樂邦文類 1.145

1.145

The Treatise on Ten Doubts says: "Question: The West is a hundred thousand koṭis of buddha-realms away from here. How can commoners, frail and weak as they are, reach it? Answer: That is spoken only with respect to the fleshly eyes and the saṃsāric mental measure of commoners. Although the West is a hundred thousand koṭis of realms away from here, if a sentient being's pure land karma is completed, the mind that abides in concentration at the time of death is itself the mind that receives birth in the pure land; the arising of the thought is itself the moment of birth in the pure land. For this reason, the Contemplation Sūtra says: 'Amitābha Buddha's land is not far from here.' Moreover, the power of karma is inconceivable; in a single thought-moment one is born there, so there is no need to worry about distance. Furthermore, just as when a person dreams, although their body lies on the bed, their mind, intellect, and consciousness travel everywhere to other directions; birth in the Pure Land is also like this—there is no need to doubt it."