18〕 | 經名明標；不出經文 | — |
| 「若欲觀佛身，當依《觀無量壽經》。」 | 〔T40n1819 0839b20〕 | 經名明標；不出經文 | — |
| 「又如佛說《法華經》時，放眉間光照于東方萬八千土皆如金色，從阿鼻獄上至有頂諸世界中六道眾生，生死所趣善惡業緣、受報好醜於此悉見。」 | 〔T40n1819 0837c08〕 | 「爾時佛放眉間白毫相光，照東方萬八千世界，靡不周遍，下至阿鼻地獄，上至阿迦尼吒天。」 | 〔T09n0262 0002b16〕 |
| 「彼諸菩薩及聲聞，若入寶地，意欲令水沒足，水即沒足；」 | 〔T40n1819 0837b12〕 | 「彼諸菩薩及聲聞眾若入寶池，意欲令水沒足，水即沒足；」 | 〔T12n0360 0271b09〕 |
| 「無量寶網彌覆佛土，皆以金縷真珠百千雜寶奇妙珍異莊嚴校飾。」 | 〔T40n1819 0837c16〕 | 「無量寶網彌覆佛土，皆以金縷、真珠、百千雜寶、奇妙珍異莊嚴絞飾，」 | 〔T12n0360 0272a11〕 |
| 「風吹散華遍滿佛土，隨色次第而不雜亂，」 | 〔T40n1819 0837c25〕 | 「風吹散華遍滿佛土，隨色次第而不雜亂，」 | 〔T12n0360 0272a18〕 |
| 「一一華中出三十六百千億光，」 | 〔T40n1819 0838a03〕 | 「一一華中出三十六百千億光；」 | 〔T12n0360 0272a26〕 |
| 「設我得佛，他方佛土諸菩薩眾來生我國，究竟必至一生補處；」 | 〔T40n1819 0840b20〕 | 「設我得佛，他方佛土諸菩薩眾來生我國，究竟必至一生補處——」 | 〔T12n0360 0268b08〕 |
| 「案《十地經》，菩薩進趣階級漸有無量功勳，逕多劫數然後乃得此。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840b08〕 | 問者所舉；不出經文 | — |
| 「若人但聞彼國土清淨安樂，剋念願生，亦得往生，則入正定聚。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838a14〕 | 經名未出；今譯注諸帙所收經本無同文 | — |
| 「身為苦器、心為惱端」 | 〔T40n1819 0838b11〕 | 經名未出；《大智度論》有「身為苦器，法自受惱」之語 | 〔T25n1509 0304a14〕 |
| 「染之者，或生天上、或發菩提心。」 | 〔T40n1819 0837a26〕 | 經名未出；不見於今譯注諸帙所收經本 | — |
| 「高原陸地不生蓮華，卑濕淤泥乃生蓮華。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841a11〕 | 經名未出；《大寶積經》有同喻：「譬如高原陸地不生蓮花。」 | 〔T11n0310 0634b17〕 |
經文與鏡引之異：寶地／寶池、聲聞／聲聞眾、校飾／絞飾——並錄。其「經言」之後，曇鸞引水莊嚴之經文直至「是故其國名曰安樂」〔T40n1819 0837b28〕，即《無量壽經》寶池一段之全；國土之「安樂」一名，曇鸞於卷上已言「其安樂義具在下觀察門中。」〔T40n1819 0827b18〕
曇鸞所用之論譬——曇鸞自立之譬中，有二者與《大智度論》之譬同：迦羅求羅蟲（曇鸞：「譬如迦羅求羅蟲其形微小，若得大風身如大山，」〔T40n1819 0837a03〕；論：「譬如迦羅求羅虫，其身微細，得風轉大，乃至能吞食一切；」〔T25n1509 0113b03〕）、好堅樹（曇鸞：「譬如有樹名曰好堅，是樹地生百歲，乃具一日長高百丈。」〔T40n1819 0840c03〕；論：「譬如有樹名為好堅，是樹在地中百歲，枝葉具足，一日出生高百丈，」〔T25n1509 0131c22〕）。曇鸞二處皆未標所出，照錄其同，不斷其所承。
不可思議之總據——「諸經統言有五種不可思議：一者眾生多少不可思議、二者業力不可思議、三者龍力不可思議、四者禪定力不可思議、五者佛法力不可思議。」〔T40n1819 0836b07〕 曇鸞以佛土之不可思議繫於第五，並分二力：「此中佛土不可思議，有二種力：一者業力，謂法藏菩薩出世善根大願業力所成；二者正覺阿彌陀法王善住持力所攝。」〔T40n1819 0836b10〕
論之義理繫屬——
- 不虛作住持繫本願：「所言不虛作住持者，依本法藏菩薩四十八願、今日阿彌陀如來自在神力，願以成力、力以就願，願不徒然、力不虛設，力願相符畢竟不差，故曰成就。」〔T40n1819 0840a12〕
- 三種莊嚴繫四十八願：「應知者，應知此三種莊嚴成就，由本四十八願等清淨願心之所莊嚴。因淨故果淨，非無因、他因有也。」〔T40n1819 0841b07〕
- 即見彼佛繫第二十二願：曇鸞以《無量壽經》本願「究竟必至一生補處」證見佛之菩薩「畢竟平等」，並言：「案此經推彼國菩薩，或可不從一地至一地。」〔T40n1819 0840b27〕
- 四種正修行繫真如：「真如是諸法正體，體如而行則是不行，不行而行名如實修行。」〔T40n1819 0840c26〕
四、本段釋要（往生論註逐文）
國土體相·總標
〔一〕國土莊嚴總標——論文：「云何觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴？彼佛國土功德莊嚴者，成就不可思議力故。如彼摩尼如意寶性，相似相對法故。」〔T26n1524 0231b24〕
「云何觀察彼佛國土莊嚴功德？彼佛國土莊嚴功德者，成就不可思議力故，如彼摩尼如意寶性，相似相對法故。」〔T40n1819 0836b03〕 「不可思議力者，總指彼佛國土十七種莊嚴功德力不可得思議也。」〔T40n1819 0836b05〕 「此不可思議，如下十七種，一一相皆不可思議，至文當釋。」〔T40n1819 0836b13〕 「如彼摩尼如意寶性相似相對者，借彼摩尼如意寶性，示安樂佛土不可思議性也。」〔T40n1819 0836b14〕 「以此寶性力故，彼安樂佛土亦如是，以安樂性種種成就故。」〔T40n1819 0836b26〕 「相似相對者，彼寶珠力求衣食者能雨衣食等物，稱求者意，非是不求。彼佛土則不然，性滿足成就故，無所乏少。片取彼性為喻，故言相似相對。」〔T40n1819 0836b27〕 「又彼寶但能與眾生衣食等願，不能與眾生無上道願。又彼寶但能與眾生一身願，不能與眾生無量身願。有如是等無量差別，故言相似。」〔T40n1819 0836c01〕
〔二〕十七種名目——論文：「觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴者，有十七種事應知。」〔T26n1524 0231b27〕；曇鸞牒作：「觀察彼佛國土莊嚴功德成就者，有十七種應知。」〔T40n1819 0836c06〕 名目逐條之異見目九。
國土十七種莊嚴（逐條）
莊嚴一·清淨功德成就（〔三〕）—— 論：「清淨功德成就者，偈言「觀彼世界相，勝過三界道」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c08〕 鏡：「莊嚴清淨功德成就者，偈言「觀彼世界相，勝過三界道」故。此云何不思議？有凡夫人煩惱成就亦得生彼淨土，三界繫業畢竟不牽，則是不斷煩惱得涅槃分，焉可思議？」〔T40n1819 0836c18〕
莊嚴二·量功德成就（〔四〕）—— 論：「量功德成就者，偈言「究竟如虛空，廣大無邊際」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c09〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？彼國人天若意欲宮殿樓閣，若廣一由旬若百由旬若千由旬、千間萬間，隨心所成，人各如此。」〔T40n1819 0836c23〕 「彼中眾生住如此量中，志願廣大亦如虛空無有限量。彼國土量能成眾生心行量，何可思議？」〔T40n1819 0836c28〕
莊嚴三·性功德成就（〔五〕）—— 論：「性功德成就者，偈言「正道大慈悲，出世善根生」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c10〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？譬如迦羅求羅蟲其形微小，若得大風身如大山，隨風大小為己身相。生安樂眾生亦復如是，生彼正道世界即成就出世善根入正定聚，亦如彼風非身而身，焉可思議？」〔T40n1819 0837a03〕
莊嚴四·形相功德成就（〔六〕）—— 論：「形相功德成就者，偈言「淨光明滿足，如鏡日月輪」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c11〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？夫忍辱得端正，我心影嚮也。一得生彼，無瞋忍之殊，人天色像平等妙絕，蓋淨光之力也。彼光非心行而為心行之事，焉可思議？」〔T40n1819 0837a09〕
莊嚴五·種種事功德成就（〔七〕）—— 論：「種種事功德成就者，偈言「備諸珍寶性，具足妙莊嚴」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c12〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？彼種種事，或一寶十寶百千種寶，隨心稱意無不具足；若欲令無，儵焉化沒。心得自在有踰神通，安可思議？」〔T40n1819 0837a14〕
莊嚴六·妙色功德成就（〔八〕）—— 論：「妙色功德成就者，偈言「無垢光焰熾，明淨曜世間」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c14〕 鏡：「莊嚴妙色功德成就者，偈言「無垢光炎熾，明淨曜世間」故。此云何不思議？其光曜事則映徹表裏，其光曜心則終盡無明。光為佛事，焉可思議？」〔T40n1819 0837a18〕
莊嚴七·觸功德成就（〔九〕）—— 論：「觸功德成就者，偈言「寶性功德草，柔軟左右旋，觸者生勝樂，過迦旃隣陀」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c15〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？夫寶例堅強而此柔軟，觸樂應著而此增道。事同愛作，何可思議？有菩薩字愛作，形容端正生人染著。經言「染之者，或生天上、或發菩提心。」」〔T40n1819 0837a23〕
莊嚴八·莊嚴功德成就（三種總標）（〔十〕）—— 論：「莊嚴功德成就者，有三種應知。何等三？一者水；二者地；三者虛空。」〔T26n1524 0231c16〕 鏡：「莊嚴三種功德成就者，有三種事應知。何等三種？一者水、二者地、三者虛空。此三種所以并言者，以同類故也。」〔T40n1819 0837a28〕 「但言三類者，識一大屬眾生世間故；火一大彼中無故；雖有風，風不可見故、無住處故。是以六大，五類中取有而可莊嚴三種并言之。」〔T40n1819 0837b03〕
八之一·莊嚴水（〔十一〕）—— 論：「莊嚴水者，偈言「寶華千萬種，彌覆池流泉，微風動華葉，交錯光亂轉」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c18〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？彼淨土人天非水穀身，何須水耶？清淨成就不須洗濯，復何用水耶？彼中無四時、常調適不煩熱，復何須水耶？不須而有，當有所以。」〔T40n1819 0837b08〕（其下引經寶池一段，見目三）「此水為佛事，安可思議？」〔T40n1819 0837b28〕
八之二·莊嚴地（〔十二〕）—— 論：「莊嚴地者，偈言「宮殿諸樓閣，觀十方無礙，雜樹異光色，寶欄遍圍繞」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c20〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？彼種種事，或一寶十寶百寶無量寶，隨心稱意莊嚴具足。此莊嚴事如淨明鏡，十方國土淨穢諸相善惡業緣一切悉現，彼中人天見斯事故，探湯不及之情自然成就。」〔T40n1819 0837c02〕 「此影為佛事，安可思議？」〔T40n1819 0837c12〕
八之三·莊嚴虛空（〔十三〕）—— 論：「莊嚴虛空者，偈言「無量寶交絡，羅網遍虛空，種種鈴發響，宣吐妙法音」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c21〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？」〔T40n1819 0837c15〕（其下引經寶網一段，見目三）「此聲為佛事，焉可思議？」〔T40n1819 0837c23〕
莊嚴九·雨功德成就（〔十四〕）—— 論：「雨功德成就者，偈言「雨華衣莊嚴，無量香普熏」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c23〕 鏡：「莊嚴雨功德成就者，偈言「雨華衣莊嚴，無量香普薰」故。此云何不思議？」〔T40n1819 0837c24〕（其下引經散華、寶蓮華一段，見目三）「華為佛事，安可思議？」〔T40n1819 0838a07〕
莊嚴十·光明功德成就（〔十五〕）—— 論：「光明功德成就者，偈言「佛慧明淨日，除世癡闇冥」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c24〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？彼土光明從如來智慧報起，觸之者無明黑闇終必消除。光明非慧能為慧用，焉可思議？」〔T40n1819 0838a10〕
莊嚴十一·妙聲功德成就（〔十六〕）—— 論：「妙聲功德成就者，偈言「梵聲語深遠，微妙聞十方」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c25〕 鏡：「莊嚴妙聲功德成就者，偈言「梵聲悟深遠，微妙聞十方」故。此云何不思議？經言「若人但聞彼國土清淨安樂，剋念願生，亦得往生，則入正定聚。」此是國土名字為佛事，安可思議？」〔T40n1819 0838a13〕
莊嚴十二·主功德成就（〔十七〕）—— 論：「主功德成就者，偈言「正覺阿彌陀，法王善住持」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c26〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？正覺阿彌陀不可思議，彼安樂淨土為正覺阿彌陀善力住持，云何可得思議耶？住名不異不滅，持名不散不失，如以不朽藥塗種子，在水不瀾、在火不燋，得因緣則生。」〔T40n1819 0838a19〕 「若人一生安樂淨土，後時意願生三界教化眾生，捨淨土命隨願得生。雖生三界雜生水火中，無上菩提種子畢竟不朽。何以故？以逕正覺阿彌陀善住持故。」〔T40n1819 0838a24〕
莊嚴十三·眷屬功德成就（〔十八〕）—— 論：「眷屬功德成就者，偈言「如來淨華眾，正覺華化生」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c28〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？凡是雜生世界，若胎若卵若濕若化，眷屬若干苦樂萬品，以雜業故。彼安樂國土莫非是阿彌陀如來正覺淨華之所化生，同一念佛無別道故，遠通夫四海之內皆為兄弟也。眷屬無量，焉可思議？」〔T40n1819 0838a29〕
莊嚴十四·受用功德成就（〔十九〕）—— 論：「受用功德成就者，偈言「愛樂佛法味，禪三昧為食」故。」〔T26n1524 0231c29〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？不食而資命，蓋所資有以也，豈不是如來滿本願乎！乘佛願為我命，焉可思議？」〔T40n1819 0838b07〕
莊嚴十五·無諸難功德成就（〔二十〕）—— 論：「無諸難功德成就者，偈言「永離身心惱，受樂常無間」故。」〔T26n1524 0232a01〕 鏡：「此云何不思議？經言「身為苦器、心為惱端」，而彼有身有心而受樂無間，安可思議？」〔T40n1819 0838b11〕
莊嚴十六·大義門功德成就（〔二十一〕）—— 論：「大義門功德成就者，偈言「大乘善根界，等無譏嫌名，女人及根缺，二乘種不生」故。淨土果報離二種譏嫌過應知：一者體；二者名。」〔T26n1524 0232a02〕 鏡：「淨土果報離二種譏嫌過應知：一者體、二者名。體有三種：一者二乘人、二者女人、三者諸根不具人。無此三過，故名離體譏嫌。名亦有三種，非但無三體，乃至不聞二乘、女人、諸根不具三種名，故名離名譏嫌。等者，平等一相故。」〔T40n1819 0838b15〕 「此云何不思議？夫諸天共器飯，有隨福之色。足指按地，乃詳金礫之旨。而願往生者，本則三三之品，今無一二之殊，亦如淄澠〔食陵反〕一味，焉可思議？」〔T40n1819 0838b21〕 ——曇鸞之「此云何不思議？」在論之譏嫌釋文之後，與他十六條問在牒偈之後者不同。
莊嚴十七·一切所求功德滿足成就（〔二十二〕）—— 論：「一切所求功德滿足成就者，偈言「眾生所願樂，一切能滿足」故。」〔T26n1524 0232a09〕 鏡：「莊嚴一切所求滿足功德成就者，偈言「眾生所願樂，一切能滿足」故。此云何不思議？彼國人天若欲願往他方世界無量佛剎供養諸佛菩薩，及所須供養之具，無不稱願。又欲捨彼壽命向餘國生，修短自在，隨願皆得。未階自在之位而同自在之用，焉可思議？」〔T40n1819 0838b25〕
示現自利利他·入第一義諦
〔二十三〕略說十七種—— 論：「略說彼阿彌陀佛國土莊嚴十七種功德，示現如來自身利益大功德力，成就利益他功德成就故。」〔T26n1524 0232a11〕 鏡：「言略者，彰彼淨土功德無量，非唯十七種也。夫須彌之入芥子、毛孔之納大海，豈山海之神乎？毛芥之力乎？能神者神之耳。是故十七種雖曰利他，自利之義炳然可知」〔T40n1819 0838c05〕
〔二十四〕第一義諦妙境界—— 論：「彼無量壽佛土莊嚴，第一義諦妙境界，十六句及一句次第說應知。」〔T26n1524 0232a13〕 鏡：「第一義諦者，佛因緣法也。此諦是境義，是故莊嚴等十六句稱為妙境界相。此義至入一法句文，當更解釋。及一句次第者，謂觀器淨等。總別十七句觀行次第也。」〔T40n1819 0838c12〕 曇鸞釋「起次」，先舉偈一之「願生」為疑端：「此中有疑，疑言：生為有本，眾累之元；棄生願生，生何可盡？」〔T40n1819 0838c17〕 「為釋此疑，是故觀彼淨土莊嚴功德成就，明彼淨土是阿彌陀如來清淨本願無生之生，非如三有虛妄生也。何以言之？夫法性清淨畢竟無生，言生者是得生者之情耳。」〔T40n1819 0838c19〕 「體夫生理謂之淨土，淨土之宅，所謂十七句是也。」〔T40n1819 0838c26〕 「復次此十七句非但釋疑，觀此十七種莊嚴成就能生真實淨信，必定得生彼安樂佛土。」〔T40n1819 0839a19〕
問答二十二（曇鸞設問自答·下品十念是否取實生）：
「問曰：上言知生無生，當是上品生者。若下下品人乘十念往生，豈非取實生耶？但取實生即墮二執，一恐不得往生、二恐更生生惑。」〔T40n1819 0839a21〕 「答：譬如淨摩尼珠置之濁水，水即清淨。若人雖有無量生死之罪濁，聞彼阿彌陀如來至極無生清淨寶珠名號，投之濁心，念念之中罪滅心淨，即得往生。」〔T40n1819 0839a24〕 「彼下品人雖不知法性無生，但以稱佛名力作往生意願生彼土。彼土是無生界，見生之火自然而滅。」〔T40n1819 0839b04〕
佛八種莊嚴（逐條）
〔二十五〕佛八種名目—— 論：「云何觀佛功德莊嚴成就？觀佛功德莊嚴成就者，有八種應知。」〔T26n1524 0232a15〕 鏡：「云何觀佛莊嚴功德成就？觀佛莊嚴功德成就者，有八種相應知。此觀義已彰前偈。」〔T40n1819 0839b10〕
莊嚴十八·座莊嚴（〔二十六〕）—— 論：「何者座莊嚴？偈言「無量大寶王，微妙淨華臺故」。」〔T26n1524 0232a20〕 鏡：「何者莊嚴座功德成就？偈言「無量大寶王，微妙淨華臺」故。若欲觀座，當依《觀無量壽經》。」〔T40n1819 0839b16〕
莊嚴十九·身莊嚴（〔二十七〕）—— 論：「何者身莊嚴？偈言「相好光一尋，色像超群生」故。」〔T26n1524 0232a21〕 鏡：「何者莊嚴身業功德成就？偈言「相好光一尋，色像超群生」故。若欲觀佛身，當依《觀無量壽經》。」〔T40n1819 0839b19〕
莊嚴二十·口莊嚴（〔二十八〕）—— 論：「何者口莊嚴？偈言「如來微妙聲，梵響聞十方」故。」〔T26n1524 0232a22〕 鏡：「何者莊嚴口業功德成就？偈言「如來微妙聲，梵響聞十方」故。」〔T40n1819 0839b22〕——曇鸞於此但牒不釋；身、口、心三業之治，合釋於心業之下。
莊嚴二十一·心莊嚴（〔二十九〕）—— 論：「何者心莊嚴？偈言「同地水火風，虛空無分別」故。無分別者，無分別心故。」〔T26n1524 0232a23〕 鏡：「何者莊嚴心業功德成就？偈言「同地水火風虛空無分別」故。無分別者，無分別心故。」〔T40n1819 0839b23〕 「凡夫眾生以身口意三業造罪，輪轉三界無有窮已。是故諸佛菩薩莊嚴身口意三業，用治眾生虛誑三業也。」〔T40n1819 0839b25〕 「如是等眾生，見阿彌陀如來相好光明身者，如上種種身業繫縛皆得解脫，入如來家畢竟得平等身業。」〔T40n1819 0839b29〕 「如是等種種諸苦眾生，聞阿彌陀如來至德名號、說法音聲，如上種種口業繫縛皆得解脫，入如來家畢竟得平等口業。」〔T40n1819 0839c05〕 「是眾生若遇阿彌陀如來平等光照、若聞阿彌陀如來平等意業，是等眾生如上種種意業繫縛皆得解脫，入如來家畢竟得平等意業。」〔T40n1819 0839c12〕
問答二十三至二十五（曇鸞設問自答·心之無分別與一切種智）：
「問曰：心是覺知相，云何可得同地水火風無分別耶？答曰：心雖知相，入實相則無知也。譬如蛇性雖曲，入竹筒則直。」〔T40n1819 0839c15〕 「如是等有知無知在于因緣，若在因緣則非知非無知也。」〔T40n1819 0839c20〕 「問曰：心入實相可令無知，云何得有一切種智耶？答曰：凡心有知則有所不知，聖心無知故無所不知。無知而知，知即無知也。」〔T40n1819 0839c21〕 「問曰：既言無知故無所不知；若無所不知者，豈不是知種種法耶？既知種種之法，復云何言無所分別耶？答曰：諸法種種相皆如幻化，然幻化象馬非無長頸鼻手足異，而智者觀之豈言定有象馬分別之耶？」〔T40n1819 0839c24〕
莊嚴二十二·眾莊嚴（〔三十〕）—— 論：「何者眾莊嚴？偈言「天人不動眾，清淨智海生」故。」〔T26n1524 0232a24〕 鏡：「何者莊嚴大眾功德成就？偈言「天人不動眾，清淨智海生」故。」〔T40n1819 0840a01〕——但牒不釋（「此觀義已彰前偈」）。
莊嚴二十三·上首莊嚴（〔三十一〕）—— 論：「何者上首莊嚴？偈言「如須彌山王，勝妙無過者」故。」〔T26n1524 0232a25〕 鏡：「何者莊嚴上首功德成就？偈言「如須彌山王，勝妙無過者」故。」〔T40n1819 0840a02〕——但牒不釋。
莊嚴二十四·主莊嚴（〔三十二〕）—— 論：「何者主莊嚴？偈言「天人丈夫眾，恭敬繞瞻仰」故。」〔T26n1524 0232a27〕 鏡：「何者莊嚴主功德成就？偈言「天人丈夫眾，恭敬繞瞻仰」故。」〔T40n1819 0840a03〕——但牒不釋。
莊嚴二十五·不虛作住持莊嚴（〔三十三〕）—— 論：「何者不虛作住持莊嚴？偈言「觀佛本願力，遇無空過者，能令速滿足，功德大寶海」故。」〔T26n1524 0232a28〕 鏡：「不虛作住持功德成就者，蓋是阿彌陀如來本願力也。今當略示虛作之相不能住持，用顯彼不虛作住持之義。」〔T40n1819 0840a06〕 「得非作得、在非守在，皆由虛妄業作，不能住持也。」〔T40n1819 0840a11〕 「所言不虛作住持者，依本法藏菩薩四十八願、今日阿彌陀如來自在神力，願以成力、力以就願，願不徒然、力不虛設，力願相符畢竟不差，故曰成就。」〔T40n1819 0840a12〕
〔三十四〕即見彼佛—— 論：「即見彼佛，未證淨心菩薩畢竟得平等法身，與淨心菩薩無異，淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩畢竟同得寂滅平等故。」〔T26n1524 0232a29〕 鏡：「即見彼佛，未證淨心菩薩畢竟得證平等法身，與淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩畢竟同得寂滅平等故。」〔T40n1819 0840a17〕 「平等法身者，八地已上法性生身菩薩也。寂滅平等者，即此法身菩薩所證寂滅平等之法也。」〔T40n1819 0840a19〕 「此菩薩得報生三昧，以三昧神力能一處一念一時遍十方世界，種種供養一切諸佛及諸佛大會眾海，能於無量世界無佛法僧處種種示現種種教化，度脫一切眾生常作佛事。」〔T40n1819 0840a23〕 「初無往來想、供養想、度脫想，是故此身名為平等法身，此法名為寂滅平等法也。」〔T40n1819 0840a27〕 「未證淨心菩薩者，初地已上七地已還諸菩薩也。此菩薩亦能現身若百若千若萬若億若百千萬億無佛國土施作佛事，要須作心入三昧乃能，非不作心。以作心故，名為未得淨心。」〔T40n1819 0840a29〕 「此菩薩願生安樂淨土，即見阿彌陀佛。見阿彌陀佛時，與上地諸菩薩畢竟身等法等。龍樹菩薩、婆藪槃頭菩薩輩願生彼者，當為此耳。」〔T40n1819 0840b04〕
問答二十六、二十七（曇鸞設問自答·「畢竟」之義）：
「問曰：案《十地經》，菩薩進趣階級漸有無量功勳，逕多劫數然後乃得此。云何見阿彌陀佛時，畢竟與上地諸菩薩身等法等耶？答曰：言畢竟者，未言即等也。畢竟不失此等，故言等耳。」〔T40n1819 0840b08〕 「問曰：若不即等，復何待言？菩薩但登初地，以漸增進，自然當與佛等。何假言與上地菩薩等？答曰：菩薩於七地中得大寂滅，上不見諸佛可求、下不見眾生可度，欲捨佛道證於實際。」〔T40n1819 0840b12〕 「爾時若不得十方諸佛神力加勸，即便滅度，與二乘無異。菩薩若往生安樂見阿彌陀佛，即無此難，是故須言畢竟平等。」〔T40n1819 0840b16〕 「言十地階次者，是釋迦如來於閻浮提一應化道耳，他方淨土何必如此？五種不思議中佛法最不可思議，若言菩薩必從一地至一地無超越之理，未敢詳也。」〔T40n1819 0840b28〕 「夫非常之言不入常人之耳，謂之不然亦其宜也。」〔T40n1819 0840c08〕
〔三十五〕略說八句—— 論：「略說八句，示現如來自利利他功德莊嚴次第成就應知。」〔T26n1524 0232b03〕 鏡：「略說八句示現如來自利利他功德莊嚴次第成就應知。此云何次第？」〔T40n1819 0840c10〕（次第之文見目一）
菩薩四種正修行（逐條）
〔三十六〕菩薩四種總標—— 論：「云何觀菩薩功德莊嚴成就？觀菩薩功德莊嚴成就者，觀彼菩薩有四種正修行功德成就應知。」〔T26n1524 0232b05〕 鏡：「云何觀察菩薩莊嚴功德成就？觀察菩薩莊嚴功德成就者，觀彼菩薩有四種正修行功德成就應知。真如是諸法正體，體如而行則是不行，不行而行名如實修行。」〔T40n1819 0840c24〕
莊嚴二十六·第一正修行·身不動而遍十方（〔三十七〕）—— 論：「一者於一佛土身不動搖，而遍十方種種應化，如實修行常作佛事。」〔T26n1524 0232b07〕 鏡：「八地已上菩薩常在三昧，以三昧力身不動本處，而能遍至十方供養諸佛教化眾生。無垢輪者，佛地功德也。佛地功德無習氣煩惱垢，佛為諸菩薩常轉此法輪，諸大菩薩亦能以此法輪開導一切無暫時休息，故言常轉。法身如日，而應化身光遍諸世界也。言日未足以明不動，復言如須彌住持也。」〔T40n1819 0841a03〕 「此喻凡夫在煩惱泥中，為菩薩開導，能生佛正覺華。諒夫紹隆三寶，常使不絕。」〔T40n1819 0841a12〕
莊嚴二十七·第二正修行·一念一時（〔三十八〕）—— 論：「二者彼應化身，一切時不前不後，一心一念放大光明，悉能遍至十方世界教化眾生，種種方便修行所作，滅除一切眾生苦故。」〔T26n1524 0232b11〕 鏡：「上言不動而至，容或至有前後，是故復言一念一時無前後也。」〔T40n1819 0841a18〕
莊嚴二十八·第三正修行·遍至供養（〔三十九〕）—— 論：「三者彼於一切世界無餘，照諸佛會大眾無餘，廣大無量供養恭敬讚歎諸佛如來。」〔T26n1524 0232b15〕 鏡：「無餘者，明遍至一切世界一切諸佛大會，無有一世界一佛會不至也。肇公言：「法身無像而殊形並應，至韻無言而玄籍彌布，冥權無謀而動與事會。」蓋斯意也。」〔T40n1819 0841a23〕
莊嚴二十九·第四正修行·無三寶處住持三寶（〔四十〕）—— 論：「四者彼於十方一切世界無三寶處，住持莊嚴佛法僧寶功德大海，遍示令解如實修行。」〔T26n1524 0232b18〕 鏡：「上三句雖言遍至，皆是有佛國土。若無此句，便是法身有所不法、上善有所不善。觀行體相竟。」〔T40n1819 0841b01〕
淨入願心（第四重）
