The Fifth Grade
A single day and night of pure precept-keeping — the eight precepts, the novice precepts, or the full monastic precepts — proves sufficient for this grade, so long as not even the slightest fault is allowed to lapse. The Buddha's own words at the moment of welcome give the clearest possible statement of what has earned it: simple, undoubting trust in what he said.
A Single Day and Night, Held Without Lapse
次就中品中生位中，亦先舉，次辨，後結。即有其七。一、從中品中生者，總舉行名辨定其位，即是小乘下善凡夫人也。二、從若有眾生下，至威儀無缺已來，正明第五六七門中簡機時分受法等不同。即有其三。一明受持八戒齋。二明受持沙彌戒。三明受持具足戒。此三品戒皆同一日一夜，清淨無犯，乃至輕罪，如犯極重之過，三業威儀不令有失也。此即合上第二福。應知。三、從以此功德已下，正明迴所修業向所求處。
Next, within the position of the middle rebirth of the middle rank, the text likewise first raises the matter, next distinguishes it in detail, and finally concludes it. There are seven points in all.
First, as for "the middle rebirth of the middle rank": this generally raises up the name of this practice and makes plain the distinguishing and fixing of this grade's own position — this is itself the ordinary being of lesser goodness possessed of Hīnayāna capacity.
Second, from "should there be sentient beings" down through "without any lapse in bearing," this makes plain, within the fifth, sixth, and seventh gates, the differing distinctions of capacity, duration, and the manner of receiving this teaching. There are three points within it. First, this makes plain receiving and upholding the eight precepts and the fast. Second, this makes plain receiving and upholding the novice precepts. Third, this makes plain receiving and upholding the full monastic precepts. These three grades of precepts are all alike held for a single day and a single night, pure and without transgression — and even should the slightest fault occur, it is treated as though it were the gravest transgression, never permitting any lapse in the threefold bearing of body, speech, and mind. This corresponds to the root of goodness described in the second blessing above. One should know this.
Third, from "with this merit" onward, this makes plain dedicating the practice cultivated toward the very destination sought.
"You Deeply Believed My Words"
四、從戒香熏修下，至七寶池中已來，正明第九門中行者終時聖來迎接去時遲疾。即有其八。一明命延不久。二明彌陀與諸比丘眾來。三明佛放金光照行者身。四明比丘持華來現。五明行者自見聞空聲等讚。六明佛讚言：「汝深信佛語，隨順無疑，故來迎汝。」七明既蒙佛讚即見自坐華座，坐已華合。八明華既合已即入西方寶池之內。五、從經於七日已下，正明第十門中到彼華開時節不同。六、從華既敷已下，至成羅漢已來，正明第十一門中華開已後得益不同。即有其四。一明華開見佛。二明合掌讚佛。三明聞法得於初果。四明經半劫已方成羅漢。七、從是名已下，總結。上來雖有七句不同，廣解中品中生竟。
Fourth, from "perfumed and cultivated by the fragrance of the precepts" down through "within the pool of seven jewels," this makes plain, within the ninth gate, the sages coming to welcome the practitioner at the moment life is about to end, and the speed, swift or slow, with which they then depart. There are eight points within it. First, this makes plain that this being's own life is not long to continue. Second, this makes plain that Amitābha comes together with an assembly of monks. Third, this makes plain the Buddha emitting golden light to illuminate the practitioner's own body. Fourth, this makes plain monks appearing, bearing flowers. Fifth, this makes plain the practitioner hearing, of their own accord, a voice from the empty air offering praise. Sixth, this makes plain the Buddha's own words of praise: "You deeply believed my words, following them without doubt — and it is for this reason that I have come to welcome you." Seventh, this makes plain that, having received the Buddha's own praise, the practitioner beholds themselves already seated upon a lotus throne, and once seated, the flower closes about them. Eighth, this makes plain that, once this flower has closed, they enter at once into the jeweled pool of the western land.
Fifth, from "after seven days have passed" onward, this makes plain, within the tenth gate, the differing timing of the lotus opening once that land is reached.
Sixth, from "once this flower has opened" down through "attains the fruit of arhatship," this makes plain, within the eleventh gate, the differing benefits gained once this flower has opened. There are four points within it. First, this makes plain that, once the flower opens, this being beholds the Buddha. Second, this makes plain joining the palms in praise of the Buddha. Third, this makes plain hearing the Dharma and attaining the first fruit. Fourth, this makes plain that only after half a kalpa has passed does this being finally attain the fruit of arhatship.
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 middle rebirth of the middle rank.
The Buddha's own stated reason for coming to welcome this practitioner — "you deeply believed my words, following them without doubt" — names simple trust, not doctrinal sophistication or meditative attainment, as what this grade has actually earned. Compare this to the fourth grade just closed, where arhatship was the immediate fruit of hearing the four noble truths; here, "the first fruit" (initial stream-entry) comes first, with full arhatship delayed a further half kalpa — a slightly slower path, matching a grade one step below the fourth in the text's own ordering, though built on the identical foundation of a single day and night held purely.
Fifth Grade Complete
This closes Part 93, and with it the fifth grade, the middle rebirth of the middle rank, in full. Part 94 turns to the sixth grade, the lowest rebirth of the middle rank (中品下生) — a practitioner who has never once heard the Buddhist teaching at all, encountering it only at the very moment of death — and closes with Shandao's own verse gathering all three grades of the middle rank together.
Continue to Part 94 — Closing the Middle Rank →