..续本文上一页e and exquisite golden rays of light issue forth and become singing birds as colorful as a hundred jewels; and their harmonious and sweet songs continually praise the mindfulness of the Buddha, the mindfulness of the Dharma and the mindfulness of the Sangha. This is the visualization of the eight lakes of excellent qualities and it is called the Fifth Visualization. To do this visualization is called the right visualization; to do another is called an incorrect visualization."

　　VII. SIXTH VISUALIZATION: THE TREES, GROUND AND LAKES

　　The Buddha said to Ananda and Vaidehi, "In every region of that land of myriad treasures there are five billion treasure palaces adorned with jewels, and in those palaces there are countless heavenly beings playing heavenly music. Like heavenly jeweled banners, musical instruments are suspended in the sky, producing myriad sounds that proclaim the mindfulness of the Buddha, the mindfulness of the Dharma and the mindfulness of the Sangha.

　　"When this visualization has been completed, it is called the general perception of the jeweled trees, the jeweled ground and the jeweled lakes in the Realm of Ultimate Bliss. This is the unified visualization of these images which is called the Sixth Visualization. For those who see this, the heavy and evil karma binding them to birth-and-death for measureless tens of millions of aeons is eliminated, and when they take leave of this life, they will assuredly be born in that land. To do this visualization is called the right visualization; to do another is called an incorrect visualization."

　　VIII. THE LOTUS SEAT

　　The Buddha said to Ananda and Vaidehi, "Listen closely! Listen closely! Consider my words carefully. I shall now analyze and expound for you the Dharma by which you may free yourselves from sufferings and afflictions; keep it in your minds, and explain it widely for the benefits of the multitudes of beings."

　　After Shakyamuni Buddha had spoken these words, the Buddha of Immeasurable Life Span appeared in the sky with the two great beings, Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta standing in attendance to the left and right. They shone with such a radiant and brilliant light that it was impossible to see them in detail. The golden hue of the sands of a hundred thousand Jambu rivers could not compare to it.

　　Once Vaidehi saw the Buddha of Immeasurable Life Span, she fell to her knees at the feet of Shakyamuni Buddha saying, "O World-Honored One, it is by your transcendental power that I am now able to see the Buddha of Immeasurable Life Span and the two Bodhisattvas; but how can sentient beings in the future visualize the Buddha of Immeasurable Life Span and the two Bodhisattvas

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　　The Buddha said to Vaidehi, "Those who wish to visualize that Buddha should concentrate their thoughts and form the visualization of a lotus flower on the seven-jeweled ground; each petal of that lotus flower has the color of hundreds of jewels and eighty-four thousand veins that are like heavenly patterns; each vein has eighty-four thousand rays of light so clear and distinct that one can see all of them. Even the smallest petals are two hundred and fifty yojanas in diameter. Each lotus flower has eighty-four thousand such petals, and between each petal are a billion mani-pearls, the king of jewels, serving as dazzling ornaments. Each of these mani-pearls sends forth a thousand rays of light which, like canopies made of the seven kinds of jewels, cover the entire land.

　　"There is a pedestal made of sakrabhilagna-mani jewels, and this lotus flower pedestal is studded and adorned with eighty thousand diamonds, rubies and wondrous nets made of brahma mani-pearls. Four columns with jeweled banners spontaneously arise from this pedestal, each jeweled banner as large as a hundred trillio…

《观无量寿佛经 The Sutra of Visualization of the Buddha of Infinite Life》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…