〔四十一〕願心莊嚴·入一法句—— 論：「又向說佛國土功德莊嚴成就、佛功德莊嚴成就、菩薩功德成就，此三種成就願心莊嚴，略說入一法句故。」〔T26n1524 0232b22〕 鏡牒分二截：「又向說觀察莊嚴佛土功德成就、莊嚴佛功德成就、莊嚴菩薩功德成就，此三種成就，願心莊嚴應知。」〔T40n1819 0841b05〕 「應知者，應知此三種莊嚴成就，由本四十八願等清淨願心之所莊嚴。因淨故果淨，非無因、他因有也。」〔T40n1819 0841b07〕 「略說入一法句故。上國土莊嚴十七句、如來莊嚴八句、菩薩莊嚴四句為廣，入一法句為略。何故示現廣略相入？諸佛菩薩有二種法身：一者法性法身、二者方便法身。由法性法身生方便法身、由方便法身出法性法身，此二法身異而不可分、一而不可同，是故廣略相入統以法名。菩薩若不知廣略相入，則不能自利利他。」〔T40n1819 0841b10〕
一法句·清淨句·真實智慧無為法身（三句展轉）—— 論：「一法句者，謂清淨句。清淨句者，謂真實智慧無為法身故。」〔T26n1524 0232b24〕 鏡：「一法句者謂清淨句，清淨句者謂真實智慧無為法身故。此三句展轉相入。依何義名之為法？以清淨故。依何義名為清淨？以真實智慧無為法身故。」〔T40n1819 0841b18〕 「真實智慧者，實相智慧也。實相無相，故真智無知也。無為法身者，法性身也。法性寂滅，故法身無相也。無相故能無不相，是故相好莊嚴即法身也。無知故能無不知，是故一切種智即真實智慧也。」〔T40n1819 0841b21〕 「以真實而目智慧，明智慧非作非非作也；以無為而標法身，明法身非色非非色也。」〔T40n1819 0841b26〕 「非於非者豈非非之能是乎？蓋無非之曰是也，自是無待復非是也，非是非非，百非之所不喻，是故言清淨句。」〔T40n1819 0841b28〕
〔四十二〕二種清淨—— 論：「此清淨有二種應知。何等二種？一者器世間清淨；二者眾生世間清淨。」〔T26n1524 0232b25〕 鏡：「此清淨有二種應知。上轉入句中，通一法入清淨、通清淨入法身。今將別清淨出二種故，故言應知。」〔T40n1819 0841c03〕 「如是一法句攝二種清淨義應知。夫眾生為別報之體、國土為共報之用，體用不一，所以應知。然諸法心成，無餘境界，眾生及器復不得異、不得一，不一則義分、不異同清淨。」〔T40n1819 0841c10〕 「器者用也，謂彼淨土是彼清淨眾生之所受用，故名為器。」〔T40n1819 0841c14〕 「要二俱潔乃得稱淨，是以一清淨名必攝二種。」〔T40n1819 0841c18〕
問答二十八（曇鸞設問自答·人天得入清淨數否）：
「問曰：言眾生清淨，則是佛與菩薩；彼諸人天得入此清淨數不？答曰：得名清淨，非實清淨。譬如出家聖人，以殺煩惱賊故名為比丘。凡夫出家者，持戒破戒皆名比丘。」〔T40n1819 0841c19〕 「彼諸人天亦復如是，皆入大乘正定之聚，畢竟當得清淨法身，以當得故得名清淨。」〔T40n1819 0841c25〕
誰問誰答——本段問答七組（問答二十二至二十八），問與答皆曇鸞自設，無他說者介入；另有「此中有疑，疑言」一段〔T40n1819 0838c17〕，亦曇鸞自設之疑，不以「問曰」標。問答二十二之答，鏡作「答：」，不作「答曰」，照錄。論文之『云何觀察……？』『何者……？』諸問，皆論主自問自答。
五、諸家異釋（分欄並錄·誌錄不判）
此論唯以曇鸞一家為鏡；曇鸞於本段自引他說、或設他人之疑而自答處，逐字列之。
| 事 | 他說（曇鸞所引或所設） | 錨 | 曇鸞之說 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 願生與無生 | 「生為有本，眾累之元；棄生願生，生何可盡？」 | 〔T40n1819 0838c17〕 | 「明彼淨土是阿彌陀如來清淨本願無生之生，非如三有虛妄生也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838c20〕 |
| 下品十念是否取實生 | 「若下下品人乘十念往生，豈非取實生耶？」 | 〔T40n1819 0839a22〕 | 「彼土是無生界，見生之火自然而滅。」 | 〔T40n1819 0839b06〕 |
| 十地階次與見佛平等 | 「案《十地經》，菩薩進趣階級漸有無量功勳，逕多劫數然後乃得此。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840b08〕 | 「言十地階次者，是釋迦如來於閻浮提一應化道耳，他方淨土何必如此？」 | 〔T40n1819 0840b28〕 |
| 速證之疑 | 「有人聞釋迦如來證羅漢於一聽、制無生於終朝，謂是接誘之言，非稱實之說。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840c06〕 | 「夫非常之言不入常人之耳，謂之不然亦其宜也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840c08〕 |
| 法身之遍應 | 肇公言：「法身無像而殊形並應，至韻無言而玄籍彌布，冥權無謀而動與事會。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841a25〕 | 以證遍至無餘：「蓋斯意也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841a26〕 |
| 人天之清淨 | 「言眾生清淨，則是佛與菩薩；彼諸人天得入此清淨數不？」 | 〔T40n1819 0841c19〕 | 「得名清淨，非實清淨。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841c20〕 |
誌錄：①曇鸞答十地之問，以《無量壽經》第二十二願為據，言「或可不從一地至一地」，並自言「未敢詳也」——其語存疑而不決，照錄。②肇公之語，曇鸞但稱「肇公言」，不標書名。③「有人聞釋迦如來證羅漢於一聽」一句前有「即曰」二字，承好堅樹之喻而設，照錄。皆不判。
六、術語（首見名相·釋義皆自鏡註）
| 名相 | 曇鸞釋義（逐字） | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 不可思議力 | 「不可思議力者，總指彼佛國土十七種莊嚴功德力不可得思議也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0836b05〕 |
| 五種不可思議 | 「諸經統言有五種不可思議：一者眾生多少不可思議、二者業力不可思議、三者龍力不可思議、四者禪定力不可思議、五者佛法力不可思議。」 | 〔T40n1819 0836b07〕 |
| 摩尼如意寶性 | 「借彼摩尼如意寶性，示安樂佛土不可思議性也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0836b15〕 |
| 相似相對 | 「片取彼性為喻，故言相似相對。」 | 〔T40n1819 0836c01〕 |
| 十七種（章門·總別） | 「十七句中總別為二：初句是總相，所謂是清淨佛土過三界道。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838c27〕 |
| 莊嚴三種（水·地·虛空）·六大 | 「此三種所以并言者，以同類故也。何以言之？一者六大類，所謂虛空、識、地、水、火、風。二者無分別類，所謂地、水、火、風、虛空。」 | 〔T40n1819 0837a29〕 |
| 住·持 | 「住名不異不滅，持名不散不失，」 | 〔T40n1819 0838a21〕 |
| 譏嫌（體·名） | 「無此三過，故名離體譏嫌。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838b18〕 |
| 等 | 「等者，平等一相故。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838b20〕 |
| 略（十七種之略） | 「言略者，彰彼淨土功德無量，非唯十七種也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838c05〕 |
| 第一義諦 | 「第一義諦者，佛因緣法也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838c12〕 |
| 妙境界相 | 「此諦是境義，是故莊嚴等十六句稱為妙境界相。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838c13〕 |
| 十六句及一句 | 「及一句次第者，謂觀器淨等。總別十七句觀行次第也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838c15〕 |
| 無分別 | 「無分別者，無分別心故。」 | 〔T40n1819 0839b24〕 |
| 不虛作住持 | 「不虛作住持功德成就者，蓋是阿彌陀如來本願力也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840a06〕 |
| 平等法身 | 「平等法身者，八地已上法性生身菩薩也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840a19〕 |
| 寂滅平等 | 「寂滅平等者，即此法身菩薩所證寂滅平等之法也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840a20〕 |
| 報生三昧 | 「此菩薩得報生三昧，以三昧神力能一處一念一時遍十方世界，」 | 〔T40n1819 0840a23〕 |
| 未證淨心菩薩 | 「未證淨心菩薩者，初地已上七地已還諸菩薩也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840a29〕 |
| 淨心（未得淨心） | 「以作心故，名為未得淨心。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840b04〕 |
| 畢竟 | 「言畢竟者，未言即等也。畢竟不失此等，故言等耳。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840b11〕 |
| 正修行·如實修行 | 「真如是諸法正體，體如而行則是不行，不行而行名如實修行。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840c26〕 |
| 無垢輪 | 「無垢輪者，佛地功德也。佛地功德無習氣煩惱垢，」 | 〔T40n1819 0841a05〕 |
| 法身如日·應化身 | 「法身如日，而應化身光遍諸世界也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841a08〕 |
| 淤泥華 | 「此喻凡夫在煩惱泥中，為菩薩開導，能生佛正覺華。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841a12〕 |
| 無餘 | 「無餘者，明遍至一切世界一切諸佛大會，無有一世界一佛會不至也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841a23〕 |
| 願心莊嚴 | 「應知此三種莊嚴成就，由本四十八願等清淨願心之所莊嚴。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841b07〕 |
| 廣·略 | 「上國土莊嚴十七句、如來莊嚴八句、菩薩莊嚴四句為廣，入一法句為略。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841b10〕 |
| 法性法身·方便法身 | 「諸佛菩薩有二種法身：一者法性法身、二者方便法身。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841b12〕 |
| 一法句·清淨句 | 「一法句者謂清淨句，清淨句者謂真實智慧無為法身故。此三句展轉相入。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841b18〕 |
| 真實智慧 | 「真實智慧者，實相智慧也。實相無相，故真智無知也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841b21〕 |
| 無為法身 | 「無為法身者，法性身也。法性寂滅，故法身無相也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841b22〕 |
| 器世間清淨·眾生世間清淨 | 「夫眾生為別報之體、國土為共報之用，體用不一，所以應知。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841c11〕 |
| 器 | 「器者用也，謂彼淨土是彼清淨眾生之所受用，故名為器。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841c14〕 |
| 正定之聚 | 「彼諸人天亦復如是，皆入大乘正定之聚，畢竟當得清淨法身，以當得故得名清淨。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841c25〕 |
梵語：本段論文之梵音名相，唯「摩尼」「迦旃隣陀」「須彌」三者，曇鸞皆不出梵形；「迦旃隣陀」之釋已見偈頌部（「天竺柔軟草名」），存漢音不擬。曇鸞自引之「迦羅求羅」蟲，亦但存漢音。
「自利利他」：論於十七種之結作「自身利益大功德力」「利益他功德」，於八句之結作「自利利他」；曇鸞以十七種為「雖曰利他，自利之義炳然可知」，並言「菩薩若不知廣略相入，則不能自利利他」。照錄其語，不另立釋。
「淨心菩薩」：論與鏡皆用，曇鸞但釋「未證淨心菩薩」與「未得淨心」，不別釋「淨心菩薩」一名；其位，曇鸞以平等法身繫「八地已上」，未證淨心繫「初地已上七地已還」。
「上地」：論作「上地諸菩薩」，曇鸞不別立釋。
七、譬喻·修辭
論文自用之譬：
| 論文逐字 | 錨 | 曇鸞之解 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「如彼摩尼如意寶性，相似相對法故。」 | 〔T26n1524 0231b26〕 | 「借彼摩尼如意寶性，示安樂佛土不可思議性也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0836b15〕 |
| 「開諸眾生淤泥華故。」 | 〔T26n1524 0232b10〕 | 「此喻凡夫在煩惱泥中，為菩薩開導，能生佛正覺華。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841a12〕 |
論文所牒偈句中之譬（如鏡日月輪、須彌山王、須彌住持、智海、功德大寶海），已見偈頌部之目七。
鏡註自立之譬：
| 譬 | 曇鸞逐字 | 錨 | 所顯 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 舍利化摩尼·轉輪王祈雨 | 「諸佛入涅槃時，以方便力留碎身舍利以福眾生。眾生福盡，此舍利變為摩尼如意寶珠。」 | 〔T40n1819 0836b16〕 | 寶性力之喻 |
| 迦羅求羅蟲 | 「譬如迦羅求羅蟲其形微小，若得大風身如大山，隨風大小為己身相。」 | 〔T40n1819 0837a03〕 | 生彼即成就出世善根（性） |
| 忍辱端正 | 「夫忍辱得端正，我心影嚮也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0837a09〕 | 彼土色像平等（形相） |
| 愛作菩薩 | 「有菩薩字愛作，形容端正生人染著。」 | 〔T40n1819 0837a25〕 | 觸樂增道（觸） |
| 淨明鏡 | 「此莊嚴事如淨明鏡，十方國土淨穢諸相善惡業緣一切悉現，」 | 〔T40n1819 0837c04〕 | 地莊嚴之影現 |
| 探湯不及 | 「彼中人天見斯事故，探湯不及之情自然成就。」 | 〔T40n1819 0837c05〕 | 見惡業緣而避惡 |
| 寶冠見佛 | 「亦如諸大菩薩以照法性等寶為冠，此寶冠中皆見諸佛。」 | 〔T40n1819 0837c07〕 | 地莊嚴之影現 |
| 不朽藥塗種子 | 「如以不朽藥塗種子，在水不瀾、在火不燋，得因緣則生。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838a22〕 | 善住持故菩提種子不朽（主） |
| 四海兄弟 | 「同一念佛無別道故，遠通夫四海之內皆為兄弟也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838b03〕 | 眷屬同從淨華化生 |
| 諸天共器飯·足指按地 | 「夫諸天共器飯，有隨福之色。足指按地，乃詳金礫之旨。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838b21〕 | 此界見有差別 |
| 淄澠一味 | 「亦如淄澠〔食陵反〕一味，焉可思議？」 | 〔T40n1819 0838b23〕 | 往生者無一二之殊（大義門） |
| 須彌入芥·毛孔納海 | 「夫須彌之入芥子、毛孔之納大海，豈山海之神乎？毛芥之力乎？能神者神之耳。」 | 〔T40n1819 0838c06〕 | 利他之中自利炳然 |
| 淨摩尼珠置濁水 | 「譬如淨摩尼珠置之濁水，水即清淨。」 | 〔T40n1819 0839a25〕 | 名號投濁心而罪滅心淨 |
| 玄黃幣裹 | 「又是摩尼珠以玄黃幣裹投之於水，水即玄黃一如物色。」 | 〔T40n1819 0839a28〕 | 莊嚴功德帛裹寶珠，轉生見為無生智 |
| 氷上燃火 | 「又如氷上燃火，火猛則氷解，氷解則火滅。」 | 〔T40n1819 0839b03〕 | 見生之火於無生界自滅 |
| 蛇入竹筒 | 「譬如蛇性雖曲，入竹筒則直。」 | 〔T40n1819 0839c17〕 | 心入實相則無知 |
| 鍼刺·石蛭 | 「又如人身若鍼刺、若蜂螫〔式亦反〕則有覺知，若石蛭〔之一反〕噉、若甘刀割則無覺知。」 | 〔T40n1819 0839c18〕 | 知與無知在于因緣 |
| 幻化象馬 | 「然幻化象馬非無長頸鼻手足異，而智者觀之豈言定有象馬分別之耶？」 | 〔T40n1819 0839c27〕 | 知種種法而無分別 |
| 輟餐養士·疊起舟中·積金盈庫 | 「人有輟〔止也，貞劣反〕餐養士，或疊起舟中，積金盈庫而不免餓死，如斯之事觸目皆是。」 | 〔T40n1819 0840a09〕 | 虛作之相不能住持 |
| 好堅樹·松 | 「譬如有樹名曰好堅，是樹地生百歲，乃具一日長高百丈。日日如此，計百歲之長豈類修松耶？」 | 〔T40n1819 0840c03〕 | 見佛畢竟平等之超越 |
| 法身如日·須彌 | 「言日未足以明不動，復言如須彌住持也。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841a09〕 | 不動而遍應 |
| 淨食淨器 | 「如淨食用不淨器，以器不淨故食亦不淨。不淨食用淨器，食不淨故器亦不淨。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841c16〕 | 二種清淨必相攝 |
| 比丘之名 | 「譬如出家聖人，以殺煩惱賊故名為比丘。凡夫出家者，持戒破戒皆名比丘。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841c21〕 | 人天得名清淨 |
| 灌頂王子 | 「又如灌頂王子，初生之時具三十二相，即為七寶所屬。雖未能為轉輪王事，亦名轉輪王，以其必為轉輪王故。」 | 〔T40n1819 0841c23〕 | 以當得故得名清淨 |
修辭上可記者：①國土十七種，除第八三種之總標外，曇鸞每條皆設「此云何不思議？」之問，以「焉可思議？」「安可思議？」「何可思議？」答之；唯主功德一條，於「云何可得思議耶？」之後續釋住持，以「何以故？以逕正覺阿彌陀善住持故。」〔T40n1819 0838a27〕 收；觸功德一條，於「何可思議？」之後續引愛作菩薩之事。②水、地、虛空、雨、光明、妙聲諸條，曇鸞以「為佛事」貫之——「光為佛事」「此水為佛事」「此影為佛事」「此聲為佛事」「華為佛事」「此是國土名字為佛事」，即以國土之物各能作佛事為其不可思議。③重4 之「三句展轉相入」，順推「依何義名之為法？以清淨故。依何義名為清淨？以真實智慧無為法身故。」，又以「非於非者豈非非之能是乎？」一段遮詮，結以「百非之所不喻」。
八、徵引承衍
- 憬興（《無量壽經連義述文贊》）以本段之莊嚴名配經之依正：「即身莊嚴故，論云「相好光一尋色像超群生」故。」〔T37n1748 0155c12〕；「即不虛作住持莊嚴故，論云「觀佛本願力遇無空過者，能令速滿足功德大寶海」故。」〔T37n1748 0155c24〕；「即虛空莊嚴故，論云「無量寶交絡羅網遍虛空，種種鈴發響宣吐妙法音」故。」〔T37n1748 0156c24〕；「即地莊嚴故，論云「宮殿諸樓閣觀十方無礙，雜樹異光色寶欄遍圍繞」故。」〔T37n1748 0156c28〕；「即水莊嚴故，論云「寶華千萬種彌覆池流泉，微風動華葉交錯光亂轉」故。」〔T37n1748 0157a02〕
- 窺基（《阿彌陀經疏》）以本段之莊嚴名配《阿彌陀經》之文：「《無量壽論》云：此即地莊嚴，寶欄周匝圍繞。」〔T37n1757 0319b26〕；「《無量壽論》云：空莊嚴也，無量寶絞絡羅網遍虛空。」〔T37n1757 0319c02〕；「《無量壽論》云：水莊嚴也。」〔T37n1757 0319c22〕；「《無量壽論》云：雨莊嚴也。」〔T37n1757 0320c09〕；又以本段佛、菩薩二種之分科經之正報：「《無量壽論》曰：又分有二：初明如來功德莊嚴、次明菩薩功德莊嚴。」〔T37n1757 0323a19〕
- 窺基（《阿彌陀經通贊疏》）亦同：「《無量壽論》云：為地莊嚴也。」〔T37n1758 0339b22〕
- 《佛說無量壽經》之考據層：法藏因地、四十八願、願成與上卷成就、上輩四單元，已引曇鸞本段之「願以成力、力以就願」；法藏因地、四十八願、願成與上卷成就三單元，又引「由本四十八願等清淨願心之所莊嚴」，以明願與力、願心與莊嚴之相成；菩薩往覲及彼土菩薩一單元，引本段報生三昧「一處一念一時遍十方世界」之語。
- 《觀無量壽佛經》花座想、遍觀一切色想二單元之考據層，已錄曇鸞本段「若欲觀座，當依《觀無量壽經》」「若欲觀佛身，當依《觀無量壽經》」二語。
誌錄：諸家所引偈句，或略去句間之讀（如「相好光一尋色像超群生」），或「交絡」作「絞絡」（窺基）；諸家所稱之論名，或作「論」，或作「無量壽論」。照錄不改。
九、校本定位
論本校記（<app>）於本單元域內凡十二條：
| 序 | 錨 | 底本 | 異讀 | 見證 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 〔T26n1524 0231b26〕 | 成就（成就不可思議力故） | 無 | 宋·元·明 |
| 19 | 〔T26n1524 0231b29〕 | 量（二者量功德成就） | 無量 | 宋·元·明 |
| 20 | 〔T26n1524 0231c09〕 | 量（量功德成就者） | 無量 | 宋·元·明 |
| 21 | 〔T26n1524 0231c25〕 | 闇冥（除世癡闇冥） | 冥闇 | 宋·元 |
| 22 | 〔T26n1524 0231c26〕 | 語（梵聲語深遠） | 悟 | 宋·元·明 |
| 23 | 〔T26n1524 0232a07〕 | 亦（名亦三種） | 亦有 | 宋·元·明 |
| 24 | 〔T26n1524 0232a13〕 | 佛（彼無量壽佛土莊嚴） | 佛國 | 宋·元·明 |
| 25 | 〔T26n1524 0232a14〕 | 界（第一義諦妙境界） | 界相 | 宋·元·明 |
| 26 | 〔T26n1524 0232b17〕 | 讚佛（讚佛諸功德） | 讚歎 | 明 |
| 27 | 〔T26n1524 0232b21〕 | 皆願（我皆願往生） | 願皆 | 宋·元·明 |
| 28 | 〔T26n1524 0232b23〕 | 功德（菩薩功德成就） | 功德莊嚴 | 宋·元·明 |
| 29 | 〔T26n1524 0232b26〕 | 種（「何等二種」之「種」字） | 無 | 宋·元·明 |
誌錄不判：①第二十二、二十三、二十四、二十五、二十七凡五條，鏡之所牒與宋元明三本之異讀同：鏡作「梵聲悟深遠」〔T40n1819 0838a13〕、「名亦有三種」〔T40n1819 0838b18〕、「彼無量壽佛國土莊嚴」〔T40n1819 0838c11〕、「第一義諦妙境界相」〔T40n1819 0838c11〕、「我願皆往生」〔T40n1819 0841a29〕。②第十八、十九、二十、二十一、二十九凡五條，鏡之所牒與底本同：鏡作「成就不可思議力故」〔T40n1819 0836b04〕、「莊嚴量功德成就」〔T40n1819 0836c22〕、「除世癡闇冥」〔T40n1819 0838a09〕、「何等二種」〔T40n1819 0841c06〕。③第二十六條，明本作「讚歎諸功德」，鏡牒作「讚諸佛功德」〔T40n1819 0841a22〕，三形並錄。④第二十八條，三本作「菩薩功德莊嚴成就」，鏡作「莊嚴菩薩功德成就」〔T40n1819 0841b06〕，二本語序不同。⑤第二十九條，此行有「此清淨有二種應知。何等二種？」二「種」字，校記所繫為其一，照錄其行。皆不代裁原文。
二十九種莊嚴名目之三式（論名目表／論逐條釋句／鏡牒）：
| 序 | 論名目表 | 論釋句 | 鏡名目表 | 鏡逐條牒 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 國土八 | 莊嚴功德成就 | 莊嚴功德成就者，有三種應知 | 莊嚴三種功德成就 | 莊嚴三種功德成就者，有三種事應知 |
| 國土十一 | 聲功德成就 | 妙聲功德成就 | 莊嚴妙聲功德成就 | 莊嚴妙聲功德成就 |
| 國土十七 | 一切所求功德成就 | 一切所求功德滿足成就 | 莊嚴一切所求滿足功德成就 | 莊嚴一切所求滿足功德成就 |
| 佛二至五 | 身莊嚴·口莊嚴·心莊嚴·眾莊嚴 | 同 | 莊嚴身業·口業·心業·大眾功德成就 | 同鏡名目表 |
| 佛八 | 不虛作住持莊嚴 | 同 | 莊嚴不虛作住持功德成就 | 同鏡名目表 |
| 國土十七種之通式 | 某功德成就 | 某功德成就者 | 莊嚴某功德成就 | 莊嚴某功德成就者 |
逐字之證：論名目表「十一者聲功德成就」〔T26n1524 0231c04〕，論釋句「妙聲功德成就者」〔T26n1524 0231c25〕，鏡名目表「十一者莊嚴妙聲功德成就」〔T40n1819 0836c12〕；論名目表「十七者一切所求功德成就」〔T26n1524 0231c07〕，論釋句「一切所求功德滿足成就者」〔T26n1524 0232a09〕，鏡名目表「十七者莊嚴一切所求滿足功德成就」〔T40n1819 0836c16〕；論名目表「八者莊嚴功德成就」〔T26n1524 0231c02〕，鏡名目表「八者莊嚴三種功德成就」〔T40n1819 0836c11〕；鏡佛八名目「二者莊嚴身業功德成就、三者莊嚴口業功德成就、四者莊嚴心業功德成就、五者莊嚴大眾功德成就」〔T40n1819 0839b12〕。
論文與鏡牒之異同（上表及校記之外）：
| 論（底本） | 鏡牒 | 鏡錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 云何觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴 | 云何觀察彼佛國土莊嚴功德 | 〔T40n1819 0836b03〕 |
| 有十七種事應知。何者十七？ | 有十七種應知。何等十七？ | 〔T40n1819 0836c06〕 |
| 無垢光焰熾 | 無垢光炎熾 | 〔T40n1819 0837a18〕 |
| 寶欄遍圍繞 | 寶欄遍圍遶 | 〔T40n1819 0837c01〕 |
| 無量香普熏 | 無量香普薰 | 〔T40n1819 0837c24〕 |
| 無此三過故，名離體譏嫌 | 無此三過，故名離體譏嫌 | 〔T40n1819 0838b18〕 |
| 略說彼阿彌陀佛國土莊嚴十七種功德 | 略說彼阿彌陀佛國土十七種莊嚴功德成就 | 〔T40n1819 0838c03〕 |
| 示現如來自身利益大功德力，成就利益他功德成就故 | 示現如來自身利益大功德力成就、利益他功德成就故 | 〔T40n1819 0838c04〕 |
| 云何觀佛功德莊嚴成就？……有八種應知 | 云何觀佛莊嚴功德成就？……有八種相應知 | 〔T40n1819 0839b10〕 |
| 偈言無量大寶王，微妙淨華臺故（故字在所牒偈句之內） | 偈言無量大寶王，微妙淨華臺故（故字在所牒偈句之外） | 〔T40n1819 0839b17〕 |
