阿彌陀經通贊疏 2.15

2.15

The Commentary says: Seventh, concluding the establishment of the name 'Sukhāvatī'. Regarding 'sentient beings in that land': sentient beings have ten kinds of designations, and 'sentient beings' is one of those ten designations. Born transformationally from lotus flowers, they lack the suffering of birth; because the four seasons cannot change them, they lack the suffering of old age; not being subject to fragmentary limitation, they lack the suffering of illness; because their lifespans are inexhaustible, they lack the suffering of death; lacking parents, close relatives, or strangers, they lack the suffering of association with what is hated; their desires fulfilled as wished, they lack the suffering of not getting what is sought; their features upright and solemn, they lack the suffering of deficient or ugly sense faculties; furthermore, because the four seasons are uniform, they lack the sufferings of cold, heat, and the like. Therefore it says, 'the sentient beings of that land have none of the manifold sufferings'—meaning that the place is severed from the three wretched destinies, and the people are free from manifold sufferings. In contrast, in the Sahā world, with our defiled physical forms, the four serpents coil around the body and the three dragons destroy life; discordant illnesses vex us, and when our retribution is exhausted, death encroaches; what is loved is inevitably separated from us, and what is hated is never unencountered; vertically confused about the ultimate principle, horizontally we suffer entanglement in the aggregates. The manifold beings here [in Sukhāvatī] are eternally free of these. Moreover, they have accumulated and cultivated pure karma and are born in red lotuses; their bodies constantly possess the marks and signs, having eliminated the four characteristics; their emotional concerns and anxieties already severed, whom could they love or hate? Appearing in accordance with thought, there is nothing sought that is not obtained; their bodies are of the fivefold-fragrance Buddha-nature, adorned with manifold virtues. Hence it is said: 'they have none of the manifold sufferings'. Regarding 'they experience only every bliss': as soon as one returns to the Pure Land, the assembly of sages welcomes one; the lotus blossoms abruptly open and one beholds the marks and signs of the golden countenance; as a subtle breeze momentarily stirs, one hears the chiming sounds of the shaking jeweled trees; added to this, ethereal celestial clouds float beneath their supernatural feet, while their light robes soar afar to offer auspicious flowers; in the morning they pay homage to the Compassionate Countenance, receive the Dharma seal, and return to their realm; in the evening they roam the golden halls, hear jeweled verses, and practice walking meditation. Indeed, the great compassion and vows are vast, universally benefiting both the sharp and the dull: the mature lotuses are about to open to dispel remaining misfortune, while newly trained transformational beings achieve non-retrogression in practice. How could this only end gross sufferings close at hand? It also ensures that the wondrous fruit is not far away! Therefore it says: 'they experience only every bliss, and are thus named Sukhāvatī'.