西方合論 4

English (machine translation) 4

Language: English

4.1

Section Four: Classification of the Teachings

Now, the great collection of teachings of the canon is like a vessel holding space: space has no form or essence, while the vessel is square or round. When the vessel is gone, the space [within it] is removed; when conditions cease, the teachings vanish. Therefore, when universally responding according to conditions, nirvāṇa and tathatā constitute a single vessel; when according with wisdom at will, the exclusive retention of names and characteristics constitutes a single space. Medicines have no fixed prescriptions; prescriptions are fixed according to diseases. Could one claim that supreme, wondrous medicines like jade powder and coral can generally cure all four hundred and four ailments? When the illness is eliminated, the medicine is valued—urine and feces can be pure ambrosia; but when giving the same prescription for different symptoms, ginseng and poria turn into deadly poison. How much more so with the medicine of the unsurpassed King of Physicians, which cures the three supramundane vehicles, being applied to heal the sores of humans, gods, śrāvakas, and ordinary persons! Hence, earlier worthies, in arranging the teachings, numbered them as one or many; although the names and characteristics differ, their underlying principle and intent are identical. This Daoist [recluse], not reckoning his own obstinacy and ignorance, humbly follows the former sages, discriminating the various tenets so as to manifest the One Vehicle, hoping that viewers may know that the Pure Land dharma gate gathers the entirety of the teachings of the [Buddha's] lifetime, and will not be misled by vague Chan trends or lighthearted, wild masters of doctrinal parsing.

4.3

1. The teaching of pure existence. 2. The teaching of tending toward quiescence. 3. The teaching with remainder (the above three teachings partially subsume it).

4.4

4. The teaching without remainder. 5. The teaching of sudden enlightenment. 6. The teaching of ultimate perfection (the above three teachings fully subsume it).

4.5

First, as for the teaching of pure existence: it is for ordinary persons who are passionately attached to emotional love and commit black karmas. The Tathāgata, out of pity and compassion, preached to them the suffering of hell, the suffering of hungry ghosts, the suffering of animals, and the suffering of lacking meritorious virtue and clinging to what is mine; if they wish to be born as humans or gods, they should cultivate roots of goodness (kuśalamūla). For instance, when the Buddha first attained the Way, he expounded worldly causes and effects for Trapuṣa and Bahalika; five hundred merchants together received the five precepts, having first repented of the five heinous crimes, the ten non-virtues, and the sin of saddharmapratikṣepa—this is the teaching of existence. In the Guan jing, regarding the cultivation of the three blessings, it first states: 'Filially supporting one's parents, serving teachers and elders, having a compassionate heart that does not kill, and cultivating the ten good actions'; furthermore, the Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra speaks at length of the sufferings of the five evils, the five agonies, and the five burnings, instructing living beings to uphold the five goods, which also subsumes this meaning. However, since this sūtra aims at seeking rebirth and averting various unwholesome deeds, rather than aspiring after the minor fruits of humans and gods, although the practice is identical, the fruit realized is different. Sūtras such as the Śūraṅgama-sūtra, the Avataṃsaka-sūtra, and other Vaipulya sūtras, though not teaching it in isolation, also include it incidentally, and are not called 'pure existence'. The Commentary on the Guan jing states: 'How could a practitioner of the perfect and sudden [teaching] violate the monastic rules of the Hīnayāna, the three refuges, the myriad precepts, deportment, and the like?' It also says: 'Those who attain the prior do not [necessarily] attain the subsequent; but those who attain the subsequent must have attained the prior. Why is this? Because all buddhas, without exception, achieve liberation by means of the ten good actions.' The Avataṃsaka-sūtra says: 'The path of the ten non-virtuous actions is the cause of taking birth in hell, among animals, and among hungry ghosts. The path of the ten good actions is the cause of taking birth among humans and gods, up to the peak of existence. Furthermore, if this superior path of ten good actions is cultivated with wisdom, but because the mind is narrow and inferior, because one fears the traidhātuka, because one lacks great compassion, and because one understands from hearing the voice of others, one accomplishes the Śrāvakayāna. Furthermore, if this superior path of ten good actions is cultivated with purity, not relying on the teaching of others, because one awakens on one's own, yet because great compassion and skillful means are not complete, through understanding the profound dharma of dependent origination, one accomplishes the Pratyekabuddhayāna. Furthermore, if this superior path of ten good actions is cultivated with purity, because the mind is vast and immeasurable, because one is endowed with compassion, because it is embraced by skillful means, because one gives rise to great vows, because one does not abandon sentient beings, because one seeks the great wisdom of all buddhas, because one purifies the bodhisattva stages, and because one purifies and cultivates all perfections, one accomplishes the vast practice of a bodhisattva. Furthermore, when this uppermost path of ten good actions is purified in all modes, up to realizing the ten powers and four fearlessnesses, all buddha-dharmas are accomplished. Therefore, I now practice the ten good actions equally, and should cause all to be fully purified, so that a bodhisattva accumulates roots of goodness in this way, accomplishes roots of goodness, increases roots of goodness, contemplates roots of goodness, maintains mindfulness of roots of goodness, discerns roots of goodness, delights in roots of goodness, cultivates roots of goodness, and abides securely in roots of goodness. After the bodhisattva mahāsattva has accumulated all roots of goodness in this manner, using these roots of goodness and the resultant rebirth attained, he cultivates the bodhisattva path, and in thought after thought beholds immeasurable buddhas, serving and making offerings to them as appropriate.' It also says: 'Although there is no doing, one constantly abides in roots of goodness.' It also says: 'Although one knows that all phenomena have nothing to rely upon, it is taught that one relies on good phenomena to attain escape.' I respectfully urge enlightened and discerning persons to reflect intensely on Yongjia's words about 'sweeping empty', and hasten to seek uninvited friends in the White Lotus Society. Do not treat the Vinaya lightly, for there is no karma-making buddha in the heavens; do not crave empty fame, for there are ghosts to testify against you in the underworld. The Lotus Country is not far—please spur your horses on immediately!

