Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

English (machine translation)

Translation of 西方合論

Language
English
Extent
245 passages, 60,073 words
Text
complete digital text
Source
pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.bauddha.taisho.1976 · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

Contents

Text

1.1

Preface to the Recarving of the Comprehensive Treatise on the Western Land

1.2

Confucianism uses the three bonds and five constants to establish heaven and earth and rectify humanity; as for stemming the counter-current of saṃsāra and escaping the burning house of the traidhātuka, one must rely on the Buddha's teaching. Among the buddhas of the ten directions and the three times, Amitābha is foremost; among the pure lands embraced and received by the various buddhas, the Western Land of Sukhāvatī is foremost. In buddhānusmṛti and seeking rebirth in the Pure Land, the merit, practices, and contemplation gates are limitless; yet holding fast to the name with single-minded unconfoundedness is foremost. Sages and worthies past and present have praised the Pure Land and taught buddhānusmṛti: works such as Tiantai's Shiyi lun, Yongming's Wanshan tonggui, Tianru's Huowen, and Longshu's Jingtu wen have already treated it in detail; yet their doctrinal categories are scattered and their fascicles divided into separate cases, until the Commentary and Subcommentary on the Amitābha-sūtra by Master Yunqi of the great Ming brought them together into a grand synthesis. There is also Master Yuan Shigong, taboo name Hongdao, of Gong'an in Chu, who composed the Comprehensive Treatise on the Western Land: it synthesises differences and agreements, resolves doubts and blockages, reveals profound subtleties, and points directly to the final resort. The buddha preached the sūtras and the patriarchs wove them; the elder brother presented them and the younger brother propagated them—truly, they are the Asaṅga and Vasubandhu of the Confucian school, the Aśvaghoṣa and Nāgārjuna of the treatise department. It may be said that, manifesting the bodies of officials and upāsakas, they propagated the samgraha-vastu of sharing identity and sharing action. Only when buddhānusmṛti reaches this point is it the perfect teaching; only when the Pure Land attains this can it truly be called 'mind-only'. Men of penetrating discernment should keep a copy in hand and peruse it several times a day. While the Commentary and Subcommentary already circulates widely in the world, the Comprehensive Treatise is perhaps rarely recognised in its text. Now in the decline of the Final Dharma, when the kalpa's fortunes are stirring, the fourfold assembly of the Sahā world should swiftly make the vow for rebirth; yet there are not lacking divergent paths between doctrinal schools and Chan, and doubts between Chan and Pure Land, causing the lotus flowers to suddenly open and suddenly wither, and the Pure Land to seem near and far. This is why Amitābha is in deep sorrow and urgent need, borrowing the form of the broad and long tongue in Master Yuan's book to utter a swift cry.

1.3

I, Zhikui, have long received the Buddha's grace, but remain hindered and mired in this defiled world. Taking refuge in this Path, I wished to circulate this book widely, but lacked the means. There is the upāsaka and fellow-practitioner Gan Eryi, courtesy name Youmin, and his second brother Shen, courtesy name Zuomin, who share the aspiration for the pure karma. Just upon seeing the Comprehensive Treatise, it thoroughly satisfied their original hearts, and with joy and praise they donated funds to have it carved, completing it alongside the assembly, so that Master Yuan's moon in the water might shine bright again and the flowers and fruits of the Lotus Pond might pervade everywhere. That every person who practices buddhānusmṛti sees the Buddha stems from obtaining and seeing this book; that every person gains strength from this book stems from this renewed printing. With one more person born in the Pure Land, they turn to become our guide; one day earlier in realising anutpāda, they extend far into the future the life of the Buddha's wisdom. All loyal ministers, filial sons, righteous men, chaste women, and even flying and crawling creatures are companions in the Realm of Bliss; all investigating Chan, chanting dhāraṇīs, upholding precepts, cultivating merit, and engaging in worldly livelihoods and miscellaneous duties are provisions for rebirth. Every single invocation encouraged, every moment quietly read, every single character expounded, and every single place of circulation are limitless in merit and lifespan. Matters and principles are true and real, not deceitful or delusory; sentient beings and buddhas are equal, neither easy nor difficult. The Pure Land is right before our eyes; the great vow lies in the individual's single thought. Ah! Nothing can surpass it!

1.4

On the full moon of mid-autumn in the year Jiangwu Daqitan (1630), Zhou Zhikui of Minzhong, a disciple of the Bodhisattva Precepts, bows his head and writes.

1.5

Respectfully recorded by Gan Eryi, Master of the Zhenjiang Pavilion.

1.6

The whole Yuan family turned their hearts to the Pure Land, as verified by the record of their dreams. Whenever I read Master Zhonglang's Collected Works up to his family letters, I always join my palms in praise. His letter says: 'Hearing that you, sir, and the entire family have turned your hearts to the white karma, this is the foremost rare matter in the human world. To single-mindedly hold the name—what difficulty is there? Yet people naturally give rise to doubts and hindrances. For such great wealth and nobility, Heaven naturally refuses to bestow easily upon people; furthermore, one must firmly practice wholesome dharmas, using benefit, relief, and patience to break the marks of self-and-other, stinginess, and greed, treating this as the critical matter in becoming a sage and becoming a buddha. These are all good medicine for those nowadays who haggle over every mite. What you, sir, did in the dream was solely to diligently practice skillful means, pitying everyone and enjoining them unceasingly.' Reading this volume without being stirred to awakening—how could that be human nature? Just then, Master Zhou Zhangfu pointed out the path of buddhānusmṛti; copies of Master Yuan's Comprehensive Treatise were completely exhausted, so he gave me the dream record as an enhancement to the Comprehensive Treatise. Thereupon I was able to take this book and read it; and my younger brother Shen and my young son You, hearing its words while ill, both gave rise to faith. We then committed it to be recarved, in order to encourage each other. I thereby report this to

1.7

the wise elders. If you consider me like someone presenting the warmth of the sun in cold weather, I am truly ashamed, truly ashamed!

