The Buddha Speaks of the Sūtra of Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life: Rebirth in the Three Grades and Nine Levels

The World-Honored One taught in the Contemplation Sutra that sentient beings reborn in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) are divided into three grades—higher, middle, and lower—each with three levels, making nine grades in total. Among them, higher-grade rebirth is for those who resolve to study and practice the Great Vehicle, walk the great bodhi path, vow to see the mind and realize its nature, and extensively benefit immeasurable sentient beings; middle-grade rebirth is for those with Small Vehicle aspiration, seeking only personal liberation from the suffering of birth and death; lower-grade rebirth is for those who have committed great evil karma, whose wholesome roots manifest at the end of life, and who are certain to be reborn in the land of bliss.

Those of the highest grade of the higher grade (uttamottamavarga), upon being born in the land of bliss, need not stay inside a lotus flower; they directly see Amitābha Buddha and hear the Buddha teach the Dharma. Because such a person has already seen the mind and realized its nature in the Sahā world, has already eliminated beginningless ignorance in the mind, and has eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), they need not be nurtured and trained in the Great Vehicle inside a lotus-palace. When they see the Buddha, they can understand the profound Great Vehicle Dharma that Amitābha Buddha teaches, and can immediately attain the patience with the non-arising of dharmas and enter the Buddha's family, becoming a bhūmi bodhisattva, endowed with vast and profound wisdom. Then they manifest bodies in worlds throughout the ten directions, freely making offerings to the Buddhas of the ten directions, and according to conditions deliver sentient beings in worlds throughout the ten directions.

Those of the middle grade of the higher grade have not seen the mind and realized its nature, but they can read and recite the Great Vehicle vaipulya sūtras. In the snap of a finger they arrive in the land of bliss, but they must stay inside a lotus flower there for one night of the land of bliss, equal to half a great kalpa of the Sahā world; then they emerge from the lotus flower, and after seven days in the land of bliss they see the Buddha and hear the Dharma, become enlightened, and become non-retrogressing bodhisattvas. After another one small kalpa in the land of bliss, they become first-bhūmi bodhisattvas and enter the Buddha's family.

One day in the land of bliss equals one great kalpa in the Sahā world, that is, a length of time of 16.8 million years multiplied by 80. Those of the lowest grade of the higher grade stay inside the lotus flower for one day and one night of the land of bliss, which is one great kalpa of the Sahā world; then they emerge from the lotus flower, and after seven days in the land of bliss they see the Buddha, though they still cannot see the Buddha's image clearly. After another twenty-one days in the land of bliss, they hear the Buddha teach the Dharma, become enlightened, and see the mind. After another three small kalpas in the land of bliss, they become first-bhūmi bodhisattvas and enter the Buddha's family.

Middle-grade rebirth generally consists of people of Small Vehicle disposition, who have not resolved on Great Vehicle bodhicitta and need not read and recite Great Vehicle sūtras. Those of the highest grade of the middle grade, upon arriving in the land of bliss, directly see the Buddha, and upon hearing the Dharma immediately become great arhats with the three knowledges and six superknowledges, of a rank equal to Śāriputra, Maudgalyāyana, and the like. Those of the middle grade of the middle grade stay inside the lotus flower for seven days of the land of bliss; after emerging from the lotus flower, they attain the first fruit (srotāpanna), and after another half a kalpa in the land of bliss, they become arhats of the fourth fruit. Those of the lowest grade of the middle grade stay inside the lotus flower for twenty-one days of the land of bliss; after emerging from the lotus flower, they hear the Dharma and attain the first fruit, and after another one small kalpa in the land of bliss, they attain the fourth fruit of arhatship. Through the Buddha's blessing power, they never enter nirvāṇa without remainder, but turn their minds toward practicing the Great Vehicle Dharma.

Those of lower-grade rebirth are all committers of great evil karma, and their time dwelling inside the lotus flowers of the land of bliss is extremely long.