| 同地水火風，虛空無分別 | 同地水火風虛空無分別 | 〔T40n1819 0839b24〕 |
| 未證淨心菩薩畢竟得平等法身，與淨心菩薩無異，淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩 | 未證淨心菩薩畢竟得證平等法身，與淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩 | 〔T40n1819 0840a17〕 |
| 云何觀菩薩功德莊嚴成就 | 云何觀察菩薩莊嚴功德成就 | 〔T40n1819 0840c24〕 |
| 讚歎諸佛如來。偈言……讚佛諸功德 | 讚歎諸佛如來功德。偈言……讚諸佛功德 | 〔T40n1819 0841a21〕 |
| 何等世界無，佛法功德寶，我皆願往生 | 何等世界無佛法功德寶，我願皆往生 | 〔T40n1819 0841a29〕 |
| 佛國土功德莊嚴成就、佛功德莊嚴成就、菩薩功德成就，此三種成就願心莊嚴，略說入一法句故 | 觀察莊嚴佛土功德成就、莊嚴佛功德成就、莊嚴菩薩功德成就，此三種成就，願心莊嚴應知。（「略說入一法句故」另起） | 〔T40n1819 0841b05〕 |
| 一法句者，謂清淨句 | 一法句者謂清淨句 | 〔T40n1819 0841b18〕 |
| 器世間清淨者，向說十七種佛國土功德莊嚴成就 | 器世間清淨者，如向說十七種莊嚴佛土功德成就 | 〔T40n1819 0841c07〕 |
| 如向說八種佛功德莊嚴成就、四種菩薩功德莊嚴成就 | 如向說八種莊嚴佛功德成就、四種莊嚴菩薩功德成就 | 〔T40n1819 0841c09〕 |
| 如是一法句，攝二種清淨應知 | 如是一法句攝二種清淨義應知 | 〔T40n1819 0841c10〕 |
誌錄不判：①「即見彼佛」一句，論有「無異，淨心菩薩」六字，鏡牒無之（鏡作「與淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩」），而鏡多一「證」字；論本於此無校記。曇鸞之釋以「未證淨心菩薩」「平等法身」「上地」分說，其「見阿彌陀佛時，與上地諸菩薩畢竟身等法等」〔T40n1819 0840b05〕 一語，與鏡牒之讀相應。二讀並錄。②「十七種」之總，論與鏡皆云國土「功德莊嚴」，鏡逐處多倒作「莊嚴功德」；佛、菩薩二種亦然。③「莊嚴」二字之有無：論名目表唯國土第八名「莊嚴功德成就」，鏡則每名皆冠「莊嚴」，而第八別稱「莊嚴三種」。皆照錄，不代裁原文。
gaiji：論本本單元無。夾註：論本本單元無；鏡文本段有原夾註（反切、字義），以〔…〕存位，上引皆照錄。
Placement of the passage as a whole. This unit is the extensive exposition of the gate of contemplation, the longest passage in the whole prose of the treatise. It first asks 「云何觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴」—“How does one contemplate the adornment of merit of that buddha-land?”—and answers in general with 「成就不可思議力」 (because it accomplishes a power beyond conceiving), using as a simile the nature of the maṇi wish-fulfilling jewel, set like against like by way of resemblance. Next it lists the names of the seventeen adornments of the land and, one by one, cites the verse and explains the name in the form “The accomplishment of the merit of such-and-such is so because the verse says …”; the eighth of these it opens out into the three matters of water, ground, and space, and to the sixteenth it attaches an explanation of the two kinds of reproach. It next sums up the seventeen in brief as showing self-benefit and benefiting others, and as the wondrous realm of the ultimate truth. It then contemplates the eight adornments of the Buddha, closing with 「即見彼佛」 (at once seeing that Buddha) to make clear that bodhisattvas who have not yet realized the pure mind in the end attain the dharma-body of equality. Next it contemplates the four kinds of right practice of the bodhisattvas. Last, it takes the three kinds of accomplishment as adorned by the mind of the vow, which in brief enter the one dharma-phrase; the one dharma-phrase is the phrase of purity, which is the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom; and purity is further divided into two kinds, of the vessel world and of the world of sentient beings. In the second fascicle of the Commentary on the Treatise on Birth in That Land, Tanluan judges this passage to be the third and fourth of the ten sections of the division explaining the meaning, 「觀行體相」 (the substance and characteristics of the practice of contemplation) and 「淨入願心」 (the mind of the vow entering into purity). Within the third section he poses for every one of the seventeen phrases of the land the question 「此云何不思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving?”—whereas for the Buddha’s eight phrases he mostly says 「此觀義已彰前偈」 (the meaning of this contemplation has already been made plain in the verses earlier). The names of the twenty-nine adornments are not wholly consistent across the treatise’s list of names, the treatise’s item-by-item explanations, and Tanluan’s citations; see the ninth topic. The treatise’s phrase 「與淨心菩薩無異」 (no different from the bodhisattvas of pure mind) is absent from Tanluan’s citation; see the fourth and ninth topics.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
The third and fourth of the ten sections of the division explaining the meaning — the general list of the ten sections at the head of the second fascicle:
「論曰。已下，此是解義分。此分中義有十重：一者願偈大意、二者起觀生信、三者觀行體相、四者淨入願心、五者善巧攝化、六者離菩提障、七者順菩提門、八者名義攝對、九者願事成就、十者利行滿足。」—“‘The treatise says’: from here on is the division explaining the meaning. Within this division the meaning has ten sections: first, the general intent of the verses of aspiration; second, raising contemplation and giving rise to faith; third, the substance and characteristics of the practice of contemplation; fourth, the mind of the vow entering into purity; fifth, skillful gathering in and transforming; sixth, departing from the obstacles to bodhi; seventh, according with the gate of bodhi; eighth, the gathering and matching of names and meanings; ninth, the accomplishment of the vowed undertaking; tenth, the fulfillment of benefiting through practice.” 〔T40n1819 0835a06〕
The internal division of the third section — Tanluan’s headings:
「觀察體相者，此分中有二體：一者器體、二者眾生體。器分中又有三重：一者國土體相、二者示現自利利他、三者入第一義諦。」—“As for the substance and characteristics of contemplation, within this division there are two substances: first, the substance of the vessel; second, the substance of beings. Within the division of the vessel there are again three parts: first, the substance and characteristics of the land; second, showing self-benefit and benefiting others; third, entering the ultimate truth.” 〔T40n1819 0836a28〕 「眾生體者，此分中有二重：一者觀佛、二者觀菩薩。」—“As for the substance of beings, within this division there are two parts: first, contemplating the Buddha; second, contemplating the bodhisattvas.” 〔T40n1819 0839b08〕
| Tanluan’s division | Heading (verbatim) | Anchor | What it covers in the treatise | Segment in this unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section 3 · substance of the vessel · substance and characteristics of the land | 「國土體相者：」—“As for the substance and characteristics of the land:” | 〔T40n1819 0836b02〕 | General heading and the seventeen | 〔一〕 to 〔二十二〕 |
| Section 3 · substance of the vessel · showing self-benefit and benefiting others | 「示現自利利他者：」—“As for showing self-benefit and benefiting others:” | 〔T40n1819 0838c02〕 | The seventeen in brief | 〔二十三〕 |
| Section 3 · substance of the vessel · entering the ultimate truth | 「入第一義諦者：」—“As for entering the ultimate truth:” | 〔T40n1819 0838c10〕 | The wondrous realm of the ultimate truth | 〔二十四〕 |
| Section 3 · substance of beings · contemplating the Buddha | 「觀佛者：」—“As for contemplating the Buddha:” | 〔T40n1819 0839b09〕 | The Buddha’s eight · at once seeing that Buddha · the eight phrases in brief | 〔二十五〕 to 〔三十五〕 |
| Section 3 · substance of beings · contemplating the bodhisattvas | 「觀菩薩者：」—“As for contemplating the bodhisattvas:” | 〔T40n1819 0840c23〕 | The bodhisattvas’ four kinds of right practice | 〔三十六〕 to 〔四十〕 |
| Section 4 · the mind of the vow entering into purity | 「已下是解義中第四重，名為淨入願心。淨入願心者：」—“What follows is the fourth section of the explanation of the meaning, named the mind of the vow entering into purity. As for the mind of the vow entering into purity:” | 〔T40n1819 0841b03〕 | Adornment by the mind of the vow · the one dharma-phrase · the two kinds of purity | 〔四十一〕〔四十二〕 |
One unit containing two of Tanluan’s sections — the closing words of the third section and the start of the fourth stand on the same line: 「觀行體相竟。」—“The substance and characteristics of the practice of contemplation are finished.” 〔T40n1819 0841b03〕 Tanluan’s section boundary thus falls between 〔四十〕 and 〔四十一〕; the boundary of this unit lies at the end of the fourth section, coinciding with the end of Tanluan’s 「以當得故得名清淨。」—“because they will attain it, they attain the name of purity” 〔T40n1819 0841c27〕 (what follows on the same line, 「善巧攝化」 (skillful gathering in and transforming), belongs to the next unit). For the name of the third section, the general list has 「觀行體相」 (the substance and characteristics of the practice of contemplation), the heading has 「觀察體相者」 (as for the substance and characteristics of contemplation), and the closing words again have 「觀行體相竟」 (the substance and characteristics of the practice of contemplation are finished); recorded side by side.
The headings and the explanations of the seventeen — Tanluan first lists the names, and himself states his order: 「先舉章門，次續提釋。」—“First the headings are raised; then the explanations follow.” 〔T40n1819 0836c17〕
The general and particular among the seventeen phrases, and the order in which they arise — Tanluan takes the first phrase as general and the sixteen below as particular, and explains phrase by phrase the order in which they give rise to one another:
「十七句中總別為二：初句是總相，所謂是清淨佛土過三界道。彼過三界有何相？下十六種莊嚴功德成就相是也。」—“Among the seventeen phrases, general and particular make two: the first phrase is the general mark, namely that this pure buddha-land surpasses the paths of the three realms. What are the marks of its surpassing the three realms? They are the marks of the accomplishment of the merit of the sixteen adornments below.” 〔T40n1819 0838c27〕 「既知量，此量以何為本？是故觀性。」—“Once the measure is known, what is this measure rooted in? Therefore one contemplates its nature.” 〔T40n1819 0839a01〕 「既知大義門，宜知大義門滿不滿？是故次觀所求滿足。」—“Once the gate of the great meaning is known, one should know whether the gate of the great meaning is fulfilled or not. Therefore one next contemplates the fulfillment of what is sought.” 〔T40n1819 0839a18〕
The order of the eight phrases — Tanluan explains the treatise’s “these eight phrases, spoken in brief … accomplished in their proper order”:
「此云何次第？前十七句是莊嚴國土功德成就。既知國土相，應知國土之主，是故次觀佛莊嚴功德。彼佛若為莊嚴？於何處坐？是故先觀座。」—“What is this order? The preceding seventeen phrases are the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the land. Once the marks of the land are known, one should know the lord of the land; therefore one next contemplates the merit of the Buddha’s adornment. How is that Buddha adorned? Where does he sit? Therefore one first contemplates the seat.” 〔T40n1819 0840c11〕 「既知是主，主有何增上？是故次觀莊嚴不虛作住持。八句次第成已。」—“Once it is known that he is the lord, what does the lord have that is dominant? Therefore one next contemplates the adornment of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain. The order of the eight phrases is complete.” 〔T40n1819 0840c22〕
The four practices governed by one “right” — 「體唯一如而義分為四，是故四行以一正統之。」—“Their substance is only the one suchness, but in meaning it is divided into four; therefore the four practices are governed by one ‘right.’” 〔T40n1819 0840c27〕
The number of the extensive and the brief — Tanluan takes the twenty-nine phrases as the extensive and the one dharma-phrase as the brief: 「上國土莊嚴十七句、如來莊嚴八句、菩薩莊嚴四句為廣，入一法句為略。」—“The seventeen phrases of the adornment of the land above, the eight phrases of the adornment of the Tathāgata, and the four phrases of the adornment of the bodhisattvas are the extensive; entering the one dharma-phrase is the brief.” 〔T40n1819 0841b10〕
Tanluan’s twofold explanation in the first and second fascicles — for the twenty-nine adornments, Tanluan already explained verse by verse in his first fascicle 「佛本何故起此莊嚴」 (why the Buddha originally gave rise to this adornment) (in the unit on the verses); in this passage of the second fascicle he cites the treatise’s prose again, posing for the seventeen of the land the new question 「此云何不思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving?”—while for the Buddha’s eight he says himself, 「此觀義已彰前偈。」—“The meaning of this contemplation has already been made plain in the verses earlier.” 〔T40n1819 0839b11〕 The emphasis of the two explanations differs; both are kept.
Start and end of this unit — it begins at 「云何觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴？」—“How does one contemplate the adornment of merit of that buddha-land?” 〔T26n1524 0231b24〕 (what precedes it on the same line, 「作願迴向為首，成就大悲心故。」—“makes the vow, putting dedication and direction first, in order to accomplish the mind of great compassion,” belongs to the previous unit), and ends at 「如是一法句，攝二種清淨應知。」—“In this way the one dharma-phrase gathers in the two kinds of purity; this should be known.” 〔T26n1524 0232c02〕 The whole unit runs to one thousand eight hundred and forty-six characters including punctuation, one thousand five hundred and fifty-nine Chinese characters alone.
II. Collation with the Alternate Translations — recorded without adjudication
There is no alternate translation of this treatise; for the text of the Sūtra of Measureless Life on which the verses rely, see the third topic of the unit on the verses. The verse-lines cited in this passage of prose come from the same text as the treatise’s verses in the unit on the verses; for the variant readings between the lines cited in the prose, the treatise’s verses, and the mirror’s citations, see the ninth topic.
