廬山蓮宗寶鑑 5

English (machine translation) 5

Language: English

5.1

Exposition on Right Faith in Buddhānusmṛti

The Mind-only land of joy is omnipresent throughout the ten directions; the Amitābha of one's own nature is perfectly fused in a single wisdom. It wonderfully responds to the realms of form and sound, and sheds its light between the mind and the eyes. Right within this, one turns away from delusion to return to truth, immediately turning one's back on dust to unite with enlightenment. In the past, our Dharmākara gave rise to vast vows and opened the mysterious path to Sukhāvatī; therefore, the Buddha, the World-Honoured One, pointed to the Western quarter to show the wonderful realm to Vaidehī, which all [Buddhas] universally praised with tongues covering [the universe]. When all other scriptures have perished, this alone will remain, because the joy and equanimity in benefiting beings is increased, and the measure of compassion in responding and transforming is vast. The teaching is divided into nine grades, thereby specially opening an expedient gateway; contemplation illuminates the one mind, truly a direct shortcut to return to the source. The gathering of sages and commoners is like a longtime traveler returning to his native village; the reciprocal response in the encounter with the Way is like an infant turning to a loving mother. If one is benighted to this supreme principle, every contact leads to delusion; if one has faith in this consummate discourse, every phenomenon is penetrated. Furthermore, the light of compassion and vows gathers one in, and the Buddha's power is inconceivable: floating with the current in a boat requires no effort of one's own, and pushing open a door into its socket—how could there be any other way? Where there is a vow, one is sure to be welcomed, and no spiritual capacity is left uncovered; a boat can ferry stones across, and hellfires are extinguished at once. Bodhisattvas and śrāvakas born there are measureless and countless; former worthies and later sages who attained the Way can be examined and sought out. Parrots and kalaviṅkas still expound the sounds of the Dharma; flying insects and wriggling creatures all receive the kindness of instructional transformation. The sacred realm is not empty, and the Buddha's words are not false. Why then sink into the depths of the waves of the river of attachment without sorrow, and burn in the flames of the burning house without fear? The dense web of delusion cannot be cut by the blade of shallow wisdom; the deeply planted root of doubt—how can the power of superficial faith pull it out? Thereupon, willingly giving in and rejoicing in misfortune and delighting in calamity, they conversely slander the pure land and greedily cling to the world of afflictions. Like scorched moths and rotten cocoons, they dwell in lingering calamities; like caged birds and fish in the cauldron, they conversely call it happiness. All this is because the power of goodness is feeble while the power of karma is strong; the roots of faith are few while the roots of sin are abundant. Therefore, the three realms are vast and vague, and the four modes of birth are in turmoil; all greedily cling to life in muddleheaded stupor, yet who understands how to return? All follow their karma endlessly, seeking no way of escape. In past births and deaths, wearing away stones would be hard to exhaust; in future saṃsāra, how could the city of mustard seeds come to an end? Were it not for good fortune in past lives, how could one encounter this cause? When the drum sounds to open the prison doors, one should hasten to escape; encountering a boat to save one from the disaster of drowning, how could one hesitate? Reverently comply with the golden texts and skillfully follow the Buddha's teaching; those who do not hear and do not understand are truly to be pitied and grieved. Moreover, this evil world of the five turbidities is engulfed in flames on all four sides; the Buddha alone has the power to rescue and deliver. Having heard the wonderful Dharma, one should plant pure causes; a single moment of sincere faith is the seed of myriad virtues. Aspire to equal the former philosophers, hoping to awaken to the true and constant; universally practice in accordance with what is spoken, and with all your heart, prostrate in reverence, accept with faith, and uphold it.