1.8

Preface to the Comprehensive Treatise on the Western Land

1.9

Xiangguangzi retired from clamour to a mountain monastery to cultivate pure karma. A Chan practitioner, gazing proudly and striding high, passed by the dwelling and engaged in conversation. Seeing on the desk the newly composed Comprehensive Treatise on the Pure Land by Upāsaka Shitou, he had not finished reading through the work when he raised his voice and said: 'If we discuss this teaching gate, it was originally used to guide those of middling and lower capacities. Why? People of middling and lower capacities have slight wisdom and heavy karma; by recollecting the Buddha and practicing buddhānusmṛti, they obtain rebirth in the Pure Land, like an unhewn boulder boarding a boat can reach the shore—they truly ought to practice buddhānusmṛti. As for those like us, we clearly understand the original source: this mind is itself the Buddha, so where else should one seek the Buddha? This mind is itself the land, so where else should one see the land? Within the reality-principle, seeking the marks of sentient beings and buddhas, going and coming, saṃsāra and the three times, not a hair-tip can be found. Merely speaking of becoming a buddha is already redundant talk; how could there further be matters of distinguishing pure from defiled, or abandoning this to be born there? If one awakens at this point, one is an untrammeled person at ease: lust, anger, and ignorance are all Amitābha's impartial bodhimaṇḍa, immutably unmoving like tathatā. Why abandon one's own Buddha to bow to that gold and bronze? Moreover, to claim that both the awakened and unawakened should cultivate it is to stir up trouble where there is none; this is what I do not understand.'

1.10

Xiangguangzi heard this and sighed deeply, saying: 'What you say aims only at verbal eloquence; you do not realise that with a single step you will fall into a pit of fire. Saṃsāra and impermanence arrive in the blink of an eye; how can you memorise the ready-made, superficial phrases of the Chan lineage and regard them as ultimate? All say: "I have already become a buddha; there is no need for buddhānusmṛti." If we speak according to principle, a single flea or louse in the world completely possesses the Tathāgata's pure enlightened essence, without any difference. Even when the buddhas attain samyaksaṃbodhi and realise great nirvāṇa, their original essence does not increase by a single fraction; when sentient beings fall into the three evil destinies and hasten into the ocean of saṃsāra, their original essence does not decrease by a single fraction. The essence of tathatā is constantly and naturally unmoving; saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are equally false views; there is neither Tathāgata nor sentient being. Entering into this realisation, there is also neither a person who can realise nor a dharma to be realised; mental measurements are obliterated and emotional existence transcended; across the great earth there is not an inch of soil—where could the single character "Buddha" be placed? As for the gates of practice and advancement, cultivating and realising within non-cultivation and non-realisation, grading within non-grading, there are thousands of differences and distinctions. Even those whose rank reaches samyaksaṃbodhi still do not know where the Tathāgata raises and lowers his feet. The reason past patriarchs scolded buddhas, denounced teachings, and negated everything was solely because people's minds clung stubbornly to doctrinal marks, producing understanding according to words, failing to awaken to the original essence beyond words, and recklessly grasping the skillful means within words. All along they spoke of mind and nature, of emptiness and illusion, of sudden and gradual, of cause and effect, understanding all of the thousands of sūtras and ten thousand treatises; but when asked about their fundamental life-source, they would match it with ready-made words from the sūtras and treatises; remove those ready-made words, and they remain bewildered and helpless—what is called counting another's treasure without a penny of one's own. Or there may be those who practice genuinely, yet not seeing the buddhadhātu, they practice with bitter hardship like the blind without a guide, merely obtaining the fruits of humans and devas and not being born into the house of the Tathāgata. Thereupon the patriarchs, knowing these shortcomings, used poisonous hands to cut down their words, block their paths of intellectual understanding, and press upon their emotional consciousness, causing them to investigate bitterly and penetrate deeply, going against the flow of arising and ceasing; when feelings of arising and ceasing are exhausted and thoughts of grasping and rejecting are empty, only then do they recognise their birth parents and the treasure store of countless kalpas. Turning then to view the sūtras and teachings, every single one is like a matter within one's own home; thereafter, one advances in practice as expounded, using the Buddha's knowledge and vision to purify and eradicate remaining habit-energies. Bowing to a Tathāgata of sky-flowers, cultivating pure conduct like the water's moon, ascending the stages of a mirage, and liberating sentient beings like valley echoes, not grasping the realization of quiescence—this is called the seed of buddhahood. It is just like the blazing sun high in the sky while treading the great king's highway, unlike running through the long night clutching thorns and falling into briars. How could it be said that immediately upon a single awakening one is identical to the ultimate fruit? Just as the Court Attendant asked Great Tiger Cen: 'Do all the good spiritual friends under heaven realise the nirvāṇa of the fruit?' Cen said: 'They have not realised it.' The Attendant said: 'Why have they not realised it?' Cen said: 'Their merit is not yet equal to that of the various sages.' The Attendant said: 'If so, how can they be called good spiritual friends?' Cen said: 'Clearly seeing the buddhadhātu, they may also be called good spiritual friends.' Chan Master Hongbian said: 'Suddenly understanding one's own nature, one is a peer of the Buddha. Yet there are beginningless defiling habits, so one must employ antidotes to make function arise in accordance with nature, just as a person eating does not become full with a single mouthful.' Guishan said: 'When a beginner relies on conditions and suddenly awakens to the fundamental principle, there are still beginningless habitual energies of countless kalpas that cannot be suddenly purified; one must teach them to purify and eliminate the flowing consciousness of present karma—this is cultivation. There cannot be another dharma taught to them for cultivation and direction.' If we consider where the patriarchs guided people, standing like a precipice of ten thousand cubits, in the midst of a great mass of fire which rots whatever touches it, in a forest of knives and spears which burns whatever moves against it; before one has opened one's mouth, one is already separated by thousands and tens of thousands of miles. Yet outside of dynamic encounters, when deliberating calmly and practically, they never completely abolished stages or completely negated cultivation. This is clear and detailed in the Jingde Chuandeng lu. The teachings of Dahui and Zhongfeng are especially urgent, urging with heartfelt sincerity, fearing only that empty intellectual understanding would attach to people and cause them to fall into māra-affairs. When did they ever say that after a single awakening, without relying on cultivation, one suddenly equals the Two-Footed Honoured One and completely fulfills the fruit of nirvāṇa? Later generations, not understanding the intent of the teachings and failing to fathom the dynamic functioning of the patriarchs, take the perilous phrases that scold buddhas and curse patriarchs, which shatter one's gall, and use them as their practice. People of the past were obstructed by sūtras and treatises, yet that was still like eating mixed grains of rice and wheat and failing to digest them; people of later times memorize Chan lineage phrases to the brim, rejecting causes and denying effects, overstepping their place and going too far—this is daily taking rhubarb and croton seeds as one's tea and rice. Deluding themselves and deluding others, how could the harm ever end? Therefore, no sooner do they enter this gate than they disparage the Tathāgatas of the ten directions, each saying: 'There is no buddha to become, no practice to cultivate.' Seeing someone practice buddhānusmṛti, they say: 'Svabhāva is the Buddha.' Seeing someone cultivate the Pure Land, they say: 'Mind itself is purity.' Speaking of investigating Chan, they exalt it above the nine heavens; speaking of buddhānusmṛti, they trample it beneath the nine earths. They completely fail to reflect that investigating Chan and buddhānusmṛti are both ultimately for ending saṃsāra; they are equally bridges to cross the ocean of suffering and precious rafts to transcend the realms of existence—their matter is of one family, so where is the superior and where is the inferior? Within the gate of investigation, awakening also has depths and shallows; among the practitioners of buddhānusmṛti, cultivation also has higher and lower grades. How can one rigidly assert that investigators are of superior capacity and reciters are of middling and lower capacity?

