Three Nights, Three Signs
With the commentary's draft complete, Shandao seeks confirmation a second time — and receives, across three consecutive nights, three distinct signs: a stranger on a white camel urging him not to waver, Amitābha himself seated in gold beneath a jeweled tree, and two towering banners that end the vigil early.
Turning Millstones, and a Rider on a White Camel
後時脫本竟已，復更至心要期七日，日別誦阿彌陀經十遍，念阿彌陀佛三萬遍。初夜後夜觀想彼佛國土莊嚴等相，誠心歸命一如上法。當夜即見三具磑輪道邊獨轉，忽有一人乘白駱駝來前見勸：「師當努力，決定往生，莫作退轉。此界穢惡多苦，不勞貪樂。」答言：「大蒙賢者好心視誨，某畢命為期，不敢生於懈慢之心(云云)。」
Later, once the draft of this text was complete, I once more set my mind with utmost sincerity upon a fixed period of seven days, reciting the Amitābha Sūtra ten times each day, and being mindful of Amitābha Buddha's own name thirty thousand times. In the first watch of the night and the last, I contemplated the adorned and sublime marks of that buddha-land, taking refuge with a sincere mind exactly as in the practice described above.
That very night, I beheld three grinding-wheels turning of their own accord beside a road; suddenly a man appeared, riding upon a white camel, who came before me and urged me on: "Master, you must exert yourself — you shall surely attain rebirth; do not let your resolve waver or retreat. This world is defiled and evil, filled with much suffering; it is not worth clinging to or delighting in." I replied: "I am deeply grateful for the worthy one's own kindly instruction; I have set this as my own commitment until the end of this present life, and I dare not allow any thought of slackening or indolence to arise (and so on)."
Shandao does not identify this rider on the white camel, nor does he explain the turning millstones — he simply records what was seen and what was said, in the same plain register he has used for every vision in this postscript. What the exchange itself makes clear is the content of the message: not a vision of the pure land's own splendor, as the second night will bring, but a direct exhortation against wavering, framed against this present world's own defilement. The confirmation Shandao sought was not only that this commentary was correct, but that his own resolve should not falter in carrying it forward.
Amitābha in Gold, and Two Towering Banners
第二夜見阿彌陀佛身真金色，在七寶樹下金蓮華上坐，十僧圍遶亦各坐一寶樹下，佛樹上乃有天衣挂繞，正面向西合掌坐觀。第三夜見兩幢杆極大高顯，幢懸五色，道路縱橫人觀無礙。既得此相已，即便休止不至七日。
On the second night, I beheld Amitābha Buddha, his own body the color of true gold, seated upon a golden lotus flower beneath a tree of seven jewels; ten monks encircled him, each likewise seated beneath his own jeweled tree, and upon the Buddha's own tree hung robes of heavenly cloth, draped about it. I myself sat facing directly west, palms joined, gazing upon this vision.
On the third night, I beheld two banner-poles, exceedingly tall and towering, banners of five colors hanging from them, with roads crossing in every direction and people gazing upon them without any obstruction. Having received this vision, I then ceased this practice before the full seven days had passed.
That Shandao stops short of the full seven days, satisfied after only three nights, mirrors his own restraint throughout this entire postscript — he sought confirmation, received it, and did not press further once it had come. The three signs themselves move in a clear progression: an exhortation not to waver, then the direct sight of Amitābha himself, then a final, public image of banners visible to a whole crowd of passersby — private confirmation opening, by the third night, into something closer to open testimony.
Part 110 Complete
This closes Part 110. Part 111 completes this entire four-fascicle commentary — Shandao's own closing reflection on why he could not keep these visions to himself, his dedication of this work's merit to all beings, and his final injunction that not a single word of this commentary be altered.
Continue to Part 111 — Not One Word Altered →