廬山蓮宗寶鑑 7.7

7.7

'All dharmas are born from the mind,
all dharmas perish from the mind;
our Buddha, the Great Śramaṇa,
always spoke in this manner.
Upholding precepts without faith and vows,
one cannot be reborn in the Pure Land;
one obtains only human and heavenly blessings—
when blessings are exhausted, one suffers transmigration,
turning repeatedly, hard to escape.
Reading sūtras without the eye of wisdom,
one does not recognize the Buddha's profound meaning;
though gaining cleverness in future lives,
with a confused mind, it is hard to escape.
It is better to practice buddhānusmṛti:
in the present life there is no fame or profit,
walking or sitting, no superfluous talk—
this then is Amitābha.
By the power of making vows and holding precepts,
dedicating them for rebirth in the Land of Joy,
this precisely accords with the practice to maintain,
not one will fail among a thousand.
Spoken by the golden mouth of Śākyamuni,
Amitābha personally embraces and receives.
All Buddhas protect and keep them in mind,
all the devas well guard and sustain them.
Seeing this practitioner of buddhānusmṛti,
they are not far from the Buddha;
they ought to sit in the place of awakening,
turn the great wheel of the Dharma,
and broadly deliver boundless sentient beings.
Just like a poor woman
pregnant with a wheel-turning king,
all the devas constantly cherish and guard her,
yet the poor woman herself does not know
that she has a noble son in her womb.
Now this practitioner of buddhānusmṛti,
their situation is also like this:
recalling the Buddha and constantly mindful of the Buddha,
before long they will become a Buddha;
all the Buddhas well guard and sustain them.
That person does not know themselves:
"I ought to be reborn in the Pure Land,"
yet they wish, in a future life,
to be born again among humans.
Just like the house of a poor person,
where there is a hidden treasure underground,
the treasure guardian constantly guards it,
not allowing it to be lost.
The poor person does not know themselves
that there is a treasure store within the house;
day after day they pursue wage labor,
seeking food and clothing to sustain themselves.
Now this practitioner of buddhānusmṛti,
their situation is also like this:
they do not know that a practitioner of buddhānusmṛti
fully possesses the tathāgatagarbha,
yet they themselves say, "I have no share in it,"
and wish instead to be born among humans.
Just like a sick person's house,
which possesses genuine, wondrous medicine,
yet not knowing the nature of the wondrous medicine,
they cannot cure their own illness,
every day by their bed and pillow
they endure boundless agony.
Now this practitioner of buddhānusmṛti,
their situation is also like this:
they do not know that the mind of buddhānusmṛti
can extinguish the disease of greed and anger,
can be a great medicine king,
can be a great treasury of jewels,
benefiting and rescuing all people,
can be a great Dharma king,
sheltering and protecting all beings;
yet they consider themselves an ordinary person
unable to be reborn in the Pure Land,
and merely uphold fasts and precepts on their own,
vowing to be human in future lives,
to cultivate further by turns,
only then being able to be reborn in that land.
Often one sees practitioners
regularly speaking like this,
not matching Amitābha's vow,
not according with the Pure Land sūtras;
wrong views veil their minds,
in the end it is hard to escape—
it is not an obstacle caused by others,
it is entirely their own mind obstructing itself;
if they fail to attain rebirth in this life,
one mistake becomes a hundred mistakes.
I urge you practitioners
to believe what our Tathāgata says:
the Buddha has no words that are not true,
how could they be false and deceitful words?
Just be diligent on your own,
seeking the Pure Land with single-mindedness;
using the wind to blow upon the fire,
little effort is spent.
Fortunately possessing the mind of buddhānusmṛti,
dedicate your vows to transcend the three realms.
Encountering treasure and not taking treasure,
encountering food and enduring hunger and cold—
alas, great heroes,
who fail to see the true meaning!
Now I briefly urge and praise,
pass it along by turns to others,
widely propagate it on my behalf,
acting as envoys of the Tathāgata;
truly being disciples of all Buddhas,
this is truly called repaying the Buddha's kindness.
I universally vow that you practice as taught,
and be reborn together in the Land of Sukhāvatī.'