龍舒增廣淨土文 2.12

2.12

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!