樂邦文類 4.110

4.110

吾佛釋迦出現娑婆、統化大千、應迹中天，八相成道，垂慈為物。在諸大教，或因而及之，如《華嚴》、《法華》；或專為一緣，如《十六觀》、《無量壽經》、《稱讚淨土經》。什譯即小本《佛說阿彌陀經》并《鼓音王經》，偏讚西方，勸修念佛。一切大教，正宗所詮、修行門戶。若欲依經所說行之，自非大根大性、宿世緣熟，必難造詣速得發悟出離生死。又恐生死何期，不能善始令終。是故阿彌陀佛以本願力，示現西方極樂世界依正莊嚴，清淨蓮華三輩九品，為欲攝受能念佛人，一心不亂繫念彼佛，時至緣會恬然命終，見佛光明，不落魔境，決定高超無際苦輪。此一段事，若非釋迦出現世間，何由得之？固非小緣。須知偏讚西方，乃急救法，何翅中流失舟、一壺千金。正如《佛說阿彌陀經》不待時機發起，即便為說，經意在此。東晉廬山虎溪慧遠法師，結白蓮社，賢士大夫并諸尊者一十八人，同修西方念佛三昧，臨終見佛即得往生。雖謝靈運以心雜止之，不許入社。自此流通，後世追仰遺風無間一切，信向甚盛。世傳《六祖壇經》，韶州人見六祖，因問有修西方，此法如何？六祖答以自心有西方，即是真西方。自有西方心，何處覓西方？東方人造罪作業，求生西方；若西方人造罪作業，求生何處？但能悟性，何所不可。噫！如此鄙俚，一笑可也。竊名祖師，不可行用。或謂：既云悟性，此亦有理。其理偏尚，無非禪病，相傳高麗焚毀此書。遼東人師，稍有眼目，昔嵩明教讚之，何其失言。此老戒根堅固，陳令舉為作行狀。平生童真，其聲如擊清磬，身後火浴，六事不懷。可謂僧寶，後世難及。不可求備，亦見此矣。須知西方念佛三昧，甚易修行，只在日用一心不亂繫念彼佛。彼佛願力、自念佛力，任運相應。雖有取捨，與不取捨殊無異轍。何以故？念念離相了不可得，如盤走珠自在無礙，身心清淨猶如蓮華。達唯心了本性在我而已，去此不遠。

Our Buddha Śākyamuni appeared in the Sahā world, unified and transformed the great chiliocosm, manifested his traces in Central India, accomplished the Way through the eight aspects, and bestowed compassion upon beings. In the various great teachings, he either touched upon it in passing, as in the Avataṃsaka and Lotus Sūtras, or addressed it specifically for a single cause, as in the Sixteen Contemplations, the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, and the Praise of the Pure Land Sūtra. Kumārajīva's translation, namely the shorter Amitābha Sūtra, and the Drum Sound King Sūtra specifically praise the Western Land and exhort the cultivation of buddha-mindfulness. All the great teachings constitute what the main teachings explain and are the gateways to practice. If one wishes to practice according to what the sūtras say, unless one has great capacity and nature and ripe conditions from past lives, one will surely find it difficult to attain quickly, achieve awakening, and transcend birth and death. Furthermore, one fears that with birth and death being indefinite, one cannot ensure a good beginning and end. For this reason, Amitābha Buddha, through the power of his original vows, manifested the circumstantial and primary adornments of the Western World of Ultimate Bliss, with the pure lotus flowers of the three grades and nine classes, in order to embrace people who are capable of buddha-mindfulness. When they mindfully hold onto that Buddha single-mindedly without distraction, and when the time comes and conditions converge, they pass away peacefully, see the Buddha's radiance, do not fall into demonic realms, and are determined to transcend the boundless wheel of suffering. If Śākyamuni had not appeared in the world, how could this matter have been obtained? It is certainly no small condition. One must know that specifically praising the Western Land is a method of emergency rescue; how is it merely like losing a boat midstream, where a single gourd is worth a thousand pieces of gold? Just as the Amitābha Sūtra was spoken immediately without waiting for circumstances to prompt it, the intent of the sūtras lies here. During the Eastern Jin, Dharma Master Huiyuan of Mount Lu at Tiger Creek formed the White Lotus Society, with eighteen worthy gentlemen, officials, and venerable ones, collectively cultivating the western buddha-mindfulness samādhi, seeing the Buddha at the end of life and attaining rebirth. Although Xie Lingyun was stopped due to his scattered mind and not permitted to enter the society, from then on it circulated, and later generations admired this remaining style uninterruptedly, their faith and devotion exceedingly flourishing. The Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch transmitted in the world says that a person from Shaozhou saw the Sixth Patriarch and asked about cultivating the Western Land, asking what this method was like. The Sixth Patriarch answered that having the Western Land in one's own mind is the true Western Land: when one has the mind of the Western Land in oneself, where else should one seek the Western Land? If a person of the east commits offenses and creates karma, they seek rebirth in the Western Land; if a person of the Western Land commits offenses and creates karma, where do they seek rebirth? If only one can awaken to the nature, what would not be permissible? Alas! Such vulgar coarseness is worthy only of a laugh! It has stolen the name of an ancestral master and must not be put into practice. Some might say: 'Since it speaks of awakening to the nature, this also has principle.' Its principle is biased and one-sided, nothing other than a Chan illness; it is said that Goryeo burned this book. The teachers of Liaodong had some degree of discernment. Formerly Song Mingjiao praised it—what a slip of the tongue! This elder's root of discipline was firm; Chen Lingju wrote his biography. A lifelong pure youth, his voice was like striking a clear chime; after his passing and cremation, six things remained intact. He can be called a treasure of the Saṅgha, difficult for later generations to match. That one cannot demand perfection in everything is seen in this as well. One must know that the western buddha-mindfulness samādhi is very easy to practice: it lies merely in holding the thought of that Buddha single-mindedly without distraction in daily life. That Buddha's vow-power and one's own buddha-mindfulness power naturally correspond. Although there is adopting and rejecting, it runs on no different track from non-adopting and non-rejecting. Why is this? Thought after thought is free from characteristics, utterly ungraspable, like a pearl rolling on a plate, free and unimpeded, body and mind pure like a lotus flower. Penetrating mind-only and comprehending self-nature lies within oneself; it is not far from this.