淨土十疑論

1

Question: The Buddhas and bodhisattvas make great compassion their life's work. Therefore, those who have brought forth the bodhi mind and wish to save sentient beings should surely vow to be born within the three realms, dwell in the world of the five defilements, and enter the three evil paths to relieve sentient beings of suffering. Why, after learning from the Buddha, should we distance ourselves from sentient beings and seek only a peaceful life for ourselves? Is this not a lack of compassion, a concern solely for one's own benefit, and a violation of the bodhi path?

Answer: There are two classes of bodhisattvas. The first consists of those who have long cultivated the bodhisattva path and attained the patience of the non-arising of dharmas. It would be correct to direct that criticism at such persons.

The second consists of those who have not yet attained the patience of the non-arising of dharmas, together with ordinary beings who have only recently brought forth the bodhisattva mind. Those in the latter class must constantly remain near a Buddha in order to perfect the power of patience; only then can they dwell within the three realms and enter an evil age to save sentient beings. Therefore, the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says: “Ordinary beings still bound by every kind of fetter may possess great compassion, yet it is unreasonable for them hastily to seek birth in an evil age in order to save suffering sentient beings.” Why is this so?

In an evil and defiled world, the forces of karma and affliction rage fiercely. Without the power of patience, one's mind will inevitably turn according to circumstances and become bound by sights, sounds, fame, and gain, giving rise to every kind of karma rooted in greed, anger, and delusion. At that point, one cannot even save oneself, much less save sentient beings.

Even if one is born in the human realm, evil circumstances and heretical teachers abound, while upright and genuine persons are difficult to encounter. Thus, the Buddhadharma is not easily heard, and the holy path is not easily realized.

If, through generosity, observance of precepts, and the cultivation of merit, a person gains wealth and high rank, how many will not become infatuated with riches and honor and indulge themselves in sensual pleasures?

At that time, even if a good spiritual friend offers counsel, they will refuse to believe or follow it. Instead, seeking to satisfy their own desires and relying upon the power and influence already at their disposal, they create much evil karma. After death, they fall into the three evil paths for immeasurable kalpas.

When at last they emerge from those paths and are born as humans, they must assume lowly and impoverished bodies. If they fail to encounter a good spiritual friend, they again become deluded, commit evil, and fall once more. Since time without beginning, sentient beings revolving in samsara have remained in this condition.

This is called the Difficult Path of Practice. The Vimalakirti Sutra also says: “When one cannot even cure one's own illness, how can one cure the illness of others?”

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom also says: “Suppose two people each have a relative being swept away by the current. One, being impetuous, immediately leaps into the water to rescue his relative; but lacking skillful means, both are drowned. The other, more discerning, quickly fetches a boat and rows out to the rescue, so neither person suffers drowning.” Because novice bodhisattvas have not yet acquired the power of patience, they cannot save sentient beings, just like the first person.

Bodhisattvas who constantly remain near a Buddha and attain the patience of the non-arising of dharmas can enter the world and save immeasurable sentient beings, just like the second person. An infant should not leave its mother; if it does, it may fall into a pit or well, tumble into a river or pond, or die of hunger and thirst. It is also like a fledgling whose feathers and wings are not yet fully grown: it can only hop from branch to branch.

Only when its feathers and wings are complete can it fly far away, freely and without obstruction. Ordinary beings who lack the power of patience should single-mindedly invoke Amitabha Buddha until they attain one-pointedness. When their pure karma is perfected, Amitabha Buddha will welcome and guide them at the time of death, and they will certainly attain rebirth, beyond all doubt.

After seeing Amitabha Buddha and attaining the fruit of non-arising, they may then board the vessel of patience in the Dharma, enter the ocean of samsara to rescue sentient beings, and freely perform boundless Buddha-work.

Therefore, compassionate practitioners who wish to teach and transform beings in the hells and enter the ocean of transmigration should carefully attend to the causes and conditions for seeking rebirth in the Pure Land. The Treatise on the Ten Stages calls this the Easy Path of Practice.

2

Question: The essence of the Dharma is empty; from the beginning it has always been non-arising, equal, quiescent, and still. If one abandons the Saha world and seeks the Land of Ultimate Bliss, would that not contradict this principle? Moreover, a sutra says: “Those who wish to seek the Pure Land must first purify their own minds; when their minds are pure, the Buddha-land is pure.” Do those who seek rebirth in the Pure Land not also contradict this principle?

Answer: This matter has two aspects. I shall give first a general answer and then a specific answer.

