寶王三昧念佛直指 1.44

1.44

夫念佛三昧者，實使群生超三界、生極樂之徑路也。始自鷲嶺敷宜，次羨廬山繼軌，十方稱讚、諸祖傳持，自昔至今有自來矣。但其說或不能一，致後學不得其歸。獨天台三觀法門理冠群經、超乎眾說，稟教得旨，其益難思，故後學不可不以此為舟航也。夫三觀者，一念即空、即假、即中也。自我如來恢揚，至於智者妙悟，所謂空則一切皆空、假則一切皆假、中則一切皆中，俱破、俱立、俱非破立、圓融絕待，難議難思，統諸部之玄門、廓生佛之境智，極萬法之源底、顯淨土之圓修，念佛三昧非此法門則有所未盡也。四明大師發揚妙旨以論後學，今悉用其語。求生淨土雖不外乎世間小善及彼事想，若非以大乘圓妙三觀法門，釋彼十六觀經奧旨，使人開解起行，何由必生？十六觀者，初觀落日，所以先標送想向彼佛也。初心行人雖了根塵皆是法界，而心想羸劣、勝境難現，是故如來設異方便，即以落日為境想之，令起觀中之日。圓人妙解，知能想心本具一切依正之法，今以具日之心，緣於即心之日，令本性日顯現其前，斯乃以法界心、緣法界境、起法界日。既皆法界，豈不即空假中。此猶總示。若別論三觀，成日劫者，以根境空寂，則心日無礙；以緣起假立，故累想日生；以其心日皆法界，故當體顯現。日觀既成，則三觀同在一心，非一非三、而一而三，不可思議。日觀既爾，餘觀例爾。應知十六皆用即空假中一心三觀以為想相之法。次觀清水，復想成氷，良以彼土琉璃為地，此地難想，且令想氷。氷想若成，寶地可見。如上且以所見落日及氷以為方便。次觀地、觀樹、觀池，及以總觀樓地池等。已上六觀，皆所以觀彼土之依報也。至於觀華座者，為三聖之親依。觀寶像者，類三聖之真體。欲觀於佛，先觀於座。真佛難觀，要先觀像。乃至普觀往生、雜觀佛菩薩等七觀，皆所以觀彼土之正報也。後三觀者，明三輩九品之人自此而生彼也。既然修因不同，是故感果差降。今亦觀者，為令行人識別三品優劣，捨於中下而修習上品往生故也。然諸觀皆用經所示相，憶持在心為所觀境，仍了自心本具此法，託境想成，發明心目。又經題云佛說觀無量壽佛經者，佛是所觀勝境，舉正報以收依果，述化主以包徒眾。觀雖十六，言佛便周，則當但觀彼佛也。欲觀彼佛者，則當先觀彼佛如虛空量端嚴微妙廣大色身，一一身分八萬四千相，一一相中八萬四千隨形好，一一好中八萬四千光明，一一光明之中一一世界海。彼世界海中，一切十方諸佛菩薩聲聞緣覺僧眾，一一微妙廣大，不可具說，但當憶想令心眼見。見此事者，即見十方諸佛。以見諸佛故，名念佛三昧。作是觀者，名觀一切佛身。以觀佛身故，亦見佛心。佛心者，大慈悲是，以無緣慈攝諸眾生。作此觀者，捨身他世，生諸佛前，得無生忍。又云：觀無量壽佛者，從一相好入，但觀眉間白毫極令明了。見眉間白毫者，八萬四千相好自然當現。見無量壽佛者，即見十方無量諸佛。得見無量諸佛故，諸佛現前授記。是為遍觀一切色身相。故知十六妙觀以觀佛為要，八萬相好都想難成，故令但觀眉間毫相如五須彌。此想若成，八萬皆現，此為要門也。若修前諸觀，心得流利、觀已宏深，則可稱彼毫量而觀，使八萬相好自然皆現。疏中令觀劣應毫相，乃為未修前諸觀者，及為雖修觀未成者，故於佛身別示初心可觀之相為三昧門也。又慈雲法師但令直想阿彌陀佛丈六金軀坐於華上，專繫眉間白毫一相，其毫長一丈五尺，周圍五寸，外有八稜，中表俱空，右旋宛轉在眉中間，瑩淨明徹不可具說，顯映金顏，分齊分明。作此想時，停心注想堅固勿移。此想若成，則三昧現前矣。是故觀佛三昧經云，若人至心繫念，端坐觀念色身，當知心如佛心，與佛無異。雖在塵勞，不為諸塵之所覆蔽。作是觀者，是真念佛。是知觀佛功德，其事如是。又彼世尊相好光明微妙廣大，眾生狹劣想念難成。佛令於真身觀前先令想像，佛必坐座。又先觀座，座觀若成，則當想像。經云：諸佛如來是法界身，入一切眾生心想中。是故汝等心想佛時，是心即是三十二相八十隨形好。是心作佛，是心是佛。諸佛正遍知海從心想生，是故應當一心繫念諦觀彼佛。夫法界身者，報佛法性之身也。滿足始覺名為報佛，究顯本覺名法性身，始本相冥能起應用。然非眾生能感，則諸佛亦豈能應？能感如水、能應如日，是故始覺合本，猶白月昇天，應入淨想，如影現百川。有感有應。此二道交，是為入眾生心想之義也。又法界身者即佛身也，無所不遍故，以法界為體。若能得此觀佛三昧，則觀解心契入佛體、佛體入觀解心，斯乃始覺解於本覺，是故本覺入於始覺。有解有入，此二相應，是為入眾生心想中也。當知今之心觀，非直於陰心觀本性佛，乃託他佛以顯本性，是故先明應佛入我想心，次明佛心全是本覺，故應佛顯、知本性明，託外義成、惟心觀立。二義相成，是今觀法。又經中云：是心作佛、是心是佛者，所以示今觀佛，當明修性不二之旨。言作佛者，此有二義：一者淨心能感他方應佛，謂諸佛法身本無色相，由眾生淨心依於業識熏佛法身，故能見佛勝應色相。二者三昧能成自己果佛，謂眾生以淨心想成就觀佛三昧，故能使自己終成作佛。此之二義，初作他佛，次作己佛。當知果佛從證、非是自然，即是而作全性成修，顯非性德自然是佛也。言是佛者，亦有二義：一者心即應佛。前言性本無相，心感故有，則心佛有無條然永異。今泯此見故，則眾生之心全是應佛，以離此心外更無佛故。二者心即果佛。既心是果佛，故知無有成佛之因，以眾生心中已有如來結加趺坐，豈待當來方成果佛？此之二義，初是應佛，次是果佛。當知果佛本具、非從緣成，則作而是全修成性，顯非修德因緣成佛也。若以作是顯於三觀，則空破假立皆名為作，二邊之觀也，不破不立名之為是，中道之觀也。全是而作，則三諦俱破俱立；全作而是，則三諦俱非破立。即中之空假名作，則能破三惑、立三法，故感他佛三身圓應，能成我心三身當果。即空假之中名是，則全惑即智、全障即德，故心是應佛、心是果佛。故知作是之義一心修者，乃不思議之三觀，為十六觀之總體，一經之妙宗也。文出此中、義遍初後，是故行者當用此意修淨土因。或曰：何不依經所說，惟以事想直生淨土？乃顯慧觀之門，使初心難入耶？答曰：觀慧事想乃至人中微善，但得一心，皆可生於淨土，但麁妙之不同耳。麁則惟彼事想，妙則專乎心觀。疏云：良以圓解全異小乘。小昧惟心，佛從外有，是故心佛其體不同。大乘行人知我一心具諸佛性，託境修觀佛相乃彰。今觀彌陀依正為緣熏乎心性，心性所具極樂依正由熏發生。心具而生，豈離心性？全心是佛、全佛是心，終日觀心、終日觀佛，其旨明矣。又應了知，法界圓融不思議體作我一念之心，亦復舉體作生作佛、作依作正、作根作境，一心一塵至一極微無非法界全體而作。既一一法全法界作，故趣舉一，即是圓融法界全分。既全法界，有何一物不具諸法？以一切法一一皆具一切法故，是故今家立於惟色惟香等義。又云：毘盧遮那遍一切處，一切諸法皆是佛法。所謂眾生性德之佛，非自非他、非因非果，即是圓常大覺之體。故知果佛圓明之體，是我凡夫本具性德，故四三昧通名念佛。若此觀門託彼安養依正之境，用微妙觀專就彌陀顯真佛體，雖託彼境，須知依正同居一心。心性周遍，無法不造、無法不具。若一毫法從心外生，則不名為大乘觀也。又《仁王般若經》云「佛問波斯匿王：『汝以何相而觀如來？』王言：『觀身實相，觀佛亦然。無前際中際後際，不住三際、不離三際，不住五蘊、不離五蘊，不住四大、不離四大，不住六處、不離六處，不住三界、不離三界，乃至非見聞覺知，心行處滅、言語道斷，同真際、等法性。我以此相觀如來身。』佛言：『應如是觀。若他觀者，名為邪觀。』」此義益明矣。又云：若其然者，何不直觀彼土真身之妙，而又此經教人先修像觀耶？答：娑婆教主稱讚樂邦，務引眾生出離五濁。教觀彼佛六十萬億那由他由旬之法身，而先之以華上寶像者，開示方便使觀麁見妙也。繼之以丈六八尺之像者，隨順下凡使觀小見大也。蓋麁妙異想悉從性而起修，小大殊形咸自本而垂迹，能觀之性初無差別，所觀之境寧可度量？是故圓頓之談一音普被，開示其次第而非漸、隨順其根器而非偏，並啟觀門、全彰實相，像教之源豈不在茲？此是念佛三昧單提直截之旨、始終不二之談。大乘圓頓之道，如日月普照天下後世，使知真妄之心即一而不同，而理有所詣也。可謂不離日用，解行觀慧悉皆具足。學者可不盡其心哉？

