略諸經論念佛法門往生淨土集卷上 1.3

1.3

今為憐愍一切眾生。無明覆心迷於淨土。戀著三界不求往生。六道輪迴漂流生死。為斯顛倒無信凡夫。集諸經論淨土法門。勒成三卷。令彼見聞迴心修學。上盡一形下沾十念。必定往生高昇淨剎。化身清淨永斷胞胎。見佛聞經剎那成聖。神通自在隨意卷舒。供佛他方往來一念。地居不退入聖行流。三昧現前菩提速證。令有智者見倍傾心。遣愚昧者知而息諍。凡夫垢重貪愛昏迷。不了此身四大虛假。膿血不淨和合共成。瑩飾塗摩便生保重。三毒驅策造罪恣情。不慮泥犁猛苦長劫。耽荒五欲醉飲六塵。但事奢華詎知迴向。臨終苦逼方始歸依。縱欲虔誠注心何地。荒忙失志無法可憑。甘入三塗無希救護。可傷可念。頑駭凡夫平生放逸不親善友。臨終始悔無趣無歸。今為此等無信道俗。成立淨土教。令念佛信而迴向。夫立宗者。先破後立。何以故。若不摧邪難以顯正。所以初卷先敘異見。以教及理逐遣知非。次第二卷廣引聖教。成立淨土念佛正宗。次第三卷會釋諸教古今疑滯。校量諸行出離遲疾。然於佛法生異見者。或有出家在家男女四眾。懼生死苦厭惡俗塵。或住山間或依聚落。或居寺舍或復在家。展轉相傳教人看淨。晝則恣情睡眠。夜乃暫時繫念。見世空寂都無一物。將為究竟言。一切諸法。猶如龜毛。亦如兔角。本無有體。誰當生滅。無善可修無惡可斷。心所取相及以經佛。盡當遠離。但令內心安住空中。知世虛妄萬法都無。雖是凡夫能如是解。此即是佛。已證禪定。已斷生死。不受後有。何勞勤苦。遠覓世尊。亦不假念佛誦經為出離因。即此禪定。是無為法。是可修法。是可修法。是速疾法。是出離因。除此之外諸餘行門。悉皆虛妄。即如念佛誦經求生淨土。布施持戒忍辱精進乃至智慧。寫經造像建立塔廟。恭敬禮拜孝養父母。奉事師長等。是生死因非解脫因。何以故。見善可修見惡可斷。涅槃可欣生死可厭。誓斷生死誓證菩提。悉皆動念心有所得。著相修習虛妄分別。是有為法。是生死法。雖復勤修。不免流浪者。余頗尋三藏。推求事理。觀彼向來。禪師所見錯謬彌甚。違經反理乖背佛意。豈有凡夫但住空門。不斷不修懈怠懶墮。而得解脫者哉。問曰。向言觀空違聖教者。未審與何經教而有相違。答曰。即如無上依經上卷云。復有增上慢人。在正法中。觀空生於有無二見。是真空者。直向無上菩提。一道淨解脫門。如是顯了開示正說。於中生空見。我說不可治。阿難。若有人執我見。如須彌山大。我不驚怪亦不毀訾。增上慢人執著空見。如一毛髮作十六分。我不許可。又涅槃經第七云。苦滅聖諦者。若有多修習學空法。是為不善。何以故。滅一切法故。壞於如來真法藏故。作是修學。是名修空。非苦滅諦。修苦滅者。逆於一切諸外道等。若言修空是滅諦者。一切外道亦修空法。應有滅諦。若有說言。有如來藏雖不可見。若能滅除一切煩惱。爾乃得入。若發此心。一念因緣。於諸法中。而得自在。若有修習如來密藏。無我空寂。如是之人。於無量世。在生死中。流轉受苦。又維摩經第一云。譬如有人。欲於空地造立宮室。隨意無礙。若於得見佛。難得禪定。難得解脫難得出離。緣此艱難。無上慈父。殷勤示誨。殷勤教誡。此是穢土。此是牢獄。此是火宅。無樂有苦。佛世難遇苦。正法難聞苦。禪定難得苦。聖果難證苦。邪見眷屬苦。老病死逼苦。三塗罪報苦。怨家強會苦。王官逼迫苦。名利駈馳苦。求不隨意苦。衣食貧乏苦。更相繫縛苦。常憂不活苦。恒懼惡名苦。貪生畏死苦。六道輪迴苦。有如是等無量苦。聚逼切身。心宜應厭離。專求西方阿彌陀佛國。然彼佛國。無苦有樂。無三惡趣樂超過八難樂。永斷輪迴樂。老病死無樂。常見諸佛樂。聽聞正法樂。隨聞悟解樂。超凡證聖樂。入諸禪定樂。神通自在樂。遊歷十方樂。聖眾共往樂。供養諸佛樂。所須應念樂。一生不退樂。菩薩眷屬樂。隨形化生樂。永斷生死樂。證大菩提樂。有如是等無量快樂。應當欣樂。發願往生。愚癡眾生。不知恩德。反生誹謗。毀訾不信。愛著三界。六道輪迴。不樂往生。安樂。

