龍舒增廣淨土文 3

English (machine translation) 3

Language: English

3.1

Composed by Wang Rixiu, Jinshi of the Imperial Academy

Mencius said: 'All people can become Yao or Shun.' Xunzi said: 'The person in the street can become Yu.' Bodhisattva Sadāparibhūta said: 'I dare not disrespect you, for you will all become Buddhas.' Thus everyone can become a sage or a worthy; everyone can become a Buddha. The Western Pure Land is an essential and direct gateway; there is no one who cannot practice it. Therefore, this is written to universally encourage practice.

3.3

Universal Encouragement to Practice, Part One

3.4

Someone asked Confucius: 'There was a man who moved house and forgot his wife. Has such a thing ever happened?' Confucius said: 'There is one even worse: Jie and Zhou forgot their own persons.' If viewed with the eye of the Dao, people today have all forgotten their own persons. Why? From opening their eyes and leaving bed in the early morning until going to bed and closing their eyes at night, there is nothing that is not worldly toil; never have they paused to examine their own persons. This is for all of them to forget their own persons. Moreover, regarding a person's person: speaking in terms of a day, nothing is greater than hunger and thirst, so one must prepare food and drink; speaking in terms of a year, nothing is greater than cold and heat, so one must prepare furs and linen; speaking in terms of an entire lifetime, nothing is greater than death and life—and yet people make no preparation for the Pure Land. Why is this? Furthermore, if someone possesses a hundred catties of gold and is suddenly overtaken by great peril, unable to carry it along, they will certainly cast it aside and depart. If they were to embrace the gold and die with it, the world would surely call it great folly; this shows that everyone knows this person is weightier than a hundred catties of gold. Yet in ordinary times they petty-mindedly pursue fame and compete for profit, refusing to part even with an object worth a hundred coins, not cherishing their own person. Why is this? If blamed as a thief or scolded as a beast, they flush with anger; some harbor resentment and grudge for a lifetime that cannot be resolved; some go as far as fighting and brawling, resulting in lawsuits and imprisonment. The names of thief and beast do no harm to one's person, yet one despises them like this; this is merely to spare the reputation of one's person, without knowing how to spare the reality of one's person. Why is this? Moreover, the reality of one's person is nothing else: conventionally called 'death', it is that which in truth has never died. People merely see that one casts aside this broken body and leaves, and thereupon call it 'death', not knowing that in casting aside this one, one goes to that one. Yet can one fail to make preparations in advance for the place to which one is going? Therefore, the discourse of the West truly cannot be neglected.

3.5

Universal Encouragement to Practice, Part Two

3.6

During a person's life, parents, wife and children, houses and lands, cattle, sheep, carts and horses, down to tables, stools, utensils, garments, belts and cords—whether great or small, whether passed down from ancestors, acquired through one's own labor, or accumulated for one by children, grandchildren, or others—every single thing is taken as one's own property. Even if window paper is trivial, if someone tears it one still feels anger; even if a needle is trivial, if someone takes it away one still feels stinginess. When granaries and storehouses are full, the mind is still not satisfied; when gold and silk are abundant, enterprise still does not cease: everywhere one looks and with every step one takes, there is nothing but grasping attachment. Staying a single night away from home, one already worries about the household; when a servant has not returned, one already frets over their loss: every kind of affair occupies the mind. Once the great limit arrives, all of it is cast away. Even this body of mine is an abandoned thing, how much more so what is external to the body? Reflecting on it with a calm mind, it is just like a dream. Therefore Zhuangzi said: 'Only after there is a great awakening does one know that this is a great dream.' An ancient said: 'One day when impermanence arrives, one finally knows one was a person in a dream. Ten thousand things cannot be taken along; only karma accompanies the body.' How wonderful are these words! I therefore took the latter two lines and added two lines to make a verse: / Ten thousand things cannot be taken along; / Only karma accompanies the body. / Simply be mindful of Amitābha, / And you will surely be born in Sukhāvatī. / 'Karma' refers to good karma and evil karma; these are what can be taken along. How could one not take the Pure Land as one's karma? Elder Liaoming once preached to the assembly, pointing to this body and saying: 'This is a dead thing; that which is lively and spirited within it is the living thing. Do not make plans upon the dead thing; you ought to make plans upon the living thing.' I deeply love these words, and so I often speak them to others. All those who greedily seek various external things to sustain their bodies are making plans upon the dead thing. Although people of the world cannot yet avoid this, amidst managing their livelihoods and sustaining their bodies they ought to spare a moment's leisure to turn the light inward and reflect upon themselves, so as to set their minds on the Pure Land; this is to make plans upon the living thing. Moreover, even if one busily pursues a livelihood and attains wealth like Shi Chong or nobility at the very pinnacle of the first rank, there is ultimately an allotted end to it. How could it compare to the Pure Land's endlessness?

