往生西方淨土瑞應傳 1.1

1.1

The Buddhas give rise to compassion with many skillful means; only the single path of rebirth [in the Pure Land] easily accords with beings' capacities and conditions. Examining the sincere devotion of antiquity, one finds that all obtained spiritual responses through auspicious events. Thus the śramaṇa Wenren and the son of Śākya Shaokang highlighted the authentic and recorded the wondrous from within the Rebirth Treatise and the Biographies of Eminent Monks, proving the conditions under which single-minded devotion evokes a response, and revealing the inconceivable function of the Buddha's power. Consequently, from ancient times to the present, [this practice] has not fallen into decline, and monastics and laity turn their hearts to it, carrying forward the profound tradition and reviving the flourishing tradition once more. This causes practitioners who have generated the aspiration to become firm and free of doubt, and provides a path to rely upon for those who have not yet aroused faith. Thus this preface is briefly set forth.