寶王三昧念佛直指 2.42

2.42

念佛三昧者，大雄氏觀此娑婆有生老病死等業繫諸苦，教人念彼阿彌陀佛，求生極樂國土之法也。以彼佛身及彼國土清淨無比，莊嚴第一依正極妙，故得名焉。彼佛眾會所有大心菩薩，聞佛言教得生彼者，何止萬億。自是法流天下，東土西國自始至今，如教生者轉多，不可以微塵恒沙比其數量也。去聖逾遠，人世澆漓，不知西方極樂實境見存，乃錯解諸法在心一句以為玄妙，便妄認胸中六塵緣影昏擾擾相為心，謂樂土在內不求生彼。顛倒甚矣。此六塵緣影皆屬前塵，本無自體，前塵若無，此心即滅，云何更有彼土在此心內耶？汝又謂心本在胸。心小在胸，焉可著此廣大佛土耶？縱謂悟道便為佛土在心者，只可名為見性悟道，焉可謂之淨土在心？若人作此見者，實名邪見。縱是天魔惡賊外道種性，亦超此見，世間無有此見最下劣矣。可憐憫哉。汝今若欲悟真實本然心者，先當觀汝所認六塵緣影之心本在汝胸，胸住於身，身居國土，此土及一切淨穢剎海悉在虛空之內。此虛空界無際無外，十界依正一切在中，廣大難思。此空雖大，我之天然不動真實本心非大極大，又能圓裹如上最大虛空。彼空在我真心，尚如小片之雲忽點太清之裏，云何娑婆極樂一切淨穢剎海而不在我本然心中耶？然則佛說諸法在心者，實非在汝胸中妄想緣影心內也，乃在現前一念本真之心內也。此真實心遠離知覺、超諸聞見，永斷一切生滅增減之相。非始非今，性本真如、具含眾妙，乃十界迷悟之本，實不可得而思議其廣大者。既一切身土皆在汝今大覺不動真心之中，與佛同證，則知極樂娑婆等土雖是實境乃全我心。既全我心，我今在意於中捨東取西、厭穢忻淨，惡娑婆、求極樂，乃至憎生愛佛，恣意熾然著相而求，皆不離我心也。如是而求不離心故，故彼極樂彌陀相好現時，即自心顯。自心顯時，即彼佛現。又我心即是彼佛之心，彼佛即是我心之佛，一體無二，故云惟心淨土、本性彌陀。非謂西方無土無佛，不須求生。但在汝生滅緣影之中，名為惟心本性也。又云求彼佛即求自心、求自心須求彼佛，義意甚明。云何今時有等破法散僧、間道遊儒與泛參禪理者，不知即境即心求不礙真之理，反於不二法中分內分外、辨境辨心，又教人捨外取內、背境向心，使憎愛轉多、分別更甚，而深違理趣也。一分其境，便以極樂為外，教人不必求生。一分其心，便妄指六塵緣影虛偽妄想為心，謂極樂在內。因思此心無質，又謂本無一切因果善惡修證之法，從是恣意妄涉世緣，教人不須禮佛、燒香然燈、誦經懺願等種種善行，謂之著相。其上者又使彼縛心不動如頑石相似，壞亂禪法。甚者更令其放曠自如，言殺盜婬業悉是空華無妨於道。因此邪見墮落生死，直向阿鼻獄底最下一層而住，罪甚屠酤。直待此見悔時，彼獄亦隨而壞，方乃得出。又於身外田屋山河大地所依之境，雖見實有，不敢說無，亦皆指為心外之物。打作兩橛，不能得成片段使心境一如。惟於著衣喫飯因貪口體之重，不敢叱之為外。而於天堂地獄及極樂土等塵剎，雖曾聞名，因不見故，直說為無，反言某人某處快樂便是天堂，某人某處苦楚便是地獄。曾不知彼真心非幻而亦實具天堂地獄剎海也。以此教人不必求生，愚之甚矣。嗚呼！汝既不識不生滅真心含裹太虛，妄認身內方寸緣影為心，以賊為子，不求於佛，其見卑哉。經云：譬如百千澄清大海棄之，惟認一浮漚體目為全潮窮盡瀛渤。如來說為可哀憐者，正此輩也。是以我心實與佛心同一理故，故我彌陀願力威德光明在我心中，承我心愚癡之力作一切佛事，無時不引導於我。我心亦於彌陀願力大心之內，修諸念佛求生一切善行，無一善行而不具含佛德。了彼佛德，成我三昧，故知彌陀願力始於發心終於究竟，無一法而不直趣我心，以我心即佛心故。我心亦於無始至今盡未來際，修一切三昧，無一法而不攝歸佛海成本來佛，以佛心即我心故。如是依正色心因果淨穢雖同一心，而實不妨一一自分各住其位於一心內也。以一心故，雖淨穢不同，所求不出於真心。以自分故，雖一心而必捨穢取淨也。捨穢取淨，則感應道交見彼本性彌陀。了悟一心，則淨穢自分可悟惟心淨土。如是而修，譬如一滴投海便同一味，方知大海即自己也。豈有一行虛棄不成功德者哉？今彼三家村裏愚夫愚婦，雖不識理，以信實有彼土故，於命終時反得往生。彼畏有陷空之人，因認緣影為心，謂無外土故，雖修道行，還受生死。如是則知，彌陀光明威德願力常在世間，化事不息，尚欲攝取逃逝專忘眾生。況憶念佛者，豈不生也？又彼國土既勝，其求生者亦必當深心起勝願行，或單稱名號、專持一呪，及但旋繞禮拜，乃至燒香散華、六時懺悔，盡撥世緣，一心專注觀佛形容與白毫相，心不懈廢，命終定生。更能孝養父母、奉事師長，慈心不殺、修十善業，受持三歸、具足眾戒、不犯威儀，深信因果、不謗大乘、勸進行者。修如此法，亦生彼也。若得生彼，非止得生，又能了知如上著實努力念念求生之時，正是無念無求無生之理。何以故？即精修是無修，非謂不修是無修也。若果謂一切放下善惡無著坦蕩無礙為無修者，又何異斷見外道，非愚癡而何？豈不聞古人以色相反為無相、以深修乃為無修？以彼例此，法法皆爾，可不審之？今念人命無常、轉息來世，又況塵事連環如鉤鎖不斷，若不能於是事縈心塵勞欝結時，及正當得志歇手不得處，一割割斷，起願立行，盡力一跳，焉得應念生彼？是故我今作禮奉勸佛子，皆當一心精進而行也。

The buddha-mindfulness samādhi is the method by which the Great Hero, observing that this Sahā world has all the sufferings bound up with karma—such as birth, old age, sickness, and death—teaches people to be mindful of that Buddha Amitābha and seek rebirth in the land of Sukhāvatī. Because that Buddha's body and that land are incomparably pure, foremost in adornments, and supremely wondrous in their circumstantial and primary [rewards], it receives this name. How could the great-minded bodhisattvas in the assembly of that Buddha who have attained rebirth there upon hearing the Buddha's verbal teachings be limited to tens of billions? Since then, this teaching has spread throughout the world; from the beginning until now, in both the Eastern lands and the Western country, those who have attained rebirth in accordance with the teachings have grown even more numerous, beyond any comparison by dust motes or sands of the Ganges. As we grow further from the Sage, the human world becomes degenerate and shallow. Unaware that the actual realm of the Western Sukhāvatī truly exists, they misunderstand the phrase 'all dharmas are in the mind' as something profound and wondrous, and thus mistakenly recognize the dimly turbid appearances of the conditioned shadows of the six dusts in their chests as the mind, claiming that the Land of Bliss is internal and not seeking rebirth there. How utterly inverted! These conditioned shadows of the six dusts all belong to external dust and originally have no self-substance; if the external dust is absent, this mind is extinguished. How could that land exist within such a mind? Furthermore, you claim that the mind originally resides in the chest. If the mind is small and resides in the chest, how could it contain this vast and great buddha-land? Even if one claims that awakening to the Way means the buddha-land is in the mind, that can