As for the general answer, if you claim that seeking rebirth in the Pure Land means abandoning here in search of there and is therefore inconsistent with the principle of equality and suchness, then by clinging to the Saha world and refusing to seek the Land of Ultimate Bliss, do you not likewise commit the error of abandoning there and grasping here? If you say, “I neither seek there nor cling here,” you then fall into the error of nihilistic annihilation. Therefore, the Diamond Prajnaparamita Sutra says: “Subhuti, do not think that those who bring forth the mind of unsurpassed bodhi affirm the annihilation of all characteristics of dharmas. Why? Because those who bring forth the mind of unsurpassed bodhi do not affirm the characteristic of annihilation with regard to any dharma.”

As for the specific answer, since you have raised questions concerning the principle of non-arising and the purity of mind, I shall explain them. Non-arising is precisely the principle of neither arising nor ceasing. “Not arising” means that dharmas provisionally combined through causes and conditions have no intrinsic nature; therefore, no real entity of arising or actual time of arising exists.

Upon examination, they do not truly come from anywhere, and hence are said not to arise. “Not ceasing” means that when dharmas disintegrate and cease, they likewise have no intrinsic nature; they do not declare that they themselves are disintegrating and ceasing. Because they do not truly go anywhere, they are said not to cease.

Thus, the principle of non-arising, or neither arising nor ceasing, does not exist apart from dharmas that arise and cease. Therefore, merely refusing to seek rebirth in the Pure Land is not called non-arising. The Treatise on the Middle Way says: “Dharmas arising through causes and conditions, I declare to be precisely emptiness.

This is a provisional designation and is also the meaning of the Middle Way.” It also says: “Dharmas do not arise from themselves, from another, from both, or without a cause; therefore, they are called non-arising.” The Vimalakirti Sutra says: “Although one knows that Buddha-lands and sentient beings are empty, one constantly cultivates the Pure Land in order to teach and transform multitudes of beings.” It also says: “Suppose someone wishes to construct a palace.

If he builds it upon open ground, he may proceed freely and without obstruction. If he wishes to build it in empty space, he can never succeed. The Buddhas always teach the Dharma in reliance upon the two truths; they do not destroy provisional designations when revealing the true characteristic of all dharmas.” Therefore, although the wise diligently seek rebirth in the Pure Land, they clearly understand that no real entity of birth exists.

This alone is true non-arising and also the meaning of “when the mind is pure, the Buddha-land is pure.” In contrast, fools are bound by birth: upon hearing of birth, they immediately conceive of real birth; upon hearing of non-arising, they cling to the idea that there can be no birth anywhere at all. How could they know that birth itself is non-arising, and that non-arising is not obstructed by birth? Because they do not understand this principle, they give rise to contentious judgments of right and wrong and disparage those who seek rebirth in the Pure Land.

This is a grave error! Such persons are offenders who slander the Dharma, heretics of wrong views.

3

Question: All the Pure Lands of the Buddhas throughout the ten directions are equal in merit and virtue, and the Dharma-nature is likewise equal. Practitioners should therefore recollect universally the merits and virtues of all Buddhas and seek rebirth in the pure lands throughout the ten directions. Why, then, should they seek only the Pure Land of a single Buddha? Does that not contradict the principle of seeking rebirth with impartiality?

Answer: All the pure lands of the Buddhas are indeed equal. However, most sentient beings in this world have dull faculties and defiled, distracted minds. Unless they bind the mind exclusively to a single object, samadhi is difficult to attain.

Exclusive mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha is the Samadhi of One Characteristic. Because the mind is single and concentrated, one attains rebirth in that land. In the Sutra on Rebirth in Accordance with One's Vows, Bodhisattva Universal Vastness asked the Buddha: “World-Honored One, Pure Lands exist throughout the ten directions.

Why does the World-Honored One praise only the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss and exhort sentient beings to invoke Amitabha Buddha exclusively in order to seek rebirth there?” The Buddha told Universal Vastness: “Most sentient beings in Jambudvipa have defiled and distracted minds. Therefore, I praise only one Pure Land in the West, directing sentient beings to concentrate their minds upon a single object so that rebirth may be easily accomplished.

If they recollect all Buddhas, the objects of recollection are too extensive, causing the mind to become diffuse and scattered. Samadhi is then difficult to attain, and rebirth cannot be achieved. Furthermore, seeking the merit and virtue of one Buddha is no different from seeking the merit and virtue of all Buddhas, because all Buddhas share the same Dharma-nature.

Therefore, to invoke Amitabha Buddha is to invoke all Buddhas, and to be born in the Western Pure Land is to be born in all Pure Lands. Thus, the Avatamsaka Sutra says: ‘The bodies of all Buddhas are the body of a single Buddha; their mind and wisdom are one, and so too are their powers and fearlessness.’” It also says: “Like the bright full moon whose reflection appears throughout rivers and lakes: though its images are limitless, the moon itself is one.