III. Scriptural and Treatise Grounding (the “eye”)
The sūtras cited by Tanluan — in this passage Tanluan cites sūtra text explicitly more than ten times, sometimes naming the sūtra, sometimes saying only 「經言」 (the sūtra says):
| What Tanluan cites (verbatim) | Mirror anchor | The sūtra’s own text (where it can be checked) | Sūtra anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「若欲觀座，當依《觀無量壽經》。」—“Whoever wishes to contemplate the throne should rely upon The Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life.” | 〔T40n1819 0839b18〕 | The sūtra is named explicitly; no sūtra text is given | — |
| 「若欲觀佛身，當依《觀無量壽經》。」—“If one would contemplate the Buddha’s body, one should rely on The Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life.” | 〔T40n1819 0839b20〕 | The sūtra is named explicitly; no sūtra text is given | — |
| 「又如佛說《法華經》時，放眉間光照于東方萬八千土皆如金色，從阿鼻獄上至有頂諸世界中六道眾生，生死所趣善惡業緣、受報好醜於此悉見。」—“Again, as when the Buddha spoke the Lotus Sūtra, he sent forth light from between his brows and illumined the eighteen thousand lands to the east, all the color of gold; from the Avīci hell up to the Summit of Existence, the beings of the six paths in all those worlds—where they go in birth and death, the karmic conditions of good and evil, and whether the recompense they receive is fair or foul—were all seen there.” | 〔T40n1819 0837c08〕 | 「爾時佛放眉間白毫相光，照東方萬八千世界，靡不周遍，下至阿鼻地獄，上至阿迦尼吒天。」—“At that time the Buddha sent forth the light of the white tuft between his brows, illuminating the eighteen thousand worlds to the east, reaching everywhere, down to the Avīci hell and up to the Akaniṣṭha heaven.” | 〔T09n0262 0002b16〕 |
| 「彼諸菩薩及聲聞，若入寶地，意欲令水沒足，水即沒足；」—“If the bodhisattvas and śrāvakas there enter the jewel ground and wish the water to cover their feet, the water at once covers their feet;” | 〔T40n1819 0837b12〕 | 「彼諸菩薩及聲聞眾若入寶池，意欲令水沒足，水即沒足；」—“If the bodhisattvas and the assembly of śrāvakas there enter the jewel pools and wish the water to cover their feet, the water at once covers their feet;” | 〔T12n0360 0271b09〕 |
| 「無量寶網彌覆佛土，皆以金縷真珠百千雜寶奇妙珍異莊嚴校飾。」—“Measureless jewel-nets cover the buddha-land, all adorned and embellished with gold threads, pearls, and a hundred thousand kinds of jewels, rare, wondrous, precious, and strange.” | 〔T40n1819 0837c16〕 | 「無量寶網彌覆佛土，皆以金縷、真珠、百千雜寶、奇妙珍異莊嚴絞飾，」—“Measureless jewel-nets cover the buddha-land, all adorned and intertwined with gold threads, pearls, a hundred thousand kinds of jewels, rare, wondrous, precious, and strange,” | 〔T12n0360 0272a11〕 |
| 「風吹散華遍滿佛土，隨色次第而不雜亂，」—“The wind blows and scatters flowers, filling the buddha-land everywhere; they fall in the order of their colors and are not confused,” | 〔T40n1819 0837c25〕 | 「風吹散華遍滿佛土，隨色次第而不雜亂，」—“The wind blows and scatters flowers, filling the buddha-land everywhere; they fall in the order of their colors and are not confused,” | 〔T12n0360 0272a18〕 |
| 「一一華中出三十六百千億光，」—“From each flower come forth thirty-six hundred thousand koṭis of lights,” | 〔T40n1819 0838a03〕 | 「一一華中出三十六百千億光；」—“From each flower come forth thirty-six hundred thousand koṭis of lights;” | 〔T12n0360 0272a26〕 |
| 「設我得佛，他方佛土諸菩薩眾來生我國，究竟必至一生補處；」—“When I attain buddhahood, the bodhisattvas of the buddha-lands of other quarters who come to be born in my land shall in the end certainly become final-birth bodhisattvas;” | 〔T40n1819 0840b20〕 | 「設我得佛，他方佛土諸菩薩眾來生我國，究竟必至一生補處——」—“When I attain buddhahood, the bodhisattvas of the buddha-lands of other quarters who come to be born in my land shall in the end certainly become final-birth bodhisattvas—” | 〔T12n0360 0268b08〕 |
| 「案《十地經》，菩薩進趣階級漸有無量功勳，逕多劫數然後乃得此。」—“According to the Sūtra of the Ten Grounds, the bodhisattva advances through the stages by degrees, with measureless meritorious achievement, passing through many kalpas before attaining this.” | 〔T40n1819 0840b08〕 | Raised by the questioner; no sūtra text is given | — |
| 「若人但聞彼國土清淨安樂，剋念願生，亦得往生，則入正定聚。」—“If a person only hears that the land there is pure and peaceful and blissful, and fixes his thought on aspiring to be born there, he too attains birth there and enters the group of right fixity.” | 〔T40n1819 0838a14〕 | The sūtra is not named; the sūtra texts gathered in the translated-and-annotated texts of this series have no identical passage | — |
| 「身為苦器、心為惱端」—“The body is a vessel of suffering; the mind is the source of affliction.” | 〔T40n1819 0838b11〕 | The sūtra is not named; the Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom has 「身為苦器，法自受惱」—“the body is a vessel of suffering; by its nature it receives affliction” as a saying | 〔T25n1509 0304a14〕 |
| 「染之者，或生天上、或發菩提心。」—“Those who are attracted to him are either born in the heavens or give rise to the aspiration for bodhi.” | 〔T40n1819 0837a26〕 | The sūtra is not named; not found in the sūtra texts gathered in the translated-and-annotated texts of this series | — |
| 「高原陸地不生蓮華，卑濕淤泥乃生蓮華。」—“On high plateaus and dry land lotuses do not grow; in low, damp, muddy mire lotuses grow.” | 〔T40n1819 0841a11〕 | The sūtra is not named; the Great Ratnakūṭa Sūtra has the same simile: 「譬如高原陸地不生蓮花。」—“It is like high plateaus and dry land, where lotuses do not grow.” | 〔T11n0310 0634b17〕 |
Differences between the sūtra text and the mirror’s citations: 寶地 (jewel ground) against 寶池 (jewel pools), 聲聞 (śrāvakas) against 聲聞眾 (the assembly of śrāvakas), 校飾 (embellished) against 絞飾 (intertwined)—recorded side by side. After 「經言」 (the sūtra says), Tanluan cites the sūtra text for the adornment of water all the way to 「是故其國名曰安樂」—“therefore that land is named Peace and Bliss” 〔T40n1819 0837b28〕, that is, the whole of the passage on the jewel pools in the Sūtra of Measureless Life; of the name 「安樂」 (Peace and Bliss) given to the land, Tanluan had already said in his first fascicle, 「其安樂義具在下觀察門中。」—“The meaning of Peace and Bliss is set out in full under the gate of contemplation below.” 〔T40n1819 0827b18〕
Treatise similes used by Tanluan — among the similes Tanluan sets up himself, two are the same as similes in the Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom: the Jialuoqiuluo insect (Tanluan: 「譬如迦羅求羅蟲其形微小，若得大風身如大山，」—“It is like the Jialuoqiuluo insect: its form is tiny, but if it meets a great wind its body becomes like a great mountain,” 〔T40n1819 0837a03〕; the treatise: 「譬如迦羅求羅虫，其身微細，得風轉大，乃至能吞食一切；」—“It is like the Jialuoqiuluo insect: its body is minute, but on meeting the wind it grows great, until it can swallow and devour everything;” 〔T25n1509 0113b03〕), and the haojian tree (Tanluan: 「譬如有樹名曰好堅，是樹地生百歲，乃具一日長高百丈。」—“It is like a tree named Haojian, ‘Firm and Good’: this tree lives in the ground for a hundred years, and then in a single day grows a hundred zhang tall.” 〔T40n1819 0840c03〕; the treatise: 「譬如有樹名為好堅，是樹在地中百歲，枝葉具足，一日出生高百丈，」—“It is like a tree named Haojian: this tree is in the ground for a hundred years, its branches and leaves complete, and in one day it comes forth a hundred zhang tall,” 〔T25n1509 0131c22〕). In neither place does Tanluan mark his source; their sameness is recorded as it stands, and what he inherited is not decided.
The general ground for “beyond conceiving” — 「諸經統言有五種不可思議：一者眾生多少不可思議、二者業力不可思議、三者龍力不可思議、四者禪定力不可思議、五者佛法力不可思議。」—“The sūtras say in general that there are five kinds of the inconceivable: first, the number of beings is inconceivable; second, the power of karma is inconceivable; third, the power of the nāgas is inconceivable; fourth, the power of meditative concentration is inconceivable; fifth, the power of the Buddha’s Dharma is inconceivable.” 〔T40n1819 0836b07〕 Tanluan ties the inconceivability of the buddha-land to the fifth, and divides it into two powers: 「此中佛土不可思議，有二種力：一者業力，謂法藏菩薩出世善根大願業力所成；二者正覺阿彌陀法王善住持力所攝。」—“The inconceivability of the buddha-land here has two kinds of power: first, the power of karma, namely that it is formed by the power of the karma of the bodhisattva Dharmākara’s supramundane roots of good and great vows; second, it is embraced by the power with which Amitābha of right awakening, the Dharma-king, well abides in it and sustains it.” 〔T40n1819 0836b10〕
The doctrinal attachments of the treatise —
- Abiding and sustaining that is not in vain is tied to the original vow: 「所言不虛作住持者，依本法藏菩薩四十八願、今日阿彌陀如來自在神力，願以成力、力以就願，願不徒然、力不虛設，力願相符畢竟不差，故曰成就。」—“What is called abiding and sustaining that is not in vain rests on the forty-eight vows of the bodhisattva Dharmākara of old and on the sovereign spiritual power of the Tathāgata Amitābha of today. The vow brings the power to completion, and the power fulfills the vow; the vow is not in vain, and the power is not set up for nothing; power and vow tally with each other and in the end do not diverge. Hence it says ‘accomplishment.’” 〔T40n1819 0840a12〕
- The three kinds of adornment are tied to the forty-eight vows: 「應知者，應知此三種莊嚴成就，由本四十八願等清淨願心之所莊嚴。因淨故果淨，非無因、他因有也。」—“‘Should be known’: it should be known that the accomplishment of these three kinds of adornment is adorned by the pure mind of the vow—the forty-eight vows and the rest—of old. Because the cause is pure, the fruit is pure; it is not that it exists without a cause, or from some other cause.” 〔T40n1819 0841b07〕
- At once seeing that Buddha is tied to the twenty-second vow: Tanluan proves from the original vow in the Sūtra of Measureless Life, 「究竟必至一生補處」 (in the end certainly become final-birth bodhisattvas), that bodhisattvas who see the Buddha are 「畢竟平等」 (in the end equal), and says: 「案此經推彼國菩薩，或可不從一地至一地。」—“Reasoning from this sūtra about the bodhisattvas of that land, they may perhaps not go from one ground to the next.” 〔T40n1819 0840b27〕
- The four kinds of right practice are tied to suchness: 「真如是諸法正體，體如而行則是不行，不行而行名如實修行。」—“Suchness is the right substance of all dharmas. To practice with the substance as suchness is not to practice; to practice without practicing is called practicing in accordance with reality.” 〔T40n1819 0840c26〕
IV. Essentials of the Commentary on This Passage (the Commentary on the Treatise on Birth in That Land, line by line)
Substance and Characteristics of the Land · General Heading
〔一〕The adornments of the land: general heading — the treatise: 「云何觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴？彼佛國土功德莊嚴者，成就不可思議力故。如彼摩尼如意寶性，相似相對法故。」—“How does one contemplate the adornment of merit of that buddha-land? The adornment of merit of that buddha-land is so because it accomplishes a power beyond conceiving. It is like the nature of the maṇi wish-fulfilling jewel—by the method of setting like against like, by way of resemblance.” 〔T26n1524 0231b24〕
「云何觀察彼佛國土莊嚴功德？彼佛國土莊嚴功德者，成就不可思議力故，如彼摩尼如意寶性，相似相對法故。」—“How does one contemplate the merit of the adornment of that buddha-land? The merit of the adornment of that buddha-land is so because it accomplishes a power beyond conceiving, like the nature of the maṇi wish-fulfilling jewel—by the method of setting like against like, by way of resemblance.” 〔T40n1819 0836b03〕 「不可思議力者，總指彼佛國土十七種莊嚴功德力不可得思議也。」—“‘A power beyond conceiving’ refers in general to the power of the merit of the seventeen adornments of that buddha-land, which cannot be conceived.” 〔T40n1819 0836b05〕 「此不可思議，如下十七種，一一相皆不可思議，至文當釋。」—“This inconceivability is as in the seventeen kinds below: each of their marks is beyond conceiving, and they will be explained when the text is reached.” 〔T40n1819 0836b13〕 「如彼摩尼如意寶性相似相對者，借彼摩尼如意寶性，示安樂佛土不可思議性也。」—“‘Like the nature of the maṇi wish-fulfilling jewel, by way of resemblance, setting like against like’: the nature of the maṇi wish-fulfilling jewel is borrowed to show the inconceivable nature of the buddha-land of Peace and Bliss.” 〔T40n1819 0836b14〕 「以此寶性力故，彼安樂佛土亦如是，以安樂性種種成就故。」—“Because of the power of this jewel’s nature, that buddha-land of Peace and Bliss is likewise so, for it is accomplished in every way by the nature of peace and bliss.” 〔T40n1819 0836b26〕 「相似相對者，彼寶珠力求衣食者能雨衣食等物，稱求者意，非是不求。彼佛土則不然，性滿足成就故，無所乏少。片取彼性為喻，故言相似相對。」—“‘By way of resemblance, setting like against like’: the power of that jewel can rain down clothing, food, and other things for those who seek clothing and food, according to the wishes of the seeker; it is not that it does so unasked. That buddha-land is not so: because its nature is accomplished in fulfillment, it lacks nothing. A part of that jewel’s nature is taken as the simile; hence it says ‘by way of resemblance, setting like against like.’” 〔T40n1819 0836b27〕 「又彼寶但能與眾生衣食等願，不能與眾生無上道願。又彼寶但能與眾生一身願，不能與眾生無量身願。有如是等無量差別，故言相似。」—“Again, that jewel can only grant beings their wishes for clothing, food, and the like; it cannot grant beings their wish for the unsurpassed path. Again, that jewel can only grant beings the wishes of a single body; it cannot grant beings the wishes of measureless bodies. There are measureless differences such as these; hence it says ‘by way of resemblance.’” 〔T40n1819 0836c01〕
〔二〕The names of the seventeen — the treatise: 「觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴者，有十七種事應知。」—“In contemplating the adornment of merit of that buddha-land there are seventeen matters that should be known.” 〔T26n1524 0231b27〕; Tanluan cites it as 「觀察彼佛國土莊嚴功德成就者，有十七種應知。」—“In contemplating the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of that buddha-land there are seventeen kinds that should be known.” 〔T40n1819 0836c06〕 For the differences in the names item by item, see the ninth topic.
The Seventeen Adornments of the Land (Item by Item)
Adornment 1 · the accomplishment of the merit of purity (〔三〕) — Treatise: 「清淨功德成就者，偈言「觀彼世界相，勝過三界道」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of purity is so because the verse says, ‘Contemplate the aspect of that world: it surpasses the paths of the three realms.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c08〕 Mirror: 「莊嚴清淨功德成就者，偈言「觀彼世界相，勝過三界道」故。此云何不思議？有凡夫人煩惱成就亦得生彼淨土，三界繫業畢竟不牽，則是不斷煩惱得涅槃分，焉可思議？」—“The accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of purity is so because the verse says, ‘Contemplate the aspect of that world: it surpasses the paths of the three realms.’ How is this beyond conceiving? There are ordinary people, complete in their afflictions, who also attain birth in that pure land, and the karma that binds them to the three realms in the end does not drag them back. This is to attain a share of nirvāṇa without severing the afflictions—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0836c18〕
Adornment 2 · the accomplishment of the merit of measure (〔四〕) — Treatise: 「量功德成就者，偈言「究竟如虛空，廣大無邊際」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of measure is so because the verse says, ‘ultimately like empty space, vast and without bound.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c09〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？彼國人天若意欲宮殿樓閣，若廣一由旬若百由旬若千由旬、千間萬間，隨心所成，人各如此。」—“How is this beyond conceiving? If the humans and gods of that land wish for palaces and towers—one yojana wide, or a hundred yojanas, or a thousand yojanas, a thousand halls or ten thousand halls—they are formed as the mind wishes, and so it is for each person.” 〔T40n1819 0836c23〕 「彼中眾生住如此量中，志願廣大亦如虛空無有限量。彼國土量能成眾生心行量，何可思議？」—“The beings there dwell within such a measure, and their aspirations too are vast like space, without limit. The measure of that land can bring to accomplishment the measure of the minds and practices of beings—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0836c28〕
Adornment 3 · the accomplishment of the merit of nature (〔五〕) — Treatise: 「性功德成就者，偈言「正道大慈悲，出世善根生」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of nature is so because the verse says, ‘From the right path and great compassion, from supramundane roots of good it arises.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c10〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？譬如迦羅求羅蟲其形微小，若得大風身如大山，隨風大小為己身相。生安樂眾生亦復如是，生彼正道世界即成就出世善根入正定聚，亦如彼風非身而身，焉可思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving? It is like the Jialuoqiuluo insect: its form is tiny, but if it meets a great wind its body becomes like a great mountain, taking the size of the wind as the measure of its own body. Beings born in Peace and Bliss are likewise: born into that world of the right path, they at once accomplish supramundane roots of good and enter the group of right fixity—again like that wind, which is not the body yet becomes the body. How could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0837a03〕
Adornment 4 · the accomplishment of the merit of form (〔六〕) — Treatise: 「形相功德成就者，偈言「淨光明滿足，如鏡日月輪」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of form is so because the verse says, ‘Its pure light is full and complete, like a mirror, like the orbs of the sun and the moon.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c11〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？夫忍辱得端正，我心影嚮也。一得生彼，無瞋忍之殊，人天色像平等妙絕，蓋淨光之力也。彼光非心行而為心行之事，焉可思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving? Now, patience brings fine features: this is the shadow and echo of one’s own mind. Once one is born there, there is no difference between the angry and the patient; the forms and images of humans and gods are equal and surpassingly wondrous—this is the power of the pure light. That light is not the activity of the mind, yet it does the work of the mind’s activity—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0837a09〕
Adornment 5 · the accomplishment of the merit of the various things (〔七〕) — Treatise: 「種種事功德成就者，偈言「備諸珍寶性，具足妙莊嚴」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of the various things is so because the verse says, ‘Endowed with the nature of every kind of jewel, complete in wondrous adornment.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c12〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？彼種種事，或一寶十寶百千種寶，隨心稱意無不具足；若欲令無，儵焉化沒。心得自在有踰神通，安可思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving? Those various things—of one jewel, ten jewels, or a hundred thousand kinds of jewel—are all supplied according to the mind and as one wishes; if one wishes them gone, they vanish in an instant. The mind attains a freedom that exceeds supernormal power—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0837a14〕
Adornment 6 · the accomplishment of the merit of wondrous color (〔八〕) — Treatise: 「妙色功德成就者，偈言「無垢光焰熾，明淨曜世間」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of wondrous color is so because the verse says, ‘Its stainless radiance blazes in fullness, bright and pure, shining on the world.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c14〕 Mirror: 「莊嚴妙色功德成就者，偈言「無垢光炎熾，明淨曜世間」故。此云何不思議？其光曜事則映徹表裏，其光曜心則終盡無明。光為佛事，焉可思議？」—“The accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of wondrous color is so because the verse says, ‘Its stainless radiance blazes in fullness, bright and pure, shining on the world.’ How is this beyond conceiving? When its light shines on things, it penetrates them through and through, outside and in; when its light shines on the mind, it brings ignorance to an end. Light does the work of a buddha—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0837a18〕
Adornment 7 · the accomplishment of the merit of touch (〔九〕) — Treatise: 「觸功德成就者，偈言「寶性功德草，柔軟左右旋，觸者生勝樂，過迦旃隣陀」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of touch is so because the verse says, ‘The grass of merit, formed of the nature of jewels, is soft and turns to the left and to the right; those who touch it give rise to a surpassing pleasure, greater than Jiazhanlintuo.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c15〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？夫寶例堅強而此柔軟，觸樂應著而此增道。事同愛作，何可思議？有菩薩字愛作，形容端正生人染著。經言「染之者，或生天上、或發菩提心。」」—“How is this beyond conceiving? Jewels as a rule are hard and stiff, yet these are soft; the pleasure of touch ought to bring attachment, yet this increases the path. The matter is like that of Aizuo—how could it be conceived? There was a bodhisattva named Aizuo, ‘Love-Maker,’ whose form and features were so handsome that people became attached to him. The sūtra says, ‘Those who are attracted to him are either born in the heavens or give rise to the aspiration for bodhi.’” 〔T40n1819 0837a23〕
Adornment 8 · the accomplishment of the merit of adornment (general heading of the three kinds) (〔十〕) — Treatise: 「莊嚴功德成就者，有三種應知。何等三？一者水；二者地；三者虛空。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of adornment is of three kinds, which should be known. What are the three? The first is water; the second, the ground; the third, space.” 〔T26n1524 0231c16〕 Mirror: 「莊嚴三種功德成就者，有三種事應知。何等三種？一者水、二者地、三者虛空。此三種所以并言者，以同類故也。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of the three kinds of adornment has three matters that should be known. What are the three kinds? The first is water, the second the ground, the third space. These three kinds are spoken of together because they are of the same class.” 〔T40n1819 0837a28〕 「但言三類者，識一大屬眾生世間故；火一大彼中無故；雖有風，風不可見故、無住處故。是以六大，五類中取有而可莊嚴三種并言之。」—“Only three classes are named because the one great element of consciousness belongs to the world of sentient beings; the one great element of fire does not exist there; and though there is wind, wind cannot be seen and has no place where it abides. Therefore, of the six great elements, among the five classes, those that exist and can be adorned are taken, three kinds, and spoken of together.” 〔T40n1819 0837b03〕
8.1 · the adornment of water (〔十一〕) — Treatise: 「莊嚴水者，偈言「寶華千萬種，彌覆池流泉，微風動華葉，交錯光亂轉」故。」—“The adornment of water is so because the verse says, ‘Jewel-flowers of a thousand myriad kinds cover the pools, the streams, and the springs; a gentle breeze stirs the flowers and leaves, which cross one another, and their brilliance flows and shifts in profusion.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c18〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？彼淨土人天非水穀身，何須水耶？清淨成就不須洗濯，復何用水耶？彼中無四時、常調適不煩熱，復何須水耶？不須而有，當有所以。」—“How is this beyond conceiving? The humans and gods of that pure land do not have bodies sustained by water and grain—why would they need water? They are accomplished in purity and need no washing—what use then is water? There are no four seasons there; it is always temperate and never troubled by heat—why then would they need water? It is not needed, yet it is there; there must be a reason.” 〔T40n1819 0837b08〕 (below this he cites the passage of the sūtra on the jewel pools; see the third topic) 「此水為佛事，安可思議？」—“This water does the work of a buddha—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0837b28〕
8.2 · the adornment of the ground (〔十二〕) — Treatise: 「莊嚴地者，偈言「宮殿諸樓閣，觀十方無礙，雜樹異光色，寶欄遍圍繞」故。」—“The adornment of the ground is so because the verse says, ‘From the palaces and the many towers one looks out on the ten directions without obstruction; the jewel-trees give off lights of different colors, and jewel-railings encircle them all around.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c20〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？彼種種事，或一寶十寶百寶無量寶，隨心稱意莊嚴具足。此莊嚴事如淨明鏡，十方國土淨穢諸相善惡業緣一切悉現，彼中人天見斯事故，探湯不及之情自然成就。」—“How is this beyond conceiving? Those various things—of one jewel, ten jewels, a hundred jewels, or measureless jewels—are complete in adornment according to the mind and as one wishes. These adorned things are like a clean, bright mirror in which all the marks of the lands of the ten directions, pure and defiled, and the karmic conditions of good and evil, appear entirely. Because the humans and gods there see these things, the feeling of ‘reaching out as if into boiling water, afraid of not getting away in time’ is accomplished of itself.” 〔T40n1819 0837c02〕 「此影為佛事，安可思議？」—“These reflections do the work of a buddha—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0837c12〕