4.6

Second, as for the teaching of tending toward quiescence: it is the teaching of extinction belonging to the two vehicles, which tends toward nirvāṇa and takes no joy in adorning lands or benefiting others; this is the Hīnayāna, which is directly contrary to the Mahāyāna teaching of the Pure Land. Now, it is said to partially subsume it because both the Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra and the Guan jing mention [practitioners attaining] from srotāpanna up to the fruit of an arhat. Earlier worthies said: 'That the Hīnayāna does not attain rebirth is said based on those of fixed nature who do not attain rebirth; that rebirth is explained here is because they previously generated the Mahāyāna mind in this world, perfuming it into a seed, and though they regressed to lower stages, it is through turning from the small toward the great when approaching the end of life that they attain rebirth.'

4.7

Question: "Since they have turned their minds toward the great, why is it that upon arriving there, they again realize the small fruit?"

4.8

Explanation: "Because their regression from the great had lasted so long and their habituation to the small was so deep, that Buddha spoke the small according to their habits, temporarily enabling them to realize the fruit. Moreover, those who realize the small fruit do not abide resting in the small stage; they again arouse the great mind and advance with even greater speed, attaining the initial bhūmi in five or ten kalpas. Such gradations are still extraordinary, and therefore not the same. It is also said: In the sūtra there is also Bimbisāra realizing the fruit of anāgāmin, yet he is not the primary recipient intended by this teaching. Since it is currently expounded primarily for Vaidehī and others to teach the Pure Land contemplations, it is not even the shared or distinct [teachings], how could it be the Hīnayāna? Just as when Śākyamuni appeared in the world, there were also śrāvakas; ultimately, the Mahāyāna is the principal, because carts drawn by sheep or deer are not the true carts."

4.9

Third, as for the teaching with remainder: it comprehends the true principle of the twofold emptiness, cultivates the myriad practices, and advances toward the Mahāyāna fruit of buddhahood. It only denies that icchantikas and the two vehicles can attain buddhahood, asserting that icchantikas lack the nature and that those of the two vehicles have a fixed nature, so that they decidedly cannot attain it; because it has not exhausted the true principle of the Mahāyāna, it is called 'with remainder'. This sūtra states: 'Excepting those who commit the five heinous crimes, they are not reborn.' It also says: 'The lineage of the two vehicles is not reborn.' The doctrinal meaning appears identical, but the two vehicles have already been explained above. The statement that those of the five heinous crimes are not reborn is due to their saddharmapratikṣepa and because they lack faithful minds, not because they lack the nature such that they decidedly cannot attain it. Therefore, in the Guan jing, when beings who have broken the precepts see evil omens at the point of death, upon hearing the praise of the Buddha's merit, the fierce fires of hell turn into a cool breeze. Even for those of the five heinous crimes and ten non-virtues who complete ten recitations, they see a golden lotus blossom like a sun disc, and in an instant, all attain rebirth. This is because the inconceivable merit of the svabhāva is manifested relying upon the inconceivable power of the Buddha. If one did not fully possess the buddhadhātu, like an inert stone or turbid dregs, how could it let moonlight shine through? One should know that mindfulness can reveal the nature, and such rebirth is due to the power of the nature. Just as the sun can reveal space, yet space does not depend on the sun. Therefore, because all sentient beings attain buddhahood, it is unlike the initial teaching with remainder.

