無量壽經優婆提舍願生偈註 1.87

1.87

Question: Suppose a person has committed the five heinous crimes but does not slander the True Dharma; the sūtra permits him to attain rebirth. Suppose another person only slanders the True Dharma without committing the five heinous crimes; if he vows to be reborn, does he attain rebirth or not? Answer: If one merely slanders the True Dharma, even if there are no other sins, one will certainly not attain rebirth. Why is this said? The sūtra states: 'A person of the five heinous crimes falls into the great Avīci hell and undergoes the retribution for grave sins for an entire kalpa. A person who slanders the True Dharma falls into the great Avīci hell, and when this kalpa ends, he passes again to the great Avīci hell in another direction.' Passing through hundreds of thousands of great Avīci hells in this manner, the Buddha did not record a time when he would emerge, because the sin of slandering the True Dharma is extremely grave. Moreover, the True Dharma is the Buddha-Dharma itself; since this foolish person has already given rise to slander, how could there be any principle by which he would wish to be reborn in the Buddha-land? Even if he wished to be reborn merely out of craving for the peace and bliss of that land, it would still be like seeking ice that is not water or fire that has no smoke; how could there be any principle of obtaining it?