樂邦遺稿 1.111

1.111

Vinaya Master Lingzhi Dazhi's Guan jing yishu says: 'There are people who make vows, wishing that before they attain the Way, wherever they are born, they may meet a Buddha, hear the Dharma, and become monks as chaste youths. I say now that if one is born in the Pure Land, one will naturally meet the Buddha and become a monk. It is only because they do not know the Pure Land that they have this vow. It is also like Xu Ling's vow, saying: "I vow to return to the human realm, take birth in a place that is neither high nor low, and become a monk as a chaste youth." He was among the Confucian literati, so he is not subject to rebuke. Yet masters of Chan and doctrinal lectures mostly hold this view. I once tried saying to them: "You have now already obtained a male body and become a monk, so you should simply seek liberation. Why then seek a male body again and vow to become a monk again? Is there no superior progress at all?"'