淨土或問 1.22

1.22

問曰：往生之說，其旨昭然。但今之學者不能曉了，千人萬人疑道：極樂遠隔十萬億國，臨命終時恐難得到。復何策以曉之？答曰：是可咲也。說了許多心外無土、土外無心，到者裏猶道不曉。此無他，只是眾生妄認自心在色身之內方寸之間，不知自家心量元自廣大。豈不聞讚佛偈云「心包太虛，量周沙界」。且十方虛空無量無邊，被我心量都盧包了。恒沙世界無量無數，我之心量一一周遍。如此看來，十萬億國在我心中，其實甚近，何遠之有？命終生時，生我心中，其實甚易，何難之有？豈不見《十疑論》云「十萬億剎為對凡夫肉眼、生死心量說耳。但使眾生淨土業成者，臨終在定之心即是淨土受生之心，動念即是生淨土時。」為此《觀經》云「彌陀佛國去此不遠」。又業力不可思議，一念即生，不須愁遠。又如人夢身雖在床，而心意識遍至他方。生淨土亦然，不須疑也。經云「一彈指頃即得往生」，又云「屈伸臂頃」，又云「頃刻之間」，故《自信錄》云「十萬億剎頃刻至者，自心本妙耳。」此等重重喻說，只是言其生在自己廣大心中，甚近而甚易者也。我如今且莫說廣大心量，且只就汝色身之內方寸之間說箇譬喻。譬如此方到西天竺，動經十萬餘里，一路之間多經國土。有一人雖未親到，曾聞他人講說一遍，記憶在心。其人後時坐臥之間，忽動一念思量彼國，思量千里便到千里，思量萬里便到萬里，思量天竺便到天竺。以此比之，生淨土便是這箇道理。豈不是彈指之頃、一念便到，何難到之有哉？汝若不修淨業，要到極難；淨業若成，要到極易。但辨肯心，決不相賺。

Question: The doctrine of rebirth is clear in its purport. Yet practitioners today cannot understand it, and thousands upon tens of thousands doubt, saying: "Sukhāvatī is far away, separated by a hundred billion lands; at the end of life, I fear it will be difficult to reach." What method can be used to make them understand? Answer: This is laughable. After explaining so much that there is no land outside the mind and no mind outside the land, they come to this point and still say they do not understand! This is due to nothing else than sentient beings mistakenly believing their own minds to be within the square-inch space of their physical bodies, unaware that their own mind-measure is originally vast. Have you not heard the verse praising the Buddha: "The mind encompasses the great void; its measure pervades worlds [as numerous as] sands"? Furthermore, the empty space of the ten directions is boundless and infinite, yet it is entirely encompassed by my mind-measure. The worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges are immeasurable and countless, yet my mind-measure pervades each and every one. Viewed in this way, the hundred billion lands are within my mind; they are actually very close—what distance is there? When one is reborn at the end of life, one is reborn within one's own mind; it is actually very easy—what difficulty is there? Have you not seen the Treatises on Ten Doubts, which says: "A hundred billion kṣetras is spoken merely with respect to the fleshly eyes of ordinary persons and the mental measure of birth and death. If only a sentient being's pure karma is fulfilled, the mind in absorption at the end of life is itself the mind that receives birth in the Pure Land; the stirring of a thought is itself the time of rebirth in the Pure Land." For this reason, the Contemplation Sūtra says: "The realm of Amitābha Buddha is not far from here." Moreover, the power of karma is inconceivable; in a single thought one is reborn, so there is no need to worry about distance. Again, it is like a dreaming person whose body is on the bed, while his mental consciousness goes everywhere to other places. Rebirth in the Pure Land is also like this; there is no need to doubt. A sūtra says: "In the snap of a finger, one attains rebirth." It also says: "In the time it takes to bend or extend an arm." It also says: "In an instant." Therefore, the Record of Cultivating Faith says: "Reaching a hundred billion kṣetras in an instant is simply because one's own mind is inherently wondrous." These layers of metaphors merely state that being reborn within one's own vast mind is extremely close and extremely easy. Now let me put aside the vast mind-measure for a moment, and give an analogy based solely on the square-inch space within your physical body. Suppose that from here to Western India is a journey of more than a hundred thousand li, passing through many lands along the way. There is a man who has never been there in person, but once heard another person describe it, and kept it in mind. Later, whether sitting or lying down, a single thought suddenly stirs in him of that land: thinking of a thousand li, he is immediately at a thousand li; thinking of ten thousand li, he is immediately at ten thousand li; thinking of India, he is immediately in India. By this comparison, rebirth in the Pure Land is the very same principle. Is it not reached in the snap of a finger, in a single thought? What difficulty could there be in reaching it? If you do not cultivate pure karma, reaching it will be extremely difficult; but if your pure karma is accomplished, reaching it will be extremely easy. Only resolve to be truly willing, and you will never be led astray.