龍舒增廣淨土文 3.18

3.18

且若人苦飢者與之一食、苦寒者與之一衣，已為大慧。況彼沈淪六道無有出期，我指示以此法門，使直脫輪迴受無窮無極之壽樂，其慧豈可窮盡哉？《金剛經》云「若人以恒河沙等身布施，如是無量百千萬億劫，不如有人聞此經典信心不退，其福勝彼。」蓋以布施者不免受世間福報有時而盡；若信此經典，則有悟真性之漸，其為福則無時而盡，所以勝於彼也。以予勸之，豈唯信《金剛經》者如此，若勸人以淨土，其福報亦然。何則？淨土更無輪迴、已不退轉，直至成佛而後已。生於彼者雖未成佛，乃成佛之楷梯，是勸一人修淨土，乃成就一眾生作佛也。凡作佛者必度無量之眾生，彼所度之眾生皆由我而始，則其福報豈不勝於以恒河沙等身布施無量百千萬億劫乎？

Moreover, if someone gives a meal to a starving person or a garment to a freezing person, that is already great kindness. How much more so when those who are sinking in the six destinies have no time of release, and I point out this Dharma door to them, enabling them to directly escape transmigration and receive boundless and limitless lifespan and bliss—how could such kindness be exhausted? The Diamond Sūtra says: 'If someone were to give away their body as many times as the sands of the Ganges, doing so for immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of kalpas, it would not equal someone hearing this scripture with non-retrogressing faith; that person's blessings surpass the former.' This is because giving inevitably results in worldly blessed rewards that at times run out; whereas if one has faith in this scripture, one gradually awakens to the true nature, and such blessings never run out; that is why it surpasses the former. In my view, it is not only those who have faith in the Diamond Sūtra who are like this; if one exhorts people with the Pure Land, the blessed reward is also the same. Why? In the Pure Land there is no further transmigration, and one has already attained non-retrogression, persisting straight until becoming a Buddha. Although those born there have not yet become Buddhas, it is the stepping stone to becoming a Buddha; thus, to exhort a single person to cultivate the Pure Land is to bring a single sentient being to completion as a Buddha. Whenever one becomes a Buddha, one must deliver immeasurable sentient beings; since the sentient beings delivered by that person all originated from me, how could such blessed reward not surpass giving away bodies as many as the sands of the Ganges for immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of kalpas?