So too the One of Unobstructed Wisdom, having attained perfect enlightenment, manifests responsively in every land, yet the Buddha's body is not divided.”

In brief, those with wisdom who rely upon the analogy above will understand the principle that one is all and all is one. Once this principle is understood, invoking a single Buddha is precisely invoking all Buddhas.

4

Question: Buddhas and Pure Lands exist throughout the ten directions. If, because sentient beings in this world have defiled and distracted minds, invoking many Buddhas might make samadhi difficult to attain, why should practitioners not freely invoke any one Buddha and, according to their wishes, seek rebirth in any other Pure Land? Why must they exclusively invoke Amitabha Buddha and seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss?

Answer: Ignorant ordinary beings must follow the Buddha's teachings and should not act arbitrarily. For this reason, from ancient times to the present, practitioners of the Pure Land path have exclusively invoked Amitabha Buddha. What does it mean to follow the Buddha's teachings?

Throughout his lifetime of teaching the Dharma, Shakyamuni, the World-Honored One, repeatedly exhorted sentient beings to invoke Amitabha Buddha and seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. In such sutras as the Infinite Life Sutra, the Contemplation Sutra of the Buddha of Infinite Life, the Amitabha Sutra Spoken by the Buddha, the Lotus Sutra, and the Avatamsaka Sutra—amounting to several dozen texts—the Buddha earnestly exhorted beings to seek rebirth in the West.

Not only the sutras, but also the treatises, bodhisattvas, and patriarchs all teach that one should seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Moreover, Amitabha Buddha possesses the power of forty-eight great compassionate vows to welcome and deliver sentient beings. The Contemplation Sutra of the Buddha of Infinite Life says: “Amitabha Buddha has eighty-four thousand major marks, each mark possessing eighty-four thousand minor characteristics of beauty, and each characteristic emitting eighty-four thousand rays of light. These rays illuminate the Dharma realm everywhere, embracing and never abandoning sentient beings who invoke the Buddha.

If any sentient being invokes his name, their capacities and his response correspond, and that being will certainly attain rebirth.” The Amitabha Sutra Spoken by the Buddha, the Infinite Life Sutra, and the Drum-Sound King Dharani Sutra all say: “When Shakyamuni Buddha taught the sutra, Buddhas throughout the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, manifested their vast and long tongues, covering the great trichiliocosm, to attest to the truth that any sentient being who invokes Amitabha Buddha will rely upon the power of his great compassionate vows and certainly be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.”

One should therefore know that Amitabha Buddha has profound affinities with this world. As the Infinite Life Sutra says: “In the final age, when all other sutras have vanished, this sutra alone will remain in the world for one hundred years to welcome and deliver sentient beings to rebirth in that land.” This proves that Amitabha Buddha has profound affinities with sentient beings in this defiled world.

Although one or two sutras briefly exhort beings to seek rebirth in other Pure Lands, none compare with the Land of Ultimate Bliss, toward which the sutras and treatises earnestly direct practitioners as their central aim.

5

Question: Completely bound ordinary beings possess deep and heavy evil karma and are filled with every affliction. Even if they have cultivated a little merit and virtue, their obstructions have not been reduced by even one part in ten thousand. The Land of Ultimate Bliss is exceedingly pure and adorned, transcending even the three realms. How, then, can such ordinary beings be reborn there?

Answer: There are two conditions: self-power and other-power. With respect to self-power, although completely bound ordinary beings in this world may undertake a little cultivation, they are in truth not yet capable of being born in the Pure Land, nor are they worthy of dwelling there. The Garland Sutra says: “From the stage of completely bound ordinary beings, who do not yet understand the Three Jewels or the causes and effects of good and evil, those who first bring forth the bodhi mind must take faith as their root; after entering the Buddhist path, they must take the precepts as their foundation.

When such ordinary beings first receive the bodhisattva precepts, if in every lifetime they continue to uphold them without deficiency or transgression, then after three kalpas they reach the first stage, the Abode of Initial Resolve. If they then continue in this manner to cultivate the Ten Faiths, the Ten Paramitas, and immeasurable practices and vows without interruption, they reach, after ten thousand kalpas, the sixth stage, the Abode of the Right Mind.

Advancing to the seventh, the Abode of Non-retrogression, they enter the Stage of the Lineage; yet even at this stage they still cannot be born in the Pure Land.” This is the perspective of self-power.

With respect to other-power, if one believes in the power of Amitabha Buddha's great compassionate vow to embrace sentient beings who invoke him, brings forth the bodhi mind, cultivates the Buddha-Recitation Samadhi, becomes weary of the contaminated body within the three realms, practices generosity and observes precepts, performs various meritorious deeds, and dedicates every practice toward rebirth in the West, then one's capacity and the Buddha's response correspond.

