淨土生無生論 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

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Composed by the Śramaṇa Chuandeng of Youxi

I bow my head to the Muni of perfect wisdom, / The Great Guide of Measureless Life and Awakening, / And the Mahāyāna sūtras on the Land of Peace and Nurture spoken by him, / Of ultimate meaning, most definitive, supreme, perfect, and sudden. / To Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, and Avalokiteśvara, / Mahāsthāmaprāpta and the assembly of the pure great ocean, / To Aśvaghoṣa, Nāgārjuna, and Vasubandhu, / The patriarch of the Lotus Society at Mount Lu in this land, / Tiantai Zhiyi together with Fazhi, / And the masters who propagated the Dharma past and present: / I now take refuge in and pay homage to the Three Jewels. / Praying for their unseen assistance to inspire my consciousness, / I reverently gather the secret purports of the sūtras and treatises, / To elucidate the Pure Land's birth and non-birth, / Universally causing future [practitioners] to awaken to this gate, / Sever doubts, generate faith, and ascend to non-retrogression.

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In composing this treatise, ten gates are established: / First, the gate of the one true Dharma-realm; / Second, the gate of the conditioned arising of bodies and lands; / Third, the gate of the mutual identity of mind and land; / Fourth, the gate of the non-duality of sentient beings and Buddhas; / Fifth, the gate of taking the Dharma-realm as mindfulness; / Sixth, the gate of object and contemplation mutually swallowing each other; / Seventh, the gate of the threefold contemplation as naturally so; / Eighth, the gate of stimulus and response operating effortlessly; / Ninth, the gate of this and that being eternally one; / Tenth, the gate of present and future mutually subsisting.

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First: The Gate of the One True Dharma-Realm

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Within the one true Dharma-nature, / The ten Dharma-realms are completely contained. / Dependent and primary [retributions] are originally interfused; / Sentient beings and Buddhas are of no different tenor.

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The treatise says:

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The one true Dharma-realm is precisely the inherently existing mind-nature of sentient beings. This mind-nature is endowed with immeasurable virtues and receives immeasurable names.

