阿彌陀經義疏 1.34

1.34

答：「若真達理，語默皆如，不礙修持，何妨念佛？若貶念佛，未曰達人。何以然者？既達法空則不住於相，既常念佛則不滯於空，超越二邊從容中道，念念契合彌陀法身，聲聲流入薩婆若海，臨終決定上品上生，豈非心淨佛土淨乎？故《十疑論》云：『智者熾然求生淨土，達生體不可得，此乃真無生。』非謂生法外別有無生也。《淨名》云：『雖知諸佛國及與眾生空，而常修淨土教化諸群生。』即斯謂也。」

Answer: 'If one truly realizes the principle, speech and silence are both suchness; it does not obstruct cultivation, so what harm is there in contemplating the Buddha? If one belittles contemplating the Buddha, one cannot yet be called a realized person. Why is this so? Once one realizes the emptiness of phenomena, one does not dwell in characteristics; once one constantly contemplates the Buddha, one does not get stuck in emptiness. Transcending the two extremes and comfortably abiding in the Middle Way, thought after thought accords with Amida's dharmakāya, and voice after voice flows into the ocean of sarvajñā. At the end of life, one will definitively attain the highest rebirth of the highest grade; how is this not the purity of the mind and the purity of the buddha-land? Therefore, the Treatise on the Ten Doubts states: "The wise person fervently seeks rebirth in the Pure Land, realizing that the essence of birth cannot be grasped; this is true non-birth." It does not mean that apart from the phenomenon of birth there is another non-birth. The Vimalakīrti Sūtra states: "Although knowing that all buddha-lands and sentient beings are empty, one constantly cultivates the pure land to teach and transform all beings." This is precisely what it means.'