1.11

"Ever since Bodhidharma came from the west and established this ancestral school, it was already said that after two hundred years, those who understand the Way would be many, while those who practice the Way would be few; those who expound the principle would be many, while those who penetrate the principle would be few. Nowadays in the *Record of the Transmission of the Lamp*, [names] are as numerous as hemp seeds and millet grains, and all are said to be people of enlightenment, yet in truth they are worlds apart. As for those whose conditions with prajñā are deep and whose spiritual roots were planted long ago—like the kalaviṅka crushing heterodoxy, or the fragrant elephant cutting off the stream; who perceive the root source in a single word, or manifest majestic function in a single shout, gaining a thousand insights upon hearing one and obtaining the great dhāraṇī; or who cherish the intention to transcend the world and possess the resolve of a great hero, abandoning dusty defilements to investigate this Great Matter, not relying on minor understanding but seeking only genuine knowledge, sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall, drinking ice and swallowing bitter bark—after thirty or forty years like this, they might meet an illumined master who pierces them deeply with a needle, their thieving mind dies completely, and the blossom of the mind first unfolds. After this, they must still practice covertly and cultivate in secret to melt away residual habits, relinquishing even views of the Dharma, not to mention what is not Dharma. Like Zhaozhou, for whom anything other than porridge and rice was a distracted use of mind; Yongquan, who after forty years still had strayings; Xianglin, who after forty years formed a seamless whole, cautious and vigilant as if protecting his head and eyes, until the smoke vanished and ashes cooled, and naturally, not a single thought arising, karma could not bind him, and he was at ease at the juncture of saṃsāra. Yet if we examine what he attained, I fear it may still not surpass the highest grade of the highest rebirth. How do we know this? Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna was the ancestral founder of the lineage school, possessing great wisdom and great eloquence to uphold the Buddha's Dharma; hence the World-Honoured One, hundreds of years before at the Laṅkā assembly, gave him a distant prediction, yet it was merely that he would realize the first stage of Joy and be reborn in the Land of Peace and Bliss. And in the *Guan Wuliangshou jing*, one who attains the highest grade of the highest rebirth, upon being born there, also realizes the first bhūmi in an instant. Now, even if the great ancestral masters of the lineage school have views free from coverings and bindings and words that escape conventional traps, how could they immediately surpass Nāgārjuna? Nāgārjuna had already awakened to the meaning of anutpāda and formlessness, and already possessed the view that does not fall into progressive stages, yet he was born in Anyang, equal to the fruit realized by the highest grade of the highest rebirth; how then could what the practitioners of the Chan school realize surpass him alone? Truly, because those of the highest grade of the highest rebirth understand the supreme truth, it corresponds to the awakening of the Chan school; their deep faith in cause and effect corresponds to the cultivation of the Chan school; the only difference is buddhānusmṛti and rebirth. Yet I maintain that an adept of awakening and cultivation in the Chan school, being unable to take the nirvāṇa without remainder like the Tathāgata, and unwilling to take the nirvāṇa with remainder like the two vehicles, must certainly enter the ocean of Samantabhadra's practices and vows. If he does not abandon one body to receive another to deliver sentient beings, then he must go from one kṣetra to another to make offerings to the Buddhas; and once he sees the Buddhas, it is just like rebirth. Ultimately, in comparison with the highest grade of the highest rebirth, they stand merely shoulder to shoulder as peers; why then look proudly upon the ancestral masters and speak lightly of the companions of the Pure Land? If one has entered the gate of awakening but rests too soon, his wisdom does not penetrate subtlety and his power in the Way cannot overcome habits; if a single thought remains unexhausted, it is the root of saṃsāra, and driven by the wind of karma, he will enter the womb again. Like Wuzu Jie returning as Dongpo, or Qingcaotang being reborn as Duke Lu. Once crossing into another life, drifting along with conditions, their Way diminished rather than grew, and their karma increased rather than decreased. Even if their conditions with prajñā were deep so that they did not fall into the three evil destinies, going out of one womb and into another is still far too bitter! Looking back at the multitude reborn in the middle and lower grades, heaven and earth are not enough to metaphorize their difference in fortune and misfortune!"