4.10

Fourth, as for the teaching without remainder: all sentient beings are of one equal nature and shall all attain buddhahood; this is the ultimate teaching of the Mahāyāna. Having exclusively one's own mind as the substance of the teaching, it is called 'without remainder'. Now this Pure Land dharma gate, along with its phenomena of relying and true recompense, faith, aspiration, and so forth, ultimately all returns to the one mind. Therefore the sūtra states: 'With a single, undistracted mind, one immediately attains rebirth.' Furthermore, regarding the three grades of beings reborn there in the Larger Sūtra, it is said in all cases that they generate the supreme mind of bodhi. The bodhi-mind is none other than the buddhadhātu. The Avataṃsaka-sūtra says: 'The bodhi-mind is like a seed, because it can produce all buddha-dharmas; it is like a fertile field, because it can grow the pure, white dharmas of sentient beings; it is like the great earth, because it can support all worlds; it is like pure water, because it can wash away all defilements of affliction; it is like a great wind, because it is unobstructed throughout the world; it is like a blazing fire, because it can burn away all fuel of false views.' It is set forth at length in that sūtra. One should know that the bodhi-mind is the potent gunpowder in an iron cannon, and buddhānusmṛti is the fuse; the statement in the Avataṃsaka that 'at the time of initial aspiration, one immediately achieves right awakening' means precisely this. The bodhisattva's five stages of preparatory application are merely the fuse in the gunpowder. Among immeasurable wondrous practices, how could there be any that surpass the single practice samādhi?

4.11

Fifth, as for the teaching of sudden enlightenment, the Elder's Treatise states: 'Merely when a single thought does not arise, one is named a Buddha; it does not speak in terms of gradual progression through stages, and hence is established as the sudden teaching.' As in the Viśeṣacintā-sūtra, those who attain the true nature of all phenomena do not proceed from one stage to another. The Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra states: 'The tenth stage is the first, the first is the eighth stage, and so on until having nothing whatsoever—what sequence could there be?' One should know that 'sudden' means precisely the sense of not traversing steps and ranks. The Tiantai Commentary on the Guan Wuliangshou jing states: 'Sudden enlightenment and gradual entry—this is indeed the sudden teaching. It was directed specifically to Vaidehī and her handmaidens, all of whom were ordinary beings who had not yet realized any lesser fruition; thus we know it is sudden, not entering by degrees.' The Subcommentary states: 'The

4.12

Sixth, the teaching of ultimate perfection. The Ci'en Tongzan states: 'The ancient worthies of this land comprehensively classified the scriptures and treatises into four traditions: first, the tradition that posits essence; second, the tradition that refutes essence; third, the tradition that refutes characteristics; and fourth, the tradition that reveals the real. The Nirvāṇa[-sūtra], the Lotus [Sūtra], the Avataṃsaka[-sūtra], and so forth reveal the meaning of the real Middle Way, abandoning the conjured city to return to the jewel-place; hence we know that the Amitābha-sūtra belongs to the fourth tradition. Furthermore, matching schools according to teachings, there are eight schools: first, the school of both self and phenomena existing; second, the school of phenomena existing but no self; third, the school of phenomena having neither past nor future; fourth, the school of the present containing both conventional and real; fifth, the school of conventional falsity and ultimate reality; sixth, the school of all phenomena being merely nominal; seventh, the school of the ultimate truth being entirely empty; and eighth, the school of the perfectly real according with principle. The Avataṃsaka and the Amitābha-sūtra are subsumed under this eighth school.' Furthermore, Chan Master Zhenxie Qingliao and others took Indra's net with its thousands of pearls to elucidate the meaning of the perfect interfusion of the Pure Land, as is fully recorded in various texts. Recently, a senior venerable matched the Avataṃsaka with this sūtra, stating that the perfect [teaching] entirely encompasses this [sūtra], whereas this [sūtra] partially encompasses the perfect, obtaining only a minor part of the perfect, because parts belong to the perfect. Judged according to the sūtras, this meaning has great import. However, in the meaning of ultimate perfection, there is neither whole nor part. It is like the moon over rivers: every river has the whole moon, down to the inch of water in a vase or pond, which is also the whole moon, for there is no partial moon. It is like the wind in the trees: every tree has the whole wind, down to a single leaf or stalk of grass, which is also the whole wind, for there is no partial wind. If there were parts within the perfect, then the perfect would have divisions; if within the parts it were not the whole, then the perfect would not be omnipresent. For both part and whole to be contradicted would cause the meaning of perfection to fail.

