龍舒增廣淨土文 11.4

11.4

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]."