English (machine translation)

Language: English
Extent: 99 passages, 49,067 words
Text: complete digital text
Source: pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.bauddha.taisho.1974 · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

1 — 55 parts
2 — 44 parts

Text

1.1

Preface to the Recarving of the Direct Pointers to Buddha-Mindfulness of the Jewel King Samādhi

The buddha-mindfulness samādhi is called the "Jewel King" because, like a maṇi jewel, it universally rains down all the jewels of samādhis, and like a cakravartin, it universally commands all kings of samādhis; for it is the most perfect and most sudden dharma door. From its beginning with the Avataṃsaka to its conclusion with the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, not one of the teachings of the Buddha's entire generation failed to praise this Jewel King samādhi. From its beginning with Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra, down to Yongming and Chushi, not one among all bodhisattvas, sages, and patriarchs failed to cultivate, realize, propagate, and disseminate this Jewel King samādhi. Yet deluded people of the world still believe that the Amitābha of one's own-nature is not the Lord of Teaching of the Land of Bliss, and that the mind-only Pure Land does not lie a hundred thousand koṭis to the west. They falsely take the conditioned shadows of the six dusts to be the marks of their own mind, completely unaware that each and every one of the dharmadhātus of the ten directions is none other than the own-nature of the mind itself. Is this not lamentable! At the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming, there was a great kalyāṇamitra in Yinjiang named Miaoye. Profoundly pitying wrong views, he composed the twenty-two chapters of the Direct Pointers to Buddha-Mindfulness. Having long been lost to the world, the Elder of Yunqi constantly wished to see it but could not obtain it. During the Shenzong reign era (Wanli), Master Wanrong of Guwu by chance found this surviving volume among scattered books, bound together in one volume with the Bao wang lun composed by Dharma Master Feixi of the Tang, neither of which the Elder of Yunqi had seen. The layman Han Chaoji first carved the blocks of the Bao wang lun and deposited them at Yunqi. I then carved this Direct Pointers, leaving the blocks at Fori. Last year, while temporarily residing at Changyu, there was the layman Che Weifan, who took the refuges and precepts and listened to lectures on the essentials of Mind-Only and Nanyue's Mahāyāna Calming and Contemplation, whereupon he single-mindedly cultivated the Pure Land practice. This summer he restricted his steps for ninety days, holding firmly to the name. Reflecting that rash and arrogant people of today disparage the dharma door of buddha-mindfulness, out of great compassion he compiled by hand a volume of past and present Dharma sayings on the Pure Land entitled Essentials for Buddha-Mindfulness, dividing it into four sections: faith and understanding, generating vows, practice, and verification. Faith, vows, and practice are the essential raft for rebirth in the West, while verification adduces the fruit to encourage the cause. Just as his excerpts were completed, it happened that I, answering an invitation from Zutang, returned to Changyu, whereupon he open-mindedly begged me to collate it and judge whether it was suitable. I said: "The layman's aspiration is indeed good. But from antiquity to the present, Dharma sayings on the Pure Land fill halls and pile up to the rafters; why not select those that are succinct, precise, and thorough to circulate them, which would make it even easier to inspire confidence? In my view, the layman's intent in naming and dividing the sections is most similar to Master Ye's Direct Pointers. Why is this so? His first chapter on the Circumstantial and Primary Rewards of Sukhāvatī, the second on Repudiating the False to Reveal the True, the third on Rebuking Erroneous Understandings, up through the eighth on Indicating Subduing and Gathering In, all correspond to what the layman calls the section on faith and understanding. The ninth on Encouraging Practice corresponds to what the layman calls the section on generating vows. The tenth on Encouraging Abstention from Killing, up through the eighteenth on Setting Forth the Manifold Meanings, all correspond to what the layman calls the section on practice. The nineteenth on the Single Vow and Four Meanings refers to precepts, understanding, practice, and dedication of merit; this reiterates that the vow subsumes faith and practice—precepts are practice, understanding is faith, and dedication of merit is the vow. A single vow already possesses the four meanings, and the four meanings fulfill the single vow, illuminating that faith, vow, and practice are originally not separate items; the vow sits in the center and commands what comes before and after, making its meaning evident. The twentieth on Indicating the Meaning of Eradicating Transgressions and the twenty-first on Setting Forth the Practices of the Successive Patriarchs correspond to what the layman calls the section on verification. The twenty-second, Directly Indicating Dedication of Merit and Universally Encouraging Rebirth, corresponds to the circulation section of sūtras and treatises. From beginning to end, it matches the layman's intent so elegantly; why does the layman not set aside his own work to follow another's, taking pleasure in adopting what is good from others?" Thereupon the layman leapt for joy, bowed twice, and prostrated, expressing gratitude: "Now I know that Great Master Miaoye previously attained the very same conviction of my mind, and was moreover able to express what I could not express. Now having received this surviving text, I vow to publish and circulate it, using it to dedicate merit to my ancestors for their early rebirth in the Pure Land. I further vow universally that sentient beings of the dharmadhātu will resolutely have faith in and enter this gate, never to regress. I ask you to write a preface recording these circumstances to inform our comrades." Ah! One such as Layman Che may indeed be called courageous in benefiting oneself and benefiting others. May those who read this book take care not to disappoint this earnest intention!

1.3

Recorded on an auspicious day in the eleventh month of the winter of the gengyin year [1650] by Zhixu, Daoist of Ouyi from Guwu, to the right of the Great Compassion Altar at Youqi Temple in Zutang.