The buddha-mindfulness samādhi is truly the direct path by which all living beings transcend the three realms and are reborn in Sukhāvatī. It began with its exposition on Gṛdhrakūṭa, followed admirably by Mt. Lu continuing its tracks; praised by the ten directions and transmitted and upheld by all the patriarchs, it has had its heritage from antiquity to the present. Yet their teachings have at times not been unified, causing later students to fail to find their proper resort. The Tiantai school's Dharma-gate of the three contemplations alone stands supreme in its principle above all sūtras and transcends all other teachings. Receiving its instructions and attaining its purport yields inconceivable benefit; hence later students cannot fail to take it as their boat and raft. Now, as for the three contemplations, a single thought is at once empty, at once provisional, and at once the middle. Promoted by our Tathāgata and wonderfully awakened to by Zhiyi, what is called "empty" means all is empty; what is called "provisional" means all is provisional; what is called "middle" means all is the middle. All are refuted, all are established, and all are neither refuted nor established; perfectly integrated and free from duality, it is hard to conceive and hard to deliberate. It unifies the profound gateways of all divisions of scriptures, broadens the realms and wisdom of beings and Buddhas, reaches the very bottom of the source of the myriad dharmas, and reveals the perfect cultivation of the Pure Land. Without this Dharma-gate, the buddha-mindfulness samādhi would be incomplete. Great Master Siming developed these wonderful principles to discuss them for later students, and today I use his words in their entirety. Although seeking rebirth in the Pure Land is not separate from the small wholesome deeds of the mundane world and those phenomenal visualizations, if one does not take the Mahāyāna's perfectly wonderful Dharma-gate of the three contemplations to interpret the profound purport of that Sūtra on the Sixteen Contemplations, leading people to open up understanding and initiate practice, by what means could rebirth be certain? Among the sixteen contemplations, the first is contemplating the setting sun, which is the preliminary marking out to direct one's contemplation toward that Buddha. Although beginners understand that sense faculties and dusts are all the dharmadhātu, their mental thoughts are weak and inferior, and the sublime realm is difficult to manifest; therefore the Tathāgata devised an extraordinary expedient, taking the setting sun as the objective realm to visualize, causing them to generate the sun within contemplation. A person of the perfect [teaching] with wonderful understanding knows that the mind capable of visualizing inherently possesses all dharmas of circumstantial and primary [rewards]; now, with the mind that possesses the sun, one takes the sun that is mind itself as object, causing the sun of the original nature to manifest before oneself. This is taking the mind of the dharmadhātu, taking the realm of the dharmadhātu as object, and giving rise to the sun of the dharmadhātu. Since all are the dharmadhātu, how could it not be at once empty, provisional, and the middle? This is still a general explanation. If we discuss the three contemplations specifically: that the contemplation of the sun succeeds is because the sense faculties and objective realm are empty and tranquil, so that mind and sun are unhindered; because it is provisionally established through conditioned arising, repeated thoughts cause the sun to arise; and because the mind and sun are both the dharmadhātu, it manifests in its very essence. Once the sun contemplation is accomplished, the three contemplations are simultaneously present in one mind: neither one nor three, yet both one and three, inconceivable. Since the sun contemplation is like this, the remaining contemplations follow by analogy. One should know that all sixteen use the threefold contemplation in a single mind—that is at once empty, provisional, and middle—as the method of visualizing marks. Next is contemplating clear water and further visualizing it turning into ice, precisely because that land has lapis lazuli for ground; this ground is difficult to visualize, so [the sūtra] first has one visualize ice. If