往生集 1.145

1.145

In praise: In spitting, he invariably avoided the west; in sitting, he invariably faced the west. With mindfulness fastened like this, what enterprise could fail to be accomplished? Nowadays, people wish to obtain rebirth with a light and shallow mind; that is difficult indeed! Someone might ask: 'Is this not excessively clinging?' Ah! To contemplate the setting sun attentively is explicitly stated in the sūtra. As for Great Master Zhiyi, when he was first born, he sat cross-legged facing the west; and furthermore, could the various worthy ones of pure karma who passed away seated facing the west have done so without such single-minded focus? People indulge their minds in turbid realms and remain at ease for their entire lives; yet the moment they turn their thoughts to the pure land, they immediately worry about clinging. What perversity this is! Alas, how strange!