Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha 40

Then, the Bhagavat addressed the noble-minded Bodhisattva Aita, and said: ‘Do you see, O Agita, the perfection of the array of ornaments and good qualities in that Buddha country; and above in the sky (places) with charming parks}, charming gardens, charming rivers and lotus lakes, scattered with many precious Padmas, Utpalas, Kumudas, and Puarikas; and below, from the earth to the abode of the Akanishtas, the surface of the sky, covered with flowers, ornamented with wreaths of flowers, shining on the rows of many precious columns, frequented by flocks of all kinds of birds created by the Tathagata’

The Bodhisattva Agita said: ‘I see, O Bhagavat.’

The Bhagavat said: Do you see again, O Aita, those flocks of immortal birds, making the whole Buddha country resound with the voice of Buddha, so that those Bodhisattvas are never without meditating on Buddha’

Aita said: ‘I see, O Bhagavat.’

The Bhagavat said: ‘Do you see again, O Ata, those beings, who have ascended to the palaces which extend over a hundred thousand yoanas in the sky, walking about respectfully’

Ata said: ‘I see, O Bhagavat.’

The Bhagavat said: ‘What do you think, O Ata, is there any difference between the gods called Paranirmitavaavartins, and men in the world Sukhâvati’

Agita said: ‘I do not, O Bhagavat, perceive even one difference, so far as the men in that world of Sukhâvatl are endowed with great supernatural powers.’

The Bhagavat said: ‘Do you see again, O Ata, those men dwelling within the calyx of excellent lotus-flowers in that world Sukhâvati’

He said: ‘As gods called Trayastrimsas or Yamas, having entered into palaces of fifty or hundred or five hundred yoanas in extent, are playing, sporting, walking about, exactly in the same manner I see, O Bhagavat, these men dwelling within the calyx of excellent lotus-flowers in the world Sukhâvati.