寶王三昧念佛直指 2.30

2.30

法門廣大，遍攝群機，易進功高，眾行莫及。始自鷲峰初演大器所歸，終至震旦流輝三乘共證，其於法化益盛振古絕今，可謂最上微妙不可思議極勝廣大法門者也。迨至東晉遠祖，於彼匡廬唱立其教，繼時和者一百二十三人，祖師三覩聖相如願往生。朝士劉遺民作文立誓，亦見彼佛親自摩頂衣覆其體。又與同志闕公則等，於命終時悉從其行。此皆傳記所明，實人世共知者也。又晉翰林張抗，但持大悲呪十萬遍。宋江陵僧曇鑒，以平日毫芒之善悉回淨土。南齊揚都僧慧進，願誦法華為淨土行。而此二人皆生彼國，可謂行不虛矣。抗即見淨土在西屋間，良久而化。鑒乃覩彌陀以水灑西，曰：「滌汝塵垢，清汝心念。汝之身口俱致嚴淨。」又覩瓶中生花，定起與寺僧話別。進因誦經致病，乃願造《法華》百部施人，填吾所誦。造畢病愈。忽聞空中讚善，隨即往生。此三人者，其功尤難具述。又後魏壁谷僧曇鸞，棄仙學佛，修淨土真長生法，臨終乃令弟子高聲念佛，鸞即向西叩頭而亡，空中天樂從西而去。隋僧道喻，以旃檀香造三尺彌陀之像，發願求生。後亦死而復甦，乃於冥中親覩瑞應，見佛謂云：「明星現時，吾來接引。」及期果逝。其大行者，如唐京師善導和尚，台州懷玉、汾州芳果二師，真州自覺、睦州少康及并州惟岸等，皆不離大乘建誓立願、具修是行，靈驗昭著感動天人，法雲普覆含攝無窮、法雨遍濡充擴一切，其德故非一端，實不可具述矣。又陳隋天台智者國師，洎傳法列祖法智慈雲等。國初永明智覺禪師、長蘆慈覺禪師，此大聖師行超人天、德臨三有，揭昏衢之慧日、破苦處之導師，皆以此三昧為自利利他傑世化人之道。化儀既畢，皆生上品者也。又唐長安尼淨真，誦《金剛經》十萬遍，將終五月內十度見佛，兩度神遊極樂。唐房翥因勸一人念佛，感動幽冥。長安李知遙五會念佛，見空中神僧來接，得生淨土。上黨姚婆，念佛立化。并州溫靜文妻，修行如願。又張鍾馗、張善和皆為殺業，獄相已現，十念便歸。石晉鳳翔僧智通、宋明州僧可久，觀智者遺文，一心修習亦爾，神遊淨土，見標名華座者。出定之後，悉如其言。宋金太公、黃打鐵、吳瓊初皆為惡業，因改悔精修，於往生時悉有瑞應。荊王夫人、觀音縣君馮氏夫人，雖在女流，其德反著。故知此勝法門，凡有心者皆可修行，奚間緇白男女老幼愚智、異流極惡最逆闡提之輩也。雉聞法音尚生善道，人能念佛豈不西歸？如是則但慮人之弗修，毋慮佛不垂應也。今依傳記，聊述所聞，俾同志之士見賢思齊，為日用行藏之警省耳。至若四海八極之地、古往今來之時，耳目不接、所聞未廣，歷時既久亡失者多，豈能盡述！

