樂邦文類 4.95

4.95

對曰：淨土非難易，難易在人。難者疑情，咫尺萬里；易者信心，萬里咫尺。所云修無生妙觀得生者，誠哉是言也。此雖正意，乃上根得生之一門耳。然不可闢一門而塞多門。《安樂集》云「生淨土者有二種：一有相心，謂著相忻樂；二無相心，謂理觀相應。」若今之世，中下鈍根愚迷障重，待理觀相應方生者或少矣。原夫佛慈接物，方便多門，有定散之善焉、有佛法之力焉、有事福而假願力迴向焉、有垂終劇怖而賴求救焉。如是等類，百千萬數，有藉其一必得往生。是定善者，修心妙觀，首楞嚴定等是也。散善者，如四十八願經修十念者，都攝六根，但聲聲相續而已。以未兼理定，說名為散是也。佛力者，如《十疑論》云「阿彌陀佛大悲願力，攝取念佛眾生。即能發菩提心，行念佛三昧等，承佛願力即得往生。如劣夫從轉輪王，一日一夜周行四天下。非其自力，輪王之力也。」法力者，如佛告蓮華明王菩薩，令誦灌頂神呪加持沙土，散亡者屍或亡者墓。彼所亡者，或墮地獄餓鬼畜生中，承是真言生極樂國是也。事福假迴向者，慈心不殺，具諸戒善，受持祕呪，讀誦大乘，種種福善迴向莊嚴。成淨土因者，如聲入角，遠亦可聞，得生極樂是也。垂終求救者，臨命終時火車相現，稱佛力故，猛火化為清涼風。如僧雄俊，臨入火鑊。并汾州人屠牛為業，臨終見群牛逼觸其身，苦痛切已。及張鍾馗殺雞為業，臨終見神人驅群雞啄破兩目，流血盈床。稱佛號時，俱生淨土是也。《隨願往生經》云「若人以亡者嚴身之具、堂舍園林而施三寶，其福最多，可拔地獄之殃，往生淨土。」又《無量壽經》云「諸小行菩薩及修小功德者，不可稱計，皆得往生。」又《梵網經》令請法師講菩薩戒，福資亡者，得見諸佛等。譬如國家搜揚草澤，於文學武學中取士者非一科，況復此外更有奏陰。若以奏陰喻佛力、學科喻行願，彼則多士分職，此則萬行成聖。佛曰易往、子曰難生，乍可順教談於易往，開人解脫之門；不須執迷說於難生，塞彼菩提之路。孔子曰：「多聞闕疑，謹言其餘則寡尤。」

I reply: The Pure Land is neither difficult nor easy; difficulty and ease lie in the person. For one who doubts, what is close at hand is ten thousand leagues away; for one of faithful mind, ten thousand leagues are close at hand. What you said—that rebirth is obtained by cultivating the wondrous contemplation of non-arising—is truly spoken. Although this is the primary intent, it is merely one gate through which those of superior faculties attain rebirth. Yet one must not open one gate and block many gates. The Anle ji says: "There are two kinds of people who are reborn in the Pure Land: first, those with a mind attached to marks, meaning they cling to marks and rejoice [in it]; second, those with a markless mind, meaning they correspond with contemplation of the principle." In today's world, those of middling and inferior, dull faculties are foolishly bewildered and heavily obstructed; those who wait until they correspond with contemplation of the principle before attaining rebirth may well be few. In truth, the Buddha's compassion receives living beings through many expedient gates: there is the good of concentrated and distracted [mind]; there is the power of the Buddha and the Dharma; there is worldly merit that relies on the power of vows for dedication; and there is relying on seeking rescue amid extreme terror at the end of life. Classes such as these number in the hundreds, thousands, and myriads; if one relies on any one of them, one is sure to attain rebirth. The good of concentrated mind refers to cultivating the wondrous contemplation of the mind, the Śūraṅgama samādhi, and the like. The good of distracted mind refers to cultivating the ten recitations as in the Sutra of the Forty-Eight Vows, gathering in the six sense faculties, simply continuing sound after sound; because it does not yet combine with contemplation of the principle, it is called 'distracted'. As for the Buddha's power, as the Shiyi lun says: "The great compassionate power of Amitābha Buddha's vows gathers in beings who practice buddha-mindfulness. If one is able to generate the bodhicitta, practice the buddha-mindfulness samādhi, and so forth, by receiving the power of the Buddha's vows one immediately attains rebirth. It is like an inferior man who follows a wheel-turning king and travels around the four continents in a single day and night. It is not his own power, but the power of the wheel-turning king." As for the power of the Dharma, it is like when the Buddha told Padmarāja Bodhisattva to recite the consecration dhāraṇī to empower sand and earth, scattering it over the corpses or graves of the deceased. Even if the deceased had fallen into hell, the hungry ghosts, or beasts, by relying on this mantra they are reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. As for worldly merit relying on dedication: having a compassionate mind and not killing, being complete in all the precepts and goods, upholding secret mantras, chanting the Mahāyāna, and dedicating all kinds of meritorious goods as an adornment. Becoming a cause for the Pure Land is like a sound entering a horn: even from afar it can be heard; thus one attains rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. As for seeking rescue at the end of life: at the point of death, the appearance of the fire-cart manifests, but because one invokes the Buddha's power, the fierce flames transform into a cool, refreshing breeze. This is like the monk Xiongjun when about to enter the cauldron of fire; or the man of Fenzhou whose trade was butchering oxen, who at death saw a herd of oxen pressing against his body with excruciating pain; or Zhang Zhongkui, whose trade was slaughtering chickens, who at death saw a divine being driving a flock of chickens to peck out both his eyes, blood flooding the bed. When they invoked the Buddha's name, all were reborn in the Pure Land. The Suiyuan wangsheng jing says: "If a person donates the adornments, dwellings, or gardens of the deceased to the Three Jewels, the merit is supreme, and can pull them out of the calamities of hell and bring about rebirth in the Pure Land." Furthermore, the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra says: "The bodhisattvas of minor practices and those who cultivate minor merit are beyond count, and all attain rebirth." Moreover, the Brahmā Net Sutra instructs one to invite a Dharma master to lecture on the bodhisattva precepts to benefit the deceased with merit, so that they may see all buddhas, and so on. For instance, when the state searches for talent among the common folk to recruit officials from literary and martial studies, there is more than a single category—not to mention that beyond these, there is also official rank granted by hereditary privilege. If official rank by privilege is compared to the Buddha's power, and examination categories to practice and vows: in the former, many officials divide their offices; in the latter, the myriad practices accomplish sagehood. The Buddha said it is easy to go; you, sir, say it is difficult to be reborn. For now, it is better to follow the teaching and speak of it being easy to go, opening the gate of liberation for people; there is no need to cling to delusion and speak of it being difficult to be reborn, blocking their path to bodhi. Confucius said: 'Hear much and leave aside what is doubtful; speak carefully of the rest, and you will have few faults.'