the visualization of ice succeeds, the jeweled ground can be seen. As above, the observed setting sun and ice are temporarily used as expedients. Next are contemplating the ground, contemplating the trees, contemplating the ponds, and the collective contemplation of the towers, ground, ponds, and so forth. These six contemplations above are all that by which one contemplates the circumstantial rewards of that land. As for contemplating the lotus throne, it is the direct support of the Three Holy Ones. Contemplating the jeweled image resembles the true body of the Three Holy Ones. To contemplate the Buddha, one first contemplates the throne; the true Buddha being difficult to contemplate, one must first contemplate the image. Down to the seven contemplations—including the general contemplation of rebirth and the miscellaneous contemplation of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas—all are that by which one contemplates the primary rewards of that land. The final three contemplations clarify how people of the three grades and nine ranks are born from here to there. Since their causal practices differ, the resulting fruits they incur vary in rank. Contemplating these now is to enable practitioners to distinguish the superior and inferior among the three ranks, so that they may abandon the middle and lower and cultivate rebirth in the superior rank. However, all these contemplations use the marks shown in the sūtra, recollecting and holding them in the mind as the observed realm, still understanding that one's own mind inherently possesses this dharma, and relying on the realm to accomplish the visualization, illuminating the mind's eye. Furthermore, the title of the sūtra reads "The Buddha Speaks the Sūtra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life": "Buddha" is the sublime realm to be contemplated; mentioning the primary reward encompasses the circumstantial fruit, and describing the transforming lord includes his retinue. Although the contemplations are sixteen, mentioning the Buddha makes it complete, so one should simply contemplate that Buddha. One who wishes to contemplate that Buddha should first contemplate that Buddha's endurable, sublime, and vast physical body which is equal in measure to space, every single part of his body having eighty-four thousand marks, within each mark eighty-four thousand minor marks, within each minor mark eighty-four thousand rays of light, and within each ray of light an ocean of worlds. Within those oceans of worlds, all the assemblies of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas of the ten directions are each sublime and vast beyond full description; one should simply recollect and visualize them, causing the eye of the mind to see them. One who sees this sees the Buddhas of the ten directions. Because one sees the Buddhas, it is called the buddha-mindfulness samādhi. One who performs this contemplation is said to contemplate the body of all Buddhas. Because one contemplates the body of the Buddhas, one also sees the mind of the Buddhas. The mind of the Buddhas is great compassion; it gathers in all sentient beings with compassion without conditions. One who performs this contemplation, casting off the body in another life, is born before the Buddhas and attains the tolerance of the unarisen. It also says: To contemplate the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, one enters through a single mark; simply contemplate the white curl between his eyebrows, making it extremely clear. One who sees the white curl between the eyebrows will naturally see the eighty-four thousand marks and minor marks appear. One who sees the Buddha of Immeasurable Life sees the immeasurable Buddhas of the ten directions. Having attained sight of the immeasurable Buddhas, the Buddhas appear