維摩義記 1.60

1.60

自下第二大眾同見。初歎未有，後見自身坐寶蓮華。先來恒處，今時始見。自下第三，如來勸觀。「汝且觀」者，暫見非永，故曰且觀。又見不見在於舍利，未可專定，故曰且觀。自下第四，舍利答佛明己已見。「唯然世尊」，奉命觀察。唯是敬辭，亦是專義。然是許可依順之義。專依佛教觀察土淨，故曰唯然。下明所見。「本所不見本所不聞」，彰昔未覩。「今佛國土嚴淨悉現」，明今始見。噵此語者，彰淨殊異。與前大眾歎未曾有，其言相似。又欲彰土始淨非本。自下第五，為遣舍利始淨之言，如來重復明土本淨。於中初法、次喻、後合。法中初言「我佛國土常淨若此」，明淨非始。「為欲度」下，辨應顯真，成土本淨。言「為下劣示土不淨」，明於上人由來常淨。

From here below is the second [part], where the great assembly sees it together. First they praise it as unprecedented, and then they see themselves seated on jeweled lotus blossoms. Where they had always resided from the beginning, only now do they see it. From here below is the third [part], the Tathāgata encouraging observation. "Observe for a moment": because it is a temporary seeing and not permanent, he therefore says "for a moment." Furthermore, whether he sees it or not rests with Śāriputra and cannot yet be definitively fixed; hence he says "for a moment." From here below is the fourth [part], Śāriputra replying to the Buddha, clarifying that he has already seen it. "Indeed, World-Honoured One" indicates following the command to observe. "Indeed" (wei) is a respectful expression, and also means singular devotion; "yes" (ran) carries the sense of assent and compliance. Singly devoted to relying on the Buddha's teaching to observe the purity of the land, he therefore says "Indeed, yes." Below, he clarifies what he saw. "What was originally not seen and originally not heard" reveals that it was not witnessed in the past. "Now the adornments and purity of the Buddha-land are all manifest" clarifies that only now is it seen. Speaking these words reveals the extraordinary uniqueness of the purity; these words resemble the great assembly's earlier praise of it being unprecedented. Furthermore, he wishes to reveal that the land has only now become pure, and was not so originally. From here below is the fifth [part]: in order to dispel Śāriputra's statement that it only now became pure, the Tathāgata reiterates that the land is fundamentally pure. Within this there is first the doctrine, next an analogy, and finally the application. In the doctrine, he first says, "My Buddha-land is always pure like this," clarifying that its purity is not recent. From "In order to liberate..." downward, he distinguishes the responsive manifestation to reveal the real, establishing that the land is fundamentally pure. The statement "For the inferior, he shows an impure land" clarifies that for superior persons it has always been pure from the beginning.