The Contemplation Sutra of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life: The First Contemplation

The First Contemplation of the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life Sutra (with Illustration One below)  Original text: （佛说）如来今者，教韦提希，及未来世一切众生，观於西方极乐世界。以佛力故，当得见彼清净国土。如执明镜，自见面像。见彼国土极妙乐事，心欢喜故，应时即得无生法忍。

佛告韦提希：汝是凡夫，心想羸劣，未得天眼，不能远观。诸佛如来，有异方便，令汝得见。

时韦提希白佛言：世尊！如我今者，以佛力故，见彼国土；若佛灭后，诸众生等，浊恶不善，五苦所逼，云何当见阿弥陀佛极乐世界？

佛告韦提希：汝及众生，应当专心系念一处，想於西方。云何作想？凡作想者，一切众生，自非生盲，有目之徒，皆见日没。当起正念，正坐西向，谛观於日欲没之处，令心坚住，专想不移。见日欲没，状如悬鼓。既见日已，闭目开目，皆令明了。是为日想，名曰初观。

Explanation: In order to enable those with weak mental power to be reborn in the land of bliss (Sukhāvatī) at the end of their lives, the Buddha taught sentient beings a skillful method: first to contemplate the setting sun while facing west, then the water contemplation and the land contemplation. Once these three contemplations are accomplished, rebirth in the land of bliss at the end of life is guaranteed. There are sixteen contemplations in total, and each one contains the Buddha's blessing. If sentient beings had to accomplish the contemplation solely on their own, it would probably be very difficult, because the Buddha said that sentient beings' minds are weak and their contemplative power is feeble. Why are sentient beings' minds weak and their contemplative power feeble? Because for countless kalpas sentient beings have carried deep and heavy karmic seeds, and they cling to too many worldly phenomena; their minds are too scattered to concentrate all their energy on one thing. Therefore it is not easy for them to accomplish anything, and they can only rely on the Buddha's blessing to complete the contemplation.

The Buddha said: I now teach Queen Vaidehī and all sentient beings of the future to contemplate the land of bliss in the west. By the power of the Buddha's blessing, in this very life one can see the pure land of the land of bliss, just like holding up a bright mirror and seeing one's own face—one can directly behold the wondrous and majestic things of that land. Then joy arises in the mind, and because of that inner joy, one immediately attains the tolerance of the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti) at that very moment, knowing that all dharmas are illusory transformations depending on one's own mind, that all are unborn and do not truly exist; accepting this fact, one attains the tolerance of the non-arising of dharmas.

The Buddha said to Queen Vaidehī: You are still an ordinary being (pṛthagjana); your mental power is very weak, you lack contemplative ability, and you have not attained the divine eye, so you cannot see over great distances, much less behold the land of bliss. Yet the Tathāgatas have certain skillful means by which they can enable you to behold the land of bliss.

Queen Vaidehī said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, just as I now, by the power of the Buddha's blessing, am able to see that Buddha-land—if after the World-Honored One's parinirvāṇa, those future sentient beings whose natures are defiled and unwholesome, and who are oppressed by the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death—how will they be able to directly behold Amitābha Buddha's land of bliss?

The Buddha told Queen Vaidehī: You and these sentient beings should single-pointedly bind the mind to one place and contemplate the west. How should one contemplate? Among all sentient beings who wish to practice this contemplation, except those born blind, all who have eyes and can see are able to behold the sight of the sun setting behind the western hills. You should raise right mindfulness, sit upright facing the west, and attentively and single-mindedly observe the place where the sun is about to set, letting the mind abide firmly in this, contemplating it exclusively without shifting. At this time one should be able to see the sun about to set, its shape round like a great drum suspended in mid-air. After seeing the setting sun, whether with eyes closed or open, it should appear clearly. If it can be seen at all times and is never lost, samādhi is accomplished. This is the sun contemplation, the first of the sixteen contemplations.

This is what the Buddha meant in the original text. To make the contemplation easier, when the sun is setting we can record it with a mobile phone; a video is more vivid and clear and helps contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and memory. The setting sun should not be white; the sutra says it is orange-red, the kind that is red with a slight tinge of yellow. What the setting sun truly looks like must be seen with one's own eyes—the more real, the better. The western setting sun is generally the one at five or six o'clock; it must not be imagined or photoshopped. Choose one that you particularly like, save it in your phone, and view it and contemplate it over a long period. Do not contemplate several different ones; you must be single-minded, without mixture, otherwise meditative concentration will not arise. Also do not add other patterns or backgrounds—patterns and backgrounds distract attention and make it hard to attain concentration; the simpler the image, the better. We are not trying to appreciate scenery; if there is an appreciating mind, that is a scattered mind and a greedy, attached mind, and then meditative concentration cannot arise.

After selecting an image of the setting sun, view it every day, and afterward let the solitary mental consciousness imagine and recall it. Once the recollection is fairly firm and can be recalled at any time, train yourself to see the setting sun before your eyes with eyes closed; after the setting sun can appear at any time with eyes closed, finally practice until, whether eyes open or closed, the setting sun is before your eyes and the image does not vanish—then the sun-contemplation samādhi is accomplished.

When the third contemplation is accomplished, the Buddha guarantees that sentient beings will be reborn in the land of bliss at the end of life, and during this period the meditative concentration is never lost—this practice is extremely sublime. When samādhi is accomplished, heavy sins become light and light sins disappear. Therefore, whenever any meditative concentration or samādhi is accomplished, karmic obstructions can be dissolved; especially in Pure Land practice with the Buddha's blessing, karmic obstructions are dissolved even more readily, and the samādhi state can be maintained without loss. When the seventh contemplation is accomplished, all karma leading to the three evil destinies is completely eliminated, one instantly awakens, and sees the Buddhas of the ten directions standing before one.

This is a method for transforming and subduing the manas. Once the manas is subdued, whatever meditative concentration one cultivates afterward can be accomplished quickly, and all kinds of samādhi become easy to attain. After the sun contemplation is accomplished, contemplate water next, and the water contemplation can also be accomplished quickly; after that comes the land contemplation, and once the land contemplation is accomplished, rebirth in the land of bliss is guaranteed.

Select one image of the setting sun, view it over a long period, and then recall it. When it can be recalled at any moment without being lost, then with eyes closed it should appear before the eyes at all times; once it can manifest at any moment with eyes closed, then practice seeing it with eyes open. If the setting sun can be seen at every moment whether eyes are open or closed, without being lost or dispersing, the first contemplation is accomplished. Once the first contemplation is accomplished, the second contemplation becomes easy to accomplish, and even the third contemplation becomes easy to accomplish. Rebirth in the land of bliss is then assured. After the first contemplation is accomplished, any other contemplative practice becomes easy to accomplish; the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi (buddhānusmṛti), seeing one's true mind and seeing one's nature—all become no longer difficult. For those with relatively great sins, through such contemplative practice the Buddha has already guaranteed that sins can be eliminated, and one can not only be reborn in the land of bliss but also see one's true mind and see one's nature.