淨土五會念佛誦經觀行儀卷中．下 3.27

3.27

釋迦昔日同凡夫　歷劫苦行守真如
成佛往來八千返　蒼生元未出閻浮
閻浮眾生實苦哉　遞代相送坐哀哀
暫得人身還却去　須臾滿劫不迴來
沙門靈振自長呼　無常厭恨在閻浮
不見如來興出世　今逢末法落凡夫
自嗔自恨自推尋　萬劫千生罪障深
生生不見越三界　輪迴六道至于今
研心性相苦推窮　檢尋聖教自圓融
雖得丈夫披法服　不那生於末法中
末法去聖漸迢遙　行門若箇獨能超
今生但念彌陀佛　亦兌沈論火宅燒
念佛能為急要門　得出閻浮何可論
若人不信生疑惑　自看聖教勘經文
經文專遣念彌陀　急要之門更不過
但能深信無疑惑　今生便得出娑婆
彌陀經上自稱揚　七日專念往西方
六萬恒沙諸佛讚　功德咸言不可量
七日念佛常如斯　何況盡命至心持
諸餘功德無倫疋　速疾之門唯佛知
眾生欵欵審思量　地獄三途難可當
一失人身經萬劫　緣何不樂往西方
西方極樂鎮歡娛　直與天堂萬倍殊
普告眾生須速往　緣何苦死戀閻浮
閻浮五濁足貧窮　一切因緣有始終
苦海無涯無底莫　千軍萬眾沒其中
西方極樂樂無窮　水馬和音說大乘
菩薩天人無中夭　真言成佛是為終
閻浮田地足丘坑　山岳堆阜不均平
只為人心多不善　一切雜惡在中生
西方極樂掌中平　一無堆阜及丘坑
瑠璃作地黃金界　雜色蓮花遍滿生
閻浮大海眾江河　魚鼈黿鼉甚以多
一朝雨墮衡山谷　漂流雜惡苦相和
西方極樂七寶池　八功德水不思議
底有金沙岸香樹　蓮化涌出化生兒
閻浮託報女人胎　生熟二藏裹孾孩
亦至平安仍未語　無明人我逐身來
西方淨土有孾孩　一一託報出蓮臺
親見如來說妙法　自然解脫悟心開
閻浮草木眾聚林　高者無過五十尋
不得多年心朽爛　戀成灰土不堪任
西方極樂七寶林　五百萬里上餘侵
微風吹動千般樂　皆說如來解脫音
閻浮日日炙人傷　婉轉輪迴不定常
出沒之時有明夜　不免狂雲所翳光
西方極樂無邊光　亦無明夜鎮恒常
得我如來一毛孔　更蓋光明遍十方
閻浮父母及妻兒　香火思情能幾時
縱得團圓終不久　須臾即見有分離
西方極樂不如斯　彌陀如來是大師
菩薩人天為聖友　同受歡娛無別時
閻浮極苦苦無邊　男女恩愛命相連
且暮多求恐不活　無暇歸真慕善緣
西方極樂樂無邊　不愁男女及錢財
須衣羅綺千里至　念食百味在傍邊
閻浮男子女人身　同受四大雨般人
彼此結心成地獄　須臾萬劫永沈淪
西方極樂無女人　生者皆同菩薩身
總證三明八解脫　一生補處離囂塵
閻浮世界足錢財　一一皆從苦還來
得者榮身不作福　三途一閉遣誰開
西方極樂樂咍咍　不顧閻浮不淨財
舍宅園林離即有　衣裳百味遂心來
閻浮五濁是凡人　託報不得自由身
妻子從頭索衣食　差別不辨所由瞋
西方極樂沒凡人　亦無妻子及慈親
生者皆登菩薩位　總證金剛不壞身
閻浮世界學修禪　雜惡之處足攀緣
流浪狂心難把捉　由如大海簸舟船
西方極樂不如然　上品生者世尊前
得我如來一言教　百法明門自曉然
閻浮說法度眾生　唯聽文句不依行
讚嘆隨心舉合掌　違情觸著起無明
西方說法度眾生　水鳥絃歌空裏鳴
聞者皆言念三寶　更無餘外別修行
閻浮世界不堪停　西業因緣每月盈
縱饒作得些些善　不覺地獄向剎成
西方淨土實堪停　長劫不聞諸苦聲
鼓樂絃歌空裏滿　一一皆言解脫名
閻浮持戒足無明　由如白日闇中行
作意向前欲選道　不覺失脚落深坑
西方極樂樂轟轟　亦亦眾苦及修行
親見彌陀說妙法　聞者悟解證無明
眾生念佛喻乘船　假我如來增上緣
七日七夜專心念　即敵餘心數百年
眾生欲得出凡籠　急急專求念佛功
七日稱名生彼國　若比餘門定不同
但知念佛莫生疑　不解之輩是愚癡
只為超昇令速疾　此地凡夫信者希
眾生念佛佛來迎　無常了了甚分明
彈指即到如來所　他方歷供證無生
西方極樂鎮歡娛　釋迦所說豈傳虛
普勸有情生彼國　何得苦死戀閻浮
專心念佛莫朦籠　定得西方不棄功
即今且在凡夫境　無常即獲六神通
西方寶殿寶池亭　樹木水鳥解人情
鸚鵡和鳴讚三寶　聲中顯出大乘經
西方寶樹寶根莖　寶花寶網甚分明
寶葉行行相間錯　寶葉重出化生
寶池寶岸寶蓮花　寶階寶底寶蓮花
下生雖有離身障　菩提不發自生牙
花幢百億遶金臺　光明寶座座如來
普為眾生說妙法　群生聞者悟心開
朝朝暮暮念彌陀　為在閻浮降眾魔
暫到西方親見佛　還來度脫此娑婆
西方淨土最為精　空中作樂萬般聲
衣食自然隨意至　保無食者受其馨
西方盡夜雨天衣　寶殿空裏逐身飛
百味一念隨心至　何故眾生去者稀

In the past Śākya was like an ordinary person;
Undergoing hardships for kalpas, he kept to the true suchness.
Since attaining buddhahood, he has come and gone eight thousand times,
Yet the common folk originally have not departed from Jambudvīpa.
The sentient beings of Jambudvīpa are truly wretched!
Generation after generation, they escort one another off, sitting in deep sorrow.
Having briefly obtained a human body, they turn back and depart;
In a moment the kalpa is exhausted, and they do not return.
The śramaṇa Lingzhen sighs aloud for himself:
With impermanence, how hateful to abide in Jambudvīpa!
