廬山蓮宗寶鑑 5.12

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.