3.7

Universal Encouragement to Practice, Part Three

3.8

Humans originally have never died; the name 'death' is derived only from this physical body. Why? Because the spirit comes and lodges here, and the form grows on this account; therefore it is called 'birth'. Because the spirit departs and leaves here, and the form decays on this account; therefore it is called 'death'. Thus the spirit is 'I'; the form is my dwelling. Because I have coming and going, the dwelling has formation and decay. If so, then birth is not true birth; it is merely that because the spirit comes, the form takes shape. Death is not true death; it is merely that because the spirit departs, the form decays. People of the world do not recognize their spirit, but merely see their form; thus they delight in life and hate death—how can this not be sorrowful? Furthermore, when the spirit comes, from where does it come? It comes following karmic conditions. When the spirit departs, from where does it depart? It departs following karmic conditions. What is karma? If what one has done is the karma of the human realm, the spirit follows it and is born in the human realm; if what one has done is the karma of the heavens, the spirit follows it and is born in the heavens; if one has done the karma of the asuras, the spirit follows it and is born among the asuras; if one has done the karma of the three evil paths, the spirit follows it and is born in the three evil paths: this is transmigration in the six destinies without any time of escape. If so, then from beginningless time the spirit has entered wombs and changed shells, unable to remain long in one place. Why is this so? Because the karma we create is not lasting and inexhaustible; hence the spirit dwells according to karma. When karma is exhausted the form decays; when the form decays the spirit has no dwelling, and it goes following the karma we have created in this present life. Just as a person building a house must dwell in it, and a person eating and drinking must taste the flavor, so creating such karma one must receive such retribution; this is the principle of nature. If so, how can we not be cautious in what we do in this present life! For those who wish to cast off saṃsāra directly and seek to be free from distress and affliction, nothing compares to the Western Pure Land; therefore, it cannot be left unpracticed.

3.9

Universal Encouragement to Practice, Part Four

3.10

In this world, human lives are all like water bubbles, arising and perishing without permanence. Some last one or two years, some ten or twenty; to fortunately reach forty or fifty is already difficult. Though there are those who reach seventy, since ancient times they have been rare. People only see the elderly before their eyes, never considering that those who pass away before growing old are many. Moreover, the mundane world is nothing but suffering, yet because people do not reflect, they are not aware of it. Times of adversity are certainly suffering; even if things go as wished, it does not last long. Parents, wives, children, and kin either die of illness, are harmed and separated, or one's own end arrives suddenly. How could one's lifelong sins and transgressions be completely absent? Taking only the present as an example: giving rise to a single improper thought, speaking a single improper word, looking upon a single improper form, listening to a single improper sound, or doing a single improper deed—none of these are not faults and evils. Furthermore, what one eats is the flesh of sentient beings, and what one wears is also obtained by killing sentient beings; what is more, all one's faults and evils do not stop at eating meat. If one does not think on it, it passes; but once one reflects on it, it is truly terrifying! Accumulated in abundance from youth to old age and from birth to death, entangled and solid, there is no way to liberation. After closing one's eyes, one cannot avoid following karmic conditions, departing into obscurity and gloom, not knowing where one will be. One may fall into hell to suffer extreme torments, or become an animal to be slaughtered by humans, or be born as a hungry ghost with the fire of hunger burning one's body, or enter the asuras, oppressed by wrath and hatred. Though there may be good karma by which one is born in the heavens or the human realm, once that blessed reward is exhausted, one transmigrates as before, drifting and sinking with no time of release. Only the Western Pure Land is the utmost shortcut to transcend transmigration. A physical body is difficult to obtain; while healthy and strong, accomplish this great matter! One should constantly reflect: 'Since beginningless time I have transmigrated through the six destinies and never knew this Dharma door, hence I could not escape. Today, having learned of it, how could I not set to work immediately?' The aged should indeed exert themselves, and the young must not procrastinate either. When life ends, go directly to rebirth in Sukhāvatī; looking back at those who die, enter the underworld, see King Yama, and undergo terrors, the two cannot be spoken of in the same breath.

3.11

Universal Exhortation to Practice, Five

3.12

For instance, when a person enters a great city, he must first find a place of lodging, and only then go out to attend to business; when evening darkness arrives, he then has a place to stay. Finding a lodging place first refers to cultivating the Pure Land. The arrival of evening darkness refers to the coming of the end of one's life. Having a place to stay refers to being born within a lotus and not falling into the evil destinies. Again, it is like setting out on a long journey in the spring months: one must first prepare rain gear, so that when a sudden downpour comes unexpectedly, there is no trouble of being drenched and distressed. Preparing rain gear first refers to cultivating the Pure Land. The sudden arrival of a downpour refers to the impending end of one's life. Being free from the trouble of being drenched and distressed refers to not sinking into the evil destinies to suffer diverse torments. Furthermore, finding a lodging place first does not hinder one's business. Preparing rain gear first does not hinder one's journey over distant roads. Thus, cultivating the Pure Land does not hinder any worldly affairs at all; why should people not cultivate it? An acquaintance of mine had accumulated the sin of killing many fish throughout his life; in his late years, he contracted an illness resembling a stroke. Pitying his sinful evils and painful sickness, I went to visit him and exhorted him to recite Amitābha Buddha. He adamantly refused to recite, only speaking of miscellaneous matters with me. Was this not because, obstructed by evil karma and muddled by disease, he was already incapable of turning his mind to mindful goodness? After he closes his eyes, what can be done for him? Therefore, those who cultivate this must turn around as early as possible. In the world, day is necessarily followed by night, and cold is necessarily followed by heat; this is known to everyone and cannot be hidden. Yet when it is said that birth must have death, people taboo it and refuse to speak of it. What a great delusion! For they do not know that what is called the 'self' has never died; it only departs when karmic conditions are exhausted. Therefore, one must cultivate the Pure Land to seek birth within a lotus, receive a pure and ethereal body with limitless lifespan, and escape all the suffering of birth and death.