1.12

"Furthermore, in later generations the style of the school declines day by day, and people's capacities also deteriorate daily. Most do not generate a genuine aspiration, and their practice is not unified. If by chance, through the dynamic exchanges of Buddhas and patriarchs or the words of spiritual friends, they awaken to the place where one is originally a Buddha, where right now is just it, where mental consciousness cannot reach, where words cannot express, where nothing can be grasped, and where even ungraspability itself cannot be grasped, they harmonize and equate the words of the ancients so that everything seems similar. Once they obtain this pseudo-understanding, they immediately say: 'Seeking has ceased; I am an unconcerned person of the Way.' Recognizing that afflictions are like illusions, they indulge their passions and let afflictions run wild; recognizing that practice is originally empty, they arbitrarily ruin practice. Claiming that giving is originally empty, they instead abandon giving and adopt stinginess; claiming that patience is originally empty, they instead follow their impulses and set patience aside. Speaking of precepts, they say: 'Originally there is neither upholding nor violating, why value upholding and despise violating?' Speaking of dhyāna, they say: 'Originally there is neither concentration nor distraction, why abandon distraction to choose concentration?' Indulging passions and following desires, they tread on existence while talking of emptiness. Since it is said that even the Dharma should be relinquished, why then do they grasp what is not Dharma? Since it is said that even the real is not sought, why do they abandon it to seek the false? Since it is said that cultivating contemplation and practicing concentration are traces of the conditioned, why do they greedily seek fame and pursue profit, as if that alone agreed with the unconditioned Way? The fires of love, hate, praise, and blame flare up as soon as they are touched; the winds of birth, old age, sickness, and death stir them at the slightest breeze. Contending over others and self, debating right and wrong, they go so far as to take a fiery temper as spiritual vigor, conceit as realization, deceit as dynamic function, falsehood as skillful means, licentiousness as play, and foul language as untying knots, praising those who break the vinaya and have no conduct, while mocking and abusing those who tread the straight path and adhere to rules. Emphasizing only the path of principle, their profound and ultimate subtleties leave no trace; completely extirpating the gate of practice, they indulge their desires and give free rein to their minds, no longer having any standards. With their mouths they say rebirth is a Hīnayāna teaching, and when letting others practice it, they themselves remain complacent. Some go for years without bowing to a single Buddha, years without performing a single repentance, years without reciting a single sūtra; instead, they read worldly books that are unnecessary and do things that practitioners should not do. They cause young novices to exclusively flaunt their cleverness and only pursue intellectual views; as soon as they know a little, they take it as transcending all at once to enter directly, asking what else there is to do. Frivolous, arrogant, proud, and unrestrained; their mouths choose no words, their bodies choose no deeds. The father having taken revenge, the son proceeds to commit robbery; writing a character wrong, errors multiply endlessly. They do not consider that worldly passions and desires are boundless—even with dikes, they overflow; how then can they daily use slick and glib words to violently tear down the gate of cause and effect, breaching the barriers and directing the flood? Deceiving themselves and deceiving others, how can they avoid sinking and falling! If not seized by māras, they will surely be confined for long kalpas to the three evil destinies, on mountains of swords and trees of knives, to repay their former causes; or bearing fur and wearing horns, to repay their past debts."

1.13

"Do not say: 'I am an awakened and penetrated person, karma cannot bind me.' Now, saying karma cannot bind does not mean it exists yet does not exist; it is precisely that being non-existent, it is naturally non-existent. In life, since you move following objects, in death how could you not receive rebirth following karma? A single thought of wrath before your eyes is the form of a strange serpent; a single thought of greed before your eyes is the seed of a hungry ghost. The formless causal thought is very small, but the form-bearing retribution is very great. The subtlety of a single thought, held in the storehouse of consciousness, is never lost even through millions of kalpas. Just as a bhikṣu, because of wisdom, had a body of radiant light, yet because of false speech, had maggots flowing from his mouth. For the slightness of a single word, he received this evil retribution; though he had wisdom, in the end it could not dispel it. How much less now, when ignorance and afflictions burn blazing and uninterrupted—hoping to dispel evil karma with pseudo-views and wishing to escape the three evil destinies is impossible! If formerly such people had not been content with a little, had constantly practiced as taught, and had never said of themselves 'I have awakened, the mind itself is Buddha, how could I still join the middle and lower grades in buddhānusmṛti to seek rebirth?', realizing that birth is fundamentally anutpāda, it would not hinder them from ardently seeking rebirth; the mind itself being the Land, the Lotus Land is not outside the mind; without abandoning prostrations or neglecting recitations, the power of wisdom and the power of practice advancing side by side like two wheels, then they would truly sit upon the lotus pedestal of the highest grade, dwell in the jewel pavilions of the sky, eat morning meals in Gandhahastin, and long roam the Full Moon. Looking back at the grades of womb-birth, walking slowly on the precious ground, not hearing the Dharma speech, not seeing the Dharmakāya, like elephants and horses unable to flock together, or chickens and phoenixes of different kinds, how much less could worldly minor fruits of humans and devas, like gnats in a jar, compare! Yet with empty bellies and haughty minds, they cling to emptiness and destroy existence. In the end, through the erroneous understanding of one-sided grasping, they incur extraordinary retributions; instead of becoming children of Amitābha, they become prisoners of Yama; instead of becoming companions of the pure multitude, they become peers of the apāṅga wardens; abandoning the jewel forests to walk on trees of knives, forsaking brahma-sounds to listen to howling wails. In the end, what they receive cannot even equal worldly people devoid of knowledge and views who perform a few good deeds and make minor merits to be born in the human and heavenly realms. A hair's breadth of discrepancy leads to a gulf as wide as heaven and earth; is this not lamentable?"

1.14

"Thus, among those in the lineage school, the upper may not necessarily surpass the highest grade of the highest rebirth, while the lower have already fallen into the three evil destinies. Therefore we know this path is perilous and difficult, not easily traversed; if successful one becomes a Buddha, if failed one becomes a demon. Becoming a king or a captive is decided in a snap of the fingers; becoming a minister or being boiled alive differs by a mere hair's breadth. The division between suffering and bliss should be chosen early! Furthermore, in the present age the single thread of the gate of awakening is unbroken only like a thread; within the Chan school it is desolate without anyone, with only two or three lay upāsakas whose path is upright and direct who can propagate this Dharma. Yet since they are laymen, unlike the śramaṇa disciples of the Śākya who still have precepts binding their bodies, they are situated right within the great fire and their minds are submerged in the ocean of afflictions; although in managing worldly affairs they have vaguely gained an entry, their power in the Way is very shallow and their karmic power is very deep. Even with karma as coarse as sexual misconduct and killing, they cannot yet check themselves and refrain from acting, how much less the subtle? In the midst of saṃsāra, how could they be free? Merely seeing the luxurious, such as Yu Di; the treacherous and evil, such as Lü Huiqing and Xia Song; the impetuous, such as Zhang Tianjue; the romantic and charming, such as Bai Letian and Su Zizhan, all listed in the *Transmission of the Lamp*, they immediately claim that all is unhindered. They do not realize that although the aforementioned figures possessed right views, if one says that from then on they did not undergo portioned limitation and karma could not bind them, I would not dare grant it; they are facing long nights of receiving retribution without end. Therefore we know that the single gate of buddhānusmṛti is especially urgent for laymen. Although karmic power is heavy, by relying on the Buddha's power one avoids sinking, like a debtor hiding in the royal palace where he cannot be made to repay. Once born in the Buddha land, what one understood and realized in life will not be in vain. Saṃsāra presses upon us, an out-breath cannot be guaranteed; seek the way home early to avoid panic and confusion. Even if one's resolve is set on investigating Chan, it does no harm to combine it with buddhānusmṛti. If worldly service as an official or running a household is said not to be an obstruction, how much less morning and evening bows and recitations? In the morning, borrowing the urgency of buddhānusmṛti can awaken the mind investigating Chan; borrowing the penetration of the investigation can solidify faith in the Pure Land like gold; assisting each other, this is the most secure and dependable. Not believing this is truly equal to the lowest fool."

1.15

"Upāsaka Shitou from his youth set his aspiration on inquiring into Chan. His capacity was sharp and vigorous: within ten years he had penetrated into an entry point. His razor-sharp responsiveness was swift and keen, and his speech was fully adaptable. Ordinarily, when discussing this matter with others, his brush produced a thousand words without treading upon the ancestral masters' phrases; they flowed forth straight from his breast, like living tigers and vibrant dragons, without a single dead word. Consequently, he also considered himself to have attained awakening, with nothing further to do. Although worldly sentiments had lessened and he did not engage in worldly dust and toil, he nevertheless mocked the wind and trifled with the moon, climbing mountains and delighting in waters, lingering in literary and drinking gatherings, and becoming thoroughly intoxicated in elegant poetic pursuits. Idle, arrogant, lax, and wild, he could not avoid giving rein to his whims; thus, he had not fully shed the aforementioned ills. Fortunately, his earnestness regarding saṃsāra was urgent, so he did not remain submerged for long. Pained by the thought that encountering objects generates mind, that meeting circumstances turns into obstruction, and that superficial understanding cannot overcome actual conditions—that awakening without practice inevitably precipitates one into the demonic realm, the boundary between Buddha and Māra hanging only on an instant—he began by restricting his one-sided view of emptiness and wading into the ocean of Samantabhadra. He also considered that, as a true gate of practice, nothing surpasses buddhānusmṛti. Yet the doubt that this was merely an expedient to attract those of middling and lower capacities had not been completely dispelled. Later, after broadly examining the sūtras and treatises, he first realized that this gate originally subsumes the One Vehicle, and that both the awakened and the unawakened ought to cultivate it. Thereupon, collecting what was proclaimed by the golden mouth [of the Buddha], elucidated by the bodhisattvas, and expounded by the great spiritual friends, he appended his own thoughts. Though a thousand waves vied in rising and ten thousand streams flowed abreast, when examining their convergence, they all share a single source. His treatise takes the inconceivable ultimate truth as its core theme and awakening as its guide; it takes holding the Buddha's name at all twelve hours of the day, with one mind unconfused and moment-to-moment succession, as its actual practice; it takes the six perfections and myriad practices as auxiliary causes; and it takes deep faith in cause and effect as its gate of entry. As soon as this treatise was completed, five fellow practitioners were inspired to uphold the precepts and practice buddhānusmṛti; together they wished to circulate it in order to dispel the perplexities between Chan and the doctrinal schools."

