釋淨土群疑論 5.35

5.35

釋曰：夫發菩提心、修菩薩行，要須起大慈悲憐愍含識、廣興濟度拔苦施安。然行有淺深、根有上下，若深學菩薩，大悲增上已得不退，不畏己損唯欲益他，並多在穢方廣行利物，少生淨土親承聖尊。或淺行菩薩，大智增上猶有退轉，雖有悲愍苦惱眾生，隨遇惡緣退菩薩行，造眾惡業失菩提心，廣如《菩薩本業瓔珞經》說法才王子等，此即二利俱失、自他並損。為此願生淨土離彼惡緣，親近聖尊恒聞正法，與諸菩薩俱會一處，歷事他方散華供養，復聞大乘真淨妙法，念念增進無有退轉，更無二乘闡提外道爼壞初學無上道心。雖復拔苦之心念念不捨，自利之行是利他行本，本若不固末亦不堅。是以先須願生淨土長養菩薩菩提根牙令使堅牢，縱遇惡緣亦無退轉，方可離斯淨土還生娑婆，救攝無始沈淪有緣父母、六親眷屬、朋友知識、法界含靈。此義於《安樂集》中，綽禪師已廣引父母被溺將漂駛流，一子隨後入水即救，救之不得遂被溺死；一子歸舍備辦船艘，直往深流救親困厄。此義亦爾，諸有智者以喻得解也。

Explanation: When generating the bodhicitta and cultivating the bodhisattva practice, it is essential to give rise to great loving-kindness and compassion, to pity sentient beings, to broadly initiate salvation, and to pull out suffering and bestow peace. However, practice has shallow and deep degrees, and faculties have higher and lower capacities. As for bodhisattvas of profound learning, whose great compassion is predominant and who have already attained non-retrogression, they do not fear personal harm and wish only to benefit others; they mostly remain in defiled quarters to broadly benefit beings, and rarely take birth in a pure land to personally attend upon the Holy Honoured One. As for bodhisattvas of shallow practice, whose great wisdom is predominant but who are still subject to retrogression, although they have pity for suffering and afflicted sentient beings, as soon as they encounter evil conditions they regress from the bodhisattva practice, commit various evil karmas, and lose the bodhicitta—as extensively explained in the Pusa benye yingluo jing regarding Prince Facai and others. This means both benefits are lost, and both self and others are harmed. For this reason, they vow to be born in a pure land to depart from those evil conditions, to draw close to the Holy Honoured One and constantly hear the correct Dharma, to assemble together in one place with all the bodhisattvas, to travel to make offerings of scattered flowers in other directions, and furthermore to hear the true, pure, and wondrous Dharma of the Mahāyāna, advancing thought after thought without retrogression, with no followers of the two vehicles, icchantikas, or non-Buddhists to undermine and ruin the beginner's mind toward the unexcelled Way. Although their mind to pull out suffering is not abandoned thought after thought, the practice of self-benefit is the foundation of the practice of benefiting others; if the root is not firm, the branches will also not be strong. For this reason, one must first vow to be born in a pure land to nurture the bodhisattva's sprout of awakening and make it firm and steadfast. Then, even if one encounters evil conditions, there will be no retrogression; only then can one leave this pure land and be born back into the Sahā [world] to save and gather parents, the six relations and kin, friends and acquaintances, and all sentient beings of the dharmadhātu who have been drowning from beginningless time. On this meaning, in the Anle ji, Chan Master Chuo already extensively cited the analogy of parents drowning and about to be swept away by a rapid current: one child immediately entered the water after them to rescue them, but failing to rescue them, was consequently drowned; the other child returned home, prepared a boat, and went straight to the deep current to rescue the parents from distress. This meaning is also like that; those who possess wisdom will understand through this analogy.