龍舒增廣淨土文 7.8

7.8

There was Elder Zhe, who resided in a great monastery in the capital. For forty years he did not sleep, sitting in meditation with bitter diligence. Dying seated in this manner, afterwards his paper-padded robes were cremated and yielded śarīra. An eunuch bought one of his paper robes for thirty thousand cash, precisely because it possessed śarīra; his efficacy was already such as this. Had he cultivated [rebirth in] the West, he would certainly have become a bodhisattva of the stage of non-retrogression, immediately at ease with birth and death. Then, what would prevent him from coming back to this world to cross over sentient beings? Not knowing to cultivate this, he was instead reborn into great wealth and nobility, where he endured much sorrow and suffering all his life—how lamentable! Even if one enjoys great wealth and nobility, it ultimately comes to an end, and one transmigrates as before. Someone said: "Given Elder Zhe's diligent cultivation, why did he endure much sorrow and suffering in this life?" I reply: The Buddha said, "Even after hundreds of thousands of kalpas, the karma created does not perish. When the conditions meet, one still receives the retribution oneself." Master Yongjia also said, "When awakened, the karmic obstacles are fundamentally empty; when unawakened, one must pay back past debts." Because Elder Zhe had not yet settled the great matter of birth and death, his birth in a place of great wealth and nobility in this life was due to the vow of his previous life. That he endured much sorrow and suffering was due to the meeting of conditions to pay back the past debts of hundreds and thousands of lifetimes. If one is born in the West, past debts do not need to be paid back. Why is this? Because one is at ease with birth and death. Even when entering into the realm of birth and death of all sentient beings to ferry them across, one's singular nature is already unobscured and transcends the three realms; how could one need to pay back past debts? Furthermore, with such diligent cultivation as Elder Zhe's, he was still unable to transcend the three realms. Is it not because the shores of the three realms are extremely high, its sea of suffering extremely deep, and its surging waves extremely swift, so that it is not easy to transcend? Those who cultivate [the path to] the West and transcend do so by relying on the Buddha's power. To have a Buddha and not rely on him is like a destitute and starving person seeing a wealthy man and not relying on him—how lamentable!