釋淨土群疑論 3.8

3.8

Question: The Candragarbha section of the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra states: 'In the first five hundred years after the Buddha's nirvāṇa, my disciples will be firm in learning wisdom. In the second five hundred years, they will be firm in learning meditation. In the third five hundred years, my disciples will be firm in learning wisdom and extensive learning. In the fourth five hundred years, they will be firm in building stūpas and monasteries. In the fifth five hundred years, the pure dharmas will be obscured and submerged, there will be much dispute and litigation, and they will be firm only in meager wholesome dharmas.' Now you urge the cultivation of the sixteen contemplations and the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi; these are both methods of meditation and wisdom, which should only be appropriately cultivated and learned in the first two periods of five hundred years. Why do you urge their cultivation and study today? Today, scholars of the Three Stages mostly cite this text to prove that after the third period of five hundred years, it is inappropriate to learn meditation. Why do you now urge the study and cultivation of the sixteen contemplations and the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi?