Closing the Second Grade
A single night's wait before this practitioner's lotus opens, and seven days before full realization — but Shandao pauses to clarify precisely whose seven days these are, since time itself does not pass the same way on both sides of this journey.
A Platform Measured to the Strength of Practice
五、從此紫金臺已下，正明第十門中到彼華開時節不同。由行強故上上即得金剛臺，由行劣故上中即得紫金臺，生在寶池逕宿如開也。六、從佛及菩薩俱時放光下，至得不退轉已來，正明第十一門中華開已後得益不同。即有其五。一明佛光照身。二明行者既蒙照體目即開明。三明人中所習到彼眾聲所彰，還聞其法。四明既得眼開聞法，即下金臺親到佛邊，歌揚讚德。五明逕時七日即得無生。
Fifth, from "this platform of purple gold" onward, this makes plain, within the tenth gate, the differing timing of the lotus opening once that land is reached. Because the practice of the highest grade is so strong, that practitioner receives at once a platform of vajra; because the practice of this middle grade is somewhat weaker, this practitioner receives instead a platform of purple gold, being born within the jeweled pond and opening only after passing a single night there.
Sixth, from "the Buddha and the bodhisattvas, together, emit light" down through "attains the stage of non-retrogression," this makes plain, within the eleventh gate, the differing benefits gained once this lotus has opened. There are five points within it. First, this makes plain the Buddha's own light illuminating the practitioner's own body. Second, this makes plain that the practitioner, having received this very illumination, finds their own body and eyes opened and clear at once. Third, this makes plain that whatever this being had already studied while among humankind is now proclaimed by the very sound of that assembly, and they hear this teaching once more. Fourth, this makes plain that, having thus gained sight and heard the teaching, they descend from this golden platform and approach the Buddha directly, singing and praising his own virtue. Fifth, this makes plain that, after a period of seven days, they attain at once the acceptance of non-arising.
Whose Seven Days? And Benefits Reaching the Ten Directions
言七日者，恐此間七日，不指彼國七日也。此間逕於七日者，彼處即是一念須臾間也。應知。七、從應時即能飛至十方下，至現前授記已來，正明他方得益。即有其五。一明身至十方。二明一一歷供諸佛。三明修多三昧。四明延時得忍。五明一一佛邊現蒙授記。八、從是名已下，總結。上來雖有八句不同，廣解上品中生竟。
As for these seven days: it is feared this refers to seven days measured in this world, not seven days measured in that land. For what passes as seven days in this world is, in that place, no more than the span of a single thought, a single brief moment. This should be understood.
Seventh, from "at that very moment, able to fly to the ten directions" down through "receiving, directly before them, a prediction of future buddhahood," this makes plain the benefit gained in other realms. There are five points within it. First, this makes plain the body traveling to the ten directions. Second, this makes plain making offering, one by one, to every buddha there. Third, this makes plain cultivating manifold samādhis. Fourth, this makes plain that, as time extends, the acceptance is attained. Fifth, this makes plain receiving, before each and every buddha, a prediction of future buddhahood.
Eighth, from "this, then, is" onward, this gathers together the general conclusion. Though the above has unfolded across eight distinct points, this concludes the full explanation of the middle rebirth of the upper rank.
Shandao's own aside on whose seven days are meant is a small but telling piece of careful reading: rather than let the sūtra's own timeframe pass unremarked, he flags an ambiguity most readers would skip past, and resolves it by appeal to the very same relativity of time already established for the pure land's own scale throughout this fascicle — what feels like seven days here is "no more than the span of a single thought" there. This closes the second of the nine grades.
Second Grade Complete
This closes Part 88, and with it the middle rebirth of the upper rank, the second of the nine grades, in full — spanning Parts 87 through 88. Part 89 turns to the third grade, the lowest rebirth of the upper rank (上品下生), where belief in cause and effect alone, without any deeper philosophical understanding, together with the single arising of the bodhi-mind, proves sufficient for rebirth.
Continue to Part 89 — The Third Grade: Belief Alone →