8.3 · the adornment of space (〔十三〕) — Treatise: 「莊嚴虛空者，偈言「無量寶交絡，羅網遍虛空，種種鈴發響，宣吐妙法音」故。」—“The adornment of space is so because the verse says, ‘Measureless jewels are interlaced and linked, and nets spread across the whole of space; bells of every kind ring out, proclaiming the subtle sound of the Dharma.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c21〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving?” 〔T40n1819 0837c15〕 (below this he cites the passage of the sūtra on the jewel-nets; see the third topic) 「此聲為佛事，焉可思議？」—“This sound does the work of a buddha—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0837c23〕
Adornment 9 · the accomplishment of the merit of rain (〔十四〕) — Treatise: 「雨功德成就者，偈言「雨華衣莊嚴，無量香普熏」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of rain is so because the verse says, ‘Flowers and robes rain down as adornment, and measureless fragrances perfume everywhere.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c23〕 Mirror: 「莊嚴雨功德成就者，偈言「雨華衣莊嚴，無量香普薰」故。此云何不思議？」—“The accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of rain is so because the verse says, ‘Flowers and robes rain down as adornment, and measureless fragrances perfume everywhere.’ How is this beyond conceiving?” 〔T40n1819 0837c24〕 (below this he cites the passage of the sūtra on the scattered flowers and the jewel-lotuses; see the third topic) 「華為佛事，安可思議？」—“Flowers do the work of a buddha—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0838a07〕
Adornment 10 · the accomplishment of the merit of light (〔十五〕) — Treatise: 「光明功德成就者，偈言「佛慧明淨日，除世癡闇冥」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of light is so because the verse says, ‘The Buddha’s wisdom, like a bright and pure sun, dispels the darkness of the world’s folly.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c24〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？彼土光明從如來智慧報起，觸之者無明黑闇終必消除。光明非慧能為慧用，焉可思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving? The light of that land arises from the recompense of the Tathāgata’s wisdom; whoever touches it will in the end have the black darkness of ignorance dispelled. The light is not wisdom, yet it can do the work of wisdom—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0838a10〕
Adornment 11 · the accomplishment of the merit of wondrous sound (〔十六〕) — Treatise: 「妙聲功德成就者，偈言「梵聲語深遠，微妙聞十方」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of wondrous sound is so because the verse says, ‘Brahmā sounds, their words profound and far-reaching, are subtly heard in the ten directions.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c25〕 Mirror: 「莊嚴妙聲功德成就者，偈言「梵聲悟深遠，微妙聞十方」故。此云何不思議？經言「若人但聞彼國土清淨安樂，剋念願生，亦得往生，則入正定聚。」此是國土名字為佛事，安可思議？」—“The accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of wondrous sound is so because the verse says, ‘Brahmā sounds, awakening profound and far-reaching, are subtly heard in the ten directions.’ How is this beyond conceiving? The sūtra says, ‘If a person only hears that the land there is pure and peaceful and blissful, and fixes his thought on aspiring to be born there, he too attains birth there and enters the group of right fixity.’ This is the name of the land doing the work of a buddha—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0838a13〕
Adornment 12 · the accomplishment of the merit of the lord (〔十七〕) — Treatise: 「主功德成就者，偈言「正覺阿彌陀，法王善住持」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of the lord is so because the verse says, ‘Amitābha of right awakening, as Dharma-king, well abides and sustains.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c26〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？正覺阿彌陀不可思議，彼安樂淨土為正覺阿彌陀善力住持，云何可得思議耶？住名不異不滅，持名不散不失，如以不朽藥塗種子，在水不瀾、在火不燋，得因緣則生。」—“How is this beyond conceiving? Amitābha of right awakening is beyond conceiving, and that Pure Land of Peace and Bliss is abided in and sustained by the good power of Amitābha of right awakening—how could it be conceived? ‘Abiding’ means not changing and not perishing; ‘sustaining’ means not scattering and not being lost. It is like seeds smeared with an imperishable medicine: in water they do not rot, in fire they do not scorch, and when they meet the conditions they sprout.” 〔T40n1819 0838a19〕 「若人一生安樂淨土，後時意願生三界教化眾生，捨淨土命隨願得生。雖生三界雜生水火中，無上菩提種子畢竟不朽。何以故？以逕正覺阿彌陀善住持故。」—“If a person, once born in the Pure Land of Peace and Bliss, later wishes and aspires to be born in the three realms to teach beings, he gives up his life in the pure land and is born as he aspires. Though he is born in the three realms, amid the mixed births of water and fire, the seed of unsurpassed bodhi in the end does not perish. Why? Because he has passed through the good abiding and sustaining of Amitābha of right awakening.” 〔T40n1819 0838a24〕
Adornment 13 · the accomplishment of the merit of the retinue (〔十八〕) — Treatise: 「眷屬功德成就者，偈言「如來淨華眾，正覺華化生」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of the retinue is so because the verse says, ‘The assembly within the Tathāgata’s pure flower are born by transformation from the flower of right awakening.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c28〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？凡是雜生世界，若胎若卵若濕若化，眷屬若干苦樂萬品，以雜業故。彼安樂國土莫非是阿彌陀如來正覺淨華之所化生，同一念佛無別道故，遠通夫四海之內皆為兄弟也。眷屬無量，焉可思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving? In all worlds of mixed birth—whether from the womb, the egg, moisture, or transformation—retinues are of many kinds and their sufferings and pleasures of ten thousand grades, because of mixed karma. In that land of Peace and Bliss there is none who is not born by transformation from the pure flower of the right awakening of the Tathāgata Amitābha; because all alike are mindful of the Buddha with no other path, far and wide, all within the four seas are brothers. The retinue is measureless—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0838a29〕
Adornment 14 · the accomplishment of the merit of enjoyment (〔十九〕) — Treatise: 「受用功德成就者，偈言「愛樂佛法味，禪三昧為食」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of enjoyment is so because the verse says, ‘They delight in the taste of the Buddha’s Dharma and take meditation and samādhi as their food.’” 〔T26n1524 0231c29〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？不食而資命，蓋所資有以也，豈不是如來滿本願乎！乘佛願為我命，焉可思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving? Their lives are sustained without eating; what sustains them has its reason—is it not the Tathāgata fulfilling his original vow? To ride on the Buddha’s vow as one’s life—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0838b07〕
Adornment 15 · the accomplishment of the merit of freedom from all hardship (〔二十〕) — Treatise: 「無諸難功德成就者，偈言「永離身心惱，受樂常無間」故。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of freedom from all hardship is so because the verse says, ‘Forever free of the afflictions of body and mind, they receive pleasure constantly and without interruption.’” 〔T26n1524 0232a01〕 Mirror: 「此云何不思議？經言「身為苦器、心為惱端」，而彼有身有心而受樂無間，安可思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving? The sūtra says, ‘The body is a vessel of suffering; the mind is the source of affliction.’ Yet there they have bodies and minds and receive pleasure without interruption—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0838b11〕
Adornment 16 · the accomplishment of the merit of the gate of the great meaning (〔二十一〕) — Treatise: 「大義門功德成就者，偈言「大乘善根界，等無譏嫌名，女人及根缺，二乘種不生」故。淨土果報離二種譏嫌過應知：一者體；二者名。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of the gate of the great meaning is so because the verse says, ‘A realm of Mahāyāna roots of good, equal, with not even a name that invites reproach; women and those deficient in faculties, and the seed of the two vehicles, do not arise there.’ The recompense of the pure land is free of two kinds of fault that invite reproach; this should be known: first, of substance; second, of name.” 〔T26n1524 0232a02〕 Mirror: 「淨土果報離二種譏嫌過應知：一者體、二者名。體有三種：一者二乘人、二者女人、三者諸根不具人。無此三過，故名離體譏嫌。名亦有三種，非但無三體，乃至不聞二乘、女人、諸根不具三種名，故名離名譏嫌。等者，平等一相故。」—“The recompense of the pure land is free of two kinds of fault that invite reproach; this should be known: first, of substance; second, of name. As to substance there are three kinds: first, persons of the two vehicles; second, women; third, persons whose faculties are incomplete. These three faults are absent; hence it is called free of reproach in substance. As to name there are likewise three kinds: not only are the three substances absent, but one does not even hear the three names—the two vehicles, women, and the incomplete in faculties; hence it is called free of reproach in name. ‘Equal’: because all is equal and of a single mark.” 〔T40n1819 0838b15〕 「此云何不思議？夫諸天共器飯，有隨福之色。足指按地，乃詳金礫之旨。而願往生者，本則三三之品，今無一二之殊，亦如淄澠〔食陵反〕一味，焉可思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving? When the gods share rice from the same vessel, it takes on colors according to their merit; when a toe presses the ground, the meaning of gold and gravel becomes plain. Yet those who aspire to be born there, though originally of the grades of three times three, now have not even the difference of one and two—like the rivers Zi and Sheng 〔食陵反〕, of a single taste. How could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0838b21〕 —Tanluan’s 「此云何不思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving?”—here comes after the treatise’s explanation of reproach, unlike the questions of the other sixteen items, which come after the verse is cited.
Adornment 17 · the accomplishment of the fulfillment of the merit of all that is sought (〔二十二〕) — Treatise: 「一切所求功德滿足成就者，偈言「眾生所願樂，一切能滿足」故。」—“The accomplishment of the fulfillment of the merit of all that is sought is so because the verse says, ‘Whatever beings aspire to and delight in, all of it can be fulfilled.’” 〔T26n1524 0232a09〕 Mirror: 「莊嚴一切所求滿足功德成就者，偈言「眾生所願樂，一切能滿足」故。此云何不思議？彼國人天若欲願往他方世界無量佛剎供養諸佛菩薩，及所須供養之具，無不稱願。又欲捨彼壽命向餘國生，修短自在，隨願皆得。未階自在之位而同自在之用，焉可思議？」—“The accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the fulfillment of all that is sought is so because the verse says, ‘Whatever beings aspire to and delight in, all of it can be fulfilled.’ How is this beyond conceiving? If the humans and gods of that land wish to go to the worlds of other quarters, to measureless buddha-kṣetras, to make offerings to the buddhas and bodhisattvas, together with the requisites for those offerings, there is nothing that is not as they wish. And if they wish to give up their life there and go to be born in another land, long or short, they are free, and all is attained as they aspire. Not yet having climbed to the rank of sovereign freedom, they share the function of sovereign freedom—how could it be conceived?” 〔T40n1819 0838b25〕
Showing Self-Benefit and Benefiting Others · Entering the Ultimate Truth
〔二十三〕The seventeen in brief — Treatise: 「略說彼阿彌陀佛國土莊嚴十七種功德，示現如來自身利益大功德力，成就利益他功德成就故。」—“The seventeen merits of the adornment of the land of that Buddha Amitābha are spoken of in brief to show the great power of merit by which the Tathāgata benefits himself, and the accomplishment of the merit by which he accomplishes the benefit of others.” 〔T26n1524 0232a11〕 Mirror: 「言略者，彰彼淨土功德無量，非唯十七種也。夫須彌之入芥子、毛孔之納大海，豈山海之神乎？毛芥之力乎？能神者神之耳。是故十七種雖曰利他，自利之義炳然可知」—“‘In brief’ makes plain that the merits of that pure land are measureless, not only seventeen kinds. When Sumeru enters a mustard seed and a pore takes in the great sea, is it the spiritual power of mountain and sea, or the power of pore and mustard seed? It is the one with spiritual power who makes it so. Therefore, though the seventeen kinds are said to benefit others, the meaning of self-benefit is plain to see” 〔T40n1819 0838c05〕
〔二十四〕The wondrous realm of the ultimate truth — Treatise: 「彼無量壽佛土莊嚴，第一義諦妙境界，十六句及一句次第說應知。」—“The adornment of the land of that Buddha of Measureless Life is the wondrous realm of the ultimate truth; the sixteen phrases and the one phrase are spoken in their proper order; this should be known.” 〔T26n1524 0232a13〕 Mirror: 「第一義諦者，佛因緣法也。此諦是境義，是故莊嚴等十六句稱為妙境界相。此義至入一法句文，當更解釋。及一句次第者，謂觀器淨等。總別十七句觀行次第也。」—“The ultimate truth is the Buddha’s dharma of causes and conditions. This truth has the meaning of a realm; therefore the sixteen phrases of adornment and the rest are called the marks of the wondrous realm. This meaning will be explained further at the text on entering the one dharma-phrase. ‘And the one phrase … in their proper order’ refers to contemplating the purity of the vessel and the rest: the order of contemplative practice of the seventeen phrases, general and particular.” 〔T40n1819 0838c12〕 Tanluan explains 「起次」 (the order in which they arise), first raising 「願生」 (aspiring to be born) in the first verse as the starting point of a doubt: 「此中有疑，疑言：生為有本，眾累之元；棄生願生，生何可盡？」—“Here there is a doubt. The doubt says: birth is the root of existence, the source of all burdens; to cast off birth yet aspire to birth—how can birth ever be ended?” 〔T40n1819 0838c17〕 「為釋此疑，是故觀彼淨土莊嚴功德成就，明彼淨土是阿彌陀如來清淨本願無生之生，非如三有虛妄生也。何以言之？夫法性清淨畢竟無生，言生者是得生者之情耳。」—“To resolve this doubt, one contemplates the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of that pure land, making clear that that pure land is the birth of no-birth of the pure original vow of the Tathāgata Amitābha, not like the false birth of the three existences. Why say so? The dharma-nature is pure and ultimately without birth; to speak of birth is merely the feeling of the one who attains birth.” 〔T40n1819 0838c19〕 「體夫生理謂之淨土，淨土之宅，所謂十七句是也。」—“To embody this principle of birth is called the pure land; the dwelling of the pure land is what is called the seventeen phrases.” 〔T40n1819 0838c26〕 「復次此十七句非但釋疑，觀此十七種莊嚴成就能生真實淨信，必定得生彼安樂佛土。」—“Further, these seventeen phrases do not only resolve the doubt: contemplating the accomplishment of these seventeen adornments can give rise to true and pure faith, and one will certainly attain birth in that buddha-land of Peace and Bliss.” 〔T40n1819 0839a19〕
Question and answer twenty-two (Tanluan poses the question and answers it himself; whether those of the lower grade who are born by ten thoughts take birth as real):
「問曰：上言知生無生，當是上品生者。若下下品人乘十念往生，豈非取實生耶？但取實生即墮二執，一恐不得往生、二恐更生生惑。」—“Question: Above it was said that one knows birth to be no-birth; this must refer to those born in the upper grades. If a person of the lowest of the lower grade is born there riding on ten thoughts, is he not taking birth as real? If he merely takes birth as real, he falls into two attachments: first, it is to be feared that he will not attain birth there; second, it is to be feared that birth will give rise to further delusion.” 〔T40n1819 0839a21〕 「答：譬如淨摩尼珠置之濁水，水即清淨。若人雖有無量生死之罪濁，聞彼阿彌陀如來至極無生清淨寶珠名號，投之濁心，念念之中罪滅心淨，即得往生。」—“Answer: It is like a pure maṇi jewel placed in muddy water: the water at once becomes clear. If a person, though he has the muddy defilement of the offenses of measureless births and deaths, hears the name of that Tathāgata Amitābha, the utterly pure jewel of no-birth, and casts it into his muddy mind, then thought after thought his offenses are extinguished and his mind is purified, and he at once attains birth there.” 〔T40n1819 0839a24〕 「彼下品人雖不知法性無生，但以稱佛名力作往生意願生彼土。彼土是無生界，見生之火自然而滅。」—“Though that person of the lower grade does not know that the dharma-nature is without birth, merely by the power of calling the Buddha’s name he forms the intention to be born and aspires to be born in that land. That land is the realm of no-birth, and the fire of the view of birth is extinguished of itself.” 〔T40n1819 0839b04〕
The Buddha’s Eight Adornments (Item by Item)
〔二十五〕The names of the Buddha’s eight — Treatise: 「云何觀佛功德莊嚴成就？觀佛功德莊嚴成就者，有八種應知。」—“How does one contemplate the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the Buddha? In contemplating the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the Buddha there are eight kinds that should be known.” 〔T26n1524 0232a15〕 Mirror: 「云何觀佛莊嚴功德成就？觀佛莊嚴功德成就者，有八種相應知。此觀義已彰前偈。」—“How does one contemplate the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the Buddha? In contemplating the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the Buddha there are eight kinds of mark that should be known. The meaning of this contemplation has already been made plain in the verses earlier.” 〔T40n1819 0839b10〕
Adornment 18 · the adornment of the seat (〔二十六〕) — Treatise: 「何者座莊嚴？偈言「無量大寶王，微妙淨華臺故」。」—“What is the adornment of the seat? The verse says, ‘a king of measureless great jewels, a wondrous, pure flower-dais—so it is.’” 〔T26n1524 0232a20〕 Mirror: 「何者莊嚴座功德成就？偈言「無量大寶王，微妙淨華臺」故。若欲觀座，當依《觀無量壽經》。」—“What is the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the seat? It is so because the verse says, ‘a king of measureless great jewels, a wondrous, pure flower-dais.’ Whoever wishes to contemplate the seat should rely on The Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life.” 〔T40n1819 0839b16〕
Adornment 19 · the adornment of the body (〔二十七〕) — Treatise: 「何者身莊嚴？偈言「相好光一尋，色像超群生」故。」—“What is the adornment of the body? It is so because the verse says, ‘The light of his marks and signs extends one fathom; the image of his form surpasses all beings.’” 〔T26n1524 0232a21〕 Mirror: 「何者莊嚴身業功德成就？偈言「相好光一尋，色像超群生」故。若欲觀佛身，當依《觀無量壽經》。」—“What is the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of bodily action? It is so because the verse says, ‘The light of his marks and signs extends one fathom; the image of his form surpasses all beings.’ If one would contemplate the Buddha’s body, one should rely on The Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life.” 〔T40n1819 0839b19〕
Adornment 20 · the adornment of speech (〔二十八〕) — Treatise: 「何者口莊嚴？偈言「如來微妙聲，梵響聞十方」故。」—“What is the adornment of speech? It is so because the verse says, ‘The Tathāgata’s wondrous voice, a Brahmā resonance heard in the ten directions.’” 〔T26n1524 0232a22〕 Mirror: 「何者莊嚴口業功德成就？偈言「如來微妙聲，梵響聞十方」故。」—“What is the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of verbal action? It is so because the verse says, ‘The Tathāgata’s wondrous voice, a Brahmā resonance heard in the ten directions.’” 〔T40n1819 0839b22〕—Tanluan here only cites without explaining; the healing of the three actions of body, speech, and mind he explains together under mental action.
Adornment 21 · the adornment of the mind (〔二十九〕) — Treatise: 「何者心莊嚴？偈言「同地水火風，虛空無分別」故。無分別者，無分別心故。」—“What is the adornment of the mind? It is so because the verse says, ‘Like earth, water, fire, wind, and space, without discrimination.’ ‘Without discrimination’: because there is no discriminating mind.” 〔T26n1524 0232a23〕 Mirror: 「何者莊嚴心業功德成就？偈言「同地水火風虛空無分別」故。無分別者，無分別心故。」—“What is the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of mental action? It is so because the verse says, ‘Like earth, water, fire, wind, and space, without discrimination.’ ‘Without discrimination’: because there is no discriminating mind.” 〔T40n1819 0839b23〕 「凡夫眾生以身口意三業造罪，輪轉三界無有窮已。是故諸佛菩薩莊嚴身口意三業，用治眾生虛誑三業也。」—“Ordinary beings create offenses with the three actions of body, speech, and mind and turn through the three realms without end. Therefore the buddhas and bodhisattvas adorn the three actions of body, speech, and mind, to heal the false three actions of beings.” 〔T40n1819 0839b25〕 「如是等眾生，見阿彌陀如來相好光明身者，如上種種身業繫縛皆得解脫，入如來家畢竟得平等身業。」—“When such beings see the body of the Tathāgata Amitābha with its light of marks and signs, they are all freed from every kind of bondage of bodily action described above, enter the Tathāgata’s house, and in the end attain equal bodily action.” 〔T40n1819 0839b29〕 「如是等種種諸苦眾生，聞阿彌陀如來至德名號、說法音聲，如上種種口業繫縛皆得解脫，入如來家畢竟得平等口業。」—“When such beings suffering every kind of pain hear the Tathāgata Amitābha’s name of utmost virtue and the voice of his Dharma-teaching, they are all freed from every kind of bondage of verbal action described above, enter the Tathāgata’s house, and in the end attain equal verbal action.” 〔T40n1819 0839c05〕 「是眾生若遇阿彌陀如來平等光照、若聞阿彌陀如來平等意業，是等眾生如上種種意業繫縛皆得解脫，入如來家畢竟得平等意業。」—“If these beings meet the equal illumination of the light of the Tathāgata Amitābha, or hear of the Tathāgata Amitābha’s equal mental action, such beings are all freed from every kind of bondage of mental action described above, enter the Tathāgata’s house, and in the end attain equal mental action.” 〔T40n1819 0839c12〕
Questions and answers twenty-three to twenty-five (Tanluan poses the questions and answers them himself; the non-discrimination of the mind and the wisdom of all modes):
「問曰：心是覺知相，云何可得同地水火風無分別耶？答曰：心雖知相，入實相則無知也。譬如蛇性雖曲，入竹筒則直。」—“Question: The mind has the mark of awareness and knowing; how can it be like earth, water, fire, and wind, without discrimination? Answer: Though the mind has the mark of knowing, when it enters the real mark it is without knowing. It is like a snake: though its nature is crooked, when it enters a bamboo tube it becomes straight.” 〔T40n1819 0839c15〕 「如是等有知無知在于因緣，若在因緣則非知非無知也。」—“Thus knowing and not knowing lie in causes and conditions; and if they lie in causes and conditions, they are neither knowing nor not knowing.” 〔T40n1819 0839c20〕 「問曰：心入實相可令無知，云何得有一切種智耶？答曰：凡心有知則有所不知，聖心無知故無所不知。無知而知，知即無知也。」—“Question: If the mind entering the real mark can be made to be without knowing, how can there be the wisdom of all modes? Answer: The ordinary mind has knowing, and so there is what it does not know; the holy mind is without knowing, and so there is nothing it does not know. Knowing without knowing: knowing is itself not knowing.” 〔T40n1819 0839c21〕 「問曰：既言無知故無所不知；若無所不知者，豈不是知種種法耶？既知種種之法，復云何言無所分別耶？答曰：諸法種種相皆如幻化，然幻化象馬非無長頸鼻手足異，而智者觀之豈言定有象馬分別之耶？」—“Question: Since it is said that because it is without knowing there is nothing it does not know—if there is nothing it does not know, does it not know every kind of dharma? And if it knows every kind of dharma, how can it be said to have nothing that it discriminates? Answer: The various marks of all dharmas are all like illusions and transformations. Yet the illusory elephants and horses are not without differences of long necks, trunks, hands, and feet; but would the wise, looking at them, say that there are definitely elephants and horses and discriminate them?” 〔T40n1819 0839c24〕
Adornment 22 · the adornment of the assembly (〔三十〕) — Treatise: 「何者眾莊嚴？偈言「天人不動眾，清淨智海生」故。」—“What is the adornment of the assembly? It is so because the verse says, ‘The unmoving assembly of gods and humans, born from the sea of pure wisdom.’” 〔T26n1524 0232a24〕 Mirror: 「何者莊嚴大眾功德成就？偈言「天人不動眾，清淨智海生」故。」—“What is the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the great assembly? It is so because the verse says, ‘The unmoving assembly of gods and humans, born from the sea of pure wisdom.’” 〔T40n1819 0840a01〕—cited only, not explained (「此觀義已彰前偈」 (the meaning of this contemplation has already been made plain in the verses earlier)).
Adornment 23 · the adornment of the leader (〔三十一〕) — Treatise: 「何者上首莊嚴？偈言「如須彌山王，勝妙無過者」故。」—“What is the adornment of the leader? It is so because the verse says, ‘Like Sumeru, king of mountains, surpassingly wondrous, with none beyond him.’” 〔T26n1524 0232a25〕 Mirror: 「何者莊嚴上首功德成就？偈言「如須彌山王，勝妙無過者」故。」—“What is the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the leader? It is so because the verse says, ‘Like Sumeru, king of mountains, surpassingly wondrous, with none beyond him.’” 〔T40n1819 0840a02〕—cited only, not explained.
Adornment 24 · the adornment of the lord (〔三十二〕) — Treatise: 「何者主莊嚴？偈言「天人丈夫眾，恭敬繞瞻仰」故。」—“What is the adornment of the lord? It is so because the verse says, ‘The assembly of great men among gods and humans surrounds him in reverence and gazes up at him.’” 〔T26n1524 0232a27〕 Mirror: 「何者莊嚴主功德成就？偈言「天人丈夫眾，恭敬繞瞻仰」故。」—“What is the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the lord? It is so because the verse says, ‘The assembly of great men among gods and humans surrounds him in reverence and gazes up at him.’” 〔T40n1819 0840a03〕—cited only, not explained.
