四明尊者教行錄 5.46

5.46

（知禮）謹於講懺之隙，依本宗教觀寫書，奉答祕監大檀越。（知禮）伏奉載垂真翰曲賜重言，俾（知禮）畢此懺期，更留講訓。仰承尊旨，合改先心。但以專誠久趣此門，鄙志莫能易轍，況良時難遇，勝事易差，故欲且副夙心，不果恭遵嚴命。所言（知禮）洞三觀之指歸者，稱之太過也。又云極樂本由示權，修道須忘忻厭者，誠哉是言也。而（知禮）今忻淨土，特厭患身，亦有其由，輒伸於後。若其一心三觀，雖非洞達，敢不依凭。（知禮）四十餘年，尋其筌罤、學其去就，神根既鈍，證入無由，而於戶牖關防、行用時節，多所游歷亦略諳知。今者蒙索報音，故難杜口，粗陳梗概，希賜否臧。三觀者，一念即空即假即中也。恢揚肇自於如來，妙悟近推於智者。全由性發，實匪修成，故於一心宛有三用。所謂空者一切皆空，即三觀悉彰破相之用也。假者一切皆假，即三觀悉明立法之功也。中者一切皆中，即三觀悉是絕待之體也。是則終日破相而諸法皆成，終日立法而纖塵必盡，終日絕待而二諦熾然。故般若談空，八十法門得顯；維摩立法，三界見愛皆忘；法華一乘，世間之相常住。皆由三觀相即，致令諸法無遺。故三即非三、一即非一，非次第而入、非並別而觀，不可以有無求、不可以中邊取，故云不並不別、非縱非橫。蓋三一圓融、修性冥泯，豈識心之所測、何言說之能詮，故強示云不可思議之妙觀也。說即非說，無說而說。能知此已，對一切境以此觀照了之，立一切行以此觀導達之，辦一切事以此觀成就之，設一切教以此觀敷暢之。修此觀者，能所必忘、取捨斯泯，故真如無念、向則心絕，終日說示，不異無言。捨此則必同眾魔，離此則未超諸外。故龍樹云：除諸法實相，餘皆魔事。迦葉云：未聞大涅槃前皆是邪見。大矣哉，一心三觀之妙宗也。故（知禮）所求安養而生，所欲燃燼而死，憑此三觀遣彼百非也。言極樂之界蓋覺皇示權者，經論既以淨土之教為勝方便，驗知是如來善巧權用也。但權名不局，實理亦通，是要甄分方知去取。體外之權須破、體內方便須修，離事之理則麁、即權之實方妙，故小乘無他佛之說，大教有剎海之談，蓋心性遍周、法界無外。理極故令事廣，華大故省池深。剎如帝珠，出現重重無盡，方顯寂光之理。身類天饌，感報彼彼不同，乃表遮那之性。豈應極樂不預唯心？故如來藏中涅槃具足，隨緣發現、應量而知。既能彰地獄天宮，豈不造穢邦淨國？本性雖具，由心發明。彌陀以無緣之慈，取極樂之土；釋迦以樂說之辯，示往生之門。斯皆善巧之權方，攝彼沈淪之品彙，令懼退轉者不退，使不善觀者能觀淨土。權相蓋多，今且略論此二。故《起信論》云：初學大乘正信，以在此土不常值佛，懼謂信心意欲退者，當知如來有勝方便，攝護信心，但當專念極樂世界阿彌陀佛真如法身，畢竟得生住正定。故專念真如法身者，豈異大乘正信？以依彼佛為境，故能牽生淨方，斯是如來權巧也。又《觀無量壽佛經》云：凡夫心想羸劣，未得天眼，不能遠觀。諸佛如來有異方便，令其得見。此蓋釋迦神力、彌陀願心，若有諦觀，必能睹見。斯亦覺皇異妙方便也。此之權巧方便，既約圓論，即與法華微妙方便無二無別，故諸天及人、聲聞緣覺、事度菩薩、漸修大士，充滿世間、數等河沙，盡思度量不能知覺，唯佛與佛乃能究盡，圓信圓解方能造修。（知禮）雖是鈍根，濫沾圓教，不離當念願達彼方，庶即下凡便階不退。復聞大通佛世結緣之徒，已經塵點劫來，尚住聲聞之地，皆由退大，故涉長時。身子六心，退落五道。況悠悠學佛者乎。蓋由此土多值退緣，故云：魚子、菴羅華、菩薩初發心，三事因中多，及其結果少。若求生安養，即於博地能藉勝緣，纔獲往生永無退轉。聞茲利益，得不忻求？乃用一心三觀為舟航，復以六時五悔為櫓棹，求往唯心之淨土，願見本性之彌陀。然後運同體之大悲，度法界之含識。順佛權巧，求生樂邦，其意略爾。所言儻存忻厭，即起愛憎。既萠取捨之心，乃生能所之見者，起過之相，誠如所言。立德之緣，今當略說。蓋以忻厭取捨，善能起過成功，故馬鳴立為始覺之基，智者稱為淨土之漸，維摩以見愛為侍者，文殊以貪恚為功能，斯皆用之在人，乘之有法。且眾生曠劫住此娑婆，貪於麁弊色聲，著於下劣依正，既無厭離之念，但增繫縛之緣，縱有熏修，鮮有克遂。以此土法多障，致道行難成。故《涅槃經》云：得人身者如爪上土，失人身者如大地土。是故諸佛慜此眾生，以願行功，取清淨土，令起忻慕，作受生因；以苦切言，說垢穢相，令其厭惡，成出離心。若非此心，不成始行。故非厭離，捨此無由；不起忻求，生彼無分。蓋受生之法，以愛為緣。始自初心，終至等覺，變易未盡，忻厭叵忘，況始行耶。今求淨土，不求身受諸樂、心染妙塵，蓋欲託彼淨緣速增勝道。以彼壽命無盡、依報自然，無有女人及以根闕。雖聖凡共處，而無惡道之名；雖聲聞無邊，且離執真之見。彌陀為良導，觀音為勝友，一生補處甚多，十地聖人無數。風吟寶葉，波動金渠，皆出妙音，盡詮至理。既無違順，永息貪嗔；凡有見聞，悉資寂照，皆住正定，功在於斯。今之眾園，尚須求預，彼之寶剎，寧不願生？但知淨土唯心、穢邦即性，即厭無厭、即忻無忻，是則正助合修、解行兼運，順佛正教，非己曲情。況《觀經》說上品生，因須大乘妙解，加修六度，兼勸眾生。故（知禮）今以三觀攻心、五悔助道。又恐淨因未備，故以畢命自要，庶憑最後之強緣，以作往生之定業。而又若不燒身臂指，非出家菩薩，《梵網》之誡明。然捨身命財，是真法供養，《法華》之文煥矣。《楞嚴》然香一炷，宿債俱酬；輪王剜身千燈，妙果斯克。故知初心後位、上聖下凡，皆可進修並彰至教。但行正解，自免邪修。以知性火真空，豈有能燒之相？所燒自亡也。又知佛體圓妙，豈存所供之人，則能供亦寂矣。兩重能所既泯，一切功德斯成，是名苦行法門。所謂火光正受，四土淨境頓現此心，諸佛道場咸彰此處。但隨所願，必遂往生。故智者云：臨終在定之心即是淨土，動念即是往生淨土時。如此捨穢身，則盡垢穢之際，何理不彰；如此取淨土，則極清淨之源，何惑不遣。是以韋提忻清淨業報之處，即證無生。薩埵捨癰疽瘭疾之身，云求常樂。此之取捨與不取捨，體無二種，用亦同時，得名三種法門，謂取法門、捨法門、不取不捨法門。亦是三毒法門，具一切法。故《無行經》云：貪欲即是道，恚癡亦復然。如是三法中，具一切功德。文殊云：我是貪欲尸利，我是嗔恚尸利，我是愚癡尸利。深得此意，即一心三觀導一切行、辦一切事也。以一切法空故，捨穢必盡；一切法假故，取淨無遺；一切法中故，無取無捨。此之三法，一切如來同證，一切菩薩共修，故（知禮）今捨穢身、欣求淨土，輒敢仰効也。然則修心萬行、入道多門，隨樂隨宜、隨修隨悟。敢將測管，局彼太虛？但以（知禮）爰自少年，便敦此志。今已衰朽，多歷事緣。此心常自現前，對境彌加增進。信由宿願，敢不恭酬。年來建立道場，眾信共營供具，三載資緣粗備。數僧行願。偶同此者，遭逢祕監，知乎姓名、察其始末。敢請俯為檀越，運以力輪，使片善之有成、俾淨願之克遂，然後芘我宗教廣見流行，令未聞者聞、使未悟者悟。更冀佐治功成之後，期頤報滿之時，隨願求生極樂世界，冀得同會一處，同敘宿因、同化含生、同登大覺。（知禮）素無文學，元是野僧。發語麁浮，顯理疎脫。蓋奉讀前書云：精修懺之規，臻乎本淨。次書云：淨土匪虛，先佛所證。仰惟祕監，深洞苦行可以窮源，復知淨邦由來即理，蓋欲（知禮）廣援乘教，傍示未聞。是敢輒附本宗，少述愚見。有黷台聽，不任悚惶。不宣。

[I, Zhili,] respectfully take this moment during an interval in lecturing and repentance practice to write this letter in reply to the Palace Library Supervisor and Great Donor, in accordance with the doctrinal teaching and contemplation of our school. I respectfully received your genuine letter, graciously bestowing weighty words urging that, upon completing this repentance retreat, I should remain further to give lectures and instruction. Respectfully receiving your noble purpose, I ought properly to alter my former resolution. Yet because my wholehearted dedication has long inclined toward this gate, my humble aspiration cannot alter its course. Furthermore, an auspicious time is difficult to encounter, and superior matters are easily missed. Thus, wishing for now to fulfill my longtime aspiration, I am unable respectfully to obey your strict injunction.

As for your stating that [I, Zhili,] have thoroughly penetrated the ultimate intent of the threefold contemplation, this praises me excessively. You also stated that the Land of Bliss fundamentally arises as a manifestation of expedient means, and that cultivating the Way requires forgetting longing and aversion; truly, these are correct words. Yet that I now yearn for the Pure Land and especially detest this afflicted body also has its reason, which I venture to set forth below.

As for the threefold contemplation in a single mind, though I have not thoroughly penetrated it, how could I dare not rely upon it? For more than forty years, I have searched out its traps and snares (means of transmission), studied its advances and retreats; yet my spiritual capacity being dull, I have lacked the means to realize it. Nevertheless, regarding its portals and safeguards, its active application and appropriate times, I have traveled much therein and have a slight familiarity with them. Now, having been graced by your request for a reply, it is difficult to keep my mouth closed. I coarsely set forth the general outline, hoping you will grant your evaluation.

As for the threefold contemplation, a single thought is empty, provisional, and middle. Its widespread propagation began with the Tathāgata; its subtle awakening was recently brought forth by Zhizhe. It arises entirely from the nature, and truly is not achieved through cultivation; thus, within a single mind, there are distinctly three functions. What is called 'empty' means that all things are empty; that is, the threefold contemplation completely manifests the function of shattering marks. 'Provisional' means that all things are provisional; that is, the threefold contemplation completely illumines the efficacy of establishing phenomena. 'Middle' means that all things are the middle; that is, the threefold contemplation completely constitutes the essence that transcends duality. In this way, although shattering marks throughout the whole day, all phenomena are established; although establishing phenomena throughout the whole day, the finest dust must be completely eliminated; although transcending duality throughout the whole day, the two truths blaze forth brightly. Therefore, when prajñā speaks of emptiness, the eighty Dharma gates are revealed; when Vimalakīrti establishes phenomena, the views and attachments of the triple world are all forgotten; when the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka speaks of the one vehicle, the marks of the world are permanently abiding. All this is because the threefold contemplation is mutually identical, causing nothing of the various phenomena to be omitted. Therefore, three is not three, and one is not one; they are not entered sequentially, nor are they contemplated as parallel or separate. They cannot be sought through existence or nonexistence, nor can they be grasped as middle or extremes. Thus it is said: not parallel and not separate, neither vertical nor horizontal. Because the three and the one are perfectly interfused, and cultivation and nature are merged into stillness, how could the discriminating mind measure it? What speech could express it? Hence it is forcedly indicated as the inconceivable, subtle contemplation. Speaking is non-speaking; without speaking, it speaks.

When one can understand this, one illuminates all objects with this contemplation; one guides all practices with this contemplation; one accomplishes all affairs with this contemplation; one expounds all teachings with this contemplation. For those who cultivate this contemplation, subject and object must be forgotten, grasping and rejecting thereby extinguished. Thus true suchness is without thought; approaching it, the mind ceases. Explaining and showing it all day long is no different from wordlessness. Abandoning this, one will surely be the same as the hordes of Māra; departing from this, one has not yet surpassed the non-Buddhists. Hence Nāgārjuna said: 'Except for the true mark of all phenomena, all the rest is the work of Māra.' Kāśyapa said: 'Before hearing the Mahāparinirvāṇa, all are wrong views.' How great is the subtle doctrine of the threefold contemplation in a single mind! Therefore, what [I, Zhili,] seek in being born in Sukhāvatī and what I desire in dying by burning to ashes relies on this threefold contemplation to dispel those hundreds of negations.

As for your saying that the realm of the Land of Bliss is a manifestation of expedient means by the King of Awakening: since the sūtras and treatises take the teaching of the Pure Land to be a superior expedient, this verifies that it is the Tathāgata's skillful expedient function. Yet the designation 'expedient' is not restricted, and the principle of reality also penetrates it; it must be distinguished so that one knows what to reject and what to take up. Expedients outside the essence must be shattered, while expedients within the essence must be cultivated. Principle divorced from phenomena is coarse; reality identical to expedients is subtle. Thus the Hīnayāna has no talk of other buddhas, whereas the Great Teaching speaks of oceans of lands. This is because the mind-nature is universally pervasive, and the dharmadhātu has no outside. Because the principle is ultimate, it makes phenomena vast; because the lotus is great, one realizes the pond is deep. Lands are like Indra's net of pearls, appearing endlessly layer upon layer, only then revealing the principle of Quiescent Light. Bodies are like heavenly delicacies, their retributions differing from one another, thereby expressing the nature of Vairocana. How could it be that the Land of Bliss is not included within mind-only? Therefore, within the tathāgatagarbha, nirvāṇa is fully complete; it manifests according to conditions and is known according to capacity. Since it can manifest hells and heavenly palaces, could it not create defiled realms and pure lands? Although the original nature possesses them, they are illuminated by the mind. Amitābha, with unconditioned compassion, took the Land of Bliss; Śākyamuni, with the eloquence of delight in speech, revealed the gate of rebirth. These are both skillful expedients to gather those sinking varieties of beings, causing those who fear falling back not to regress, and enabling those unaccustomed to contemplation to contemplate the Pure Land. The marks of expedients are many; for now, I briefly discuss these two.

Thus the Awakening of Faith says: 'Beginners learning the right faith of the Mahāyāna, because in this land they do not constantly meet buddhas, fear that their resolve of faith may fall back. They should know that the Tathāgata has a superior expedient to gather and protect the resolve of faith: they should only single-mindedly contemplate the true suchness dharmakāya of Amitābha Buddha of the World of Utmost Bliss, and they will ultimately attain rebirth and abide in the correct determination.' Therefore, as for single-mindedly contemplating the true suchness dharmakāya, how could it differ from Mahāyāna right faith? Because one relies on that buddha as the object, one can thereby be drawn to be born in the pure realm; this is the Tathāgata's skillful expedient. Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life says: 'Ordinary beings' mental thoughts are frail and inferior; not having attained the divine eye, they cannot see far. The buddhas, the tathāgatas, have extraordinary expedients to enable them to see.' This is the spiritual power of Śākyamuni and the vow-mind of Amitābha; if someone contemplates attentively, they will surely be able to see. This is also the extraordinary, subtle expedient of the King of Awakening.

Since this skillful expedient is discussed from the standpoint of the perfect [teaching], it is neither two nor different from the subtle expedient of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka. Therefore, all devas and humans, śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, phenomenological-perfection bodhisattvas, and gradually cultivating great beings, filling the world in numbers equal to the sands of the Ganges, exhausting their thoughts and reckonings, cannot comprehend it; only a buddha together with a buddha can fathom it to the end; only perfect faith and perfect understanding can put it into cultivation. Although [I, Zhili,] have dull faculties, I have undeservedly received the perfect teaching; not departing from the present thought, I vow to reach that realm, hoping that immediately as a lowly ordinary being I may step onto [the stage of] non-retrogression. Furthermore, I have heard that those who formed a karmic connection in the time of the Buddha Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū have already passed dust-mote kalpas and still abide in the stage of śrāvakas; all because of falling back from the Great [Vehicle], they have spent such a long time. Śāriputra, at the sixth mind, fell back into the five paths—how much more so for leisurely students of Buddhism! This is because in this land one frequently encounters conditions for retrogression; hence it is said: 'Fish eggs, āmra flowers, and bodhisattvas' initial generating of the resolve: these three things are numerous in the causal stage, but when it comes to bearing fruit, they are few.' If one seeks rebirth in Sukhāvatī, then even on ordinary ground one can rely on superior conditions, and as soon as one attains rebirth, there is never any retrogression. Hearing of this benefit, how could one not yearn and seek it? Thus I take the threefold contemplation in a single mind as the boat, and use the five repentances during the six periods of the day as the oars, seeking to go to the Pure Land of mind-only and wishing to see the Amitābha of the original nature. Thereafter, I will exercise great compassion of identical substance to cross over the sentient beings of the dharmadhātu. Following the Buddha's skillful expedients to seek rebirth in the Land of Bliss—this is the general outline of my intention.

As for your statement: 'If longing and aversion remain, then love and hatred arise. Once the mind of grasping and rejecting sprouts, views of subject and object appear'—the characteristics of generating faults are truly as you have said. The conditions for establishing virtue shall now be briefly explained. Longing and aversion, grasping and rejecting, can both produce faults and accomplish success; hence Aśvaghoṣa established them as the foundation of initial awakening, Zhizhe called them the gradual path to the Pure Land, Vimalakīrti took views and affections as attendants, and Mañjuśrī took greed and anger as functions. All these depend on the person who employs them, and there is a method for riding them. Furthermore, sentient beings have dwelt in this sahā world for vast kalpas, greedy for coarse, base forms and sounds, attached to inferior environments and bodies; having no thought of aversion and renunciation, they only increase the conditions of bondage. Even if they cultivate and perfume [their minds], rarely do they succeed. Because the phenomena of this land have many obstacles, practice of the Way is difficult to achieve. Therefore the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'Those who obtain a human body are like the soil on a fingernail; those who lose a human body are like the soil of the great earth.' For this reason, the buddhas pity these sentient beings, and through the merit of vows and practices they establish pure lands, causing them to give rise to longing and admiration to serve as the cause of taking birth; and with distressing words, they describe the defiled marks to cause them to feel aversion and disgust, completing the resolve for transcendence. If not for this mind, initial practice cannot be accomplished. Therefore, without aversion and renunciation, there is no way to abandon this [world]; without giving rise to longing and seeking, one has no part in being born there. The principle of taking birth takes affection as its condition. Beginning from the initial mind down to equal awakening, as long as transformative change has not ended, longing and aversion cannot be forgotten; how much more so for the initial practice! Now in seeking the Pure Land, I do not seek for the body to experience various pleasures or for the mind to be tainted by subtle sense objects; it is only that I wish to rely on those pure conditions to quickly increase the superior Way. For there, lifespan is limitless, and the environment is spontaneous; there are no women or defective sense organs. Although holy ones and ordinary beings dwell together, there is no name of evil destinies; although śrāvakas are boundless, they are free from the view of clinging to reality. Amitābha is the good guide, Avalokiteśvara is the superior friend, those in the stage of one life remaining are exceedingly many, and the holy ones of the ten stages are countless. The wind chanting through the jeweled leaves and the ripples moving in the golden canals all produce subtle sounds, completely explaining the ultimate principle. Since there is neither agreeable nor disagreeable, greed and anger are permanently stilled; whatever is seen or heard all aids quiescent illumination, and all abide in the correct determination—the merit lies in this. If people even now seek to participate in gardens of the common sort, how could one not wish to be born in that jeweled realm? One need only know that the Pure Land is mind-only, and the defiled realm is identical to nature; then aversion is non-aversion, and longing is non-longing. In this way, primary and auxiliary are cultivated together, and understanding and practice are both exercised, according with the Buddha's correct teaching and not one's own biased feelings.

Moreover, the Contemplation Sūtra states that the cause for rebirth in the superior grade requires subtle understanding of the Mahāyāna, cultivating the six perfections in addition, and also encouraging sentient beings. Therefore [I, Zhili,] now use the threefold contemplation to discipline the mind, and the five repentances to assist the Way. Furthermore, fearing that pure causes may not yet be complete, I make an oath to end my life, hoping to rely on this final powerful condition to make it a determinate karma for rebirth. Furthermore, 'if one does not burn the body, arm, or finger, one is not an ordained bodhisattva'—the precept in the Brahma's Net is clear. Moreover, burning and abandoning body, life, and wealth is the true Dharma offering—the text of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka is resplendent. In the Śūraṅgama, burning a single stick of incense repays all past debts; a wheel-turning king gouging his body for a thousand lamps achieves the subtle fruit. Thus we know that whether in initial stages or later ranks, whether superior holy ones or lowly ordinary beings, all may advance in practice, and all manifest the ultimate teaching. If one only acts with right understanding, one naturally avoids wrong cultivation. Because one knows that the nature of fire is truly empty, how could there be a mark of an agent of burning? What is burned naturally ceases to exist. Furthermore, knowing that the Buddha's essence is perfectly subtle, how could there exist a person who is offered to? Then the one who offers is also still. Once the twofold subject and object are both extinguished, all merits are accomplished; this is called the Dharma gate of ascetic practice. In the so-called samādhi of firelight, the pure realms of the four lands suddenly manifest in this mind, and the bodhimaṇḍas of the buddhas are all revealed in this place. Merely following what is vowed, rebirth is surely fulfilled. Thus Zhizhe said: 'The mind in samādhi at the moment of death is itself the Pure Land; the moment a thought arises is the time of rebirth in the Pure Land.' Abandoning the defiled body in this way, when the defilement is exhausted, what principle is not manifested? Grasping the Pure Land in this way, when reaching the source of extreme purity, what delusion is not dispelled? For this reason, Vaidehī, longing for the place of pure karmic retribution, immediately realized the non-arising [of dharmas]. Sattva, abandoning the body of boils and disease, was said to seek eternal bliss. This grasping and rejecting, and non-grasping and non-rejecting, are not two in essence, and their functions are simultaneous; they obtain the names of three kinds of Dharma gates: the gate of grasping, the gate of rejecting, and the gate of neither grasping nor rejecting. They are also the Dharma gates of the three poisons, complete with all dharmas. Thus the Sūtra of Non-Practice says: 'Greed is itself the Way, and anger and delusion are likewise so. Within these three dharmas, all merits are complete.' Mañjuśrī said: 'I am the Śrī of greed, I am the Śrī of anger, I am the Śrī of delusion.' Thoroughly grasping this intent, then the threefold contemplation in a single mind guides all practices and accomplishes all affairs. Because all phenomena are empty, rejecting defilement is exhaustive; because all phenomena are provisional, grasping purity leaves nothing behind; because all phenomena are the middle, there is neither grasping nor rejecting. These three dharmas are verified together by all tathāgatas and cultivated in common by all bodhisattvas; therefore [I, Zhili,] now abandon the defiled body and yearn to seek the Pure Land, venturing respectfully to emulate them.

Now, cultivating the mind has ten thousand practices, and entering the Way has many gates; one follows what delights and what is appropriate, cultivating and awakening accordingly. How would I dare use a measuring tube to delimit the great void? Yet because [I, Zhili,] have maintained this aspiration since my youth, and am now aged and decrepit, having experienced many affairs and conditions, this mind constantly appears before me, and facing objects it increases even more. Believing this arises from a past vow, how would I dare not respectfully fulfill it? In recent years I have established a bodhimaṇḍa, and the assembly of faithful have jointly prepared the offering implements; the provisions and conditions for three years are roughly complete. The practice and vows of several monks happen to be the same as this. Encountering you, Palace Library Supervisor, who know my name and examine this from beginning to end, I venture to ask you to condescend to be our donor and turn the wheel of power, so that this bit of good may be accomplished and our pure vows fulfilled; and thereafter, protect our doctrinal school so that it may be widely propagated, causing those who have not heard to hear, and those who have not awakened to awaken. Furthermore, I hope that after your merits in assisting governance are achieved, and when your centenarian retribution is full, you will seek rebirth in the World of Utmost Bliss according to your vow; I hope that we may meet together in one place, jointly recount past causes, jointly transform living beings, and jointly ascend to the Great Awakening.

[I, Zhili,] have never had literary learning, being originally a rustic monk. My speech is crude and superficial, and my revelation of principle is loose and slipshod. Having read your previous letter stating: 'Meticulously cultivate the rules of repentance to reach original purity,' and your next letter stating: 'The Pure Land is not empty; it was verified by earlier buddhas,' I respectfully consider that you, Palace Library Supervisor, deeply penetrate how ascetic practice can reach the source, and also know that the pure realm fundamentally is identical to principle; you merely wished [me, Zhili,] to broadly cite the vehicle's teachings to show it secondarily to those who have not yet heard. Thus I have ventured to rely on our school and briefly set forth my foolish views. Desecrating your noble hearing, I cannot endure my trembling apprehension. Respectfully concluding.