5.3

Severing Doubts and Giving Rise to Faith

5.4

A sūtra states: "It is difficult to obtain human birth; it is difficult to possess complete six sense faculties; it is difficult to be born in the central land; it is difficult to encounter the Buddha's Path; and it is difficult to give rise to faithful mind." Now, considering why faith is difficult to arouse, it is because there is doubt. If one does not cut off doubt, how can faith arise? Therefore the Diamond Sūtra states, "Right faith is rare," the Lotus Sūtra states, "One gains entry through faith," and Wang Longshu said: "The Buddha is the king of physicians for humankind; he can cure all illnesses, but cannot save one whose life has ended. The Buddha can deliver all people, but cannot deliver those who do not believe." Faith is sincerity in a single thought-moment. If a person thinks of going, their body follows and goes; if they think of staying, their body follows and stays. Thus we know this body moves in accordance with the mind's thoughts. If one has the thought to go but the body is held back, when the physical body breaks up there is only a single thought; wherever that single thought reaches, there is nowhere it does not reach. Therefore, if with a faithful mind in a single thought-moment one practices buddhānusmṛti and seeks rebirth in the Pure Land, one will certainly arrive at the Pure Land. How much more so given that our Buddha, the World-Honoured One, and all the great bodhisattvas possess the power of their fundamental vows to welcome and guide one to rebirth!

Someone asked: "Nowadays there are those who uphold the precepts and practice buddhānusmṛti throughout life, yet at the end of life fail to be born in the Pure Land. Why is this?"

Answer: "This is because the power of their faith is not deep, and their practice and vows are deficient. Moreover, they have never generated the great aspiration for bodhi, nor have they severed the unwholesome deeds of the ten unvirtuous actions. Though called practitioners, their words and deeds have never corresponded. Though called buddhānusmṛti practitioners, their pure mindfulness has never been continuous. Lacking genuine practice, how could they attain the retribution of the Pure Land? The Vimalakīrti-sūtra states, 'In accordance with the purity of their minds, the Buddha-land is pure.' The Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch states, 'If within the mind there is no evil, the West is not far from here.' If one harbours an unwholesome mind, it is difficult to arrive even while reciting the Buddha's name and seeking rebirth; if one does not sever the mind of the ten unvirtuous actions, which Buddha would come to welcome them? Thus the Great Master saw that worldly people do not strive to purify the mind, but merely recite the Buddha's name with their mouths, seeking a Buddha outside their minds with false thinking and attachment; not purifying their own minds, their minds commit various evils. This is called destroying one's own Buddha—how then could they seek another Buddha elsewhere? Therefore it is said: when deluded, one is a sentient being; when awakened, one is a Buddha.

The Dharma-gate of Perfect Penetration states: 'If one remembers the Buddha and practices buddhānusmṛti, now or in the future one will certainly see the Buddha.' Remembering and thinking is the mindfulness of the mind. When the faithful mind is pure, faith, practice, and vow are all complete. The Śūraṅgama states: 'When one sense faculty returns to the source, all six faculties attain liberation.' The ten unvirtuous actions are transformed into the ten virtuous actions; the six consciousnesses are transformed into the six supernormal powers. Therefore, when in a mind of right faith one remembers and recites the Buddha's name, with pure mindfulness in unbroken continuity, Amitābha of one's own nature manifests before one. When this stimulates, that responds; at the end of life, how could one fail to see the Buddha and be born in the Pure Land? Whenever one cultivates pure karma, one must believe the Buddha's words and practice the Buddha's deeds. With mind and mouth in harmony, cause and effect are decidedly unobscured. If one hears but does not believe, or believes but does not practice, it is like drawing a cake to satisfy hunger. When the mind lacks faith, doubts and slander arise; once doubts and slander are aroused, one obscures one's own mind; when one's own mind is obscured, the Pure Land becomes distant indeed.

Therefore, the Layman Zhou of Xiangshan, in his preface to Cizhao's Lotus School Repentance, stated: 'The Guide transforms beings with skilful methods and instructs people in accord with principle. Using deep faith as that which enables entry, he shatters all icchantikas; using exclusive buddhānusmṛti as the gate of practice, he keeps the mind undistracted; adding the vow of bodhi as the root, he delivers sentient beings. Equipped with these three, one can ascend to the very highest grade of the Sukhāvatī Buddha-land, and effortlessly reach the ocean of Vairocana's fruition through flowing waters.' He also stated: 'Everyone fundamentally possesses this matter, and each is completely endowed with it. It is because of lacking the three words—faith, practice, and vow—that they sink and fall. Alas! For anyone, it does not depend on merit, nobility, cleverness, or appearance; merely being equipped with faith, practice, and vows constitutes the provisions for rebirth in the Pure Land.'