1.4

Preface to the Carving of the Direct Pointers to Buddha-Mindfulness of the Jewel King Samādhi

1.5

Composed by Zhixu, Daoist of Ouyi

1.6

Now, the buddha-mindfulness samādhi is called the Tathāgata's supreme and extraordinary expedient: it gathers in both ordinary beings and sages, and accommodates both the sharp and the dull alike; by a single thought one suddenly returns to the ocean of the Buddhas, which may be called the most perfect, most sudden, and foremost definitive meaning. Yet those in the world who are deluded about its meaning and cling to its name, seeing the teaching that those who commit the five heinous acts and manifold evils can attain rebirth through ten recitations, mistakenly take it to gather in exclusively the ordinary and inferior, merely converting the dull-rooted; this can truly be called being blind to the Buddha's wondrous intent and slandering the profound sūtras. I thus lament that practitioners of the final age have much doubt and many hindrances, being difficult to awaken and difficult to inspire; regarding this profound and wondrous dharma door, if they do not attach to phenomena and forget the principle, they inevitably grasp at the principle and repudiate phenomena. Those who attach to phenomena may still serve as the cause for rebirth in the lower grades, but those who grasp at the principle eventually sink into the view of misconceived emptiness. For when it comes to this, the way of direct pointing turns into the deep pit of nihilism; without relying on a golden probe, who could clear away the cataract? Hereupon there was Guiding Master Miaoye, who inherited the Dharma of the Ancestral Vehicle and revived the teachings of the Lotus Society. Answering Yongming's prophecy of the horned tiger and freely voicing the discourse on the Jewel King samādhi, both realm and contemplation were clearly manifested, and subtle doubts were entirely dispelled. He elucidated the principle of mind-only, so that circumstantial and primary [rewards] were distinct; he revealed the source of own-nature, so that stimulus and response did not err. He enabled the discerning to integrate phenomena through principle, yet principle is not outside of phenomena; he also enabled the foolish to enter principle by means of phenomena, with phenomena bearing the merit of principle. It is truly the vanguard for removing delusion, and the reliable tally for rebirth in the West. Yet for over two hundred years, it almost became a forgotten canon, the avenue for its circulation blocked; even Master Lotus (Yunqi) still wished to see it but was unable to. But vows do not wear away, and Layman Han obtained it by chance from Chan Master Wanrong. Having had the opportunity to borrow and read it, as though gorging on clarified butter, I grieved that the defilement of the kalpa was just then rampant, and rejoiced that a ford and bridge existed. I promptly planned to put it to the blocks to broaden its transmission, wishing universally that all who see and hear it will rejoice accordingly, planting the perfect cause for the Land of Bliss, and that all who read, recite, and contemplate it will verify the Dharma seal of the Jewel King. May they enlighten one another in turn, together escaping sinking and drowning, so as not to fall short of this rare and fortunate opportunity.

1.7

The above preface was compiled in the Initial Collection of Jingxintang; it is now copied out and placed at the head of the text.

1.8

General Table of Contents of the Direct Pointers to Buddha-Mindfulness of the Jewel King Samādhi

1.9

Fascicle One

1.10

1. The Circumstantial and Primary [Rewards] of Sukhāvatī

1.11

2. Repudiating the False to Reveal the True

1.12

3. Rebuking Erroneous Understandings

1.13

4. Correctly Elucidating the Contemplative Wisdom of Mind and Buddha

1.14

5. Correct Contemplation of Buddha-Mindfulness before Venerable Statues in the Bodhimaṇḍa

1.15

6. Refuting the Heterodox Doctrine of Nihilistic Emptiness

1.16

7. Revealing the Dharma Door of the Non-Duality of Chan and the Buddha

1.17

8. Indicating the Buddhas' Dharma Door of Subduing and Gathering In across the Two Lands

1.18

9. Encouraging Practice

1.19

Fascicle Two

1.20

10. Encouraging Abstention from Killing

1.21

11. Encouraging Upholding the Precepts

1.22

12. Urging the Arousal of the Power of Vigour

1.23

13. Correct Practice

1.24

14. Separately Elucidating the Samādhi Cultivated while on the Road

1.25

15. Ritual Forms of the Samādhi

1.26

16. Extolling the Buddha's Power of Transforming Those Below

1.27

17. Ten Practices of Great Obstruction

1.28

18. Setting Forth the Manifold Meanings

1.29

19. Singly Indicating the Gate of the Single Vow and Four Meanings

1.30

20. Indicating the Gate of the Meaning of Buddha-Mindfulness Eradicating Transgressions

1.31

21. Briefly Indicating the Gate of Practice of the Successive Patriarchs

1.32

22. Directly Indicating Dedication of Merit and Universally Encouraging Rebirth

1.33

Appended: Diagram and Explanation of the Superiority and Inferiority of the True and False Minds

1.34

Appended: Discourse on Smashing Falsehood through Buddha-Mindfulness

1.35

Compiled by the Śramaṇa Miaoye of Yinjiang in Siming

1.36

The reason the buddha-mindfulness samādhi is called the Jewel King is that it is the supreme samādhi among all samādhis. First advocated alone at Mount Lu, it later spread throughout all under heaven. Across the generations, those who cultivated it and attained rebirth have not been few; writings on it in the world and verified proofs are very numerous, abundant in books and records from antiquity to the present, revered without exception by both Chan and doctrinal schools, looked up to by both sages and ordinary people alike. Yet those of shallow capacity in the final age turn the medicine into illness: instead of seeking the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī in the West, they seek it in the conditioned shadows of discursive thinking. As many succumb to this view, I feel deep grief within, lamenting that they waste their efforts in vain, cultivating without response. Thereupon, relying on the Pure Land sūtras and the commentaries and subcommentaries of the various schools, I extracted their profound purports and composed this collection. Although its words are unpolished, I dared not formulate them from my own mind; having written it for my own admonition and reflection, I venture to let it be heard by others, and have thus titled it Direct Pointers to Buddha-Mindfulness of the Jewel King Samādhi.

1.37

1. The Circumstantial and Primary [Rewards] of Sukhāvatī

1.38

Now, the unexcelled, fully enlightened, holy master, the World-Honored One, in universal response to the capacities of beings, descended in spirit to the world from the Tuṣita Palace; thus over forty years he preached the Dharma at more than three hundred assemblies, causing all sentient beings equally to realize the true and eternal. Even up to the very end at the assembly on Vulture Peak, he only then expounded the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, enabling living beings to open, reveal, awaken to, and enter the knowledge and vision of the Buddha; with this, the fundamental purpose of his appearance in the world was fully expressed. Yet the path of appearing in the world to deliver living beings is not unique to Śākyamuni; the Tathāgatas of the three times are all likewise. And among the teachings taught and transformed throughout Śākyamuni's lifetime, if one seeks that wherein capacity and stimulus resonate with each other, where the affinity between beings and the Buddha is deep, which is most simple and most easy yet supreme in merit and a direct shortcut, there is nothing that surpasses the single teaching of seeking rebirth in the Pure Land.

