觀無量壽佛經疏 1.27

1.27

Third, raising the nine grades again to counter and refute them: the various masters say that a person of the superior-upper birth is a bodhisattva from the fourth bhūmi to the seventh bhūmi. Why, then, does the Dhyāna Sūtra state: 'Three kinds of sentient beings shall attain rebirth. What are the three? The first is able only to uphold the precepts and cultivate compassion. The second is unable to uphold the precepts and cultivate compassion, but is able to read and recite the Great Vehicle. The third is unable to uphold the precepts and read the sūtras, but is only able to be mindful of the Buddha, Dharma, Saṅgha, and so forth. These three persons each, through their own karma, apply their minds with dedicated diligence, continuous and uninterrupted for one day and one night, or up to seven days and seven nights. Each dedicates the karma they have performed, aspiring and vowing to attain rebirth. When life is about to end, Amitābha Buddha together with transformation Buddhas and the assembly of bodhisattvas emit light and extend their hands, and in the space of a snap of the fingers, they are immediately born in that land.' Proved by this passage, these are precisely supreme pṛthagjanas of the highest virtue in the Great Vehicle after the Buddha's decease. Although the number of days is few, the moment of their action is fierce; how could they be determined as identical to the superior noble beings? Now, in terms of their functional capacity, bodhisattvas from the fourth to the seventh bhūmi are inconceivable; how could they rely on the good of one to seven days to have hands extended from a lotus platform to welcome them for rebirth? This concludes countering the superior-upper.