樂邦文類 2.128

2.128

Amitābha Tathāgata gathers and embraces all classes of beings through the power of his great vows: fixing one's mindfulness [on him] is extremely simple, and the attainment of the fruit is extremely swift. Some people doubted this, and I once said to them: Amitābha Buddha is simply your own nature; the Land of Ultimate Bliss is simply your own mind. Sentient beings turn their backs on enlightenment to unite with sensory dusts, sinking down into the seven destinies, setting up an infinite gulf between themselves and the Buddha. For this reason, out of compassion and expedient means to reveal, demonstrate, awaken [beings] to, and enter [buddha-knowledge], the Buddha manifests immeasurable illusion-like samādhis, adorns his land to the utmost splendor, and further expounds [the teaching] with eloquence and wisdom, causing all sentient beings to rejoice and delight [in it]. If in daily life one can give rise to a single thought of mindfulness of that Tathāgata and wish to be born in his land, then this very thought is pure and steadfast, returning to what is inherent in one's nature, not different from the Buddha. At the time of this thought, without rising from one's seat, Amitābha Buddha and the Land of Ultimate Bliss will all manifest before one. Practicing in this way until one is thoroughly seasoned, when this illusory body disintegrates, this nature will not disintegrate; the golden lotus dais arises from the seed of one's nature, and to be reborn therein is like returning to one's own home. The Buddhas and bodhisattvas are simply my own retinue; because their nature is not different, they naturally love one another. My friend Wang Xuzhong of Longshu is upright, quiet, concise, and pure; he is broadly versed in various texts, having annotated and commented on the Six Classics and the various masters to the extent of several hundred thousand words. One day he abandoned them, saying: “These are all karmic habituations, not the ultimate Dharma. I shall only take refuge in the West.” From then on he progressed vigorously, being mindful only of the Buddha. Now nearly sixty years old, wearing coarse cloth and eating vegetables, he travels thousands of li to teach others, having no leisure to care for wind, rain, cold, or heat. In his quiet dwelling, his daily schedule consists of a thousand prostrations, sleeping only at midnight. His face shines brilliantly; those who look upon him believe him to be a person of the Way. In the autumn of the xinhai year of Shaoxing, he visited my father and stayed in Xuancheng for two months, where I first saw his Pure Land Writings. It completely contains the origins and development of the approaches to practice and the clearly manifest responsive verifications. Intending to have those of faith in the Way carve woodblocks to propagate it, he entrusted me to write a preface for his book; therefore, I have written this at its head. Xuzhong's given name is Rixiu. On the first day of the tenth month, preface by Zhang [Xiaoxiang] of Liyang.