Adornment 25 · the adornment of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain (〔三十三〕) — Treatise: 「何者不虛作住持莊嚴？偈言「觀佛本願力，遇無空過者，能令速滿足，功德大寶海」故。」—“What is the adornment of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain? It is so because the verse says, ‘Contemplate the power of the Buddha’s original vow: of all who meet it, not one passes by in vain; it can swiftly bring to fullness the great jewel-sea of merit.’” 〔T26n1524 0232a28〕 Mirror: 「不虛作住持功德成就者，蓋是阿彌陀如來本願力也。今當略示虛作之相不能住持，用顯彼不虛作住持之義。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain is, indeed, the power of the original vow of the Tathāgata Amitābha. I shall now briefly show the marks of what is done in vain, which cannot abide and sustain, so as to make plain the meaning of that abiding and sustaining which is not in vain.” 〔T40n1819 0840a06〕 「得非作得、在非守在，皆由虛妄業作，不能住持也。」—“What is gained is not gained by doing; what remains does not remain by guarding. All comes of false and deluded karmic doing, and cannot abide and sustain.” 〔T40n1819 0840a11〕 「所言不虛作住持者，依本法藏菩薩四十八願、今日阿彌陀如來自在神力，願以成力、力以就願，願不徒然、力不虛設，力願相符畢竟不差，故曰成就。」—“What is called abiding and sustaining that is not in vain rests on the forty-eight vows of the bodhisattva Dharmākara of old and on the sovereign spiritual power of the Tathāgata Amitābha of today. The vow brings the power to completion, and the power fulfills the vow; the vow is not in vain, and the power is not set up for nothing; power and vow tally with each other and in the end do not diverge. Hence it says ‘accomplishment.’” 〔T40n1819 0840a12〕
〔三十四〕At once seeing that Buddha — Treatise: 「即見彼佛，未證淨心菩薩畢竟得平等法身，與淨心菩薩無異，淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩畢竟同得寂滅平等故。」—“Once they see that Buddha, bodhisattvas who have not yet realized the pure mind in the end attain the dharma-body of equality, no different from the bodhisattvas of pure mind; and the bodhisattvas of pure mind and all the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds in the end attain alike the equality of quiescence.” 〔T26n1524 0232a29〕 Mirror: 「即見彼佛，未證淨心菩薩畢竟得證平等法身，與淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩畢竟同得寂滅平等故。」—“Once they see that Buddha, bodhisattvas who have not yet realized the pure mind in the end realize the dharma-body of equality, and, with the bodhisattvas of pure mind and all the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds, in the end attain alike the equality of quiescence.” 〔T40n1819 0840a17〕 「平等法身者，八地已上法性生身菩薩也。寂滅平等者，即此法身菩薩所證寂滅平等之法也。」—“The dharma-body of equality is the bodhisattvas of the eighth ground and above, whose bodies are born of the dharma-nature. The equality of quiescence is the dharma of the equality of quiescence that these dharma-body bodhisattvas realize.” 〔T40n1819 0840a19〕 「此菩薩得報生三昧，以三昧神力能一處一念一時遍十方世界，種種供養一切諸佛及諸佛大會眾海，能於無量世界無佛法僧處種種示現種種教化，度脫一切眾生常作佛事。」—“These bodhisattvas attain the samādhi born of recompense; by the spiritual power of samādhi they are able, in one place, one thought, and one time, to pervade the worlds of the ten directions, making every kind of offering to all the buddhas and to the ocean-like great assemblies of the buddhas; in measureless worlds where there is no Buddha, Dharma, or Saṅgha they can manifest in every way and teach in every way, ferrying all beings across to liberation and constantly doing the work of buddhas.” 〔T40n1819 0840a23〕 「初無往來想、供養想、度脫想，是故此身名為平等法身，此法名為寂滅平等法也。」—“From the first they have no thought of going and coming, no thought of making offerings, no thought of ferrying across to liberation; therefore this body is called the dharma-body of equality, and this dharma is called the dharma of the equality of quiescence.” 〔T40n1819 0840a27〕 「未證淨心菩薩者，初地已上七地已還諸菩薩也。此菩薩亦能現身若百若千若萬若億若百千萬億無佛國土施作佛事，要須作心入三昧乃能，非不作心。以作心故，名為未得淨心。」—“Bodhisattvas who have not yet realized the pure mind are the bodhisattvas from the first ground up to the seventh. These bodhisattvas too can manifest bodies—a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred million, or a hundred thousand myriad koṭis—in lands without a buddha, and do the work of buddhas; but they must first form the intention and enter samādhi before they can do so; they cannot do it without forming the intention. Because they form the intention, they are called not yet having attained the pure mind.” 〔T40n1819 0840a29〕 「此菩薩願生安樂淨土，即見阿彌陀佛。見阿彌陀佛時，與上地諸菩薩畢竟身等法等。龍樹菩薩、婆藪槃頭菩薩輩願生彼者，當為此耳。」—“These bodhisattvas aspire to be born in the Pure Land of Peace and Bliss and at once see the Buddha Amitābha. When they see the Buddha Amitābha, they become in the end equal in body and equal in dharma with the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds. That the bodhisattva Nāgārjuna, the bodhisattva Vasubandhu, and their like aspire to be born there is surely for this.” 〔T40n1819 0840b04〕
Questions and answers twenty-six and twenty-seven (Tanluan poses the questions and answers them himself; the meaning of 「畢竟」 (in the end)):
「問曰：案《十地經》，菩薩進趣階級漸有無量功勳，逕多劫數然後乃得此。云何見阿彌陀佛時，畢竟與上地諸菩薩身等法等耶？答曰：言畢竟者，未言即等也。畢竟不失此等，故言等耳。」—“Question: According to the Sūtra of the Ten Grounds, the bodhisattva advances through the stages by degrees, with measureless meritorious achievement, passing through many kalpas before attaining this. How is it that when one sees the Buddha Amitābha, one is in the end equal in body and equal in dharma with the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds? Answer: ‘In the end’ does not say ‘at once equal.’ Because in the end one does not lose this equality, it says ‘equal.’” 〔T40n1819 0840b08〕 「問曰：若不即等，復何待言？菩薩但登初地，以漸增進，自然當與佛等。何假言與上地菩薩等？答曰：菩薩於七地中得大寂滅，上不見諸佛可求、下不見眾生可度，欲捨佛道證於實際。」—“Question: If not at once equal, why need it be said? Once a bodhisattva ascends the first ground and advances step by step, he will naturally become equal to the Buddha. Why must it say ‘equal to the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds’? Answer: In the seventh ground the bodhisattva attains the great quiescence: above, he does not see buddhas to be sought; below, he does not see beings to be ferried across; and he wishes to abandon the buddha-path and realize the limit of reality.” 〔T40n1819 0840b12〕 「爾時若不得十方諸佛神力加勸，即便滅度，與二乘無異。菩薩若往生安樂見阿彌陀佛，即無此難，是故須言畢竟平等。」—“At that time, if he did not receive the encouragement of the spiritual power of the buddhas of the ten directions, he would enter extinction at once, no different from the two vehicles. If a bodhisattva goes to be born in Peace and Bliss and sees the Buddha Amitābha, this difficulty does not exist; therefore it must say ‘in the end equal.’” 〔T40n1819 0840b16〕 「言十地階次者，是釋迦如來於閻浮提一應化道耳，他方淨土何必如此？五種不思議中佛法最不可思議，若言菩薩必從一地至一地無超越之理，未敢詳也。」—“The stages of the ten grounds are only one path of responsive manifestation of the Tathāgata Śākyamuni in Jambudvīpa; why must the pure lands of other quarters be so? Among the five kinds of the inconceivable, the Buddha’s Dharma is the most inconceivable. If one says that a bodhisattva must go from one ground to the next and that there is no principle of leaping beyond, I do not dare to be certain of it.” 〔T40n1819 0840b28〕 「夫非常之言不入常人之耳，謂之不然亦其宜也。」—“Words out of the ordinary do not enter the ears of ordinary people; that they think it not so is only to be expected.” 〔T40n1819 0840c08〕
〔三十五〕The eight phrases in brief — Treatise: 「略說八句，示現如來自利利他功德莊嚴次第成就應知。」—“These eight phrases, spoken in brief, show the Tathāgata’s adornment of the merit of self-benefit and of benefiting others, accomplished in its proper order; this should be known.” 〔T26n1524 0232b03〕 Mirror: 「略說八句示現如來自利利他功德莊嚴次第成就應知。此云何次第？」—“These eight phrases, spoken in brief, show the Tathāgata’s adornment of the merit of self-benefit and of benefiting others, accomplished in its proper order; this should be known. What is this order?” 〔T40n1819 0840c10〕 (for the text on the order, see the first topic)
The Bodhisattvas’ Four Kinds of Right Practice (Item by Item)
〔三十六〕The bodhisattvas’ four: general heading — Treatise: 「云何觀菩薩功德莊嚴成就？觀菩薩功德莊嚴成就者，觀彼菩薩有四種正修行功德成就應知。」—“How does one contemplate the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the bodhisattvas? To contemplate the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the bodhisattvas is to contemplate that the bodhisattvas there possess the accomplishment of the merit of four kinds of right practice; this should be known.” 〔T26n1524 0232b05〕 Mirror: 「云何觀察菩薩莊嚴功德成就？觀察菩薩莊嚴功德成就者，觀彼菩薩有四種正修行功德成就應知。真如是諸法正體，體如而行則是不行，不行而行名如實修行。」—“How does one contemplate the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the bodhisattvas? To contemplate the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the bodhisattvas is to contemplate that the bodhisattvas there possess the accomplishment of the merit of four kinds of right practice; this should be known. Suchness is the right substance of all dharmas. To practice with the substance as suchness is not to practice; to practice without practicing is called practicing in accordance with reality.” 〔T40n1819 0840c24〕
Adornment 26 · the first right practice · the body unmoving yet pervading the ten directions (〔三十七〕) — Treatise: 「一者於一佛土身不動搖，而遍十方種種應化，如實修行常作佛事。」—“First, in one buddha-land their bodies do not move, yet they pervade the ten directions with every kind of responsive manifestation, practicing in accordance with reality and constantly doing the work of buddhas.” 〔T26n1524 0232b07〕 Mirror: 「八地已上菩薩常在三昧，以三昧力身不動本處，而能遍至十方供養諸佛教化眾生。無垢輪者，佛地功德也。佛地功德無習氣煩惱垢，佛為諸菩薩常轉此法輪，諸大菩薩亦能以此法輪開導一切無暫時休息，故言常轉。法身如日，而應化身光遍諸世界也。言日未足以明不動，復言如須彌住持也。」—“Bodhisattvas of the eighth ground and above are always in samādhi; by the power of samādhi their bodies do not move from their own place, yet they are able to reach everywhere in the ten directions, making offerings to the buddhas and teaching beings. ‘The stainless wheel’ is the merit of the buddha-ground. The merit of the buddha-ground is without the stain of habit-energy and afflictions; the Buddha constantly turns this wheel of the Dharma for the bodhisattvas, and the great bodhisattvas too can with this wheel of the Dharma guide all without a moment’s rest; hence it says ‘ever turning.’ The dharma-body is like the sun, and the light of the responsive and manifested bodies spreads through all the worlds. Saying ‘sun’ is not enough to make clear that it is unmoving; so it says further, ‘abide and sustain like Sumeru.’” 〔T40n1819 0841a03〕 「此喻凡夫在煩惱泥中，為菩薩開導，能生佛正覺華。諒夫紹隆三寶，常使不絕。」—“This is a simile for ordinary people in the mud of the afflictions who, guided by the bodhisattvas, can give birth to the Buddha’s flower of right awakening. Truly, to carry on and make flourish the Three Jewels, ever keeping them from being cut off.” 〔T40n1819 0841a12〕
Adornment 27 · the second right practice · in one thought, at one time (〔三十八〕) — Treatise: 「二者彼應化身，一切時不前不後，一心一念放大光明，悉能遍至十方世界教化眾生，種種方便修行所作，滅除一切眾生苦故。」—“Second, those responsive bodies, at all times, neither before nor after, in one mind and one thought send forth a great light, and are all able to reach the worlds of the ten directions and teach beings, practicing and acting by every kind of skillful means so as to remove the suffering of all beings.” 〔T26n1524 0232b11〕 Mirror: 「上言不動而至，容或至有前後，是故復言一念一時無前後也。」—“Above it says that they reach without moving; but in reaching there might be a before and an after; therefore it says further ‘in one thought, at one time,’ without before or after.” 〔T40n1819 0841a18〕
Adornment 28 · the third right practice · reaching everywhere to make offerings (〔三十九〕) — Treatise: 「三者彼於一切世界無餘，照諸佛會大眾無餘，廣大無量供養恭敬讚歎諸佛如來。」—“Third, in all worlds without exception, and shining on the great assemblies of all the buddhas without exception, they make vast and measureless offerings, reverence, and praise to the buddhas, the tathāgatas.” 〔T26n1524 0232b15〕 Mirror: 「無餘者，明遍至一切世界一切諸佛大會，無有一世界一佛會不至也。肇公言：「法身無像而殊形並應，至韻無言而玄籍彌布，冥權無謀而動與事會。」蓋斯意也。」—“‘Without exception’ makes clear that they reach every great assembly of every buddha in every world, with not one world or one buddha-assembly that they do not reach. Master Zhao says: ‘The dharma-body is without image, yet its differing forms respond together; the utmost resonance is without words, yet the profound scriptures spread everywhere; the hidden expedient is without design, yet its every movement meets the occasion.’ This is surely the meaning.” 〔T40n1819 0841a23〕
Adornment 29 · the fourth right practice · where there are no Three Jewels, abiding in and sustaining the Three Jewels (〔四十〕) — Treatise: 「四者彼於十方一切世界無三寶處，住持莊嚴佛法僧寶功德大海，遍示令解如實修行。」—“Fourth, in all the worlds of the ten directions where there are no Three Jewels, they abide in and sustain, and adorn, the great sea of merit of the jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, showing it everywhere so that beings understand and practice in accordance with reality.” 〔T26n1524 0232b18〕 Mirror: 「上三句雖言遍至，皆是有佛國土。若無此句，便是法身有所不法、上善有所不善。觀行體相竟。」—“Though the three phrases above speak of reaching everywhere, all are lands that have a buddha. Without this phrase, the dharma-body would have places it does not make dharma, and the supreme good would have places it does not make good. The substance and characteristics of the practice of contemplation are finished.” 〔T40n1819 0841b01〕
The Mind of the Vow Entering into Purity (the Fourth Section)
〔四十一〕Adornment by the mind of the vow · entering the one dharma-phrase — Treatise: 「又向說佛國土功德莊嚴成就、佛功德莊嚴成就、菩薩功德成就，此三種成就願心莊嚴，略說入一法句故。」—“Further, the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the buddha-land, the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the Buddha, and the accomplishment of the merit of the bodhisattvas spoken of above—these three accomplishments are adorned by the mind of the vow, and, spoken of in brief, they enter the one dharma-phrase.” 〔T26n1524 0232b22〕 The mirror cites it in two segments: 「又向說觀察莊嚴佛土功德成就、莊嚴佛功德成就、莊嚴菩薩功德成就，此三種成就，願心莊嚴應知。」—“Further, the contemplation, spoken of above, of the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the buddha-land, the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the Buddha, and the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the bodhisattvas—these three accomplishments are adorned by the mind of the vow; this should be known.” 〔T40n1819 0841b05〕 「應知者，應知此三種莊嚴成就，由本四十八願等清淨願心之所莊嚴。因淨故果淨，非無因、他因有也。」—“‘Should be known’: it should be known that the accomplishment of these three kinds of adornment is adorned by the pure mind of the vow—the forty-eight vows and the rest—of old. Because the cause is pure, the fruit is pure; it is not that it exists without a cause, or from some other cause.” 〔T40n1819 0841b07〕 「略說入一法句故。上國土莊嚴十七句、如來莊嚴八句、菩薩莊嚴四句為廣，入一法句為略。何故示現廣略相入？諸佛菩薩有二種法身：一者法性法身、二者方便法身。由法性法身生方便法身、由方便法身出法性法身，此二法身異而不可分、一而不可同，是故廣略相入統以法名。菩薩若不知廣略相入，則不能自利利他。」—“‘Spoken of in brief, they enter the one dharma-phrase.’ The seventeen phrases of the adornment of the land above, the eight phrases of the adornment of the Tathāgata, and the four phrases of the adornment of the bodhisattvas are the extensive; entering the one dharma-phrase is the brief. Why show the extensive and the brief entering each other? The buddhas and bodhisattvas have two kinds of dharma-body: first, the dharma-nature dharma-body; second, the skillful-means dharma-body. From the dharma-nature dharma-body arises the skillful-means dharma-body; through the skillful-means dharma-body the dharma-nature dharma-body comes forth. These two dharma-bodies are different yet cannot be separated, one yet cannot be made the same; therefore the extensive and the brief enter each other and are governed by the name ‘dharma.’ If a bodhisattva does not know the extensive and the brief entering each other, he cannot benefit himself and benefit others.” 〔T40n1819 0841b10〕
The one dharma-phrase · the phrase of purity · the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom (three phrases entering one another in turn) — Treatise: 「一法句者，謂清淨句。清淨句者，謂真實智慧無為法身故。」—“The one dharma-phrase is the phrase of purity. The phrase of purity is the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom.” 〔T26n1524 0232b24〕 Mirror: 「一法句者謂清淨句，清淨句者謂真實智慧無為法身故。此三句展轉相入。依何義名之為法？以清淨故。依何義名為清淨？以真實智慧無為法身故。」—“The one dharma-phrase is the phrase of purity; the phrase of purity is the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom. These three phrases enter one another in turn. By what meaning is it named ‘dharma’? Because of purity. By what meaning is it named ‘purity’? Because it is the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom.” 〔T40n1819 0841b18〕 「真實智慧者，實相智慧也。實相無相，故真智無知也。無為法身者，法性身也。法性寂滅，故法身無相也。無相故能無不相，是故相好莊嚴即法身也。無知故能無不知，是故一切種智即真實智慧也。」—“True wisdom is the wisdom of the real mark. The real mark is without marks; therefore true wisdom is without knowing. The unconditioned dharma-body is the body of the dharma-nature. The dharma-nature is quiescent; therefore the dharma-body is without marks. Because it is without marks it can be without any mark it is not; therefore the adornment of marks and signs is the dharma-body itself. Because it is without knowing it can be without anything it does not know; therefore the wisdom of all modes is true wisdom itself.” 〔T40n1819 0841b21〕 「以真實而目智慧，明智慧非作非非作也；以無為而標法身，明法身非色非非色也。」—“Wisdom is designated ‘true’ to make clear that wisdom is neither made nor not made; the dharma-body is marked ‘unconditioned’ to make clear that the dharma-body is neither form nor not form.” 〔T40n1819 0841b26〕 「非於非者豈非非之能是乎？蓋無非之曰是也，自是無待復非是也，非是非非，百非之所不喻，是故言清淨句。」—“Is negating the negation then able to be an affirmation by negating it? It is the absence of negation that is called affirmation; an affirmation in itself, depending on nothing, is again not an affirmation. Neither affirmation nor non-negation—what a hundred negations cannot convey; therefore it says ‘the phrase of purity.’” 〔T40n1819 0841b28〕
〔四十二〕The two kinds of purity — Treatise: 「此清淨有二種應知。何等二種？一者器世間清淨；二者眾生世間清淨。」—“This purity is of two kinds, which should be known. What are the two? The first is purity of the vessel world; the second, purity of the world of sentient beings.” 〔T26n1524 0232b25〕 Mirror: 「此清淨有二種應知。上轉入句中，通一法入清淨、通清淨入法身。今將別清淨出二種故，故言應知。」—“This purity is of two kinds, which should be known. In the phrases above that turn and enter one another, the one dharma entered purity, and purity entered the dharma-body. Now purity is to be distinguished and brought out as two kinds; hence it says ‘should be known.’” 〔T40n1819 0841c03〕 「如是一法句攝二種清淨義應知。夫眾生為別報之體、國土為共報之用，體用不一，所以應知。然諸法心成，無餘境界，眾生及器復不得異、不得一，不一則義分、不異同清淨。」—“In this way the one dharma-phrase gathers in the meaning of the two kinds of purity; this should be known. Now, beings are the substance of individual recompense, and the land is the function of shared recompense; substance and function are not one, and so it should be known. Yet all dharmas are formed by the mind, and there is no realm apart from it; beings and the vessel cannot be different and cannot be one. Not being one, their meanings are distinguished; not being different, they are alike pure.” 〔T40n1819 0841c10〕 「器者用也，謂彼淨土是彼清淨眾生之所受用，故名為器。」—“‘Vessel’ means what is used: that pure land is what those pure beings receive and use; hence it is called the vessel.” 〔T40n1819 0841c14〕 「要二俱潔乃得稱淨，是以一清淨名必攝二種。」—“Only when both are clean can it be called pure; therefore the one name of purity necessarily gathers in the two kinds.” 〔T40n1819 0841c18〕
Question and answer twenty-eight (Tanluan poses the question and answers it himself; whether the humans and gods enter the number of the pure):
「問曰：言眾生清淨，則是佛與菩薩；彼諸人天得入此清淨數不？答曰：得名清淨，非實清淨。譬如出家聖人，以殺煩惱賊故名為比丘。凡夫出家者，持戒破戒皆名比丘。」—“Question: Speaking of the purity of beings, this means the Buddha and the bodhisattvas. Do the humans and gods there enter this number of the pure or not? Answer: They attain the name of purity, but are not truly pure. It is like a holy person who has left home, who is called bhikṣu because he has killed the bandits of the afflictions; yet ordinary people who leave home, whether they keep the precepts or break them, are all called bhikṣus.” 〔T40n1819 0841c19〕 「彼諸人天亦復如是，皆入大乘正定之聚，畢竟當得清淨法身，以當得故得名清淨。」—“The humans and gods there are likewise: all enter the Mahāyāna group of right fixity and will in the end attain the pure dharma-body; because they will attain it, they attain the name of purity.” 〔T40n1819 0841c25〕
Who asks and who answers — this passage has seven sets of question and answer (questions and answers twenty-two to twenty-eight), all posed and answered by Tanluan himself, with no other speaker intervening; there is also the passage 「此中有疑，疑言」 (here there is a doubt; the doubt says) 〔T40n1819 0838c17〕, likewise a doubt posed by Tanluan himself and not marked by 「問曰」 (question). The answer of question and answer twenty-two the mirror marks with 「答：」 (answer), not 「答曰」 (the answer says); recorded as it stands. The treatise’s questions of the form “How does one contemplate …?” and “What is …?” are all asked and answered by the author of the treatise himself.