Now, as for the teaching of buddha-mindfulness, it first began when the monk Dharmākara, incalculable kalpas ago, was a great king. Hearing the Buddha Lokeśvararāja preach the Dharma, he then abandoned his kingdom, left household life, and became a monk. That Buddha further expounded to him in detail the differing matters—coarse and fine, good and evil—of the humans, gods, and adornments of twenty-one billion buddha lands. Having heard this, Dharmākara immediately made forty-eight great vows before the Buddha: that when he became a buddha, in his land there would be no three wretched destinies, three poisons, eight sufferings, eight difficulties, nine afflictions, ten entanglements, or any other obstructions; that those born in my land would all abide in right concentration, be people of superior wisdom who have attained tolerance, awakened to the mind, and gained liberation, and even with ten thoughts attain rebirth. If it were not so, he would not attain right awakening. At that time the great earth shook, the heavens rained down wondrous flowers, music sounded spontaneously in the sky, and the Buddha bestowed a prediction upon him.

Now he has already attained the fruit, having been a buddha for ten kalpas. Because of his former vows' superiority, his merit, spiritual powers, light, strengths, and fearlessnesses surpass the ten directions; the Buddha's name is Amitābha. The land where that Amitābha Buddha resides is straight to the west from this Sahā world, past a hundred thousand kotis of lands; it is called Sukhāvatī, or called Peace and Bliss. Now he is currently present there, expounding the Dharma through his former great vows and spiritual powers, gathering in the living beings of the worlds of the ten directions who practice buddha-mindfulness. Of the living beings who are born there, they attain non-retrogression; in a single kṣaṇa they are beyond count, how much more so those delivered throughout kalpas? What limit could there be to those born there? Fine dust motes and sands of the Gaṅgā cannot surpass them.

The adornments of that buddha land are supremely wondrous, surpassing the ten directions. There are jeweled ponds, all formed of the seven treasures according to their sizes. Some are great ponds whose measure is vast and overflowing. Directly abiding within them, golden sand is spread on the bottom and stepped paths are paved along the sides. Above the ponds there are further multistoried pavilions, thousands of layers and myriads of tiers, vast and wondrously fine, their radiant light so blazing that it cannot be fully described. Within the ponds, the water of eight merits is fragrant, sweet, clear, overflowing, and full, forming fourteen streams. Seeking their flows up and down among the immeasurable adornments, they emit sounds that proclaim immeasurable teachings.

Within this wondrous water there are further sixty billion seven-jeweled lotus blossoms, perfectly round and even. Water pours between the petals in four colors with four lights, arranged in tiers according to the three grades and nine ranks, fragrant, clean, delicate, and wondrous, illuminating his land. The jeweled ground is flat and even, formed by the power of his vows. Upon the ground there are further seven rows of railings and seven rows of trees, jeweled banners, terraces, pavilions, flags, canopies, and pearl necklaces, each immeasurably distinct and wondrously fine, arranged alternately in rounds to adorn his land.

Furthermore, in the sky, heavenly garments, heavenly incense, heavenly flowers, heavenly silks, and heavenly music, each immeasurable, scatter in profusion throughout the realm of empty space. All such immeasurable adornments are formed of inconceivable multitudes of treasures: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, mother-of-pearl, agate, vilaṅga, kiṃśuka, vajra, and the king of wish-fulfilling maṇi jewels. Within these many treasures, each emits immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of jeweled color-light kings that shine upon one another, each illuminating the three-thousand-great-thousandfold world. Their lights interlace without obstructing each other, reaching to the bounds of empty space inexhaustibly.

All such immeasurable lights and all such adornments, together with the heavenly music, fragrant flowers, rare birds, and bell-nets in empty space—their sounds are elegant and correct, the musical tones clear, ringing in harmony with the rhythm, pouring forth immeasurable and boundless delicate sounds. The sounds fill everywhere without pause or interruption, all capable of expounding suffering, emptiness, non-self, the perfections, praising the path of bodhi, and extolling the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha; or expounding the foundations of mindfulness, right efforts, faculties, powers, factors of awakening, the path, the bodhisattva practices, the truths, conditions, vows, perfections, powers, fearlessnesses, the eighteen unshared qualities, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, and great equanimity—inconceivable, immeasurable teachings.

As for the Dharma they expound, the circumstantial and primary, form and mind of the three times and ten directions are completely interpenetrating and unobstructed, also exhorting vigor, identical without difference to the voice of a buddha. When the living beings of that land hear this Dharma, in every thought according to their inclination, they are all able quickly to realize and enter the superior practices of the three vehicles, all the factors of the path, and immeasurable liberations, no different from hearing it directly from the Buddha. Even if one is an ordinary being, because of hearing this Dharma one naturally advances vigorously, without even a single thought of fatigue; how could there be any retrogression?

Furthermore, that land consists purely of men and has no women; they are born by transformation from lotus blossoms and do not dwell in a womb. Wondrous garments and fine foods bring about the joy of the Dharma, arriving in accordance with thought according to their desires. There is no cold or heat, day or night; no birth, old age, sickness, or death; no mountains of earth and rock; no evil destinies of the three paths. Moving through empty space and walking under the trees, whatever Buddha-activities they wish to perform or spiritual powers they wish to manifest all follow their mental intent. Furthermore, their lifespan is limitless. Such various kinds of happiness are limitless; hence it is named Sukhāvatī [Utmost Bliss].

