阿彌陀經要解 1.97

1.97

生淨土者，即得不退，又與諸上善人俱會一處，如此不可思議橫超法門，故非善根福德尠少者所能生也。菩提正道名為善根，即是親因；種種助道施戒禪等名為福德，即是助緣。聲聞獨覺菩提名少善根，人天有漏福業名少功德，皆不可生淨土，唯以信願執持名號，則一一聲中皆悉具多善根福德，縱令散心稱名善根福德亦不可量，況一心不亂哉！故使感應道交文成印壞，彌陀聖眾不來而來親承接引，行人心識不往而往托質寶蓮也。善男子、善女人者，不揀在家出家，不論貴賤老少，亦復不拘六趣四生，但得聞佛名者即是多劫善根成熟，即五逆十惡亦皆名善男女也。聞說阿彌陀佛即聞慧，執持名號即思慧，一心不亂即修慧。阿彌陀佛是萬德洪名，以名召德，罄無不盡，故即以執持名號而為正行，不必更涉觀想參究等行，至簡易至直捷也。聞而信、信而願乃肯執持，不信、不願與不聞等，雖亦得為遠因不名聞慧，執持則念念憶佛名號故是思慧。然有事持、理持。事持者，信有西方阿彌陀佛，而猶未達是心作佛、是心是佛，但以決志願求生故，如子憶母無時暫忘，名為事持。理持者，信彼西方阿彌陀佛是我心具、是我心造，即以自心所具所造洪名，而為繫心之境令不暫忘，名為理持。一日乃至七日者，剋期辨事也。利根一日即得不亂，鈍根七日方得不亂，中根或二三四五六日不定。又利根即能七日不亂，鈍根僅能一日不亂，中根或六五四三二日不定。持至一心不亂便成修慧也。一心亦有二種：謂不論事持、理持，持至伏除煩惱乃至見思先盡，皆名為事一心。又不論事持、理持，持至心開見本性佛，皆名為理一心。事一心則不為見思所亂，理一心則不為二邊所亂。不為見思所亂，故感變化身佛及諸聖眾現在其前，心不復起娑婆界中三有顛倒，即得往生同居、方便二種極樂世界。不為二邊所亂，故感受用身佛及諸聖眾現在其前，心不復起生死涅槃二見顛倒，即得往生實報、寂光二種極樂世界。當知執持名號雖復簡易直捷，仍復至頓至圓，以一念相應即一念佛，念念相應即念念佛，不勞觀想不必參究，當下圓明無餘無缺，上上根人終不能踰其閫，下下根人亦可臻其閾，可謂橫該八教、豎徹五時，所以徹底悲心無問自說，且深歎其難信也。

Those reborn in the Pure Land immediately attain non-retrogression and assemble together in one place with all those superior good persons; because it is such an inconceivable Dharma gate of horizontal transcendence, it is not something into which those with meager roots of goodness and merits can be reborn. The direct path to bodhi is called roots of goodness, which are the direct cause; various supportive paths, such as giving, moral discipline, and dhyāna, are called merits, which are the auxiliary conditions. The bodhi of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas is called 'few roots of goodness,' and the defiled karmic merit of humans and devas is called 'few merits'; neither can bring rebirth in the Pure Land. Only by holding firmly to the name with faith and aspiration does every single utterance fully possess abundant roots of goodness and merits. Even reciting the name with a scattered mind yields immeasurable roots of goodness and merits—how much more so with one mind undisturbed! Therefore, it causes stimulus and response to intertwine, as the text is formed while the seal dissolves: Amitābha and the holy assembly arrive without arriving to personally welcome and guide them, and the practitioner's consciousness goes without going to take form in a jeweled lotus. 'Good men and good women' does not discriminate between lay and monastic, nor does it distinguish between noble and base, old and young, nor is it restricted to the six destinies and four modes of birth; anyone who gets to hear the Buddha's name has mature roots of goodness from many kalpas, so even those who commit the five heinous acts and the ten unwholesome deeds are all called good men and women. Hearing of Amitābha Buddha is the wisdom arising from hearing; holding firmly to the name is the wisdom arising from thinking; one mind undisturbed is the wisdom arising from cultivation. Amitābha Buddha is the great name of myriad virtues. Summoning virtue through the name, it is exhausted without remainder; therefore, holding firmly to the name is itself the main practice, without needing to involve practices such as visualization or meditative inquiry; it is most simple, easy, direct, and swift. Hearing and believing, believing and aspiring, one is then willing to hold firmly to it. Disbelief and lack of aspiration are equal to not hearing; although they can serve as a distant cause, they are not called the wisdom arising from hearing. As for holding firmly, thought after thought remembers the Buddha's name, so it is the wisdom arising from thinking. However, there are holding by phenomena and holding by noumenon. Holding by phenomena means believing that Amitābha Buddha exists in the west, while not yet realizing that this mind makes Buddha and this mind is Buddha, yet with resolved aspiration seeking rebirth, just as a child remembers its mother without forgetting for a moment; this is called holding by phenomena. Holding by noumenon means believing that that Amitābha Buddha of the west is inherently possessed by one's own mind and created by one's own mind, and thus taking this great name possessed and created by one's own mind as the object of mental focus without forgetting it for a moment; this is called holding by noumenon. 'One day up to seven days' means setting a definite period to accomplish the task. Those of sharp faculties attain undisturbedness in one day; those of dull faculties attain undisturbedness only in seven days; those of medium faculties may take two, three, four, five, or six days, without a fixed duration. Furthermore, those of sharp faculties can remain undisturbed for seven days, those of dull faculties can only remain undisturbed for one day, and those of medium faculties may sustain it for six, five, four, three, or two days, without a fixed duration. Sustaining it until one mind is undisturbed becomes the wisdom arising from cultivation. 'One mind' also has two kinds: regardless of holding by phenomena or holding by noumenon, sustaining it until defilements are subdued and eliminated, and even view and thought afflictions are first brought to an end, is in all cases called phenomenal one mind. Furthermore, regardless of holding by phenomena or holding by noumenon, sustaining it until the mind opens and sees the Buddha of one's fundamental nature is in all cases called noumenal one mind. With phenomenal one mind, one is not disturbed by view and thought afflictions; with noumenal one mind, one is not disturbed by the two extremes. Not being disturbed by view and thought afflictions, one stimulates the nirmāṇakāya Buddha and the assembly of holy beings to appear before oneself, and one's mind no longer produces the inversions of the three realms of existence within the Sahā world, thereby immediately attaining rebirth in the two Sukhāvatī worlds of Common Abode and Expedient Remainder. Not being disturbed by the two extremes, one stimulates the saṃbhogakāya Buddha and the assembly of holy beings to appear before oneself, and one's mind no longer produces the inverted views of the two extremes of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, thereby immediately attaining rebirth in the two Sukhāvatī worlds of True Reward and Eternally Quiescent Light. One should know that although holding firmly to the name is simple, easy, direct, and swift, it is nonetheless ultimate suddenness and ultimate perfection. Because a single thought in accord is a single thought of the Buddha, and thought after thought in accord is thought after thought of the Buddha; without laboring over visualization and without needing meditative inquiry, it is completely bright right now, with nothing remaining and nothing lacking. Those of the highest faculties can never exceed its bounds, and those of the lowest faculties can also reach its threshold. It can be said to horizontally encompass the eight teachings and vertically penetrate the five periods. This is why, out of thorough compassion, it was spoken without being asked, and why its difficulty to be believed is deeply lamented.