西方合論 2.2

2.2

Now, those who take pleasure in a dried-fish shop do not think of sandalwood; it is not that they truly do not think of it, but that they have not grown disgusted [with the foul smell]. If one suddenly brings them into a bright chamber and burns sandalwood and aloeswood, before the day is over they will lament their former filth and regret not having turned away from it sooner! Now, the foul stench of saṃsāra is worse than that of a dried-fish shop, yet sentient beings greedily crave it, doubly surpassing flies and gnats. The buddhas are like fragrance-selling elders: seeing a generation of humans and devas drowning in the turbid sea, how could they not feel commiseration? Therefore, the guiding master Amitābha widely opened the shop of fragrant adornment; Śākyamuni, the compassionate father, precisely pointed to the gate of the pure realm. Throughout the entire earth there is no one who is not an impoverished child; the single Buddha-name is precisely the capital [they need]. If you wish to test these true words, do not depart from the ten recitations; once you block your nostrils to the rank and foul, with time you will naturally feel disgust. Now, regarding the Western Land's initiation of the teaching, I briefly distinguish ten meanings: