觀無量壽佛經疏妙宗鈔 4.7

4.7

Fifth, the contemplation of the ponds, which has two parts: first, the commentary's division of the sections; second, explaining the sūtra text, which has five parts: First, explaining the substance of the ponds; its meaning of substance is the same as that of the trees. Second, from "each and every" onwards, explaining the marks of the ponds. The tributary streams, golden channels, bottom sand, and lotus blossoms are all wondrous marks of the eight ponds. Third, from "its maṇi" onwards, explaining their accordance with the mind. Regarding the jeweled water, it accords with human wishes, naturally flowing up the trees and then cascading down. Thus the Sūtra on the Upward Rebirth states that in the Tuṣita Palace there is water meandering between the beams and pillars, which is identical to this. Fourth, from "its sound" onwards, explaining the benefits. That is, the sound of the water expounding the Dharma increases people's contemplative wisdom. Suffering, emptiness, and so forth expound the Hīnayāna; the various perfections, marks, and signs expound the Mahāyāna; furthermore, praising the mindfulness of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha leads people to contemplate the Three Jewels deeply. Since the expounding of the Dharma is divided into Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna, this proves that the Three Jewels praised also have the distinction of different substance and identical substance. In the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, when the Bodhisattva Vaiḍūryaprabha wished to come to this land, he first emitted light, which, though not blue, appeared blue. Mañjuśrī said: "This light is itself wisdom." The Great Master cited this to establish that there is cognitive form, and whether mind or form, there is only single form. Now, do not the water's sound expounding the Dharma and the radiance transforming into birds make manifest cognitive form, form's ability to create mind, and form's inherent possession of mind—that there is only single form? One must recognize that "the ten thousand dharmas are mind-only" is still shared by the provisional teachings and expounded by other masters; "all is form-only" belongs solely to the Perfect Teaching, following our Patriarch alone, because the meaning of transformation spans the Separate [Teaching], whereas inherent possession belongs exclusively to the Perfect [Teaching]. Fifth, from "this is" onwards, concluding the contemplation. The commentary explains the eight virtues by correlating them with the five sense-entrances, which, together with the sound expounding the Dharma mentioned earlier, is the sound sense-entrance. Although they form six sense-entrances, none is not a wondrous sphere; therefore they cause the practitioner to quickly realize the unproduced.