廬山蓮宗寶鑑 1.51

1.51

Now, it is heard that: "Among the assemblies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, the Tathāgata Amitābha is the foremost; among all the buddha-lands as many as the dust motes of the ten directions, Sukhāvatī is the refuge."
The ultimate principle is fundamentally mind-only, yet the initial gate must proceed from the causal ground. Thus we know that a tree embracing an armful sprouts from a tiny tip, and a journey of a thousand leagues begins with the first step.
To transcend birth and death, take the Pure Land as the realm of return;
about to realize nirvāṇa, therefore buddhānusmṛti is the essential means to rectify the mind.
Believing deeply that Sukhāvatī is truly the wondrous gate of liberation,
contemplating attentively that Amitābha is truly the compassionate father of sentient beings—
first clarify the point of destination, and thus look to the fruit to cultivate the cause;
gradually tread the profound path, and thereby proceed from cause to fruit.
Hence we know that gathering the assembly of worthies to form a society has its purposeful significance, and that single-mindedly practicing buddhānusmṛti to encourage people promotes this teaching.
The cause encompasses the ocean of fruit; the fruit penetrates the source of the cause.
Where the form is upright, the shadow is inevitably straight;
where the sound is harmonious, the echo naturally conforms.
Mahāsthāmaprāpta showed the essential path to realizing complete penetration;
the World-Honoured One expounded the cause for cultivating pure karma.
Ascending to samādhi from hearing, contemplating, and cultivating;
entering the gate of the dharmadhātu by relying on faith, practice, and vow.
Therefore, as soon as a single thought arises, myriad spirits are aware;
when faithful mind is born, the buddhas manifest.
Barely has the precious name been uttered, and the seed is already cast into the lotus womb;
as soon as one generates the aspiration for bodhi, one's name is inscribed upon the golden ground.
Those who have karmic affinity encounter this, awakening and cultivating on their own;
those of shallow faith who do not uphold it commit a great folly and a great error.
Hence it is said that the ultimate proclamation of the ekayāna culminates in reaching the Land of Bliss;
among the complete cultivation of myriad practices, the supreme is uniquely praising the precious name.
The grave offenses of eighty billion kalpas vanish completely like smoke;
the distant realm of a hundred thousand billion lands is reached as swiftly as ascending on wings.
With thought and remembrance concentrated, one contemplates the mind and perceives the Buddha's body;
with mind and object interpenetrating, one realizes the superior fruit right at the causal gate.
The purity and defilement of the ten directions expand and contract together at the tip of a hair;
the one nature embraces and integrates all, vastly encompassing the entire dharmadhātu.
In this way, the buddhas and sentient beings interpenetrate;
the pure land and the defiled land covertly communicate.
Cultivating both mutually, principle and phenomena are unhindered,
like a divine jewel immediately containing myriad treasures,
as the net of Indra mutually reflects a thousand lights.
Since my own mind is like this, so it is for both sentient beings and buddhas.
Thus we know that letting the spirit roam through billions of lands is actually born within one's own mind;
how could nourishing one's form within the nine grades of lotuses escape the span of a single instant?
When the worthies of the two vehicles turn their minds, they immediately reach the golden pond;
when ordinary beings guilty of the five heinous offenses engage in ten recitations, they promptly ascend to the precious realm.
Alas! When consciousness is clouded and obstacles are heavy, faith is scarce and doubts are many.
They disparage pure karma as an expedient vehicle and mock recitation and upholding as coarse practice;
is this not being indulged and drowned in the burning house, willingly resigning oneself to eternal kalpas of delusion,
rebelling against the compassionate parents, and deeply lamenting the vain loss of an entire life?
One must believe that without relying on other-power, there is no way to sever karma and delusion;
without encountering this gate, there is no road to escape birth and death.
Vowing to be one with the buddhas and daring to emulate former cultivators,
I encourage later worthies to profoundly revere this path:
Those who have made the vow, are making the vow, or will make the vow—in every affair dedicate it toward Amitābha;
those who have been born, are being born, or will be born—in every thought return to the Pure Land.
If you wish to accomplish the great affair of this single life, turn your attention right here.
At all times, a thousand carts follow the same track;
within the four postures, myriad virtues share the same return.
Together ascend the wondrous gate of Sukhāvatī;
swiftly consummate the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi.
The very first step must be distinct and clear;
all the way to the West there is no other road.