By relying upon the Buddha's power, one immediately attains rebirth. Therefore, the Treatise on the Ten Stages says: “There are two paths of cultivation: the Difficult Path of Practice and the Easy Path of Practice. The Difficult Path of Practice is that by which sentient beings in the world of the five defilements, passing through the eras of immeasurably many Buddhas, seek the stage of avaivartika.

It is truly exceedingly difficult to attain. Its difficulties are as numerous as motes of dust and cannot be fully described. I shall now mention only five in brief:

Heretics abound and disrupt the bodhisattva Dharma.

Evil and unscrupulous people destroy one's excellent virtues.

One is easily confounded by karmic rewards, which can cause the ruin of pure conduct.

One easily strays into the self-benefiting path of the shravakas, thereby obstructing the mind of great compassion.

Because one possesses only self-power and lacks the protection of other-power, cultivation is exceedingly difficult. It is like a weak and crippled person walking alone: despite great hardship, he can travel no more than a few miles in a day.

The Easy Path of Practice is that by which sentient beings in this world believe the Buddha's words, cultivate mindfulness of the Buddha, and vow to be reborn in the Pure Land. They will then be sustained by the power of the Buddha's vows and will certainly attain rebirth, beyond all doubt. It is like a person relying upon the power of a boat and traveling downstream: although the journey is a thousand miles, he arrives in little time. It is also like an ordinary person who relies upon the wheel-treasure of a Wheel-Turning Sage King and can travel throughout all four continents in a single day and night. This is not accomplished through his own power, but through the might of the Wheel-Turning King.”

Some also reason that contaminated ordinary beings cannot be born in the Pure Land and cannot see the Buddha's body. Yet the merit of invoking the Buddha belongs to uncontaminated wholesome roots. Because contaminated ordinary beings bring forth the bodhi mind, seek rebirth in the Pure Land, and constantly invoke the Buddha, they can subdue and extinguish their afflictions, attain rebirth, and see, according to their capacity, the Buddha's coarse manifestations.

Bodhisattvas, of course, can attain rebirth and moreover behold the Buddha's subtle and wondrous marks; there can be no doubt about this. Therefore, the Avatamsaka Sutra says: “All Buddha-lands are equally adorned and pure; because sentient beings differ in their practices and karma, what they perceive is not the same.” This passage expresses the meaning explained above.

6

Question: When completely bound ordinary beings are born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, if afflictions and evil views constantly arise, how can they be said to “transcend the three realms and ascend to the stage of non-retrogression”?

Answer: Those born in the West, even completely bound ordinary beings, never give rise to afflictions or evil views, and they attain the stage of non-retrogression because of five causes and conditions:

They are embraced and sustained by the power of the Buddha's great compassionate vows.

The Buddha's light constantly illuminates their bodies, so the bodhi minds of the devas and humans there continually advance.

The birds, water, forests, trees, wind, and music constantly proclaim the Dharma sounds of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self. Upon hearing them, practitioners become mindful of the Buddha, mindful of the Dharma, and mindful of the Sangha.

The good companions of sentient beings born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss are entirely supremely virtuous bodhisattvas. All obstructive difficulties and evil conditions are absent, and no heretics or demonic forces exist there; therefore, their minds are always peaceful and settled.

Once born in that land, their lifespans are limitless, equal to those of the Buddha and bodhisattvas, and they calmly cultivate throughout boundless asamkhya kalpas.

Because of these five causes and conditions, sentient beings born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss certainly attain non-retrogression and never give rise to afflictions or evil views. Sentient beings in this evil and defiled world, however, have short lifespans and are surrounded by evil conditions, obstructions, and difficulties. Therefore, it is exceedingly difficult for them to attain non-retrogression. This principle is evident, and nothing remains to be doubted.

7

Question: Bodhisattva Maitreya is the One-Birth-Bound bodhisattva and presently dwells in the Tusita Heaven. In the future, he will succeed Shakyamuni Buddha and attain Buddhahood. It seems that we should cultivate the superior grade of the ten wholesome deeds and seek rebirth there so that we may behold him face to face. When the bodhisattva descends into the world and attains Buddhahood, we may descend with him and will certainly realize the noble fruit during the three Dragon Flower assemblies. Why, then, is it necessary to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land?