The Fourfold Selection states: 'Going west from here past a hundred thousand kotis of Buddha-lands, there is a world named Sukhāvatī: this speaks in terms of distance. If in a single thought-moment of faithful mind one practices buddhānusmṛti and immediately arrives in the West: this speaks in terms of proximity. Therefore it is said: it is both near and far, depending on a person's faith and vows. With faith, not a hair's breadth separates them; with doubt, one turns in saṃsāra.' It also states: 'Going west from here past a distant journey of a hundred thousand stages, if the provisions are fully complete, why worry that one will not arrive?' This is precisely it. Therefore it is said that faith is the foremost of all virtues and the ancestor of the hundred practices. The Avataṃsaka takes the ten faiths as the beginning of attaining buddhahood; the Lotus Sūtra takes right faith as the gate of entering the Path. Among the five faculties, the faculty of faith is foremost; among the five powers, the power of faith is supreme. For this reason, the Buddhas of the three times, all great bodhisattvas, and the patriarchs of successive generations, in cultivating all meritorious practices and possessing great power of vows, entering the realm of the Buddhas and realizing bodhi, have never failed to enter through this single word 'faith'.

When Master Luan encountered Bodhiruci's Guan jing, he immediately burned the immortal scriptures and cultivated pure karma—was this not due to this word 'faith'? Vice Minister Bai, whether walking or sitting, recited Amitābha—this too did not depart from this word 'faith'. Scholar Su carried a painted image of Amitābha with him whether walking or sitting, declaring it to be his official passport to the Western Pure Land—this likewise did not depart from this word 'faith'. Zhang Shanhe slaughtered oxen all his life; when near death, the signs of hell appeared before him. Meeting a monk who taught him to recite Amitābha Buddha, before he had recited ten times he saw the Buddha arrive to welcome him to rebirth in the Pure Land, whereupon he escaped hell—was this not brought about because his faith was thorough?

The Avataṃsaka Sūtra states: 'Faith is the source of the Path and the mother of merit; faith can nurture all good roots; faith can transcend the paths of the maras; faith can enter samādhi; faith can liberate from the ocean of birth and death; faith can accomplish the Buddha's bodhi.' Alas! Nowadays, vegetarian practitioners believe in upholding the precepts but do not believe in buddhānusmṛti; they believe in venerating the Buddha but do not believe in rebirth in the Pure Land. These all forfeit their own great benefit. Truly, on the road of humans and devas, merit comes first; in the ocean of birth and death, buddhānusmṛti is foremost. Now to wish for the bliss of humans and devas without cultivating merit, or to wish to transcend birth and death without practicing buddhānusmṛti, is like a bird wanting to fly without wings, or a tree wanting to flourish without roots—how could that be possible? All my companions in this covenant, you must deeply believe that what the Buddhas taught is true and not false. There is no better remedy for escaping suffering than buddhānusmṛti; cultivate pure karma exclusively and resolve to transcend saṃsāra. Time waits for no one; be careful not to doubt or regret. Truly it is said: if this body is not delivered in this lifetime, in what lifetime will this body ever be delivered?