only be called seeing the nature and awakening to the Way; how can it be called the Pure Land being in the mind? If someone forms such a view, it is truly named a wrong view. Even the natures of heavenly māras, wicked thieves, and non-Buddhists surpass this view; there is nothing in the world more base than this view. How lamentable! If you now wish to awaken to the real, original mind, you should first contemplate that the mind you take to be the conditioned shadows of the six dusts originally resides in your chest; the chest resides in the body, the body dwells in the country, and this land together with all pure and defiled oceans of realms reside entirely within empty space. This realm of empty space is boundless and without exterior; the circumstantial and primary [rewards] of the ten realms are all within it, vast and unfathomable. Although this space is great, my naturally unmoving, real original mind is not great, yet supremely great, and can moreover completely envelop the aforementioned greatest space. That space, within my true mind, is still like a tiny wisp of cloud suddenly dotting the vast clear sky. How, then, could Sahā, Sukhāvatī, and all the pure and defiled oceans of realms not be within my original mind? Therefore, when the Buddha said that all dharmas are in the mind, they are truly not within the mind of the false conceptual conditioned shadows in your chest; rather, they are within the presently manifest, single thought of the fundamentally real mind. This real mind is far removed from perception, transcends seeing and hearing, and forever cuts off all marks of arising, ceasing, increasing, and decreasing. It is neither beginning nor present; its nature is originally tathatā, containing all wonders, and is the root of both delusion and awakening in the ten realms. It is truly impossible to conceive its vastness. Since all bodies and lands are within your presently manifest, greatly awakened, unmoving true mind, identical in realization with the Buddhas, you should know that although lands such as Sukhāvatī and Sahā are actual realms, they are entirely my mind. Since they are entirely my mind, as I now intend therein to abandon the east and take the west, revile the defiled and delight in the pure, abhor Sahā and seek Sukhāvatī, and even detest ordinary beings and love the Buddha, freely and ardently grasping at forms to seek [rebirth]—none of this departs from my mind. Because seeking in this way does not depart from the mind, when the marks and characteristics of Amitābha of Sukhāvatī appear, it is the manifestation of one's own mind. When one's own mind manifests, that Buddha appears. Moreover, my mind is that Buddha's mind, and that Buddha is the Buddha of my mind; they are of one substance without duality. Hence it is said: 'Mind-only Pure Land, own-nature Amitābha.' This does not mean there is no land and no Buddha in the West so that one need not seek rebirth, but rather that within your arising-and-ceasing conditioned shadows, it is called mind-only and own-nature. It is also said that seeking that Buddha is seeking one's own mind, and seeking one's own mind requires seeking that Buddha; the meaning is exceedingly clear. Why is it that nowadays there are certain Dharma-destroying wanderers among monks, casual Confucian travelers, and shallow investigators of Chan principles who do not understand the principle that the realm is the mind and that seeking does not obstruct the real, but instead make distinctions between inside and outside, and differentiate between realm and mind within non-dual Dharma? They also teach people to abandon the external and take the internal, turning their backs on the realm and facing the mind, causing hatred and love to increase and conceptual differentiation to become even more severe, thus profoundly defying the rational principle. Once they separate the realm, they take Sukhāvatī as external and teach people not to seek rebirth. Once they separate the mind, they mistakenly