樂邦文類 4

English (machine translation) 4

Language: English

4.1

Compiled by the Śramaṇa Zongxiao of Shizhi, Siming

4.2

Miscellaneous Writings (Thirty-three pieces)

4.3

Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra Explaining the Four Kinds of Buddha Lands, by Great Master Tiantai Zhizhe

4.4

Commentary on the Contemplation Sūtra Clarifying the Essential Principle of the Four Lands, by the same author

4.5

Anthology of the Common End of Ten Thousand Goods Selecting and Indicating the West, by Chan Master Zhijue, Yanshou

4.6

General Eulogy of Amitābha Indicating the Essential Meaning of the West, by Dharma Master Ci’en, Kuiji

4.7

Collection of Quiescent Illumination Selecting the Essential Meaning of the West, extracted from the Collection Resolving Doubts Directly Pointing to the Pure Land

4.8

Notes on Provisions for the West Selecting and Indicating the Exclusive Praise of the West, by Dharma Master Gushan, Zhiyuan

4.9

Letter Requesting Dharma Master Siming to Remain in the World, by Duke Wen, Yang Yi

4.10

Letter Replying to Duke Wen Yang's Request to Remain in the World, by Dharma Master Siming, Zhili

4.11

Answering Duke Wen Yang's Inquiries, by the same author

4.12

Exhortation for Yanqing [Monastery] to Solicit the Assembly for Buddha-Mindfulness, by the same author

4.13

Gateway for Resolving Doubts Concerning Rebirth in the Pure Land, by Repentance Master Ciyun, Zunshi

4.14

Compilation on the Study of Meaning: Resolving Disputes on the Lecture Seat, by Dharma Master Jingjue, Renyue

4.15

Dialogue on the Cultivation of Causes for the Pure Land, by Dharma Master Zha’an, Youyan

4.16

Dialogue on Demons and Buddhas Regarding the Pure Land, by the same author

4.17

Discourse on the Mind-Only Pure Land, by Dharma Master Yuanbian, Daochen

4.18

Essay on the Mind-Only Pure Land, by Chan Master Gusu, Shounu

4.19

Discourse Exhorting Cultivation of the West, by Dharma Master Jiekong, Keguan

4.20

Abridged Causes for the Pure Land, by Academician-in-Waiting Chao Shuozhi

4.21

Remaining Discourses on the Pure Land, by Dharma Master Cao’an, Daoyin

4.22

Record of the Record of Self-Confidence in the Pure Land, by the Old Man of No Merit, Wang Tian

4.23

Exclusive and Mixed Cultivation of Pure Karma, by Monk Shandao of the Capital

4.24

Distinguishing Horizontal and Vertical Deliverance, by Dharma Master Tongjiang, Ze’ying

4.25

Method of Ten Recitations in the Morning, by Repentance Master Tianzhu, Zunshi

4.26

Methods for Buddha-Mindfulness, by the same author

4.27

Evaluating the Merit of Buddha-Mindfulness, by the same author

4.28

Method of Sitting Meditation and Contemplation for Rebirth, by the same author

4.29

Technique for Cultivating the Mind through Buddha-Mindfulness, by Dharma Master Shantang, Yanlun

4.30

Treatise of the Precious King Selecting and Indicating the Meaning of Rebirth, by Chan Master Caotang, Feixi

4.31

Expedient Methods for Buddha-Mindfulness, by Remonstrator Jiang Gongwang

4.32

Installing an Image of Amitābha Buddha in the Impermanence Cloister, extracted from The Inexhaustible Lamp

4.33

Formula for Right Mindfulness at the Approach of Death, by Monk Shandao of the Capital

4.34

Resonances from Inviting Monks to Recite the Buddha's Name at the End of Life, extracted from the Collection of Precious Gems

4.35

Vowing to See the Buddha when Entering Contemplation and Sleeping, extracted from the Liturgy of Repentance and Rites Collected from Various Sūtras of the Great Canon

4.36

Exhortation for the Assembly of Celebrating Repentance and Bowing to the Buddha, by Dharma Master Cao’an, Daoyin

4.37

Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra Explaining the Four Kinds of Buddha Lands

4.38

Expounded by Great Master Tiantai Zhizhe

The different characteristics of buddha lands are immeasurable and boundless, but now we briefly summarize them into four: First, the Land of Defilement and Purity, where commoners and sages cohabit; second, the Land with Remainder, where people of expedient means dwell; third, the Land of Retribution, where pure dharmakāyas dwell; fourth, the [Land of] Eternally Quiescent Light, where wondrous awakening dwells. The former two are transformation [realms], that is, where transformation buddhas dwell; the third is both transformation and reward, that is, where reward buddhas dwell; the last one is purely true and pure, neither transformation nor reward, where the dharmakāya dwells.