1.16

"Xiangguang's discernment was poor and his roots meager; he had long been intoxicated by the view of emptiness, indulging his sentiments and giving free rein to his will like a mad elephant. On the night of [the month of] Chenhui last year, I personally visited the Gezi Hell. Blazing fires glowed intensely, and I saw a deceased monk whom I had known to talk of emptiness while breaking the precepts. His form was emaciated and frail, and he passed by limping, his weeping shaking the ground—scarcely could one bear to hear it! Upon awakening, my body hairs stood on end, and I thereupon resolved to take refuge in the Pure Land. Later, reading this treatise, my long-held doubts melted like ice. That is why today I do not shy away from bitter speech: a sick man knows medicine, and a wanderer pities a guest. You ought to completely eradicate your former views, and with an open mind recite and study it; you will naturally have an entry. The matter of saṃsāra is great; do not hesitate for long!"

1.17

Thereupon, the Chan practitioner shed tears of mingled sorrow and joy, saying of himself: "Had I not met you, I would have nearly spent my whole life in vain through the view of emptiness. You have given me life!" Earnestly requesting a copy of the work, he made obeisance and departed. This was the twenty-third day of the second month of spring in the gengzi year of the Wanli era [1600], written by Yuan Zongdao, styled Boxiu, in the Baisu Study.

1.18

Preface to the Comprehensive Treatise on the Western Land

1.19

Composed by the Daoist of Shitou from Heyê Hermitage, Yuan Hongdao

1.20

Now, clinging to signs to express the mind is the origin of conditioned faults; clinging to emptiness and destroying existence is the arising of heedless calamity. Bodhidharma, to rescue those who clung to signs, spoke of both sin and merit as empty; Yongming, to crush the followers of reckless wisdom, spoke of the myriad virtues as entirely right. That which extinguishes fire is water, yet an excess of water brings the disaster of drowning; that which gives life to things is the sun, yet an excess of the sun turns into the cause of withering and parching. The Tathāgata's teaching is also like this. Since the Five Leaves, the special transmission flourished; coming down to the present day, wild excesses have reached their peak. Erroneously invoking 'mind-only', they equate it with the non-action of external paths; clinging to the words that 'all is right', they rush into the demon citadels of the five desires. They do not consider that when Ānanda had not yet fully attained penetrating knowledge, the ascetic [Mahākāśyapa] expelled him; that when Madhu was slightly pulled by the fetters, the Venerable One reprimanded him. If one's habit-energy is as thin as a cicada's wing, the Treasure Place is far away; if defilements accumulate like mounds and mountains, whence can pure joy come? As for the Laṅkāvatāra transmitted by Bodhidharma, awakening and practice were both emphasized; as for the pure regulations initiated by Baizhang, vehicle and precepts were pursued in tandem. We have never heard of the cardinal tenet of the One Vehicle denouncing the pure precepts, or the legitimate heirs of the Five Lamps clinging passionately to worldly conditions. Formerly, a Daoist priest walking at night was possessed by a ghost and rolled about among graves. A certain man saw him, supported him into his cottage, and poured hot water over him until he revived. When parting, the Daoist said to the man: 'A traveler has nothing to give the host, but I have two talismans to ward off ghosts, which I wish to offer in thanks.' Those who heard this laughed. Today's scholars have greed, anger, and wrong views blazing like fire, yet they wish to untie bonds for others—how deluded they are!

1.21

For ten years I studied the Way and fell into this mad sickness; later, encountering an occasion, I had a slight awakening, whereupon I curtailed worldly dust and toil and turned my mind to the Pure Land. In the leisure left from worship and recitation, I took the treatises of Nāgārjuna, Elder Tiantai, Yongming, and others, carefully reading them, and suddenly my doubts cleared. Having deeply believed in the Pure Land, I also awakened to the differentiated practices of the great bodhisattvas, like a poor child finding gold in a hidden treasury, rejoicing beyond control. It happened that the Venerable Yu'an and Upāsaka Pingqian urged me to collect and compile the various treatises on the Western Land; I then set forth the essential words of the ancient worthies, appended my own views, and compiled them into a book, entitled Comprehensive Treatise on the Western Land. It began on the twenty-third day of the tenth month of the yihai year [1599] and was completed on the twenty-second day of the twelfth month. Since my reading was limited, there are many omissions; my only hope is to provide an expedient for beginners, still looking forward to correction by those who possess the Way. Briefly examining past sages, I divide the presentation into ten gates:

1.22

First: The Gate of Lands. Second: The Gate of Dependent Arising.