Answer: Seeking rebirth in Tusita may also be described as hearing the path and seeing a Buddha, and thus is somewhat similar to seeking rebirth in the West. Yet upon careful examination, the superiority of one over the other is vast. I shall discuss two points:

1. Even if we cultivate the ten wholesome deeds, we are not certain to be born in Tusita. The Sutra on Maitreya's Ascent says: “Practitioners must cultivate the various gates of samadhi and enter deeply into right concentration before they can be born in the Inner Court of the heavenly palace.” From this perspective, we see that Bodhisattva Maitreya possesses no skillful means for welcoming and guiding beings comparable to the power of Amitabha Buddha's fundamental vows and light, which can embrace and deliver sentient beings who invoke the Buddha.

Moreover, when Shakyamuni Buddha explained the skillful means of welcoming and guiding beings through the teaching of the nine grades, he earnestly exhorted them to seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. This skillful means is exceedingly simple: practitioners need only invoke Amitabha Buddha. When their capacities and his response correspond, they immediately attain rebirth.

It is like recruiting people in the world: if someone wishes to enlist and the conditions correspond, the matter is immediately accomplished.

2. The Tusita heavenly palace remains within the desire realm, and thus many there retrogress from their position. Its birds, water, forests, trees, wind, and music do not emit Dharma sounds that can cause sentient beings to subdue and extinguish afflictions, recollect the Three Jewels, and bring forth the bodhi mind.

On the contrary, celestial women provide powerful conditions for practitioners' attachment to the five desires to increase. The beauty of those celestial maidens is extraordinarily subtle and exquisite, causing the devas to become infatuated; few can avoid it. How can this compare with the Land of Ultimate Bliss, where trees and birds proclaim the wondrous Dharma and the wind and music expound bodhi, so that upon hearing them, beings' afflictions dissolve and their minds of the path advance?

In Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land there are neither women nor those who have brought forth the mind of the Two Vehicles; there are only pure Dharma companions of the Mahayana. Afflictions and evil karma cannot arise there. How, then, could practitioners fail swiftly to attain the fruit of non-arising?

From only these few comparisons, the superiority of one over the other is already evident. What remains to be doubted or hesitated over?

As for the claim that one will realize the noble fruit upon meeting Maitreya Buddha, even that is not certain. When Shakyamuni Buddha was in the world, countless sentient beings saw the Buddha yet still failed to realize the noble fruit. The same will be true when Maitreya Buddha appears: innumerable sentient beings will see the Buddha and hear the Dharma but will not realize the noble fruit. In Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land, however, anyone who is born there will certainly attain the patience of the non-arising of dharmas. Not a single person will retrogress and fall back into the three realms to be bound by the karma of birth and death.

Moreover, according to the Account of the Western Regions, there were three bodhisattvas—Asanga, Vasubandhu, and Simhabhadra—who cultivated meditative concentration deeply and resolved to be born together in Tusita. They agreed that whoever was first born in the Inner Court and saw Maitreya would return to inform his brothers. Simhabhadra passed away first, but even after a considerable time he did not return with news.

Vasubandhu was next to pass away. As he was dying, Bodhisattva Asanga instructed him: “After you pay homage to Maitreya, you must come down at once and let me know.” Three years after Bodhisattva Vasubandhu passed away, he finally returned to report. Asanga asked: “Why did you take so long to bring word?” Vasubandhu replied: “After paying homage to Maitreya and hearing him teach and instruct me, I respectfully circumambulated him three times and immediately returned here to bring you word.

Because one day and night in Tusita equals four hundred years in the human world below, three years passed here.” Asanga then asked: “Where is Simhabhadra now?” Vasubandhu replied: “Simhabhadra strayed into the Outer Court of Tusita and is intoxicated by the five desires. Since his birth there, he has not yet seen Maitreya.”

From this, one may know that even minor bodhisattvas born in Tusita can become deluded and lose their way, much less ordinary beings. Therefore, practitioners who wish to attain non-retrogression with certainty should seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss and should not vow to be born in Tusita.

8

Question: Since beginningless time, sentient beings have committed immeasurable offenses. In this present life, from childhood to old age, because they have not encountered good spiritual friends, they create still more evil karma. How, then, can it be said: “If ten invocations are accomplished at the time of death, one immediately attains rebirth”? And how can the principle of “surpassing the binding karma of the three realms” be coherently explained?

Answer: It is indeed difficult to know whether the wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds accumulated by sentient beings since beginningless time are few or many, weak or strong. Yet if someone encounters a good spiritual friend at the time of death and accomplishes ten invocations, that person must possess wholesome karma from past lives. Otherwise, he could not even encounter a good spiritual friend, much less accomplish ten invocations.

You consider evil karma accumulated since beginningless time to be heavy and ten invocations at death to be light. I shall explain through three principles why such rebirth does not depend upon whether karma is light or heavy, nor upon whether practices are many or few or their duration long or short. These three principles are the mind, the object of cognition, and decisiveness.

