遊心安樂道 1.74

1.74

或說，在前二說，並不盡理，凡其往生難、易，一任因緣。緣謂諸佛、菩薩同體大悲；因是四眾九輩所起願行。同體之悲，雖無局人；眾生之業，猶是參差。若是業因熟者，願隨便生，非以人、天如難往，亦以淨、穢如有礙；若其願行闕聞者，在前無誠，豈由同界而易生？復以化身而輒謁，由是王舍城內，三億餘家，同居一城，而不聞如來之名。那落伽中，九十億人別住，難家猶來見金色三相。則知眾生起行，良由勝緣之相屬，有失、不失。或有性自屬彌陀，或有本來繫慈氏，如逐所屬，各得道速；強於無屬，多勞少益。是故長者之婢母，受化於羅云；非想三天子，悟道於遣身。

Some say: The preceding two explanations both fail to exhaust the principle. In general, whether rebirth is difficult or easy depends entirely on causes and conditions. The condition refers to the great compassion of identical essence of the buddhas and bodhisattvas; the cause is the vows and practices generated by the fourfold assembly of the nine grades. Although the compassion of identical essence is not restricted to any person, the karma of sentient beings is nevertheless disparate. If the karmic cause is ripe, one is reborn immediately upon vowing; it is not that humans and devas present difficulties of rebirth, nor that purity and defilement present obstacles. If one is deficient in hearing vows and practices, having no sincerity before them, how could one be easily reborn merely on account of being in the same realm, or readily meet [a buddha] by means of a transformation body? For this reason, within the city of Rājagṛha, among more than three hundred million households dwelling together in the same city, some did not hear the name of the Tathāgata; while ninety billion people living separately in Naraka, despite their difficult circumstances, nevertheless came to see the three golden marks. Thus we know that sentient beings' undertaking of practice is truly due to whether superior conditions belong to them, having connections or not having connections. Some naturally belong to Amitābha by nature, while some are originally bound to Maitreya. If they pursue that to which they belong, each will attain the Way swiftly; forcing oneself toward that to which one does not belong brings much labor and little benefit. Therefore, the elder's maidservant received conversion from Rāhula, and the three deva sons of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception awakened to the Way upon discarding their bodies.