before one and bestow prediction. This is the pervasive contemplation of all physical marks. Therefore, we know that among the sixteen wonderful contemplations, contemplating the Buddha is the essential. Since it is difficult to accomplish the visualization of all eighty thousand marks and minor marks, [the sūtra] has one simply contemplate the curl mark between the eyebrows as being like five Sumerus. If this visualization succeeds, all eighty thousand will appear; this is the essential gateway. If one cultivates the preceding contemplations so that the mind becomes fluid and the contemplation already vast and deep, one can contemplate it in accordance with the scale of that curl, causing the eighty-four thousand marks and minor marks to appear naturally. In the commentary, having one contemplate the inferior responsive curl mark is for those who have not cultivated the preceding contemplations, and for those who have cultivated them without success; therefore, regarding the Buddha's body, it separately demonstrates marks that beginners can contemplate as a gateway to samādhi. Furthermore, Dharma Master Ciyun merely had one directly visualize Amitābha's sixteen-foot golden body sitting upon the flower, exclusively concentrating on the single mark of the white curl between his eyebrows, the curl being one zhang and five chi in length, five cun in circumference, with eight ridges on the outside, hollow both inside and out, curling gracefully to the right between his eyebrows, crystal-clear, pure, and luminous beyond full description, shining upon his golden visage with distinct borders. When performing this visualization, rest the mind and focus thought firmly without wavering. When this visualization succeeds, samādhi will manifest before you. For this reason, the Sūtra on the Samādhi of Contemplating the Buddha says: If a person wholeheartedly concentrates their mindfulness, sits upright, and contemplates the physical body, they should know that their mind is like the Buddha's mind, no different from the Buddha. Even though amid the defilements, they are not covered over by the dusts. One who performs this contemplation is one who truly practices buddha-mindfulness. From this we know that the merit of contemplating the Buddha is like this. Furthermore, that World-Honoured One's marks, minor marks, and radiance are sublime and vast, while sentient beings' thoughts are narrow and inferior, making visualization difficult to accomplish. Before the contemplation of the true body, the Buddha had them first visualize the image, and the Buddha must sit upon a throne. Thus one also first contemplates the throne; when the throne contemplation succeeds, one should then visualize the image. The sūtra says: The Tathāgatas, all Buddhas, are the dharmadhātu-body, entering the mental thoughts of all sentient beings. Therefore, when your minds think of the Buddha, this mind is itself the thirty-two marks and eighty minor marks. This mind makes the Buddha; this mind is the Buddha. The ocean of right and universal knowledge of all Buddhas arises from mental thoughts; therefore, you should wholeheartedly focus mindfulness and attentively contemplate that Buddha. Now, the dharmadhātu-body is the body of the Buddha of the reward and the Dharma-nature. Fulfilling initial awakening is called the reward Buddha; exhaustively revealing inherent awakening is called the Dharma-nature body. When the initial and inherent blend together, they can give rise to responsive functioning. Yet if sentient beings cannot evoke it, how could all Buddhas respond? That which can evoke is like water; that which can respond is like the sun. Therefore, initial awakening joining with inherent [awakening] is like the bright moon ascending into the sky; the response entering pure thoughts is like shadows