I did not see the Tathāgata appear in the world;
Now encountering the Final Dharma, I have fallen among ordinary people.
I rebuke myself, hate myself, and search within myself;
Through tens of thousands of kalpas and thousands of lives, my sinful hindrances have been deep.
In life after life, I have not seen the transcendence of the three realms,
Revolving in the six destinies down to the present day.
Laboring the mind over nature and characteristics, bitterly probing and investigating,
Checking and consulting the sacred teachings, they are naturally round and complete.
Though having gained a man's [body] and donned the Dharma robes,
What can be done about being born in the Final Dharma age?
In the Final Dharma, [time] departs ever further from the sages;
Which practice-gate alone can transcend it?
In this life, simply recite Amitābha Buddha,
And one also redeems oneself from sinking and burning in the burning house.
Recitation of the Buddha's name can serve as the urgent and essential gate;
That it achieves departure from Jambudvīpa—how could it be contested?
If someone does not believe and gives rise to doubt,
Let them look for themselves at the sacred teachings and examine the sūtra texts.
The sūtra texts exclusively instruct recitation of Amitābha;
No urgent and essential gate surpasses this.
If only one can have deep faith without doubts,
In this life one will immediately be able to depart from Sahā.
The Amitābha Sūtra itself proclaims and praises:
Dedicated recitation for seven days leads to rebirth in the West.
Buddhas as numerous as sixty thousand Ganges sands praise it;
All declare its merits to be immeasurable.
If seven days of reciting the Buddha's name are always like this,
How much more so if one upholds it wholeheartedly to the end of one's life!
All other merits are without peer;
This swift gate is known only to the Buddha.
Sentient beings, carefully and deliberately reflect:
The hells and the three wretched paths are hard to endure.
Once the human body is lost, it takes tens of thousands of kalpas [to regain];
For what reason do you not rejoice in going to the West?
The Western Sukhāvatī is ever joyous,
Differing straightway ten-thousand-fold from the heavens.
I announce generally to sentient beings that they must hasten to go;
For what reason do you cling to death in Jambudvīpa?
The five defilements of Jambudvīpa abound in poverty and lack;
All conditions have a beginning and an end.
