龍舒增廣淨土文 11.4

11.4

夫以念為念、以生為生者，常見之所失也。以無念為無念、以無生為無生者，邪見之所惑也。念而無念、生而無生者，第一義諦也。是以實際理地不受一塵，則上無諸佛之可念、下無淨土之可生。佛事門中不捨一法，則總攝諸根。蓋有念佛三昧還源要術，示開往生一門，所以終日念佛而不乖於無念，熾然往生而不乖於無生，故能凡聖各住於自位而感應道交，東西不相往來而神遷淨域，此不可得而致詰也。故經云「若人聞說阿彌陀佛，執持名號，乃至是人終時心不顛倒，即得往生阿彌陀佛極樂國土。」夫如來世尊雖分折攝二門、現居淨穢兩土，然大聖之意，非以娑婆國土丘陵坑坎、五趣雜居、土石諸山、穢惡充滿直為可厭，又非以極樂世界黃金為地、行樹參空、樓聳七珍、華敷四色直為可忻。蓋以初心入道忍力未淳，須託淨緣以為增上。何則？娑婆國土，釋迦已滅、彌勒未生；極樂世界，阿彌陀佛現在說法。娑婆國土，觀音、勢至徒仰嘉名；極樂世界，彼二上人親為勝友。娑婆國土，諸魔競作惱亂行人；極樂世界，大光明中決無魔事。娑婆國土，邪聲雜亂女色妖媱；極樂世界，水鳥樹林咸宣妙法，正報清淨實無女人。然則修行緣具無若西方，淺信之人橫生疑謗。切嘗論之。此方之人無不厭俗舍之煩喧、慕蘭若之寂靜，故有捨家出家則慇勤讚歎。而娑婆眾苦，何止俗舍之煩喧？極樂優游，豈止蘭若之寂靜？知出家為美而不願往生，其惑一也。萬里辛勤遠求知識者，蓋以發明大事決擇生死。而彌陀世尊色心業勝、願力弘深，一演圓音無不明契，願參知識而不欲見佛，其惑二也。叢林廣眾皆樂捿遲，少眾道場不欲依附。而極樂世界一生補處其數甚多，諸上善人俱會一處。既欲親近叢林，而不慕清淨海眾，其惑三也。此方之人上壽不過百歲，而童癡老耄疾病相仍，昏沈睡眠常居太半。菩薩猶昏隔陰、聲聞尚昧出胎，則尺璧寸陰十喪其九，而未登不退，可謂寒心。西方之人壽命無量，一托蓮苞更無死苦，相續無間直至菩提，所以便獲阿惟越致，佛階決定可期。流轉娑婆促景，而不知淨土長年，其惑四也。若乃位居不退、果證無生，在欲無欲、居塵不塵，方能興無緣慈、運同體悲，迴入塵勞、和光五濁。其有淺聞單慧，或與少善相應，便謂永出四流、高超十地，詆訶淨土、耽戀娑婆，掩目空歸、宛然流浪，並肩牛馬、接武泥犁。不知自是何人，擬此大權菩薩，其惑五也。故經「應當發願生彼國」，則不信諸佛誠言、不願往生淨土，豈不甚迷哉？若夫信佛言而生淨土，則累繫之所不能拘、劫波之所不能害，謝人間之八苦、無天上之五衰，尚無惡道之名，何況有實？唯顯一乘之法，決定無三。歸依一體三寶、奉事十方如來，佛光照體、萬惑潛消，法味資神、六通具足，三十七品助道法應念圓成、三十二應隨類身遍周塵剎，周旋五趣普被諸根、不動一心遍行三昧，灑定水於三千、出眾生於火宅，自利利他皆悉圓滿。然則唯心淨土自性阿彌，蓋解脫之要門、修行之捷徑，是以了義大乘無不指歸淨土、前賢後聖自他皆願往生。凡以欲得度人，先須自度故也。嗚呼！人無遠慮，必有近憂。一失其身，萬劫深悔。故率大海眾，各念彌陀佛百聲千聲乃至萬聲，回向同緣願生彼國。切冀蓮池勝會、金地法明，綺互相資必諧斯願。操舟順水更加櫓棹之功，則十萬遙程不勞而至矣。

Now, taking thought as thought and taking birth as birth is the error of eternalism. Taking non-thought as non-thought and taking non-arising as non-arising is the delusion of wrong views. Thought that is free of thought, birth that is free of arising—this is the supreme truth of the first principle. Therefore, on the ground of the reality-limit not a single speck of dust is admitted; thus above there are no buddhas to be recollected, and below there is no Pure Land to be born into. Within the gates of Buddha-activities not a single dharma is abandoned; thus all faculties are completely gathered. Indeed, there is the essential method of returning to the source through the samādhi of recollection of the Buddha, which demonstrates and opens the single gate of rebirth. Hence, one may recollect the Buddha all day long without departing from non-thought, and fervently attain rebirth without departing from non-arising. Thus ordinary beings and sages each abide in their own positions while stimulus and response intimately correspond; East and West do not travel back and forth, yet the spirit transfers to the pure realm. This cannot be cross-examined or disputed. Therefore the sūtra says: 'If a person hears tell of Amitābha Buddha and upholds his name... until when this person's life ends, their mind is not inverted, then they will attain rebirth in Amitābha Buddha's Land of Sukhāvatī.' Although the Tathāgata, the World-Honoured One, differentiated the two approaches of subduing and gathering in, and manifested dwelling in the two lands, pure and defiled, yet the great sage's intention was not that the Sahā realm—with its hills, mounds, pits, and hollows, the mingling of the five destinies, dirt, stones, and mountains, filled with defilement and evil—is merely to be abhorred, nor was it that the world of Sukhāvatī—with its ground of yellow gold, rows of trees piercing the sky, towers soaring with the seven treasures, and flowers blooming in four colors—is merely to be rejoiced in. It is because those who newly enter the path have not yet refined their endurance power, and must rely on pure