How much more so with the World-Honored One Amitābha, whose merits, lights, majestic spiritual powers, and major and minor marks each number eighty-four thousand, like a mountain of purple gold, seated upon a lion throne of a great lotus blossom, blazing with adornments surpassing empty space, beyond the reach of the great ocean or Mount Meru. The white curl between his eyebrows is supreme in merit, like the sun shedding its light so that all other lights disappear. The transformation buddhas, bodhisattvas, and śrāvakas within his light each emit light, illuminating distant dust-mote lands to gather in living beings; the two Great Beings are also like this. Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra of Great Conduct, and all the great bodhisattvas dwell in that land, and those bound to one life [before buddhahood] are exceedingly numerous.

All superior good people gather in one place, all becoming good friends. With the Buddha as their master, they draw near his compassionate countenance and hear the ultimate truth, instantly transcending the three realms and immediately realizing the non-arising [of dharmas], loftily transcending the ten grounds and perfecting the two awakenings. How much more can they, in thought after thought, make offerings to the Triple Gem of the ten directions, accomplish all teachings, sport in spiritual powers, purify buddha lands, and even enter the three paths and six destinies, emitting light to destroy darkness and save suffering beings; or manifest divided bodies in dust-mote lands to guide beings according to their capacities, dispensing medicine according to the illness like the Buddha's vast compassion. In thought after thought, they fulfill all the practices and vows of Samantabhadra, possess the wisdom of Mañjuśrī, have great strength like Avalokiteśvara, equally realize bodhi, and dwell together with the Buddha.

Then, even though the nature of all living beings is benighted, having heard this explanation, who would not rejoice and give rise to faith and joy? Yet although that wondrous land and its adornments are complete within our mind, were it not for the Amitābha Tathāgata practicing the bodhisattva path in past lives for incalculable kalpas to deliver living beings, how could they have been accomplished? One should know that that Buddha's practices and vows are boundless and his adornments are inexhaustible; therefore the Tathāgata dwells in that land. His great vows fulfilled, this jeweled land is thereby completed, and the adornments of both circumstantial and primary [rewards] are fully complete. If bodhisattvas and śrāvakas numbering as many as the dust-mote lands of the sands of a hundred Gaṅgā rivers in each of the ten directions were to praise such a realm of circumstantial and primary adornments truthfully with great eloquence, they could not exhaust it even to the end of future time.

If good men and good women, hearing such an exposition, believe and take joy with supreme sincerity, desiring to be born in that land, they should, according to the Buddha's teaching, fully generate the three minds, possess all the precepts without violating deportment, and then with a straight mind rightly directed contemplate all the immeasurable, superior, and wondrous realms of circumstantial and primary adornments of that land, as well as that Tathāgata's pure body of eighty thousand marks, merits, and lights. Or further, following their inclination, take up a single mark or a single realm, even up to the light of the mark of the white curl between the Tathāgata's eyebrows, far removed from falsehood, for one thought up to ten thoughts, or for one day up to seven days; then, like a strong man bending and extending his arm, they will immediately attain rebirth. If there are those who directly believe that that land exists and that that Tathāgata's vow-power and majestic spirit exist, without giving rise to doubt, and are only able to uphold the name with single-minded unperturbedness, they will also attain birth there without exceeding their expectation; why wait until the retribution of the physical body is exhausted before attaining rebirth?

One should know that Amitābha Buddha's receiving and guiding living beings to cause them to leave the sea of suffering exceeds that of loving parents. In previous kalpas he already established great vows: there is no suffering he has not endured, no practice he has not attained, no vow he has not established, and no Dharma he has not spoken, using hundreds of thousands of skillful means for the sake of delivering me. Now is precisely the time; without blinking an eye, extending his arm to wait for me, already ten kalpas have passed. He does not abandon me in thought after thought, more intensely than cutting open his heart. His mind is so impassioned that he enters into birth and death, passing through the three paths everywhere, not shrinking from weariness amid the fierce fires of hell. If I turn my mind toward the Buddha like a child yearning for its mother, directly comforting what he cherishes, then within the very thought at hand I will immediately attain rebirth; why must one pass through the span of ten more thoughts before attaining rebirth?