4.40

First, the defiled and pure lands are also twofold. First, the cohabiting defiled land is the land where commoners and sages cohabit, with two types of commoners and two types of sages. The two types of commoners who dwell there are: first, evil sentient beings, namely those of the four destinies; second, good sentient beings, namely humans and devas. The two types of sages who dwell there are: first, real sages, namely [those of] the four fruits, pratyekabuddhas, the sixth ground of the shared teaching, the ten abodes of the distinct teaching, and the final mind of the ten faiths of the perfect teaching—though delusions common [to all three vehicles] are severed, their reward bodies still remain. Second, provisional sages, refers to the dharmakāya bodhisattvas and wondrous enlightenment buddhas in the lands of expediency, true reward, and quiescent light, who, to benefit those with affinity, respond by taking birth in the cohabiting [land]; all are provisional. Because these [sages] live together with commoners, it is called 'commoners and sages cohabiting'; because they dwell together with the four destinies, it is called a 'defiled land.' Next, as for the cohabiting pure land: although the land of Immeasurable Life is so exceedingly supreme in fruit and reward that it can hardly be paralleled by analogies, nevertheless it is also a land where the defiled and the pure, commoners and sages, cohabit. Why is this? Although it is free of the four destinies, humans and devas are present, for those born in that land are not necessarily all persons who have attained the Path. Thus the sūtra states: 'Those who have committed grave offenses, at the time of approaching death, repent and practice buddha-mindfulness. Their karmic hindrances are immediately transformed, and they at once attain rebirth.' If only sages were born there, how could ordinary commoners aspire for rebirth? Therefore, know that even those possessed of defilements of delusion may also dwell there. As for the provisional and real among the sages born there, they may be understood by analogy with the previous [explanation]. Merely because there are no four evil destinies, it is called 'pure.' Question: The defiled land is brought about by the ten evils, so it is understandable that the circumstantial and primary rewards of the four destinies are both defiled; but since the cause of the pure land is identical in the fruit of the ten virtues, how can circumstantial and primary rewards differ so abruptly? Answer: Although the name of good karma cultivated as cause in both places is the same, the cultivation of goodness for the pure land is subtle, exquisite, and superior; therefore, the circumstantial and primary rewards obtained by those commoners and sages are different from those of the defiled land.

4.41

Second, explaining the land with remainder: it is the dwelling place of those of the two vehicles and three kinds of bodhisattvas who have realized the path of expediency. Why is this? If one cultivates the two contemplations and severs the delusions common [to all three vehicles] completely, but has not yet severed the sand-like distinct delusions and avidyā, one casts off the body of fragmentary [birth and death] and is born outside the three realms, receiving a body of dharmatā; this land where those with transformative [birth and death] dwell is called the land with remainder. It is also called 'expediency' because it is the dwelling place of practitioners of expediency. The Mahāyānasaṃgraha explains seven kinds of saṃsāra, and this is the fourth, the saṃsāra of expediency.

4.42

Third, explaining the land of retribution: this is the dwelling place of pure dharmakāya bodhisattvas of the lotus-womb world. Breaking through avidyā and revealing dharmatā, they attain the true and real fruit and reward. Yet, since avidyā is not exhausted, it moistens untainted karma and they receive a retribution body of dharmatā; hence it is called the land of retribution. Because it is the fruit and reward attained by contemplating the true mark and generating the genuine untainted [wisdom], it is called 'true.' The causes cultivated are not fixed and form and mind are unimpeded; hence it is also called the Land of True Reward without Obstruction. The Indra's net world explained in the Avataṃsaka is this.

4.43

Fourth, as for the Land of Eternally Quiescent Light: the principle of the tathatā dharmadhātu illuminated by the ultimate wisdom of wondrous enlightenment is called a 'land'; it is also called the land of dharmatā. Yet, true thusness and buddha-nature are neither body nor land, though body and land are spoken of. Apart from the body there is no land, and apart from the land there is no body; designating it a 'land' is one phenomenon with two meanings. The dwelling place of Vairocana in the Samantabhadra Contemplation is called 'Eternally Quiescent Light.' Question: The Avataṃsaka explains ten kinds of buddha-lands; does this [classification of] four subsume them all or not? Answer: Not only does it subsume the ten. Someone has even said that the sūtras explain twenty-seven grades of buddha-lands, and the land of Immeasurable Life is only the sixth; when matched against the four in the present text, it subsumes them without exception. Question: Why not rely on the ten and the twenty-seven? Answer: Even if there are texts to that effect, the intention when seeking to match them with the four teachings would be difficult to discern.

4.44

The Commentary on the Contemplation Sūtra Explaining the Core Purport of the Four Lands

4.45

This sūtra takes 'when the mind's contemplation is pure, the buddha-land is pure' as its core purport. The four kinds of pure lands are the Land where Commoners and Sages Cohabit, the Land of Expediency with Remainder, the Land of True Reward without Obstruction, and the Land of Eternally Quiescent Light. Each has its pure and defiled [aspects]: the lightness or heaviness of the five turbidities constitutes the pure and defiled of cohabitation; whether the analytical or unitive [discernment] is clumsy or skillful constitutes the pure and defiled of expediency; gradual or sudden entry constitutes the pure and defiled of true reward; and partial realization or ultimate [fruition] constitutes the pure and defiled of quiescent light. The Sahā world is mixed with evil, filled with thorns, broken tiles, gravel, and impurities—this is the defiled [aspect] of cohabitation. Peaceful Nurture is pure and clean, with ponds flowing with the eight virtues and trees lined with the seven treasures, next only to nirvāṇa, where all are in the definitely determined stage, with commoners and sages cohabiting—this is the superior grade of pure land. As for expediency with remainder: cultivating the path of expediency, one severs the delusions of the four abodes; hence it is called 'expediency.' Avidyā is not exhausted; hence it is said to have 'remainder.' The Treatise [on the Great Prajñāpāramitā] states: 'Outside the three realms there is a pure land; śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are born therein, receiving bodies of dharmatā, not fragmentary birth and death.' Among them there are again the sharp and the dull: pointing to the higher is pure, and pointing to the lower is defiled. As for true reward without obstruction: practicing the true and real Dharma, one brings about an excellent retribution; form and mind do not obstruct each other, hence it is said to be 'without obstruction.' Bodhisattvas alone dwell there; there are no [practitioners of] the two vehicles. The Benevolent Kings Sūtra states: 'The three worthies and ten sages dwell in retribution,' which is its meaning. The immeasurable fragrant cloud terraces of the Avataṃsaka are the pure and wondrous five sense objects of that land. Among them, gradual and sudden enlightenment, higher and lower, pure and defiled are further discussed. As for the eternally quiescent light: 'eternally' is the dharmakāya, 'quiescent' is vimokṣa, and 'light' is prajñā; these three dots are neither vertical nor horizontal, neither parallel nor separate, and are named the secret store. The dwelling place where the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, roam, truly eternal and ultimately supreme, is the pure land; it merely has partial attainment and ultimate [fruition], higher and lower, pure and defiled. Therefore, taking the mind's cultivation of wondrous contemplation as able to bring about the pure land is the core theme of the sūtra.

