無量壽經義記卷下 1.39

1.39

第九明現國勸修。從佛告阿難汝起更整衣服訖亦皆自然。上開宗中願欲得見彼佛。壽命長遠國土清淨眷屬淳黃金色會。釋迦重命阿難。汝起更整衣服禮西方無量壽佛。乃可得見二聖共相影響。無量壽佛即放大光明普照諸佛世界。時眾悉見彼佛微妙淨土。無不願生彼國也。普照一切諸世界金剛圍山者。明彼佛明光淳黃金色。今照十方石沙諸山悉同黃金色也。譬如劫水彌滿世界其中萬物沈沒不現者。借譬以明光色大水彌滿不見萬物。明此光明照十方世界及以諸山。悉作金色不見石沙之異也。阿難即見無量壽佛威德巍巍如須彌山王者。明阿難見彼佛色身相好。如百千萬億夜摩天宮。閻浮檀金色佛身高十六萬億那由他恒河沙由旬也。眉間白豪右旋婉轉如五須彌山也。佛眼如四大海水清白分明也。身諸毛孔演出光明如須彌山彼佛圓光如百億三千大千世界。於圓光中有百萬億那由他恒河沙佛。一一化佛亦有眾多無數化菩薩。以為侍者。又明無量壽佛吾八萬四千相。一一相中各有八萬四千隨形好。一一好復有八萬四千光明。一一光明遍照十方世界。明阿難悉見此事也。如見彼國。從地已上至淨居天。其中微妙之物為悉見不者。彼間本無淨居天。借此間天以況彼國。阿難答言悉見也。彼國人民有胎生者。明此土眾生願欲生彼。疑佛智慧為深為淺。命終得生彼國。在狐疑城中方經五百歲。方出狐疑城見佛。為說法便得解了然。極鈍根者。經五百歲耳。若利根者。或二百一百歲乃至五三十歲。得出此城見佛聞法。彼國淳是化生。無有胎生。今言胎生者。只猶在狐疑城中不見佛不聞法名胎生也。又一解舊經本解言。在狐疑城中見佛聞法不明了。以不明了故落不聞中故言名為胎生。其實是化生也。

Ninth is the clarification of manifesting the land and urging cultivation, from the Buddha telling Ānanda, "Arise, re-arrange your robes..." down to "all likewise spontaneous." Above, in the introductory section, there was the aspiration to behold that Buddha, whose lifespan is vast and long, whose land is pure, and whose retinue gathers in pure Jambūnada-gold color. Śākyamuni again commands Ānanda: "Arise, re-arrange your robes, and pay homage to the Buddha of Immeasurable Life in the Western Direction; only then may you behold him." The two sages mutually mirror and resonate with each other. The Buddha of Immeasurable Life immediately radiates a great light, universally illuminating all Buddha-worlds. The assembly at that time all beheld that Buddha's subtle and wonderful pure land, and none did not vow to be born in that land. As for "universally illuminating all worlds and the Iron Enclosing Mountains": this shows that the bright light of that Buddha is of a pure Jambūnada-gold color, and now shining upon the stone and sand mountains of the ten directions, they all become identical to the color of Jambūnada gold. As for "like the waters of the deluge flooding the world, wherein the myriad things are submerged and do not appear": a metaphor is borrowed to clarify that just as the great waters of bright appearance flood so that the myriad things are not seen, this light shines upon the worlds of the ten directions and their mountains, all rendering them golden without seeing the differences of stones and sand. As for "Ānanda immediately beheld the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, majestic and towering like the king of Mount Sumeru": this shows Ānanda seeing that Buddha's physical body and marks of excellence. Like hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of Yāma palaces, the Buddha's body of Jambūnada-gold color is sixteen hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of Ganges-sands of yojanas in height. The white ūrṇā between his eyebrows curls to the right, winding like five Mount Sumerus. The Buddha's eyes are clear and distinct in blue and white like the waters of the four great oceans. The pores of his body emit bright light like Mount Sumeru. That Buddha's nimbus is like ten billion trichiliocosms. Within that nimbus are a hundred myriads of koṭis of nayutas of Ganges-sands of buddhas. Each transformed buddha also has an immense, countless host of transformed bodhisattvas who act as attendants. It also shows that the Buddha of Immeasurable Life possesses eighty-four thousand major marks; within each mark there are eighty-four thousand minor marks of elegance; each minor mark also emits eighty-four thousand rays of light; each ray of light universally illuminates the worlds of the ten directions. This explains that Ānanda completely beheld this matter. As for "as when seeing that land from the ground up to the Śuddhāvāsa Heavens, are the subtle and wonderful things therein completely visible or not?": in that place there are originally no Śuddhāvāsa Heavens; the heavens of this realm are borrowed to illustrate that land. Ānanda replies, saying, "They are completely visible." As for "among the people of that land, there are those who take womb-birth": this shows that when sentient beings of this land wish to be born there, yet doubt whether the Buddha's wisdom is deep or shallow, at the end of their lives they attain birth in that land, where they spend five hundred years in the Borderland of Doubt before coming out of the Borderland of Doubt to see the Buddha, who expounds the Dharma for them so that they attain understanding. However, this is only for those of extremely dull faculties, who spend five hundred years. If one is of sharp faculties, it may be two hundred, one hundred, or even fifty or thirty years before emerging from this city to see the Buddha and hear the Dharma. That land is purely of apparitional birth; there is no womb-birth. Now to speak of "womb-birth" merely refers to being in the Borderland of Doubt, unable to see the Buddha or hear the Dharma; hence it is called "womb-birth." Yet another explanation in the old sūtra text interprets it by saying that in the Borderland of Doubt, seeing the Buddha and hearing the Dharma is not distinct, and because it is not distinct, one falls under the category of not hearing; therefore it is called "womb-birth." In reality, it is apparitional birth.