阿彌陀經義疏 1.22

1.22

初中又二：初、總標依正，上二句指對告人，眾集即告，故云：「爾時」，身子大權智慧第一，知言解意深契佛懷，故諸經便多令對語。《彌勒下生經》云：「大智舍利弗能隨佛轉法輪，佛法之大將。」乃知身子才辨超倫，及至此經殊無一詞申疑請問，從始至末盡是如來呼以告之，即向所謂示同不知，義見于此。從是已下即所告事，上四句標依報。淨土多種，如別所論，今此所標同居淨土，如世邦國方向、遠近，二皆是定，對此極苦故名極樂，亦名安樂亦號安養，十萬億剎凡情疑遠，然彈指屈臂剎那可到，一以十方淨穢同一心故，二以心念迅速不思議故，《十疑論》云：「但使眾生淨業成者，臨終在定之心，即是淨土受生之心，動念即是生淨土時。」為此《觀經》云：「彌陀淨土去此不遠。」又心業力不思議，一念即生，不須愁遠等。下三句標正報，但言化主必兼徒眾，簡非過未故云現在。

The first section again has two parts: First, a general indication of circumstantial and direct rewards. The first two lines indicate the interlocutor. As soon as the assembly had gathered, [the Buddha] addressed him; hence it says: "At that time." Śāriputra, of great provisional manifestation, was foremost in wisdom, understanding words and grasping their meaning, deeply according with the Buddha's mind; thus throughout the sūtras he is often made the interlocutor. The Maitreyavyākaraṇa Sūtra says: "Śāriputra of Great Wisdom is able to turn the wheel of Dharma following the Buddha; he is the great general of the Buddha's Dharma." Thus we know Śāriputra's talent and eloquence were peerless, yet in this sūtra he did not utter a single word to express doubt or ask a question; from beginning to end, the Tathāgata entirely addressed him by name to teach him. This is what was referred to earlier as "manifesting as if not knowing," the meaning of which is seen here. From this point downward are the matters explained. The four lines above indicate circumstantial reward. Pure lands are of many kinds, as discussed elsewhere; here what is indicated is the Pure Land of Common Abode, which, like worldly realms and countries, has both direction and distance definitely fixed. In contrast to this [world's] extreme suffering, it is named Sukhāvatī (Utmost Bliss); it is also called Peaceful Bliss and An-yang (Nourishing Peace). Deluded ordinary sentiments doubt the distance of a hundred thousand kotis of lands, yet it can be reached in the snapping of a finger or the bending of an arm, in an instant—first, because the pure and defiled [realms] of the ten directions are of the identical one mind, and second, because mental thoughts are unfathomably swift. The Treatise on the Ten Doubts says: "As long as sentient beings accomplish pure karma, the mind abiding in samādhi at the point of death is itself the mind of taking birth in the Pure Land; the stirring of thought is the very moment of birth in the Pure Land." For this reason, the Contemplation Sūtra says: "Amida's Pure Land is not far from here." Furthermore, the power of mental karma is unfathomable; one is born there in a single thought-moment, and there is no need to worry about distance and the like. The three lines below indicate direct reward. Mentioning only the teaching host necessarily includes his retinue; to differentiate him from the past and future, it says "presently."