Important Knowledge in the Pure Land Teaching
淨土小常識
170. Amitabha Buddha’s Body, the Color of Polished Purple-Gold
Among the 48 Vows of Amitabha Buddha, there are 3 vows that concern the physical form and appearance of beings in the Pure Land:
● The 3rd Vow: All shall have bodies of golden color;
● The 4th Vow: All shall be equal in beauty, with no distinction between fair and ugly;
● The 21st. Vow: All shall be endowed with the thirty-two marks of excellence. Of these three:
● The 3rd Vow speaks of equality in complexion;
● The 4th Vow speaks of equality in features;
● The 21st. Vow manifests the perfection of all physical marks.
Together, these three vows reveal that all beings in the Pure Land possess: complete and perfect features, with no distinction between beauty and ugliness, the same golden radiance, and sharing the same realized fruit as Amitabha Buddha. Thus, the three vows are interrelated and mutually fulfilling, encompassing all virtues and appearances in full perfection.
The 3rd Vow states:
“If, when I attain Buddhahood, the heavenly and human beings in my land do not all have bodies of genuine golden color, may I not attain perfect enlightenment.”
What kind of “genuine golden color” does this refer to?
In the Contemplation Sutra, it is said:
“Amitabha Buddha brings a purple-golden lotus pedestal to welcome the practitioner; and the practitioner’s body also becomes the color of polished purple-gold.”
“Purple-gold” is the finest and most precious kind of gold.
● The color “purple”, being a blend of red and black, symbolizes the unity of purity and defilement, expressing the Dharma principle that affliction and enlightenment are not separate.
● The word “polished” means without impurity or stain.
Some describe this color as the “color of the Middle Way and True Suchness”, while others say “pure gold, free of defilement, the manifestation of True Reality.” All these expressions point to the unchanging and eternal nature of Nirvaṇa, which also connects with the 11th Vow, the Vow of Certain Attainment of Nirvāṇa.
Thus, Master Shandao concludes:
“In the Pure Land there is no birth and no distinction.
All beings there attain ultimate liberation and possess a diamond-like body of gold.”
(to be continued tomorrow)
170 紫磨金色身
四十八願之中，身相之願，共有三願，即：第三「悉皆金色」願、第四「無有 好醜」願、第二十一「具三十二相」願。三願之中，第三願說「膚色平等」，第四 願說「形貌平等」，第二十一願則顯示「諸相圓滿」。這三願顯明：諸相圓滿，無 有好醜，同一金色，而成與佛一味果相。故三願相依，德相周備。
第三願說：設我得佛，國中天人，不悉真金色者，不取正覺。 「國中天人，悉真金色」，是哪種真金色？《觀無量壽經》說： 阿彌陀佛持紫金臺來迎，行者身作紫磨金色。
紫磨金為黃金中之最上品，「紫」為赤、黑和合之色，表非淨非垢，煩惱菩 提不離的法義；「磨」，無垢濁之意。
或說「中道實相色」，或說「真金標無垢，純一顯實相」，都是在於顯明涅槃 常住不變之色，與第十一「必至滅度願」相關，故善導大師說：
淨土無生亦無別，究竟解脫金剛身。
(明天待續)
Namo Amituofo!
