The Buddha's Discourse on the Visualization Sutra of Amitāyus: Birth in the Three Grades and Nine Ranks

The World-Honored One taught in the Contemplation Sutra that sentient beings who are reborn in the land of bliss (Sukhāvatī) are divided into three grades—higher, middle, and lower—each with three levels, making nine grades in all. Among them, higher-grade rebirth is for those who resolve to cultivate and study the Mahāyāna, walking the great bodhi path, vowing to awaken to the true mind and see their nature, and to benefit immeasurable sentient beings; middle-grade rebirth is for those with the 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, upon being born in the land of bliss, need not stay inside a lotus flower; they directly see Amitābha Buddha and hear the Buddha preach the Dharma. Because such a person has already awakened to the true mind and seen their nature in the Sahā world, having already eliminated beginningless ignorance (avidyā) in the mind and eliminated self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), they need not undergo cultivation and permeation of the Mahāyāna inside a lotus palace. When they see the Buddha, they can understand the profound Mahāyāna Dharma that Amitābha Buddha teaches, and can immediately realize the patience of non-arising (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti) and enter the Tathāgata's family, becoming a bhūmi bodhisattva, endowed with vast and profound wisdom. They then manifest bodies throughout the worlds of the ten directions, freely making offerings to the Buddhas of the ten directions, and according with conditions to deliver sentient beings throughout the worlds of the ten directions.

Those of the middle grade of the higher grade have not awakened to the true mind and seen their nature, but they can read and recite the Mahāyāna 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 minor kalpa of the land of bliss, they become first-bhūmi bodhisattvas and enter the Tathāgata's family.

One day in the land of bliss equals one great kalpa of the Sahā world—that is, a span 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 still unable to see the Buddha's form clearly. After another twenty-one days in the land of bliss, they hear the Buddha preach the Dharma, become enlightened, and awaken to the true mind. After another three minor kalpas of the land of bliss, they become first-bhūmi bodhisattvas and enter the Tathāgata's family.

Middle-grade rebirth generally belongs to those of Small Vehicle disposition, who have not resolved the great Mahāyāna bodhi mind and need not read and recite Mahāyāna sūtras. Those of the highest grade of the middle grade arrive in the land of bliss and directly see the Buddha; upon hearing the Dharma they immediately become great arhats endowed with the three knowledges and six superknowledges, of a rank equal to Śāriputra, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, 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 realize the first fruit, and after another half a kalpa of the land of bliss, they become fourth-fruit arhats. 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 realize the first fruit, and after another minor kalpa of the land of bliss, they realize the fourth fruit of arhatship. Through the Buddha's blessing power, they never enter nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), but turn their minds toward cultivating the Mahāyāna Dharma.

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