4.46

Siming [Zhili's] Miaozong [chao] explains: The essence of the Mahāyāna teachings lies in the mind. The mind's possession is easy to know, whereas form's possession is difficult to understand; therefore, whether contemplating oneself or contemplating others, one always cultivates the contemplation of the mind. Now in contemplating the pure land, one must seek it in the mind, because the mind is able to possess and the mind is able to create. When the mind is defiled, the land is defiled; when the mind is pure, the land is pure. This is still a general indication, not yet the definitive thesis. The definitive point lies in the one mind suddenly cultivating the threefold contemplation. When this contemplation contemplates the circumstantial and primary rewards of Peaceful Nurture as ultimately pure, it is called 'the mind's contemplation is pure.' This contemplation can purify the four buddha-lands; thus it serves as the core purport of this sūtra. First, that lightness of the five turbidities constitutes the pure [aspect] of cohabitation is very general; one must understand the distinct meaning. Like those of moral discipline and goodness, the common ranks of the four teachings can all lighten and thin the five turbidities to bring about the purity of cohabitation. But when the perfect contemplation lightens the turbidities, it brings about circumstantial and primary rewards in the purity of cohabitation that are most pure. The descriptions [in this sūtra] from the ground contemplation onward, compared with cultivating various good actions to bring about the land of Peaceful Nurture in other sūtras, are as different as heaven [and earth]. (The four lands are explained in detail as in the text, and it goes on to say:) This sūtra originally arose because Vaidehī loathed the defilement of cohabitation and sought the purity of cohabitation; therefore it spoke of wondrous contemplation to contemplate those circumstantial and primary rewards. If the threefold contemplation is accomplished, the coarse defilements will fall away first. Where else could one be reborn if not in the purity of remainder? One must understand that it is precisely for the sake of birth in the purity of cohabitation that the threefold contemplation was spoken. Because the contemplation is wondrous, it can break through the three delusions; it does not solely bring about the cohabiting pure land, but according to the depth or shallowness of the severed delusions, it naturally brings about the three [higher lands] including expediency with remainder. Just as an illness requires medicine originally for bodily comfort: if one obtains an immortal's formula, compounds it, and ingests it, not only does the body find comfort, but it can also lighten one's bones. Bodily comfort can be compared to being born in the purity of cohabitation, while lightening the bones can be compared to bringing about the upper three lands. It is just a single medicine, yet its efficacy is profound and superior; just so, a single wondrous contemplation can purify the four lands.

4.47

Discerning and Indicating the Western [Direction] from the Collection on the Common Refuge of Myriad Goods (Six Exchanges of Questions and Answers)

4.48

By Dhyāna Master Zhijue Yanshou

4.49

Question: Since the mind-only Pure Land encompasses the ten directions, how can one entrust one's substance to a lotus pedestal and lodge one's form in Peaceful Nurture? To give rise to notions of grasping and rejecting—how could that penetrate the gate of non-arising? When sentiments of joy and aversion arise, how does that accomplish equanimity? Answer: As for the mind-only buddha-land, only by understanding the mind is one born there. The Sūtra on the Inconceivable Sphere of the Tathāgatas states: 'All buddhas of the three periods of time are nonexistent; they rely solely on one's own mind. If a bodhisattva can understand that all buddhas and all dharmas are merely measures of the mind, they attain compliant forbearance, or enter the first ground, and upon casting off the body are swiftly born in the buddha-land of Ultimate Bliss.' Therefore, know that only by knowing the mind is one born in the mind-only Pure Land; clinging to objects merely causes one to fall into perceived objects. Once cause and effect are understood to be without error, one then knows there are no dharmas outside the mind. Furthermore, regarding the gate of equanimity and the purport of non-arising: although one looks up to the teachings and generates faith, what can be done when one's strength is not yet sufficient, one's contemplation is shallow and mind frivolous, and objects are overpowering while habits are deep? One must be born in the buddha-land, so that by relying on superior conditions, the power of forbearance is easily perfected, and one swiftly practices the bodhisattva path. The Awakening of Faith states: 'When sentient beings first study this teaching and wish to seek right faith, their minds are timid and weak. Because they dwell in the Sahā world and do not constantly encounter buddhas, their faith is difficult to accomplish and their intentions tend toward retrogression. One should know that the Tathāgatas have an excellent expedient to protect and sustain their faith: namely, through the cause and condition of single-mindedly practicing buddha-mindfulness, according to their aspiration they attain birth in a buddha-land, constantly see buddhas, and forever leave behind the evil destinies. If someone single-mindedly practices mindfulness of Amitābha Buddha in the west, they will attain rebirth. Because they constantly see the Buddha, ultimately there is no retrogression.' The Treatise on Rebirth states: 'Those who play in the gates of hell: having been born in that land and attained the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, they return to enter the lands of birth and death, teach and transform hell, and rescue suffering sentient beings. For this reason, they seek birth in the pure land.' The Treatise of Ten Doubts states: 'The wise ardently seek birth in the pure land, yet realize that the substance of birth is unobtainable; this is true non-arising. This is what is meant by "because the mind is pure, the buddha-land is pure." The foolish are bound by birth: hearing of "birth," they interpret it as birth; hearing of "non-arising," they interpret it as non-arising. They do not know that birth is non-arising, and non-arising is birth. Not understanding this principle, they arbitrarily fabricate right and wrong; these are persons with false views who slander the Dharma.'

