Common Knowledge in Pure Land Teaching
淨土小常識
The Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra – written by Master Shandao during the Tang dynasty, is one of the scriptures upon which the Pure Land School was founded. This Commentary explains the Contemplation Sutra in detail in four fascicles. It is generally called the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra in Four Fascicles, or the Commentary on Contemplating the Buddha of Infinite Life Sutra. It is also called the Commentary that is Definitive through All time, or the Commentary that is Assured and Certified, etc.
The four fascicles that comprise the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra are: the Profound Meaning, in fascicle 1, which broadly reveals the fundamental doctrines of the Contemplation Sutra as a whole, before the Contemplation Sutra is explained in more detail in a number of following paragraphs.
The Preface Chapter explains the preface of the Sutra. The main chapter consists of - the Meaning of the Meditative Virtues (explaining the 13 contemplations); the Meaning of the Non-Meditative Virtues(which explains the Nine Levels of Rebirth), and the manner of Dissemination.
The main objective of the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra is to open the Pure Land Dharma gate, and to correct the misinterpretations of the Contemplation Sutra. It is definitive through all time and enables practitioners of the Five Vehicles to equally enter Amitabha’s Buddha-land.
《觀經疏》- 《觀經疏》,唐善導大師著,為淨土宗開宗立教之根本教典。本疏為詳細解釋《觀經》之書,總四卷,一般稱為《觀經四帖疏》,具名《觀無量壽佛經疏》,也稱為《楷定疏》《證定疏》等。
《觀經疏》四卷分別為:《玄義分》一卷,即在隨文解釋《觀經》之前,預先從總體上揭示《觀經》一部的根本義理;《序分義》一卷,解釋序分經文之義;《定善義》一卷,解釋正宗分定善十三觀之文義;《散善義》一卷, 解釋正宗分九品及流通分之文義。
《觀經疏》的主旨,在楷定古今對《觀經》的錯解,廣開淨土門,使五乘齊入報土。
Namo Amituofo!
