Master Huijing’s Short Dharma Teachings about the Amitabha Sutra
《佛說阿彌陀經》
The Amitabha Sutra explains Amitabha’s Name as infinite light and infinite life. It says, “Why do you think that Buddha is called Amitabha? It is because that Buddha's light shines boundlessly and without hindrance over all the worlds of the ten quarters.”
It also says, “The lives of the Buddha and the people of his land last for immeasurable, unlimited, and incalculable eons. It is for this reason that the Buddha is called Amitayus. “
In the Commentary on the Treatise on Rebirth, why did Master Tanluan mention the Buddha’s infinite light, but not his infinite life? It is because his life is Amitabha’s body and the light is Amitabha’s function. Combining the two to express Amitabha’s body and function, he teaches about the functions of light, which naturally cover the life of the body.
《阿彌陀經》對阿彌陀佛這句佛名的解釋是以阿彌陀佛「光明無量、壽命無量」來解釋,所謂:「彼佛何故號阿彌陀?彼佛光明無量,照十方國,無所障礙,是故號為阿彌陀。」
又說:「彼佛壽命,及其人民,無量無邊阿僧祇劫,故名阿彌陀。」
但是曇鸞大師在《往生論註》裏只有舉出光明,沒有舉出壽命,為什麼?是因為壽體光用──壽命是彌陀之體,光明是彌陀之用,這是就壽跟體來論體用,所以壽體光用,只要舉出光明之用就自然涵蓋壽命之體。
Namo Amituofo!