5.5

Exhortation to Generate Faithful Mind

5.6

Now, Amitābha Buddha is the most revered among the Buddhas and the father of the four modes of birth. Those who take refuge in faith extinguish sins numerous as the sands of the Ganges; those who invoke his name obtain immeasurable merit. Whoever wishes to practice buddhānusmṛti must give rise to a faithful mind; without a faithful mind, one will gain nothing in vain. For this reason, Master Zhao stated: 'That a matter is like this is the mark of faith; that a matter is not like this is the mark of disbelief.' Faith is the initial principle for entering the Path, and wisdom is the ultimate profound art. That the sūtras begin with 'Thus' indicates faith; that they end with 'they practiced it' indicates wisdom. Therefore, the Amitābha-sūtra states: 'If there are those who believe, they should make the vow to be born in that land'—this is where our original teacher Śākyamuni exhorted faith. It also states: 'All of you should believe this praise of inconceivable merit'—this is where the Buddhas of the six directions exhorted faith. It also states: 'If someone plants good roots, through doubt the flower will not open; for one whose faithful mind is pure, when the flower opens they immediately see the Buddha'—this is where the Treatise on Rebirth exhorted faith. It also states: 'Faith is a word of accord. With faith, the principle spoken is in accord; with accord, the way of master and disciple is accomplished. Whether a sūtra is elaborate or brief, without faith it is not transmitted'—this is where Master Zhao exhorted faith. It also states: 'The Dharma-gate of buddhānusmṛti asks not whether one is monastic or lay, considers not whether one is male or female, and is not restricted by noble or base status. Those who cultivate this method require only a faithful mind'—this is where Upādhyāya Daxing exhorted faith.

Question: 'Since you speak of faith, what Dharma-gate should one believe in?'

Answer: 'The meaning of faith is to place faith in what the Buddha taught in the sūtras: that practicing buddhānusmṛti certainly leads to birth in the Pure Land; to believe that buddhānusmṛti certainly extinguishes all sins; to believe that buddhānusmṛti certainly attains the Buddha's protection; to believe that buddhānusmṛti certainly attains the Buddha's verification; to believe that in buddhānusmṛti, at the end of life the Buddha will certainly come to welcome one; to believe that buddhānusmṛti does not discriminate among sentient beings, and that all who share this faith will attain rebirth; to believe that through buddhānusmṛti, rebirth certainly brings the stage of non-retrogression; to believe that through buddhānusmṛti, birth in the Pure Land certainly prevents falling into the three evil paths. Therefore, we exhort faith in buddhānusmṛti: if one receives this Dharma and maintains this mindfulness, rebirth in the Pure Land is certain.'

Thus Upādhyāya Daxing instructed practitioners of buddhānusmṛti: when the mind solely believes in the Buddha, the Buddha knows it, because of his knowledge of the minds of others; when the mouth solely invokes the Buddha, the Buddha hears it, because of his divine ear; when the body solely bows to the Buddha, the Buddha sees it, because of his divine eye. Therefore Upādhyāya Daxing used this buddhānusmṛti method to exhort people to generate a faithful mind. Moreover, by way of metaphor: a faithful mind is like deeply planting a fruit tree; because the roots are deep, it is unmoved by the wind, and later bears fruit to relieve people's hunger and thirst. The person practicing buddhānusmṛti is also like this: they must rely on deep faith to reach the West. Without a faithful mind, one gains nothing in vain. Therefore the sūtra states: 'Once a bodhisattva of the ten abodes gives rise to a faithful mind and practices buddhānusmṛti, even if encountering evil conditions, they would rather sacrifice their life than retrogress in faith.' The Vimalakīrti states: 'Deep faith is solid like a diamond; the jewel of Dharma shines universally like a rain of nectar.' The buddhānusmṛti-samādhi arises from deep faith. Look at the Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Ganges in the Pure Land: all were people of right faith in former days.

