廬山蓮宗寶鑑 6.10

6.10

The Pure Land Ten Gates of Admonition states: 'Those who cultivate the Pure Land must eliminate evil and adopt good; only then can they achieve merit. If a person, although reciting Amitābha, has vehement jealousy, it is called a hidden sharp knife; at the end of life, the force of the winds will dismantle their body, with all hundred joints in agony. Or if one says, "I can keep the precepts, but others cannot," showing arrogance toward teachers and monks and looking down on everyone with slander, in the present life one diminishes one's blessings, shortens one's lifespan, and dies of consumption coughing up blood. If a practitioner of buddhānusmṛti has not yet cleansed dust and defilement, whenever evil thoughts arise, one must examine oneself: whether there is a mind of stinginess and greed, anger and hatred, ignorant craving, envy and jealousy, deceit and falsehood, self and ego, conceit and arrogance, flattery and crookedness, wrong views, contempt and disrespect, subject and object, or any unwholesome mind produced by following defilement amidst adverse or favorable circumstances—if such should arise, one must immediately recite the Buddha's name aloud, gather the mind, and return to correctness, not allowing evil thoughts to continue, eliminating them entirely at once so they never arise again. As for the mind of deep faith, sincere mind, mind of vows and dedication, mind of compassion, humble mind, impartial mind, expedient mind, mind of patience, mind of keeping precepts, mind of joy and giving, mind of dhyāna-concentration, vigorous mind, bodhicitta, and all wholesome minds—one must constantly guard and protect them. Furthermore, one must avoid unchaste conduct, cut off evil codes of discipline, take care not to raise chickens, dogs, pigs, or sheep, and refrain from hunting and fishing. Know that all the superior good persons in the Realm of Sukhāvatī attained rebirth in the Pure Land and non-retrogression from bodhi precisely because they abandoned evil conditions and practiced wholesome karma. Practitioners of buddhānusmṛti should learn after the Buddha; they must take the elimination of evil and the adoption of good as their mirror and admonition. If only one can cultivate according to this, it is the right practice of the Pure Land.' Truly, it can be said: Boundless wild clouds are swept away by the wind; a round, bright moon shines in the center of the sky.