觀無量壽佛經疏 1.26

1.26

The fifteenth is the contemplation of birth of the middle grade. For the birth of the upper of the middle grade, there are three parts: first, the heading; second, from "If there are sentient beings" onward, the explanation; third, from "This is called" onward, the conclusion. Within the explanation there are four parts: first, explaining the causes of birth; second, from "at the time of approaching the end of life, Amitāyus Buddha" onward, encountering conditions; third, from "having seen this, the practitioner" onward, attaining rebirth; fourth, from "when the flower opens" onward, explaining the benefits after birth.
"Five precepts" are: not killing, stealing, engaging in sexual misconduct, lying, or drinking alcohol. "Eight precepts" add: not sitting on high beds, not wearing flower garlands, necklaces, or applying perfume to the body and perfuming clothes, and not singing, dancing, making music, or going to watch and listen. "Four Truths" are: suffering, accumulation, cessation, and path. "Arhat" means worthy of offerings, non-arising, and slayer of the thief [of afflictions]. "Three clarities" are: clarity regarding past, present, and future. "Six supernormal knowledges" are: divine eye, divine ear, knowledge of others' minds, recollection of past lives, extinction of taints, and the body obtaining as it wills. Because these six are completely unobstructed, they are called supernormal knowledges. "Eight liberations" are: 1. having internal perception of forms, contemplating external forms; 2. having no internal perception of forms, contemplating external forms; 3. pure [liberation]; 4. the sphere of empty space; 5. the sphere of consciousness; 6. the sphere of nothingness; 7. the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception; 8. the liberation of cessation. Among these eight, the first three are unstained and unattached to the wondrous five desires; the middle four attain detachment from the lower [realms]; the last one is able to liberate mental deliberations, hence called liberation; it is also called abandonment through turning away: "turning away" means turning away from those clean and pure five desires; "abandonment" means leaving behind this mind of attachment.
To reconcile them: Regarding the treatise's statement that those of the Small Vehicle are not reborn, those who are strictly determined [for the Small Vehicle] are not reborn. That birth is explained here means that those who have fallen back from the mind of bodhi can attain birth; upon arriving there, when their undefiled path matures, they immediately realize the fourth fruit. The *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra* is also like this: or it receives and guides the Small Vehicle, yet in reality it is absent there. Those of the middle grade immediately attain arhatship at that time; why are they inferior to the [upper] nine grades? The explanation says: these are śrāvakas who fell back from bodhi who are reborn in that land; when their undefiled path matures, they then realize the lesser fruit, but they do not remain in the lesser stage, and go on to give rise again to the great mind; their progress is even faster, and in five or ten kalpas they succeed in attaining the first bhūmi. Such gradation is still superior. The larger text explains going forth from the household for the upper grade, but does not explain going forth from the household for the middle grade. What is explained here is the middle grade; if they did not go forth from the household, [yet] the sūtra says "keeping the śrāmaṇera precepts for one day and one night," therefore one knows that it exists. That the larger text does not explain it is based on speaking of the long-term beginning and end; here speaking of going forth from the household is discussed in terms of a short time.
For the birth of the middle of the middle grade, there are three parts: first, the heading; second, from "If there are sentient beings" onward, the explanation; third, from "This is called" onward, the conclusion. Within the explanation there are four parts: first, explaining the causes of birth; second, from "Such a practitioner" onward, explaining the encounter with conditions; third, from "the practitioner himself sees" onward, explaining the attainment of rebirth; fourth, from "in the jeweled pond" onward, explaining the benefits after birth. "Ten precepts" are the previous eight precepts with the addition of not holding gold, silver, or raw money, and not eating past noon, making ten precepts. "Complete precepts" refers to the two hundred and fifty precepts, five hundred precepts, and so forth. "Srotāpanna" translates as cultivating the undefiled, or going against the stream.
For the birth of the lower of the middle grade, there are three parts: first, the heading; second, from "If there are" onward, the explanation; third, from "This is called" onward, the conclusion. Within the explanation there are four parts: first, explaining the causes; second, from "When this person's life ends" onward, explaining conditions; third, from "Hearing this matter" onward, attaining birth; fourth, from "After seven days" onward, the benefits after birth.