阿彌陀經要解 1.162

1.162

經云：「末法之中億億人修行，罕有一得道者，惟依念佛得度。」嗚呼！今正是其時矣！捨此不可思議法門，其何能淑？旭於初出家時，亦以宗乘自負藐視教典，妄謂持名法門不過曲為中下，後因大病發意西歸，嗣復研求《妙宗》《圓中》二鈔及雲棲疏鈔等書，始知念佛三昧實稱無上寶王，方肯死心執持名號，萬牛莫能挽也。適吾友去病大士久事淨業，欲令此經大旨辭不繁而即炳著，命余述此要解；余正欲普與法界有情同生極樂，理不可却。舉筆於丁亥年九月二十有七，脫[葶-丁+呆]於十月初五，凡九日而告成。所願一句一字咸作資糧，一見一聞同階不退，或信或疑皆植道種，或讚或謗等歸解脫。仰惟諸佛菩薩攝受證明，同學友人隨喜加被。西有道人蕅益智旭閣筆故跋，時年四十有九。

A sūtra states: 'In the final dharma age, among hundreds of millions of people cultivating the path, rarely does even one attain the Way; only by relying on buddhānusmṛti can one attain deliverance.' Alas! Today is precisely that time! Setting aside this inconceivable dharma-door, what else could bring benefit? When I, Zhixu, first entered the monastic order, I also took pride in the Chan vehicle and looked down on the scriptural teachings, mistakenly claiming that the dharma-door of recollecting the name was merely an accommodation for those of medium and lower capacities. Later, due to a severe illness, I resolved to return to the West. Subsequently, I investigated and studied the two commentaries, the Miaozong chao and Yuanzhong chao, as well as the Yunqi commentary and subcommentary, and only then realized that the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi is truly called the unsurpassable jewel-king. Only then was I willing to hold firmly to the name with a resolute mind, so that even ten thousand oxen could not turn me back. Just then, my friend the Mahāsattva Qubing, who had long practiced the pure karma, wished to have the grand purport of this sūtra elucidated clearly without redundant phrasing, and requested that I compose this Essential Explanation. As I precisely wished to be reborn together in Sukhāvatī with all sentient beings of the dharmadhātu, in principle I could not refuse. I set brush to paper on the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month in the dinghai year, and finished the draft on the fifth day of the tenth month—completed in a total of nine days. My wish is that every phrase and every character will serve as provision; that every seeing and every hearing will advance one to avivartika; that those who believe and those who doubt will all plant the seeds of the Way; and that those who praise and those who slander will equally return to liberation. I reverently look up to all buddhas and bodhisattvas to gather in and attest, and to fellow practitioners and friends to rejoice and grant their blessings. Postscript written upon laying down the brush by Ouyi Zhixu, Daoist of the Western Existence, at forty-nine years of age.