無量壽經義疏 1.9.2

1.9.2

First, there are seven verses praising the Buddha's virtues to clarify what is sought; the later thirteen verses formulate vows seeking buddhahood, clarifying one's ability to seek. Among the first seven verses, the first five and a half verses directly praise the Buddha's virtues; the final one and a half verses conclude the praise of the Buddha's virtues. Within the direct praise earlier, the first two and a half verses praise the Buddha's bodily karma; next there is half a verse praising the Buddha's vocal karma; the final two and a half verses praise the Buddha's mental karma. Regarding the praise of bodily karma: the words "light so magnificent" praise the superiority of the Buddha's light, constituting one topic. The words "countenance so magnificent" praise the superiority of the Buddha's body, constituting another topic. The term "magnificent" has already been explained above. There are further seven lines revealing the magnificence of the light. "Majesty and spiritual power boundless" is that on which the radiance's emanation relies. Because the Buddha's majesty, virtue, and spiritual power are boundless, he is able to emit light. "Blazing brightness such as this" directly indicates the substance of the light. "None who are his equal" demonstrates superiority in comparison to persons: the bodily light of other beings has none that equals it. "The sun, the moon, and the maṇi jewels, up to [resembling] a heap of ink" demonstrates superiority in comparison to things. If these various lights are compared to the Buddha's light, they are all concealed and eclipsed, just like a heap of ink beside mother-of-pearl. Below there are two lines revealing the magnificence of his countenance. "The Tathāgata's countenance transcends the world and is peerless"—thus his countenance is magnificent. "Peer" (lun) means match. Next is the praise of vocal karma: "The Great Awakening's great voice reverberates throughout the ten directions." Below is the praise of mental karma. Within it, there is first a text of two verses praising the virtue of the Buddha's practice; the later half verse praises the virtue of the Buddha's cessation. Practice is bodhi; cessation is nirvāṇa. Within the former, the first verse praises the superiority of the Buddha's virtues; the subsequent single verse praises the depth of the Buddha's virtues. Superiority refers to the practice of the teachings; depth refers to the practice of realization. In the prior praise of superiority, "precepts, learning, vigor, samādhi, and prajñā" brings up the essence of these virtues. "Majestic light without equal, exceedingly sublime and rare" demonstrates superiority with respect to the virtues. Majestic virtue is without equal; others cannot match it. Exceedingly sublime and rare: the Buddha's virtues surpass those of others. In the subsequent praise of depth, "deeply, truly, and skillfully mindful of the sea of the Buddhas' Dharma" is the upāya for approaching realization. "Truly" means carefully and truly. Deeply contemplating and truly observing, mindful of the sea of the Buddhas' Dharma, one is therefore able to attain realization. The nature of the tathāgatagarbha is the sea of the Buddhas' Dharma. "Fathoming its depths and exhausting its mysteries, investigating its boundaries and bottom" is the perfection of the practice of realization. This praises the virtue of practice; below praises the virtue of cessation. "Avidyā" is delusion, "desire" is greed, and "anger" is hatred. "The Buddha has cut them off and they are perpetually gone"; therefore, his cessation is supreme. Above, the merits of the three karmas were individually praised; below concludes the praise. "The lion among human heroes, his spiritual virtue is immeasurable." This concludes the praise in general. "His meritorious achievements are vast," and so on, concludes the praise in detail according to each. "His meritorious achievements are vast" concludes the praise of the earlier vocal [karma]: the Great Awakening's great voice reverberates throughout the ten directions, and therefore the merit of the Buddha's transformation of others is vast. "Wisdom deep and subtle" concludes the praise of the earlier mental [karma]. Earlier there were many virtues, but it specifically concludes with his prajñā because it is the master of practice. "Deep" concludes the depth mentioned earlier; "subtle" concludes the superiority mentioned earlier. "Light and majesty," and so on, concludes the praise of the earlier bodily [karma]. The praise above is now complete; below, vows are formulated to seek what was praised