V. Divergent Readings of the Commentators (in parallel columns — recorded without adjudication)
This treatise has Tanluan alone as its mirror; the places in this passage where Tanluan cites another view himself, or poses another’s doubt and answers it himself, are listed verbatim.
| Matter | The other view (cited or posed by Tanluan) | Anchor | Tanluan’s view | Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspiring to birth and no-birth | 「生為有本，眾累之元；棄生願生，生何可盡？」—“Birth is the root of existence, the source of all burdens; to cast off birth yet aspire to birth—how can birth ever be ended?” | 〔T40n1819 0838c17〕 | 「明彼淨土是阿彌陀如來清淨本願無生之生，非如三有虛妄生也。」—“making clear that that pure land is the birth of no-birth of the pure original vow of the Tathāgata Amitābha, not like the false birth of the three existences.” | 〔T40n1819 0838c20〕 |
| Whether those of the lower grade born by ten thoughts take birth as real | 「若下下品人乘十念往生，豈非取實生耶？」—“If a person of the lowest of the lower grade is born there riding on ten thoughts, is he not taking birth as real?” | 〔T40n1819 0839a22〕 | 「彼土是無生界，見生之火自然而滅。」—“That land is the realm of no-birth, and the fire of the view of birth is extinguished of itself.” | 〔T40n1819 0839b06〕 |
| The stages of the ten grounds and equality on seeing the Buddha | 「案《十地經》，菩薩進趣階級漸有無量功勳，逕多劫數然後乃得此。」—“According to the Sūtra of the Ten Grounds, the bodhisattva advances through the stages by degrees, with measureless meritorious achievement, passing through many kalpas before attaining this.” | 〔T40n1819 0840b08〕 | 「言十地階次者，是釋迦如來於閻浮提一應化道耳，他方淨土何必如此？」—“The stages of the ten grounds are only one path of responsive manifestation of the Tathāgata Śākyamuni in Jambudvīpa; why must the pure lands of other quarters be so?” | 〔T40n1819 0840b28〕 |
| Doubt about swift realization | 「有人聞釋迦如來證羅漢於一聽、制無生於終朝，謂是接誘之言，非稱實之說。」—“There are people who, hearing that the Tathāgata Śākyamuni brought about arhatship at a single hearing and mastered no-birth within a single morning, say that these are words to draw people on, not statements that match reality.” | 〔T40n1819 0840c06〕 | 「夫非常之言不入常人之耳，謂之不然亦其宜也。」—“Words out of the ordinary do not enter the ears of ordinary people; that they think it not so is only to be expected.” | 〔T40n1819 0840c08〕 |
| The dharma-body responding everywhere | Master Zhao says: 「法身無像而殊形並應，至韻無言而玄籍彌布，冥權無謀而動與事會。」—“The dharma-body is without image, yet its differing forms respond together; the utmost resonance is without words, yet the profound scriptures spread everywhere; the hidden expedient is without design, yet its every movement meets the occasion.” | 〔T40n1819 0841a25〕 | Used to prove reaching everywhere without exception: 「蓋斯意也。」—“This is surely the meaning.” | 〔T40n1819 0841a26〕 |
| The purity of humans and gods | 「言眾生清淨，則是佛與菩薩；彼諸人天得入此清淨數不？」—“Speaking of the purity of beings, this means the Buddha and the bodhisattvas. Do the humans and gods there enter this number of the pure or not?” | 〔T40n1819 0841c19〕 | 「得名清淨，非實清淨。」—“They attain the name of purity, but are not truly pure.” | 〔T40n1819 0841c20〕 |
Recorded: First, in answering the question about the ten grounds, Tanluan takes the twenty-second vow of the Sūtra of Measureless Life as his ground and says 「或可不從一地至一地」 (they may perhaps not go from one ground to the next), and himself says 「未敢詳也」 (I do not dare to be certain of it)—his words keep the doubt and do not settle it; recorded as they stand. Second, for Master Zhao’s words Tanluan says only 「肇公言」 (Master Zhao says), without naming the book. Third, the sentence 「有人聞釋迦如來證羅漢於一聽」 (there are people who, hearing that the Tathāgata Śākyamuni brought about arhatship at a single hearing) is preceded by the two characters 「即曰」 (then it is said), and is set up following on the simile of the haojian tree; recorded as it stands. None of this is adjudicated.
VI. Terms (first occurrences — all glosses drawn from the mirror commentary)
| Term | Tanluan’s gloss (verbatim) | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| A power beyond conceiving | 「不可思議力者，總指彼佛國土十七種莊嚴功德力不可得思議也。」—“‘A power beyond conceiving’ refers in general to the power of the merit of the seventeen adornments of that buddha-land, which cannot be conceived.” | 〔T40n1819 0836b05〕 |
| The five kinds of the inconceivable | 「諸經統言有五種不可思議：一者眾生多少不可思議、二者業力不可思議、三者龍力不可思議、四者禪定力不可思議、五者佛法力不可思議。」—“The sūtras say in general that there are five kinds of the inconceivable: first, the number of beings is inconceivable; second, the power of karma is inconceivable; third, the power of the nāgas is inconceivable; fourth, the power of meditative concentration is inconceivable; fifth, the power of the Buddha’s Dharma is inconceivable.” | 〔T40n1819 0836b07〕 |
| The nature of the maṇi wish-fulfilling jewel | 「借彼摩尼如意寶性，示安樂佛土不可思議性也。」—“The nature of the maṇi wish-fulfilling jewel is borrowed to show the inconceivable nature of the buddha-land of Peace and Bliss.” | 〔T40n1819 0836b15〕 |
| By way of resemblance, setting like against like | 「片取彼性為喻，故言相似相對。」—“A part of that jewel’s nature is taken as the simile; hence it says ‘by way of resemblance, setting like against like.’” | 〔T40n1819 0836c01〕 |
| The seventeen (headings · general and particular) | 「十七句中總別為二：初句是總相，所謂是清淨佛土過三界道。」—“Among the seventeen phrases, general and particular make two: the first phrase is the general mark, namely that this pure buddha-land surpasses the paths of the three realms.” | 〔T40n1819 0838c27〕 |
| The three kinds of adornment (water · ground · space) · the six great elements | 「此三種所以并言者，以同類故也。何以言之？一者六大類，所謂虛空、識、地、水、火、風。二者無分別類，所謂地、水、火、風、虛空。」—“These three kinds are spoken of together because they are of the same class. Why say so? First, the class of the six great elements, namely space, consciousness, earth, water, fire, and wind. Second, the class of the non-discriminating, namely earth, water, fire, wind, and space.” | 〔T40n1819 0837a29〕 |
| Abiding · sustaining | 「住名不異不滅，持名不散不失，」—“‘Abiding’ means not changing and not perishing; ‘sustaining’ means not scattering and not being lost;” | 〔T40n1819 0838a21〕 |
| Reproach (of substance · of name) | 「無此三過，故名離體譏嫌。」—“These three faults are absent; hence it is called free of reproach in substance.” | 〔T40n1819 0838b18〕 |
| Equal | 「等者，平等一相故。」—“‘Equal’: because all is equal and of a single mark.” | 〔T40n1819 0838b20〕 |
| In brief (the brief account of the seventeen) | 「言略者，彰彼淨土功德無量，非唯十七種也。」—“‘In brief’ makes plain that the merits of that pure land are measureless, not only seventeen kinds.” | 〔T40n1819 0838c05〕 |
| The ultimate truth | 「第一義諦者，佛因緣法也。」—“The ultimate truth is the Buddha’s dharma of causes and conditions.” | 〔T40n1819 0838c12〕 |
| The marks of the wondrous realm | 「此諦是境義，是故莊嚴等十六句稱為妙境界相。」—“This truth has the meaning of a realm; therefore the sixteen phrases of adornment and the rest are called the marks of the wondrous realm.” | 〔T40n1819 0838c13〕 |
| The sixteen phrases and the one phrase | 「及一句次第者，謂觀器淨等。總別十七句觀行次第也。」—“‘And the one phrase … in their proper order’ refers to contemplating the purity of the vessel and the rest: the order of contemplative practice of the seventeen phrases, general and particular.” | 〔T40n1819 0838c15〕 |
| Without discrimination | 「無分別者，無分別心故。」—“‘Without discrimination’: because there is no discriminating mind.” | 〔T40n1819 0839b24〕 |
| Abiding and sustaining that is not in vain | 「不虛作住持功德成就者，蓋是阿彌陀如來本願力也。」—“The accomplishment of the merit of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain is, indeed, the power of the original vow of the Tathāgata Amitābha.” | 〔T40n1819 0840a06〕 |
| The dharma-body of equality | 「平等法身者，八地已上法性生身菩薩也。」—“The dharma-body of equality is the bodhisattvas of the eighth ground and above, whose bodies are born of the dharma-nature.” | 〔T40n1819 0840a19〕 |
| The equality of quiescence | 「寂滅平等者，即此法身菩薩所證寂滅平等之法也。」—“The equality of quiescence is the dharma of the equality of quiescence that these dharma-body bodhisattvas realize.” | 〔T40n1819 0840a20〕 |
| The samādhi born of recompense | 「此菩薩得報生三昧，以三昧神力能一處一念一時遍十方世界，」—“These bodhisattvas attain the samādhi born of recompense; by the spiritual power of samādhi they are able, in one place, one thought, and one time, to pervade the worlds of the ten directions,” | 〔T40n1819 0840a23〕 |
| Bodhisattvas who have not yet realized the pure mind | 「未證淨心菩薩者，初地已上七地已還諸菩薩也。」—“Bodhisattvas who have not yet realized the pure mind are the bodhisattvas from the first ground up to the seventh.” | 〔T40n1819 0840a29〕 |
| Pure mind (not yet having attained the pure mind) | 「以作心故，名為未得淨心。」—“Because they form the intention, they are called not yet having attained the pure mind.” | 〔T40n1819 0840b04〕 |
| In the end | 「言畢竟者，未言即等也。畢竟不失此等，故言等耳。」—“‘In the end’ does not say ‘at once equal.’ Because in the end one does not lose this equality, it says ‘equal.’” | 〔T40n1819 0840b11〕 |
| Right practice · practicing in accordance with reality | 「真如是諸法正體，體如而行則是不行，不行而行名如實修行。」—“Suchness is the right substance of all dharmas. To practice with the substance as suchness is not to practice; to practice without practicing is called practicing in accordance with reality.” | 〔T40n1819 0840c26〕 |
| The stainless wheel | 「無垢輪者，佛地功德也。佛地功德無習氣煩惱垢，」—“‘The stainless wheel’ is the merit of the buddha-ground. The merit of the buddha-ground is without the stain of habit-energy and afflictions,” | 〔T40n1819 0841a05〕 |
| The dharma-body like the sun · the responsive and manifested bodies | 「法身如日，而應化身光遍諸世界也。」—“The dharma-body is like the sun, and the light of the responsive and manifested bodies spreads through all the worlds.” | 〔T40n1819 0841a08〕 |
| The flower from the mire | 「此喻凡夫在煩惱泥中，為菩薩開導，能生佛正覺華。」—“This is a simile for ordinary people in the mud of the afflictions who, guided by the bodhisattvas, can give birth to the Buddha’s flower of right awakening.” | 〔T40n1819 0841a12〕 |
| Without exception | 「無餘者，明遍至一切世界一切諸佛大會，無有一世界一佛會不至也。」—“‘Without exception’ makes clear that they reach every great assembly of every buddha in every world, with not one world or one buddha-assembly that they do not reach.” | 〔T40n1819 0841a23〕 |
| Adornment by the mind of the vow | 「應知此三種莊嚴成就，由本四十八願等清淨願心之所莊嚴。」—“It should be known that the accomplishment of these three kinds of adornment is adorned by the pure mind of the vow—the forty-eight vows and the rest—of old.” | 〔T40n1819 0841b07〕 |
| The extensive · the brief | 「上國土莊嚴十七句、如來莊嚴八句、菩薩莊嚴四句為廣，入一法句為略。」—“The seventeen phrases of the adornment of the land above, the eight phrases of the adornment of the Tathāgata, and the four phrases of the adornment of the bodhisattvas are the extensive; entering the one dharma-phrase is the brief.” | 〔T40n1819 0841b10〕 |
| Dharma-nature dharma-body · skillful-means dharma-body | 「諸佛菩薩有二種法身：一者法性法身、二者方便法身。」—“The buddhas and bodhisattvas have two kinds of dharma-body: first, the dharma-nature dharma-body; second, the skillful-means dharma-body.” | 〔T40n1819 0841b12〕 |
| The one dharma-phrase · the phrase of purity | 「一法句者謂清淨句，清淨句者謂真實智慧無為法身故。此三句展轉相入。」—“The one dharma-phrase is the phrase of purity; the phrase of purity is the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom. These three phrases enter one another in turn.” | 〔T40n1819 0841b18〕 |
| True wisdom | 「真實智慧者，實相智慧也。實相無相，故真智無知也。」—“True wisdom is the wisdom of the real mark. The real mark is without marks; therefore true wisdom is without knowing.” | 〔T40n1819 0841b21〕 |
| The unconditioned dharma-body | 「無為法身者，法性身也。法性寂滅，故法身無相也。」—“The unconditioned dharma-body is the body of the dharma-nature. The dharma-nature is quiescent; therefore the dharma-body is without marks.” | 〔T40n1819 0841b22〕 |
| Purity of the vessel world · purity of the world of sentient beings | 「夫眾生為別報之體、國土為共報之用，體用不一，所以應知。」—“Now, beings are the substance of individual recompense, and the land is the function of shared recompense; substance and function are not one, and so it should be known.” | 〔T40n1819 0841c11〕 |
| Vessel | 「器者用也，謂彼淨土是彼清淨眾生之所受用，故名為器。」—“‘Vessel’ means what is used: that pure land is what those pure beings receive and use; hence it is called the vessel.” | 〔T40n1819 0841c14〕 |
| The group of right fixity | 「彼諸人天亦復如是，皆入大乘正定之聚，畢竟當得清淨法身，以當得故得名清淨。」—“The humans and gods there are likewise: all enter the Mahāyāna group of right fixity and will in the end attain the pure dharma-body; because they will attain it, they attain the name of purity.” | 〔T40n1819 0841c25〕 |
Sanskrit: the names in Indian sound in the treatise’s text of this passage are only three, 「摩尼」 (maṇi), 「迦旃隣陀」 (Jiazhanlintuo), and 「須彌」 (Sumeru), and Tanluan gives the Sanskrit form for none of them; the explanation of 「迦旃隣陀」 (Jiazhanlintuo) has already been given in the unit on the verses (「天竺柔軟草名」—“the name of a soft grass of India”), and the Chinese sound is kept without reconstruction. The insect 「迦羅求羅」 (Jialuoqiuluo) that Tanluan himself cites is likewise kept only in its Chinese sound.
「自利利他」 (self-benefit and benefiting others): at the close of the seventeen the treatise has 「自身利益大功德力」 (the great power of merit by which he benefits himself) and 「利益他功德」 (the merit of benefiting others); at the close of the eight phrases it has 「自利利他」 (self-benefit and benefiting others). Tanluan takes the seventeen as 「雖曰利他，自利之義炳然可知」—“though said to benefit others, the meaning of self-benefit is plain to see,” and says 「菩薩若不知廣略相入，則不能自利利他」—“if a bodhisattva does not know the extensive and the brief entering each other, he cannot benefit himself and benefit others.” His words are recorded as they stand; no separate explanation is set up.
「淨心菩薩」 (bodhisattvas of pure mind): both the treatise and the mirror use it. Tanluan explains only 「未證淨心菩薩」 (bodhisattvas who have not yet realized the pure mind) and 「未得淨心」 (not yet having attained the pure mind), and does not separately explain the name 「淨心菩薩」 (bodhisattvas of pure mind). As to their rank, Tanluan ties the dharma-body of equality to 「八地已上」 (the eighth ground and above), and not yet having realized the pure mind to 「初地已上七地已還」 (from the first ground up to the seventh).
「上地」 (the higher grounds): the treatise has 「上地諸菩薩」 (all the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds); Tanluan sets up no separate explanation.
VII. Similes and Rhetoric
Similes the treatise uses of itself:
| The treatise verbatim | Anchor | Tanluan’s explanation | Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「如彼摩尼如意寶性，相似相對法故。」—“It is like the nature of the maṇi wish-fulfilling jewel—by the method of setting like against like, by way of resemblance.” | 〔T26n1524 0231b26〕 | 「借彼摩尼如意寶性，示安樂佛土不可思議性也。」—“The nature of the maṇi wish-fulfilling jewel is borrowed to show the inconceivable nature of the buddha-land of Peace and Bliss.” | 〔T40n1819 0836b15〕 |
| 「開諸眾生淤泥華故。」—“in order to open the lotus that grows from the mire for beings.” | 〔T26n1524 0232b10〕 | 「此喻凡夫在煩惱泥中，為菩薩開導，能生佛正覺華。」—“This is a simile for ordinary people in the mud of the afflictions who, guided by the bodhisattvas, can give birth to the Buddha’s flower of right awakening.” | 〔T40n1819 0841a12〕 |
The similes within the verse-lines cited by the treatise (such as the mirror and the orbs of the sun and the moon, Sumeru king of mountains, abiding and sustaining like Sumeru, the sea of wisdom, and the great jewel-sea of merit) have already been given in the seventh topic of the unit on the verses.
Similes set up by the mirror commentary:
| Simile | Tanluan verbatim | Anchor | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relics turning into maṇi · the wheel-turning king praying for rain | 「諸佛入涅槃時，以方便力留碎身舍利以福眾生。眾生福盡，此舍利變為摩尼如意寶珠。」—“When the buddhas enter nirvāṇa, by the power of skillful means they leave behind their relics, their bodies broken into pieces, to bless beings. When the merit of beings is exhausted, these relics change into maṇi wish-fulfilling jewels.” | 〔T40n1819 0836b16〕 | A simile for the power of the jewel’s nature |
| The Jialuoqiuluo insect | 「譬如迦羅求羅蟲其形微小，若得大風身如大山，隨風大小為己身相。」—“It is like the Jialuoqiuluo insect: its form is tiny, but if it meets a great wind its body becomes like a great mountain, taking the size of the wind as the measure of its own body.” | 〔T40n1819 0837a03〕 | Born there, one at once accomplishes supramundane roots of good (nature) |
| Patience brings fine features | 「夫忍辱得端正，我心影嚮也。」—“Now, patience brings fine features: this is the shadow and echo of one’s own mind.” | 〔T40n1819 0837a09〕 | The forms and images of that land are equal (form) |
| The bodhisattva Aizuo | 「有菩薩字愛作，形容端正生人染著。」—“There was a bodhisattva named Aizuo, ‘Love-Maker,’ whose form and features were so handsome that people became attached to him.” | 〔T40n1819 0837a25〕 | The pleasure of touch increases the path (touch) |
| The clean, bright mirror | 「此莊嚴事如淨明鏡，十方國土淨穢諸相善惡業緣一切悉現，」—“These adorned things are like a clean, bright mirror in which all the marks of the lands of the ten directions, pure and defiled, and the karmic conditions of good and evil, appear entirely,” | 〔T40n1819 0837c04〕 | The reflections of the adornment of the ground |
| As if reaching into boiling water | 「彼中人天見斯事故，探湯不及之情自然成就。」—“Because the humans and gods there see these things, the feeling of ‘reaching out as if into boiling water, afraid of not getting away in time’ is accomplished of itself.” | 〔T40n1819 0837c05〕 | Seeing the karmic conditions of evil, they shun evil |
| Seeing the buddhas in a jewel crown | 「亦如諸大菩薩以照法性等寶為冠，此寶冠中皆見諸佛。」—“It is also like the great bodhisattvas who take jewels such as the one that illumines the dharma-nature as their crowns; in these jewel crowns all the buddhas are seen.” | 〔T40n1819 0837c07〕 | The reflections of the adornment of the ground |
| Seeds smeared with an imperishable medicine | 「如以不朽藥塗種子，在水不瀾、在火不燋，得因緣則生。」—“It is like seeds smeared with an imperishable medicine: in water they do not rot, in fire they do not scorch, and when they meet the conditions they sprout.” | 〔T40n1819 0838a22〕 | Because of the good abiding and sustaining, the seed of bodhi does not perish (the lord) |
| Brothers within the four seas | 「同一念佛無別道故，遠通夫四海之內皆為兄弟也。」—“Because all alike are mindful of the Buddha with no other path, far and wide, all within the four seas are brothers.” | 〔T40n1819 0838b03〕 | The retinue are all born by transformation from the same pure flower |
| The gods sharing rice from one vessel · a toe pressing the ground | 「夫諸天共器飯，有隨福之色。足指按地，乃詳金礫之旨。」—“When the gods share rice from the same vessel, it takes on colors according to their merit; when a toe presses the ground, the meaning of gold and gravel becomes plain.” | 〔T40n1819 0838b21〕 | In this world differences are seen |
| The rivers Zi and Sheng of a single taste | 「亦如淄澠〔食陵反〕一味，焉可思議？」—“Like the rivers Zi and Sheng 〔食陵反〕, of a single taste. How could it be conceived?” | 〔T40n1819 0838b23〕 | Those born there have not the difference of one and two (the gate of the great meaning) |
| Sumeru entering a mustard seed · a pore taking in the sea | 「夫須彌之入芥子、毛孔之納大海，豈山海之神乎？毛芥之力乎？能神者神之耳。」—“When Sumeru enters a mustard seed and a pore takes in the great sea, is it the spiritual power of mountain and sea, or the power of pore and mustard seed? It is the one with spiritual power who makes it so.” | 〔T40n1819 0838c06〕 | Within benefiting others, self-benefit is plain |
| A pure maṇi jewel placed in muddy water | 「譬如淨摩尼珠置之濁水，水即清淨。」—“It is like a pure maṇi jewel placed in muddy water: the water at once becomes clear.” | 〔T40n1819 0839a25〕 | The name cast into the muddy mind extinguishes offenses and purifies the mind |
| Wrapped in black or yellow silk | 「又是摩尼珠以玄黃幣裹投之於水，水即玄黃一如物色。」—“Again, if this maṇi jewel is wrapped in black or yellow silk and cast into water, the water at once becomes black or yellow, just like the color of the thing.” | 〔T40n1819 0839a28〕 | The jewel wrapped in the silk of the merit of adornment turns the view of birth into the wisdom of no-birth |
| Lighting a fire on ice | 「又如氷上燃火，火猛則氷解，氷解則火滅。」—“Again, it is like lighting a fire on ice: when the fire is fierce the ice melts, and when the ice melts the fire goes out.” | 〔T40n1819 0839b03〕 | The fire of the view of birth goes out of itself in the realm of no-birth |
| A snake entering a bamboo tube | 「譬如蛇性雖曲，入竹筒則直。」—“It is like a snake: though its nature is crooked, when it enters a bamboo tube it becomes straight.” | 〔T40n1819 0839c17〕 | When the mind enters the real mark it is without knowing |
| A needle’s prick · a stone leech | 「又如人身若鍼刺、若蜂螫〔式亦反〕則有覺知，若石蛭〔之一反〕噉、若甘刀割則無覺知。」—“Again, it is like the human body: if pricked by a needle or stung 〔式亦反〕 by a bee there is awareness; if bitten by a stone leech 〔之一反〕 or cut with a sweet knife there is no awareness.” | 〔T40n1819 0839c18〕 | Knowing and not knowing lie in causes and conditions |
| Illusory elephants and horses | 「然幻化象馬非無長頸鼻手足異，而智者觀之豈言定有象馬分別之耶？」—“Yet the illusory elephants and horses are not without differences of long necks, trunks, hands, and feet; but would the wise, looking at them, say that there are definitely elephants and horses and discriminate them?” | 〔T40n1819 0839c27〕 | Knowing every kind of dharma yet without discrimination |
| Stopping meals to feed retainers · piling up in a boat · gold filling the storehouse | 「人有輟〔止也，貞劣反〕餐養士，或疊起舟中，積金盈庫而不免餓死，如斯之事觸目皆是。」—“There are people who stop 〔止也，貞劣反〕 their own meals to feed retainers, or who pile things up in a boat, or who amass gold to fill their storehouses, and yet do not escape dying of hunger; such things meet the eye everywhere.” | 〔T40n1819 0840a09〕 | The marks of what is done in vain cannot abide and sustain |
| The haojian tree · the pine | 「譬如有樹名曰好堅，是樹地生百歲，乃具一日長高百丈。日日如此，計百歲之長豈類修松耶？」—“It is like a tree named Haojian, ‘Firm and Good’: this tree lives in the ground for a hundred years, and then in a single day grows a hundred zhang tall. If it grows like this day after day, how could its growth over a hundred years be compared to that of a tall pine?” | 〔T40n1819 0840c03〕 | The leaping beyond of being in the end equal on seeing the Buddha |
| The dharma-body like the sun · Sumeru | 「言日未足以明不動，復言如須彌住持也。」—“Saying ‘sun’ is not enough to make clear that it is unmoving; so it says further, ‘abide and sustain like Sumeru.’” | 〔T40n1819 0841a09〕 | Unmoving yet responding everywhere |
| Pure food and a pure vessel | 「如淨食用不淨器，以器不淨故食亦不淨。不淨食用淨器，食不淨故器亦不淨。」—“It is like pure food put in an impure vessel: because the vessel is impure, the food too is impure. Impure food put in a pure vessel: because the food is impure, the vessel too is impure.” | 〔T40n1819 0841c16〕 | The two kinds of purity necessarily gather in each other |
| The name bhikṣu | 「譬如出家聖人，以殺煩惱賊故名為比丘。凡夫出家者，持戒破戒皆名比丘。」—“It is like a holy person who has left home, who is called bhikṣu because he has killed the bandits of the afflictions; yet ordinary people who leave home, whether they keep the precepts or break them, are all called bhikṣus.” | 〔T40n1819 0841c21〕 | Humans and gods attain the name of purity |
| The consecrated prince | 「又如灌頂王子，初生之時具三十二相，即為七寶所屬。雖未能為轉輪王事，亦名轉輪王，以其必為轉輪王故。」—“Again, it is like the consecrated prince: at birth he is endowed with the thirty-two marks and the seven treasures at once belong to him. Though he cannot yet do the work of a wheel-turning king, he too is called a wheel-turning king, because he will certainly become a wheel-turning king.” | 〔T40n1819 0841c23〕 | Because they will attain it, they attain the name of purity |
Three things may be recorded as rhetoric. First, for the seventeen of the land, apart from the general heading of the three kinds under the eighth, Tanluan poses in every item the question 「此云何不思議？」—“How is this beyond conceiving?”—and answers it with 「焉可思議？」—“how could it be conceived?”, 「安可思議？」—“how could it be conceived?”, or 「何可思議？」—“how could it be conceived?”; only in the item on the merit of the lord, after 「云何可得思議耶？」—“how could it be conceived?”, does he go on to explain abiding and sustaining, closing with 「何以故？以逕正覺阿彌陀善住持故。」—“Why? Because he has passed through the good abiding and sustaining of Amitābha of right awakening.” 〔T40n1819 0838a27〕; and in the item on the merit of touch, after 「何可思議？」—“how could it be conceived?”, he goes on to cite the matter of the bodhisattva Aizuo. Second, through the items on water, ground, space, rain, light, and wondrous sound Tanluan runs the phrase 「為佛事」 (does the work of a buddha)—「光為佛事」 (light does the work of a buddha), 「此水為佛事」 (this water does the work of a buddha), 「此影為佛事」 (these reflections do the work of a buddha), 「此聲為佛事」 (this sound does the work of a buddha), 「華為佛事」 (flowers do the work of a buddha), 「此是國土名字為佛事」 (this is the name of the land doing the work of a buddha)—taking the very capacity of each thing of the land to do the work of a buddha as its inconceivability. Third, in the fourth section, 「三句展轉相入」 (the three phrases enter one another in turn) reasons forward—「依何義名之為法？以清淨故。依何義名為清淨？以真實智慧無為法身故。」—“By what meaning is it named ‘dharma’? Because of purity. By what meaning is it named ‘purity’? Because it is the unconditioned dharma-body of true wisdom.”—and then, in the passage 「非於非者豈非非之能是乎？」—“Is negating the negation then able to be an affirmation by negating it?”, proceeds by negation, closing with 「百非之所不喻」 (what a hundred negations cannot convey).
