廬山蓮宗寶鑑 10.20

10.20

雙修者，修福、修慧也。教云「修福不修慧，象身掛纓絡；修慧不修福，羅漢應供薄。福慧二莊嚴，乃能成正覺。」古德云「福不得不作，慧不得不學。」龍舒云「修淨土者雖專以念佛為行門，亦須福慧兼修，庶得事理兩融也。內則修慧，究竟涵養、深徹淵源，使慧性增，廣含虛空界，無所不知、無不照了。外則修福，慈悲方便、柔和善順、利濟世間，見一切人平等恭敬，隨機說法，教化眾生行一切善。」此是福慧雙修也。今有一等愚人，常行異教，詐稱蓮宗弟子，妄指雙修潛通婬穢，造地獄業，迷誤善人沈迷欲樂、甘墮險坑。豈不謬乎？是真狐魅妖精，何異畜生類也。《楞嚴》云「若諸眾生其心不婬，則不隨其生死。汝修三昧本出塵勞，婬心不除，塵不可出。縱有多智必落魔道，上品魔王、中品魔民、下品魔女。諸修行人先斷婬心，是名如來先佛世尊第一決定清淨明誨。若不斷婬修菩提者，如蒸砂石欲其成飯，經百千劫終不名飯。汝以婬身求佛妙果，縱得妙悟皆是婬根，根本成婬，輪轉三塗終不能出。如來涅槃何路修證？必使婬機身心俱斷，斷性亦無，於佛菩提斯可希冀。如我說者名為佛說，不如此說即波旬說。」今勸在家菩薩依戒修行、勿犯邪非，清心寡欲，雙修福慧回向西方。龍舒云「修福又修慧，深信念阿彌，當生上上品，決定更無疑。」其或不然，欲飯蒸砂徒費力，擔柴入火定殃身。

"Dual cultivation" means cultivating merit and cultivating wisdom. The teachings say: "Cultivating merit without cultivating wisdom, an elephant's body hangs with necklaces; cultivating wisdom without cultivating merit, an arhat's offerings are scant. Only with the dual adornments of merit and wisdom can one achieve right awakening." An ancient worthy said: "Merit must be cultivated; wisdom must be studied." Longshu said: "Although practitioners of the Pure Land exclusively take buddhānusmṛti as their practice gate, they must also cultivate both merit and wisdom concurrently, so that phenomena and principle may be completely harmonized. Internally, cultivate wisdom: thoroughly nurture it, penetrate deeply to its source, make the nature of wisdom increase until it broadly encompasses empty space, with nothing unknown and nothing unillumined. Externally, cultivate merit: with compassion and expedients, gentle and compliant, benefit and succor the world; seeing all people, respect them equally; expound the Dharma according to their capacities, and teach sentient beings to practice all goods." This is the dual cultivation of merit and wisdom. Nowadays, there is a class of foolish people who constantly practice heterodox teachings, falsely claiming to be disciples of the Lotus School, and mistakenly point to dual cultivation to secretly engage in defiling lust. Creating the karma of hell, they lead good people astray to sink into sensual desires, willing to fall into perilous pits. Is this not absurd? They are truly fox-spirits and demons, no different from the beasts. The Śūraṅgama-sūtra says: "If sentient beings have no lust in their minds, they will not follow along with birth and death. You cultivate samādhi originally to escape worldly toil; if lustful thoughts are not eliminated, worldly toil cannot be escaped. Even if one has great wisdom, one will certainly fall into the demonic paths: the superior rank become demon kings, the middle rank become demon subjects, and the inferior rank become demon women. All practitioners must first sever lustful thoughts—this is called the first definitive, pure, and clear instruction of the Tathāgatas and former World-Honoured Buddhas. If one cultivates bodhi without severing lust, it is like steaming sand and stones hoping to make rice; though hundreds of thousands of kalpas pass, it will never be called rice. If you seek the wondrous fruit of the Buddha with a lustful body, even if you attain wondrous awakening, it is entirely the root of lust; with the root made of lust, one transmigrates through the three wretched paths and will never escape. By what path could one cultivate and realize the Tathāgata's nirvāṇa? You must cause the mechanism of lust to be severed in both body and mind, until even the nature of severing is nonexistent; only then can one hope for the Buddha's bodhi. What accords with what I say is called the Buddha's preaching; what does not accord with what I say is the preaching of Pāpīmān." Now I exhort lay bodhisattvas to cultivate in accordance with the precepts, not to violate them with heterodox misdeeds, to purify the mind and lessen desires, and to cultivate both merit and wisdom, dedicating them toward the Western Direction. Longshu said: "Cultivate merit and also cultivate wisdom; with deep faith, recite [the name of] Amitābha. You shall be born in the highest of the high grades—of this there is definitively no doubt." If it is not so, wishing for rice while steaming sand is a mere waste of effort; carrying firewood into a fire will surely bring ruin to oneself.