淨土論 1.14

1.14

答曰：依如《攝論》，唯生化土，不見法、報土也。就化土中有其二種：一是胎生、二是化生。胎生土者，復有二種：一狐疑人，生極樂邊城七寶宮殿中，五百歲不見佛，名之為胎。此是（《無量壽經》說）。二者實有父母，名之為胎。如《鼓音聲王陀羅尼經》說，此即阿彌陀佛亦有父母等。經云「城名清泰，十千由旬，於中充滿剎利之種。父名月上轉輪聖王，母名殊勝妙顏，子名月明，奉事弟子名無垢稱，智慧弟子名攬光，神足弟子名主化，魔名無勝，提婆達多名寂也（此自別化一切眾生，非今念佛往生者也。此即處一，見有異也）」。化生土者，依如經論，具有三種：一者純是大乘土、二者純是小乘土、三者大小乘雜土。純大乘土者，此處眾生純學大乘，即生彼土，如九品生中上輩三品人是也，故《往生論》云「大乘善根界，等無譏謙名。女人及根缺，二乘種不生」也。純小乘土者，此處眾生純學小乘，即生彼土，如九品生中中輩二品生者是也，故《智度論》中云「有妙淨土，出過三界。諸阿羅漢，當生其中」。大小乘雜土者，此處眾生雜學大小乘，即生彼土，如九品生中中輩下生，及下輩三品生者是也。如中品下生，經云「孝養父母，行世仁慈，遇善知識為說四十八大願」等。於此願中，雜聞大小乘，至彼雖悟阿羅漢果，後乃迴心向大乘也。下輩三人亦聞四十八大願、或聞十二部經、或念阿彌陀佛，生到彼土，皆發菩提心也。麁論有此三土，若委曲分別者，眾生起行既有千殊，往生見土亦有萬別也。若作此解者，諸經論中或判為報、或判為化，皆無妨難也。但知諸佛修行，具感報、化二土也。如《攝論》「加行感化，正體感報」，若報若化，皆欲成就眾生。此則土不虛設、行不空修，但信佛語、依經專念即得往生，亦不須圖度報之與化也。

Answer: According to the She lun (Mahāyānasaṃgraha), one is born only into the nirmāṇa land and does not see the dharma or saṃbhoga lands. Within the nirmāṇa land, there are two kinds: the first is womb-birth, and the second is apparitional birth. For the womb-birth land, there are again two kinds: First, people with doubts are born in the border city of Sukhāvatī, inside a seven-jeweled palace, where for five hundred years they do not see the Buddha; this is called 'the womb' (as explained in the Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra). Second, there are truly parents; this is called 'the womb'. As explained in the Guyinsheng wang tuoluoni jing (Dundubhīsvaranirghoṣa-dhāraṇī-sūtra), here Amitābha Buddha also has parents and so forth. The sūtra says: 'The city is named Pure and Tranquil, ten thousand yojanas in extent, filled with kṣatriyas. His father's name is the wheel-turning holy king Candrottara; his mother's name is Utmost Fine Countenance; his son's name is Candramukha; his serving disciple's name is Vimalakīrti; his disciple foremost in wisdom's name is Samantaraśmi; his disciple foremost in supernormal powers' name is Master of Transformation; Māra's name is Anabhibhūta; and Devadatta's name is Śānta (this refers to separately transforming all sentient beings, not to those who now achieve rebirth through buddhānusmṛti. This is a single locus seen differently).' Regarding the apparitional-birth lands, according to sūtras and treatises there are three kinds: first, pure Mahāyāna lands; second, pure Hīnayāna lands; third, lands of mixed Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. As for the pure Mahāyāna lands, here sentient beings study purely the Mahāyāna and are then reborn in that land, like the people of the upper three grades among the nine grades of rebirth. Thus the Wangsheng lun says: 'The realm of Mahāyāna roots of good is equal, without names of reproach or deficiency; women, those with defective sense faculties, and those with Hīnayāna dispositions are not born there.' As for the pure Hīnayāna lands, here sentient beings study purely the Hīnayāna and are then reborn in that land, like those reborn in the upper two grades of the middle rank among the nine grades of rebirth. Thus the Zhidu lun (Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa) says: 'There is an exquisite pure land that transcends the three realms. The arhats shall be born therein.' As for the lands of mixed Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna, here sentient beings study both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna mixed together and are then reborn in that land, like those reborn in the lowest grade of the middle rank, and the three grades of the lower rank among the nine grades of rebirth. For instance, regarding the lowest grade of the middle rank, the sūtra says: 'They are filial to their parents, practice worldly benevolence and compassion, and encounter a good friend who explains the forty-eight great vows to them,' and so forth. Within these vows, they hear a mix of the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna; upon arriving there, although they awaken to the fruit of an arhat, they subsequently turn their minds toward the Mahāyāna. The three kinds of people of the lowest rank also hear the forty-eight great vows, or hear the twelve divisions of the canon, or be mindful of Amitābha Buddha; when reborn in that land, they all generate bodhicitta. Roughly speaking, there are these three lands; but if analyzed in detail, since the practices generated by sentient beings have a thousand differences, the lands seen upon rebirth also have ten thousand variations. If one understands it this way, whether various sūtras and treatises judge it to be saṃbhoga or judge it to be nirmāṇa, there is no obstacle or contradiction. One should simply know that the Buddhas' cultivation fully induces both saṃbhoga and nirmāṇa lands. As the She lun says: 'Preparatory practice induces the nirmāṇa, whereas the fundamental [wisdom] induces the saṃbhoga.' Whether saṃbhoga or nirmāṇa, both intend to mature sentient beings. Thus the land is not established in vain, and practice is not cultivated for nothing; if one simply believes the Buddha's words and single-mindedly engages in mindfulness according to the sūtras, one will attain rebirth, and there is no need to calculate whether it is saṃbhoga or nirmāṇa.