廬山蓮宗寶鑑 6.2

6.2

Now, the realm of constant light is originally without form or mark; when there is a response, it takes shape. Since the essential path to bodhi has been opened, without practice one cannot arrive. The Vimalakīrti-sūtra says: "Ratnakūṭa, son of the five hundred elders, said to the Buddha: 'I have already aroused the aspiration for anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi; I wish to hear how one attains the purity of a buddha-land, and I wish you to preach the bodhisattva's practice for the Pure Land.' The Buddha said: 'Ratnakūṭa! Sentient beings are the bodhisattva's Pure Land.'" Dharma Master Zhao said: "The ultimate person is empty and without mark, taking shape only in response to things." If the form has no fixed essence, how much less could the land have permanence? Because sentient beings are of myriad kinds and their karmic actions differ, different conversions are variously received, causing their retributions to not be uniform. Therefore, to the pure, it responds with gems and jade; to the defiled, it responds with sand and gravel. Excellence and vileness belong to them; for me there is no fixed state. The land of no fixed state is called the true land. Thus, the purity or defilement of the land is bound to sentient beings; hence it is said that the classes of sentient beings are the bodhisattva's Pure Land. Now, as for the Tathāgata's Pure Land, because it takes placelessness as its essence, sentient beings of mixed actions look at the same thing and see differently; because they see differently, purity and defilement arise, and because it is placeless, the true land is formed. As for grasping at its purity or defilement, that is the retribution of sentient beings; tracing back to its placelessness, that is the truth of the buddha-land. How could one distinguish its purity or defilement only after separating distinct regions, different places, and ordinary versus sage lands? Dharma Master Daosheng said: "As for the practitioner of the Pure Land, practice brings about the Pure Land; it does not fabricate it. If one wished to fabricate the land, it would be of the same class as sentient beings. To prevent any arbitrary fabrication, one must first clarify the root of fabrication to express the meaning of attainment, and only then explain the practice." Dharma Master [Kumāra]jīva said: "When Ratnakūṭa asked about the marks of the Pure Land, the World-Honoured One answered, 'Sentient beings are the bodhisattva's Pure Land,' which explains the cause upon the fruit." State Preceptor Qingliang said: "Within the minds of all buddhas, sentient beings newly and freshly become buddhas; within the minds of sentient beings, the Pure Land realizes the true from moment to moment." The sūtra says: "The bodhisattva acquires a pure buddha-land in accordance with the sentient beings he transforms, in order to benefit all sentient beings. For example, if a person wishes to build a palace upon an open ground, he may do so at will without obstruction; but if he does so in empty space, he can never complete it. The bodhisattva is like this: wishing to accomplish sentient beings, he vows to acquire a buddha-land; it is not in emptiness. You should know that the straightforward mind, the profound mind, and the Mahāyāna mind are the bodhisattva's Pure Land." Dharma Master Zhao said: "The purity of the land must come from sentient beings; the purity of sentient beings must rely on the manifold practices. When the practices are pure, sentient beings are pure; when sentient beings are pure, the buddha-land is pure. This is an inevitable principle that cannot err. The land's lack of crookedness arises from the straightforward mind; hence it is said that the straightforward mind is the bodhisattva's Pure Land. The straightforward mind means being honest and straightforward without flattery; this mind is the root of the myriad practices." Dharma Master Sheng said: "Planting the mind and sowing virtue so deeply and firmly that it is hard to uproot is the profound mind. Riding upon the eighty thousand practices to carry all under heaven without leaving a single person behind is the Mahāyāna mind." These three minds are the practices of beginners. If one wishes to propagate the Great Way, one must first have a straightforward mind. Once the mind is truly straightforward, one can enter deeply into practice; once entering into practice is deep, it broadly operates without limit. This is the sequence of the three minds. Equipped with these three minds, one next cultivates the six perfections up to the myriad practices. Dharma Master [Kumāra]jīva said: "The straightforward mind is the sincere mind; the beginning of arousing the aspiration lies in sincerity. The understanding of the Way becoming increasingly clear is called the profound mind. Rightly heading toward buddha-wisdom is called the Mahāyāna mind." The sūtra says: "Giving, moral discipline, patience, diligence, dhyāna