As for the mind: when sentient beings commit offenses, these arise from inverted and deluded thoughts. When they invoke the Buddha, however, the invocation arises from hearing the genuine merits and virtues of Amitabha Buddha's name. One is false and the other true; how could they be compared? It is like a stone chamber that has been sealed in darkness for ten thousand years. If someone opens it and allows sunlight to enter, the darkness vanishes immediately. Could it remain dark merely because the darkness had endured so long? The same is true of a person who has committed offenses for many kalpas yet accomplishes ten invocations at the time of death and attains rebirth.

As for the object of cognition: when sentient beings commit offenses, these arise from dark, inverted deluded thoughts taking illusory objects as their conditions. When they invoke the Buddha, however, the invocation arises from hearing the genuine, pure merits and virtues of Amitabha Buddha's name and takes the bodhi mind as its condition. Thus, one is genuine and the other false; how could they be compared?

Suppose someone is struck by a poisoned arrow. The arrow penetrates deeply, the poison is potent, and the bones and flesh are gravely injured. Yet if that person hears the sound of the drum imbued with divine medicine, the arrow flies out by itself and the poison is completely dispelled.

Could the person fail to recover merely because the arrow was deeply embedded and the poison severe? The same is true of a person who has committed offenses for many kalpas yet accomplishes ten invocations at the time of death and attains rebirth.

As for decisiveness: when sentient beings commit offenses, they do so either with an intermittent mind or with a mind that later ceases. When they invoke the Buddha at the time of death, neither of these two kinds of mind is present. Instead, they uphold the name with a single fierce thought and then relinquish their lives, thereby attaining liberation.

It is like an exceedingly thick rope that a thousand people cannot break; if a child takes up the Tai'e sword and cuts it, the rope is severed immediately. It is also like an enormous heap of firewood accumulated over a thousand years: if someone sets it alight with a single spark, all the wood is consumed. Again, suppose someone has cultivated the ten wholesome deeds throughout his life and should be born in a heavenly realm.

If, at the time of death, he gives rise to one powerful thought of wrong view, he immediately falls into the Avici hell. Evil karma is false and delusive, yet because the thought is decisive and intense, it can overwhelm the wholesome karma of an entire lifetime and cause a sentient being to fall into an evil path. How much more, then, can mindfulness of the Buddha—a genuine wholesome karma—when practiced at the time of death by one who upholds the name with an intense mind, overwhelm evil karma accumulated since beginningless time?

Therefore, there can be no principle by which someone who has committed offenses for many kalpas, yet accomplishes ten invocations with an intense mind at the time of death, would fail to attain rebirth!

A sutra says: “To invoke Amitabha once with the utmost sincerity extinguishes grave offenses committed along the path of birth and death throughout eight billion kalpas.” This is possible because practitioners invoke the Buddha with an intense mind and thereby subdue and extinguish evil karma. If they invoke the Buddha with this mind at the time of death, they will certainly attain rebirth, beyond all doubt! The ancient tradition judged that the ten invocations at death belong entirely to an intention concerning another time—that is, to causes from past lives.

This principle is incorrect. Why? The Compendium of the Mahayana says: “If something pertains solely to another time, then there is only the making of a vow and no practice whatsoever.” The Treatise on the Compendium of the Mahayana says: “If merely vowing to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss were sufficient to attain rebirth, or merely hearing the name of Stainless Buddha were sufficient to realize unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, these would indeed be causes pertaining to another time.” In the particular case of those who accomplish ten invocations at the time of death, they encounter a good spiritual friend who instructs them because of wholesome conditions, and they themselves also sincerely practice mindfulness of the Buddha; only then is the result attained.

To classify this entirely as a cause from past lives is truly mistaken! May practitioners reflect deeply upon this principle, give rise to firm resolve, and refuse to follow the deviant views of demons into confusion and error.

9

Question: The Land of Ultimate Bliss lies a hundred thousand kotis of Buddha-lands away. How can weak ordinary beings possibly reach it? Moreover, the Treatise on Rebirth says: “Women and those with deficient faculties; those of the Two-Vehicle lineage are not born there.” Given these words, surely women and those whose six faculties are incomplete cannot attain rebirth?

Answer: The statement that the Land of Ultimate Bliss lies a hundred thousand kotis of Buddha-lands away is made in relation to the mental measure of flesh-eyed ordinary beings wandering through samsara. For sentient beings whose pure karma is perfected, however, the mind in concentration at the time of death is itself the mind that takes birth in the Pure Land; with the stirring of a single thought, they immediately attain rebirth.

