慈悲道場懺法 3.44

3.44

At that time, hearing the Buddha, the Bhagavat, speak thus, all the sufferers wailed, shaking the earth, tears falling like rain, and spoke to the Buddha, saying: “Our only wish, Bhagavat, is that you remain long to teach the Dharma, transforming our sort so that we may obtain liberation.”
The Buddha said: “If I were to dwell long in this world, people of meager merit would not plant wholesome roots; they would think that I am always present and would not be mindful of impermanence. Good men! It is, for example, just like an infant whose mother is constantly by his side: he does not conceive the thought that his mother is difficult to encounter. If the mother leaves, he gives rise to yearning and longing, and when the mother finally returns, he is overjoyed. Good men! I am now just like this. Knowing that sentient beings experience beautiful or ugly retribution based on their wholesome and evil karmic conditions, I enter parinirvāṇa.” Thereupon, for the sake of the sentient beings suffering retribution, the Bhagavat spoke this verse: