略論安樂淨土義 1.38

1.38

「答曰：『眾生莫不厭苦求樂，畏縛求解。聞渡則歸向，聞不渡不知所以不渡，便謂佛非大慈悲，則不歸向。不歸向故，長寢久夢，無由可息。為是人故，多說渡，不說不渡。復次，《諸法無行經》亦言：「佛不得佛道，亦不渡眾生，凡夫強分別，作佛渡眾生。」言：「度眾生」，是對治悉檀；言：「不度眾生」，是第一義悉檀。二言各有所以，不相違背。』

"The answer is: 'There are no sentient beings who do not loathe suffering and seek pleasure, or fear bondage and seek liberation. Hearing of deliverance, they take refuge; hearing of non-deliverance, they do not understand why they are not delivered, and would say that the Buddha lacks great compassion, and thus would not take refuge. Because they would not take refuge, they would sleep long in a protracted dream with no way to bring it to an end. For the sake of these people, [the sūtra] mostly speaks of delivering and does not speak of not delivering. Furthermore, the Sarvadharmāpravṛtti Sūtra also says: "The Buddha does not attain the Buddha-path, / nor does he deliver sentient beings; / ordinary beings make forceful distinctions, / thinking the Buddha delivers sentient beings." Speaking of "delivering sentient beings" is the remedial siddhānta; speaking of "not delivering sentient beings" is the supreme-meaning siddhānta. Both statements have their reasons and do not contradict each other.'