Now, out of pity for all sentient beings whose minds are veiled by ignorance, who are confused about the Pure Land, who are passionately attached to the traidhātuka and do not seek rebirth, and who wander through saṃsāra transmigrating in the six destinies, for these inverted, faithless pṛthagjanas, I have compiled the Pure Land teachings from various sūtras and treatises into three fascicles. I wish to cause those who see or hear it to turn their minds to study and practice, extending up to an entire lifetime or down to as few as ten recitations, so that they will certainly be reborn, soaring high into the pure realm. Their transformed bodies will be pure, forever cutting off the womb; seeing the Buddha and hearing the sūtras, in an instant they will become sages. Their supernatural powers will be unimpeded, expanding and contracting at will; they will make offerings to Buddhas in other directions, coming and going in a single thought-moment. Abiding on stages without regression, they will enter the stream of sage-like conduct; samādhi manifesting before them, they will swiftly realize bodhi. May this cause the wise who see it to double their devotion, and lead the foolish and ignorant who come to know it to cease their disputes.

Pṛthagjanas are heavily defiled, stupified by greed and craving; they do not realize that this body is a false assemblage of the four great elements, composed of pus, blood, and impurities joined together. When adorning, smearing, and rubbing it, they cherish it; driven by the three poisons, they commit sins and indulge their passions, giving no thought to the fierce suffering of Avīci Hell across long kalpas. Indulging in the five desires, drunkenly imbibing the six dusts, they only attend to extravagance, how could they know of pariṇāmanā? Only when pressed by suffering at the verge of death do they begin to take refuge. Even if they wish to be sincere, where could they focus their minds? Frantic and bewildered, losing their resolve, they have no Dharma to rely upon, willingly entering the three wretched paths with no hope of deliverance. How pitiable and sorrowful! Stubborn and reckless pṛthagjanas, negligent throughout life, do not draw near to good spiritual friends; only at life's end do they regret, with no destination and nowhere to take refuge.

Now, for these faithless monastics and laypeople, I establish the Pure Land teaching, causing them to practice buddhānusmṛti, have faith, and make pariṇāmanā. Now, whoever establishes a doctrine must first refute and then establish. Why? If one does not refute the heterodox, it is difficult to reveal the orthodox. Therefore, the first fascicle first narrates divergent views, expelling them with doctrine and reason so they know what is wrong. Next, the second fascicle extensively cites the sacred teachings, establishing the orthodox doctrine of the Pure Land and buddhānusmṛti. Next, the third fascicle harmonizes and explains the ancient and modern doubts and blockages concerning various teachings, comparing the slowness and speed of various practices in achieving renunciation.

Yet among those who give rise to divergent views regarding the Buddhadharma, there are fourfold assemblies of men and women, both monastic and lay. Fearing the suffering of saṃsāra and loathing mundane dust, some live in the mountains, some rely on villages, some reside in monasteries, or remain at home. They pass on their teachings from one to another, instructing people to "observe purity." By day they indulge in sleep; by night they temporarily focus their thoughts. Seeing the world as empty and tranquil, with not a single thing existing, they take this as the ultimate and say: "All dharmas are like the hairs of a tortoise or the horns of a hare; originally having no substance, what could arise or perish? There is no good to cultivate, no evil to sever. The marks grasped by the mind, as well as sūtras and Buddhas, should all be distanced. One need only let the inner mind abide in emptiness, knowing the world to be false and the ten thousand dharmas to be entirely non-existent. Though one is a pṛthagjana, if one can understand like this, this itself is the Buddha. One has already realized dhyāna, already severed saṃsāra, and will not undergo future existence. Why labor bitterly to seek the World-Honoured One from afar? Nor does one rely on buddhānusmṛti or chanting sūtras as the cause for renunciation. This very dhyāna is an asaṃskṛtadharma, a cultivable dharma, a swift dharma, and the cause for renunciation. Apart from this, all other gateways of practice are entirely false. Namely, buddhānusmṛti, chanting sūtras, seeking rebirth in the Pure Land, giving, observing precepts, patience, vigor, up to wisdom, copying sūtras, making images, erecting stupas and temples, paying reverent homage, being filial to parents, serving teachers and elders, and the like—these are causes of saṃsāra, not causes of vimokṣa. Why? Because seeing good as cultivable and evil as severable, nirvāṇa as desirable and saṃsāra as loathsome, and vowing to sever saṃsāra and realize bodhi—all these are mental movements where the mind has attainment; practicing with attachment to marks is false discrimination. These are saṃskṛtadharmas, dharmas of saṃsāra. Even if one practices diligently, one cannot avoid drifting in saṃsāra."

