萬善同歸集 1.42

1.42

答：「夫聲為眾義之府，言皆解脫之門，一切趣聲，聲為法界。經云：『一一諸法中，皆含一切法。』故知一言音中，包羅無外，十界具足，三諦理圓。何得非此重彼，離相求真，不窮動淨之源，遂致語默之失。故經云：『一念初起，無有初相，是真護念。』未必息念消聲，方冥實相。是以莊嚴門內，萬行無虧；真如海中，一毫不捨。且如課念尊號，教有明文。唱一聲而罪滅塵沙；具十念而形棲淨土。拯危拔難，殄障消冤，非但一期暫拔苦津，託此因緣終投覺海。故經云：『若人散亂心，入於塔廟中，一稱南無佛，皆已成佛道。』又經云：『受持佛名者，皆為一切諸佛共所護念。』《寶積經》云：『高聲念佛，魔軍退散。』《文殊般若經》云：『眾生愚鈍，觀不能解，但令念聲相續，自得往生佛國。』《智論》云：『譬如有人初生墮地，即得日行千里，足一千年滿中七寶，以用施佛，不如有人於後惡世稱一佛聲，其福過彼。』《大品經》云：『若人散心念佛，乃至畢苦，其福不盡。』《增一阿含經》云：『四事供養，一閻浮提一切眾生，功德無量；若有眾生，善心相續，稱佛名號，如一𤛓牛乳頃，所得功德過上，不可思議，無能量者。』《華嚴經》云：『住自在心念佛門，知隨自心所有欲樂，一切諸佛現其像。』故飛錫和尚高聲念佛，《三昧寶王論》云：『浴大海者，已用於百川；念佛名者，必成於三昧。亦猶清珠下於濁水，濁水不得不清；念佛投於亂心，亂心不得不佛。既契之後，心佛雙亡。雙亡定也，雙照慧也。定慧既均，亦何心而不佛，何佛而不心？心佛既然，則萬境、萬緣，無非三昧也。』誰復患之，於起心動念，高聲稱佛哉？故《業報差別經》云：『高聲念佛誦經，有十種功德：一、能排睡眠。二、天魔驚怖。三、聲遍十方。四、三塗息苦。五、外聲不入。六、令心不散。七、勇猛精進。八、諸佛歡喜。九、三昧現前。十、生於淨土。』

Answer: 'Sound is the treasury of all meanings, and speech is the gate to all liberation; all things tend toward sound, and sound is the dharmadhātu. A sūtra says: "Within each and every dharma, all dharmas are contained." Thus we know that within a single spoken sound, nothing is left outside: the ten realms are fully present, and the principle of the three truths is complete. Why disparage this and esteem that, departing from marks to seek truth, failing to fathom the source of movement and stillness, and thereby falling into error regarding speech and silence? Thus a sūtra says: "When a single thought first arises, it has no initial mark; this is true protection and mindfulness." It is not necessarily the case that thoughts must cease and sound disappear before one can silently conform with dharmatā. Therefore, within the gate of adornment, not one of the myriad practices is lacking; in the ocean of tathatā, not a single hair is abandoned. Moreover, as for reciting the revered name as a practice, the teachings contain clear evidence. Chanting it once destroys sins vast as dust and sand; completing ten recitations establishes one's bodily dwelling in the Pure Land. It rescues from peril, delivers from disaster, eradicates obstacles, and dispels enmity; not only temporarily delivering one across the ford of suffering for a single period, but relying on this cause and condition to ultimately enter the ocean of awakening. Therefore, a sūtra says: "If someone with a distracted mind enters a stūpa or temple and recites 'Namo Buddha' once, they have already attained the Buddha path." Another sūtra says: "Those who uphold the Buddha's name are all equally protected and remembered by all buddhas." The Ratnakūṭa Sūtra says: "Reciting the Buddha's name in a loud voice causes the demon armies to scatter and retreat." The Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says: "Sentient beings are dull and foolish and cannot understand contemplation; if they only sustain continuous sound in recitation, they will naturally attain rebirth in the Buddha land." The Da zhidu lun says: "Suppose a person from birth could walk a thousand li a day, and for a full thousand years gave treasures filling the earth to the Buddha; this would not equal the merit of someone in a later evil age who utters the Buddha's name once, for their merit surpasses that." The Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says: "If a person recites the Buddha's name with a distracted mind until their suffering ends, their merit is inexhaustible." The Ekottarika Āgama says: "Providing the four requisites to all sentient beings in the entire Jambudvīpa yields immeasurable merit; if a sentient being continuously maintains a wholesome mind and recites the Buddha's name for as long as it takes to milk a cow once, the merit attained surpasses the above, inconceivable and immeasurable." The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: "Abiding in the sovereign-mind recollection-of-the-Buddha gate, one knows that according to all the inclinations and pleasures of one's own mind, all buddhas manifest their images." Therefore Reverend Feixi, regarding the recitation of the Buddha's name in a loud voice, states in the Treatise on the Precious King of Samādhi: "One who bathes in the great ocean has already made use of the hundred rivers; one who recites the Buddha's name will certainly accomplish samādhi. It is like a water-clearing pearl dropped into turbid water—the turbid water cannot help but become clear; when recitation of the Buddha is cast into a turbulent mind, the turbulent mind cannot help but become Buddha. Once accord is achieved, both mind and Buddha are forgotten. Both forgotten is absorption; both illuminated is wisdom. When absorption and wisdom are balanced, what mind is not Buddha, and what Buddha is not mind? Since mind and Buddha are thus, the myriad objects and myriad conditions are nothing other than samādhi." Who would again worry about giving rise to thoughts and stirring the mind to call upon the Buddha in a loud voice? Thus the Karmavipāka-bheda Sūtra says: "Reciting the Buddha's name and chanting sūtras in a loud voice has ten kinds of merit: first, it dispels sleepiness; second, heavenly demons are terrified; third, the sound permeates the ten directions; fourth, suffering ceases in the three wretched destinies; fifth, external sounds do not enter; sixth, it keeps the mind from scattering; seventh, vigorous progress; eighth, all buddhas rejoice; ninth, samādhi appears before one; tenth, rebirth in the Pure Land.'