4.13

Now, speaking of the ultimate perfection of the Lotus School, it is divided into five meanings: first, the meaning of the oceans of lands mutually containing one another; second, the meaning of the three periods of time being simultaneous; third, the meaning of insentient things attaining buddhahood; fourth, the meaning of the unobstructedness of circumstantial and primary [retributions]; and fifth, the meaning of pervading everywhere without moving.

4.14

First, the meaning of the oceans of lands mutually containing one another: The reward and transformation lands of all buddhas mutually enter and embrace one another, completely the other and completely this one, without any obstruction. If one imagines that they do not enter one another, this is an emotional view, and emotional views are not real. It is like a single room containing a single empty space: within it, humans, beasts, ghosts, insects, tables, bottles, shelves, and the like are all established relying on empty space. When empty space belongs to a human, then the empty space upon which ghosts, beasts, insects, tables, bottles, and shelves rely is entirely subsumed within the human. When empty space belongs to a ghost, then the empty space upon which humans, beasts, insects, tables, bottles, and shelves rely is entirely subsumed within the ghost. When empty space belongs to an insect, the empty space upon which humans, ghosts, beasts, tables, bottles, and shelves rely is entirely subsumed within the insect. Up to when empty space belongs to a shelf, the empty space upon which humans, beasts, ghosts, insects, tables, and bottles rely is entirely subsumed within the shelf. They interpenetrate without being confused; they are separate yet not divided; they neither enter nor do not enter. Therefore the sūtra says: 'The purity of the light of the land is universally peerless, thoroughly illuminating immeasurable, boundless, and inconceivable worlds, just as figures appear in a clear mirror.' One should know that the pure realm and the defiled land mutually enter with intersecting light, like a thousand lamps in a single room.

4.15

Second, the meaning of the three periods of time being simultaneous: The emotional views of sentient beings cling to the existence of time divisions, past, present, and future events, and so forth; speaking from the standpoint of the true mark, no substance of time can be apprehended. Why is this? If one imagines that darkness and light constitute time, darkness and light are merely accidental characteristics, like a diseased eye seeing green, which are not fixed characteristics. If one imagines that youth and old age constitute time, youth and old age are merely illusory bodies, like a tattered net wrapping the wind, which are not fixed substances. How could there be any real meaning in this? Now, drawing on the two meanings of mutual entry between expansion and contraction, we elucidate the substance of time: first, there is expansion within contraction; second, there is contraction within expansion. First, regarding expansion within contraction: it is like a person taking a nap, dreaming of passing through various cities and villages, seeing old friends, weeping and laughing vividly, and passing through months and seasons. Waking up, he asks someone, 'How long did I sleep?' The attendant replies, 'The time it takes to count a few thousand coins.' That person reflects that his nap was brief, so how could he have experienced so many changes? Remembering it clearly, being neither sick nor drunk, he turns it over and searches for this meaning, yet ultimately it cannot be apprehended. Second, regarding contraction within expansion: it is like a person who at twenty suddenly contracts madness, swallowing knives and seizing fire, sometimes telling people about future events, sometimes laughing and playing with his wife and children as usual, fathering sons and daughters, and sometimes suddenly being able to write literature and compose various books, spanning thirty years. He encounters a miraculous person who recites a mantra over water and gives it to him to drink. The person suddenly awakens as if from sleep, and regards being twenty as yesterday's event. His family bend their fingers to calculate the months and years, showing him his sons and daughters and his various books. The person reflects, 'Originally there were no months and years, so how could this have happened?' Nor does he recall whether he was sick or not. Examining these two metaphors forward and backward, ultimately the three periods of time cannot be apprehended. Therefore the sūtra says: 'Contemplating that distant past is like today; in the space of an instant, one visits and attends upon the buddhas throughout the realms of the ten directions.' This is called the uninterruptedness of the three periods of time. That the three periods of time are uninterrupted is because the substance of time cannot be apprehended.

