Towers Filling the Whole Land
The sixth contemplation moves briskly through eleven points — Shandao offers here a compact structural guide rather than an extended elaboration, trusting the sūtra's own description of towers beyond counting, and music that plays itself, to speak largely for itself.
Five Hundred Koṭis of Towers, Above Every Realm
六、就寶樓觀中，亦先舉，次辨，後結。即有其十一。初、言眾寶國土者，即是總舉觀名，牒前生後。此明淨土雖有寶流灌注，若無寶樓宮閣亦未為精，為此依報莊嚴種種圓備也。二、言一一界上者，正明寶樓住處，地界遍於彼國，樓亦無窮也。三、言有五百億者，正顯其數。一界之上既然，遍滿彼國亦皆如是。應知。
Sixth, within the jeweled tower contemplation, the text likewise first raises the matter, next distinguishes it in detail, and finally concludes it. There are eleven points in all.
First, as for "a land of manifold jewels": this generally names this contemplation, citing what precedes and opening what follows. This makes plain that, however much this pure land may be irrigated by jeweled streams, without jeweled towers and palace halls, it could not yet be called truly excellent — and it is for this very reason that its dependent retribution is adorned in every manner, made perfectly complete.
Second, as for "above each and every realm": this makes plain the very place where these jeweled towers stand — the ground of that entire land is everywhere pervaded by them, and these towers too are without limit.
Third, as for "there are five hundred koṭis": this reveals directly their own number. As it is above a single realm, so it is throughout that entire land, filling it completely — this should be understood.
Music That Plays Without Being Struck
四、從其樓閣中下，至作天伎樂已來，正明閣內莊嚴。
五、從又有樂器下，至不鼓自鳴已下，正明樓外莊嚴。寶樂飛空聲流法響，晝夜六時如天寶幢，無思成自事也。
六、從此眾音中下，至念比丘僧已來，正明樂雖無識，即有說法之能。
Fourth, from "within these pavilions and upper chambers" down through "performing heavenly music," this makes plain the adornment within these towers.
Fifth, from "there are also musical instruments" down through "sounding of themselves, without being struck," this makes plain the adornment outside these towers. Jeweled music flies through the sky, its sound flowing forth as the very echo of the Dharma, sounding six times throughout day and night, just as with the heavenly jeweled banner — accomplishing its own work entirely without deliberation.
Sixth, from "within this manifold sound" down through "mindful of the monastic sangha," this makes plain that, although this music itself possesses no consciousness, it nonetheless carries within it the very power to expound the Dharma.
Shandao's insistence that this music "possesses no consciousness" and yet "carries within it the very power to expound the Dharma" is a small but precise philosophical claim, consistent with everything else this contemplation series has established about the pure land's own self-teaching nature: the capacity to convey the Dharma is not restricted to conscious speakers. This principle, first seen with the wind of the water contemplation and the rippling water of the pond contemplation, is here extended to instruments that "sound of themselves, without being struck" — teaching, in this land, requires neither a teacher's intent nor even a listener's own effort to strike the instrument in the first place.
Accomplishment, Benefit, and Closing the Tower Contemplation
七、從此想成已下，至寶池已來，正明顯觀成相。此明專心住境，悕見寶樓，剋念不移，自上莊嚴總現。
八、從是為下，總結。九、從若見此者，牒前觀相，生後利益。十、從除無量下，至生彼國已來，正明依法觀察除障多劫，身器清淨應佛本心，捨身他世必往無疑。十一、從作是觀者下，至邪觀已來，辨觀邪正之相。上來雖有十一句不同，廣明寶樓觀竟。
Seventh, from "when this contemplative thought is accomplished" down through "jeweled ponds," this makes plain the revealing of the mark of this contemplation's own accomplishment. This makes plain that, with the mind fixed single-mindedly upon this object, hoping to behold these jeweled towers, holding this thought steadily without wavering, every one of the adornments described above shall appear in full.
Eighth, from "this, then, is" onward, this gathers together the general conclusion. Ninth, from "should one behold this" onward, this cites the mark of the preceding contemplation, and opens the benefit that follows from it. Tenth, from "removes immeasurable" down through "reborn in that land," this makes plain that, relying on this method and contemplating accordingly, offenses accumulated across many kalpas are thereby removed, one's own body and its very vessel becoming pure, according with the Buddha's own original intent — so that, when this present body is relinquished in some future life, one shall without any doubt go there. Eleventh, from "one who forms this contemplation" down through "mistaken contemplation," this distinguishes the mark of what is correct from what is mistaken in this practice. Though the above has unfolded across eleven distinct points, this concludes the full explanation of the jeweled tower contemplation.
This contemplation's own compactness, eleven points covered in a fraction of the space the jeweled tree contemplation required, is itself worth noticing as a deliberate editorial choice rather than an oversight. Shandao does not elaborate equally on every contemplation; where the sūtra's own text is already vivid and self-explanatory, his commentary steps back and simply maps its structure. What remains constant across every contemplation regardless of length is the closing benefit named here once more — the removal of offenses across many kalpas — confirming that whatever form a given contemplation takes, its practical purpose remains identical throughout this entire sequence.
Sixth Contemplation Complete
This closes Part 46, and with it the jeweled tower contemplation, the sixth of the sixteen, in full. Part 47 turns to the seventh and considerably longer contemplation, that of the lotus throne (華座觀) — nineteen points, beginning with the Buddha's own command to Ānanda and Vaidehī, and the striking scene of the two Buddhas of this world and of the West appearing to speak as one.
Continue to Part 47 — The Lotus Throne Contemplation Begins →