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How is it endowed with immeasurable virtues? To state the essentials, it refers to the nature's essence, the nature's measure, and the nature's containment. What is the nature's essence? It means this mind-nature is free from the four propositions and cut off from the hundred negations; its substantial nature is solid and immutable, pure and undefiled, neither arising nor ceasing, eternally abiding and indestructible. What is the nature's measure? This mind-nature vertically exhausts the three times and horizontally pervades the ten directions. Worlds have bounds, but space is boundless. Space has bounds, but the mind-nature is boundless. The present has bounds, but the past and future are boundless. The past and future have bounds, but the mind-nature is boundless. It is inexhaustible of inexhaustibles, immeasurable of immeasurables. What is the nature's containment? It means this mind-nature contains the ten Dharma-realms: namely, the Buddha Dharma-realm, the bodhisattva Dharma-realm, the pratyekabuddha Dharma-realm, the śrāvaka Dharma-realm, the deva Dharma-realm, the asura Dharma-realm, the human Dharma-realm, the animal Dharma-realm, the hungry ghost Dharma-realm, and the hell-dweller Dharma-realm—these are provisional designations. Furthermore, there are primary retributions, namely the five aggregates of a Buddha, the five aggregates of a bodhisattva, down to the five aggregates of a hell-dweller—these are real dharmas. Furthermore, there are dependent retributions, namely the Buddha's realm, the bodhisattva's realm, down to the hell-dweller's realm. To make it easy to understand, threefold distinctions are made; yet expressing its essential meaning, nature's containment is precisely nature's essence and nature's measure. Nature's essence is free from errors and cuts off negations, meaning the ten realms contained in the nature are free from errors and cut off negations. Nature's essence is solid and immutable, pure and undefiled, neither arising nor ceasing, eternally abiding and indestructible; the ten realms contained in the nature are also like this. Nature's measure vertically exhausts and horizontally pervades, inexhaustible of inexhaustibles, immeasurable of immeasurables; the ten realms contained in the nature are also like this. The primary retribution's five aggregates are identical with the nature's essence and nature's measure, pure and all-pervading; the dependent retribution's lands are also like this. These three dharmas are also called the three truths: the nature's essence is the middle truth, the nature's measure is the ultimate truth, and the nature's containment is the conventional truth. Thus the Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'Yet the wondrous, bright, original mind of the Tathāgatagarbha is not the mind, not space; not earth, water, fire, or wind; not eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mental faculty; not sights, sounds, scents, tastes, tangible objects, or mental phenomena; not the eye realm down to not the consciousness realm; not ignorance down to not aging and death; not the ending of ignorance down to not the ending of aging and death; not suffering, its origination, cessation, or the path; not knowledge, not attainment; not dāna down to not prajñā; not the Tathāgata, not the Arhat, not Samyaksambuddha; not permanence, bliss, self, or purity.' This is the nature's measure being signless, which is the ultimate truth. 'Yet the original, bright mind-wonder of the Tathāgatagarbha is precisely the mind, space, earth, water, fire, and wind; precisely the six common realms, precisely the two vehicles, down to precisely the Tathāgata's permanence, bliss, self, and purity.' This is the nature containing the ten realms, which is the conventional truth. 'And the wondrous, bright mind-origin of the Tathāgatagarbha is free from identity and free from difference, both identical and non-identical.' This is the nature's essence, which is the middle truth. It also says: 'The Tathāgatagarbha’s nature of form is true emptiness, its nature of emptiness is true form; pure in its fundamental nature, it pervades the Dharma-realm. Earth, water, fire, wind, space, perception, and consciousness are all likewise.' Earth, water, fire, wind, space, perception, and consciousness are precisely the nature's containment; pure in fundamental nature is precisely the nature's essence; and pervading the Dharma-realm is precisely the nature's measure. It also says: 'Earth, water, fire, wind, and space are pure in their fundamental nature and pervade the Dharma-realm,' which is the nature's essence and nature's measure of the dependent retribution's realms. 'Perception and consciousness are pure in their fundamental nature and pervade the Dharma-realm,' which is the nature's essence and nature's measure of the primary retribution's five aggregates.

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How does it receive immeasurable names? To state the essentials, this mind-nature is variously named the empty Tathāgatagarbha, or the true-suchness Buddha-nature, or the amala-consciousness, or the great round mirror-like wisdom, or bodhi and nirvāṇa. The nature's essence and nature's measure are called the empty Tathāgatagarbha, which means the ten realms, five aggregates, and lands contained in the nature are named the empty Tathāgatagarbha. The nature's essence and nature's measure are called the true-suchness Buddha-nature, which means what is contained in the nature and so forth are the true-suchness Buddha-nature. The nature's essence and nature's measure are called the amala-consciousness, which means what is contained in the nature and so forth are called the amala-consciousness. The nature's essence and nature's measure are called the great round mirror-like wisdom, which means what is contained in the nature and so forth are called the great round mirror-like wisdom. The nature's essence and nature's measure are called bodhi and nirvāṇa, which means what is contained in the nature and so forth are called bodhi and nirvāṇa. Therefore it is said: 'Within the one true Dharma-nature, the ten Dharma-realms are completely contained. Dependent and primary [retributions] are originally interfused; sentient beings and Buddhas are of no different tenor.'

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Question: 'Is this one true Dharma-realm identical with the initial mind, or is it identical with the subsequent mind? If it is identical with the initial mind, there should not be the seven designations; if it is identical with the subsequent mind, there should not be the nine realms. Falling into both the initial and the subsequent, your established proposition is invalidated.'