4.50

Question: One who has practiced evil all one's life accumulates deep causes; how can ten recitations at the time of death abruptly dispel them? Answer: The Milindapañha states: 'The king asked the śramaṇa Nāgasena: "A person in the world does evil up to a hundred years. When near death, he practices buddha-mindfulness and after death is born in a buddha-land. I do not believe these words." Nāgasena said: "It is like placing a hundred great stones onto a boat; because of the boat, they do not sink. Even if a person has original evil, by a moment of buddha-mindfulness he does not enter Niraya. That small stones sink is like a person who does evil and does not know buddha-mindfulness; he straightway enters Niraya."' Furthermore, the Treatise on the Great Prajñāpāramitā asks: 'How can the mind of a brief moment at the time of death surpass the power of lifelong practice?' It answers: 'Although this mind lasts for a short duration, the power of the mind is fierce and sharp. Like fire or poison, though small, it can accomplish great deeds. Because this mind when nearing death is decisive and courageous, it surpasses the power of a hundred years of practice; this final mind is called the great mind. Also, because all the sense faculties are in an emergency, like a man entering battle without sparing body or life, it is called robust. Therefore, know that good and evil are not fixed, and causes and conditions are empty in substance; traces show rising or sinking, and phenomena are divided into superior and inferior. One ounce of genuine gold surpasses a hundred ounces of cotton flowers; the tiny flicker of a spark incinerates ten thousand fathoms of piled-up grass.'

4.51

Question: Since there are no dharmas outside the mind and the Buddha neither comes nor goes, how can there be such things as seeing the Buddha and [the Buddha's] coming to welcome? Answer: Mind-only buddha-mindfulness uses mind-only contemplation to comprehensively encompass the myriad dharmas. Once one understands that objects are mind-only and understands that the mind is itself the Buddha, then in accord with whatever is recollected, there is nothing that is not the Buddha. The Pratyutpanna-samādhi Sūtra says: "Like a person who in a dream sees the seven treasures and whose relatives are joyful, but upon awakening reflects on it and does not know where they are." Mindfulness of the Buddha is just like this. This illustrates that it is produced by mind-only; being existent it is yet empty, and therefore there is no coming or going. Furthermore, being illusory and not real, both mind and Buddha are annihilated; yet not lacking illusory marks, mind and Buddha are not destroyed. Emptiness and existence are unimpeded: thus though there is no coming or going, this does not hinder universally seeing. Seeing is itself non-seeing, constantly tallying with the middle way. Hence the Buddha in truth does not come and the mind also does not go; response and stimulus spiritually intertwine, and through mind-only one sees it oneself, just as beings who commit transgressions experience the marks of hell. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi says: "All is like hell, where together they see hell wardens and the like who are able to torment and harm them." Thus all of these are the manifestations of the minds of transgressors due to evil karma, and there are completely no real copper dogs, iron snakes, or such things outside the mind. All mundane phenomena are also like this. Furthermore, Vairocana's Buddha-land is not restricted to east or west. If one understands correctly, then habitual defilements are completely wiped away, and principle and cognition are both intimately realized.

4.52

Question: Layman Pang said: "In terms of concrete phenomena one speaks of the Buddha-land, / ten thousand li from here. / The great sea is vast and boundless; / as soon as one moves, black winds arise. / Though those who go are thousands and millions, / those who arrive are not one or two. / If one suddenly encounters the original person, / it is not within causes and conditions." How can this be reconciled with attaining rebirth? Answer: If one raises the fundamental lineage and investigates the root, one does not even speak of there being a Buddha or a land—how could one speak of arriving or not arriving? Therefore, intrinsic genuineness is naturally complete and does not involve causes and conditions; without moving a single hair, it is constantly united with the true essence. If one discusses it in terms of concrete phenomena, they are not of one single grade: through the nine grades of rebirth, both higher and lower all arrive. Some roam through transformation lands and see the Buddha's nirmanakāya; some are born in reward lands and behold the Buddha's true essence. Some in a single evening ascend to the higher grounds; some only after passing through kalpas realize the Small Vehicle. Some have sharp faculties, some dull faculties; some have concentrated minds, some scattered minds. Their awakenings are slow or swift, their capacities being unequal; their lotuses bloom early or late, their time limits differing. Recorded throughout ancient and modern times, both commoners and sages are reborn together; their signs of practice are evident, clearly verified and witnessed with one's own eyes. The Buddha's brahma-voice never deceives people. The Sūtra Praising the Pure Land says: "Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges in the ten directions extend the mark of their broad and long tongues, covering the great chiliocosm, to verify the attainment of rebirth." How could these be empty words?

