阿彌陀經要解 1.97

1.97

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.