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Answer: 'This precisely reveals that it is identical with the initial mind. Because it is identical with the initial mind, there can be its being identical with the subsequent mind. Because it is identical with the subsequent mind, it precisely manifests that it is identical with the initial mind. Why is it that only because it is identical with the initial mind can it be identical with the subsequent mind? If on the stage of fruition, dependent and primary [retributions] are interfused, and form and mind are non-dual, manifesting forms across the nine realms to expediently deliver sentient beings, this is entirely due to realizing what is contained in this causal mind. Therefore it is said: "The interfusion of the Buddhas on the stage of fruition is merely the realization of the principle inherently possessed by sentient beings." Thus they are able to deploy adaptations according with the nature, responding without deliberation. Were it not so, how would it differ from the intentional supernormal powers of the Hīnayāna and non-Buddhists? Thus Master Fazhi said: "The meaning of the six identities does not pertain exclusively to the Buddha. All provisional and real beings of the three vehicles, humans and devas, down to the form and mind of dung beetles and hell-dwellers, must all possess the six identities. When discerning their initial and subsequent stages, there is what is called the principle dung beetle up to the ultimate dung beetle." Since it is argued that the ten realms are all of the nature of principle, none are not the Dharma-realm, not one can be altered. Therefore, from the identity in name onward, it is not only the Buddha that is revealed—the nine [realms] are equally manifested. When reaching the completion of fruition, all ten are ultimate. Why is it that only when it is identical with the subsequent mind is the initial mind revealed? It is precisely because the fruition stage of the subsequent mind fully realizes the principle inherently possessed by sentient beings; the seven designations of the fruition stage are all praiseworthy names for the nature-virtues of sentient beings. It is only because sentient beings are in delusion that the designations of the nature do not appear, and thus they lack these designations. Yet strictly discussing the nature-virtues, how could one say they are lacking? Therefore, both the initial and the subsequent are sound, and the established proposition stands!'

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Second: The Gate of the Conditioned Arising of Bodies and Lands

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The nature of the one true Dharma-realm, / Unchanging, is able to accord with conditions. / The three bodies and four lands / Are all transformed and created by the mind.

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The treatise says:

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The nature of the one true Dharma-realm is precisely the nature's essence, nature's measure, and nature's containment explained previously. When it is said in the teachings that 'True suchness, unchanging, accords with conditions; according with conditions, it is unchanging,' this is precisely because the nature's essence and nature's measure are identical with the nature's containment, just as an exemplary person is not a mere utensil, being capable of both good and evil. Thus the Jin translation of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: 'Able to accord with defiled and pure conditions, it fully creates the ten Dharma-realms.' This means that the nine Dharma-realms contained in the nature of true suchness are able to accord with defiled conditions to create the nine Dharma-realms in concrete phenomena; the Buddha Dharma-realm contained in the nature of true suchness is able to accord with pure conditions to create the Buddha Dharma-realm in concrete phenomena. That which makes it able is precisely the nature's containment; if the nature did not contain them, what ability could be spoken of? The Tiantai school states: 'It is entirely due to the containment in principle that there is the functioning in concrete phenomena.' This is what it means. Thus we know that the ten Dharma-realms in concrete phenomena, the three bodies, and the four lands are all transformed and created by true suchness according with conditions. Since it is said that 'True suchness, unchanging, accords with conditions; according with conditions, it is unchanging,' then the defiled and pure bodies and lands in concrete phenomena are in their very substance identical with the real, without the slightest bit that can be added to or subtracted from them. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'Seeing and the conditions of seeing, together with the appearances conceived by thought, are like flowers in the sky, originally non-existent.' This seeing and its conditions are fundamentally the wondrous, pure, bright substance of bodhi itself. If so, then Sahā and Sukhāvatī, the nine grades of rebirth to be attained by sentient beings of this world, and Amitābha already accomplished as the future fruition of our minds, are all transformed and created by the mind-nature. Since the mind contains and creates them, how could one separate creator and created! The mind itself is Buddha, the Buddha itself is mind; the mind itself is the land, the land itself is mind; the mind itself is the fruit, the fruit itself is the mind. The conditions able to create and the dharmas created are, right where they are, the mind-nature. Therefore, one who clarifies this doctrine and seeks birth in the Land of Bliss follows the supreme path in which both birth and non-birth are reconciled into darkness.

