Visualization Sutra

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          The Buddha said to Ananda and Vaidehi, "If you wish with a sincere mind to be born in the Western Quarter, you should first visualize a sixteen-foot image of the Buddha standing on the surface of a lake. 
          As I previously explained, the physical measurements of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life are boundless and are beyond the grasp of ordinary minds.  But because of the power of that Tathagata's vows fulfilled in a previous life, those who keep the Buddha in mind will, without fail, be able to perceive this body. 
          Simply visualizing the Buddha's image brings one immeasurable merits; how much more so if one visualizes all the perfect physical characteristics of that Buddha?

 

          "This Buddha Amitabha, able to utilize transcendent spiritual powers at any time, can freely manifest various forms throughout the lands of the Ten Directions, here appearing as a great body that fills the sky, there appearing as a small body only sixteen or eighteen feet tall.  The color of these manifested figures is that of pure gold, and the miraculously created Buddhas and the jeweled lotus flowers in the surrounding circle of light are the same as I described before.

 

          "The physical features of the Bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta are the same in all respects, and sentient beings who simply visualize the features on their heads can distinguish between Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta.  These two Bodhisattvas assist Buddha Amitabha in the work of universal liberation.  This is the composite visualization which is called the Thirteenth Visualization.  Performing this visualization is called the right visualization.  If one performs other visualizations, that is called an incorrect visualization."