淨土五會念佛略法事儀讚 1.2

1.2

夫如來設教，廣略隨根，終歸乎實相。得真無生者，孰能與於此哉？然念佛三昧是真無上深妙禪門矣。以彌陀法王四十八願名號為佛事，願力度眾生，所以五會聲流於常宮，淨教普霑於沙界。故《華嚴經》云：三賢乃至一切諸佛無上菩提，皆不離念佛念法念僧而生。故《法華》、《維摩》等經，有以音聲語言而作佛事。又聲名句文為諸教體，豈同今之學者紫金之容都撥為有相、髻珠之教懸指為文字，語無色則捨於真色、論無聲乃厭於梵聲，生號無為、行稱失道，即顛墜邪山，良可悲矣。今則不然，且《金剛般若》云：六度萬行一切善法無非佛因。此是釋迦三世諸佛誠諦真言，足以為信敬可依行。今依《大無量壽經》五會念佛，若廣作法事，具在《五會法事儀》三卷；啟讚彌陀，《觀經》廣說由序，問答釋疑並在彼文，亦須具寫尋讀流傳後世。若略作法事，即依此文。凡作法事人，若道若俗，多即六七人，少即三五人，揀取好聲解者，總須威儀齊整端坐合掌專心觀佛，齊聲齊和，切不得笑、左右顧視。起真實悲濟之心，勿為名利。眾詮一人為座主，稽請莊嚴經讚法事，須知次第。一人副座，知香火打磬同聲唱讚，專知撿挍。先須焚香聲磬召請聖眾，當座人念佛一聲，白眾云：「敬白道場眾等，總須發至誠心端坐合掌，觀想阿彌陀佛一切賢聖如對目前。若能如是用心，即賢聖降臨、龍天護念，聽聞經讚法事，令眾等即於言下滅無量罪、獲無量福，心開意解，速證甚深念佛三昧，得無生忍獲大總持，具六波羅蜜，神通自在。」言訖即打磬一下，作梵了念阿彌陀佛、觀音、勢至、地藏菩薩各三五十聲，然後至心稽請。次莊嚴了，依前念佛。即須觀其道場徒眾多少，或晝或夜或廣或略。有道場請主為何善事，切須知時，別為莊嚴、廣與念誦。坐道場時，或有兩坐三坐乃至多坐，其《彌陀觀經》一坐一啟，散華樂及諸讚文總須暗誦，周而復始。經讚必須精熟，不得臨時把本，唯五會妙音一坐獨作不得聲。若准一坐，啟經法事即廣略看時，其諸依次誦之，散華樂為首。其散華樂一坐一，諸寶鳥、相好、維摩、五會、大小般若、般舟、涅槃等讚，一坐兩句為聲打磬。淨土樂、六根讚、西方樂、出家樂、禮讚等，並四句為准。道場樂一句而已。從彌陀觀維經已後諸讚，皆須第三會念佛和之。誦諸讚了欲散，即誦道場樂，音即高聲。須第三會念阿彌陀佛三百餘聲，最後唱西方禮讚、天台智者迴向發願文取散。智者必須深厭生死，正念思惟念佛三昧，普為法界六道怨親願同生極樂、速成無上菩提，專心學取五會真聲，傳於未來廣度群品。若不師學濫授與人，轉誤後學失其宗旨，即却招其咎、無利福田。普勸現在及以未來道俗，廣作五會真聲，念佛三昧理事雙修、相無相念，即與中道實相正觀相應。

Now, the Tathāgata established his teachings in broad and abridged manners according to capacities, yet they ultimately return to true reality. As for those who attain the true unarisen, who can surpass this? Indeed, the buddha-mindfulness samādhi is the truly supreme, profound, and wondrous gateway of dhyāna. By taking the name and the forty-eight vows of the Dharma King Amitābha as the buddha-work, the power of his vows delivers sentient beings; hence the sounds of the five tones flow through the palace of the notes, and the pure teaching universally moistens realms as numerous as the sands. Thus the Avataṃsaka Sūtra states: 'From the three stages of worthy ones up to the supreme bodhi of all buddhas, none arise without relying on mindfulness of the Buddha, mindfulness of the Dharma, and mindfulness of the Saṅgha.' Hence, sūtras such as the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka and the Vimalakīrti speak of performing buddha-work through sounds and speech. Furthermore, sound, names, phrases, and sentences serve as the substance of all teachings. How could this be like contemporary scholars who dismiss the purple-golden visage entirely as mere conditioned form, point from afar to the teaching of the crest jewel as mere letters, cast aside true form when speaking of formlessness, and harbor aversion toward brahmic sounds when discoursing on soundlessness? Proclaiming the unconditioned in their lives while going astray from the path in their practices, they stumble and tumble into the mountain of perversion—truly lamentable! Now it is not so: the Diamond Prajñāpāramitā states, 'The six pāramitās, the myriad practices, and all wholesome dharmas are nothing other than causes of buddhahood.' These are the truthful, sincere words of Śākyamuni and all buddhas of the three periods of time, sufficient to be relied upon and practiced with faith and reverence. Now, relying on the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, we perform the five-tone buddha-mindfulness. If one performs the liturgy broadly, it is fully contained in the three fascicles of the Liturgical Manual for the Five Tones; opening and praising Amitābha, the detailed explanation of the preface to the Guan jing, and the questions and answers resolving doubts are all in that text, which also must be transcribed in full, studied, read, and transmitted to future generations. If one performs the liturgy in an abridged manner, one relies on this present text. Generally, those who perform the liturgy, whether monastic or lay, should be six or seven persons at most, or three to five persons at least. Select those who have good voices and understanding. All must maintain orderly deportment, sit upright with palms joined, concentrate their minds in contemplation of the Buddha, and chant and harmonize in unison; they must never laugh or glance left and right. Give rise to a mind of genuine compassion and deliverance, and do not act for fame or gain. The assembly selects one person as the seat leader to invoke, invite, adorn, and lead the sūtras, praises, and liturgy, and they must know the proper sequence. One person serves as the assistant leader to oversee the incense and fire, strike the chiming bowl, chant the praises in unison, and specifically inspect and supervise. First, one must burn incense and sound the chiming bowl to invite the assembly of holy ones. The person at the seat recites the Buddha's name once and addresses the assembly, saying: 'Respectfully I address the assembly of the bodhimaṇḍa: all must give rise to a mind of utmost sincerity, sit upright with palms joined, and visualize Amitābha Buddha and all the worthy and holy ones as if directly before your eyes. If you can apply your mind in this manner, then the worthy and holy ones will descend, the dragons and devas will protect and remember you, and by hearing the sūtras, praises, and liturgy, all in the assembly will extinguish immeasurable sins and obtain immeasurable blessings at these very words, have their minds opened and understanding awakened, swiftly realize the profound buddha-mindfulness samādhi, attain the receptive forbearance of the unarisen, obtain the great dhāraṇī, become endowed with the six pāramitās, and gain sovereign spiritual superknowledges.' Having spoken these words, strike the chiming bowl once. After chanting the brahmic chant, recite the names of Amitābha Buddha, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, and Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva thirty to fifty times each, and then with utmost sincerity bow and invoke them. Next, having performed the adornment, recite the Buddha's name as before. One must observe the size of the congregation in the bodhimaṇḍa, whether it is day or night, and whether it is broad or abridged. If a patron of the bodhimaṇḍa has requested it for a particular wholesome deed, one must know the proper timing, specially perform adornment, and broadly recite for them. When sitting in the bodhimaṇḍa, there may be two sittings, three sittings, or even many sittings. The Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra is opened once per sitting. The Flower-Scattering Melody and the various hymn texts must all be recited from memory, repeating in cycles. Sūtras and hymns must be thoroughly mastered; one must not hold the text at the time of practice. Only the wondrous sounds of the five tones must not be chanted alone in a single sitting without voices. If regulated by a single sitting, when opening the sūtra liturgy, see whether it should be broad or abridged according to the time, and recite the various texts in sequence, with the Flower-Scattering Melody at the beginning. The Flower-Scattering Melody is used once per sitting. For the hymns on the various precious birds, the marks and signs, the Vimalakīrti, the five tones, the Great and Small Prajñāpāramitā, the Pratyutpanna, and the Nirvāṇa, strike the chiming bowl to sound two lines per sitting. The Pure Land Melody, the Praise of the Six Faculties, the Western Melody, the Leaving the Household Melody, the Hymns of Praise, etc., are all regulated by four lines. The Bodhimaṇḍa Melody consists of only one line. From the Amitābha Guan jing and Vimalakīrti sūtras onward, all hymns must be harmonized with the third-tone buddha-mindfulness. Having recited the various hymns and wishing to disperse, recite the Bodhimaṇḍa Melody in a loud voice. One must recite Amitābha Buddha more than three hundred times in the third tone. Finally, chant the Western Hymn of Praise and Tiantai Zhizhe's text of dedication and vow, and then disperse. The wise must deeply loathe saṃsāra, contemplate in correct mindfulness the buddha-mindfulness samādhi, make vows on behalf of all beings in the six destinies of the Dharma realm—whether hostile or friendly—to be reborn together in Sukhāvatī and swiftly accomplish supreme bodhi, concentrate their minds to learn the true sounds of the five tones, and transmit them to the future to broadly deliver all beings. If one does not study under a master but recklessly transmits it to others, misleading later students and losing its essential宗旨, one will conversely incur blame and fail to benefit the field of merit. I universally urge monastics and laypeople of the present and future to widely practice the true sounds of the five tones, cultivate both the principle and phenomena of the buddha-mindfulness samādhi, and practice both mindfulness with marks and mindfulness without marks, so that it accords with the correct contemplation of the true reality of the Middle Way.