1.23

Third: The Gate of Categories. Fourth: The Gate of Doctrinal Tenets.

1.24

Fifth: The Gate of Truth. Sixth: The Gate of Accordance with the Nature.

1.25

Seventh: The Gate of Rebirth. Eighth: The Gate of the Net of Views.

1.26

Ninth: The Gate of Practice. Tenth: The Gate of Resolving Divergences.

1.27

Postscript to the Annotated Comprehensive Treatise on the Western Land

1.28

In the past, I accompanied Zhang Mingjiao (Wujiao) of Yingzhong to pay respects to Master Yuan Zhonglang. One day he brought out the Comprehensive Treatise on the Western Land to show us. I marvelled that Chan and the Pure Land shared a common source, surpassing the various scriptures of the Land of Joy. Where there was something I did not fully understand, I immediately asked the Master for clarification, and he instructed Mingjiao to write annotations at the head [of the sections]. When I took it back south, I constantly wished to carve it on printing blocks to save the world, but did not manage to finish. In the jiwei year [1619], Qu Yuanchu (Chunren), a literary scholar of Haiyu, passed away and bequeathed Dharma-wealth as a donation; I immediately went before his spirit-tablet and vowed to carve ten fascicles of scriptures to dedicate to his rebirth. It happened that while lying ill at Ruiguang in Wumen, remembering my former vow, I retrieved and entrusted it to Yuan Wuya (Shudu) to rearrange and collate, and directed my disciple Xingcheng to oversee the work—both to repay Master Yuan's kindness in bestowing the Dharma and to fulfill Scholar Qu's vow in bestowing material wealth. As for the refined detail of the compilation and the eminence of its arguments, they are for those with clear eyes to attain for themselves; what need have I to add redundant words?

1.29

At the time:

1.30

Winter solstice day, in the chang month of the gengshen year, the first year of the Taichang era of the Great Ming [1620], carefully recorded while struggling against illness by Ruqi, the Old Man of Heshi.