4.53

Question: The Vimalakīrti Sūtra says: "Fulfilling eight dharmas, one moves through this world without blemish and is born in the Pure Land. What are the eight? Benefiting sentient beings without expecting reward; enduring all afflictions on behalf of all sentient beings, dedicating all merit one produces to them; regarding sentient beings with an impartial mind, humble and unimpeded; viewing bodhisattvas as if they were Buddhas; hearing sūtras not heard before without doubting them; not conflicting with śrāvakas; not envying the offerings received by others nor boasting of one's own gain, while subduing one's mind within such situations; constantly examining one's own faults and not speaking of others' shortcomings; and constantly seeking all merits with single-mindedness." How can one attain rebirth through inferior practices and slight goodness? Answer: In principle one must be complete in them; this pertains to great capacities: when the eight dharmas are flawless, one achieves the highest grade. As for those of medium and lower [capacities], if they are endowed with even a single dharma and their determination is unwavering, they also attain the lower grade.

4.54

Question: The Contemplation Sūtra explains sixteen contemplations, all of which gather the mind to cultivate meditative concentration. Only by contemplating the Buddha's physical marks, making them clearly understood and fully bright, does one ascend to the pure realm. How could one be transformed and go there with a scattered mind? Answer: The text of the nine grades naturally has ascents and descents. Comprehensively encompassing upper and lower, they do not go beyond two minds: First, the concentrated mind, as in cultivating concentration and practicing contemplation, whereby one attains rebirth of the highest grade. Second, the single-minded mind, in which one merely recites the name, perfumed and aided by various goods, dedicating merit and making vows, whereby one attains the lower grade. One still must take refuge for one's whole life, cultivating diligently to the end of one's retribution, constantly facing west whether sitting or lying down. When practicing the path and paying homage, and when being mindful of the Buddha and making vows, one must be earnestly sincere without any stray thoughts—as if going to execution, as if in prison, as if pursued by hostile bandits, as if pressed by water and fire—single-mindedly seeking rescue, wishing to escape the wheel of suffering, swiftly realize the non-arising [of dharmas], broadly deliver sentient beings, carry forward and exalt the Three Jewels, and vow to repay the four kindnesses. With such sincerity, one will certainly not be cast aside in vain. But if one's words and actions do not correspond, one's power of faith is slight, one lacks the mind of moment-to-moment continuity, and one has thoughts of frequent interruption; relying on this laxity and hoping for rebirth at the end of life, one will only be obstructed by karmic hindrances and, it is feared, will hardly encounter a good friend. Pressed by wind and fire, right mindfulness will not be achieved. Why is this? The present is the cause, and the end of life is the fruit: the cause must be real so that the fruit will not be false, just as when a sound is harmonious its echo follows smoothly, and when a form is upright its shadow is straight. If one wishes to accomplish the ten recitations at the end of life, one must simply prepare the ferry bridge in advance, gather together merits, and dedicate them to this moment. If thought after thought does not fall short, there is no need for worry. Now, the two wheels of good and evil and the two retributions of suffering and bliss are all created by the three karmas, produced by the four conditions, produced by the six causes, and subsumed by the five fruits. If in a single thought-moment there is anger or deviant lust, that is the karma of hell. Stinginess, greed, and insincerity are the karma of hungry ghosts. Ignorance and darkness are the karma of animals. Arrogance and conceit are the karma of asuras. Firmly upholding the five precepts is the karma of humans. Diligently cultivating the ten virtues is the karma of devas. Realizing the emptiness of persons is the karma of śrāvakas. Knowing that the nature of conditions is detached is the karma of pratyekabuddhas. Cultivating the six pāramitās equally is the karma of bodhisattvas. True compassion and impartiality are the karma of Buddhas. If the mind is pure, one is born by transformation amidst fragrant terraces and jeweled trees in a pure land; if the mind is defiled, one receives a physical form amidst hills, mounds, pits, and hollows in an impure land. These are all fruits of equal category, able to induce sovereign conditions. Therefore, apart from the source of one's own mind, there is no other substance. The Vimalakīrti Sūtra says: "If one wishes to attain a pure land, one must purify one's mind. In accordance with the purity of one's mind, the Buddha-land is purified." Another sūtra says: "Because the mind is defiled, sentient beings are defiled; because the mind is pure, sentient beings are pure." The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: "Like the wish-fulfilling jewel of the mind-king, / one sees sentient beings in accordance with the mind. / Because sentient beings' minds are pure, / they are able to see a pure land." The Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra says: "If you wish to purify your realm, just purify your mind." Therefore know that everything returns to the mind, and the myriad dharmas arise from oneself. If you wish to obtain the pure fruit, simply practice the pure cause. Just as the nature of water tends downward and the nature of fire leaps upward, such is the necessity of their momentum—what reason is there to doubt it?

4.55

General Praise of Amitābha Expounding the Essential Meaning of the Western Direction

4.56

By Dharma Master Kuiji of Ci'en

4.57

Question: The pleasures of the Buddha-lands of the ten directions are all identical; why is the western direction specifically pointed out to encourage people to be born there? Answer: Truly it is because ordinary beings' karma is heavy, and they give rise to greed everywhere. If one direction were not specifically pointed out, they would not bind their minds in focused concentration. Therefore the Lotus Sūtra says: "Sentient beings are attached everywhere; I lead them to escape." Furthermore, the master of the Western Pure Land is superior and his vows are powerful; people are generally encouraged to be reborn there to swiftly achieve the holy fruit. That is why it is specifically pointed out.

