樂邦文類 3.75

3.75

The Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra says: 'If one wishes to attain a pure land, one should purify one's mind. In accordance with the purity of one's mind, the buddha-land is purified.' Śāriputra had this thought: 'Could it be that my World-Honoured One's mind was impure, such that this buddha-land is impure like this?' At that time, Brahmā Sikhin said: 'I see Śākyamuni's buddha-land as pure as the palace of the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven.' Śāriputra said: 'I see this land filled with filth and evil.' The king said: 'Worthy sir, your mind has high and low; because you do not rely on the Buddha's wisdom, you see it as impure.' The Buddha then pressed the earth with his toe, and at that moment the great-thousandfold world became adorned with precious jewels. The Buddha said: 'My land is always pure like this; yet in order to deliver those who are base and inferior, I display manifold evils. It is like the gods sharing a single jewelled vessel to eat: according to their merits, the colour of the rice differs. If a person's mind is pure, they will immediately see the adornments of this land.' The Tiantai Commentary on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa explains: 'That which the Brahmā king saw was likened to the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven, which is a heaven of the desire realm; it is compared to the extraordinary and wondrous adornments of the Land where Commoners and Sages Cohabit. The Western Pure Land is also a land where commoners and sages cohabit, and that sūtra likewise adduces the sixth heaven as a comparison. What the Brahmā king witnessed was that the defiled realm is itself pure. Śāriputra had a separation between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, defilement and purity; because he did not rely on the Buddha's wisdom, he only saw defilement. The precious vessel is an analogy for [the Land of Eternally] Quiescent Light; the different colours of the rice are an analogy for the [other] three lands. Relying on Quiescent Light, that which is seen is not the same.'