釋淨土群疑論 7.15

7.15

釋曰：此有三義。一釋云：此非往人花也。此或是佛來迎，佛所乘花也。其人障重不感見佛，但見佛座猶不分明，猶如日輪曚曨似觀也。二釋：此人障重不感佛迎，但得金蓮引生淨土，故《觀經》說住其人前。若是坐花，經何不說坐寶花也，三釋：此是坐花。雖同是金華，大小勝劣、莊嚴麁妙自分二品蓮異，何妨亦有差殊也。

I explain: There are three interpretations for this. One interpretation says: This is not the flower of the person going to be reborn. This is perhaps [the flower on which] the Buddha comes to welcome them, the flower that the Buddha rides. Because the person's obstacles are heavy, they do not have the capacity to see the Buddha; they only see the Buddha's seat, and even that is indistinct, like seeing the disk of the sun dimly through haze. A second interpretation: Because this person's obstacles are heavy, they do not experience the Buddha coming to welcome them; they only obtain a golden lotus leading them to be born in the Pure Land, which is why the Guan jing says it stands before the person. If it were a flower to sit upon, why does the sūtra not speak of sitting upon a jeweled flower? A third interpretation: This is a flower to sit upon. Although both are golden flowers, their size, superiority or inferiority, and coarse or refined adornments naturally distinguish the difference between the lotuses of the two grades; what prevents there also being a disparity?