Therefore, the Contemplation Sutra says: “Amitabha Buddha's land is not far from here!” Moreover, the power of karma is inconceivable: in a single thought, one can be born in that Buddha-land, so there is no need to worry about the great distance of the journey. It is like a dreaming person: although the body remains in bed, the mind travels throughout distant and unfamiliar places as if awake. Rebirth in the Pure Land is generally like this.

As for the statement, “Women and those with deficient faculties; those of the Two-Vehicle lineage are not born there,” it means that women born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss are transformed into men, that those with deficient faculties have all their faculties perfected upon arriving there, and that all acquire the thirty-two excellent marks. It does not mean that women and those with deficient faculties cannot attain rebirth.

If it did, how could Queen Vaidehi and her five hundred female attendants have received the Buddha's prediction that they would be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss? Therefore, women and those who are blind, deaf, mute, or speech-impaired in this world will all attain rebirth if they invoke Amitabha Buddha. As for those of the Two Vehicles, if they turn toward the Mahayana, believe in the Pure Land teaching, vow to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and invoke Amitabha Buddha, they will certainly all attain rebirth.

Once born there, they will no longer cling to the narrow mental measure of the Two Vehicles. In the Infinite Life Sutra, Bhikshu Dharmakara, Amitabha Buddha in a former life, made this vow: “If I attain unsurpassed enlightenment, then all women throughout the worlds of the ten directions who grow weary of the female body, invoke my name, and vow never again to assume a female body in a future life shall certainly have their wishes fulfilled.

If this is not so, I vow not to attain Buddhahood.” Women who invoke Amitabha Buddha merely because they wish to transform from female into male can have their wishes fulfilled; how much more so those already born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss? The same applies to those with deficient faculties.

In brief, the two lines above mean only that in the Land of Ultimate Bliss there are no women, no persons with deficient faculties, and none possessing the seeds of the Two Vehicles.

10

Question: I have now resolved to seek rebirth in the West, but I do not yet know what karma I must cultivate or what seeds will enable me to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Moreover, ordinary laypeople have families. Can those who have not yet severed sexual desire be born in that land?

Answer: Those who wish to be certainly born in the West must possess two practices: renunciation and joyful aspiration.

Renunciation means this: since beginningless time, ordinary beings have been bound by the five desires and have therefore revolved through the six paths, enduring incalculable suffering. If they do not become weary of and abandon the five desires, how can they escape this vicious cycle? Therefore, practitioners of the Pure Land path should constantly contemplate that this body is a mass of flesh, bones, blood, and pus, filled with phlegm, saliva, urine, excrement, and every kind of foul and filthy substance.

The Nirvana Sutra says: “Only foolish rakshasas would consent to dwell within such a walled city of attachment to the body. What wise person would become defiled by attachment to this body?” Another sutra says: “This body is a gathering place for every kind of suffering, a prison, and a mass of sores, all of it impure. When examined thoroughly, there is no meaningful benefit in grasping it, even if it is the body of a deva.” Therefore, throughout all postures and activities—whether lying down to rest or awakening from sleep—practitioners should constantly contemplate that this body contains only suffering and no happiness, and in the depths of their minds give rise to renunciation.

In this way, even if they cannot immediately end relations between men and women, they can gradually develop a mind of disenchantment.

Practitioners should also contemplate the seven kinds of impurity. They are:

The impurity of the seed: This body arises from sexual activity and the seed of craving.

The impurity of conception: The germ of this body arises from a drop of the parents' semen and blood combined during intercourse.

The impurity of the dwelling place: The embryonic body dwells in the filthy womb, beneath the small intestine and above the large intestine.

The impurity of nourishment: While still in the womb, this illusory body is nourished by a portion of the mother's blood.

The impurity of birth: When the term of gestation is complete, the embryonic body turns its head toward the birth canal and emerges from the mother's body together with blood and pus, amid pervasive stench and filth.

The impurity of the whole body: Beneath its covering of outer skin, this body consists entirely of foul substances: flesh, bones, blood, phlegm, urine, and excrement.

The ultimate impurity: After death, this body becomes a heap of bloated, putrid, decomposing flesh, left for maggots to swarm through or for crows and vultures to tear apart.

One's own body is thus, and the bodies of others are the same. If one constantly contemplates these seven points, then even toward male and female bodies that the world regards as beautiful, one gives rise to renunciation, and the fire of sensual desire gradually diminishes. It is even better if one can practice the contemplation of the nine stages of a corpse:

Contemplate the body just after death.

Contemplate the corpse changing color, becoming bruised blue and purple.

Contemplate the corpse swelling, filled with blood and pus, and beginning to decay.

Contemplate the swollen corpse splitting open and decomposing, with foul fluids flowing out.

Contemplate the decomposing corpse swarming with writhing maggots.

