Contemplation Sutra of Immeasurable Life, First Contemplation

The First Contemplation of the Contemplation Sutra of Amitāyus (see Illustration 1 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 help those with weak mental power be reborn in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) at the end of their lives, the Buddha taught sentient beings a skillful means: first, facing west, contemplate the setting sun, 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 contemplation involves the Buddha's blessing. If one relied solely on one's own power to accomplish the contemplation, it would probably be very difficult, because the Buddha said that sentient beings' mental power is weak and their contemplative power is feeble. Why is sentient beings' mental power weak and their contemplative power feeble? Because for countless eons sentient beings have accumulated deeply entrenched karmic seeds, and they cling to and pursue too many worldly dharmas; their minds are too scattered and cannot concentrate all their energy on one thing, so 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 (sukhāvatī) in the west. Because of the blessing of the Buddha's power, 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 with one's own eyes the supremely wondrous and adorned affairs of the land of bliss. Then joy arises in the mind, and because of that inner joy, one immediately attains the patience of the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti), knowing that all dharmas are illusory transformations depending on one's own mind, that all are unborn, that none truly exist; being patient with and accepting of this fact, one attains the patience of the non-arising of dharmas.

The Buddha said to Queen Vaidehī: You are still an ordinary person (pṛthagjana); your mental power is very weak, you lack contemplative ability, you have not attained the divine eye (divya-cakṣus), you cannot see over great distances, much less see the land of bliss; yet the Tathāgatas of all buddhas have certain skillful means that can enable you to behold the land of bliss.

Queen Vaidehī said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, just as I now, because of the blessing of the Buddha's power, 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 sufferings 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-mindedly bind the mind to one place and direct the thought toward the west. How should one think? Among all the sentient beings who wish to contemplate, except for those born blind, all those who have eyes capable of seeing forms can see the scene of the sun about to set behind the western mountains. You should raise right mindfulness, thinking only of one place, sit upright facing west, and carefully and single-mindedly observe the place where the sun is about to set, letting the mind abide very firmly in that scene, contemplating exclusively that scene without shifting. At this time one should be able to see the sun about to sink down, its shape round like a great drum suspended in midair. After seeing the setting sun, whether with eyes closed or open, one should see it clearly. Being able to see it at all times without losing it, one accomplishes meditative absorption (samādhi). This is the sun contemplation, the first of the sixteen contemplations.

This is what the Buddha meant in the original text. To facilitate our contemplation, when the sun is setting, we can record it with a mobile phone; a video recording is more vivid and clear, and more helpful for 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 true appearance of the setting sun is like must be seen with one's own eyes—the more real, the better. The setting sun in the west is generally the one at five or six o'clock; it must not be imagined or photoshopped. Choose one that you rather like, save it in your phone, and watch it and contemplate it over a long period. Do not contemplate several different ones; you must be single-minded, not mixed, otherwise meditative concentration will not arise. Also do not add other patterns or backgrounds; patterns and backgrounds will distract attention and make it hard to attain concentration—the simpler the image, the better. We are not trying to appreciate the scenery; if you have an appreciating mind, that is a scattered mind and a greedy, attached mind, and then meditative concentration cannot arise.

After selecting a setting-sun image, watch it every day, and after watching, let the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) imagine and recall it. When the recollection has become fairly firm, so that you can recall it at any time, then train yourself to see the setting-sun scene before your eyes with eyes closed; after the setting sun can appear at any time when your eyes are closed, finally practice so that with eyes open or closed, the setting sun is always before your eyes, and this scene does not vanish and disappear—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 karmic offenses become light, and light offenses disappear. Therefore, whenever any meditative concentration or samādhi is accomplished, karma can be eradicated; especially in Pure Land practice with the Buddha's blessing, karma can be eradicated even more, and the samādhi state can be maintained without loss. When the seventh contemplation is accomplished, all the karma of the three evil destinies is completely eliminated, one instantly awakens (enlightenment), and sees the buddhas of the ten directions standing before one.

This is the method for transforming and subduing the manas. Once the manas is subdued, if you then cultivate any kind of meditative concentration, it can be accomplished very quickly, and various samādhis become easy to accomplish with practice. After the sun contemplation is accomplished, then contemplate water—the water contemplation can also be accomplished quickly; after that comes the land contemplation, and when the land contemplation is accomplished, rebirth in the land of bliss is guaranteed.

Select one setting-sun image, watch it over a long period, and then recall it. When you can recall it at any moment without losing it, then with eyes closed it is constantly before your eyes; after it can constantly appear with eyes closed, then practice seeing it with eyes open. If with eyes open or closed you can at all times see the setting-sun scene, without it being lost or dispersing, the first contemplation is accomplished. After the first contemplation is accomplished, the second contemplation becomes easy to accomplish, and even the third contemplation is easy to accomplish. Rebirth in the land of bliss is then assured. After the first contemplation is accomplished, cultivating any other contemplative practice becomes easy to accomplish; the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi (buddhānusmṛti-samādhi), seeing the mind and seeing the nature (enlightenment)—none of these will be difficult. For those with relatively grave karmic offenses, through such contemplative practice the Buddha has already guaranteed that offenses can be eradicated, and moreover one can be reborn in the land of bliss and can also see the mind and see the nature.