Guan wuliangshou jing 觀無量壽經

The Contemplation Sutra (T0365), in Chinese known as Guan wuliangshou jing 觀無量壽經, Foshuo guan wuliangshou fo jing 佛說觀無量壽佛經, Wuliangshou guan jing 無量壽觀經, or Guanjing 觀經 for short, is a central text of the Pure Land School (Jingtu zong 淨土宗), along with the Larger, and the Smaller Amitabha sutras (Wuliangshou jing 無量壽經, Emituo jing 阿彌陀經), known as Jingtu sanbu jing 淨土三部經. The original Sanskrit name of the scripture is rendered as Amitāyur-bhāvanā-sūtra, Amitāyur-buddhānusmṛti-sūtra or Amitāyur-dhyāna-sūtra.

The oldest translation of the text was delivered during the Liu-Song period 劉宋 (420-479) by Kālaṃyaśas (Ch. Jiangliangyeshe 畺良耶舍, 384-442). Another, anonymous translation, is listed in Buddhist book catalogues, but it is lost.

The Contemplation Sutra further develops the Pure Land thought as presented in the Wuliangshou jing. It recounts how King Ajātaśatru (Ch. Asheshi 阿闍世) sought to kill his father and seize the throne, imprisoning his father, King Bimbisāra (Ch. Pinposuoluo 頻婆娑羅 or Pinpisuoluo 頻毗娑羅). Ajātaśatru's mother, Queen Vaidehi (Ch. Weitixi Furen 韋提希夫人), fearing that her husband would starve to death, secretly brought him food. When this was discovered, she, too, was imprisoned. Overcome with anguish and sorrow, Queen Vaidehi vowed never again to be reborn in the defiled and evil world, and instead aspired to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. Thereupon, the Śākyamuni Buddha (Ch. Shijiamouni 釋迦牟尼), expounded to her the sixteen methods of contemplation (shiliu guan 十六觀) for visualising the physical and spiritual characteristics of the Amitābha Buddha (Ch. Emituo Fo 阿彌陀佛) and the splendour of Sukhāvatī, the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss (Ch. Jile Jingtu Zhuangyan 極樂淨土莊嚴).

No Sanskrit original has been discovered so far. Parts of the sutra were found among the Dunhuang 敦煌 fragments. The Japanese scholar Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 (1866-1945), at the request of F. Max Müller, translated the received text into English: Müller, F. Max; translated by J. Takakusu. 1894. The Sacred Books of the East, Translated by Various Oriental Scholars. Vol. XLIX, "The Amitâyur-Dhyâna-Sûtra", vol. 2, 159-204. Oxford: Clarendon.

The most important commentaries are Huiyuan's 慧遠 (334-416) Guan wuliangshou jing yishu 觀無量壽經義疏 (T1749), Zhiyi's 智顗 (538-597) Guan wuliangshou fo jing shu 觀無量壽佛經疏, Jizang's 吉藏 (549-623) Guan wuliangshou jing yishu 觀無量壽經義疏 (T1752), Shandao's 善導 (613-681) Guan wuliangshou fo jing shu 觀無量壽佛經疏 (T1753), Zhili's 知禮 (960-1028) Guan wuliangshou fo jing rongxin jie 觀無量壽佛經融心解 (T1751=觀無量壽佛經疏妙宗鈔), Yuanzhao's 元照 (1048-1116) Guan wuliangshou fo jing yishu 觀無量壽佛經義疏 (T1754), Chuandeng's 傳燈 (1554-1627) Guan wuliangshou fo jing tusong 觀無量壽佛經圖頌, Xufa's 續法 (1641-1728) Guan wuliangshou fo jing zhizhi shu 觀無量壽佛經直指疏, Peng Jiqing's 彭際清 (1740-1796) Guan wuliangshou fo jing yuelun 觀無量壽佛經約論 and Ding Fubao's 丁福保 (1874-1952) Guan wuliangshou fo jing jianzhu 觀無量壽佛經箋注.