5.7

Verses on Right Faith in Rebirth by Repentance Master Ciyun Zunshi of Tianzhu

5.8

I bow my head to the realm of Peace and Bliss in the West, / to Amitābha, Sovereign of the World and Great Compassionate Honoured One.
Relying on the various sūtras, / I establish decisive faith in rebirth.
Those who abide in the Great Vehicle with pure minds, / mindful of that [Buddha of] Immeasurable Life for ten thoughts,
will certainly be reborn upon dreaming of the Buddha at the end of life; / so says the Mahāratnakūṭa-sūtra.
When the fires of the hell for the five heinous sins appear, / encountering a good spiritual friend and generating a fierce mind,
one is immediately reborn upon ten recitations of the Buddha; / so says the Sixteen Contemplations Sūtra.
If there is a mind of joy and delight, / down to ten recitations one is immediately reborn;
if it were not so, he would not attain buddhahood; / so say the forty-eight vows.
All who hear the name and generate an utmost mind, / dedicating [it] in a single thought, are immediately reborn,
excepting only those who commit the five heinous sins and slander the True Dharma; / so says the Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra.
At the end of life, unable to contemplate or recollect, / merely forming the intention and knowing there is a Buddha,
when this person's breath ceases, he is immediately reborn; / so says the Mahābherīhāraka-sūtra.
For a day and a night hanging silk canopies, / single-mindedly mindful of rebirth without interruption,
in sleep one dreams of the Buddha and is immediately reborn; / so says the Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra.
Day and night for one day reciting the Buddha's name, / with diligent exertion without ceasing,
mutually encouraging one another to be reborn together; / so says the Mahākaruṇā-sūtra.
For one day, two days, up to seven days, / upholding the name with an undisturbed mind,
the Buddha appears before them and they are immediately reborn; / so says the Amitābha-sūtra.
If a person hears of that Amitābha, / for one day, two days, or more,
binding mindfulness so that [he] appears before them, they are immediately reborn; / so says the Pratyutpanna-sūtra.
For a day and a night during the six periods of the day, / bowing to the Buddha with the five limbs with continuous mindfulness,
directly seeing that Buddha, one is immediately reborn; / so says the Drum Sound King Sūtra.
For ten days and ten nights upholding the fasting precepts, / hanging silk banners and canopies, lighting incense and lamps,
with continuous focused mindfulness one attains rebirth; / so says the Larger Amitābha Sūtra.
If a person is single-mindedly mindful of a Buddha of one direction, / whether walking or sitting for seven times seven days,
directly seeing the Buddha in this body, he is immediately reborn; / so says the Mahāsaṃnipāta-sūtra.
If a person takes a vow to constantly practice walking meditation, / neither sitting nor lying down for ninety days,
he sees Amitābha within samādhi; / so says the Buddha-Standing Sūtra.
If a person sits upright facing due west, / constantly mindful of the Buddha for ninety days,
he will be able to accomplish samādhi and be born before the Buddha; / so says the Mañjuśrī Prajñā.
I have praised a small part of the many sūtras; / such statements are inexhaustible.
May all who hear generate correct faith; / the Buddha's words are true and do not deceive.
Since the Buddha has plainly stated that rebirth is easy, / may each fortunately have correct faith without doubt.

5.9

Preface to Great Master Tiantai Zhizhe's Treatise on the Ten Doubts about the Pure Land

5.10

The clarity of the four fruits cannot fathom the profundity of the Tathāgata, and the sages of the ten stages cannot exhaust the marvel of the ultimate fruition. How much more so for this ordinary person, born without the eye of wisdom, trapped in the three realms with inevitably entrenched delusions, pointing at the Pure Land with errant and hard-to-turn doubts? Doubting it in body, knowing that the five aggregates are not yet extinguished; doubting it in mind, knowing that the myriad defilements are not yet dispelled; doubting it in practice, knowing that the six pāramitās are not yet crossed over. Through practice that is adrift and has not yet crossed over, hoping to cross over to the realm of those who have already crossed over—within oneself there is still confusion, how much more so for others! These worldly sentiments are hard to inspire faith, and are doubted by monastics and laity alike. During the Sui, Great Master Zhizhe's mind merged with phenomena and his wisdom joined with the spiritual. Riding the times to assist the teaching, his extraordinary traces were clearly evident. Based on what was extraordinary about him, examining what he realized, was he a person of the three stages of worthies? A person of the ten holy stages? Or was he an Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbuddha whose wondrous spiritual transformations were beyond conception? One simply cannot know through thought. Yet the Master's mindfulness and samādhi, dhāraṇī, and clearly luminous practice and conduct, aiming for rebirth in the Pure Land, left not the breadth of a hair between them. What has preserved what the Master possessed must be the text of the Ten Doubts. That text draws from afar upon various sūtras and from near upon various treatises, adopting and selecting their intent to draw upon various records. It does not depart from the sūtras to prepare facts, nor does it adorn words to increase cleverness. Carefully phrasing and conveying meaning, it is able to exhaust the rebirths of the nine grades, whereby one sees the Master's application of mind. For those who see the Master's mind, regarding doubts about the Pure Land, it is like the high sky without clouds where the host of stars display their luster—the distinctions among celestial longitudes and the differences among planetary stations are all brilliantly clear, with not a single thing hidden. Having obtained this text, I repeatedly reflect upon the Pure Land praised by Śākyamuni and verified and accomplished by the successive Buddhas, whether covering the great chiliocosm with the tongue-mark or expounding the Brahmā preaching with the tide-like voice. Although I am of crude learning and cannot reflect their radiance, how could I remain silent? Therefore, at the head of the treatise I briefly set forth one or two points to express my sentiments fully. Though the words are shallow and the principle is slight, insufficient to arouse the Master's conversion, they nevertheless find their refuge in the meaning of verification and accomplishment by previous Buddhas.