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Third: The Gate of the Mutual Identity of Mind and Land

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The Western Land of Peace and Bliss / Is a hundred thousand koṭis away from here; / Yet with our single momentary thought-mind, / From the beginning there has been no difference between this and that.

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The treatise says:

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The Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on Amitābha says: 'Passing from here westward through a hundred thousand koṭis of Buddha-lands, there is a world named Ultimate Bliss.' One billion suns and moons, one billion Mount Merus, one billion great oceans, and one billion Iron Ring Mountains are called one Buddha-land. Ten thousand is wan; one hundred thousand is yi. A single Buddha-land is already vast; how much more so a koṭi of Buddha-lands? How much more so a hundred thousand koṭis? Thus Ultimate Bliss is extremely distant from here. Yet when ordinary beings bound to the earth recite the Buddha's name seeking birth, they arrive there in the snap of a finger, precisely because they are born into the Buddha-land contained in our own mind. The so-called 'single momentary thought-mind' is precisely the ordinary being's mind that recites the Buddha's name. A mind of a single kṣaṇa is extremely minute and inferior, hence it is termed 'a single momentary thought.' This means that the Buddha-land as distant as a hundred thousand koṭis resides within the ordinary being's single momentary thought-mind: the mind itself is the land, the land itself is the mind; therefore it is said, 'From the beginning there has been no difference between this and that.'

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Question: 'A single momentary thought-mind resides within a square inch; how can it encompass a Buddha-land that is so distant?'

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Answer: 'The deluded call this single momentary thought-mind small, but those of great realization take a comprehensive view: the true and the false are not two. For this false mind arises entirely from the nature: the nature is boundless, and the mind is likewise limitless. The nature is like the great ocean; the mind is like a floating bubble. The entire ocean becomes the bubble, and the bubble encompasses the ocean. Indeed, true suchness, unchanging, accords with conditions; according with conditions, it is unchanging. Since it is said that "according with conditions, it is unchanging," how could one restrict the great and the small on the basis of the true and the false?'

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Fourth: The Gate of the Non-Duality of Sentient Beings and Buddhas

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Between Amitābha and the ordinary being, / Although delusion and awakening differ, / The Buddha's mind and sentient beings' minds / Are ultimately without duality.

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The treatise says:

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Amitābha Buddha is a person of the fruit, who has accomplished the merits of the three bodies, the four wisdoms, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the eighteen unshared qualities, and so forth. An ordinary being is a person of the cause, completely endowed with countless afflictions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, creating countless bonds of karma as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and destined to undergo countless births and deaths as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The aspects of delusion and awakening are like clouds and mud by comparison. When it is said that 'ultimately there is no duality,' this means: speaking in terms of characteristics, they are not dual and yet dual; discussing in terms of nature, they are dual and yet not dual. For the Buddhas have awakened to the Buddhas within the minds of sentient beings, while sentient beings are deluded about the sentient beings within the minds of the Buddhas. That which is awakened to is the essential nature, the measure of the nature, and the inherent possession of the nature originally endowed in sentient beings. That which is deluded about is the essential nature, the measure of the nature, and the inherent possession of the nature realized by the Buddhas. How could the marvel of the mind-nature ever truly suffer delusion! It is deluded and yet not deluded—there is truth to these words. Therefore, the measure of the nature originally possessed by sentient beings is none other than the Dharmakāya realized by the Buddhas; the essential nature is the Sambhogakāya; the inherent possession of the nature is the Nirmāṇakāya. Merits such as the four wisdoms, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, and the eighteen unshared qualities can be understood as converging in this way. Thus the ancient virtuous one said: 'Sentient beings within the minds of the Buddhas find Ultimate Bliss in every particle of dust; the Buddhas within the minds of sentient beings realize reality thought after thought.' Therefore, Amitābha is my mind, and my mind is Amitābha. Before a single thought is raised, it is already accomplished; as soon as a thought arises in the mind, it is immediately perfected. It is because of this principle that there is reciprocal communion between stimulus and response; hence the efforts of one who recites the Buddha's name are never in vain.

