華嚴經內章門等雜孔目章 4.16

4.16

First, clarifying the intention behind rebirth: it is for the purpose of preventing retrogression. In the Sahā world, a place of mixed evil, those with intermediate and lower weak faculties mostly regress when facing conditions. The Buddha guides them to rebirth: in a pure land conditions are strong, where there is only progress and no retrogression; therefore he instituted rebirth. There are two places of rebirth: first, the Western direction; second, rebirth in the place of Maitreya. If one wishes to sever afflictions, one is guided to be reborn in the West; if one does not sever afflictions, one is guided to be reborn before Maitreya Buddha. Why is this? Because the Western direction is a different realm, one must suppress and sever delusion; the place of Maitreya is the same realm, so one does not need to sever delusion, and once the karma is completed, one is immediately reborn.