5.11

Preface by Surveillance Vice Commissioner Yang of Wuwei to Directing Directly to the Pure Land and Resolving Doubts

5.12

A sage of great vows comes from the Pure Land, yet in coming there is truly no coming; an ordinary person of deep faith goes to the Pure Land, yet in going there is truly no going. That [Buddha] does not come here, and this [person] does not go there; yet how is it that sage and ordinary person meet and both engage in mutual communion? Amitābha's radiance is like a great full moon shining everywhere across the ten directions. When the water is clear and still, the full form of the moon appears; the moon did not rush to come toward the water. When the water is turbulent and turbid, the moon has no fixed light; the moon did not hurriedly depart by abandoning the water. In the water there is turbidity and clarity, motion and stillness; in the moon there is neither grasping nor abandoning, neither departing nor coming. Therefore, the elder Muktaka in the Avataṃsaka said: "Know that all Buddhas are like reflections, and one's own mind is like water. Those Tathāgatas do not come here, nor do I go there. If I wish to see Amitābha Buddha of the world of Peace and Bliss, I see him at will." Thus we know that when sentient beings focus their mindfulness, they definitely see Amitābha Buddha. These are true words in accordance with nature, not an expedient teaching. The Pure Land has no desire, so it is not the desire realm. Its land is situated on the ground, so it is not the form realm. Birth there has physical forms, so it is not the formless realm. All sentient beings, not yet awakened to correct enlightenment, dwell within a great dream; their rising and sinking in the six destinies has never ceased. The devas, though happy, face the decay of signs when their retribution ends; the asuras, raging with anger, vie for victory in mutual warfare; the beasts that fly and run tear and devour one another; the ghosts and spirits, in dark gloom, are pressed hard by hunger and thirst; in the long night of the hells, there is agonizing pain and wailing. To obtain birth in the human realm is already fortunate, yet the myriad sufferings of birth, old age, sickness, and death entangle them. Only that pure realm is free of all these sufferings: lodged in a lotus bud, there is no suffering of birth; cold and heat do not alter it, so there is no suffering of old age; the body lacks fractionary changes, so there is no suffering of sickness; life is immeasurable, so there is no suffering of death; without parents, wife, or children, there is no suffering of separation from loved ones; the superior good persons gather together, so there is no suffering of meeting the hated; with flower-receptacles, fragrant food, and precious jewels for enjoyment, there is no suffering of not getting what one seeks; contemplating emptiness and stillness, there is no suffering of the aggregates. Compassionately saving sentient beings, wishing to be born then born, not abiding in quiescence, it is not the two vehicles. Wisdom illuminating birth and death, attaining non-retrogression, it is not the ordinary person. The three realms are vast and desolate, like the four borderlands, where hills, pits, and mounds accumulate rotten filth, and ravines and gorges block the way—who will serve as a ferry? Then there are madmen who lose their way here; evil beasts and demons distress and harm them, living intermingled with weapons, fire, and water, sometimes battered by violent storms, frost, and thunderbolts, terrified and overwhelmed, not knowing of any city or territory that could shelter them, their food and clothing never sufficient, willingly enduring this suffering without seeking peace and bliss. There is a Buddha, Śākyamuni, who is the Great Guide; he points to the pure land as the land of Peace and Bliss, and the Buddha of Immeasurable Life is the master of the Pure Land. If all of you sentient