I have extensively searched the Tripiṭaka, investigating facts and principles, and observing the views of those Chan masters of late, their errors are exceedingly great! They contradict the sūtras, oppose principle, and run counter to the Buddha's intent. How could there be a pṛthagjana who merely abides in the gateway of emptiness, neither severing nor cultivating, indolent and lazy, and yet attains vimokṣa?

Question: You said earlier that contemplating emptiness contradicts the sacred teachings; I wonder with which sūtras and teachings it is in conflict?

Answer: It is just as the first fascicle of the Wushangyi jing says: "Furthermore, there are people of abhimāna who, within the True Dharma, contemplate emptiness and produce the two views of existence and non-existence. This true emptiness is the direct approach toward unsurpassed bodhi, the single pure gateway of vimokṣa. Although it is clearly expounded and correctly explained like this, if one generates a view of emptiness within it, I say that [such a person] is incurable. Ānanda, if someone clings to the view of self as large as Mount Sumeru, I am not alarmed or shocked, nor do I revile him; but if a person of abhimāna clings to the view of emptiness even as minute as one sixteenth of a hair, I do not permit it."

Also, the seventh fascicle of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: "Regarding the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: if one extensively practices and studies the dharma of emptiness, this is unwholesome. Why? Because it extinguishes all dharmas and destroys the True Dharmadhātu of the Tathāgata. Practicing and studying like this is called cultivating emptiness, not the truth of the cessation of suffering. One who cultivates the cessation of suffering opposes all externalists. If one says that cultivating emptiness is the truth of cessation, then all externalists also cultivate the dharma of emptiness, so they ought to have the truth of cessation. If someone says: 'The tathāgatagarbha exists, though it cannot be seen; if one can eliminate all afflictions, then one can enter it'—if one gives rise to this mind, through the condition of a single thought-moment, one attains sovereignty among all dharmas. If there is someone who cultivates the Tathāgata's secret treasury as non-self and empty tranquility, such a person will transmigrate and suffer in saṃsāra for immeasurable lifetimes."

Also, the first fascicle of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa says: "For example, suppose a person wishes to build a palace on an open plot of ground; he may do so as he pleases without hindrance... [It is difficult] to see the Buddha, difficult to attain dhyāna, difficult to attain vimokṣa, difficult to attain renunciation. Because of these difficulties, the Unsurpassed Compassionate Father diligently instructs and admonishes: 'This is an impure land, this is a prison, this is a burning house; it has no joy, only suffering.'

There is the suffering of the difficulty of encountering the Buddha's age; the suffering of the difficulty of hearing the True Dharma; the suffering of the difficulty of attaining dhyāna; the suffering of the difficulty of realizing sagehood; the suffering of having companions with wrong views; the suffering of being oppressed by old age, sickness, and death; the suffering of the karmic retribution of the three wretched paths; the suffering of being forcibly met with enemies; the suffering of being coerced by kings and officials; the suffering of chasing after fame and profit; the suffering of not obtaining what one seeks; the suffering of poverty in food and clothing; the suffering of mutually binding one another; the suffering of constantly worrying about livelihood; the suffering of perpetually fearing a bad reputation; the suffering of clinging to life and fearing death; the suffering of transmigrating in the six destinies. Having such an immeasurable mass of sufferings pressing upon body and mind, one ought to be weary and renounce it, single-mindedly seeking the Western realm of Amitābha Buddha.

Furthermore, that Buddha's realm has no suffering, only joy: the joy of being without the three evil destinies; the joy of surpassing the eight difficulties; the joy of forever cutting off transmigration; the joy of being free from old age, sickness, and death; the joy of constantly seeing the Buddhas; the joy of listening to the True Dharma; the joy of awakening and understanding upon hearing; the joy of transcending the ordinary and realizing sagehood; the joy of entering various dhyānas; the joy of sovereignty in supernatural powers; the joy of traveling through the ten directions; the joy of associating with the assembly of sages; the joy of making offerings to the Buddhas; the joy of having what is needed appear upon thought; the joy of non-retrogression in a single lifetime; the joy of having bodhisattvas as companions; the joy of being born apparitionally according to form; the joy of forever severing saṃsāra; the joy of realizing great bodhi. Having such immeasurable delights, one ought to rejoice and make the vow to be reborn there. Foolish sentient beings, unaware of His kindness and virtue, instead give rise to slander, reviling without faith, and lovingly clinging to the traidhātuka and transmigrating in the six destinies, they do not delight in rebirth in Sukhāvatī.