龍舒增廣淨土文 3.14

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?'