往生淨土決疑行願二門 1.2

1.2

Now, the jewel realm of Peaceful Nourishment is praised by the Great Enlightened One, and the three grades ascend high to it. In the evening, the golden flowers are conceived—even the array of stars would feel ashamed compared to drops of that ocean; in the morning, they roam the jade ponds—even the lamps of the world are but a weak metaphor against the sands of the Ganges. Indeed, because [beings] from the ten directions arrive there and those of the four kinds of birth benefit by going there, although [the Buddha's] light blazes forth and universally manifests, they ultimately bow their heads and seek it specifically. Therefore, looking from the present to the past, both in the land of India and the imperial realm [of China]: there, great worthies and supreme sages all unfolded their eloquence to make covenants (the assemblies of sages and worthies such as Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Vasubandhu, and Nāgārjuna either separately translated texts of vows or set them down in sūtras and treatises, which cannot be fully recorded here); here, enlightened masters of virtue and great scholars all wielded their brushes to establish vows (first beginning in the Jin dynasty with the eighteen worthies such as Liu [Yimin] and Lei [Cizong] of the Donglin Pure Society, together with one hundred and twenty-three people making a shared vow, for which [Liu] Yimin composed the text; thereafter, eminent officials, monks of virtuous renown, and laypersons of pure resolve abound in the records). Looking upon this dedication of merit continuing unbroken and these mutual harmonizings following one upon another, truly it is the thoroughfare of virtue and the direct ferry to eternal bliss! Yet people in the world are mostly freshly clad [in robes] and shaven-headed, not knowing the proper orientation; suddenly encountering those who ask the way, they feel no shame at making ungrounded claims, either rolling up their sleeves to dismiss it as a lesser teaching, or laughing loudly to reject it as an expedient vehicle. Because their words contradict the scriptures, people are confused about the constant standard. Does not the *Book of Changes* say: "If, within one's chamber, one utters words that are not good, people beyond a thousand miles will oppose them; how much more so those who are near!" Thereupon, I have presumptuously set forth the Two Gates of Resolving Doubts and of Practice and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land. Though ashamed of my unrefined words, the principles contained herein may perhaps be fitting: distinguishing beans from wheat, and drawing from the Jing and Wei rivers to separate them forever; felling the foul forest of eranda and planting the fragrant trunks of sandalwood. For the understanding of faith, practice, and vows, from beginning to end, to be fully presented in no more than several thousand words, it is truly these two gates!