遊心安樂道 1.31

1.31

第四、顯往生因緣者，凡諸所說往生之因，非直能感正報莊嚴，亦得感其依報淨土，但求如來本願力故，隨感受用，非自業因力之所成辨，是故說名為往生因。此因之相，經、論不少，若依《觀經》說十六觀；《往生論》中說五門行；今依此《無量壽經》說三輩因，上輩之中說有五句：一者、捨家棄欲而作沙門，此顯返起正因方便；二者、發菩提心，是明正因；三者、專念彼佛，是明修觀；四者、作諸功德，是明起行，此觀及行即為助業；五者、願生彼國。此一是願，前四是行，行願和合乃得生故。

Fourth, to reveal the causes and conditions of rebirth: generally speaking, all the stated causes of rebirth are not only able to induce the adornments of the direct reward, but also to induce its dependent reward, the pure land. Simply because one relies on the power of the Tathāgata's original vow, one experiences it accordingly; it is not accomplished through the causal power of one's own karma, and therefore it is called the cause of rebirth. As for the characteristics of this cause, sūtras and treatises offer many: if one relies on the Contemplation Sūtra, it speaks of sixteen contemplations; in the Treatise on Rebirth, it speaks of the five gates of practice; now, relying on this Sutra of Immeasurable Life, it speaks of the causes of the three grades. Within the highest grade, five clauses are spoken of: first, abandoning home and discarding desire to become a śramaṇa, which reveals the expedient means for giving rise to the direct cause; second, generating the bodhimind, which clarifies the direct cause; third, single-mindedly recollecting that Buddha, which clarifies cultivating contemplation; fourth, performing various merits, which clarifies giving rise to practice—these contemplations and practices serve as auxiliary karma; fifth, vowing to be born in that land. This one is the vow, while the preceding four are practices; it is only through the conjunction of practice and vow that one attains rebirth.