觀念阿彌陀佛相海三昧功德法門 1.74

1.74

佛說觀佛三昧海經密行品第十二卷第十。佛告阿難：「未來眾生其有得是念佛三昧者、觀佛諸相好者、得諸佛現前三昧者，當教是人密身口意，莫起邪命、莫生貢高。若起邪命及貢高法，當知此人是增上慢，破滅佛法，多使眾生起不善心，亂和合僧，顯異惑眾，是惡魔伴。如是惡人雖復念佛，失甘露味。此人生處以貢高故，身恒卑小，生下賤家，貧窮諸衰，無量惡業以為嚴飾。如此種種眾多惡事，當自防護令永不生。若起如是邪命業者，此邪命業猶如狂象壞蓮華池，此邪命業亦復如是壞敗善根。」佛告阿難：「有念佛者，當自防護，勿令放逸。念佛三昧人若不防護生貢高者，邪命惡風吹憍慢火燒滅善法。善法者，所謂一切無量禪定、諸念佛法從心想生，是名功德藏。」佛告阿難：「此經名繫想不動，如是受持。亦名觀佛白毫相，如是受持。亦名逆順觀如來身分，亦名一一毛孔分別如來身分，亦名觀三十二相八十隨形好諸智慧光明，亦名觀佛三昧海，亦名念佛三昧門，亦名諸佛妙華莊嚴色身經，汝好受持，慎勿忘失。」又如《大集經．濟龍品》說，時娑伽羅龍王請佛入宮設供，佛受龍請。佛與聖眾食訖，時大龍王又請說法。時龍王太子名曰華面，自起佛前，四支布施，悲聲懺悔，過去作何罪業受此龍身。又以此經證，亦是懺悔至誠方法。應知。一切經內皆有此文，不可廣錄。今略鈔三部經，以示後學。除不至心，作者皆知佛不虛言。又如《木槵經》說，時有難陀國王，名波瑠璃，遣使來到佛所，頂禮佛足，白佛言：「世尊！我國邊小，頻歲寇賊，五穀踊貴，疫疾流行，人民困苦，我恒不得安臥。如來法藏多悉深廣，我有憂務不得修行。唯願世尊特垂慈愍賜我要法，使我日夜易得修行，未來世中遠離眾苦。」佛告使言：「語卿大王，若欲滅煩惱障報障者，當貫木槵子一百八以常自隨。若行若坐若臥，恒當至心無分散意，口稱佛陀、達磨、僧伽名，乃過一木槵子。如是若十若二十、若百若千，乃至百千萬。若能滿二十萬遍，身心不亂，無諸諂曲者，捨命得生第三炎摩天，衣食自然常受安樂，得除斷百八結業，背生死流，趣涅槃道，獲無上果。」使還啟王，王大歡喜頭面禮佛，遙白世尊：「頂受尊教，我當奉行。」即勅吏民營辦木槵子以為千具，六親國戚皆與一具。王常誦念，雖親軍旅亦不廢捨。又作是念：「世尊大慈普應一切。若我此善得免長淪苦海，如來當現為我說法。」王以願樂逼心三日不食，佛即現身與諸聖眾來入宮內，為王說法。又以此證，直是王心真實，念念障除。佛知罪滅，應念而現。應知。

The Guanfo sanmei hai jing, spoken by the Buddha, chapter 12, 'Secret Practice', fascicle 10: The Buddha said to Ānanda: 'Among future sentient beings, if there are those who attain this buddhānusmṛti-samādhi, who contemplate the Buddha's physical marks and secondary signs, and who attain the samādhi of the buddhas standing before them, you should teach such persons to keep body, speech, and mind concealed and guarded, and not to arouse mithyājīva nor give rise to haughtiness. If they give rise to mithyājīva and haughtiness, you should know that such persons possess abhimāna; they destroy the Buddha's Dharma, cause many sentient beings to give rise to unwholesome minds, disrupt the harmonious Saṅgha, display wonders to delude the masses, and are companions of evil Māra. Although such evil persons still practice buddhānusmṛti, they lose the taste of amṛta. Due to their haughtiness, wherever they are born, their bodies will always be lowly and small, born into humble families, enduring poverty and various misfortunes, with immeasurable bad karma serving as their adornment. Against such manifold evil matters one should guard oneself so that they never arise. If one gives rise to such karmic acts of mithyājīva, this karma of mithyājīva is like a wild elephant destroying a lotus pond; such karma of mithyājīva likewise shatters and ruins the roots of goodness.' The Buddha said to Ānanda: 'One who practices buddhānusmṛti should guard oneself and not allow laxity. If one in buddhānusmṛti-samādhi does not guard oneself and gives rise to haughtiness, the ill wind of mithyājīva will fan the fire of conceit, burning up and destroying wholesome dharmas. Wholesome dharmas are all the immeasurable dhyāna-concentrations; all dharmas of buddhānusmṛti arise from mental visualization, and this is called the storehouse of merits.' The Buddha said to Ānanda: 'This sūtra is named "Unmoving Focused Visualization"; uphold it thus. It is also named "Contemplation of the Buddha's Ūrṇā-lakṣaṇa"; uphold it thus. It is also named "Reverse and Forward Contemplation of the Tathāgata's Body", and also named "Discerning the Tathāgata's Body Pore by Pore", and also named "Contemplation of the Thirty-Two Marks, the Eighty Secondary Signs, and All Radiance of Wisdom", and also named "Ocean of Buddhadarśana-samādhi", and also named "Gate of Buddhānusmṛti-samādhi", and also named "Sūtra of the Wondrous Flower Adornment of the Physical Bodies of All Buddhas"; uphold it well, and take care not to forget or lose it.' Furthermore, as stated in the 'Rescuing Dragons' chapter of the Mahāsaṃnipāta-sūtra, the Sāgara Dragon King invited the Buddha to enter his palace to receive offerings, and the Buddha accepted the dragon's invitation. When the Buddha and the noble assembly finished eating, the great dragon king further requested the teaching of the Dharma. At that time, the dragon king's prince, named Puspanana, arose before the Buddha, prostrated with his four limbs, and sorrowfully repented, asking what sinful karma he had committed in the past to receive this dragon body. This sūtra is also cited as proof that this is the method of sincere repentance. You should know this. All sūtras contain such passages; they cannot be quoted exhaustively. Here I have briefly extracted from three sūtras to show to future students. Except for those who lack sincerity, practitioners will all know that the Buddha's words are not spoken in vain. Furthermore, as stated in the Muhuanzi jing, the king of Nanda, named Vaiḍūrya, sent an envoy to the Buddha. Prostrating at the Buddha's feet, he addressed the Buddha: 'World-Honoured One! Our country is remote and small; year after year bandits attack, grain prices soar, epidemics spread, and the people suffer hardships, so that I can never sleep peacefully. The Tathāgata's treasury of teachings is mostly profound and vast, but I have burdensome concerns and cannot practice it. We pray only that the World-Honoured One will specially bestow your compassion and give me an essential teaching, so that day and night I may easily practice it, and in future ages remain far removed from all sufferings.' The Buddha said to the envoy: 'Tell your great king: If he wishes to eliminate the afflictive obstacles and karmic retribution obstacles, he should string together one hundred and eight soapberries to keep always with him. Whether walking, sitting, or lying down, he should always be sincere, without a distracted mind, orally reciting the names of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, and then passing one soapberry. In this manner, whether ten or twenty, a hundred or a thousand, even up to millions. If he can complete two hundred thousand times with body and mind undistracted and free from all deceit, then at the end of life he will be born in the third Yama Heaven, where clothing and food are spontaneous, he will always enjoy peace and joy, be able to eradicate the one hundred and eight fetters of karma, turn his back on the flow of birth and death, advance toward the path of nirvāṇa, and attain the unsurpassed fruit.' The envoy returned and reported to the king. The king was filled with great joy; he bowed his head to the Buddha and addressed the World-Honoured One from afar: 'I receive your honored instruction upon my crown; I will faithfully practice it.' He immediately ordered his officials and subjects to prepare one thousand sets of soapberries, giving one set to each of his relatives and royal kin. The king constantly recited and contemplated; even when personally commanding the army, he never abandoned it. He also reflected: 'The World-Honoured One's great compassion universally responds to all. If this good deed of mine can free me from long sinking in the ocean of suffering, the Tathāgata should manifest and expound the Dharma to me.' Driven by his earnest wish and joy, the king did not eat for three days. The Buddha then manifested his body and, together with the noble assembly, entered the palace and expounded the Dharma to the king. This also serves as proof: it was simply that the king's mind was authentic, and with every thought the obstacles were eliminated. The Buddha knew that the offenses had been extinguished, and responded to his thought by appearing. You should know this.