Taishō no. 365
Translated by the Trepiṭaka Kālayaśas of the Western Regions during the Song Dynasty
Completed on 15 July 2025

1. The Sūtra unannotated

2. The Sūtra with the Divisions of Shandao's Commentary

For Shandao's commentary (T1753), please see here.

Prefactorial Hymn on the Contemplation Sūtra

An Imperial Composition

Homage to the Bhagavān of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss; 

The Buddha of immeasurable life is rare to encounter in the world. 

He can extinguish karmic offences from beginningless billions of kalpas, 

Causing all their suffering and afflictions to be eliminated.

If someone can, with a subtle mind, 

Always contemplate the Land of Ultimate Bliss, 

Widely explain it individually to sentient beings, 

They will lift their eyes and see Amida.

The Buddha's bodily marks of form manifest radiance, 

Which is unequalled to Jambunāda gold; 

It is an incomparable number of yojanas high: 

Sixty trillion nayutas.

His white ūrṇā is like five Mount Sumerus; 

His dark blue eyes are as vast and clear as the four great oceans; 

Light emits from all of his pores, 

And each pore contains a great thousand worlds.

In each world, there is a Ganges River, 

Whose sands have eighty-four thousand aspects, 

And each aspect again has another eighty-four thousand; 

Mutually, the creator and contemplator manifest before each other like this.

By contemplating the Buddha's body, one sees the Buddha's mind; 

Sentient beings recollect and think of the transformed Buddha, 

And from his marks, they enter upon and attain the patience at the non-arising of dharmas, 

And by this samādhi, they attain boundless compassion; 

The Buddha's body is immeasurable and without limit; 

He guides beings using the power of his past vows, 

And those who recollect and think of him attain accomplishment, 

As his supernormal power encompasses space and accords with his mind.

If sentient beings possess the Threefold Mind, 

With diligence and vigour, they will not backslide. 

They will immediately receive the Tathāgata's guiding hand, 

Which will take them to the seven-jewelled pavilions of great radiance.

Their bodies will joyfully dance upon the vajra-dais, 

Following behind the Buddha in the time it takes to snap the fingers. 

They will practise the Mahāyāna and understand the ultimate truth, 

Immediately being born in the seven-jewelled lotus pond.

Amida Buddha, with his great loving-kindness and compassion, 

Possesses ten powers and an authoritative majesty that are beyond praise and description. 

His name, when uttered even once, 

Has the power to eliminate eighty billion kalpas of karmic transgressions in a single thought moment:

This boundless compassion is the reason he tirelessly delivers sentient beings, 

Earning him the title of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life.

In the past, the Bhagavān, at Gṛdhrakūṭa, 

Spoke to the great assembly about the wondrous causes and conditions 

For how to flee Jambudvīpa's sorrow and affliction, 

Transcending all the realms of suffering, 

To the Pure and Wondrous Country, the Land of Ultimate Bliss, 

By cultivating the Three Merits and arousing bodhicitta. 

Those who arouse this aspiration abide in firmness and focus; 

Hence, the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life was declared.

Such merit is ineffable; 

Ineffable too is his wondrous light—

Immeasurable, pure, and munificent—

Bringing all sentient beings of the five degenerations to buddhahood.

Cutting off all inverted thoughts 

Is like casting water into the sea—

Its wet nature blends without any distinction. 

Even if one has noble wisdom, it is without differentiation. 

Thus, may everyone become one of Immeasurable Life, 

Prostrating and gazing in reverence to the Western Direction.