諸經要集 1.60

1.60

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: