樂邦文類 3.121

3.121

*Longshu's Pure Land Writings* states: 'According to the *Śūraṅgama Sūtra*, there are ten kinds of immortals, all living for thousands and tens of thousands of years; when their span is exhausted, they return again to transmigration. Because they have never realized the true nature, they are called the seven destinies together with the sentient beings of the six paths; these are all people within transmigration. Among worldly people who study immortality, not one in ten thousand succeeds; even if they attain it, they still do not avoid transmigration, because they cling to physical form and spirit and cannot relinquish them. Moreover, form and spirit are deluded thoughts manifested within the true nature, not reality. Therefore, Hanshan's poem says: "Even if you become an immortal, / You are just like a ghost guarding a corpse." It is not like the Buddhist freedom over birth and death, unrestricted by anything. Since antiquity, those who attained immortality were only Zhongli and Master Lü, yet those who studied these two gentlemen are far more than thousands and tens of thousands. Among those I personally knew and heard of, the number was also not small; in the end they all died and were buried in the earth below. Their lifelong expenditure of mental energy was completely in vain, ultimately yielding no benefit. If one wishes to seek longevity, nothing compares to the Pure Land. Those born in the Pure Land have an immeasurable lifespan; its longevity is truly great! To study immortality instead of cultivating this method is to discard fine jade before one's eyes in order to seek unobtainable pebbles. Is this not delusion?'