1.31

Account of a Dream from Kexue Studio

1.32

By Yuan Zhongdao

1.33

On the fifteenth day of the tenth winter month in the jiayin year of the Wanli reign (1614), having finished my evening recitation and feeling slightly weary, I sat cross-legged on my couch. My body was comfortable and attuned, and my mind was serene and fresh; suddenly my eyes closed as if entering samādhi. In an instant my soul and spirit separated [from the body] and leapt up above the house. At that time the moonlight was bright, and without being aware of it I drifted lightly upward, faster than a flying bird. Amidst the clouds I saw two boys of extraordinary pure beauty travelling very swiftly. Having no time to question them, I only called out to them from afar: "Quickly follow me! For we are travelling west!" Looking down upon the world, its high mountains and great marshes, level fields and vast wildernesses, walled cities and villages appeared like anthills and cups of water, like bee hives and ant nests. Whenever my flight dipped slightly lower, I immediately detected a foul and reeking stench too intolerable to smell, and only by exerting my full strength to shake myself upward was it dispelled. Presently we arrived at a place, and the two boys suddenly descended to the ground, saying, "Halt." I also followed them downward and saw a smooth road straight as a plumb line and level as an open palm. Inspecting its ground closely, it was neither sand nor stone, but lustrous and smooth. Along the road was a canal, all lined with patterned stone and about ten zhang wide, wherein five-coloured lotus flowers were planted, extraordinarily fragrant. Above the canal stood trees whose branches and leaves glistened, and fine birds sang in harmony. Here and there golden bridges spanned the canal, their railings interlaced. Looming within the trees were red towers and painted pavilions of incomparable order and splendour. I saw the people within the towers, purely beautiful and charming, just like immortals, all looking askance at me and smiling. The boys walked swiftly, and I constantly failed to keep up with them, so I shouted loudly, "Sirs, could you wait a moment by the golden bridge ahead? I have something to say!" The boys did as I said, and I was then able to catch up with them. Together we leaned on the jewelled railing of the bridge to rest for a short while. I bowed to the two boys and asked: "Who are you, sirs? What place is this? Please tell me." The two boys said: "We are attendants of Master Linghe. The Master wishes to have an audience and speak with you, and has sent us specially to welcome you, that is all." I asked: "Who is Master Linghe?" The two boys said: "He is your elder brother, Master Zhonglang. Having now been reborn in the Western Pure Realm, he has changed to his present designation. When you meet he will tell you himself; you may proceed quickly." Thereupon I set out again with the two boys. Soon we came to a place with a dozen or so trees whose leaves were like emerald feathers and whose flowers were of golden petals. Beneath the trees was a pool with babbling spring water, and above the pool was a white jade gate. One boy went in first, as if to make a report, while the other guided me inside. The towers and pavilions through which I passed numbered over twenty stories in all, each glistening with a golden hue; wondrous flowers and strange herbs brushed against the eaves and pillars. Arriving beneath a tower, I suddenly saw a person descending the tower to welcome me; his countenance resembled Zhonglang's, but his complexion was like jade, his robes like clouds and mists, and he was about a zhang tall. Seeing me, he was delighted and said: "My younger brother has arrived!" Thereupon he took me by the hand up to the tower; we bowed and sat down together, and four or five devas also came and sat with us. Zhonglang said to me: "This is the borderland of the Western Land. All those whose faith and understanding were not fully formed and whose jewel of precepts was incomplete are mostly reborn in this land; it is also called the Land of Indolence and Arrogance. Above it is a transformation Buddha. In front of the towers and terraces is a great pool, about a hundred yojanas wide, wherein are wondrous lotuses in which sentient beings entrust their forms. When their time is fulfilled, they disperse to live upon the various towers and terraces, gathering with pure spiritual companions with whom they have karmic connections. Because there are no lustful sounds or seductive forms, superior understanding is easily accomplished, and before long they advance to become inhabitants of the Pure Land." I thought to myself: "Can such a wondrous and beautiful place still only be a borderland?" I then asked Zhonglang: "Where do you live now, elder brother?" Zhonglang said: "At first, although my pure vow was deep, because my affective attachments were not yet eliminated, I also dwelt in this land for a short while; now I already reside in the Pure Realm. Yet in the end, because my understanding was urgent but my adherence to precepts was lax, I only dwell upon the same ground with ordinary sentient beings of the Western Land, and cannot ascend together with the great beings to the jewelled pavilions in empty space; I still need to advance in cultivation. Fortunately, in past lives my wisdom was sharp and vigorous, and I once composed the Treatise on the Western Land, praising the Tathāgata's inconceivable power to liberate sentient beings; thus by karmic response I obtained the freedom to fly, wandering through the various lands and able to go and listen wherever the Buddhas preach the Dharma. This is truly superior, something beyond the reach of ordinary sentient beings." Taking me along, Zhonglang ascended gently, and I too drifted lightly upward without realizing it. In an instant we traversed thousands and millions of leagues through empty space to a place. Descending with Zhonglang, there was neither sun nor moon, nor day nor night; bright light shone everywhere without obstruction. The ground was entirely of lapis lazuli, gleaming clear inside and out, interwoven with golden cords and partitioned distinctly with the seven treasures. On the ground were trees, all of sandalwood and auspiciousness, standing in matching rows and facing one another trunk to trunk in tens of thousands of layers; each leaf brought forth wondrous flowers showing the colours of diverse jewels. Below was a jewelled pool whose waves stirred with immeasurable, natural, wondrous sounds; its bottom sand was purely of vajra, and within it grew lotuses of various treasures emitting five-coloured light. Looming beyond the pool were towering halls stretching into the distance, with galleries branching out sideways, rafters supporting one another, windows and doors reflecting one another, and stairs, courtyards, verandas, and pillars, all complete and perfect; everywhere there were immeasurable musical instruments proclaiming the sounds of the Dharma. Roughly speaking, compared to what is recorded in the larger and smaller Amitābha Sūtras, not even one-tenth seemed to be captured there. Taking only a brief glance, I gazed with delight, unable to turn away. Looking up and gazing into the air, I saw towers and pavilions floating like cloud-vapours. Zhonglang said: "What you see is the scenery of the ground-dwelling sentient beings of the Pure Land; above this is the dwelling place of the Dharmakāya Great Beings, which is thousands and tens of thousands of times more wondrous than this, and their supernatural powers are likewise thousands and hundreds of times greater than this. By the power of my wisdom I can roam among them, but in the end I cannot dwell there. Further above this is the dwelling of the Ten Stages and samyaksaṃbodhi, which even I cannot know. Further above this is the dwelling of wondrous enlightenment, known only by Buddha and Buddha, which cannot be measured even by the sages of samyaksaṃbodhi!" Having finished speaking, he led me again to a place where there were no walls, but only railings. The courtyards within were extraordinarily radiant; I knew not what they were made of, but only felt that all the gold and white jade of the mundane world seemed like the colour of dirt! Sitting together under a pavilion, we conversed briefly. Zhonglang said: "I did not imagine that bliss could reach such an extreme! Yet had I strictly maintained the precepts when alive, it would still not be limited to this. Generally, if both one's understanding and one's precepts are urgent, one's grade of rebirth is the highest; next, if one's precepts are urgent, one's rebirth is the most secure. If one has understanding without precepts, one is mostly dragged by karmic force and sinks among the eight classes of ghosts and spirits; I have seen fellow students of mine do so with my own eyes! Brother, your disposition for prajñā is quite deep, but your power of precepts and samādhi is very meager. Now, an awakening to the principle that cannot produce precepts and samādhi is merely reckless wisdom. When you return to the five defilements, taking advantage of your vigorous physical strength, attain true awakening and engage in true practice, combining them with pure vows; diligently practice skillful means and have compassion for all beings, and before long you will have a fortunate reunion. Once you enter another destiny, it is dreadful and terrifying! If you cannot keep all the precepts, there are the six days of purification of Nāgārjuna, whose bequeathed practices still exist; follow and practice them. Among all precepts, the precept against killing is especially urgent; send word to our fellow students that no one who daily wields the butcher's knife and whose mouth craves rich flavours has ever been able to be reborn in the Realm of Pure Peace. Even if they preach the Dharma like clouds and rain, what benefit is it to the matter? You and I have been brothers in life after life since the kalpa of the Void King, and the same was true throughout our transmigrations in the six destinies. Fortunately, in this life I have already attained an excellent land; fearing that you might fall, I used the supernatural power of skillful means to draw you here. Pure and defiled are separated; you cannot linger long." I further asked about the places of rebirth of Boxiu and the others, and he said: "Their places of rebirth are all good; you will know of your own accord later." Having spoken, he suddenly soared into the void and vanished, and in an instant was no longer seen. As I began to walk along the pool, I suddenly felt as though I were falling; startled, I awoke, sweating all over. At that time the dying lamp was in its bamboo shade, the bright moon was shining upon the window, and the water clock had already struck the fourth watch.

First 33 of 255 passages. Read on