樂邦文類 4.52

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?