阿彌陀經通贊疏 1.41

1.41

The Praise says: The third [point] is the master who expounds the teaching. In Sanskrit it is *buddha*, here abbreviated as *fo*, the master possessing wisdom; in the Tang language this means 'the awakened one.' 'Awakened' has three meanings: first, self-awakened, which surpasses ordinary beings, because ordinary beings are not self-awakened; second, awakening others, which surpasses the two vehicles, because they do not awaken others; third, the perfection of awakened practice, which surpasses the bodhisattvas, because although bodhisattvas cultivate the practices of the two awakenings, they have not yet perfected them. The *Buddhabhūmi-śāstra* says: 'Endowed with all-knowledge and the knowledge of all aspects, able to awaken oneself and also able to awaken all sentient beings, like awakening from a dream, like a lotus flower blossoming; hence one is called Buddha.' According to the Sanskrit texts of the various sūtras, the fundamental teacher is uniformly designated as Bhagavān; in the Buddhist teachings this was established because this single word encompasses many virtues. The master translator intended brevity and named him 'Buddha' so as to engender goodness according to the region.