1.39

Chapter 2: Repudiating the False and Revealing the True

1.40

If a practitioner wishes to be born in that land and transcend birth and death, they must first deeply discern the mind that seeks birth in that land—whether it is true or deluded. Furthermore, is such a World of Sukhāvatī in the objective realm, or is it in the mind? If it is in the mind, it is merely an empty thought, and there is no land to be born into. If it is in the objective realm, though there is a place to be born, one loses the mind. If one says that both mind and realm seek birth, then since my body and mind are one, how could they be born in two places? If one says that mind and realm are one and with a single mind one seeks birth, then from the present perspective mind and realm are clearly distinct, so it is difficult to say they are one. Moreover, Sukhāvatī and Sahā differ as pure and defiled; furthermore, the World-Honoured One handed down teachings commanding us to abandon the defiled and seek the pure, so how could a single meaning be obtained? Since none of the four propositions can be maintained, some say that everywhere is the Western Sukhāvatī, or that a pure mind is itself Sukhāvatī, or that Sukhāvatī is not apart from 'this very thing'. If one forms such an understanding, all are termed wrong views; thus I cannot remain silent. If they say that Sukhāvatī is in the mind, they immediately mistakenly identify this mind as dwelling within my present physical body. Since it is within the body, this is merely called seeking the mind; how could it be called seeking birth? Did our World-Honoured One not know that Sukhāvatī is in the mind, that he spoke of it being beyond a hundred thousand koṭis of Buddha-lands to the west? And could he not have pointed out and spoken of the internal mind, instead of only being able to speak of an external realm? Now Amitābha Buddha of the Western World of Sukhāvatī is presently expounding the Dharma, and the real realm is clearly evident. These are the sincere words of the Sage; how could one dare disbelieve them? Yet they do not know that the Sukhāvatī outside this conditioned-shadow mind is precisely my true mind. This true mind of mine, like the great ocean, neither increases nor decreases, yet you mistakenly call it an objective realm. You say Sukhāvatī is in the conditioned-shadow mind; this conditioned-shadow mind is like a single bubble on the ocean, whose arising and ceasing are entirely deluded, yet you mistakenly call it the mind. If you stubbornly cling to deluded views, not believing that there is a Sukhāvatī outside and believing it is within your conditioned-shadow mind, then because your conditioned-shadow mind has no substance, one cannot use the mind to seek birth in the mind. Yet they do not know that although that Sukhāvatī is in the west, the west is precisely my true mind. The true mind has no fixed nature; it manifests my mind precisely through that name and substance. Name and substance are fundamentally empty, and precisely through my mind they display their forms. Mind and realm are of one substance; sentient beings and Buddhas share the same source. Seeking that Buddha is seeking one's own mind, not an external seeking; investigating one's own mind requires seeking that Buddha—how could there be any other confusion? In this way, rejecting and accepting, joyful aspiration and revulsion, blazing with attachment to forms and seeking whatever I wish—how could this ever be outside the mind? Because the mind is capable of containing all, one knows that this mind completely embraces all circumstantial and primary realms, up to form and mind, pure and defiled, cause and effect of sentient beings and Buddhas, and all phenomena of the three periods of time and the ten directions; it includes and gathers them with nothing outside, sharing the same enjoyment, and seeking a single external characteristic is utterly impossible. Although there are no external characteristics, without dividing they are divided, and pure and defiled are clearly evident. Therefore one should seek in this manner; how could one seek it in a deluded mind? Such vows and seeking are sealed and approved by the Buddha. Between this and those in the world who do not know the original mind, who are foolish and without wisdom, who do not seek the Buddha of the Western Sukhāvatī but only seek within the deluded mind of conditioned shadows of their own physical lump [of flesh], saying that this is the mind-only Pure Land and the own-nature Amitābha, there is truly a vast gulf! Moreover, that land of Sukhāvatī does not depend on the deluded mind of conditioned shadows, nor is that form-body of Amitābha within the skandha-body of sentient beings. If one seeks the Buddha of one's own nature within one's present body and mind of the four elements and conditioned shadows, and does not seek the Buddha of the Western Sukhāvatī, then since the deluded mind arises and ceases, the Buddha also arises and ceases. Because the Buddha arises and ceases, samādhi is not achieved. Even if seeking yields results, it merely accomplishes an arising and ceasing Buddha and rebirth back into an arising and ceasing land; it does not constitute correct practice. A sūtra says: 'With a saṃsāric mind, one generates saṃsāric views, and that complete-enlightenment nature also revolves along with them.' This is precisely the meaning. If one wishes to abandon all deluded views and be born directly there, one should simply seek the Buddha Amitābha of Sukhāvatī beyond a hundred thousand koṭis of Buddha-lands to the west, contemplating him in accordance with reality through wonderful contemplation that tallies with the nature, causing that Tathāgata's marks and characteristics of original enlightenment to appear there and unite with our sentient beings' true mind of initial enlightenment. Clarified through this, the initial and the original merge, and sentient beings and the Buddha mutually resonate; only then is samādhi achieved and correct practice established, and only then can one be born in the land of no arising and ceasing. Therefore, know that this mind pervades all places; it is not unheard of even in the hells, let alone in Sukhāvatī! It is just that one now accords with the nature to seek release from the painful places of the hells, and accords with the nature to seek rebirth in the nine grades of Sukhāvatī. Merely by relying on the sūtra teachings, according with the sound of the Buddha's Dharma, seeking to leave suffering and attain bliss, and progressing from ordinary to sage—these truly do not go beyond our own mind-nature. Therefore it is called the mind-only Pure Land and the own-nature Amitābha; it does not mean seeking within a deluded mind. The deluded mind has no substance; how could it be called the Buddha of mind-only and own-nature? Those who seek within their own deluded mind of conditioned shadows take the form-body, mountains, rivers, the great earth, and the ocean of lands in the ten directions as external realms; those who seek within their own unmoving true mind take the ocean of lands in the ten directions, the great earth, mountains, and rivers as the internal mind. If one knows that the ocean of lands in the ten directions is precisely the internal mind, they fuse into a single piece. Therefore, at will within it I abandon the defiled and take the pure, loathe the east and joyfully aspire to the west, without leaving my own mind; because there truly exists that Buddha of the fruition of great vows capable of welcoming and guiding, in seeking there is nothing one does not obtain. If one regards the ocean of lands in the ten directions as an external realm, it is split into two halves; therefore, the moment a thought moves, it contradicts the substance of the Dharma and loses its function, failing to attain one's own mind. Because this inherently possessed causal Buddha alone lacks functional power, though one seeks, one attains nothing. Furthermore, the deluded mind is merely an empty, delusive conditioned shadow, mistakenly thought to be inside the form-body, with no land to be born into. The true mind contains and nurtures all dust-realms, fundamentally possessing the circumstantial and primary [rewards] of Sukhāvatī, so seeking it guarantees rebirth; the deluded mind abandons the outside to head inward, while the true mind takes the outside as inside. Because the inside has no outside, seeking the fruition Buddha with characteristics externally is seeking one's own mind; because the inside is not real, seeking the substanceless conditioned shadow internally fails to see one's own mind. In the deluded mind, mind and realm are clearly separate; the true mind is at once mind and realm. The deluded mind arises and ceases without foundation; the true mind is unmoving and unshakeable. The deluded mind remains in the cause without fruition, arising and ceasing from beginning to end; in the true mind, cause and effect are one, and nature and cultivation thoroughly penetrate each other. Therefore, know that the difference between seeking from the true mind and from the deluded mind is like this: in terms of time, how could it be