4.58

Question: The heavenly palace of Maitreya has no small amount of pleasure and many superior companions; why is it necessary to firmly urge rebirth in the west? Answer: As for Tuṣita, it is indeed superior to the human world; yet compared with the west, it becomes completely inferior. Urging rebirth in the west is abandoning the inferior and seeking the superior. Concerning the superior and inferior, the Pure Land has ten superiorities and the heavenly palace has ten inferiorities. The ten superiorities of the Pure Land are: 1. the superiority of the dwelling of the transforming master; 2. the superiority of the long lifespan of those transformed; 3. the superiority of the land not being bound to the [three] realms; 4. the superiority of the pure realm having no desire; 5. the superiority of women not dwelling there; 6. the superiority of cultivation without retrogression; 7. the superiority of the pure realm not being defiled; 8. the superiority of the land's adornments; 9. the superiority of mindfulness of the Buddha in gathering emotional thoughts; and 10. the superiority of attaining rebirth through ten recitations. The ten inferiorities of the heavenly palace are: 1. the inferiority of the land inhabited; 2. the inferiority of the short lifespan of those transformed; 3. the inferiority of being bound to and subsumed within the realms; 4. the inferiority of that heaven having desire; 5. the inferiority of men and women dwelling together; 6. the inferiority of cultivation having retrogression; 7. the inferiority of a defiled realm not being pure; 8. the inferiority of the land's adornments; 9. the inferiority of good thoughts in gathering emotional thoughts; and 10. the inferiority of cultivation being toilsome and painful. Having these ten superiorities and ten inferiorities, one is therefore urged to be born in the Land of Bliss.

4.59

Question: The sentient beings of that land have no sufferings and only experience various pleasures. Why do they have no sufferings? Answer: The sentient beings of that land are born by transformation in lotuses, so there is no suffering of birth. The four seasons cannot alter them, so there is no suffering of old age. Theirs are not fragmentary bodies, so there is no suffering of illness. Their lifespans are inexhaustible, so there is no suffering of death. There are no parents, relatives, or strangers, so there is no suffering of meeting with what is hated. Whatever they desire accords with their wishes, so there is no suffering of not getting what is sought. Their appearances are upright and dignified, so there is no suffering of deficient or ugly sense faculties. The four seasons are uniform, so there is no suffering of cold and heat. The conditioned physical forms of the Sahā world are pressed upon by the four vipers and have their lives harmed by the three dragons; with chaotic sicknesses and afflictions, death encroaches when retribution ends; what is loved must be separated from, and no hatred fails to be encountered. Because of delusion regarding ultimate truth, they arbitrarily suffer the entanglements of the aggregates. Now the crowd of compassionate ones is forever free from these; hence it is said that they have no sufferings. Not only are coarse sufferings immediately extinguished, but the wondrous fruit is also not far off.

4.60

Question: If by doing good at the end of life one can attain rebirth, why bother cultivating various superior deeds beforehand? Answer: Human lifespan and early death are difficult to fathom; one may suddenly become confused and comatose through illness, or pass away untimely. Having failed to cultivate good in this life, it is difficult to escape calamity in future lives. Doing good deeds in advance is to prevent such a fault.

4.61

Question: With ten recitations of Amitābha, one is immediately born in the Pure Land. According to this, the fruit is prominent while the cause is slight. Why does the Amitābha Sūtra state that one cannot attain rebirth in that land with few roots of goodness, blessings, and virtue as causes and conditions? Answer: Rebirth through ten recitations receives and guides lax sentient beings; on the other hand, speaking of abundant good causes and conditions addresses diligent practitioners. Whether broad or concise, their principles do not contradict each other.

4.62

Question: Does a person who is reborn have an intermediate existence (antarābhava) body or not? Answer: In the Qunyi lun there are two theories: one says that for the extremely good and extremely evil, there is no intermediate existence body; the other says that without distinguishing between good and evil, wherever there is relinquishing of retribution and taking up of birth, all have an intermediate existence in order to transmit consciousness—only excluding transformation of the body in the present lifetime, which has no intermediate existence. We now take the view that it exists as correct.

4.63

Selecting the Essential Meaning of the Western Direction from the Jizhao ji (It is not known what master composed this text; it appears in the Zhizhi jueyi ji)

4.64

Question: Ci'en composed the Commentary on the Maitreya Ascending to Heaven Sūtra deeply praising the inner court of Tuṣita, stating: "The heavenly palace has ten ways of being easy to be born in, while the Pure Land has seven ways of being difficult to be born in." What the holy teacher stated must not mislead people; how is this to be reconciled? Answer: You only know that Ci'en's Commentary on the Ascending Sūtra encourages rebirth in the heavenly palace, but do not see that the General Praise of Amitābha speaks of the ten superiorities of the Pure Land. How could the holy teacher's compositions contradict each other? It is simply that in expounding teachings according to capacities, each shows an expedient means. This is just like the Tathāgata speaking the Amitābha Sūtra, the Infinite Life Sūtra, and so forth to encourage rebirth in the west, while also speaking the Maitreya Ascending to Heaven Sūtra to encourage rebirth in the inner court: their underlying purports are of one accord. Sentient beings' capacities and conditions are distinct, and the Buddha-lands' gathering and reception are likewise so. For example, if someone's destiny of birth is in the south, and preparing a boat they wish to go to Wu and Yue, packing their bags and asking about the route, one who knows will respond to what is asked. How could one instead praise the convenience of land travel and extol the greatness of Qin and Shu? Doing so would only increase confusion and bring no benefit. A person of comprehensive understanding knows where to return according to their vows; those of shallow views and fox-like doubts force differences like Hu and Yue.