meditation, and wisdom are the bodhisattva's Pure Land. The four immeasurable minds and the four means of embrace are the bodhisattva's Pure Land. Expedient means are the bodhisattva's Pure Land. The thirty-seven factors [of enlightenment] are the bodhisattva's Pure Land. Dedication [of merit] is the bodhisattva's Pure Land. The ten virtuous actions are the bodhisattva's Pure Land." In this way, Ratnakūṭa, in accordance with his straightforward mind, the bodhisattva is able to initiate practice; in accordance with his initiating practice, he attains the profound mind; in accordance with his profound mind, his intent is subdued; in accordance with his intent being subdued, he practices as preached; in accordance with his practicing as preached, he is able to dedicate [merit]; in accordance with his dedicating [merit], he has expedient means; in accordance with his expedient means, he accomplishes sentient beings; in accordance with his accomplishing sentient beings, the buddha-land is pure; in accordance with the buddha-land being pure, his preaching of the Dharma is pure; in accordance with his preaching of the Dharma being pure, his wisdom is pure; in accordance with his wisdom being pure, his mind is pure; in accordance with his mind being pure, all his merits are pure. Dharma Master [Kumāra]jīva said: "The straightforward mind means having faith in the Buddha's Dharma with a sincere mind. Once faith is established, one can initiate all kinds of good deeds; once all kinds of good deeds are accumulated, one's mind turns more profound; when the profound mind is steadfast, one does not follow manifold evils. Abandoning evil and following good is called subduing the mind; once the mind is subdued, whenever one encounters good one practices it; whenever one encounters good and practices it, one is able to practice what is hard to practice; being able to practice what is hard to practice, one is equipped with the myriad goods; equipped with the myriad goods, one can dedicate them toward the Buddha Way; directing toward it and ever advancing is the power of expedient means. There are three essentials of expedient means: first, being good at one's own practice without grasping at marks; second, not grasping at realization; third, being good at transforming sentient beings. Equipped with these three, one attains the Pure Land. Once the land is pure, sentient beings are purely purified; when sentient beings are purely purified, they share the same virtue as the transforming lord; hence it is said that all are pure." Although various sūtras explain at length the practice for the pure realm, they have not clarified the stages of the practice. Now this explanation clarifies what is utmost, deep, and broad; it cannot be transcended all at once. One should seek it through a path and tread it in an orderly manner. Therefore, it is said that the traces of initiating practice begin with the straightforward mind; the straightforward mind is none other than the true mind. Who among sentient beings does not have this mind? It is simply that they confuse themselves and are neither conscious nor aware. Thus, the Sixth Patriarch, the Great Master, said: "A single thought of fairness and straightforwardness is Amitābha; a single thought of deviousness and danger is a sentient being." This is because when people dwell in the defiled world, ignorance is actively manifest; their mouths speak of the straightforward mind, but their actions are full of flattery and crookedness, drowning in the sea of suffering unable to escape. For this reason, the Buddha had compassionate pity on them, showed them expedient means, and guided them with buddhānusmṛti to subdue their chaotic minds, causing them to renounce deviousness and danger and return to the correct and true, directly enabling sentient beings to be born in the Pure Land. Therefore, the Baowang lun says: "When a clear gem is dropped into turbid water, the turbid water cannot but become clear; when buddha-recollection is cast into a chaotic mind, the chaotic mind cannot but become buddha." Hence, due to buddhānusmṛti the straightforward mind is revealed; due to the straightforward mind one practices manifold goods; and by practicing manifold goods one attains the buddha's Pure Land. How could this not be the expedient power of wisdom of the buddhas and patriarchs? Dharma Master Zhao said: "One who accumulates virtue thus purifies the mind; when the mind is pure, there is no virtue that is not pure." Dharma Master Sheng said: "Meritorious practice is the extraordinarily superior cause of the Pure Land; merit and virtue are the extraordinarily subtle fruit of the Pure Land. Cause and fruit of the Pure Land are simply the echo and shadow of the mind. Therefore it is said: 'If one wishes to attain the Pure Land, one must purify one's mind,' as it is said, when the sound is harmonious, the echo accords, and when the form is upright, the shadow is straight."