point to the false, deceptive delusions of the conditioned shadows of the six dusts as the mind, claiming that Sukhāvatī is within. Contemplating that this mind has no material substance, they further claim there are originally no dharmas of cause and effect, good and evil, or practice and realization; thereupon they freely and falsely engage in worldly conditions, teaching people that they do not need to perform various good deeds such as bowing to the Buddha, burning incense, lighting lamps, chanting sūtras, or repenting and making vows, calling these 'attachment to marks.' Those among them of higher standing cause their minds to be bound and unmoving like inert stones, corrupting and throwing into chaos the Chan method. Those of worse sort even cause them to act completely undisciplined and unrestrained, saying that killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct are all flowers in the sky and do not hinder the Way. Due to this wrong view, they fall into saṃsāra, heading straight to the lowest tier at the bottom of Avīci Hell to dwell there, their guilt exceeding that of butchers and wine-sellers. Only when this view is repented and that hell also collapses accordingly can they finally emerge. Furthermore, regarding the external realms upon which they depend—fields, houses, mountains, rivers, and the great earth—although seeing that they actually exist and not daring to say they do not, they also point to them all as things outside the mind. They chop them in two, unable to make them a unified whole to bring mind and realm into oneness. Only with regard to wearing clothes and eating food, because of their heavy craving for the mouth and body, do they not dare denounce them as external. Yet regarding the heavens, the hells, the Sukhāvatī land, and other dust-mote realms, although having heard their names, because they cannot see them, they bluntly declare them non-existent, claiming instead that when a certain person in a certain place is happy, that is heaven, and when a certain person in a certain place suffers, that is hell. They never know that the true mind is not an illusion, and also actually possesses the oceans of realms of heavens and hells. Using this to teach people not to seek rebirth is the height of folly! Alas! Since you do not recognize that the true mind without arising or ceasing envelops the great void, but mistakenly recognize the square inch of conditioned shadows within the body as the mind, mistaking a thief for your son and not seeking the Buddha, how base is your view! The sūtra says: 'It is as if someone threw away hundreds of thousands of clear, great seas, and recognized only a single floating bubble, regarding it as the entire tide encompassing the oceans.' Those whom the Tathāgata describes as pitiable are precisely this sort of person. Therefore, my mind and the Buddha's mind are truly of the same principle; hence my Amitābha's vow-power, majesty, virtue, and light are within my mind, receiving the power of my mind's ignorance to perform all Buddha-works, constantly guiding me at all times. My mind, within the great mind of Amitābha's vow-power, also cultivates all good deeds of buddha-mindfulness and seeking rebirth; there is not a single good deed that does not fully contain the Buddha's virtues. Understanding that Buddha's virtues brings my samādhi to completion; thus we know that Amitābha's vow-power, from the initial generating of the mind to its ultimate completion, has not a single dharma that does not tend straight toward my mind, because my mind is the Buddha's mind. My mind also, from beginningless time down to the present and exhausting the future, cultivates all samādhis; there is not a single dharma that is not gathered into the Buddha-ocean to become the original Buddha, because the Buddha's mind is my mind. In this way, although circumstantial and primary [rewards], form and mind, cause and effect, purity and defilement are of one and the same mind, this truly does not prevent