觀彌勒上生兜率天經贊 2.187

2.187

The commentary says: Fourth is the eradication of sins. There are three parts: first, fixing one's thoughts upon encountering conditions; second, giving rise to reverence upon hearing his name; third, bowing in veneration and offering wholehearted devotion. This is the first. Regarding the initial conditions, there are two kinds: first, sentient beings; second, phenomena. As for 'seeing a single deva,' whenever one encounters the condition of a sentient being, one immediately contemplates Maitreya: if they suffer, one contemplates pulling them out; if they lack joy, one contemplates bestowing it; toward the wicked, one contemplates eliminating their evil; toward the wholesome, one contemplates gathering them in; toward the superior, one aspires with joy; toward the inferior, one feels revulsion; toward wholesome friends, one contemplates honouring them; toward bad friends, one contemplates repelling them. As for 'sitting upon a single lotus flower,' whenever one encounters a single phenomenon, one immediately contemplates Maitreya: toward good phenomena, one thinks of making offerings; toward bad phenomena, one thinks of never encountering them; toward defiled phenomena, one aspires to sever them; toward pure phenomena, one aspires to cultivate them. Here, [the sūtra] merely mentions sentient beings and a single phenomenon upon which one immediately contemplates Maitreya, whose overall meaning shows the creation of the karma for ascent to birth. Practitioners of the two grades contemplate whenever they encounter conditions, never pausing or abandoning contemplation at any time. If one contemplates for a single thought-moment, it eradicates the sins of life and death of one thousand two hundred kalpas; this comes about because of Maitreya's past vows and the practitioner's focused mind. For Amitābha Buddha it is eighty kalpas eradicated; Maitreya's past vow-power differs, the depth of their compassion differs, their lands differ in joy and suffering, and there are distinctions in the intensity of the aspiring mind, as explained earlier in the comparative evaluation.