3.13

Universal Exhortation to Practice, Six

3.14

As for the lowest birth of the lowest grade, when the apparitions of hell have already appeared at the end of life, if one can with utmost sincerity make ten recitations of 'Namo Amitābha Buddha', the apparitions of hell will transform into lotuses, and one will also be born in the Pure Land. This is because the Buddha's compassion is supremely deep and his majestic power is supremely great, so that he can accomplish this. These so-called ten recitations mean that while alive one recites the name of Amitābha Buddha ten times oneself; it does not mean inviting others to recite on one's behalf after death. If one recites oneself during life, at the end of life the Buddha and bodhisattvas will come in person to welcome one, so rebirth in the Pure Land is certain. If one has others recite after death, it is uncertain. A sūtra says: 'When people perform merit on behalf of the deceased after their death, [the deceased] obtains only one part out of seven.' If one performs it oneself during life, one receives a hundredfold or thousandfold reward. Why should people trouble themselves not to recite the Buddha ten times every day during life, but insist on waiting until death to invite others to recite? It is also said: 'For instance, though iron and stone are heavy, by relying on the power of a boat they can cross a river. Though a single needle is light, without relying on a boat it cannot cross the river.' This means that though a person has heavy sins, by relying on the Buddha's power he can be born in the Pure Land; though one's sins and evils are light, without relying on the Buddha's power one cannot be born there. Again, it is like someone who has done evil all his life: upon receiving an amnesty one day, he thereupon becomes an upright citizen. Those who extinguish sins and evils by relying on the Buddha's power are also like this. Again, it is like a louse: dying ten thousand deaths and living ten thousand lives, it cannot travel a single li; yet if it attaches to a human body, it can reach a thousand li. Those who are born in the Pure Land by relying on the Buddha's power are also like this; by no means should you doubt it. If someone with sins and evils recites the Buddha and fears he cannot attain rebirth, he need only give rise to the aspiration to see the Buddha, attain the Way, and return to deliver all enemies and kin, and then there will be none who are not reborn. Some may say: 'A person has done evil all his life, killing sentient beings and tormenting the people; if he recites the Buddha at the point of death, he also attains rebirth. When can the resentment harbored by the sentient beings he killed and tormented ever be resolved?' The answer is: 'After being born in the Pure Land and attaining the Way, he delivers all enemies and kin; how could that not be superior to mutual retaliation where neither side ever finds release?'

3.15

Universal Exhortation to Practice, Seven

3.16

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?

3.17

Universal Exhortation to Practice, Eight

3.18

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?

3.19

Universal Exhortation to Practice, Nine

3.20

Whenever receiving the instructions of teachers and friends, the assistance of benefactors, or the courtesy of companions, one should tell them all of the Pure Land as a repayment. Even with all people, whether one has received the kindness of a single meal or a cup of tea, or the engagement of a single word or a single seat, down to servants who labor in serving me—to all who contribute to whatever I enjoy, I tell them of this to enable them to escape the sea of suffering. Not only this: to all, whether known or unknown, familiar or unfamiliar, I wish to transform them with this, enabling them to be born together in the Pure Land. Not only this: when Śākyamuni Buddha was in the world, there was a kingdom that was difficult to convert. The Buddha said, 'They have a karmic connection with Maudgalyāyana,' and sent him to transform them; the people of that kingdom all followed his conversion. Someone asked the Buddha, 'What cause and condition did they have with Maudgalyāyana?' The Buddha said, 'In a past life, Maudgalyāyana was once a woodcutter and startled a swarm of bees in the mountains. Maudgalyāyana then uttered good words: "After I attain the Way, I will deliver all these bees." The people of this city today are those bees of that time. Because Maudgalyāyana uttered these good words, they have a karmic connection.' From this perspective, not only should one exhort all people to cultivate the Pure Land, but for all birds and beasts, down to the flying insects and crawling creatures—all that have visible forms—whenever I see them, I should recite the name of Amitābha Buddha several times for them and make a good vow, saying: 'May you all be born in Sukhāvatī, and after I attain the Way, I will deliver you all.' Not only is this done for those with visible forms, but even for those whose forms cannot be seen, I should also form this thought and speak these words. Doing so, my good thoughts will become thoroughly seasoned, and I will have karmic connections with all sentient beings; my highest birth of the highest grade will be certain, and when transforming and delivering others in the future, none will not joyfully follow.

3.21

Longshu's Expanded Pure Land Writings, Fascicle Three (End)

Linked texts (1)

龍舒增廣淨土文 — Classical Chinese