Birds That Sing the Three Jewels
The jeweled pond contemplation closes by returning to its own source: golden light from the wish-fulfilling jewel itself, transformed into birds whose song names, in turn, exactly what the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha each actually are — teacher, medicine, and field of merit — closing the fifth of the sixteen contemplations.
Golden Birds, and What the Three Jewels Actually Are
六、從如意珠王下，至念佛法僧已來，正明摩尼多有神德。即有其四。一明珠王內出金光。二明光化作百寶之鳥。三明鳥聲哀雅天樂無以比方。四明寶鳥連音同聲讚歎念佛法僧。然佛是眾生無上大師，除邪向正。法是眾生無上良藥，能斷煩惱毒病，法身清淨。僧是眾生無上福田，但使傾心四事不憚疲勞，五乘依果自然應念所須而至。其寶珠前生八味之水，後出種種金光，非直破闇除昏，到處能施佛事。
七、從是為下，總結。上來雖有七句不同，廣明寶池觀竟。
Sixth, from "the wish-fulfilling jewel king" down through "mindful of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha," this makes plain that this maṇi jewel possesses many spiritual virtues. There are four points within it. First, this makes plain that golden light emerges from within this jewel king. Second, this makes plain that this light transforms into birds of a hundred jewels. Third, this makes plain that the sound of these birds is mournful and elegant, beyond any comparison even with heavenly music. Fourth, this makes plain that these jeweled birds, their voices joined together in unison, praise and proclaim mindfulness of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. For the Buddha is the supreme teacher of all sentient beings, who removes what is deviant and turns beings toward what is correct. The Dharma is the supreme excellent medicine of all sentient beings, able to sever the poisonous sickness of affliction, its own Dharma-body pure and undefiled. The Sangha is the supreme field of merit for all sentient beings — one need only turn one's whole heart toward the four requisites without begrudging any weariness, and the fruits belonging to all five vehicles shall, of their own accord, arrive according to one's every thought and need. This very jewel, having first produced water possessing the eight flavors, thereafter emits manifold golden light — and this light not only dispels darkness and clears away confusion, but, wherever it reaches, is able to perform the Buddha's own works.
Seventh, from "this, then, is" onward, this gathers together the general conclusion. Though the above has unfolded across seven distinct points, this concludes the full explanation of the jeweled pond contemplation.
Shandao's threefold definition here is worth isolating from its ornate surroundings, since it functions as a plain doctrinal statement rather than mere praise: the Buddha as teacher, correcting deviance and directing beings toward what is correct; the Dharma as medicine, severing the poisonous sickness of affliction itself; the Sangha as a field of merit, where devoted effort toward its four requisites brings return "according to one's every thought and need." Each definition names not an attribute of the Three Jewels but a specific function — what each one actually does for a being in need of it. That this precise, functional definition arrives through birdsong, sung by creatures formed from the light of a single jewel, is consistent with everything this contemplation has already established: nothing in this land, however ornamental it first appears, is without direct doctrinal content. This closes the fifth of the sixteen contemplations, following sun, water, ground, and jeweled trees.
Fifth Contemplation Complete
This closes Part 45, and with it the jeweled pond contemplation, the fifth of the sixteen, in full. Part 46 turns to the sixth contemplation, that of the jeweled towers (寶樓觀) — the palaces and pavilions filling the entire land, their music playing without any hand to strike it, sounding forth remembrance of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha of its own accord.
Continue to Part 46 — Towers Filling the Whole Land →