The ocean of suffering is boundless, having neither base nor bottom;
Thousands of armies and tens of thousands of masses are submerged within it.
The Western Sukhāvatī's joy is inexhaustible;
Waters and birds in harmonious tones expound the Mahāyāna.
Bodhisattvas, devas, and humans suffer no untimely death;
In truth, attaining buddhahood is their ultimate end.
The lands of Jambudvīpa abound in mounds and pits;
Mountains, peaks, mounds, and knolls are uneven.
Only because human hearts are mostly unwholesome,
All manner of evils are born within it.
The Western Sukhāvatī is as flat as the palm of a hand;
There are absolutely no mounds, knolls, or pits.
With lapis lazuli as ground and gold as borders,
Variegated lotus flowers grow everywhere in abundance.
The great ocean of Jambudvīpa and its many rivers
Abound exceedingly in fish, turtles, softshell turtles, and crocodiles.
One morning rain falls upon the valleys of Mount Heng,
And all floating, mixed evils painfully intermingle.
In the Western Sukhāvatī are ponds of seven jewels,
With waters of eight virtues beyond contemplation.
At the bottom is golden sand; on the banks are fragrant trees;
Lotus flowers gush forth with transformationally born children.
In Jambudvīpa, one receives retribution in a woman's womb;
The crude and digested viscera enclose the infant.
Even when reaching safety, it still cannot speak;
Ignorance, self, and other pursue the body as it comes.
In the Western Pure Land, there are infants;
Each and every one receives retribution by emerging from a lotus terrace.
In person they see the Tathāgata expound the wondrous Dharma;
Naturally liberated, their minds open in awakening.
The grass and trees of Jambudvīpa form dense forests;
The tallest do not exceed fifty fathoms.
Before many years have passed, their centers rot and decay;
They turn to ashes and earth, unable to endure.
The seven-jewel forests of the Western Sukhāvatī
Reach upwards beyond five million miles.
A gentle breeze stirs thousands of kinds of music,
All proclaiming the Tathāgata's sound of liberation.
In Jambudvīpa the sun daily scorches and harms people;
Winding in rotation, it is not constant.
In its setting and rising, there are night and day;
Nor can it escape being obscured in its light by wild clouds.
The Western Sukhāvatī has boundless light;
There is neither night nor day, ever constant.
Obtaining but a single pore of our Tathāgata,
Its light further covers and pervades the ten directions.
In Jambudvīpa, parents, wives, and children—
How long can incense-and-fire affection last?
Even if they achieve reunion, in the end it cannot be long;
In an instant one sees them separate.
The Western Sukhāvatī is not like this;
Amitābha Tathāgata is the Great Master.
Bodhisattvas, humans, and devas are noble friends;
Together they experience joy without time of parting.
Jambudvīpa is exceedingly bitter, with suffering boundless;
The love of men and women binds their lives together.
Morning and evening they seek much, fearing they cannot survive;
They have no leisure to return to truth and admire wholesome conditions.
The Western Sukhāvatī's joy is boundless;
One worries not over men, women, or wealth.
If one needs silken garments, they arrive from a thousand miles away;
If one thinks of food, the hundred delicacies are right beside.
The bodies of men and women in Jambudvīpa
Are both kinds of people sharing the four great elements.
Conspiring together in heart, they form the hells;
In an instant, for tens of thousands of kalpas, they sink forever.
The Western Sukhāvatī has no women;
Those born there all share the body of a bodhisattva.
All realize the three clear knowledges and eight liberations;
Bound to one last rebirth, they leave the noisy dust.
The world of Jambudvīpa abounds in money and goods;
Each and every bit is obtained through suffering.
Those who obtain them glorify the body but do not make merit;
Once the three wretched paths are shut, who can be sent to open them?
The Western Sukhāvatī is joyful and mirthful;
It disregards the impure wealth of Jambudvīpa.
Houses, gardens, and groves appear as soon as wished;
Garments and the hundred delicacies arrive according to one's desire.
In the five defilements of Jambudvīpa are ordinary people;
Receiving retribution, they do not gain an autonomous body.
Wives and children constantly demand clothing and food;
Unable to distinguish circumstances, they give rise to anger.
In the Western Sukhāvatī there are no ordinary people,
Nor are there wives, children, or loving parents.
Those born there all ascend to the bodhisattva stages;
All realize the diamond indestructible body.
