念三身佛破三種障門第十三
Chapter 13: Contemplating the Three Bodies of the Buddha to Break Through the Three Kinds of Obstacles
問曰：「佛有三身，如何憶念？願示方便，令無所失。」
Question: "The Buddha has three bodies—how should one recollect them? Please reveal the skillful means, so that nothing is lost."
對曰：「夫佛之三身，法、報、化也。法身者如月之體，報身者如月之光，化佛者如月之影。萬水之內皆有月焉，此月為多、為一耶。不可言一，萬水之月常差矣！不可言多，虛空之月，常一也！如梵書伊字、摩醯三目，縱橫並別，皆不可議也！經云：『或現小身，丈六、八尺』者，皆眾生心水中佛也。佛尚無形，豈有二哉？淨國、穢土亦自彼耳。若欲將念三身、破三種障，今試明之爾。佛身之生，從止觀生，止觀不均，其障必起。念佛之人，修止心沈，昏闇障起，而障化身佛。又須以觀心策之，念白毫光，破昏闇障也。修觀心浮，無惡不造，而障報身佛。還修於止，止一切惡。念諸佛昔因恒沙功德，智慧圓滿，酬因曰報，破惡念障也。若二邊障動，詭狀殊形，萬相紛綸，兩賊強軟，障法身佛也。以中道第一義空，破之偈曰：
He replied: "The Buddha's three bodies are the Dharma body, the reward body, and the transformation body. The Dharma body is like the moon's substance; the reward body is like the moon's light; the transformation buddha is like the moon's reflection. Within ten thousand waters there is a moon in each—is that moon many, or one? You cannot say it is one, for the moons in ten thousand waters are always different! You cannot say it is many, for the moon in the sky is always one! Like the 'I' character in Sanskrit script, or the three eyes of Maheshvara—whether taken vertically, horizontally, together, or separately, none of it can be conceptualized! The sutra says: 'Sometimes appearing in a small body, sixteen feet or eight feet'—these are all buddhas within the water of sentient beings' minds. The Buddha is originally without form—how could there be two? Pure lands and defiled lands likewise come from that [mind]. Now, if you wish to contemplate the three bodies and break the three kinds of obstruction, let me try to explain this. The arising of the Buddha's body arises from cessation and contemplation (śamatha and vipaśyanā). When cessation and contemplation are unbalanced, obstructions inevitably arise. For the person practicing Buddha Recitation: if they cultivate cessation and the mind sinks, the obstruction of darkness arises, and this obstructs the transformation body of the Buddha. One must then use contemplation to spur the mind on—recollecting the white hair-mark light—to break the obstruction of darkness. If one cultivates contemplation and the mind floats [scatters], committing no evil left undone, this obstructs the reward body of the Buddha. One then returns to cultivating cessation, stopping all evil. Recollecting the buddhas' past causal virtues countless as the sands of the Ganges, their wisdom perfect and complete—repaying causes is called 'reward'—this breaks the obstruction of evil thoughts. If obstructions on both sides stir, with strange shapes and grotesque forms, ten thousand appearances in tangled profusion—the two thieves, the strong and the soft—this obstructs the Dharma body of the Buddha. Use the Middle Way, the emptiness of the supreme meaning, to break it. The verse says:
「『無色無形相， 無根無住處，
不生不滅故， 敬禮無所觀。』
"Without color or form, without roots or dwelling place, because it neither arises nor ceases— I bow to that which cannot be observed."
「所觀之理，如毘嵐猛風吹散重雲，顯明法身清淨寶月，破逼惱障也。應病與藥，不其然歟！(此是天台智者大師所解，披尋未廣，實未曾見諸師有斯妙釋也。止觀意前已略辨俟，在口釋非文字能徵也)。我既化人，人亦化物，物我俱成，三昧彌興，眾生無盡，三昧不絕也。」
"The principle being contemplated is like the fierce wind of the Vairambhaka that scatters heavy clouds and reveals the pure jewel-moon of the Dharma-body, shattering the obstacle of affliction. Giving medicine according to the illness—is it not just so! (This is the interpretation of the Tiantai Master Zhiyi. My reading has not been extensive, and I have truly never seen such a wondrous explanation among the various masters. The meaning of calm abiding and insight (zhi guan) has already been briefly distinguished earlier; it awaits oral explanation—it cannot be fully established through written words.) Since I transform others, others in turn transform things; things and I are both accomplished, samādhi flourishes ever more, sentient beings are inexhaustible, and thus samādhi never ceases."
已上六門，盡是念現在阿彌陀佛，以通三世之意也。廣如《安樂集》、《天台十疑論》、咸法師《釋群疑論》、《往生傳》、稠禪師《法寶義論》所解，亦如飛錫先撰《無上深妙禪門傳集法寶》一卷廣明也。
The six approaches above all concern mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha in the present, and in this way they encompass the meaning of the three times. Full explanations are found in the *Collection of the Blissful Land*, in Tiantai's *Treatise on Ten Doubts*, in Master Xian's *Treatise Resolving Mass Doubts*, in the *Biographies of Those Reborn in the Pure Land*, and in Chan Master Chou's *Treatise on the Meaning of the Dharma Jewel*; they are also set out at length in the one-fascicle *Supreme and Profound Chan Gate: Recorded Collection of the Dharma Jewel* previously composed by Feixi.
念佛三昧寶王論卷中
Treatise on the Precious King of Buddha Recitation Samādhi, Fascicle Two