4.65

Question: In the heavenly palaces, life is long and fully sufficient for cultivation, and accumulating good deeds among humans also naturally brings transcendence. As for the asuras, nāgas, ghosts, and the evil destinies of the three paths, these are precisely where one can relieve suffering and benefit living beings. Why must one exclusively devote oneself to the Land of Ultimate Bliss?
Answer: The gods of the realm of desire are deeply attached to wondrous pleasures and drunk on the wine of desire. When their merit is exhausted, they immediately fall, like an arrow shot into the sky. Although the gods of the form realm practice solitary conduct without social interaction, they have not yet exhausted the burdens of physical form. The formless realm does not transcend saṃsāra, and in the sūtras it is determined to be a place of difficulty. As Great Being Fu said: 'Even though eighty thousand kalpas are passed, / in the end one falls into emptiness and destruction.' There is also a class of divine immortals who have attained a different principle of life and live for thousands or tens of thousands of years. The Śūraṅgama refers to them in its detailed examination of the seven destinies: all are submerged in the marks of conditioned existence; receiving births through deluded thoughts over immeasurable kalpas, they do not attain true purity. Asuras are consumed by hatred and anger, the nāga destiny is fraught with terror and distress, and the ghost realm is sunk in darkness. In the long night of the three paths, the suffering and anguish are hard to describe. Thinking from afar on the five signs of decay in heaven and observing up close the four marks among humans, what wise person would delight in entering the ocean of suffering? If one seeks to escape saṃsāra quickly, nothing surpasses seeking rebirth in the Pure Land. Those who are born in the Pure Land naturally have bodies radiant with light and possess the six supernatural powers; they keep company with the multitude of sages in an instant, transcending the three realms and abiding in constant joy. Therefore the Buddha said that the Land of Immeasurable Life has joy without limit, is forever aligned in luminosity with the Way and virtue, and forever uproots the fundamental root of birth and death.

4.66

Question: Seeing one's nature and awakening to the Way, one immediately transcends birth and death. What use is there in practicing buddha-mindfulness and seeking rebirth?
Answer: When one's penetrative knowledge is obscured regarding the minds of others, how can one fathom sage or commoner? Unless one is all-knowing, conferring a prophecy of awakening would surely be difficult. A true practitioner should examine this oneself. Good people! When you look at your own seeing of nature and awakening to the Way to enter the position of a master, can you match Aśvaghoṣa or Nāgārjuna? In attaining the great samādhi, can you match Nanyue or the Wise One? In being thoroughly versed in both the doctrine and the teachings, can you match National Preceptor Zhong or Chan Master Shou? All these masters clearly handed down oral teachings and deeply and earnestly urged people to go. How could they deceive people? Furthermore, the Buddha's golden mouth praised and enjoined this; the former worthies reverently received the Buddha's instructions, which are certainly not mistaken. Moreover, you should judge for yourself: at the end of life, can you depart or remain with complete ease? Will your beginningless bad karma fail to appear before you? Setting aside this recompense body, will you definitely escape saṃsāra? Can you appear and disappear at will in the perilous paths of the three destinies? Can you take birth without obstruction in heaven, among humans, and throughout the worlds of the ten directions? If you are clearly and fully confident that you can, what fortune could equal it! But if this is not yet so, by no means be arrogant and fail to cultivate the Pure Land.

4.67

Question: The Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch says: 'The ordinary and foolish do not understand their self-nature and do not recognize the Western Land within their own bodies; wishing for the West when in the East, an awakened person finds it the same wherever they are.' Master Baozhi said: 'The wise know that mind is Buddha; fools love to go to the Western Land.' If this path is truly genuine, why did these two great beings reject it?
Answer: When the Buddha expounds the Dharma, there are the concealed and the revealed; his teachings have the provisional and the real; human faculties have the sharp and the dull; and ancestral masters have their censures and praises. For example, just as illnesses contracted are different, the prescriptions given are also distinct. Suppose someone is suffering from heatstroke and turning yellow, just when they are in a state of great frenzy: a good physician will surely treat them with cooling medicine. How could one instead praise mica, cassia, or aconite for having the efficacy of dispelling cold and reviving the debilitated? A person of biased views, hearing that cooling medicine has the efficacy to treat heat, then claims that mica, cassia, and aconite can never be used. Would that not be absurd? Bodhidharma transmitted solely the mind-seal; Master Baozhi had just begun to praise the Mahāyāna. People at that time did not yet have faith, so how could they have turned around and taught people buddha-mindfulness to seek rebirth in the Pure Land? Those of consummate capacity and thorough understanding are naturally free of doubt, whereas beginners seeking the Dharma will surely give rise to hesitation. If you simply grasp the meaning and forget the words, harmonizing and understanding thoroughly, there will naturally be no contradiction.