In the world of Jambudvīpa, when learning to cultivate dhyāna,
In places of mixed evils there is abundant grasping at conditions.
The roving, wild mind is difficult to grasp,
Just like a ship tossed about on the great ocean.
The Western Sukhāvatī is not so;
Those born of the highest grade stand before the World-Honoured One.
Obtaining a single teaching of our Tathāgata,
The gate of illumination of the hundred dharmas becomes naturally clear to them.
In Jambudvīpa, when Dharma is spoken to save sentient beings,
They only listen to the phrases and do not practice accordingly.
They praise it as suits their mood, raising their joined palms,
Yet when displeased or provoked, they give rise to ignorance.
In the West, when Dharma is spoken to save sentient beings,
Waterbirds and stringed songs sound in the sky.
Those who hear all resolve to recite the Three Jewels;
There is no other separate cultivation.
The world of Jambudvīpa is unbearable to dwell in;
The conditions of Western karmic fruits fill each month.
Even if one manages to perform a tiny bit of good,
Unawares, the hells are formed in an instant.
The Western Pure Land is truly worthy of dwelling in;
For long kalpas one does not hear the sounds of suffering.
Drums, music, and stringed songs fill the sky;
Each and every one proclaims the names of liberation.
In Jambudvīpa, upholding the precepts abounds with ignorance,
Just like walking in darkness in broad daylight.
Intending to move forward to choose the path,
Unawares, one missteps and falls into a deep pit.
The Western Sukhāvatī is resounding with joy;
[Free of] all the various sufferings and striving practices,
In person they see Amitābha expound the wondrous Dharma;
Those who hear awaken and comprehend, putting an end to ignorance.
Sentient beings reciting the Buddha's name are like boarding a ship,
Relying on the predominant condition of our Tathāgata.
Reciting with dedicated mind for seven days and seven nights
Surpasses hundreds of years of other mental states.
Sentient beings wishing to escape the mundane cage
Must urgently and exclusively seek the merit of reciting the Buddha's name.
Invoking the name for seven days brings rebirth in that land;
Compared to other gates, it is surely distinct.
Simply know to recite the Buddha's name and do not give rise to doubts;
Those who do not understand are foolish.
Just because it brings swift transcendence,
Few among the ordinary people of this earth believe it.
When sentient beings recite the Buddha's name, the Buddha comes to welcome them;
At the end of life, it is lucid and very clear.
In the snap of a finger, one reaches the Tathāgata's place;
Visiting and making offerings in other directions, one realizes the unborn.
The Western Sukhāvatī is ever joyous;
How could what Śākya spoke be transmitted in vain?
I universally urge sentient beings to be born in that land;
How can you cling to death in Jambudvīpa?
Recite the Buddha's name with focused mind and do not be confused;
You are certain to attain the West and not waste your efforts.
Even though at present one is in the realm of ordinary people,
At the end of life one immediately obtains the six supernormal powers.
In the West are jeweled halls, jeweled ponds, and pavilions;
Trees, waters, and birds understand human feelings.
Parrots call in harmony, praising the Three Jewels;
From within the sounds, the Mahāyāna sūtras are revealed.
In the West are jeweled trees, jeweled roots, and stems;
Jeweled flowers and jeweled nets are exceedingly distinct.
Jeweled leaves in row upon row are interspersed;
Layered jeweled leaves gush forth transformationally born beings.
Jeweled ponds, jeweled banks, jeweled lotus flowers;
Jeweled steps, jeweled bases, jeweled lotus flowers.
Though lowest-grade rebirths have hindrances separating them from the [Buddha's] body,
Even if bodhi is not generated, its sprout naturally emerges.
Hundreds of millions of flower banners encircle the golden terrace;
On the radiant jeweled throne sits the Tathāgata,
Universally expounding the wondrous Dharma for sentient beings;
The multitudes of beings hearing it awaken and their minds open.
Morning and evening recite Amitābha,
In order to subdue all māras while in Jambudvīpa.
Briefly reaching the West to see the Buddha in person,
One returns to liberate this Sahā [world].
The Western Pure Land is most exquisite;
In the sky music plays in ten thousand sounds.
Clothing and food naturally arrive according to one's wish;
Assuredly those without need of food enjoy its fragrance.
In the West, day and night rain heavenly robes;
Jeweled halls fly through the sky, following the body.
The hundred delicacies arrive in a single thought according to the mind;
For what reason are those who go there so few?