阿彌陀經疏 1.171

1.171

答：「然彼化生身，無膿血不淨等，故無倒執淨不淨心，故不說身念。雖無苦受亦無樂報心倒，不說受念。心知無常勵誠修道，不說心念。知法無我而無我倒，不說法念。以是因緣，不說四念。又不曾造惡、無煩惱，不說斷，熾然自勵修諸聖道，不假說修，故鳥不說四正勤也。又定慧兼修非恒散亂，五通報得，無勞說四如意足，是故前三眾鳥不宣。又復釋者，是義不然，但經略舉非鳥不宣，亦言三十七助道法者，謂：四念處、四正勤、四如意足、五根、五力、七覺支、八正道。四念處者，謂：身受心法。四正勤者，謂：未生之惡方便令不生，已生之惡方便令斷，未生之善方便令生，已生之善方便令增長。四如意足者，謂：欲定足、精進定足、念定足、慧定足。五根者，謂：信根、精進根、念根、定根、慧根。五力者，謂：信力、精進力、念力、慧力、定力。七覺分者，謂：擇法覺支、精進覺支、喜覺支、猗覺支、捨覺支、念覺支、定覺支。八正道者，謂：正見、正思惟、正語、正業、正命、正精進、正念、正定。體性有十，謂：淨信、精進、念、智慧，及喜、猗、捨覺品相應捨、思、戒、三摩提。信分有二，謂：信根、信力。精進分八，謂：四正勤為四：精進根、精進力、精進覺支、正精進；念分為四，謂：念根、念力、念覺支、正念。智慧分八，謂四念處為四：慧根、慧力、擇法覺支、正見。喜為喜覺支，猗為猗覺支，捨為捨覺支，思是覺支，數謂正思惟。戒分為三，謂：正語、正業、正命。三摩提定，定分為八，謂四如意足為四：定根、定力、定覺支、正定。」

Answer: "Now, their transformationally born bodies are free from pus, blood, impurities, and the like; hence they are free from the inverted mind that grasps at purity or impurity, so mindfulness of the body is not taught. Although there is no painful sensation, there is also no mental inversion regarding pleasant retribution, so mindfulness of sensation is not taught. The mind understands impermanence and earnestly cultivates the path, so mindfulness of mind is not taught. They understand that phenomena lack a self and are free from the inversion of a self, so mindfulness of phenomena is not taught. Due to these causes and conditions, the four applications of mindfulness are not taught. Furthermore, they have never committed evil and have no defilements, so cessation is not taught; they ardently encourage themselves to cultivate the noble paths, so there is no need to teach cultivation; hence the birds do not teach the four right exertions. In addition, concentration and insight are concurrently cultivated, so they are not constantly distracted; the five superknowledges are attained by retribution, so there is no need to teach the four bases of psychic power. For these reasons, the birds do not proclaim the first three. Yet another explanation is: this meaning is not so; the sūtra merely gives an abridged mention, and it is not that the birds do not proclaim them. When it mentions the thirty-seven dharmas that assist the path, they refer to: the four applications of mindfulness, the four right exertions, the four bases of psychic power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven limbs of awakening, and the eightfold noble path. The four applications of mindfulness are: body, sensation, mind, and phenomena. The four right exertions are: causing unarisen evil to not arise by skillful means, causing arisen evil to be cut off by skillful means, causing unarisen good to arise by skillful means, and causing arisen good to increase by skillful means. The four bases of psychic power are: the base of desire-concentration, the base of vigor-concentration, the base of mind-concentration, and the base of inquiry-concentration. The five faculties are: the faculty of faith, the faculty of vigor, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, and the faculty of wisdom. The five powers are: the power of faith, the power of vigor, the power of mindfulness, the power of wisdom, and the power of concentration. The seven limbs of awakening are: the awakening limb of investigation of dharmas, the awakening limb of vigor, the awakening limb of joy, the awakening limb of pliancy, the awakening limb of equanimity, the awakening limb of mindfulness, and the awakening limb of concentration. The eightfold noble path is: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Their substantial natures are ten: pure faith, vigor, mindfulness, wisdom, as well as joy, pliancy, equanimity (which is equanimity associated with the limbs of awakening), intention, morality, and samādhi. The category of faith has two: the faculty of faith and the power of faith. Vigor is divided into eight, namely the four right exertions making four, along with the faculty of vigor, the power of vigor, the awakening limb of vigor, and right effort. Mindfulness is divided into four, namely the faculty of mindfulness, the power of mindfulness, the awakening limb of mindfulness, and right mindfulness. Wisdom is divided into eight, namely the four applications of mindfulness making four, along with the faculty of wisdom, the power of wisdom, the awakening limb of investigation of dharmas, and right view. Joy is the awakening limb of joy; pliancy is the awakening limb of pliancy; equanimity is the awakening limb of equanimity; intention is a limb of awakening, its factor being right intention. Morality is divided into three: right speech, right action, and right livelihood. Samādhi is concentration; concentration is divided into eight, namely the four bases of psychic power making four, along with the faculty of concentration, the power of concentration, the awakening limb of concentration, and right concentration."