merely the difference between a day and a kalpa? In terms of space, how could it be merely as far apart as heaven and earth? In terms of substance, the true completely embraces the ten directions of emptiness, while the deluded dwells inside the body. In terms of function, the true horizontally cuts across Sahā and transcends birth and death directly, while the deluded cooks sand to make rice, never achieving it even after kalpas. Therefore, when practitioners generate the bodhicitta and seek birth in the Pure Land, how could they merely seek their own deluded mind of conditioned shadows and not seek the true Buddha of the Western Sukhāvatī? It is truly lamentable! For example, it is like wishing to go west while facing east, or wishing to ascend while holding a stone, or seeking fire from water and looking for water from fire—how could one ever obtain it? Alas! People of today do not know that the true mind pervades all places and manifests its substance precisely through form, but mistakenly identify the shadow affairs of conditioned dust as their original nature; this is an extreme error! For example, it is like someone mistaking a thief for their child; the wealth and jewels of their household will surely be destroyed. Distinguishing shadow affairs and mistakenly identifying them as the mind is also like this. If one recognises that the child is a thief, the thief cannot cause harm; if one knows that consciousness is deluded, how could delusion cause harm? One simply must not identify it as the circumstantial and primary [rewards] of Sukhāvatī. The reason Great Master Fazhi of Siming spoke of pointing to delusion as being none other than the true, and discussed contemplating the Buddha and contemplating the mind, was that he ultimately never denied the real realm of Sukhāvatī's circumstantial and primary [rewards]. Alas, in later generations wrong views have swarmed forth and demonic companions blaze, destroying the Buddha-Dharma and cutting off the Buddha-lineage, falsely calculating that the wonderful land of Sukhāvatī is within our conditioned-shadow mind and refusing to seek the West—how can such inversion be endured? When people of the alleyways have not heard the correct exposition and secretly transmit this wrong view to each other, confusing and misleading others, although they cannot escape the painful retribution of the hells, there is still some pardon. But when the four assemblies of our renunciants, with shaved heads and square robes, share this same view, it is all the more lamentable! If one is truly concerned with birth and death, one must take this explanation as correct. If there are people with heavy obstacles who cannot follow along with this Dharma gate, they should further examine what the realm of the deluded mind of conditioned shadows is like. Since this false and deluded mind has no substance, but merely arises and ceases along with me, one straightway falsely calls it 'me'. Because one mistakenly identifies a self, one immediately says that this mind dwells inside my present form-body, that this form-body dwells in the present world, and that this world in turn dwells within the present space. This nature of space is vast and hard to measure, all-encompassing of dust-like lands. If so, space is large while the world is small; the mind is inferior to the body, and a single thought is even more minute, impossible to point out. How could one, with a substanceless deluded mind of a single thought that is most minute and insignificant, seek the wonderful realm of Sukhāvatī's circumstantial and primary [rewards] here? Seeking where it cannot be sought—is that not utter delusion! Having understood this meaning, one then knows that although such boundless nature of space cannot be measured, it originally does not go beyond my cleanly purified mind of great enlightenment, just like a fleck of cloud dotting the clear sky—how much more so the various worlds within space! How much more so this form-body within the world! How much more so this deluded mind within the form-body! Therefore, know that the deluded is minute while the body is conspicuous; the realm is large while space is round; from the finest to the vastest, nothing goes beyond my present original mind. Therefore, know that my mind is like space, and that space is like a speck of dust. My mind is vast, bottomless and shoreless, completely embracing all space, dust-like lands, form-bodies and deluded thoughts of all sentient beings throughout the ten directions and three periods of time; wishing to find a single phenomenon outside the mind is utterly impossible. Why especially would the Western Sukhāvatī not be outside the mind? One cannot depart from it even in moments of haste and confusion; how much more so when with pure practice and adornments one pledges to journey west and break through birth and death—how could this be seeking externally? The sūtra says: 'Mistaking confusion within awakening, obscurity is taken as empty space; within the dark obscurity of empty space, darkness congeals into form; form is mixed with deluded thought, and the marks of thought become the body. Conditions gather and stir within, rushing and dashing outward; taking this turbid and agitated mark, they consider it to be the mind-nature. Once deluded about what the mind is, they definitely become confused, thinking it is inside the form-body, unaware that the form-body, up to the mountains, rivers, empty space, and the great earth outside, are all things within the wonderful, luminous true mind. It is, for example, like abandoning hundreds of thousands of clear, calm oceans, and only recognising a single floating bubble as the entire tide, exhausting all seas and oceans. You are people doubled in confusion, no different from when I hang down my hand.' It also says: 'The wonderful, enlightened, luminous mind pervades the realms of the ten directions, containing and nurturing the Tathāgatas' pure, treasure-adorned wonderful-enlightenment king-realms of the ten directions.' It also says: 'The empty space of the ten directions arises within your mind, just like a fleck of cloud dotting the clear sky; how much more so the various worlds within space!' Viewed in light of this meaning, since the circumstantial and primary, form and mind of the empty lands of the ten directions are what I originally possess, if I now resolutely vow to seek birth in my originally possessed land and seek to see my originally possessed Buddha, what is wrong with this that it should be called seeking externally? Since I have vowed to seek, because the mind can resonate, when that Buddha manifests for me, it is precisely the manifestation of my own inherently possessed mind-Buddha. The mind-Buddha is real; how could there be an external coming? Since there is no external coming, when that Buddha manifests, it is precisely my mind manifesting; when my mind manifests, it is precisely that Buddha manifesting. My mind is precisely that Buddha's mind; that Buddha is precisely the Buddha of my mind. They are of one substance, non-dual, fundamentally completely interpenetrating by nature. How could one abandon that Buddha of the internal mind in the Western Sukhāvatī and falsely project that there is another 'mind-only' Buddha? Someone may ask: 'Although it is a deluded mind, does it not also possess the phenomena of the circumstantial and primary? Why must people be made to seek an external realm?' I answer: 'Even if the deluded mind possessed all phenomena of the circumstantial and primary, would it not also possess the Western Sukhāvatī? If one knows that the Western Sukhāvatī is a real realm to be sought just like the Sahā, one can say the mind possesses it. But if one says that this mind is simply that, and outside the mind there is no real realm, this is merely an empty thought of the deluded mind—what reality is there to say the mind possesses it? Furthermore, the mind that is identical to the realm is called the true mind; the mind that is detached from the realm is called the deluded mind. Therefore, know that although true and deluded are the same [in essence], identity and detachment make them different: identity attains, detachment loses; identity is right, detachment is wrong—the purport is evident. Furthermore, take Dharma Master Shaokang: because of his mindfulness of the Buddha, whenever he chanted the Buddha's name, Buddhas issued from his mouth, like a string of pearls. He also preserved the forms, enabling the entire assembly to see them. Since the Buddha has forms, how could the land not be real? There is yet another class of people who say that in phenomena it exists, but in principle it does not; or they say that everywhere is the Pure Land. Lamentable are these people, whose deep delusion is hard to dispel! Moreover, National Preceptor Nanyang of the Chan school raised the topic of insentient beings preaching the Dharma for Chan travelers; although he did not speak exclusively of the purport of the Pure Land, he also lamented that many in the latter age seek the Buddha from conditioned shadows. Therefore, it was necessary to include this thoroughly in this exposition.'

