略論安樂淨土義 1.47

1.47

「一往言十念相續，似若不難。然凡夫心猶野馬，識劇猿猴，馳騁六塵，不暫停息。宜至信心，預自剋念，便積習成性，善根堅固也。如佛告頻婆娑羅王：『人積善行，死無惡念。如樹西傾，必倒隨曲。』若便刀風一至，百苦湊身，若習前不在懷，念何可辨？

"At first glance, speaking of the continuity of ten thoughts seems not difficult. Yet the minds of ordinary beings are like wild horses and their consciousnesses worse than monkeys, galloping across the six sense dusts without ceasing even for a moment. One should cultivate sincere faith and discipline one's thoughts in advance, so that through accumulated habit it becomes one's nature and one's wholesome roots become firm. As the Buddha told King Bimbisāra: 'When a person accumulates wholesome deeds, at death they will have no unwholesome thoughts. Just as a tree that leans to the west will certainly fall in the direction of its slant.' If the knife-winds suddenly arrive and a hundred sufferings converge upon the body, if the prior practice is not already held in the mind, how could mindfulness be accomplished?