Closing the True Body Contemplation
Given a body whose scale defies ordinary comprehension, the practical instruction that closes this contemplation is almost startlingly simple: do not attempt every mark at once. Fix attention on one — the white curl of hair between the brows — and trust the rest to follow.
One Mark, and Every Other Follows
九、從作此觀者下，至得無生忍已來，正明捨身他世得生彼益也。十、從是故智者下，至現前授記已來，重明結勸修觀利益。即有其五。一明簡出能修觀人。二明專心諦觀無量壽佛。三明相好眾多不得總雜而觀，唯觀白毫一相，但得見白毫者，一切眾相自然而現也。四明既見彌陀即見十方佛也。五明既見諸佛即於定中得蒙授記也。
Ninth, from "one who forms this contemplation" down through "attains the acceptance of non-arising," this makes plain the benefit of, upon relinquishing this present body, being reborn there in a future life.
Tenth, from "for this very reason, the wise" down through "receiving a prediction directly, before them," this makes plain once more, in conclusion, the exhortation toward the benefit of cultivating this contemplation. There are five points within it. First, this makes plain the singling out of those capable of cultivating this contemplation. Second, this makes plain single-minded, attentive contemplation of Amitāyus Buddha. Third, this makes plain that, since his major and minor marks are so numerous, one must not attempt to contemplate them all mixed together at once — one should contemplate only the single mark of the white curl of hair, for whoever comes to behold this white curl shall find that every other mark naturally appears of its own accord. Fourth, this makes plain that, having beheld Amitābha, one has thereby beheld the buddhas of the ten directions as well. Fifth, this makes plain that, having beheld these buddhas, one comes, within that very meditative absorption, to receive a prediction of future buddhahood directly.
This instruction resolves a practical difficulty the sheer scale of this contemplation could otherwise leave unanswered: given a body measured in yojanas, with countless major and minor marks, how does a practitioner actually begin? The answer echoes the same principle established at the very start of the sun contemplation and again in the lotus throne's own square-inch method — narrow, sustained focus on one manageable point rather than an attempt to grasp everything at once. The white curl of hair, singled out here as sufficient on its own, becomes a kind of master key: hold it steadily, and "every other mark naturally appears of its own accord," extending outward to the buddhas of the ten directions and finally to a direct prediction of one's own future buddhahood.
A Vow Vast Enough to Reach Every Being
十一、從是為遍觀已下，總結。十二、從作此觀已下，正明辨觀邪正之相。斯乃真形量遠毫若五山，震響隨機光沾有識，欲使含靈歸命注想無遺，乘佛本弘齊臨彼國。上來雖有十二句不同，廣明真身觀竟。
Eleventh, from "this, then, is the general contemplation" onward, this gathers together the general conclusion.
Twelfth, from "one who forms this contemplation" onward, this makes plain the distinguishing of the mark of what is correct from what is mistaken in this practice. This, then, is a true form whose measure is so vast that even a single curl of hair rivals five mountains, its resounding voice answering every capacity, its light touching every being possessed of consciousness — wishing that every sentient being might take refuge and fix their thought upon it without exception, riding upon the Buddha's own vast original vow to arrive together in that very land. Though the above has unfolded across twelve distinct points, this concludes the full explanation of the true body contemplation.
Shandao's closing image — "a single curl of hair rivals five mountains" — restates, in a single startling comparison, the entire gap between this contemplation's opening scale and the modest, single-point method that ultimately makes it accessible. The final phrase, "riding upon the Buddha's own vast original vow to arrive together in that very land," ties this contemplation back to the same source already named for the lotus throne back in Part 52 — the monk Dharmākara's ancient resolve — confirming that everything described across these nine contemplations, from a single grain of rice dropped in a bowl of water through this body whose scale defies comprehension, traces back to one and the same vow.
Ninth Contemplation Complete
This closes Part 61, and with it the true body contemplation, the ninth of the sixteen, in full — spanning Parts 58 through 61, and containing the three-affinities passage that shaped centuries of later Pure Land practice. Part 62 turns to the tenth contemplation, that of Avalokiteśvara (觀音觀) — the first of the two attendant bodhisattvas to receive his own dedicated, detailed contemplation, in fifteen points.
Continue to Part 62 — The Avalokiteśvara Contemplation Begins →