4.68

Notes on Western Resources: An Examination and Clarification of the Exclusive Praise of the West

4.69

Dharma Master Zhiyuan of Gushan

4.70

Now, seeking rebirth in the Pure Land relies on other-power. Amitābha's vow embraces, Śākyamuni encourages and praises, and all buddhas protect and keep in mind—these three are complete. If one only has faith, rebirth is very easy. It is like crossing a great ocean: once one has obtained a giant vessel, there is still a good guide, and favorable winds are added; one will surely be able to reach the other shore quickly. If someone is unwilling to board the ship and tarries in an evil land, whose fault is that? Now, there are pure lands throughout all ten directions, and Śākyamuni universally praised them throughout the sūtras as well. Yet practitioners of the final age are partial to seeking rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and wishing to ascend to the Heaven of Contentment—how could this not be because the teaching methods of Amitābha and Śākyamuni are mutually connected? Maitreya is furthermore Śākyamuni's successor, and so those among living beings who wish and delight in this are many, while those with slight perplexity are numerous. In recent generations, those of shallow understanding are unable to redouble their practice, but merely disparage each other in vain: those fond of the Pure Land may disparage the Heaven of Contentment, while those who honor the Inner Court slander the Western Land. How do they not realize that the two gates of guiding beings return together to the single path? I send word to later students: you should reflect on this yourself. Someone asked: 'The Wise One and Ci'en are both sagely masters, yet each exclusively praised one direction. Why do you not allow this?' I replied: 'The sagely masters exclusively praised one to draw upon particular inclinations, causing people's minds to become resolute; therefore those who benefited were many. But as times change and people become superficial, exclusive praise has resulted in abuses. Therefore, I harmonize and integrate them once again, hoping to calm disputes and bring benefit, so that each may seek rebirth according to their own inclination. If in later generations harmonizing and unifying them should in turn become an abuse, I also hope that worthies who match the age will again use exclusive praise to remedy it. Responding to the disease with the medicine, what is valued is only bringing benefit to living beings; how could there be any fixed standard?' However, since my childhood I have chanted this sūtra, and although I contemplate all ten directions, in the end I set my heart on the Pure Land. From this I know that I have an affinity with Amitābha! People of the world sometimes say: 'The dharmadhātu is merged into one; who distinguishes this from that? Mind-only is all-pervading; what use is there in going and coming?' Now I say: for those worldly people who hold such an understanding, where they dwell they surely seek good company; those they approach they surely select as famous teachers; what they wear they still take pleasure in fine clothes; and what they eat they may favor delicious food. If these four do not obstruct the dharmadhātu being merged into one and mind-only being all-pervading, then what obstructs associating with the pure assembly of the Land of Bliss, drawing near to the renowned teacher Amitābha, wearing supreme, wondrous heavenly garments, and eating the delicious food of Cunda? How would that not be superior to this land? Furthermore, there are those in the world who, hearing of passing beyond a hundred thousand kotis of buddha lands, look at the route and dread its distance; or hearing that those born there are mostly in the stage of succession, feel ashamed that they themselves cannot attain it. How do they not realize that the empty realms of the ten directions are entirely our own mind? When the mind is pure, a hundred thousand [lands] are not distant; when the mind is defiled, one's own eyelashes are far away. If you simply expect the mind to be pure, what need is there to calculate the journey? Do you not consider that during a brief sleep, in a dream one travels a thousand li? Can this be compared to ordinary times? Moreover, have you not heard the Śūraṅgama say: 'The empty space of the ten directions is produced within your mind, just like a single flake of cloud dotting the great expanse of clear sky'? How much more so the various worlds within empty space! Now, if you fear the distance of the journey, you are fearing your own mind, not fearing the journey. Again, if you say 'I am an inferior commoner, while they are mostly in the stage of succession,' consider that one's own mind is itself the Buddha, and the principle of cause and effect is identical. There are even those who, in this defiled and evil realm, with their short and fleeting lifespans, transcend and ascend to the ten stages in a single lifetime. In that pure land, lifespan is moreover immeasurable; since the realm is superior and time is long, why worry that you will not reach the stage of succession? I earnestly hope the wise will quietly reflect on this, neither falling short of the Buddha's grace nor doing an injustice to themselves. Strive, strive!

4.71

Letter Requesting Dharma Master Siming to Remain in the World

4.72

Yang Yi, Duke of Wen

4.73

Yi states: Recently, I have learned that the Great Master has made a covenant to form an association of ten monks, committing to a three-year repentance, and intending to step into the samādhi of fiery light, having resolved to attain rebirth in the Pure Land. The view of self is instantly emptied, and the power of your vows grows ever stronger, to ascend to the highest grade of the lotus flower and hear the supreme sound of the Dharma trees. This matter is not in vain, but is what the former buddhas verified. However, in my worldly mind I earnestly cherish a prayerful wish, precisely because the Great Master has penetrated the guidance of the threefold contemplation and is revered by the four assemblies, continuing the life of wisdom of Mount Tiantai and opening the gate of deliverance of Yuejue. The ten good deeds guide people to vie in abiding in pure karma; the single voice upholds the teaching, broadly expounding the golden words. Your compassionate shade is universally impartial, and the wind of your Way is truly harmonious. The realm of Ultimate Bliss is indeed an expedient manifestation of the King of Awakening, while this body of great trouble is not what a wise person delights in. Yet if there is rejoicing and revulsion, love and hate arise; once the mind of grasping and rejecting sprouts, the view of subject and object is born. I trust that you have thoroughly awakened and long investigated the true and eternal, and merely condescend to initial capacities hoping to stimulate pure practice. I humbly hope that, in accord with the imperial edict, you will further broaden the field of merit, prolong the period of your life in this world, and widely expand the flourishing of your teaching conditions. I also hope that when the period of repentance is concluded, you will slightly redirect your Dharma steps to grant me your company, so that I may emulate Cunda in reverently offering the final meal, and wish, like Ānanda, to instantly dispel the mind of detachment from the dusts of the world. Fortunately take pity on my ignorance, and do not hasten toward extinction. I earnestly hope you will deign to listen, and I gaze upward awaiting your reply. Respectfully submitted.

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樂邦文類 — Classical Chinese