釋淨土群疑論 6.7

6.7

The explanation says: This point is not fixed. One cannot say that the five supernormal knowledges attained by the noble ones of the defiled land must surpass those of the ordinary beings in the pure land. Just as in Uttarakuru the fixed retribution is one thousand years, what is to prevent someone in the heaven of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, whose lifespan is eighty thousand kalpas, from having an untimely death? Could one, because the celestial karmic retribution is long, deny that there can be an untimely death? The pure land is likewise so: although they are ordinary beings, because their karma for taking birth is superior, or because the pure land retribution is strong due to mounting the Buddha's primal vow, or because they rely on the holy spiritual power, or because the conditions supporting life are excellent, or because they obtain the marvelous samādhi of the Great Vehicle—attaining supernormal knowledges on account of these conditions, they surpass the noble ones of this realm; what is there to wonder at? Furthermore, when the intermediate state beings of the five destinies are about to seek rebirth, the karmic supernormal knowledges they obtain surpass the supernormal knowledges acquired through cultivation by the two vehicles; what is to prevent sentient beings in the pure land from obtaining supernormal knowledges that surpass the noble ones here? Hence the sūtra states: "The undefiled roots of good of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas do not equal the defiled roots of good of bodhisattvas of initial intention and initial practice."