each from maintaining its own station and dwelling in its position within the one mind. Because of the one mind, although purity and defilement are different, what is sought does not go beyond the true mind. Because of their own stations, although they are of the one mind, one must abandon the defiled and choose the pure. Abandoning the defiled and choosing the pure, there is mutual resonance between response and stimulus, and one sees that own-nature Amitābha. Completely awakening to the one mind, purity and defilement maintain their own stations, and one can awaken to the mind-only Pure Land. Cultivating in this way is like a single drop cast into the ocean immediately becoming of the same flavor; only then does one know that the great ocean is oneself. How could there be a single practice vainly discarded without achieving merit? Now, those foolish men and women in the countryside, although they do not understand the principles, because of their faith that that land actually exists, are conversely able to attain rebirth at the end of their lives. Those who fear falling into emptiness, because they recognize conditioned shadows as the mind and claim there is no external land, although cultivating religious practices, still undergo birth and death. Thus we know that Amitābha's light, majesty, virtue, and vow-power are constantly in the world, with their transforming activities unceasing, still wishing to gather in those sentient beings who have run away and completely forgotten. How much more so for those who are mindful of the Buddha—how could they not be reborn? Furthermore, since that land is supreme, those who seek rebirth must also arouse supreme vows and practices with a deep mind: either solely reciting the name, single-mindedly upholding a single dhāraṇī, or merely circumambulating and bowing, or even burning incense, scattering flowers, and repenting at the six periods of the day, completely setting aside worldly conditions and with a single mind exclusively focusing on contemplating the Buddha's form and the white curl mark between his brows without slackening or neglecting; at the end of life they will certainly be reborn. If they can further be filial to parents, serve teachers and elders, have a compassionate mind without killing, cultivate the ten wholesome karmas, receive and uphold the three refuges, be complete in the precepts, not violate the deportments, have deep faith in cause and effect, not slander the Mahāyāna, and encourage practitioners to advance—cultivating such dharmas, they will also be reborn there. If they can attain rebirth there, not only do they attain rebirth, but they can also completely know that when making solid efforts in this way, seeking rebirth from thought to thought, this is precisely the principle of no-thought, no-seeking, and non-arising. Why is this? Precise cultivation is itself non-cultivation; it does not mean that non-cultivation is non-cultivation. If one truly asserts that letting go of everything, having no attachment to good and evil, and being open and unobstructed is non-cultivation, how is this different from the nihilistic views of non-Buddhists? What is it if not foolishness? Have you not heard that the ancients conversely took marks of form to be formlessness, and took deep cultivation to be non-cultivation? By analogy, all dharmas are like this; can one not examine it? Considering now that human life is impermanent, and the next life comes with the turn of a breath, and moreover worldly affairs are linked like interlocking chains without interruption, if one cannot make a clean cut when these affairs entangle the mind and worldly afflictions fester, and at the very moment when one's ambitions are satisfied and one cannot stop, arouse vows and establish practice, and make a full leap with all one's strength, how could one be reborn there in response to a thought? Therefore, I now bow and urge the Buddha's disciples: you should all practice with single-minded diligence.