廬山蓮宗寶鑑 7.4

7.4

Cizhao said: 'If there is practice without vow, that practice will surely be solitary; if there is vow without practice, that vow will surely be hollow; without practice and without vow, one stays in Jambudvīpa in vain; with both practice and vow, one enters straightway into the unconditioned—this indeed is the root of the Buddhas' and patriarchs' cultivation of pure karma.' Observing faithful people nowadays taking refuge in Buddhist assemblies: some generate the aspiration for the sake of illness and suffering, some raise the thought to repay their parents, some to protect and support their households, and some observe the dietary precepts out of dread for sins. Though they have faith, they lack practice and vows; though they speak of buddhānusmṛti, they do not reach its root source. Whenever they cultivate wholesome connections, it is only to fulfill personal wishes; rarely do any make vows to practice buddhānusmṛti and seek rebirth in the Pure Land for the sake of their own birth and death. The words of prayer and dedication at incense-and-candle sanctuaries are often merely offerings to gods and spirits to avert disasters and prolong life. Thus they conflict with the original intent of the sūtras and repentances and do not accord with the fundamental vows of the Buddhas. Even if they cultivate and recite for a whole lifetime, failing to comprehend the principle and intention and misapplying their effort, this is what is called counting others' treasures all day long without having half a coin of one's own. That they fail to attain rebirth in the Pure Land at the end of life is simply because they lack practice and vows. Furthermore, there is a class of foolish people who, upon approaching the Buddha to receive precepts, burn incense and vow before the Three Jewels, saying: 'If I break the precepts, I am willing to suffer affliction with foul disease and fall into hell forever,' or saying that their left eye will bleed and their right eye will discharge pus, binding themselves willingly in the manner of an official bond. Often one sees them having words without heart, violating the dietary precepts and breaking the moral rules; willingly receiving retribution, how could the agony be endured? They willingly enter the gate of degradation and bring about the omen of their own ruin. Little do they know that the Buddhas and patriarchs arouse compassion and exercise mercy—when did they ever teach people to do this? These are all errors of false teachers who mistakenly take curses and penalties for vows. How profound is such delusion! I have often felt pity and urged them to make correct vows together, seeking rebirth in the Pure Land and wishing to become Buddhas together. But they say: 'I am an ordinary being. How could I dare hope to be reborn in the Pure Land and become a Buddha? Having such a thought would just be another delusion.' I replied to them, saying: 'Not so. Good friends! The Buddha is awakening, and the Pure Land is the mind. Who does not possess this mind? Awakening is the Buddha, delusion is sentient beings.' Worldly people turn their backs on awakening and conform to dust, transmigrating through the three realms, the four modes of birth, and the six destinies, receiving beautiful and ugly retributions according to the conditions of wholesome and unwholesome karma—all because they mistakenly identify the four elements as their own body and the six sense objects as real, drifting day and night in pursuit of these illusory realms without ever briefly reflecting back upon themselves. From youth to old age they worry only about household matters; unable to secure wealth to their satisfaction, the more they have, the more they seek, greedy without satiety. Though they speak of accumulating goodness, serving the Buddha, bowing, making merit, and burning incense, they only wish for wealth, honor, splendor, and immortality. The moment they do a little bit of good, they have several prayers wishing for protection: grain filling the barns, silk multiplying ten-thousandfold, descendants illustrious and honored, cattle and horses multiplying. The moment something does not go their way, they resent the Buddha for not protecting them; only when wealth and joy increase daily do they say the gods and dragons have responded. Such greedy scheming is precisely the delusion! Unaware of this themselves, they turn around and call the teaching of practicing buddhānusmṛti to seek rebirth in the Pure Land a 'delusion'—is this not a great inversion? Everything called making merit belongs to the conditioned; it is a worldly, defiled cause, not the path of practice of unconditioned world-transcendence. Disciples of the Buddha should reflect well: today having the condition to encounter the Buddha-Dharma, you must investigate the root and not squabble over the branches; turn the light around in a single thought to cultivate the world-transcending Dharma, vow to abandon Sahā and vow to be reborn in the Pure Land, just like a long-time traveler in a foreign land yearning to return to his old home. How could this mind that vows to be reborn in the Pure Land and vows to become a Buddha be compared to the delusions of ordinary beings? Do you not see what the repentance says: 'I vow that when my life draws to an end, / all obstacles will be utterly removed; / seeing face-to-face that Buddha Amitābha, / I shall instantly be reborn in the realm of peace and joy'? This may indeed be called: once you set foot on the path by which you came, only then do you realize that before, you used your mind in vain.