appearing in a hundred streams. There is an evocation and there is a response. When these two paths交 [intersect], this is the meaning of entering the mental thoughts of sentient beings. Furthermore, the dharmadhātu-body is itself the Buddha's body; because it is all-pervading, it takes the dharmadhātu as its substance. If one can attain this samādhi of contemplating the Buddha, the mind of contemplative understanding accords with and enters the Buddha's substance, and the Buddha's substance enters the mind of contemplative understanding. This is initial awakening understanding inherent awakening; therefore, inherent awakening enters into initial awakening. There is understanding and there is entry; when these two correspond, this is "entering the mental thoughts of sentient beings." One should know that the present mind-contemplation is not simply contemplating the Buddha of original nature in the mind of the skandhas; rather, it relies on another Buddha to reveal the original nature. Therefore, it first clarifies that the responsive Buddha enters my visualizing mind, and next clarifies that the Buddha's mind is entirely inherent awakening. Thus when the responsive Buddha appears, one knows that the original nature is illuminated; relying on the external, the meaning is accomplished, and the mind-only contemplation is established. These two meanings complete each other; this is the present method of contemplation. Furthermore, when the sūtra says "this mind makes the Buddha, this mind is the Buddha," it shows that the present contemplation of the Buddha must clarify the principle of the non-duality of cultivation and nature. As for "making the Buddha," this has two meanings: First, the pure mind can evoke the responsive Buddha of another direction; that is, the dharmakāya of all Buddhas originally has no physical form, but because sentient beings' pure minds rely on karmic consciousness to perfume the Buddha's dharmakāya, they are able to see the sublime responsive physical forms of the Buddha. Second, samādhi can accomplish one's own fruit-Buddha; that is, because sentient beings with pure thoughts accomplish the samādhi of contemplating the Buddha, they can ultimately cause themselves to become Buddhas. Of these two meanings, the first is making another Buddha, and the second is making one's own Buddha. One should know that the fruit-Buddha comes from realization and is not spontaneous; being identical yet made, full nature constitutes cultivation, revealing that the Buddha is not spontaneously [attained] by natural virtue. As for "being the Buddha," this also has two meanings: First, the mind is identical to the responsive Buddha. It was previously said that nature is originally without marks and exists because the mind evokes it; then mind and Buddha, being and non-being, would be distinctly and perpetually different. Now, eliminating this view, the mind of sentient beings is entirely the responsive Buddha, because apart from this mind there is no other Buddha. Second, the mind is identical to the fruit-Buddha. Since the mind is the fruit-Buddha, one knows there is no cause for becoming a Buddha, for within the minds of sentient beings the Tathāgata already sits cross-legged; how could one wait for the future to become the fruit-Buddha? Of these two meanings, the first is the responsive Buddha, and the second is the fruit-Buddha. One should know that the fruit-Buddha is inherently possessed and not brought about through conditions; being made yet identical, full cultivation constitutes nature, revealing that becoming a Buddha is not by conditions of cultivated virtue. If we use "making" and "being" to reveal the three contemplations, then refutation by emptiness and establishment by the provisional are both called "making"—these are the contemplations of the two extremes. Neither refuting nor establishing is called "being"—this is the contemplation of the Middle Way. When it is entirely "being" that is "making," then the three truths are all refuted and all established; when it is entirely "making" that is "being," then the three truths are all neither refuted nor established. The emptiness and provisional that are identical to the middle are called "making"; thus they can refute the three delusions and establish the three dharmas, thereby evoking the perfect responses of the three bodies of the other Buddha and accomplishing the future fruits of the three bodies of one's own mind. The middle that is identical to emptiness and the provisional is called "being"; thus full delusion is itself wisdom, and full obstruction is itself virtue; hence the mind is the responsive Buddha, and the mind is the fruit-Buddha. Therefore, we know that cultivating the meaning of "making" and "being" in a single mind is the inconceivable three contemplations, the overall substance of the sixteen contemplations, and the wonderful essence of the whole sūtra. The text arises from this, and its meaning pervades from beginning to end; therefore, practitioners should use this intention to cultivate the cause for the Pure Land. Someone might ask: Why not rely on what the sūtra says, simply using phenomenal visualization to be reborn directly in the Pure Land, rather than revealing the gateway of wisdom contemplation and making it difficult for beginners to enter? I answer: From wisdom contemplation and phenomenal visualization down to minor wholesome deeds among humans, if one only attains single-mindedness, all can be reborn in the Pure Land; there is merely the difference between coarse and subtle. The coarse is merely those phenomenal visualizations; the subtle is exclusively the mind-contemplation. The commentary says: This is because the perfect understanding is entirely different from the Hīnayāna. The Hīnayāna is blind to mind-only and holds that the Buddha exists externally; therefore the substances of mind and Buddha are different. The Mahāyāna practitioner knows that our one mind inherently possesses all Buddha-natures, and by relying on the realm to cultivate contemplation, the Buddha's marks become manifest. Now, contemplating Amitābha's circumstantial and primary [rewards] as conditions perfumes the mind-nature, and Sukhāvatī's circumstantial and primary [rewards], which are inherently possessed by the mind-nature, are brought forth due to this perfuming. Arising from what the mind inherently possesses, how could it be separate from the mind-nature? The entire mind is the Buddha; the entire Buddha is the mind. All day long contemplating the mind, all day long contemplating the Buddha—its purport is clear! Moreover, one should understand that the inconceivable substance of the perfect integration of the dharmadhātu makes up our single thought of mind, and furthermore, in its entirety, makes up sentient beings and makes up Buddhas, makes up circumstantial rewards and makes up primary rewards, makes up faculties and makes up realms. From a single mind and a single dust down to a single atom, there is none that is not made of the entire substance of the dharmadhātu. Since every single dharma is made of the entire dharmadhātu, whatever one points to is the full portion of the perfectly integrated dharmadhātu. Since it is the entire dharmadhātu, what single thing does not inherently possess all dharmas? Because all dharmas each inherently possess all dharmas, our school therefore establishes such doctrines as "color-only" and "fragrance-only." It also says: Vairocana pervades all places; all dharmas are the Buddhadharma. The so-called Buddha of sentient beings' natural virtue is neither self nor other, neither cause nor