Contemplation of the Setting Sun
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‘Thou and all other beings besides ought to make it their only aim, with concentrated thought, to get a perception of the western quarter. You will ask how that perception is to be formed. I will explain it now. All beings, if not blind from birth, are uniformly possessed of sight, and they all see the setting sun. Thou shouldst sit down properly, looking in the western direction, and prepare thy thought for a close meditation on the sun; cause thy mind to be firmly fixed (on it) so as to have an unwavering perception by the exclusive application (of thy thought), and gaze upon it (more particularly) when it is about to set and looks like a suspended drum. 'After thou hast thus seen the sun, let (that image) remain clear and fixed, whether thine eyes be shut or open;—such is the perception of the sun, which is the First Meditation. ’

Translated from Sanskrit by Max Muller, “ Sūtra of the Meditation on Buddha Amitāyus”

Contemplation of an expanse of the Water
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‘gaze on the water clear and pure, and let (this image) also remain clear and fixed (afterwards); never allow thy thought to be scattered and lost.

'When thou hast thus seen the water thou shouldst form the perception of ice. As thou seest the ice shining and transparent, thou shouldst imagine the appearance of lapis lazuli.

'After that has been done, thou wilt see the ground consisting of lapis lazuli, transparent and shining both within and without. Beneath this ground of lapis lazuli there will be seen a golden banner with the seven jewels, diamonds and the rest, supporting the ground.’

Translated from Sanskrit by Max Muller, “ Sūtra of the Meditation on Buddha Amitāyus”

Contemplation of the Jewelled Ground in Pure Land
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‘Over the surface of that ground of lapis lazuli there are stretched golden ropes intertwined crosswise; divisions are made by means of (strings of) seven jewels with every part clear and distinct.
'Each jewel has rays of five hundred colours which look like flowers or like the moon and stars. Lodged high up in the open sky these rays form a tower of rays, whose storeys and galleries are ten millions in number and built of a hundred jewels. Both sides of the tower have each a hundred millions of flowery banners furnished and decked with numberless musical instruments. Eight kinds of cool breezes proceed from the brilliant rays. When those musical instruments are played, they emit the sounds "suffering," "non-existence," "impermanence," and "non-self;" ’

Translated from Sanskrit by Max Muller, “ Sūtra of the Meditation on Buddha Amitāyus”

Contemplation of the Jewelled Trees
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‘In meditating on the jewel-trees, you should take each by itself and form a perception of the seven rows of trees; every tree is eight hundred yoganas high, and all the jewel-trees have flowers and leaves consisting of seven jewels all perfect. All flowers and leaves have colours like the colours of various jewels:—from the colour of lapis lazuli there issues a golden ray; from the colour of crystal, a saffron ray; from the colour of agate, a diamond ray; from the colour of diamond, a ray of blue pearls. Corals, amber, and all other gems are used as ornaments for illumination; nets of excellent pearls are spread over the trees, each tree is covered by seven sets of nets, and between one set and another there are five hundred millions of palaces built of excellent flowers, resembling the palace of the Lord Brahman;’

Translated from Sanskrit by Max Muller, “ Sūtra of the Meditation on Buddha Amitāyus”

Contemplation of the Ponds
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‘In the Land of Highest Happiness there are waters in eight lakes; the water in every lake consists of seven jewels which are soft and yielding. Deriving its source from the king of jewels that fulfils every wish, the water is divided into fourteen streams; every stream has the colour of seven jewels; its channel is built of gold, the bed of which consists of the sand of variegated diamonds. 'In the midst of each lake there are sixty millions of lotus-flowers, made of seven jewels; all the flowers are perfectly round and exactly equal (in circumference), being twelve yoganas. The water of jewels flows amidst the flowers and rises and falls by the stalks (of the lotus); the sound of the streaming water is melodious and pleasing, and propounds all the perfect virtues (Parâmitâs), "suffering," "non-existence," "impermanence," and "non-self;" it proclaims also the praise of the signs of perfection, and minor marks of excellence of all Buddhas. From the king of jewels that fulfils every wish, stream forth the golden-coloured rays excessively beautiful, the radiance of which transforms itself into birds possessing the colours of a hundred jewels, which sing out harmonious notes, sweet and delicious, ever praising the remembrance of (the) Buddha, the remembrance of the Law (Dharma), and the remembrance of the Church (Sangha);—such is the perception of the water of eight good qualities, and it is the Fifth Meditation.’

Translated from Sanskrit by Max Muller, “ Sūtra of the Meditation on Buddha Amitāyus”

Contemplation of the Sublime Body of Amitāyus Buddha
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‘The body of Buddha Amitâyus is a hundred thousand million times as bright as the colour of the Gâmbûnada gold of the heavenly abode of Yama; the height of that Buddha is six hundred thousand niyutas of kotîs of yoganas innumerable as are the sands of the river Gaṅgâ.
'The white twist of hair between the eyebrows all turning to the right, is just like the five Sumeru mountains.
'The eyes of Buddha are like the water of the four great oceans; the blue and the white are quite distinct.
'All the roots of hair of his body issue forth brilliant rays which are also like the Sumeru mountains.
'The halo of that Buddha is like a hundred millions of the Great Chiliocosms;’

Translated from Sanskrit by Max Muller, “ Sūtra of the Meditation on Buddha Amitāyus”