Opening Verse, and the Name of the Sūtra

Within this one work, the Contemplation Sūtra, I will first make a sevenfold analysis, and only afterward follow the text to explain its meaning. First, marking out the preface and title; second, explaining its name; third, following the text to explain its meaning, and distinguishing its own governing purpose from the greater and lesser vehicles of other teachings; fourth, making plain the distinctions among those who speak such teachings; fifth, analyzing the difference between the contemplative and the dispersed forms of goodness, both general and specific; sixth, reconciling apparent contradictions among sūtras and treatises, setting out questions and answers at length to dispel doubt; and seventh, analyzing exactly what benefit Vaidehī received upon hearing the Buddha's own true teaching.

First, marking out the preface and title. I humbly reflect: true suchness is vast and expansive, and even the five vehicles cannot fathom its outer edge; the Dharma-nature is deep and lofty, and even the ten kinds of sages cannot exhaust its furthest limit. The very substance and measure of true suchness never departs from the sentient, stirring mind; the boundless substance of the Dharma-nature has, from the very beginning, never once moved. Within this dustless Dharma-realm, ordinary beings and sages alike are equally complete; the two kinds of defilement, seen as they truly are, pervade every sentient being without exception. Merit as numerous as the sands of the Ganges lies still and calm in its own function — but because the covering of defilement runs so deep, this pure substance has no way to shine forth and manifest. And so great compassion hides itself within a transformation toward the west, startling its way in through the gate of a house on fire, sprinkling the sweet dew of nectar to moisten every seedling, its torch of wisdom brightening the heavy darkness of an endless night. The three kinds of giving are equally provided; the four means of gathering beings in are equally taken up — opening and revealing the causes of suffering across long kalpas, awakening beings into the fruit of eternal life's own bliss. Yet it is said that deluded beings, differing in nature, are cut off from one another in what they take joy in and desire; though none of them carries a single, uniform capacity, all alike possess the function proper to one of the five vehicles — and so compassion's cloud is spread across the three realms, and the rain of the Dharma is poured out from great compassion. None fails to be equally soaked by it, however caught up in the dust of worldly toil; all alike are drenched in a benefit never before heard of. The seed of bodhi, relying on this, sends up its first shoot from the mind; the sprout of true awakening, thought after thought, grows because of it.

Relying on the mind, excellent practices arise — gates beyond counting, eighty-four thousand in number; gradual and sudden, each suited to its own occasion; and whoever follows the right condition is, without exception, brought to liberation. Yet sentient beings' own obstructions run so heavy that those who actually attain awakening are hard to find — for although the teaching that benefits them opens through many gates, an ordinary being's own confusion has no way to take hold of all of them at once. It was on this account that, through the occasion of Vaidehī's own request — "I now wish and desire to be reborn in the land of Peace and Bliss; I beg only that the Tathāgata teach me how to contemplate it, teach me to attain right reception of it" — that Śākyamuni, the teaching-lord of this Sahā world, on account of her very request, opened wide the essential gate to the Pure Land, and the one able to bring beings to that land of Peace and Bliss made manifest his own great vow of a different, further intent. This "essential gate" is exactly these two gates of the Contemplation Sūtra, the contemplative and the dispersed. The contemplative is stilling every distracting thought so as to fix the mind; the dispersed is setting aside evil so as to cultivate good — turning both of these practices toward the vow to seek rebirth there. As for what is called the "great vow," this is as the Larger Sūtra says: of all the good and evil ordinary beings who attain rebirth there, not one fails to ride upon the power of Amitābha Buddha's own great vow and karmic force as the predominant supporting condition.

And further, the Buddha's own hidden intent runs vast and deep, and the gate of his teaching is hard to fathom — even the three worthy stages and the ten kinds of sages cannot measure or peer into it fully, how much less myself, a mere feather of faith cast outside it, daring to claim I know its true purport. I can only look up in reverence: Śākyamuni, in this place, sends beings forth; Amitābha, from that land, comes to receive them. The one there calls, the one here sends off — how, then, could one refuse to go? One can only, with a diligent mind, uphold this teaching, taking the whole span of one's own life as the appointed term, and, casting off this defiled body, thereby realize that land's own constant bliss of Dharma-nature itself. This concludes the brief marking-out of the preface and title.

Second, explaining the name. The sūtra is called, in full, The Buddha Speaks the Sūtra on the Contemplation of Immeasurable Life, in one fascicle. As for the word "Buddha," this is the correct Sanskrit sound of the Western Land. In this land it is rendered "the awakened one" — one whose awakening of himself, awakening of others, and awakening in both realization and practice are all brought to their fullest completion is called a buddha. "Awakening of himself" distinguishes him from an ordinary being, since a śrāvaka, narrow and limited, can only benefit himself, lacking the great compassion that benefits others. "Awakening of others" distinguishes him from the two lesser vehicles, since a bodhisattva, possessing wisdom, is able to benefit himself, and, possessing compassion, is able to benefit others as well, constantly carrying out both compassion and wisdom together, attached to neither existence nor non-existence. "Awakening in both realization and practice, fully complete" distinguishes him from a bodhisattva, since the Tathāgata's own wisdom and practice have already been brought to their limit, his kalpas of time already fulfilled, surpassing all three of the preceding ranks — hence he alone is called a buddha.

