往生集 3.75

3.75

People know the Dharma gate of buddhamanasikāra as a destination at death, but they do not know its benefits during life. Therefore, when they hear that holding dhāraṇī brings spiritual powers, they immediately change to holding dhāraṇī; when they hear that lecturing on texts brings acute eloquence, they immediately change to lecturing on texts; when they hear that managing construction brings karmic blessings, or that holding vegetarian feasts brings interpersonal connections, or even when they hear that regimen and nourishment bring long life, they make all kinds of shifts and never maintain a single practice. How could they have their minds single-mindedly undisturbed and hope for the accomplishment of pure karma? I have thus compiled these [accounts], provisionally to cut off the outward yearnings of people of the times. Speaking according to the truth: seeking rebirth in the Pure Land is fundamentally to attain buddhahood and deliver sentient beings; since one does not even seek pleasure after death, how could one calculate benefit or harm during life?