fruit; it is the substance of the perfectly permanent Great Awakening. Hence we know that the perfectly luminous substance of the fruit-Buddha is the natural virtue inherently possessed by us ordinary beings; therefore the four samādhis are all generally named buddha-mindfulness. If this contemplation gateway relies on the circumstantial and primary realms of that Land of Peace and Sustenance, using subtle contemplation exclusively focused on Amitābha to reveal the true Buddha-body, though relying on that realm, one must know that circumstantial and primary [rewards] dwell together in one mind. The mind-nature is all-pervading; there is no dharma it does not create, no dharma it does not inherently possess. If even the slightest dharma arose from outside the mind, it would not be called a Mahāyāna contemplation. Furthermore, the Benevolent Kings Prajñā Sūtra says: "The Buddha asked King Prasenajit: 'With what marks do you contemplate the Tathāgata?' The King said: 'Contemplating the true mark of the body, contemplating the Buddha is also like this: without a past limit, middle limit, or future limit; not abiding in the three limits, not departing from the three limits; not abiding in the five skandhas, not departing from the five skandhas; not abiding in the four great elements, not departing from the four great elements; not abiding in the six places, not departing from the six places; not abiding in the three realms, not departing from the three realms; down to not being seeing, hearing, perceiving, or knowing; the place of mental activity extinguished, the path of speech cut off; identical to the limit of reality, equal to the Dharma-nature. I contemplate the body of the Tathāgata with these marks.' The Buddha said: 'One should contemplate in this manner. If one contemplates otherwise, it is called a wrong contemplation.'" This meaning is all the more evident. Someone also asks: If that is so, why not directly contemplate the subtlety of the true body of that land, instead of this sūtra teaching people first to cultivate the image contemplation? Answer: The teaching lord of the Sahā world praises the Land of Bliss, striving to lead sentient beings to transcend the five turbidities. Teaching them to contemplate that Buddha's dharmakāya of sixty trillion nayutas of yojanas, yet beginning with the jeweled image upon the flower, is the demonstration of an expedient to enable them to contemplate the coarse and see the subtle. Following this with the sixteen-foot and eight-foot images accords with lower ordinary beings to enable them to contemplate the small and see the great. For the different visualizations of coarse and subtle both arise as cultivation from nature, and the distinct forms of small and large both emanate as traces from the origin. The nature capable of contemplation is originally without difference; how could the contemplated realm be measured? Therefore, the discourse of the perfect and sudden is universally received with a single sound; demonstrating its sequence is not gradual, and according with their capacities is not partial. Simultaneously opening the gateways of contemplation, it fully manifests the true mark. Is not the source of the image-teaching right here? This is the directly indicated and unswerving purport of the buddha-mindfulness samādhi, the discourse of non-duality from beginning to end. The path of the Mahāyāna, perfect and sudden, like the sun and moon shining universally upon the world and later generations, enables one to know that the true and deluded minds are identical yet distinct, and that the principle has that to which it arrives. It can be said that without departing from daily use, understanding, practice, and contemplative wisdom are all completely fulfilled. How could students not apply their minds to the utmost?