beings are born in that land, there will be no distress. Those who do not hear or know of it are indeed pitiable. There are also good men who generate three kinds of mind and do not seek rebirth, who are even more to be lamented: The first says, "I should surpass the Buddhas and transcend the patriarchs; the Pure Land is not worth being born into." The second says, "Everywhere is the Pure Land; there is no need to be born in the West." The third says, "Sukhāvatī is a sacred realm; ordinary people like us cannot be born there." Now, the ocean of practices is immeasurable, yet Samantabhadra vows to see Amitābha; although Buddha lands are empty, Vimalakīrti constantly cultivates the Pure Land. The Tathāgatas of the ten directions have the praise of the broad tongue, and the bodhisattvas of the ten directions share the mind to go together. Try measuring yourself: how do you compare with these sages? To say it is not worth being born into—how self-deceiving! As for Nāgārjuna, he was a patriarch, yet the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra contains a prophetic text. Vasubandhu was a master of the doctrine, yet his Immeasurable Life Treatise has verses seeking rebirth. Ci'en's Universal Praise begins by proclaiming the ten excellences; Zhizhe analyzed the principle, clearly resolving the ten doubts. They were all superior sages who diligently sought rebirth; to say there is no need to be born—how arrogant! The chariot of fire can be extinguished, and a stone in a boat does not sink. In manifesting the flowering retribution, none was more extreme than Zhang Kui, who surpassed to an excellent place through ten recitations; in entering hell, none was swifter than Xiongzun, who revived and verified the wondrous cause. Worldly people's offenses are not necessarily like this; to say one cannot be born—how self-abandoning! The Pratyutpanna-samādhi-sūtra says: "The Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla asked the Buddha: 'How can future sentient beings see the Buddhas of the ten directions?' The Buddha taught him to be mindful of Amitābha Buddha, and he would immediately see the Buddhas of the ten directions." The Ratnakūṭa-sūtra says: "If sentient beings in other lands hear the name of the Tathāgata of Immeasurable Life, down to being able to generate a single thought of pure faith, joy, and delight, and dedicate all their roots of goodness, vowing to be born in that land, they will all be born according to their vows, attaining non-retrogression." These are all the words of the Buddha. If one does not believe the Buddha's words, whose words can be believed? If one is not born in the Pure Land, in what land can one be born? Self-deceiving, arrogant, and abandoning one's own spiritual nature, whose fault is it that one flows into saṃsāra? The forty-eight vows are all for delivering sentient beings; the sixteen contemplations all converge on focusing mindfulness. Once a single thought has believed, the seed is already cast into the jewelled pond; aided by the myriad goods, one will surely be born by transformation on the golden ground. Do not readily regret or grow lax, mistakenly identifying the city of doubt; immediately the lotus will open, and one will attain the path of liberation. Mind-only Pure Land, Amitābha of one's own nature—within the great radiance there are definitely no demonic obstacles. Resolving Doubts was compiled by Vice Minister Wang Minzhong; dispelling doubting sentiments, it directly leads beyond to the ground of faith, and its recording of the essential purport is most detailed and thorough—it is indeed a local guide to the land of Peace and Bliss. If one reaches the other shore, the boat can certainly be forgotten. For those who come asking for the crossing, do not neglect these words.

5.13

Precious Mirror of the Lotus School of Mount Lu, Fascicle Five: Correct Faith in Buddhānusmṛti (End)

Linked texts (1)

廬山蓮宗寶鑑 — Classical Chinese