This Dharma-gate is vast and great, completely gathering all capacities; easy to progress in and high in efficacy, no other practices can equal it. Beginning with its initial expounding upon Vulture Peak as the refuge for those of great capacity, down to its light shedding over China where the three vehicles jointly bear witness, its transformative influence has flourished increasingly, shaking antiquity and peerless in modern times; it may well be termed the supreme, subtle, inconceivable, most excellent, vast, and great Dharma-gate. Reaching the Eastern Jin, Patriarch [Hui]yuan proclaimed and established its teaching at Mount Lu, followed and joined in harmony by one hundred and twenty-three people. The Patriarch thrice beheld the holy signs and attained rebirth as he had vowed. The court gentleman Liu Yimin composed a text making vows, and likewise saw that Buddha personally rub his crown and cover his body with his robe. Moreover, along with like-minded companions such as Que Gongze and others, at the end of their lives they all went along by this practice. These matters are all clearly recorded in biographies and are truly known to all in the world. Furthermore, Zhang Kang, a Hanlin scholar of the Jin, merely held the Great Compassion Dhāraṇī one hundred thousand times. The Song monk Tanjian of Jiangling dedicated even the hair-tip of good deeds in ordinary times toward the Pure Land. The monk Huijin of the capital Yangdu under the Southern Qi vowed to recite the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka as his practice for the Pure Land. And these two people were both born in that realm; truly their practice was not in vain! Kang saw the Pure Land in his western room, and passed away after a good while. Jian beheld Amitābha sprinkle water toward the west, saying: 'I cleanse your defilements and purify your mental thoughts. Your body and speech are both made adorned and pure.' He also saw flowers bloom within a vase; rising from meditative absorption, he bade farewell to the monastery monks. Jin fell ill from reciting the sutra, whereupon he vowed to produce one hundred copies of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka and distribute them to people to make up for his recitations; upon completing them, his illness was cured. Suddenly he heard praises in the sky, and immediately attained rebirth. As for these three individuals, their achievements are especially difficult to relate in full. Furthermore, the monk Tanluan of Bigukou in the Later Wei abandoned Daoist immortality to study Buddhism, cultivating the true method of longevity of the Pure Land; at the point of death he ordered his disciples to chant the Buddha's name loudly, and Luan bowed toward the west and passed away, with heavenly music in the sky departing toward the west. In the Sui, the monk Daoyu made a three-foot image of Amitābha from sandalwood and vowed to seek rebirth. Later he died and revived, directly witnessing auspicious signs in the netherworld, seeing the Buddha say: 'When the bright star appears, I will come to receive you.' When the time arrived, he indeed passed away. Among great practitioners, there were Master Shandao of the Tang capital, the two masters Huaiyu of Taizhou and Fangguo of Fenzhou, Zijue of Zhenzhou, Shaokang of Muzhou, Weian of Bingzhou, and others; all of them, without departing from the Mahāyāna, established vows and fully cultivated this practice. Their spiritual responses were clear and prominent, moving devas and humans; the Dharma clouds covered universally, gathering limitlessly, and the Dharma rain moistened everywhere, extending across all things. Their virtues were of many kinds and truly cannot be recounted in full. Furthermore, National Preceptor Zhizhe of Tiantai under the Chen and Sui dynasties, down through the transmission patriarchs Fazhi, Ciyun, and others; and at the beginning of the present dynasty, Chan Master Yongming Zhijue and Chan Master Changlu Cijue: these great holy masters possessed practice surpassing devas and humans, and their virtues overlooked the three realms of existence. They were the sun of wisdom illuminating the dark roads, guides dispelling places of suffering, and all took this samādhi as the way to benefit self and others, stand out from the world, and transform people. Once their teaching work was complete, they all attained rebirth in the highest grade. Also, the nun Jingzhen of Chang'an in the Tang recited the Vajracchedikā one hundred thousand times; within five months before her passing she saw the Buddha ten times and roamed spiritually in Sukhāvatī twice. Fang Zhu of the Tang moved the netherworld simply by encouraging one person to practice buddha-mindfulness. Li Zhiyao of Chang'an practiced the five-tempo buddha-mindfulness, saw a divine monk come in the sky to receive him, and attained rebirth in the Pure Land. Old Mother Yao of Shangdang passed away standing while mindful of the Buddha. The wife of Wen Jingwen of Bingzhou cultivated practice and attained her vow. In addition, Zhang Zhongkui and Zhang Shanhe had both engaged in karmic killing, and the signs of hell had already appeared, yet with ten recitations they returned [to the Pure Land]. The monk Zhitong of Fenghuang in the Later Jin and the monk Kejiu of Mingzhou in the Song examined the bequeathed writings of Zhizhe and single-mindedly cultivated similarly; roaming spiritually in the Pure Land, they saw their names inscribed on lotus pedestals, and upon emerging from meditative absorption, everything was just as they said. In the Song, Old Sire Jin, the blacksmith Huang, and Wu Qiong all initially committed evil karma, but due to repenting and diligently cultivating, they all had auspicious signs at the time of rebirth. The Lady of the Prince of Jing and Lady Feng, Mistress of Guanyin County, though among the ranks of women, their virtues were even more outstanding. Hence we know that in this supreme Dharma-gate, anyone who has a mind can cultivate it; what distinction is there between monastic and lay, male and female, old and young, foolish and wise, or even heretics, the extremely evil, the most rebellious, and icchantikas? If a pheasant hearing the Dharma sound can still be born in a good realm, how could a person capable of buddha-mindfulness fail to return to the West? In this way, one should only worry about people not cultivating, not about the Buddha failing to extend his response. Now, relying on biographies, I briefly relate what I have heard, so that like-minded people may see the worthy and strive to equal them, taking this as a warning and reflection for their daily practice. As for the lands of the four seas and eight extremes, and the times of past and present, what the ears and eyes have not met and what has not been widely heard, through the passage of long ages much has been lost; how could it all be recounted!