念佛鏡 1.26

1.26

The answer states: "The meaning of faith is: believing that, according to what the sūtras explain, through buddhānusmṛti one is certain to be reborn in the pure land; believing that through buddhānusmṛti all sins are definitely eradicated; believing that through buddhānusmṛti one will certainly obtain the Buddha's verification; believing that through buddhānusmṛti one will certainly obtain the Buddha's protection; believing that through buddhānusmṛti, when one approaches the end of life, the Buddha will personally come to welcome them; believing that through buddhānusmṛti, without asking about [the kinds of] sentient beings, all persons of identical faith will attain rebirth; believing that through buddhānusmṛti, upon rebirth in the pure land, one will certainly obtain the thirty-two marks; believing that through buddhānusmṛti, upon rebirth in the pure land, one will certainly abide on the stage of non-retrogression; believing that through buddhānusmṛti, upon rebirth in the pure land, one will certainly attain sovereignty, joy, and adornment; believing that through buddhānusmṛti, upon rebirth in the pure land, one will certainly attain the deathless realm; believing that through buddhānusmṛti, upon rebirth in the pure land, one will companion solely with all bodhisattvas; believing that upon rebirth in the pure land one will never again be separated from the Buddha; believing that upon rebirth in the pure land one will be apparitionally born upon a lotus dais; believing that Amitābha Buddha is presently expounding the Dharma; and believing that upon rebirth in the pure land one will not fall into the three destinies and hells. For these reasons one is directed to buddhānusmṛti. Reciting the Buddha's name for a single breath, according to the Guan jing, definitely eradicates the grave sins of birth and death of eighty billion eons, and further gains subtle and wondrous merit of eighty billion eons; for this reason faith is encouraged. Therefore, Preceptor Daxing directs practitioners of buddhānusmṛti: when the mind exclusively has faith in the Buddha, the Buddha knows it, because the Buddha possesses the telepathic knowledge of others' minds; when the mouth exclusively recites the Buddha's name, the Buddha hears it, because the Buddha possesses the divine ear; when the body exclusively reveres the Buddha, the Buddha sees it, because the Buddha possesses the divine eye. This is the place where Preceptor Daxing encourages faith in buddhānusmṛti. Furthermore, a faithful mind is likened to planting a fruit tree deeply: because the tree's roots are deep, it is unmoved by the blowing wind, and later it bears fruit to relieve people's hunger and thirst. The person of buddhānusmṛti is also like this: they must rely on deep faith to reach the western direction, attain equal sambodhi, and broadly relieve perils and distress. If one lacks faith, one will gain nothing in vain. Thus a sūtra says: 'Once a bodhisattva of the ten abodes arouses a faithful mind and practices buddhānusmṛti, even if thereafter they encounter evil conditions and lose their body and end their life, they would rather die immediately than regress in faith.' Therefore the Vimalakīrti-sūtra says: 'Deep faith is firm and solid like vajra; the jewels of the Dharma shine universally like raining ambrosia.' Practitioners of buddhānusmṛti must have deep faith.