Selected Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (135)

Original text: 城外复有。七重宝堑。皆以七宝。所共合成。一一宝堑。深半由旬。广一由旬。金沙布底。八功德水。澄湛盈满。诸妙音鸟。翔集其中。优钵罗花。拘没那花。钵讷摩花。分陀利花。普遍开发。周匝阶陛。四宝合成。黄金为阶。白银成陛。白银为阶。黄金成陛。琉璃为阶。玻璃成陛。玻璃为阶。琉璃成陛。一一阶道。七宝所成。其傍皆植。金色芭蕉。复于道首。置诸宝座。巧妙装校。甚可爱乐。

Explanation: Outside the city there are also seven rows of jeweled moats, all formed together from the seven treasures. Each jeweled moat is half a yojana deep — that is, twenty li deep — and one yojana wide, forty li wide, with gold sand spread on the bottom. The water of the eight merits within is limpid and clear, filling the jeweled moats to the brim. Many birds with wonderful singing voices fly and gather within them, singing harmonious, beautiful, and pleasing sounds. There are also utpala flowers, kumuda flowers, padma flowers, and puṇḍarīka flowers blooming everywhere. The surrounding steps are formed from the four treasures: gold steps with silver stairways; silver steps with gold stairways; beryl steps with crystal stairways; crystal steps with beryl stairways. Each stairway is made of the seven treasures, and along the sides of the stairways are planted golden banana trees. At the head of the stairways, jeweled seats are placed, adorned and arranged with great ingenuity, delightful and endearing to behold. One great yojana in India equals forty li in our China, and one small yojana equals twenty li in our China. The seven-jeweled ponds of the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) are also paved with gold sand, and the water in the jeweled ponds possesses eight kinds of merits. The Sūtra of Immeasurable Life describes it thus: the water of the eight merits follows the thoughts of sentient beings — if one wishes it to reach the knees, it reaches the knees; if one wishes it to reach the waist, it reaches the waist — limpid and soft, filling the jeweled ponds to the brim. Many buddha-lands in the worlds of the ten directions are inhabited by sentient beings with blessings, while sentient beings without blessings and merit are reborn in buddha-lands that are filthy, defiled, and impoverished. The nature of sentient beings' living environment is determined by their roots of goodness and their merit.