往生集 2.273

2.273

或謂。人靈而物蠢。云何禽畜而得往生。是不知。凡厥有情。皆具佛之靈覺。迷有厚薄。而分人畜。非靈蠢之不侔也。雉聽法華。而再世為僧。牛覩金容而死生天上。歷歷載諸傳記矣。況地獄鬼畜。皆生我剎。固法藏比丘之本願乎。所恨人見禽畜之往生。而恬無警悟。甘心五濁。束手輪迴。一息不來。易形於鱗羽。而不自知也。獨何為哉。

Some may say: 'Humans are sentient and spiritually keen, while animals are dull; how can birds and beasts attain rebirth?' This fails to understand that all sentient beings possess the Buddha's spiritual awakening. Delusion differs in depth, dividing human and beast, but it is not that their spiritual capacity and dullness are inherently unequal. A pheasant heard the Lotus Sūtra and was reborn as a monk in its next life; an ox beheld the golden countenance and, upon dying, was born into heaven—these are clearly recorded in the chronicles. Furthermore, 'May those in the hells, hungry ghosts, and animals all be born in my land' was the fundamental vow of the monk Dharmākara. What is regrettable is that when people see birds and beasts attaining rebirth, they remain indifferent and without warning, content with the five turbidities, resigning themselves to saṃsāra; and once their breath does not return, their forms change into scaly or feathered creatures without them realizing it. Why on earth should it be so?