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5. The Gate of Taking the Dharmadhātu as Recollection

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The perfectly fused substance of the Dharmadhātu / Makes up my single thought-moment; / Therefore, my mind that recites the Buddha's name / Is entirely and completely the Dharmadhātu.

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The treatise states:

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When a practitioner invokes the Buddha's name, when they practice contemplation of the Buddha, when they practice contemplation of host and companion or environment and sentient beings, when they cultivate the three kinds of pure karma, when they maintain single-minded undisturbed concentration, when they invoke the name with a distracted mind, and even down to the boundless afflictions of views and thoughts as numerous as the sands of the Ganges—wherever there is this mind, it is entirely made by True Suchness remaining unchanging while according with conditions, and its entire substance is the Dharmadhātu. Therefore Great Master Fazhi said: 'The wondrous substance of the Dharmadhātu, perfectly fused and inconceivable, makes up my single thought-moment, and moreover, in its entire substance it makes sentient beings, makes Buddhas, makes the environment, and makes the person.' If this is so, then other thoughts are still [the Dharmadhātu], how much more so the mind that recites the Buddha's name! For this reason, when a practitioner recites the Buddha's name, this mind is none other than the perfectly fused, pure, precious awakening. When one recites that Amitābha with this wondrous mind, which of those three bodies is not recited? When seeking those four lands, in which land will one not be born? It is merely a matter of the depth or shallowness of one's practice and the highness or lowness of one's grade [of rebirth].

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6. The Gate of Mutual Engulfment of Object and Contemplation

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The sixteen and other objects, / And the two contemplations of phenomena and principle, / Mutually engulf one another, / Just like Indra's net.

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The treatise states:

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That object and contemplation mutually engulf each other is precisely due to the non-obstruction between phenomena and phenomena. The reason why phenomena and phenomena are unobstructed is just as it is said: 'that which has a root is like this.' For the wondrous substance of the Dharmadhātu, perfectly fused and inconceivable, makes up my single thought-moment, and moreover, in its entire substance it makes sentient beings, makes Buddhas, makes the environment, and makes the person. Since all are made in their entire substance, what single phenomenon is not the Dharmadhātu? Therefore it is said: 'A single particle of dust as the Dharmadhātu is not small; an ocean of lands as the Dharmadhātu is not large. The many are the Dharmadhātu, and the few are also the Dharmadhātu.' Thus, the sixteen objects of the West and the two contemplations of phenomena and principle of our mind—every single one of them is nothing other than the entire substance of the Dharmadhātu. Just as with Indra's net in the palace of Śakra, although each pearl is distinct from the other, its reflection enters into the multitude of pearls; and although its reflection enters into the multitude of pearls, their east-west illumination and function remain distinct. The same applies to object and contemplation: taking the object as phenomena, the contemplation is principle, and principle can encompass phenomena—this is contemplation engulfing the object. Taking the contemplation as phenomena, the object is principle, and principle can encompass phenomena—this is the object engulfing contemplation. Or one is phenomenon and the rest are principle, or one is principle and the rest are phenomena; they mutually engulf each other, and are therefore like Indra's net. If this is so, then when I practice contemplation, the environment and person of the West are already within my contemplation, and my present body and mind are already in the midst of that environment and person. Understanding this and seeking birth in the Land of Peaceful Sustenance can be likened to: wild geese passing through the vast sky, their shadows sinking in the cold water; the wild geese have no intention of leaving behind a trace, and the water has no mind to retain their shadows.

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7. The Gate of the Three Contemplations Being Naturally So

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That which can contemplate is the three contemplations; / That which is contemplated is the three truths. / Cultivation arises entirely from the nature, / And is therefore called naturally so.

