淨土論 1.7

1.7

先生曰：快哉！子之問也。非夫哲士，熟能示乎？然法門幽𮥜，誠如來旨，終慚不敏，試復論之。夫達人利見，寓目皆是；凡夫智淺，觸途生滯。但聖教弘規，位階八萬，要而論之，無過理、事此之二門。其猶車有兩輪、鳥有二翼，若闕其一則不能沖虛遠逝。如《起信論》有止、觀二門，止則緣理、觀則緣事，如未達此二，則搆虛生滯耳。而語斷心滅者，理也；期西念佛者，事也。然三界唯心、域內非穢，若未階十地，且將境淨心，雖十方咸淨而境界普散，欲令專想往生，所以偏觖一隅矣。

The Master said: "Splendid is your question! If not a wise scholar, who could set it forth? Indeed, the Dharma gates are profound and subtle, truly as your words suggest; yet, being ashamed of my lack of talent, I shall try to discuss it. An adept sees advantage everywhere he looks, and whatever meets his eye is truth; an ordinary person's wisdom is shallow, and whatever path he encounters gives rise to obstruction. But the sacred teachings provide a vast model, with eighty-thousand stages; to discuss their essentials, they do not exceed the two gates of principle and phenomena. They are like a cart having two wheels or a bird having two wings; if one is missing, it cannot soar into the void and travel far. As the Qixin lun has the two gates of śamatha and vipaśyanā: śamatha takes principle as its object, while vipaśyanā takes phenomena as its object; if one does not comprehend these two, one fabricates emptiness and gives rise to obstruction. That words are cut off and the mind is extinguished is principle; longing for the West and being mindful of the Buddha is phenomena. Although the three realms are mind-only and the inner realm is not defiled, if one has not yet reached the tenth bhūmi, one must temporarily purify the mind through the objective realm. Although the ten directions are all pure, their objective realms are vastly dispersed; in order to cause one to concentrate one's thoughts on rebirth, one corner is singled out with longing."