above. Within this, there is first a text of ten verses that directly generate the mind of the vow; the later three verses entreat the Buddha to bear witness and know. Among the first ten verses, the first five verses seek the Buddha's dharmakāya; the later five verses seek the Buddha's pure land. In seeking the dharmakāya, the first verse vows to seek the Buddha's fruition; next there are two verses vowing to seek the Buddha's causes; the final two verses weigh and compare to demonstrate superiority. In seeking the fruition, "May I become a Buddha, equal to the holy Dharma King" seeks the Buddha's own virtue. "Delivering from birth and death so that none are not liberated" seeks the virtue of benefiting others. In seeking the causes, there is first a verse and a half seeking the practice of benefit for oneself; below there is half a verse seeking the practice of benefiting others. In seeking benefit for oneself, the first verse adduces the practice of the six perfections. "Giving and regulating the mind" is the perfection of giving (dāna-pāramitā). Cultivating giving cures stinginess; this is called regulating the mind. "Precepts" is the perfection of morality; "patience" is the perfection of patience; "vigor" is the perfection of vigor; "samādhi" is the perfection of dhyāna; "wisdom" is the perfection of wisdom (prajñā-pāramitā). Wisdom being supreme is termed "highest"; below it generates the vow in response. "I vow to attain buddhahood" is the destination to which the undertaken practice tends. "Universally practicing this vow" is seeking the causes and directing toward them. Below, seeking the benefit of others is clear in the text and can be understood. Above was seeking the causes; the two verses below weigh and compare to demonstrate superiority, firming his vowed resolve. "Even if there were buddhas numbering hundreds, thousands, millions, and billions" brings up the Buddha Jewel. "Immeasurable great sages as numerous as the sands of the Ganges" brings up the Saṃgha Jewel. "Making offerings to these," and so on, is offering to the aforementioned Saṃgha Jewel. "These various buddhas" is offering to the aforementioned Buddha Jewel. From "It is not as good as seeking" downward, it makes a comparison with the vows, showing that those fall short. "To turn back" (que) is like retreating. Although making offerings to many holy ones, it is not as good as oneself seeking the Path without retrogressing; therefore, it reiterates and strengthens the generation [of the vow]. Such comparisons in the sūtras are mostly impossible to state completely, because making offerings is limited, while the mind that seeks the Path has no limit or bounds. In seeking the land below, the first three and a half verses seek a pure land for oneself; the latter one and a half verses seek a land to gather others. In seeking for oneself, there are first two verses generally citing many lands; next there is half a verse clarifying that what he seeks is the very foremost among all lands; the subsequent single verse reveals the characteristics of being foremost. In the earlier general citation, "like the sands of the Ganges," and so on, broadly brings up many lands. "Light shining," and so on, clarifies the characteristics of adornment in those many lands. Light "pervading this land" clarifies the adornment of light of the Buddha Tathāgata. "Such vigor, majesty, and spiritual power are difficult to measure" clarifies the adornment of spiritual penetrations of the Buddha Tathāgata. The Buddha diligently manifesting deeds of transformation in that land is called vigor. The deeds of transformation being numerous is why it is called "majesty and spiritual power difficult to measure." This completes the general citation. "Causing me to become a Buddha whose land is foremost": among the various lands cited earlier, its adornments of all characteristics are the very foremost; this is Amitābha's land that is presently accomplished. Below there is one verse revealing the characteristics of being foremost. "Its assembly wondrous" clarifies that the assembly is foremost. "The bodhimaṇḍa supreme and transcendent" clarifies that the place is foremost. "The land like nirvāṇa without equal or pair" clarifies that the land is foremost, which may also be called bliss being foremost. Nihuan and niepan are originally one name, transmitted with differing phonetic transcriptions. Therefore, the text below says: "In Amitābha's land, sentient beings experience bliss second only to nirvāṇa." The above was seeking for oneself; below there is one verse and a half seeking a land to gather beings.