Trees Born From an Undefiled Mind
These trees do not grow the way trees in this world do: none is a seedling, none ages, none dies. Shandao traces this directly to their source — flowing from Amitābha's own undefiled mind, a realm where the entire concept of gradual development simply does not apply.
No Aging, No Death, No Gradual Growth
三、從一一下，至由旬已來，正明樹之體量。此明諸寶林樹皆從彌陀無漏心中流出，由佛心是無漏故，其樹亦是無漏也。讚云：「正道大慈悲，出世善根生，淨光明滿足，如鏡日月輪。」言量者，一一樹高三十二萬里，亦無老死者，亦無小生者，亦無初生漸長者，起即同時頓起，量數等齊。何意然者？彼界位是無漏無生之界，豈有生死漸長之義也。
Third, from "each and every one" down through "yojanas," this makes plain the very substance and measure of these trees. This makes plain that all these jeweled groves and trees flow forth directly from Amitābha's own undefiled mind — and, since the Buddha's own mind is itself undefiled, these trees too are themselves undefiled.
A verse of praise says: "The correct path arises from great compassion, born of roots of goodness that transcend this world; pure and radiant, perfectly complete, like a mirror, like the sun and moon."
As for "measure": each and every tree stands three hundred and twenty thousand li in height, and there is among them neither any that grows old and dies, nor any that begins small, nor any that starts small and gradually grows — all arise at once, together, in a single instant, their measure and number entirely equal from the very start. Why is this so? Because that realm is itself a realm free of all defilement and free of birth — how, then, could there be any meaning there of birth, death, or gradual growth?
Shandao's reasoning here follows a strict logical chain rather than simply asserting wonder: these trees flow from Amitābha's own undefiled mind; an undefiled mind admits no defilement in what flows from it; and birth, aging, and death are themselves categories that belong only to a realm of defilement and karmic causation. It therefore follows, not as poetic flourish but as necessary consequence, that a tree in this land cannot age or die, and cannot even begin as a seedling — it must simply arise, all at once, at its full and final measure. The uniformity this produces — every tree exactly the same towering height, none younger or older than any other — is thus not a description of remarkable landscaping but a direct entailment of what kind of mind this entire land expresses.
Four Marks of Manifold Adornment
四、從其諸寶樹下，至以為映飾已來，正明雜樹雜嚴雜飾異相。即有其四。一明林樹華葉間雜不同。二明一一根莖枝條果等皆具眾寶。三明一一華葉轉互不同，瑠璃色中出金色光，如是轉相間雜。四明更將一切雜寶而嚴飾之。
Fourth, from "these many jeweled trees" down through "forming their own radiant adornment," this makes plain the varied and manifold appearance of these mingled trees, their mingled splendor, their mingled ornamentation. There are four points within it. First, this makes plain that the flowers and leaves of these groves and trees intermingle in ever-varying patterns. Second, this makes plain that each and every root, trunk, branch, twig, and fruit is itself formed of a manifold assortment of jewels. Third, this makes plain that each and every flower and leaf differs in turn from every other, lapis lazuli's own color giving forth golden light, and thus each transforms and intermingles with the other in turn. Fourth, this makes plain that every manner of assorted jewel is further employed to adorn and embellish them still further.
Two Verses: Blazing Purity, and Birds That Open Hearts
又讚云：「備諸珍寶性，具足妙莊嚴，無垢光炎熾，明淨曜世間。」又讚云：「彌陀淨國寶樹多，四面垂條，天衣挂繞，寶雲含蓋，化鳥連聲，旋轉臨空，奏法音而入會，他方聖眾聽響以開心，本國能人見形而取悟。」
A further verse of praise says: "Possessed of every precious jewel's own nature, complete with wondrous adornment, its undefiled light blazing bright, luminous and pure, shining upon the whole world."
A further verse of praise says: "Amitābha's pure land has many jeweled trees, their branches hanging down on every side, heavenly garments draped and wound about them, jeweled clouds forming their own canopy above, transformed birds calling out in unbroken chorus, circling and wheeling through the sky, playing the sounds of the Dharma as they enter the great assembly — sages of other realms, hearing this sound, have their own hearts opened; the capable beings of this very land, beholding their form, thereby attain awakening."
The second verse distinguishes two separate modes of transmission worth noticing: "sages of other realms" attain benefit through hearing the birds' own song, while "the capable beings of this very land" attain benefit through beholding their form directly. Teaching, in this land, is thus never restricted to a single sensory channel — sound and sight alike carry the same Dharma, calibrated, it would seem, to whichever mode of perception a given being is best able to receive it through.
Part 40 Complete
This closes Part 40. Part 41 continues with the jeweled nets and palaces suspended above these trees, populated by countless youths adorned with their own strings of pearls, and closes with the endless variation among the trees' own leaves — vast in number, yet never once falling into confusion.
Continue to Part 41 — Nets, Palaces, and Countless Youths →