4.16

Third, the meaning of insentient things attaining buddhahood: In the provisional teachings it is said that sentient beings have the buddhadhātu while insentient things do not have the buddhadhātu, and that all grasses, trees, and the container world cannot achieve the Way or turn the wheel of the Dharma. This is a forced calculation clinging to emotion, holding that what pertains to mind exists, while what pertains to matter does not exist, failing to understand that all phenomena abide in their phenomenal positions. Why is this? Mind is form, it is the root of emptiness, it is past and present, it is insentient, and because when one is absent all are absent. Blue and yellow are mind, the sound of the wind and the echo in the valley are mind, grasses, trees, tiles, and stones are mind, they are sentient, and because when one exists all exist. Therefore one knows that for emotion to be emotion, it can be said of oneself and it can be said of things; one should not say who lacks it and who has it. Just as a husband and wife together give birth to a single child, one should not say who gave birth and who did not give birth. Now, hair, bodily hair, nails, and teeth are also insentient; do they become buddhas together with me, or do they not become buddhas together with me? Seeing mountains, waters, trees, and rocks in a dream are also insentient; are they subsumed under emotional thought, or are they not subsumed under emotional thought? One should know that within this there is not even 'self' or 'non-self'; how much less could one calculate 'sentient' or 'insentient'? Therefore, in the sūtra, the jeweled trees of the bodhimanda can purify all sense faculties, and the wind through the branches and the sound of the waters all proclaim the marvelous Dharma. Not a single thing is not the Buddha's body, and not a single thing does not turn the wheel of the Dharma. How could this ever be calculated by emotional views and deluded knowledge?

4.17

Fourth, the meaning of the unobstructedness of circumstantial and primary [retributions]: Circumstantial [retribution] is the container world; primary [retribution] is the body and sense faculties. Speaking from ordinary sentiment, one arbitrarily imagines that there are circumstantial and primary, but this meaning is not real. Why is this? If one says that empty space is circumstantial, when a person opens his mouth, empty space enters, and up to within the pores, joints, heart, and belly, there is empty space in all of them. Is this circumstantial, or is it primary? If one says that earth, water, fire, and wind are circumstantial, when a person's saliva enters a vessel, it becomes water; when hair is burned, it becomes earth; when two hands rub together, fire is produced; and blowing out breath becomes wind. Is this circumstantial, or is it primary? Therefore the sūtra states: 'Immeasurable jeweled flowers: from each flower emerge thirty-six hundred thousand nayutas of rays of light; from each ray of light emerge thirty-six hundred thousand nayutas of buddhas, who universally expound all dharmas for the ten directions.' By the Buddha's power, jeweled flowers manifest; by the jeweled flowers, the buddhas manifest again. Therefore one should know that an entire land is the Buddha's body, and land after land is thus; there is not a single body that is not a buddha-land, and body after body is thus. This is not a manifestation of the Buddha's supernatural powers, but because the wisdom of the one true Dharmadhātu alone constitutes circumstantial and primary [retributions].