"Speaks" means proclaiming with the sound of his own voice, hence called "speaking." And the Tathāgata, addressing different capacities, speaks the Dharma in many different ways — gradual or sudden, each suited to its occasion, sometimes hidden, sometimes revealed, each differently — sometimes speaking through all six sense-faculties at once, and his excellent marks do the same, responding to thought and according with condition, so that all alike receive the benefit of realization.

"Immeasurable Life" is the Chinese-language rendering used in this land. "Namo Amitābha Buddha" is, again, the correct sound of the Western Land. As for its parts: "na" means to take refuge, "mo" means life itself; "a" means without, "mi" means measure, "ta" means life; "buddha" means awakened — hence it is said, "I take refuge in the immeasurable life, the awakened one." This is how Sanskrit and Chinese correspond, and its meaning is exactly this. Here, "immeasurable life" is the Dharma, and "the awakened one" is the person — person and Dharma both made manifest together, hence it is called Amitābha Buddha.

And as for what is meant by "person" and "Dharma," these are the objects to be contemplated. There are two: the retributive support, and the direct retribution itself. Within the retributive support, there are three: first, the adornment beneath the ground — every jeweled banner and its light, each reflecting off the others, and the like; second, the adornment above the ground — every jeweled ground, pool, grove, jeweled tower, and palace hall, and the like; and third, the adornment of empty space — every transformed jeweled palace, flower-net, jeweled cloud, transformed bird, and the sound of music stirred by wind and light, and the like. Though these three differ as described above, all of them are the undefiled, true and excellent marks of Amitābha's own pure land. This, in sum, concludes the adornment of the retributive support. And as for what is meant by "retributive support": from the sun-contemplation down through the lotus-throne contemplation, all of this together makes plain the retributive support. Within this retributive support there is both the general and the specific. The specific is the lotus-throne contemplation alone, which belongs specifically to Amitābha Buddha himself. The remaining six contemplations above it are the general support, belonging to the ordinary beings and sages of the entire Dharma-realm — since whoever attains rebirth there shares equally in their use, they are called general. And within these six, there is further both the true and the provisional. The provisional are the contemplations of the sun, the water, and the ice, and the like — provisional supports, since they resemble visible objects found within this world of ours. The true supports are everything from the beryl-ground contemplation through the jeweled-tower contemplation — since these are the true, undefiled, visible objects actually found in that land.

Second, within direct retribution there are likewise two: the adornment of the lord, which is Amitābha Buddha himself; and the adornment of the assembly of sages, which is the assembly presently in that land, together with all who are born there alike from throughout the Dharma-realm. And within this direct retribution, there is likewise the general and the specific.

The specific is Amitābha Buddha himself — and within this specific category, there is likewise the true and the provisional. The provisional direct retribution is the eighth contemplation, the contemplation of the image. Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, and the rest are the same. This is because sentient beings' own obstructions run so heavy, and their defiled confusion sits so deep, that the Buddha, fearing that suddenly contemplating his true form would give beings no way to make it appear at all, provisionally established a true image on which to settle their contemplative thought, that they might, through it, come to realize that same objective state as the Buddha himself — hence it is called the provisional direct retribution. The true direct retribution is the ninth contemplation, the contemplation of the true body. This is because, through the prior provisional direct retribution, one's scattered thoughts are gradually stilled, the mind's own eye opens, and one comes roughly to see that land's own pure, twofold retribution and its every kind of adornment, thereby dispelling confusion and darkness — and it is by dispelling this obstruction that one comes to see that land's own true and real objective state. The general direct retribution is Avalokiteśvara and the assembly of sages, from that point on. Everything said above, concerning the general and the specific, the true and the provisional, makes plain exactly these two kinds of retribution, the supportive and the direct.

"Contemplation" means illumination — constantly taking up, with the hand of a pure and faithful mind, the very radiance of wisdom, to illuminate Amitābha's own direct retribution and its support, and every such matter. "Sūtra" means what is constant — as a warp thread holds together the weft, so that a bolt of cloth may be completed and put to its own use, so a sūtra holds together the Dharma, principle and phenomena according with each other, contemplative and dispersed practice each fitting its own capacity without ever falling short — enabling one who takes up its practice to rely necessarily on the causal condition of its teaching and practice, riding upon the vow to be reborn there, and to realize that land's own unconditioned bliss of the Dharma. Once born in that land, one has nothing further to fear; across a long span of time one takes up practice, its fruit reaching the very summit of bodhi, one's own Dharma-body abiding forever, comparable to empty space itself — and because it is able to bring about this very benefit, it is called a sūtra. As for "one fascicle": although this one work, the Contemplation Sūtra, is said to have been spoken in two separate assemblies, it is gathered together as a single whole — hence it is called one fascicle. Hence it is said: The Buddha Speaks the Sūtra on the Contemplation of Immeasurable Life, in one fascicle. This concludes the explanation of its name and meaning.