龍舒增廣淨土文 2.12

2.12

淨土傳云：阿彌陀佛與觀音、勢至二菩薩，乘大願船泛生死海，就此娑婆世界，呼引眾生上大願船，送至西方。如肯往者，無不得生也。觀此則是與菩薩憫念眾生沈淪苦海無由得出故，自以誓威力招誘人生淨土。如舟人招誘行人登舟，送至彼岸也。人唯恐不信耳，若信心肯往，雖有罪惡亦無不得生。蓋佛不可以凡人比，凡人不為勢利不與人交、非有益於己不與人交，此所以為凡人也。賢人君子已不如此，況於佛乎。蓋不慈悲不足為佛、不濟度眾生不足為佛、不有大威力不足為佛。為其慈悲故，見眾生沈於苦海而欲濟度；為其有大威力故，能遂濟度之心、成濟度之功，此所以為佛也。經云：大醫王能治一切病，不能治命盡之人。佛能度一切眾生，不能度一切不信之人。以不信比命盡者，可謂極矣。蓋信者一念也。若人在生時心念要去，身則隨去。心念欲住，身則隨住。是身常隨念，然猶有念欲去而身被牽繫者。身壞時唯一念而已，一念到處則無不到，是以一念在淨土則必生淨土，況佛與菩薩又招引人往生乎。

The Pure Land Biographies say: Amitābha Buddha, together with the two bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta, rides the boat of the great vow to float upon the sea of birth and death, and approaches this Sahā world, calling and leading sentient beings to board the boat of the great vow and sending them to the West. If one is willing to go, there is none who will not attain birth. Looking at this, the Buddha and bodhisattvas pity and think upon sentient beings sinking in the sea of suffering with no way to get out, and therefore, by the power of their vows, personally invite and attract people to be born in the Pure Land—just as a ferryman invites travelers to board the boat and sends them to the other shore. One only fears that people will not believe; if one has a faithful mind and is willing to go, even if one has sins and evils, there is none who will not attain birth. For the Buddha cannot be compared to ordinary people: ordinary people do not interact with others without power or profit; they do not interact with others unless it benefits themselves—this is why they are ordinary people. Worthy people and gentlemen are already not like this, how much less so the Buddha! For without loving-kindness and compassion, one does not suffice to be a Buddha; without saving and delivering sentient beings, one does not suffice to be a Buddha; without great majestic power, one does not suffice to be a Buddha. Because of his loving-kindness and compassion, seeing sentient beings sinking in the sea of suffering, he wishes to save and deliver them; because of his great majestic power, he can fulfill his wish to save and deliver, accomplishing the merit of salvation and deliverance—this is why he is a Buddha. The sūtra says: The Great Physician King can cure all illnesses, but cannot cure a person whose life has ended. The Buddha can deliver all sentient beings, but cannot deliver any person who does not believe. Comparing the unbelieving to one whose life has ended can be called extreme. Now, faith is a single thought. If, while alive, a person's mental thought desires to go, the body follows and goes; if the mental thought desires to stay, the body follows and stays. Thus the body constantly follows thought; yet there are still times when the thought desires to go but the body is tied down. When the body breaks up, there is only a single thought; wherever a single thought arrives, there is nowhere it does not reach. Therefore, if a single thought is in the Pure Land, one will surely be born in the Pure Land—how much more so when the Buddha and bodhisattvas also summon and guide people to rebirth!