樂邦文類 2.82

2.82

Someone asked: 'Space is boundless and worlds are immeasurable; among them there are ordinary and sage, pure and defiled. Why is it so?' I answered: 'It is so because of false thoughts. The true is not like this. When the Buddhas realize the true, the realms of space shatter. As for the matter of the response and transformation bodies and lands, they too are felt in accord with the false thoughts of sentient beings. It is meant to cause them to transform the ordinary into sagehood, abandon defilement to proceed toward purity, and only then be purely identical to the realization of the Buddhas. Alas, sentient beings have been deluded for long! Therefore our Buddha, the Benevolent Sage, aroused causeless compassion and appeared in the Sahā World, opening various gates of salvation through diverse skillful means. Thence he set forth the teachings in five periods and bestowed the Path through the three vehicles; though the sudden and gradual differ, they converge in the Principle. For those whom our Buddha had not yet saved and whose salvation lay with another Buddha, he spoke of Maitreya being in the Stage of Succession, of Amitābha being in Utmost Bliss, and even of the pure Buddha-lands of the ten directions, displayed like mirror-reflections and guiding like bridges and ferries, so that according to their fitness, there was benefit in going forward. Yet, although the Stage of Succession is near, the ten directions are all distant; the Mahāyāna sutras all universally praise Utmost Bliss as the highest and Amitābha as the supreme. The circumstantial and primary rewards being extraordinary and the lifespan furthermore being long, those sentient beings who believe and vow to be born there are many; traces of spiritual transformations shine brightly in the texts. The Buddha said: "In the future when the Dharma is extinguished, only the Sutra of Immeasurable Life will remain in the world for a hundred years." Tiantai said: "You should know that that Buddha has a special affinity with this evil world." / For this sutra, Dharma Master Ci'en formerly composed an exposition; there is also a commentary manuscript that likewise bears the name of Master Kuiji. It is traditionally said that this was circulated falsely under his name by an anonymous master. When collating their texts and purports, they are in fact largely identical with minor differences. When the sentences and sections by Zhongyongzi of Gushan appeared later, they were widely circulated at the time. Because he wielded his brush while ill, his words were concise and the meanings brief; in his general explanations, he seemed not to have fully reached the exposition of the Vaipulya. I, clumsy as I am, have explored the teachings of Zhiyi for quite a number of years. I often wished to recapitulate this text using our school's essential doctrines combined with the various Pure Land explanations; but secretly avoiding people's many jealousies, my aspiration was not fulfilled. Nearing the age of sixty, I retired to my old garden. Reverently reflecting that Guanxiang of Yuquan wielded his rhinoceros-horn whisk for ninety days to repay kindness, and Zongmi of Guifeng offered the Ullambana basin in the seventh month to contemplate filial piety, I recollected and drew from their pure fragrance and finally took up the brush. The work completed, I divided it into upper and lower fascicles and titled it "New Commentary" to distinguish it from the old chapters. As for the writing lacking polish, how could I dare rival the previous treatises? Yet if the principle beneath the words roughly communicates the Great Way, I would not yield either.'