阿彌陀經義疏 1.43

1.43

是故下，三、勸信，信我語者，謂信教也，如不信我，十方諸佛豈虛妄乎？次、三時因果中，初正示；是故下，二、結勸。初中已即過去、今即現在、當即未來，發願是因，生即是果，三因三果別對可知，欲顯淨土，唯恐無願，有願必生定無漏失。《十疑論》云：「生彼國已悉得無生，未有一人退落三界為生死業縛」等。次、結勸中，若有信者，簡彼不信，任不發願自甘塗炭，是誰之咎？三、諸佛互讚中二段：初、我讚諸佛；彼下，諸佛贊我。初文如我今者等，即指前科六方勸信，二中又二：初、出彼讚詞；當知下，二、顯示誠實。初中釋迦翻能仁，即大慈垂應，牟尼翻寂默，即妙智冥真，合此為佛，則三身備矣，他不能為故甚難，舉世未見故希有。下列二難，於此惡世修行成佛一難也，為諸眾生說此法門二難也。初中娑婆亦云索訶，此翻堪忍，《悲華經》云：「是諸眾生忍受三毒及諸煩惱故」，準《佛剎經》有二義：初義同上；二、云彼有行菩薩乘者，成就忍辱，將護有情，善自調伏，若人加害，悉能含忍終不放逸，故云堪忍。五濁亦云五滓，又言惡者，謂能具造十惡業故。劫者梵云劫波，此翻時分，下四濁聚在此時，從減劫人壽二萬歲時即入劫濁；見者，身見、邊見、邪見、戒取、見取，五利使也；煩惱者，貪、嗔、癡、慢、疑五鈍使也；眾生者，攬陰為人，假名眾生；命者，剎那生滅，催年促壽。第二難中，念佛法門不簡愚智，不擇豪賤，不論久近，不選善惡，唯取決誓猛信，臨終惡相十念往生，此乃具縛凡愚，屠沽下類剎那超越成佛之法，可謂一切世間甚難信也。二、顯實中，承前二難則彰諸佛所讚不虛，意使眾生聞而信受。

Third, from 'therefore' onward, urging faith: 'having faith in my words' means having faith in the teaching; if you do not believe me, could the buddhas of the ten directions speak falsely? Next, within the cause and effect of the three periods of time, first it directly demonstrates; second, from 'therefore' onward, it concludes by urging. In the first, 'already' refers to the past, 'now' refers to the present, and 'will' refers to the future. Generating the vow is the cause, and rebirth is the fruit; that the three causes and three fruits correspond individually can be known. In seeking to reveal the Pure Land, the only fear is lacking the vow; if there is a vow, one will definitely be reborn without any failure. The Treatise on the Ten Doubts says: 'Having been born in that land, all attain the non-arising [of dharmas], and not a single person ever falls back into the three realms to be bound by the karma of birth and death,' and so forth. Next, in concluding by urging, 'if there are those with faith' sets aside those who do not believe; allowing them to not generate the vow and willingly plunge into ruin—whose fault is that? Third, within the mutual praise of all buddhas, there are two passages: first, I praise all the buddhas; second, from 'those' onward, all the buddhas praise me. In the first passage, 'just as I now' and so forth points directly to the preceding section on urging faith through the six directions. In the second, there are again two: first, presenting their words of praise; second, from 'you should know' onward, revealing sincerity and truth. In the first, 'Śākya' translates as 'capable of benevolence,' which is great compassion responding to needs; 'Muni' translates as 'silent and tranquil,' which is wonderful wisdom merging with truth. Combining these to make 'Buddha,' the three bodies are complete. Because others cannot do this, it is 'extremely difficult'; because the entire world has never seen it, it is 'rare.' Below, two difficulties are listed: cultivating practice and attaining buddhahood in this evil world is the first difficulty; expounding this Dharma-gate for all sentient beings is the second difficulty. In the first, Sahā is also called suohē, translated here as 'endurance.' The Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka Sūtra says: 'Because these sentient beings endure the three poisons and all afflictions.' Following the Buddha-kṣetra Sūtra, there are two meanings: the first meaning is the same as above; the second says that in that realm there are practitioners of the Bodhisattva vehicle who accomplish patience, protect sentient beings, skillfully tame themselves, and if people harm them, they can fully endure without ever becoming negligent, hence called 'endurance.' The five defilements are also called the five dregs; they are also called 'evil' because beings are fully capable of committing the ten unwholesome actions. 'Kalpa' is kalpa in Sanskrit, translated here as 'time period'; the latter four defilements gather in this period, and entering the defilement of the kalpa begins when human lifespan decreases to twenty thousand years. 'Views' refers to the five sharp drivers: view of a self, extreme views, wrong views, attachment to unwholesome precepts, and attachment to views. 'Afflictions' refers to the five dull drivers: greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt. 'Sentient beings' refers to collecting the skandhas to form a person, nominally termed a 'sentient being.' 'Lifespan' refers to instant-by-instant arising and ceasing, which shortens the years and hurries life. In the second difficulty, the Dharma-gate of reciting the Buddha's name does not differentiate between foolish and wise, does not select between noble and base, does not consider long or short duration, and does not discriminate between good and evil; it only requires a decisive vow and vigorous faith. Manifesting bad omens at the end of life, ten recitations lead to rebirth. This is a teaching whereby fully bound ordinary fools and the lowliest butchers and merchants instantly transcend and attain buddhahood; it can truly be called extremely difficult to believe in all the worlds. Second, in revealing the truth, following the two previous difficulties reveals that what all the buddhas praise is not empty, intending to make sentient beings hear and believe it.