conditions to serve as an augmenting factor. Why is this? In the Sahā realm, Śākyamuni has already passed into extinction and Maitreya has not yet been born; in the world of Sukhāvatī, Amitābha Buddha is presently expounding the Dharma. In the Sahā realm, people merely revere the fine names of Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta from afar; in the world of Sukhāvatī, those two superior persons personally serve as excellent friends. In the Sahā realm, various māras compete to torment and confuse practitioners; in the world of Sukhāvatī, amid great brilliance, there are decidedly no demonic activities. In the Sahā realm, corrupt sounds are clamorous and chaotic, and female forms are seductive and alluring; in the world of Sukhāvatī, the water, birds, and groves of trees all proclaim the wondrous Dharma, and the primary fruition is pure, truly without women. Such being the case, for the completeness of conditions for cultivation, none compares to the Western direction, yet people of shallow faith groundlessly give rise to doubts and slander. Let us carefully examine this. Among the people of this land, there are none who do not loathe the noisy clamor of secular dwellings and yearn for the quiet solitude of an araṇya. Therefore, when someone leaves home and goes forth, they earnestly praise them. Yet do the many sufferings of Sahā stop merely at the noisy clamor of secular dwellings? Does the ease of Sukhāvatī stop merely at the quiet solitude of an araṇya? Knowing that leaving home is fine yet unwilling to seek rebirth—this is their first confusion. Those who labor over ten thousand miles to seek spiritual friends from afar do so in order to clarify the great matter and resolve life and death. Yet the form, mind, and deeds of Amitābha, the World-Honoured One, are supreme, and his vow power is vast and profound; once he expounds the perfect sound, there are none who do not clearly accord with it. Wishing to visit spiritual friends yet unwilling to see the Buddha—this is their second confusion. In the great assemblies of monastic groves, all are glad to lodge, while they do not wish to rely upon sanctuaries with few people. Yet in the world of Sukhāvatī, those bound to one last birth are exceedingly numerous, and all superior good persons gather in one place. Wishing to draw near to monastic groves yet not yearning for the assembly of the pure ocean—this is their third confusion. People of this land have a maximum lifespan not exceeding a hundred years, and childhood ignorance, senility, and illness follow one after another, while stupor and sleep usually occupy more than half of it. Bodhisattvas are still confused by the barrier of the womb, and śrāvakas are still blinded upon leaving the womb; thus out of the great jade and the short moments, nine out of ten are lost, and without having attained non-retrogression, it may truly chill the heart. The people of the Western direction have immeasurable lifespans; once they rely on the lotus calyx, there is no further suffering of death, continuing without interruption straight to bodhi. Hence they immediately obtain avaivartika, and the stage of buddhahood can be definitively anticipated. Transmigrating through Sahā's fleeting span yet being ignorant of the longevity of the Pure Land—this is their fourth confusion. Now, only when one's position is established in non-retrogression and one's fruit verifies non-arising, being without desire in desire and undefiled while dwelling in defilement, can one arouse compassion without conditions, exercise compassion of identical substance, re-enter the toil of worldly defilements, and harmonize one's light with the five turbidities. There are those of shallow learning and meager wisdom, or who resonate with a little bit of goodness, who immediately claim to have forever escaped the four currents and soared high above the ten stages. Slandering the Pure Land and clinging to Sahā, they close their eyes and return empty-handed, drifting aimlessly as before, shoulder-to-shoulder with oxen and horses, following close on the heels of the denizens of Niraya. Not knowing what kind of persons they are themselves, they imitate these bodhisattvas of great skillful adaptation—this is their fifth confusion. Therefore the sūtra says: 'You should make vows to be born in that land.' To disbelieve the sincere words of all the buddhas and be unwilling to be born in the Pure Land—is this not utter delusion? If, on the other hand, one believes the Buddha's words and is born in the Pure Land, then the fetters of worldly entanglements cannot bind one, and kalpa-destructions cannot harm one; one leaves behind the eight sufferings of the human world, and is free of the five signs of decay of the heavens. Even the names of the evil destinies do not exist, much less their reality! Only the Dharma of the One Vehicle is revealed, definitively without three. Taking refuge in the three jewels of identical essence, serving the Tathāgatas of the ten directions, the Buddha's light illuminates one's body and the myriad delusions secretly vanish; the flavor of the Dharma nourishes the spirit, and the six supernormal powers are fully endowed. The thirty-seven factors of awakening are completely perfected at a thought; the thirty-two response bodies accord with each kind and pervade the dust-mote lands. Revolving through the five destinies to shelter all capacities universally, without moving the single mind one universally practices all samādhis, sprinkling the water of meditative concentration over the trichiliocosm and leading sentient beings out of the burning house: both benefiting oneself and benefiting others are fully perfected. Thus the mind-only Pure Land and the Amitābha of original nature are indeed the essential gateway to liberation and the shortcut of practice. Therefore, the Mahāyāna of definitive meaning without exception points to the Pure Land as its culmination, and former worthies and later sages, for themselves and for others, all vow to be born there. This is all because in wishing to save others, one must first save oneself. Alas! If a person does not have distant foresight, they will surely have immediate worries. Once one loses this body, there will be deep regret for ten thousand kalpas. Therefore, I lead the great ocean-like assembly, each to recite Amitābha Buddha a hundred times, a thousand times, or even ten thousand times, dedicating the merits together in common fellowship, vowing to be born in that land. We earnestly hope that in the superior assembly of the lotus pond and the brilliant Dharma of the golden ground, supporting each other, this vow will certainly be fulfilled. Steering a boat downstream with the added effort of oars and sculls, one will effortlessly arrive at the journey of a hundred thousand [li]."