1.41

Chapter 3: Rebuking Erroneous Understandings

1.42

The buddha-mindfulness samādhi is called the king of samādhis. Its realm is exceedingly profound, difficult to fathom to the end. The transmissions of masters past and present have differed from one another. Coming down to Tiantai, the explanation was fully provided; Ci'en and Xianshou each adduced their own strengths; and looking up to the Chan school, it is likewise extremely clear. However, later students are shallow and vulgar, failing to grasp the true direction; having not yet ascended the hall, how could they enter the inner chamber? Failing to find the entrance, their differing views take manifold paths. Thereupon, seizing upon where the Great Master, the Sixth Patriarch of the Chan school, spoke of the Pure Land in the Platform Sūtra, they secretly reckon and formulate understandings according to his words, asserting that originally there is no Pure Land and that one need not seek rebirth. Yet they do not realize that what our Great Master said was not only spoken in accordance with capacities, but in fact its meaning accords with the purport of the sūtras. Even following his words, he merely said one need not be reborn in the Pure Land, nor did he say that there is no Pure Land. Since the Pure Land exists, the principle of rebirth is self-evident. Why do beginners grasp at the pointing finger and mistake it for the moon? As the Great Master stated: 'Deluded people practice buddha-mindfulness seeking rebirth there; awakened people purify their own minds.' He also said: 'If an Easterner only purifies their mind, they are without guilt; even if a Westerner's mind is impure, they still have transgressions. When an Easterner commits sins, they practice buddha-mindfulness seeking rebirth in the West; when a Westerner commits sins and practices buddha-mindfulness, what land do they seek rebirth in? Ordinary fools do not comprehend and do not recognize the Pure Land within their own bodies, wishing for the East or wishing for the West; for awakened people, every place is the same.' He also said that the distance of the Pure Land only depends on the different good roots of sentient beings, for how could the Buddha's land have a distinction of far or near? This is what is meant by 'need not seek rebirth.' Yet he demanded that sentient beings forever cut off the ten evils and eight heterodoxies, and fully cultivate the ten virtues and the eightfold noble path; and he further caused them to wonderfully recognize that the nature-king of the mind-ground is not separate from this body. It is only that delusion and awakening differ: if one is awakened, then one can practice loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, and can purify virtues such as evenness and straightforwardness—which are none other than Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Śākyamuni, and Amitābha. If one is deluded, then one discriminates between self and others; the distinctions of heterodox minds, delusion, and worldly afflictions are none other than Mount Sumeru, the ocean waters, the hordes of dragons, ghosts, and hells. Now, scrutinizing the Great Master's purport: if one can only purify one's mind, then every place is pure. This in truth does not differ in meaning from when the Buddha in the Vimalakīrti assembly pressed the earth with his toe, transforming defilement into purity, so that each member of the great assembly saw themselves seated on a jeweled lotus flower. Thus what the sūtra calls 'In accordance with the purity of their minds, the Buddha-land is pure'—its explanation is clear! How could the Great Master's eloquence not match the Buddha's mind and deeply accord with the purport of the sūtras? However, in the holy one's expounding of the Dharma, the apophatic and cataphatic differ; those whose station has not reached this level must not cite that apophatic teaching to deceive themselves. Moreover, throughout the entire canon of teachings, sometimes he spoke apophatic teachings: all are negated—why must one seek rebirth? Sometimes he spoke cataphatic teachings: all are affirmed—one must certainly seek rebirth. These two modes of teaching both came from the Buddha's mouth; their meaning is without distinction. How could one cling exclusively to the apophatic teaching and abruptly discard the cataphatic meaning of seeking rebirth? If one were truly to say directly that with regard to the lands, one need not reject defilement and choose purity, but only purify one's mind, then the Great Master should also have told people merely to purify their minds and that they need not sever bad karma and cultivate good conduct. Now, since he caused people to sever evil and practice good, then with respect to lands, they must reject defilement and choose purity—the meaning becomes all the clearer. Therefore, when the Buddha spoke apophatic teachings, he precisely intended to reveal cataphatic teachings to cause them to seek rebirth; when he spoke cataphatic teachings, he was precisely relying on apophatic teachings to realize non-birth. Thus know that Caoxi's causing people to first purify their causal mind so that their rewarded realm would naturally be pure, not telling them to seek rebirth, is the apophatic teaching; Mount Lu's causing people to have the pure rewarded realm of the Buddha so that their causal mind would naturally be pure, instructing that they must seek rebirth, is the cataphatic teaching. Yet the Buddha and patriarchs expounded the Dharma with cause and effect non-dual, neither before nor after; the two meanings have never been separated. Although they cause people to enter by different ways, the essence of the Dharma is fundamentally one. Alas, contemporary people, as soon as they hear the apophatic teachings, deem them right and immediately deem the cataphatic discourse wrong, generating obstacles of retrogression for themselves, which is truly pitiable! They do not realize that the Great Master's formulating this apophatic discourse of not needing to seek rebirth was precisely to reveal the cataphatic teaching to cause them to seek rebirth in the Pure Land. Furthermore, throughout Śākyamuni's lifetime of holy teachings, the extensive discourses of the various divisions were all of a single flavor; yet in the open teachings, he certainly praised the open teachings extensively, and in the esoteric meanings, he necessarily commended the esoteric teachings in particular. Each lineage takes its own division as primary and sets aside other discourses; yet could the Buddha have lacked other discourses more wondrous than these? It was to respond to capacities so that the assembly would accept and uphold it, enabling them to be of single-minded resolve without