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The treatise states:

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The three truths are the ultimate, the conventional, and the middle; the three contemplations are the empty, the provisional, and the middle. For forgetting sentiments and cutting off conceptual understanding, nothing surpasses the ultimate; for according with conditions and applying function, nothing surpasses the conventional; for fusing and harmonizing emptiness and existence, nothing surpasses the middle. Clear and immaterial, not obscured—this is my mind's own emptiness. When things arrive it responds—this is my mind's own existence. Emptiness and existence are mutually identical—this is my mind's own middle. This is the nature, not cultivation; it is the three truths, not the three contemplations. To cultivate them means to illuminate and comprehend them according to the nature. Therefore, to realize that this mind is empty and without any object is called 'emptiness'; to illuminate and comprehend that this nature is fully endowed with the myriad phenomena is called 'the provisional'; to fuse and harmonize the two extremes so that they are neither one nor different is called 'the middle.' Thus, it is through being clear and immaterial that it responds to things; it is through responding to things that it is clear and immaterial. Emptiness is none other than the provisional and the middle; the provisional is none other than emptiness and the middle; the middle is none other than emptiness and the provisional. This is cultivating according to the nature, illuminating in absolute transcendence—it is the inconceivable three contemplations. It is the compass of the great Śūraṅgama samādhi. This is the horizontal discourse. If discussed vertically: one may take the clear and immaterial nature of our mind as emptiness, the contemplated myriad things as the provisional, and the non-duality of mind and object as the middle. Things are the things of our mind—which provisional thing is not empty? Mind is the mind of the myriad things—what emptiness is not provisional? Mind is precisely things, things are precisely mind—what middle is not empty and provisional? Therefore, when contemplating the environment and person of Ultimate Bliss, using the three contemplations of our mind's single contemplation to illuminate the three truths of that single object, there is nothing that is not acceptable. Using the single mind of our three contemplations to illuminate the single object of those three truths is also entirely acceptable. Master Huxi said: 'The object is the wondrous provisional and the contemplation is emptiness; / Forgetting both object and contemplation is precisely the middle. / How could forgetting and illuminating ever have before and after? / A single mind, fused and absolute, completely leaves no trace.' How could the three contemplations not be naturally so!

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8. The Gate of Effortless Stimulus and Response

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My mind stimulates the Buddhas, / Amitābha immediately responds from afar; / Their natural essence is inherently connected, / Just as a lodestone attracts a needle.

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The treatise states:

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The Buddhas and sentient beings share the same source of awakening; though delusion and awakening differ, the principle is constantly equal. Therefore it is said: 'The Buddhas are the Buddhas within the minds of sentient beings, and sentient beings are the sentient beings within the minds of the Buddhas.' Tracing back according to this, the quintessence of the minds of the Buddhas and sentient beings is never at any time not interconnected and harmonious. However, the Buddhas at all times wish to deliver sentient beings, while sentient beings in thought after thought turn away from them in delusion. Thus Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva said: 'If one person concentrates on recollecting, and the other concentrates on forgetting, then even if they meet, it is as if they do not meet; even if they see each other, it is as if they do not see each other. If a child recollects its mother just as the mother recollects the child, mother and child through successive lives will not be separated or distant. If the minds of sentient beings remember the Buddha and recite the Buddha's name, they will certainly see the Buddha in the present or in the future, and will not be far from the Buddha.' Precisely because the one principle is equal and their natural essence is interconnected, suffering can be removed and joy bestowed effortlessly. How much more so given that Amitāyus Buddha made forty-eight vows in his causal stage, vowing to establish Ultimate Bliss and gather in sentient beings, and now the fruit of the Way has long been attained and his great armor of vows has long been fulfilled! Therefore, the multitude of sentient beings need not worry that the Buddha will not come in response; they should only have deep faith, recollect, and make vows aspiring to be born in the West, just as a lodestone effortlessly attracts a needle. However, a magnet can attract iron but cannot attract copper; a needle can unite with a magnet but cannot unite with jade. This is analogous to how a Buddha can deliver those who have conditions, but cannot deliver those without conditions. Sentient beings easily stimulate Amitābha, but do not easily stimulate other Buddhas—is this not because the vows between these beings and the Buddha are interconnected? Therefore, for those who seek birth in the Pure Land, not one of faith, vow, and practice can be lacking.

