Introduction

i.1In the Jeta’s Grove outside Śrāvastī, the ancient capital of the Kośala state, the Buddha and his saṅgha of monks have taken up residence during the rainy season. Suddenly, during a gathering of the saṅgha, the whole universe begins to shake, the grove is flooded with lights and sounds, and eight buddhas miraculously appear on jeweled lotus flowers. The Buddha’s close disciple, Śāriputra, requests the Buddha to explain the causes and conditions that have made these buddhas appear. The Buddha begins by introducing Śāriputra to each of the eight buddhas by name and then describes the location, name, and qualities of each of their buddha realms.

i.1在舍衛城外的祇樹給孤獨園，古代憍薩羅國的都城，佛陀和他的比丘僧伽在雨季駐紮此地。突然間，在僧伽的集會中，整個宇宙開始震動，給孤獨園充滿了光芒和聲音，八位佛陀奇蹟般地出現在七寶蓮花上。佛陀的親近弟子舍利弗請求佛陀解釋導致這些佛陀出現的因緣。佛陀開始逐一向舍利弗介紹這八位佛陀的名號，然後描述了他們各自佛剎的位置、名號和功德。

i.2Following this, the Buddha teaches Śāriputra how hearing, remembering, carrying, reading, teaching, chanting, and mastering the names of these buddhas will produce a great number of benefits for the practitioner. Śāriputra is told that these names have the capacity to ensure that practitioners will not be reborn in the three lower realms and that they will always have extraordinary knowledge, realization, and dhāraṇī. They will never have defective faculties, lack donations, or find themselves without the practices and discourses of the Mahāyāna. They will also no longer have to take birth as women unless they wish to do so, nor will they experience any misfortune caused by kings, thieves, fire, water, or evil spirits. Eventually, they will attain wisdom, which in turn will lead them to become buddhas themselves.

i.2此後，佛陀教導舍利弗，聽聞、憶念、受持、誦讀、演說、講誦和通曉這些佛陀的名號，將為修行者帶來無量的利益。舍利弗被告知，這些名號具有強大的力量，能夠確保修行者不會投生在三惡趣，並且將永遠具有不尋常的智慧、成就和陀羅尼。他們將永遠不會有殘缺的根，不會缺乏供養，也不會缺少大乘的修行和教法。他們還將不再被迫投生為女性，除非他們願意如此，也不會經歷由國王、盜賊、火、水或惡靈所造成的任何厄運。最終，他們將證得智慧，這將引導他們成為佛陀。

i.3The notion that a disciple can become destined for awakening merely by recalling the names of buddhas who live in other realms appears in a number of Mahāyāna sūtras, where it represents an important aspect of Mahāyāna practice. In the Tibetan canon these sūtras are found throughout the various sūtra collections. Not only is there a plethora of buddhas present in the universe, but through their blessings, beings can make great progress on the path to awakening simply by bringing them to mind.

i.3弟子僅僅通過憶念住在其他佛剎的佛陀的名號就能獲得覺悟的信念，出現在許多大乘經中，代表了大乘修行的一個重要方面。在藏傳佛教經藏中，這些經典散見於各種經藏集中。宇宙中不僅存在無數的佛陀，而且通過他們的加持，眾生只需將他們憶念在心，就能在覺悟之路上取得巨大進步。

i.4There is to our knowledge no extant Sanskrit version of this sūtra. According to the colophon to the Tibetan translation it was translated into Tibetan by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Surendrabodhi, along with the editor-translator Yeshé Dé. The text is also recorded in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma catalogs of the Tibetan imperial translations, so it would have been translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan no later than the early ninth century, as the Denkarma is thought to have been compiled in 812 ᴄᴇ. Four Chinese sūtras with cognate material are included in the Taishō Buddhist Canon (Taishō 427, 428, 430, and 431). The earliest of the Chinese translations (Taishō 427) dates to the early third century, so the materials presented in this sūtra have their roots in very early Indian Mahāyāna.

i.4據我們所知，此經沒有現存的梵文版本。根據藏文譯本的後記，該經由印度經師金智（Jinamitra）和蘇壽德菩提（Surendrabodhi）與編譯師耶謝德（Yeshé Dé）共同譯為藏文。此經文也被記載於藏傳佛教皇家翻譯目錄的敦喀目錄和龐塘目錄中，因此該經應是在公元九世紀初或更早之前由梵文譯為藏文，因為敦喀目錄據推測於公元812年編纂。大乘經藏中記錄了四部內容相近的漢文經典（大正427、428、430和431）。最早的漢文譯本（大正427）成書於公元三世紀初，因此此經中所呈現的內容根源於早期的印度大乘佛教。

i.5This English translation was prepared based on the Tibetan translation in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the Comparative Edition (Tib. dpe bsdur ma).

i.5本英文翻譯是根據德格藏文大藏經的藏文譯本，並參考《對照版》(藏文：dpe bsdur ma)而準備的。