Contemplate the corpse after all its flesh has disappeared, leaving only sinews and bones.

Contemplate the sinews also decaying, leaving only scattered bones.

Contemplate the corpse after cremation, leaving a contracted skeleton, or after decomposition, leaving only putrid fragments of bone.

Contemplate the bones exposed to sun and rain until they become dry and white.

One should also vow to escape forever the defiled, impure, mixed-food bodies of men and women within the three realms and attain the Dharma-nature body of the Pure Land. The foregoing is a brief explanation of the gate of renunciation.

The practice of joyful aspiration generally has two conditions.

1. One must clearly recognize the purpose of seeking rebirth: We seek rebirth in the Pure Land because we wish to escape suffering ourselves and deliver all sentient beings from suffering. Practitioners should reflect: My strength is weak, I am still bound by karma, and in this evil and defiled world, troubling circumstances and conditions are overwhelmingly powerful.

For this reason, sentient beings and I have sunk into the current of delusion and revolved through the six paths throughout kalpas as numerous as motes of dust since beginningless time. The wheel of birth and death turns endlessly. How can I find a safe and certain path for liberating both myself and others?

The only way is to seek rebirth in the Pure Land, draw near to the Buddha and bodhisattvas, and, through the sublime circumstances and conditions of that land, cultivate until attaining the patience of the non-arising of dharmas. Only then can I enter the evil world and relieve sentient beings of suffering. The Treatise on Rebirth says: “To bring forth the bodhi mind is precisely to bring forth the aspiration to attain Buddhahood.

The aspiration to attain Buddhahood is the mind that seeks to deliver sentient beings. The mind that seeks to deliver sentient beings is the mind that gathers sentient beings and brings them to birth in a Buddha-land.”

Moreover, those who wish to be born in the Pure Land must fulfill two aspects: they must abandon the three dharmas that obstruct bodhi and follow the three dharmas conducive to bodhi. What are the three dharmas that obstruct bodhi? First is the mind that seeks peace and happiness for oneself alone, clings to self, and covets one's own body.

Practitioners must rely upon the gate of wisdom to abandon this thought. Second is the mind that forsakes suffering sentient beings and refuses to rescue them. Practitioners must rely upon the gate of compassion to abandon this thought.

Third is the mind that seeks only reverence and offerings without searching for methods to bring benefit and happiness to sentient beings. Practitioners must rely upon the gate of skillful means to abandon this thought. If one abandons the three dharmas that obstruct bodhi, one attains the three dharmas conducive to bodhi.

These three conducive dharmas are as follows. First is the unstained, pure mind, which does not seek pleasures for oneself. Because bodhi is pure in essence and free from defiled attachment, seeking happiness for oneself alone defiles body and mind and obstructs the gate of bodhi.

Therefore, an unstained, pure mind is called conducive to bodhi. Second is the peaceful, pure mind, which seeks to deliver all sentient beings from suffering. Because bodhi is the pure mind that brings peace and security to sentient beings, failing to rescue sentient beings and free them from the suffering of birth and death contradicts the gate of bodhi.

Therefore, the mind that relieves suffering and brings peace to sentient beings is called conducive to bodhi. Third is the blissful, pure mind, which seeks to enable sentient beings to attain great nirvana. Because great nirvana is the ultimate state of permanent bliss, failing to enable sentient beings to attain ultimate bliss obstructs the gate of bodhi.

Therefore, the mind that wishes sentient beings to enjoy permanent bliss is called conducive to bodhi. How can the abandonment and conformity described above be accomplished? One must seek rebirth in the Pure Land, constantly draw near to the Buddha, and cultivate until attaining the patience of the non-arising of dharmas.

Then one may freely board the vessel of great vows and enter the ocean of samsara, employing compassion and wisdom to rescue sentient beings, adapting to conditions without changing in essence and meeting no further obstruction. All the preceding points explain the purpose of seeking rebirth.

2. One should contemplate the circumstantial and direct rewards of the Land of Ultimate Bliss: Practitioners should visualize Amitabha Buddha's reward body as radiant golden in color, possessing eighty-four thousand major marks, each mark possessing eighty-four thousand minor characteristics of beauty, and each characteristic emitting eighty-four thousand rays of light. These rays illuminate the Dharma realm everywhere and embrace sentient beings who invoke the Buddha.

They should also contemplate the Land of Ultimate Bliss adorned with the seven treasures, as described in the Pure Land sutras. Furthermore, whenever practitioners of Buddha-recitation practice generosity, observe precepts, or perform any wholesome deed, they must dedicate it toward the rebirth of themselves and all sentient beings together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

If they practice these two points, practitioners will give rise to ardent longing for the West and will certainly attain rebirth. This is the gate of joyful aspiration.