龍舒增廣淨土文 3.16

3.16

予為此淨土說，欲勸一切見者聞者廣大其心，以佛之心為心，使人人知之而盡生淨土。當起念云：此法門人若知之，如己知之，豈不快哉！人若不知，如己不知，豈不痛哉！若止於自修，則是聲聞之徒，名為小乘。蓋如車乘之小者，僅得自濟已，而此佛所謂斷佛種也。能廣勸人者，名為大乘菩薩，蓋如車乘之大者，人我兼濟之，謂此獲無量福報，所以能至佛地也。十方恒河沙數諸佛，皆共讚歎阿彌陀佛功德不可思議，謂不可以心思、不可以言議也。其功德如此，可謂至矣。何所施而不可？故能勸一人修淨土，以此善緣消釋罪惡可也、增崇福壽可也、莊嚴往生功德可也、追薦亡者亦可也。然必至誠呪願，無不獲其功果，觀房翥傳可見其略矣。況勸一人以上至五人十人乎？又況使其受勸者轉以相勸，遞相繼續而不已乎？如是則西方之說可遍天下，苦海眾生可盡生淨土矣。勸人善道，名為法施。此淨土法門為法施之大者，遂超出輪迴，非其他法施之比，故其福報不可窮盡。故大慈菩薩勸修西方偈云「能勸二人修，比自己精進，勸至十餘人，福德已無量。如勸百與千，名為真菩薩。又能過萬數，即是阿彌陀。」觀此則知西方之說者，豈可不廣大其心而使人人共知此道，以積無量福報乎？

In making this Pure Land discourse, I wish to exhort all who see and hear it to broaden their minds, take the Buddha's mind as their own mind, and enable everyone to know it and all be born in the Pure Land. One should give rise to the thought: 'If others know this Dharma door just as I know it, how joyful! If others do not know it, it is as if I myself did not know it—how painful!' If one merely stops at self-cultivation, one belongs to the faction of śrāvakas, named the Small Vehicle. For like a small carriage, it can only carry oneself across; and this is what the Buddha called severing the Buddha-seed. Those who can broadly exhort others are called Mahāyāna bodhisattvas; for like a great carriage, it ferries across both others and oneself. This is said to obtain immeasurable blessed reward, which is why one can reach the Buddha ground. The Buddhas of the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, all jointly praise the inconceivable merit of Amitābha Buddha, meaning it cannot be conceived by the mind nor expressed in words. Since his merit is like this, it can be called supreme. What application could fail? Therefore, if one can exhort a single person to cultivate the Pure Land, through this good condition one may dissolve sins and evils, increase and enhance blessings and longevity, adorn the merit of rebirth, or dedicate merit for the deceased. If one vows with utmost sincerity, there are none who do not obtain its merit and result; by examining the biography of Fang Zhu, this can be seen in outline. How much more so if one beholds exhorting more than one person, up to five or ten people? And how much more so if those who received the exhortation in turn exhort others, continuing on without cease? In this way, the teachings of the West could spread throughout the world, and sentient beings in the sea of suffering could all be born in the Pure Land. Exhorting people to the good path is called the gift of Dharma. This Pure Land Dharma door is the greatest of Dharma gifts, for it leads directly beyond transmigration; it is not comparable to other Dharma gifts, and therefore its blessed reward cannot be exhausted. Thus the Verse Exhorting Practice of the West by Daci Bodhisattva says: 'If one can exhort two people to practice, it surpasses one's own diligence; / if one exhorts up to ten or more, one's blessings and virtues are already immeasurable. / If one exhorts a hundred or a thousand, one is called a true bodhisattva; / and if one can surpass ten thousand, that is Amitābha himself.' Observing this, how could those who know the teachings of the West not broaden their minds to let everyone together know this path, so as to accumulate immeasurable blessed rewards?