往生集 2.5

2.5

Appraisal: In the final age, among those who hear the Dharma and accept it in faith, those without rank are many, while those with rank are few. Among those with rank, those who attain supreme nobility are doubly few. Why is this? The higher the status, the broader the desires; the broader the desires, the heavier the defilement. This is the constant tendency of circumstances, which few can avoid. Now, enjoying the pleasure of ruling facing south while not forgetting the return to the Western Direction—how could this be attained without having planted superior causes in past lives? Nevertheless, from antiquity to the present, why are rulers and kings who paid attention to the Buddhist scriptures not all recorded? The reply is: this collection is exclusively about the Pure Land, with a specific focus; therefore, it does not record indiscriminately.