4.18

Fifth, the principle of all-pervading immobility: Sentient beings falsely imagine that the Buddha's body has coming and going, yet in truth the Buddha's body has no coming and no going, nor is it without coming and going. For example, when a bird flies in the air, traversing a thousand leagues in a day, the sky does not follow the bird, nor is the bird separate from the sky. Therefore the sūtra says: 'Amitābha Buddha is constantly in the Western Land.' It also says: '[He] arrives at the dwelling of all practitioners.' As the Buddha says in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra: 'Good sons, in the city of Vārāṇasī there was an upāsikā who had already planted roots of good under the past Buddha Amitābha (Immeasurable Light). This upāsikā invited the saṅgha for the ninety days of the summer retreat, offering medicines. At that time, a monk in the assembly contracted a grave illness. A skilled physician examined him and said that meat medicine was required; if he did not obtain meat, his life could not be preserved. The upāsikā immediately took a knife herself, cut meat from her thigh, sliced it into a stew, and sent it to the sick monk. After taking it, the monk's illness was cured. Suffering intense anguish from the wound, which was unbearable, the upāsikā cried out: "Namo buddhāya! Namo buddhāya!" At that time, I was in Śrāvastī and heard her voice. I gave rise to great compassion toward this woman, and the woman immediately saw me holding fine medicine, applying it to her wound, which then closed and healed as before. I then preached various teachings to her. Hearing the Dharma, she rejoiced and generated the mind of anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi. Good sons, at that time I did not actually go to the city of Vārāṇasī to apply medicine to that upāsikā's wound. You should know that this was entirely the power of the roots of good of loving-kindness that caused that woman to see such an event. Furthermore, good sons! Devadatta, an evil man, greedy and insatiable, drank too much ghee, which caused a headache and abdominal distension, bringing great suffering. He cried out: "Namo buddhāya! Namo buddhāya!" I was dwelling in the city of Ujjayinī at that time, and upon hearing his voice I gave rise to compassion. At that moment Devadatta immediately saw me go to his place, stroke his head and abdomen with my hand, give him salt soup to drink, and upon drinking it he recovered. Good sons, I did not actually go to Devadatta's place, stroke his head and abdomen, and hand him soup to drink. You should know that this was entirely the power of the roots of good of loving-kindness that caused Devadatta to see such an event. Furthermore, good sons! In the country of Kosala there were five hundred bandits who banded together to plunder. King Prasenajit sent troops to capture them. Having caught them, they gouged out their eyes and cast them into a pitch-black forest, where they suffered great anguish. Each cried out: "Namo buddhāya! Namo buddhāya!" weeping and wailing. I was dwelling in the Jeta Grove at that time, and upon hearing their voices I gave rise to compassion. Then a cool breeze blew various fragrant medicines from the Gandhamādana Mountain, filling their eye sockets, and immediately their eyes were restored, no different from before. The bandits opened their eyes and saw the Tathāgata standing before them preaching the Dharma. Having heard the Dharma, the bandits generated the mind of anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi. Good sons, at that time I did not actually make a wind blow various fragrant medicines from the Gandhamādana Mountain, nor did I stand before those people to preach the Dharma. You should know that this was entirely the power of the roots of good of loving-kindness that caused those bandits to see such an event.' How could phenomena such as these be subject to conceptual thought? In sum, they are all the one true dharmadhātu. One cannot say that one's own mind evoked the vision, nor can one say that mind and Buddha combined, because the Buddha stage is free from self, free from other, and free from combination. Therefore, those who enter this gate must not reckon and calculate with the conceptual views of ordinary people. As Qingliang stated: 'Amitābha Buddha is our fundamental teacher Rocana'—this still belongs to the realm of conceptual measurement. Why? Because in the worlds of the ten directions, there is only the single realm of wisdom and no separate Buddha.

4.19

(Question: 'The quotation from the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra in the treatise speaks of "the power of the roots of good of loving-kindness." Could it be that the Tathāgata's dharma-nature is without self and other, distance or proximity, and that the suffering endured by sentient beings are all aspects of the objective sphere within the Tathāgata's nature?')

4.20

(Answer: 'This merely explains the direct-cause buddhadhātu. Yet when speaking of the direct cause, does only the Tathāgata possess it? The nature of sentient beings is also like this. However, sentient beings are obstructed by karma; when others suffer, even if one goes to them in person, one is still unable to save them, how much less could they be spared without going? The teachings state that bodhisattvas above the eighth bhūmi bring benefit the moment their names are called, because their discriminative karma is exhausted—it is naturally so by the principle of Dharma. Thus Master Dushun hung a single shoe on his gate, and for ten years no one stole it; he himself said: "For many lives I have not committed the karma of theft, hence I obtain such a retribution." In the Song dynasty there was a certain Zou Tuotuo; whenever someone saw his face, calamity immediately befell them. In recent times there was a certain consort who was exceedingly poor; whatever her hands touched was instantly ruined and discarded, so that she could not sustain herself. Is this not caused by the karmic power of many lives? The power of the Buddha's roots of good appropriately receives such a retribution; it is not at all surprising.')

4.21

Comprehensive Treatise on the Western Land, Fascicle Four (End)

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西方合論 — Classical Chinese