hesitation. Now in this Semblance and Final Age, when upholding the lineage and establishing the doctrine, could there not be times of suppression and praise? Since the Sixth Patriarch wished to propagate the one-practice samādhi, in principle he ought to block the various vehicles; Mount Lu specifically wished to elucidate the buddha-mindfulness samādhi to make it leap across horizontally and cut directly through, appropriately gathering in all capacities completely. How could later students generate dualistic views? One should examine this carefully. Furthermore, as for his statement that people of the East and West are without guilt if their minds are pure, and have transgressions if their minds are impure: this refers precisely to the fact that in the East, evil conditions are coarse and strong, the Buddha has already entered parinirvāṇa, and people cannot purify their minds; it is like being a layperson living at home, scorched by the manifold fires of the burning house, where even if one cultivates, one still loses it. It is like a small stone sinking as soon as it enters the water; therefore one must seek rebirth in the West. Amitābha and the holy assembly are present now; the realm is superior and practice is deep; once the runaway child returns, the Buddha instructs and benefits him in person; it is like leaving home to dwell in a monastery, fully endowed with wholesome conditions, never retrogressing. Therefore, born in that land, one's mind is pure and without transgression, just like a great stone boarding a boat does not sink upon entering the water. Moreover, the East and the West are fundamentally of one essence in principle; that Buddha's land not only has superior realms, but that Buddha is present now and able to eradicate transgressions and guilt, so that the mind is certain to be pure and the holy stages can be climbed. Thus it is far superior to Sahā, and one must seek rebirth. If one possesses superior roots like those in Caoxi's assembly, one can still enter the great ocean of birth and death, hearing the cries and rescuing from suffering, transforming sentient beings—why would one need to seek rebirth? But if one's power of the Way is not yet sufficient and one recklessly imitates the awakened predecessors, neither seeking rebirth oneself nor teaching others to seek rebirth, it is like attempting to rescue the drowning without a boat: both will drown together. What can be done about that? Furthermore, our Great Master was truly the Sixth Patriarch who propagated the Chan school. Could what he said not elucidate the Chan of Shaoshi? Yet he said: 'If the mind is even, what need is there to keep the precepts? If conduct is straightforward, what use is cultivating Chan?' If one follows these words, one would say there is no need to keep precepts or cultivate Chan. Yet they do not realize that if the mind is even, then in treating things I am completely even toward all. Once things and self are even, how could one kill others to nourish oneself, steal from them to benefit oneself, differentiate male and female forms to engage in misconduct, speak untruthfully, or drink alcohol causing oneself to be sober and drunk at different times? Since an even mind lacks these characteristics of precept-breaking, all precepts are contained within it. How could one utterly disregard the precepts, committing robbery and murder, and yet claim that the mind is even? Thus know that uttering these words, 'If the mind is even, what need is there to keep the precepts,' was precisely to reveal the Great Precepts. The word *chan* is Sanskrit; here it is translated as 'quiet contemplation,' or as 'right concentration,' or as 'one-practice samādhi.' How could someone of straightforward conduct have thoughts that are not quiet, abide in concentration that is not right, or have conduct that is not unified? Thus know that the words 'what use is cultivating Chan' precisely reveal deep Chan. The Great Master's conduct surpassed heaven and humanity; his Way flourished in the Semblance and Final Age. Fearing that later students would grasp at teachings and become stuck in traces, within the precept-essence he spoke the words 'what need is there to keep the precepts,' and within the realm of Chan he spoke the words 'what use is cultivating Chan.' By this analogy, know that he also spoke the words 'need not seek rebirth' within the Dharma of definitely needing to seek rebirth in the Pure Land. Yet later students cling even more stubbornly to the traces, asserting that one truly need not seek rebirth—how utterly foolish! What the Great Master spoke was paradoxical exhortation, whereas what the various patriarchs expounded was direct praise. Without the direct, there is no way to open the path of advancing in practice; without the paradoxical, one cannot reveal the round and sudden cultivation. Paradoxical exhortations and direct praise all respond to the capacities of the time; there is no fixed Dharma. Just as it is said, 'Meeting the Buddha, kill the Buddha'—could one truly kill the Buddha? If the words 'kill the Buddha' were literal, then when Mañjuśrī held the sword, was he also truly killing the Buddha? If one merely follows the words of the ancients without seeking their intent, asserting that one truly need not seek rebirth, it is just as is said: the supreme flavor of clarified butter is treasured by the world, but encountering such people, it turns instead into poison! Therefore, the Great Master accorded with that round and wonderful principle of the three truths, speaking of non-birth in the midst of birth, speaking of cultivation and realization in the midst of non-realization; the two extremes cannot be grasped, and the middle way does not remain. In accord with the round and sudden teachings of the doctrine, it is clear and obvious, like raising the sun and moon over a dark crossroad, leaving nothing unilluminated. And to say that the Chan school falls short regarding the purport of the buddha-mindfulness samādhi and the Pure Land—how could that be acceptable? As for Master Daochuo of Hexi, Shandao of Chang'an, Chan Master Xinyuan, Zhijue, and Cijue, were they not successors who followed them? All were able from afar to receive the transmitted sound and vigorously propagate this Way; Daozhen and Huaiyu made their practice and actions illustrious, and the verifications of masters such as Yuanzhao became all the more apparent. Furthermore, today in Chan monasteries chanting for sick monks and the ten recitations invocation of the Buddha's name at cremations to enable their rebirth are matters recorded in the regulations. The remaining custom still persists; what further doubt could there be?

First 42 of 101 passages. Read on