維摩義記 1.60

1.60

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.