六祖大師法寶壇經 1.55

1.55

and hold vegetarian feasts is to seek blessings, but one cannot convert blessings into merit. Merit exists within the dharmakāya, not within the cultivation of blessings.”

The master also said, “Seeing the nature is ‘effort,’ and universal sameness is ‘virtue.’ To be without stagnation in successive moments of thought, to always see the fundamental nature, [to possess] the wondrous functioning of the true and actual—this is called ‘merit.’ To be humble in the mind within is ‘effort’; to practice ritual without is ‘virtue.’ For the self-nature to establish the myriad dharmas is ‘effort’; for the mind-essence to transcend thoughts is ‘virtue.’ To not transcend the self-natures is ‘effort’; for one’s responsive functioning to be undefiled is ‘virtue.’ If you would seek merit and the dharmakāya, just rely on this, and [you will create] true merit. Those who cultivate merit must be without disparagement in their minds but always practice respect for all. Those whose minds always disparage others will not eradicate their own [false views of the] self and are themselves without ‘effort.’ [Those who consider the] self-natures to be empty and false are themselves without ‘virtue.’ It is only because they consider themselves to be great that they always disparage everyone else.

“Good friends, to be without any suspension of one’s continuous thoughts [of inner humility, etc.] is ‘effort’; for the mind to practice universal directness

is ‘virtue.’ To cultivate the nature oneself is ‘effort’; to cultivate the body oneself is ‘virtue.’

“Good friends, merit must be seen within the self-natures, it cannot be sought in donations and offerings. Therefore, blessings and merit are different. Emperor Wu did not understand the truth of this, it was not that our patriarch [Bodhidharma] was wrong.”

Prefect [Wei] asked further, “Your disciple always sees monks and laypeople [practicing] mindfulness of Buddha Amitābha and wishing for rebirth in the Western [Paradise]. Please explain this, are they reborn there or not? Please eliminate my doubts.”

The master said, “Your Lordship, listen well! I will explain this for you. When the World-honored One was in Śrāvastī, he taught about the Western [Paradise in order to] entice [the sentient beings of Śrāvastī to practice Buddhism]. The text of the scripture is very clear [in saying that the Western Paradise] ‘is not far from here.’ If you wish to discuss it, then the ten ten-thousands and eight thousands of li [from here to the Pure Land] are the ten evils and eight heterodoxies within the body.

“This is the explanation of [the Pure Land] as distant. The explanation of it as distant is done on behalf of those with inferior capacities, while the explanation of it as close is for those of superior capacities. Although there are two types of people, there are not two different Dharmas. Although deluded and enlightened [people] are different, [it is only that] there is slow and fast in seeing. The deluded person recites the Buddha’s [name] and seeks for rebirth in that other [location], while the enlightened person purifies his mind. Therefore the Buddha said, ‘As the mind is purified, so is the buddha land purified.’

“Your Lordship, you are a person of the East: if only your mind is pure, you will be without transgression. But persons of the West are impure of mind and are in error. When a person of the East commits a transgression, he may recite the Buddha’s [name] and seek rebirth in the Western [Paradise]. But when a person of the West commits a transgression, in what country should he seek rebirth when reciting the Buddha’s [name]? Stupid ordinary people do not comprehend their self-natures, and they do not recognize that the Pure Land is within their own bodies. Whether you wish for East or West, the enlightened person is the same in either location. Therefore the Buddha said,

Number Three: Questions

‘always in joyful repose wherever one is.’ Your Lordship, just have your mind-ground be without that which is not good, and the Western [Paradise] will not be far off. If you harbor that which is not good in your mind, it will be impossible to attain rebirth [in the Western Paradise] by reciting the Buddha’s [name].

“I exhort you now, good friends, to first eliminate the ten evils is to go the ten ten-thousand [li]. To later eliminate the eight heterodoxies is to pass beyond the eight thousand [li]. Seeing the nature in successive moments of thought and always practicing universal directness is to gain a vision of