淨土論 3.47

3.47

答曰：據四十八大願，淨土雖妙，本擬成就凡夫；蓮花臺藏，元是託生之處。若是凡夫，即不得遊於淨土；既是法王，何得踐於五濁？雖是法王，為化眾生故來遊於五濁；亦雖是凡夫，為供養佛故生於淨土。此理明矣。又彼淨土，只是諸佛慈悲方便，別料理一方處所，除却女人及五欲境界，令眾生於中修道。於四生中是化生之處，非極妙也。猶如於城邑之中，別斷理一所用作伽藍，除去俗事，令僧修道，但有眾生入伽藍者，悉發善心。彼亦如是，縱就此方如六天宮殿、四禪妙宅，依報並是異寶奇珍，正報即是殊光妙相，衣裳輕殊之服、食飡百味餚、坐臥即俱華寶宮、遨遊即起趣綺苑。如斯之處，豈是法王所居？皆是凡夫善因所感。此類顯矣。

Answer: According to the forty-eight great vows, although the pure land is wondrous, it was originally intended to bring ordinary beings to completion; the lotus-dais storehouse was from the beginning the place where they are entrusted for birth. If one is an ordinary being, could one not travel in the pure land? Since he is the Dharma King, how could he step into the five defilements? Although he is the Dharma King, for the sake of transforming sentient beings he comes to wander through the five defilements; likewise, although they are ordinary beings, for the sake of making offerings to the Buddha they are born in the pure land. This principle is clear. Moreover, that pure land is merely an expedient means of the buddhas' great compassion: setting up a separate location in another direction, they eliminate women and the sensory spheres of the five desires so that sentient beings may cultivate the path within it. Among the four modes of birth, it is a place of apparitional birth; it is not the ultimate marvel. It is like setting apart and managing a place within a city to use as a saṅghārāma, eliminating mundane affairs so that the monastic saṅgha can cultivate the path; any sentient beings who enter the saṅghārāma all give rise to a wholesome mind. That land is also like this. Even in this realm, consider the palaces of the six [desire] heavens and the wondrous mansions of the four dhyānas: their circumstantial retributions are all rare and precious jewels, and their direct retributions are extraordinary radiance and wondrous marks; their garments are light and exquisite robes, their food consists of delicacies of a hundred flavors, their sitting and reclining are in flowered and jeweled palaces, and their strolls lead to elegant gardens. Could such places as these be the dwelling of a Dharma King? They are all brought about by the wholesome causes of ordinary beings. This parallel is obvious.