淨土論 1.3

1.3

The profound gate of the Pure Land is praised throughout the ten directions; the jeweled realm of Amitābha is rejoiced in by ordinary beings and sages alike. Thus, while the magnificent standard of the sixteen [contemplations] flourished in the Western regions, the teaching of the nine [grades of rebirth] has declined in the Eastern Xia. Whenever I open and peruse the various scriptures and minutely examine the holy words, I privately deem this single school to be the essential path. Those who have attained it look with longing and bow their heads; those who have not yet awakened behold it and hesitate. If one does not rely upon this to settle one's spirit, I fear that one will ultimately sink into the perpetual night. Now, having comprehensively perused the various sūtras and consulted diverse treatises, I have extracted their crucial essentials and composed a work in one fascicle, entitled the Treatise on the Pure Land. However, the venerable masters of ancient times, such as Master Huiyuan and Xie Lingyun, though they jointly aspired to the Western region, ultimately only cultivated themselves as individuals, so that later students had nothing to inherit and practice. In recent times, there was Dhyāna Master Daochuo, who composed the Anle ji in one fascicle; although it broadly cites numerous sūtras and briefly expounds the principles, its text and meanings are mixed together and its chapters and sections are confused, so that later readers also hesitate without resolution. Now, I have thoroughly searched the various texts, fully cited the principles, and arranged them into nine chapters, so that the text and meaning are distinctly separated and the sections and items have their proper places, allowing those who examine it to see it as clearly as if it were in the palm of their hand. I vow that the teaching of the three blessings may be propagated for long, the scriptures of the four vows may serve as an eternal model, the sixteen contemplations may spread far and wide together, and rebirth in the nine [grades] may be a shared destination; may the beings of the six destinies persistently bid farewell forever to the defiled land, may those born of the four modes of birth, though restless, dwell eternally upon the lotus pedestal, and, even before the remaining glow [of life] is spent, may all roam the pure realm.