兩卷無量壽經宗要 1.2

1.2

In intending to explain the purport of the two-fascicle sūtra, I shall briefly open four sections of analysis: first, stating the broad import of the teaching; second, delineating the doctrinal purport of the sūtra; third, adducing persons to analyze [them]; and fourth, approaching the text to interpret it.
Regarding the broad import: the mind-nature of sentient beings is thoroughly unimpeded, vast as empty space, tranquil as a great ocean. Because it is like empty space, its essence is equal, with no distinct characteristics that can be apprehended; how could there be places that are defiled or pure? Because it is like a great ocean, its nature is fluid, able to adapt to conditions without resistance; how could it lack times of motion and stillness?
Thus, sometimes driven by the wind of dusts, beings sink into the five defilements and revolve with them, submerged in waves of suffering and drifting endlessly; or, relying on kuśala-mūla, they cut off the four currents and do not return, reaching the other shore and resting in eternal quiescence. Such motion and stillness are entirely a great dream; speaking from awakening, there is neither this nor that: defiled lands and pure lands are fundamentally of one mind; saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are ultimately without two bounds. However, returning to the source of great awakening is obtained only through accumulated merit; the long dream that drifts with the stream cannot be dispelled all at once.
For this reason, the traces manifested by the sages are far and near, and the teachings they establish praise or disparage. Thus Muni the World-Honored One appeared in this Sahā [world], warning against the five evils and encouraging the good; Amitābha Tathāgata presides over that Peaceful Nourishment, guiding the three grades [of beings] to lead them to rebirth. Such expedient traces cannot be fully recounted.
Now, this sūtra is indeed the maxims of the Bodhisattva Piṭaka teaching, the true scripture of the cause and effect of the Buddha-land. It illuminates the secret depth of vows and practices, and reveals the vast longevity of the virtues of fruition. The eighteen kinds of complete purity surpass the three realms and stand far apart; the five faculties and physical marks rival the six devalokas yet are never succeeded. Treasuring the taste of the Dharma, they nourish body and mind—who has the suffering of morning hunger or evening thirst? In the jeweled groves, fragrant breezes are always temperate and comfortable; there is fundamentally no distress of winter cold or summer heat. Host of immortals assemble together, frequently bathing in the lotus ponds of eight virtues, thereby bidding eternal farewell to the especially loathsome white hair and wrinkles; following superior companions, they frequently travel to the buddha-lands of the ten directions, thereby sending far away the distress and weariness so difficult to endure.
How much more so when hearing the sound of the Dharma, one enters the signless; seeing the light of the Buddha, one realizes the unarisen! Because one realizes the unarisen, there is nothing that does not arise; because one enters the signless, there is nothing that is not manifested. Utterly pure and utterly blissful, it cannot be measured by mind or thought; boundless and limitless, how could words exhaust it?
Yet, because the Buddha is the foremost among the five kinds of people who can preach, and within the two retributions, environmental and primary, long life is primary, it is called the Sūtra of Immeasurable Life Spoken by the Buddha. If there were only one scroll, it would not suffice to open the mind; if it reached three, it would exceed two palms. Now, this sūtra has an upper and a lower, neither deficient nor redundant, properly serving as a jewel in the palm. Calling it the upper fascicle, it is therefore titled Sūtra of Immeasurable Life Spoken by the Buddha, Fascicle One.