諸經要集 1.60

1.60

惟凡夫倒想。隨情妄執。六賊交侵。五道旋轉。業繩相係。苦報難出。所以大聖慈愍乘機引接。故舉淨土之妙國。觀如來之勝相。令翹注不懈。欣心敬慕。俯仰合觀。隨心廣略。庶令悟之。善惡則隨心向背成之。業種則見佛可期臨終。喜躍隨念受生。若不預修此福。無常忽至。周慞惶怖。心路蒼茫淨業既空。莫知投寄。眼光失落。依業受殃。是故造罪造福。雖復同營。一種為身。不如修善。修善見佛。造惡獲殃也。故華嚴經偈云。

Consider that ordinary persons harbor inverted notions, falsely grasping according to their passions. The six thieves invade one another; they revolve through the five destinies. Tied by the ropes of karma, it is difficult to escape painful retribution. Therefore, the Great Sage, with compassionate pity, responds to the opportune moment to guide and receive them. Thus, he points out the wondrous realms of the pure lands and presents the supreme bodily marks of the Tathāgata, causing them to gaze upward without indolence, to revere and admire with joyful hearts, and to contemplate in all their movements. Whether in extensive or condensed forms according to their capacity, he hopes to bring them to awakening. Good and bad are brought about according to the mind's orientation; through karmic seeds, beholding the Buddha can be anticipated at the end of life, leaping with joy and taking birth according to one's contemplation. If one does not cultivate this merit in advance, when impermanence suddenly arrives, one will be filled with panic and terror, the path of the mind vast and lost; with pure karma being absent, one knows not where to turn. The light of the eyes fails, and one receives calamity according to one's karma. Therefore, though doing evil and cultivating merit are both pursued by the same body, it is far better to cultivate good: cultivating good brings sight of the Buddha, while committing evil incurs disaster. Thus, a verse in the Avataṃsaka-sūtra says: