釋門歸敬儀 2.65

2.65

《大悲經》云：「假使三千世界滿中聲聞、辟支佛，有人於一劫中一切樂具供養，乃至滅後起塔，盡形供養。功德雖多，不如有人於如來所起一淨信，思惟信解，諸佛智慧不可思議。以此善根勝前無比。何以故？如來功德大慈大悲，五分法身無量無礙，由是境界不可思議。若有敬養亦不可思議，是故果報亦不可思議。次又依教修習慈悲四無量心。何故如是？以諸佛心所謂大慈，今不修習，行不同佛，無由得見。故念佛時，行修慈觀。行者初心欲修慈時，閑處端坐，繫念十方，一切眾生皆如己親無恚礙想。以上妙具四事供給，或一念頃、一時、一日，能生功德，隨心分量不可限故。」

The Great Compassion Sūtra states: 'Even if the three-thousandfold world were filled with śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and someone provided them with all pleasant requisites for an entire kalpa, and even after their nirvāṇa erected stūpas and made offerings to the end of their lives—though the merit would be vast, it would not equal someone who gives rise to a single pure faith toward the Tathāgata, contemplating and faithfully understanding that the wisdom of the Buddhas is inconceivable. By this good root, it is incomparably superior to the former. Why is this? The Tathāgata's merit is great benevolence and great compassion, and the five-part dharmakāya is immeasurable and unobstructed; because this realm is inconceivable, if one reverently makes offerings, it is also inconceivable, and therefore the karmic fruition is also inconceivable.' Next, one also cultivates the four immeasurable minds of benevolence and compassion in accordance with the teaching. Why is this so? Because the mind of the Buddhas is what is called great benevolence; if one does not cultivate it now, one's practice will not be the same as the Buddha's, and there will be no way to see him. Therefore, when recollecting the Buddha, one practices the contemplation of benevolence. When a practitioner first wishes to cultivate benevolence, they sit upright in a quiet place and fix their mindfulness on the ten directions, regarding all sentient beings as their own kin, free from thoughts of resentment or hindrance. One supplies them with the four requisites of supreme quality, whether for a single thought-moment, a single period, or a single day; the merit generated cannot be limited, in accordance with the measure of one's mind.