龍舒增廣淨土文 2.8

2.8

The sūtra also says: Immeasurable and countless kalpas ago, there was the Buddha Lokeśvararāja who appeared to transform and deliver sentient beings. At that time there was a great king who went to listen to the teaching of the Dharma; he then had an awakening, renounced the royal throne, and went to practice, taking the name Monk Dharmākara. This was Amitābha Buddha. Facing the Buddha Lokeśvararāja, he made forty-eight great vows, vow after vow being for the salvation and deliverance of sentient beings. Having made these vows, he was vigorous so as to resolve birth and death, and next entered the bodhisattva grounds. To 'resolve birth and death' means to have birth and death at one's own command. To 'enter the bodhisattva grounds' means to cultivate wisdom within and cultivate merit externally. One who cultivates wisdom causes their nature of wisdom to broaden daily; when in one day they attain Buddhahood, their nature of wisdom encompasses the empty space of worlds, with nothing unknown and nothing unseen. One who cultivates merit takes birth among all sentient beings, sharing their forms and understanding their speech to set forth teaching and transformation; thus from the lord of heaven above down to tiny insects and ants, he took birth among them all. In this way, for immeasurable and countless kalpas, he set forth the transformation of sentient beings. Now, one who sets forth the transformation of sentient beings never fails to gain merit; gaining merit without enjoying it, his merit accumulates more and more and grows greater, and over time pervades the worlds of empty space. When merit is great, majestic spiritual power is great—just as when worldly people's official rank is high, their power and influence are great. Thus, with his majestic spiritual power there was nothing impossible, and only then could he accomplish his vows and enter the station of a Buddha. From his initial making of vows down to his attaining Buddhahood, none of it was not for the sake of sentient beings. Therefore, if a person has utmost faith, turns to him, and recites his name, in this present life they will surely receive blessings and protection, and after death will surely be born straight into Sukhāvatī. If they can with concentrated mind visualize his form, in this present life they will surely see the Buddha's true body. Because the Buddha's majestic spiritual presence is nowhere absent, and the person's mental mindfulness becomes thoroughly attuned to the Buddha, there is naturally an interaction, and so the Buddha manifests his body. Details appear in Fascicle 5.