廣弘明集 9.118

9.118

臣笑曰。三天正法經云。天光未明七千餘劫。玄景始分九氣存焉。九真天王元始天王。稟自然之胤置九天之號。上中下真真為一元。元有三天。上元宮即太上大道君所治。計一天相去九萬九千九百九十里。則九天相去七十九萬九千九百二十里。一里有三百步。一步有六尺。則有一十四億三千九百八十五萬六千尺。以五億重天分之。則天天相去二尺。豈有厚萬里之地。上載二尺之天乎。

Your servant laughs, saying: The Santian zhengfa jing says: 'Before the celestial radiance was bright for over seven thousand kalpas, when the mysterious lights first divided, the nine pneumas were present. The Nine Perfected Heavenly Kings and the Heavenly King of the Primal Beginning, receiving the lineage of spontaneity, established the names of the Nine Heavens. Upper, middle, and lower perfected—each perfected constitutes one prime; each prime has three heavens. The palace of the Upper Prime is what the Great Upper Lord of the Great Dao governs.' Calculating that each heaven is separated by 99,990 li, then the Nine Heavens are separated by 799,920 li. One li has 300 paces; one pace has six feet; thus there are 1,439,856,000 feet. Dividing this among 500,000,000 tiers of heavens, then each heaven is separated from the next by only two feet! How could an earth ten thousand li thick bear above it heavens only two feet apart?