The Eighth Contemplation of the Sutra on the Contemplation of Amitāyus (Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra)

Original text: 诸佛如来。是法界身。入一切众生心想中。是故汝等。心想佛时。是心即是三十二相。八十随形好。是心作佛。是心是佛。诸佛正遍知海。从心想生。是故应当。一心系念。谛观彼佛。多陀阿伽度阿罗诃三藐三佛陀。

Explanation: This introduces the method of recollection of the Buddha through contemplating an image. Beginning from the seventh contemplation, one cultivates the recollection of the Buddha through contemplating an image; once it is accomplished, the Buddha's image naturally manifests within the mind—not something imagined or fabricated, but an image that appears of itself. This is a meditative absorption (samādhi) state of the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā, in which body and mind abide in the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha through contemplating an image, thereby seeing one's true mind and attaining realization. The seventh contemplation is contemplating the lotus seat upon which the Buddha sits; the eighth contemplation is contemplating the Buddha's image. At first, one contemplates the image by means of intentional thought; when the power of meditative concentration and the power of wisdom are both complete, the samādhi appears, and the Buddha's image manifests of itself, visible to the solitary mental consciousness but invisible to others. This Buddha image is an image with form and marks, a Buddha image possessing a body of the five aggregates. Recollecting the Buddha through contemplating an image means contemplating the Buddha's five-aggregate Sambhogakāya body in order to realize the Buddha's Dharmakāya.

Therefore, when sentient beings think of the Buddha in their minds, the Buddha's image appears within the minds of sentient beings. The Buddha image is brought forth, thought forth, and evoked through resonance by the minds of sentient beings; it is transformed and manifested by the minds of sentient beings. This Buddha image is the Dharmakāya body of the Tathāgata, possessing the five aggregates, the twelve sense bases, and the eighteen elements, complete with the thirty-two marks and the eighty subsidiary characteristics. The image arises from the mind: whatever kind of mind there is, that kind of image appears; whatever kind of image appears, that kind of mind there is—mind and image are one and the same. If the thoughts of sentient beings' minds are constantly on the five desires and the six sense objects, on form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects, on wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, and every thought is about affairs within the six realms of rebirth, then sentient beings are the image of beings in birth-and-death within the six realms—mind and image are in accord, mind and realm are in harmony. If sentient beings' minds are wholesome, the image and the realm are also wholesome; if sentient beings' minds are unwholesome, the image and the realm are also unwholesome. By the same principle, when sentient beings think of the Buddha and recollect the Buddha in their minds, they are the Tathāgata Buddha with the thirty-two marks and eighty subsidiary characteristics. It is precisely the minds of sentient beings that can make the Buddha, and the minds of sentient beings are themselves the Buddha.

One of the Buddha's ten epithets is "the Perfectly and Omnisciently Knowing One" (the One of Correct and Complete Knowledge), meaning one who knows all dharmas correctly and without error, endowed with omniscient wisdom. When the Buddhas of the ten directions gather together and appear simultaneously, that is the ocean of Perfect and Complete Knowledge. If sentient beings' minds recollect the Buddhas of the ten directions, the ocean of Perfect and Complete Knowledge is born from within the minds of sentient beings. For example, when the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha appears, the Buddhas of the ten directions will stand before one; the ocean of Perfect and Complete Knowledge is born, visible to one's own solitary mental consciousness but invisible to others. All Buddhas are thought forth by the minds of sentient beings; there is no Buddha outside the mind—outside the mind there is no Buddha, and apart from the mind there is likewise no Buddha. Therefore, sentient beings should with single-minded attention carefully contemplate that Buddha's image, without scattered and confused thoughts, without mixing in worldly delusions. When one's delusions are of the world, the world appears and the Buddha does not appear. If one wishes to see the Buddha and awaken to the Way, one must single-mindedly recollect the Buddha and contemplate the Buddha.