VIII. Citation and Carrying Forward
- Jingxing (Linked-Meaning Exposition and Praise of the Sūtra of Measureless Life) matches the names of the adornments of this passage with the dependent and principal recompense of the sūtra: 「即身莊嚴故，論云「相好光一尋色像超群生」故。」—“This is the adornment of the body, because the treatise says, ‘The light of his marks and signs extends one fathom; the image of his form surpasses all beings.’” 〔T37n1748 0155c12〕; 「即不虛作住持莊嚴故，論云「觀佛本願力遇無空過者，能令速滿足功德大寶海」故。」—“This is the adornment of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain, because the treatise says, ‘Contemplate the power of the Buddha’s original vow: of all who meet it, not one passes by in vain; it can swiftly bring to fullness the great jewel-sea of merit.’” 〔T37n1748 0155c24〕; 「即虛空莊嚴故，論云「無量寶交絡羅網遍虛空，種種鈴發響宣吐妙法音」故。」—“This is the adornment of space, because the treatise says, ‘Measureless jewels are interlaced and linked, and nets spread across the whole of space; bells of every kind ring out, proclaiming the subtle sound of the Dharma.’” 〔T37n1748 0156c24〕; 「即地莊嚴故，論云「宮殿諸樓閣觀十方無礙，雜樹異光色寶欄遍圍繞」故。」—“This is the adornment of the ground, because the treatise says, ‘From the palaces and the many towers one looks out on the ten directions without obstruction; the jewel-trees give off lights of different colors, and jewel-railings encircle them all around.’” 〔T37n1748 0156c28〕; 「即水莊嚴故，論云「寶華千萬種彌覆池流泉，微風動華葉交錯光亂轉」故。」—“This is the adornment of water, because the treatise says, ‘Jewel-flowers of a thousand myriad kinds cover the pools, the streams, and the springs; a gentle breeze stirs the flowers and leaves, which cross one another, and their brilliance flows and shifts in profusion.’” 〔T37n1748 0157a02〕
- Kuiji (Commentary on the Amitābha Sūtra) matches the names of the adornments of this passage with the text of the Amitābha Sūtra: 「《無量壽論》云：此即地莊嚴，寶欄周匝圍繞。」—“The Treatise on Measureless Life says: this is the adornment of the ground, jewel-railings encircling it all around.” 〔T37n1757 0319b26〕; 「《無量壽論》云：空莊嚴也，無量寶絞絡羅網遍虛空。」—“The Treatise on Measureless Life says: the adornment of space—measureless jewels intertwined, and nets spread across the whole of space.” 〔T37n1757 0319c02〕; 「《無量壽論》云：水莊嚴也。」—“The Treatise on Measureless Life says: the adornment of water.” 〔T37n1757 0319c22〕; 「《無量壽論》云：雨莊嚴也。」—“The Treatise on Measureless Life says: the adornment of rain.” 〔T37n1757 0320c09〕; and with this passage’s division into the two kinds, of the Buddha and of the bodhisattvas, he divides the principal recompense of the sūtra: 「《無量壽論》曰：又分有二：初明如來功德莊嚴、次明菩薩功德莊嚴。」—“The Treatise on Measureless Life says: it is further divided in two—first making clear the adornment of merit of the Tathāgata, then making clear the adornment of merit of the bodhisattvas.” 〔T37n1757 0323a19〕
- Kuiji (Comprehensive Praise Commentary on the Amitābha Sūtra) does likewise: 「《無量壽論》云：為地莊嚴也。」—“The Treatise on Measureless Life says: this is the adornment of the ground.” 〔T37n1758 0339b22〕
- The apparatus of The Sūtra of Measureless Life in this series: the four units on Dharmākara in the causal stage, the forty-eight vows, the fulfillment of the vows with the accomplishments of the first fascicle, and the upper class of beings have already cited this passage’s 「願以成力、力以就願」—“the vow brings the power to completion, and the power fulfills the vow”; the three units on Dharmākara in the causal stage, the forty-eight vows, and the fulfillment of the vows with the accomplishments of the first fascicle have further cited 「由本四十八願等清淨願心之所莊嚴」—“adorned by the pure mind of the vow—the forty-eight vows and the rest—of old,” to make clear how vow and power, and the mind of the vow and adornment, complete one another; the unit on the bodhisattvas going to pay homage and the bodhisattvas of that land cites the words of this passage on the samādhi born of recompense, 「一處一念一時遍十方世界」—“in one place, one thought, and one time, they pervade the worlds throughout the ten directions.”
- The apparatus of the two units of The Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life on the contemplation of the flower-seat and the contemplation of all forms in general has already recorded this passage’s two sayings of Tanluan, 「若欲觀座，當依《觀無量壽經》」—“Whoever wishes to contemplate the throne should rely upon The Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life” and 「若欲觀佛身，當依《觀無量壽經》」—“If one would contemplate the Buddha’s body, one should rely on The Sūtra on Contemplating the Buddha of Measureless Life.”
Recorded: in the verse-lines the commentators cite, the break between lines is sometimes omitted (as in 「相好光一尋色像超群生」 (the light of his marks and signs extends one fathom the image of his form surpasses all beings)), or 「交絡」 (interlaced) is written 「絞絡」 (intertwined) (Kuiji); the name by which they call the treatise is sometimes 「論」 (the treatise) and sometimes 「無量壽論」 (the Treatise on Measureless Life). Recorded as they stand without alteration.
IX. Placement Among the Recensions
The collation notes (<app>) to the treatise within the domain of this unit come to twelve in all:
| No. | Anchor | Base text | Variant | Witnesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 〔T26n1524 0231b26〕 | 成就 in 成就不可思議力故 (because it accomplishes a power beyond conceiving) | absent | Song · Yuan · Ming |
| 19 | 〔T26n1524 0231b29〕 | 量 in 二者量功德成就 (second, the accomplishment of the merit of measure) | 無量 (measureless) | Song · Yuan · Ming |
| 20 | 〔T26n1524 0231c09〕 | 量 in 量功德成就者 (the accomplishment of the merit of measure) | 無量 (measureless) | Song · Yuan · Ming |
| 21 | 〔T26n1524 0231c25〕 | 闇冥 in 除世癡闇冥 (dispels the darkness of the world’s folly) | 冥闇 (the two characters for darkness in reverse order) | Song · Yuan |
| 22 | 〔T26n1524 0231c26〕 | 語 in 梵聲語深遠 (Brahmā sounds, their words profound and far-reaching) | 悟 (awakening) | Song · Yuan · Ming |
| 23 | 〔T26n1524 0232a07〕 | 亦 in 名亦三種 (as to name there are likewise three kinds) | 亦有 (likewise there are) | Song · Yuan · Ming |
| 24 | 〔T26n1524 0232a13〕 | 佛 in 彼無量壽佛土莊嚴 (the adornment of the land of that Buddha of Measureless Life) | 佛國 (buddha-land) | Song · Yuan · Ming |
| 25 | 〔T26n1524 0232a14〕 | 界 in 第一義諦妙境界 (the wondrous realm of the ultimate truth) | 界相 (marks of the realm) | Song · Yuan · Ming |
| 26 | 〔T26n1524 0232b17〕 | 讚佛 in 讚佛諸功德 (praise the merits of the buddhas) | 讚歎 (praise and laud) | Ming |
| 27 | 〔T26n1524 0232b21〕 | 皆願 in 我皆願往生 (I vow to be born in all of them) | 願皆 (the two characters in reverse order) | Song · Yuan · Ming |
| 28 | 〔T26n1524 0232b23〕 | 功德 in 菩薩功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of the bodhisattvas) | 功德莊嚴 (the adornment of merit) | Song · Yuan · Ming |
| 29 | 〔T26n1524 0232b26〕 | 種 in 「何等二種」 (what are the two kinds), the character 「種」 (kind) | absent | Song · Yuan · Ming |
Recorded without adjudication: First, in five notes—the twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, and twenty-seventh—the mirror’s citation agrees with the variant reading of the three witnesses of the Song, Yuan, and Ming: the mirror reads 「梵聲悟深遠」 (Brahmā sounds, awakening profound and far-reaching) 〔T40n1819 0838a13〕, 「名亦有三種」 (as to name there are likewise three kinds) 〔T40n1819 0838b18〕, 「彼無量壽佛國土莊嚴」 (the adornment of the buddha-land of that Buddha of Measureless Life) 〔T40n1819 0838c11〕, 「第一義諦妙境界相」 (the marks of the wondrous realm of the ultimate truth) 〔T40n1819 0838c11〕, and 「我願皆往生」 (I vow to be born in all of them) 〔T40n1819 0841a29〕. Second, in five notes—the eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-ninth—the mirror’s citation agrees with the base text: the mirror reads 「成就不可思議力故」 (because it accomplishes a power beyond conceiving) 〔T40n1819 0836b04〕, 「莊嚴量功德成就」 (the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of measure) 〔T40n1819 0836c22〕, 「除世癡闇冥」 (dispels the darkness of the world’s folly) 〔T40n1819 0838a09〕, and 「何等二種」 (what are the two kinds) 〔T40n1819 0841c06〕. Third, in the twenty-sixth note the Ming witness reads 「讚歎諸功德」 (praise and laud the merits), while the mirror cites 「讚諸佛功德」 (praise the merits of the buddhas) 〔T40n1819 0841a22〕; the three forms are recorded together. Fourth, in the twenty-eighth note the three witnesses read 「菩薩功德莊嚴成就」 (the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the bodhisattvas), while the mirror reads 「莊嚴菩薩功德成就」 (the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the bodhisattvas) 〔T40n1819 0841b06〕; the two differ in word order. Fifth, in the twenty-ninth note, this line, 「此清淨有二種應知。何等二種？」—“This purity is of two kinds, which should be known. What are the two kinds?”—has two characters 「種」 (kind); the note is attached to one of them, and the line is recorded as it stands. In none of these is a judgment made in their stead as to the original text.
Three forms of the names of the twenty-nine adornments (the treatise’s list of names / the treatise’s item-by-item explanations / the mirror’s citations):
| No. | The treatise’s list of names | The treatise’s explanations | The mirror’s list of names | The mirror’s item-by-item citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land 8 | 莊嚴功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of adornment) | 莊嚴功德成就者，有三種應知 (the accomplishment of the merit of adornment is of three kinds, which should be known) | 莊嚴三種功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of the three kinds of adornment) | 莊嚴三種功德成就者，有三種事應知 (the accomplishment of the merit of the three kinds of adornment has three matters that should be known) |
| Land 11 | 聲功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of sound) | 妙聲功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of wondrous sound) | 莊嚴妙聲功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of wondrous sound) | 莊嚴妙聲功德成就 (the same) |
| Land 17 | 一切所求功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of all that is sought) | 一切所求功德滿足成就 (the accomplishment of the fulfillment of the merit of all that is sought) | 莊嚴一切所求滿足功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the fulfillment of all that is sought) | 莊嚴一切所求滿足功德成就 (the same) |
| Buddha 2 to 5 | 身莊嚴·口莊嚴·心莊嚴·眾莊嚴 (the adornment of the body · of speech · of the mind · of the assembly) | the same | 莊嚴身業·口業·心業·大眾功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of bodily action · verbal action · mental action · the great assembly) | the same as the mirror’s list of names |
| Buddha 8 | 不虛作住持莊嚴 (the adornment of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain) | the same | 莊嚴不虛作住持功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of abiding and sustaining that is not in vain) | the same as the mirror’s list of names |
| The general form of the seventeen of the land | 某功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of such-and-such) | 某功德成就者 (the accomplishment of the merit of such-and-such is …) | 莊嚴某功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of such-and-such) | 莊嚴某功德成就者 (the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of such-and-such is …) |
The verbatim evidence: the treatise’s list of names, 「十一者聲功德成就」—“eleventh, the accomplishment of the merit of sound” 〔T26n1524 0231c04〕; the treatise’s explanation, 「妙聲功德成就者」—“the accomplishment of the merit of wondrous sound is …” 〔T26n1524 0231c25〕; the mirror’s list of names, 「十一者莊嚴妙聲功德成就」—“eleventh, the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of wondrous sound” 〔T40n1819 0836c12〕; the treatise’s list of names, 「十七者一切所求功德成就」—“seventeenth, the accomplishment of the merit of all that is sought” 〔T26n1524 0231c07〕; the treatise’s explanation, 「一切所求功德滿足成就者」—“the accomplishment of the fulfillment of the merit of all that is sought is …” 〔T26n1524 0232a09〕; the mirror’s list of names, 「十七者莊嚴一切所求滿足功德成就」—“seventeenth, the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the fulfillment of all that is sought” 〔T40n1819 0836c16〕; the treatise’s list of names, 「八者莊嚴功德成就」—“eighth, the accomplishment of the merit of adornment” 〔T26n1524 0231c02〕; the mirror’s list of names, 「八者莊嚴三種功德成就」—“eighth, the accomplishment of the merit of the three kinds of adornment” 〔T40n1819 0836c11〕; the mirror’s list of the Buddha’s eight, 「二者莊嚴身業功德成就、三者莊嚴口業功德成就、四者莊嚴心業功德成就、五者莊嚴大眾功德成就」—“second, the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of bodily action; third, the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of verbal action; fourth, the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of mental action; fifth, the accomplishment of the merit of the adornment of the great assembly” 〔T40n1819 0839b12〕.
Agreements and differences between the treatise and the mirror’s citations (beyond the table above and the collation notes):
| Treatise (base text) | The mirror’s citation | Mirror anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 云何觀察彼佛國土功德莊嚴 (how does one contemplate the adornment of merit of that buddha-land) | 云何觀察彼佛國土莊嚴功德 (the two words in reverse order) | 〔T40n1819 0836b03〕 |
| 有十七種事應知。何者十七？ (there are seventeen matters that should be known. Which are the seventeen?) | 有十七種應知。何等十七？ (there are seventeen kinds that should be known. What are the seventeen?) | 〔T40n1819 0836c06〕 |
| 無垢光焰熾 (its stainless radiance blazes) | 無垢光炎熾 (焰 written 炎) | 〔T40n1819 0837a18〕 |
| 寶欄遍圍繞 (jewel-railings encircle them all around) | 寶欄遍圍遶 (繞 written 遶) | 〔T40n1819 0837c01〕 |
| 無量香普熏 (measureless fragrances perfume everywhere) | 無量香普薰 (熏 written 薰) | 〔T40n1819 0837c24〕 |
| 無此三過故，名離體譏嫌 (comma after 故) | 無此三過，故名離體譏嫌 (comma before 故) | 〔T40n1819 0838b18〕 |
| 略說彼阿彌陀佛國土莊嚴十七種功德 (the seventeen merits of the adornment of the land of that Buddha Amitābha in brief) | 略說彼阿彌陀佛國土十七種莊嚴功德成就 (the accomplishment of the merit of the seventeen adornments of the land of that Buddha Amitābha in brief) | 〔T40n1819 0838c03〕 |
| 示現如來自身利益大功德力，成就利益他功德成就故 (break after 力)—“showing the great power of merit of the Tathāgata’s own benefit, and the accomplishment of the merit of benefiting others” | 示現如來自身利益大功德力成就、利益他功德成就故 (break after 成就)—“showing the accomplishment of the great power of merit of the Tathāgata’s own benefit, and the accomplishment of the merit of benefiting others” | 〔T40n1819 0838c04〕 |
| 云何觀佛功德莊嚴成就？……有八種應知 (… there are eight kinds that should be known) | 云何觀佛莊嚴功德成就？……有八種相應知 (… there are eight kinds of mark that should be known) | 〔T40n1819 0839b10〕 |
| 偈言無量大寶王，微妙淨華臺故 (the character 故 within the cited verse-line) | 偈言無量大寶王，微妙淨華臺故 (the character 故 outside the cited verse-line) | 〔T40n1819 0839b17〕 |
| 同地水火風，虛空無分別 (with a break) | 同地水火風虛空無分別 (no break) | 〔T40n1819 0839b24〕 |
| 未證淨心菩薩畢竟得平等法身，與淨心菩薩無異，淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩 (… attain the dharma-body of equality, no different from the bodhisattvas of pure mind; the bodhisattvas of pure mind and all the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds) | 未證淨心菩薩畢竟得證平等法身，與淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩 (… realize the dharma-body of equality, with the bodhisattvas of pure mind and all the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds) | 〔T40n1819 0840a17〕 |
| 云何觀菩薩功德莊嚴成就 (how does one contemplate the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the bodhisattvas) | 云何觀察菩薩莊嚴功德成就 (觀 written 觀察, and the two words in reverse order) | 〔T40n1819 0840c24〕 |
| 讚歎諸佛如來。偈言……讚佛諸功德 (praise the buddhas, the tathāgatas. The verse says … praise the merits of the buddhas) | 讚歎諸佛如來功德。偈言……讚諸佛功德 (praise the merits of the buddhas, the tathāgatas. The verse says … praise the merits of all the buddhas) | 〔T40n1819 0841a21〕 |
| 何等世界無，佛法功德寶，我皆願往生 (with breaks; 皆願) | 何等世界無佛法功德寶，我願皆往生 (no first break; 願皆) | 〔T40n1819 0841a29〕 |
| 佛國土功德莊嚴成就、佛功德莊嚴成就、菩薩功德成就，此三種成就願心莊嚴，略說入一法句故 (… these three accomplishments are adorned by the mind of the vow, and in brief enter the one dharma-phrase) | 觀察莊嚴佛土功德成就、莊嚴佛功德成就、莊嚴菩薩功德成就，此三種成就，願心莊嚴應知。(「略說入一法句故」 (in brief they enter the one dharma-phrase) begins anew) | 〔T40n1819 0841b05〕 |
| 一法句者，謂清淨句 (with a break) | 一法句者謂清淨句 (no break) | 〔T40n1819 0841b18〕 |
| 器世間清淨者，向說十七種佛國土功德莊嚴成就 (purity of the vessel world is the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the buddha-land in seventeen kinds spoken of above) | 器世間清淨者，如向說十七種莊嚴佛土功德成就 (purity of the vessel world is, as spoken of above, the accomplishment of the merit of the seventeen adornments of the buddha-land) | 〔T40n1819 0841c07〕 |
| 如向說八種佛功德莊嚴成就、四種菩薩功德莊嚴成就 (as spoken of above, the accomplishment of the adornment of merit of the Buddha in eight kinds and of the bodhisattvas in four kinds) | 如向說八種莊嚴佛功德成就、四種莊嚴菩薩功德成就 (as spoken of above, the accomplishment of the merit of the eight adornments of the Buddha and of the four adornments of the bodhisattvas) | 〔T40n1819 0841c09〕 |
| 如是一法句，攝二種清淨應知 (in this way the one dharma-phrase gathers in the two kinds of purity; this should be known) | 如是一法句攝二種清淨義應知 (… gathers in the meaning of the two kinds of purity …) | 〔T40n1819 0841c10〕 |
Recorded without adjudication: First, in the sentence 「即見彼佛」 (at once seeing that Buddha), the treatise has the six characters 「無異，淨心菩薩」 (no different; the bodhisattvas of pure mind), which the mirror’s citation lacks (the mirror reads 「與淨心菩薩與上地諸菩薩」 (with the bodhisattvas of pure mind and all the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds)), while the mirror has one more character, 「證」 (realize); the treatise has no collation note here. Tanluan’s explanation speaks separately of 「未證淨心菩薩」 (bodhisattvas who have not yet realized the pure mind), 「平等法身」 (the dharma-body of equality), and 「上地」 (the higher grounds), and his words 「見阿彌陀佛時，與上地諸菩薩畢竟身等法等」—“when they see the Buddha Amitābha, they become in the end equal in body and equal in dharma with the bodhisattvas of the higher grounds” 〔T40n1819 0840b05〕 correspond to the reading of the mirror’s citation. The two readings are recorded together. Second, for the totals of 「十七種」 (the seventeen kinds), both the treatise and the mirror speak of the land’s 「功德莊嚴」 (adornment of merit), but the mirror in place after place reverses it to 「莊嚴功德」 (merit of adornment); the two kinds of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas are likewise. Third, on the presence or absence of the two characters 「莊嚴」 (adornment): in the treatise’s list of names only the land’s eighth is named 「莊嚴功德成就」 (the accomplishment of the merit of adornment), whereas the mirror prefixes 「莊嚴」 (adornment) to every name, and names the eighth separately 「莊嚴三種」 (the three kinds of adornment). All recorded as they stand; no judgment is made in their stead as to the original text.
Gaiji: none in the treatise within this unit. Inline notes: none in the treatise within this unit; the mirror’s text in this passage has original inline notes (fanqie spellings and glosses of characters), whose places are kept with 〔…〕, and all are reproduced as they stand in the citations above.