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9. The Gate of This and That Being Constantly One

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If someone at the time of death / Can remain free from losing right mindfulness, / Perhaps seeing light or seeing flowers, / They have already received birth in the jewel pool.

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The treatise states:

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The Biographies of Rebirth states: 'Zhang Kang served the Shi-Jin dynasty as an academician of the Hanlin Academy. He took on a daily recitation of the Great Compassion Dhāraṇī one hundred thousand times, vowing to be born in the West. One day he fell ill and only recited the Buddha's name. Suddenly he said to his family: "The Western Pure Land is just to the west of the main hall. Amitābha Buddha is sitting upon a lotus flower, and I see Weng'er bowing and playing upon the golden sand ground of the lotus pond." After a short while, he passed away reciting the Buddha's name. Weng'er was Kang's grandson.' That this was so is because the Western Realm of Ultimate Bliss is merely a single land within our mind, and the Sahā world is also merely a single land within our mind. Speaking in terms of lands, there is a difference between this and that of a hundred thousand kotis [of lands]; observing in terms of mind, there was originally neither near nor far. But ever since sentient beings received birth, their true nature has been confined and delimited by the five aggregates, failing to accord with the mind-source. When the karmic retribution of a person who recites the Buddha's name ripens, and they are about to abandon the intermediate aggregate of the present life and head toward the intermediate aggregate of rebirth, the lotus flower of the Pure Land suddenly appears before them. This is a realm of mind-only; there are no characteristics of coming and going, of this and that. Therefore the Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'At the time of approaching the end of life, before warmth has left [the body], the good and bad deeds of the whole life appear all at once. If there is pure thought, one will immediately soar and be reborn in the heavens. If within this soaring mind there is both merit and wisdom, as well as pure vows, one's mind will naturally open and see the Buddhas of the ten directions, and one will be reborn in any pure land according to one's vow.' Master Fazhi said: 'One should know that when approaching death, seeing oneself sitting on a golden lotus, one's body is already the intermediate aggregate of rebirth in that land.' This is also what it means.

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10. The Gate of Present and Future Inherent in Each Other

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When a practitioner recites the Buddha's name now, / The merit is not in vain; / The fruit is already present within the cause, / Just like a lotus flower blossoming.

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The treatise states:

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People of the complete and sudden teaching suddenly awaken to the mind-nature: cultivating without cultivation, they cultivate that Land of Bliss. The Ultimate Bliss inherently contained within the nature is revealed and developed through cultivation. And this mind-nature vertically penetrates the three periods of time and horizontally encompasses the ten directions of space; the Buddha-dharmas, sentient-being dharmas, primary dharmas, environmental dharmas, causal dharmas, and fruition dharmas are completely perfected in a single thought-moment. Therefore, one who recites the Buddha's name is said to 'arise in cultivation entirely from the nature, and have cultivation reside entirely in the nature.' Although arising in cultivation entirely from the nature is called the cause, with cultivation residing entirely in the nature, the fruit is already within the cause. Because the inherent causal dharmas and the inherent fruition dharmas dwell together in the one nature, and the mind-nature is fused and unobstructed, leaving no phenomenon unencompassed, it is just like a blossoming lotus flower that already contains fruit within the flower. How much more so since this mind is eternally abiding, without arising, ceasing, coming, or going! The very mind that recites the Buddha's name right now is none other than the time of receiving birth in the flower pool in the future. Therefore it is said that when someone first brings forth the mind [of aspiration], the lotus seed has already sprouted in the jewel pool of Ultimate Bliss; if they progress diligently without retreating, it grows day by day, and the flower gradually blossoms, radiant in proportion to the magnitude of their merit. If they become lax, retreat, regret, or become mixed, it gradually withers day by day; if they can renew themselves, the flower becomes fresh and splendid again; if they do not, the sprout scorches and the seed is ruined. Moreover, who planted this lotus flower? 'Present and future inherent in each other'—these words have their true home here.

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Treatise on Birth and Non-Birth in the Pure Land

Linked texts (1)

淨土生無生論 — Classical Chinese