淨土或問

The Elder Tianru was sitting quietly in meditation in the Sleeping Clouds chamber when suddenly someone pushed open the door and entered, introducing himself as a Chan visitor. The Elder silently nodded in greeting and extended his hand, inviting him to sit. They had sat facing each other for a long while. The setting sun slanted through the bamboo lattice, and the incense smoke in the meditation chamber was about to disperse. The visitor slowly rose, arranged his robes solemnly, and at leisure began to present his questions:

1. He asked:—I have heard that Master Yongming received the single-transmission teaching from National Master Shao of Tiantai and was also a direct Dharma descendant of Master Fayan. When the Master was abbot of Jingci Monastery in Hangzhou, he gave the assembly a great many teachings.

His eloquence and skillful wisdom were like sweeping winds and rolling thunder, and throughout the land the Chan communities revered him as a great patriarchal master. Why, in addition to teaching Chan, did he personally cultivate the Pure Land practice, exhort others to recite the Buddha’s name, and write books to propagate that teaching widely in the world? Moreover, he composed the Verse of the Four Alternatives, whose general meaning is: “With Chan but without Pure Land, nine out of ten will be obstructed on the path; without Chan but with Pure Land, of ten thousand who cultivate, ten thousand will be reborn.” Do these lines not show that he advocated the Pure Land while disparaging his own Chan school?

Do his words not seem excessive? In my foolish understanding I have many doubts about this matter. I respectfully ask the Great Master for instruction.

Answer:—Your question is most appropriate! Nevertheless, Great Master Yongming did not excessively praise the Pure Land while disparaging Chan. In truth, his words rendered great service to both the Chan school and the doctrinal teachings. Regrettably, in the Four Alternatives he only briefly stated the general principles and did not fully elucidate their purport; therefore, he did not entirely dispel the doubts of Chan practitioners. I have trained in the Chan school and am not thoroughly versed in the Pure Land, but I have often read the scriptures and treatises of that teaching and thus know its general outline.

The Pure Land is a Dharma that is easy to cultivate and easy to realize, yet it is also a teaching difficult to explain and difficult to believe. Therefore, while still in the world, when our Compassionate Father, Buddha Shakyamuni, taught the Amitabha Sutra for his disciples, he foresaw that beings in the Dharma-ending age would find it difficult to give rise to faith. He therefore cited the truthful words of the Buddhas of the six directions to dispel doubt and awaken faith in later generations.

Near the conclusion of the sutra, after speaking of the Buddhas praising him, our Fundamental Teacher again declared: “You should know that, in this evil age of the five turbidities, I have performed this difficult deed: I attained unsurpassed bodhi and, for the sake of all worlds, taught this Dharma that is difficult to believe. This is indeed exceedingly difficult!” These were all earnest and meticulous words of admonition, exhorting people to have faith.

Furthermore, the World-Honored One, moved by great compassion, came to save the world in the latter age. Whenever his golden mouth uttered a sentence or verse, human and nonhuman beings alike accepted it in faith and practiced it accordingly. Yet concerning the Pure Land teaching alone, the world harbors doubts.

Why is this so? It is because the Pure Land teaching is exceedingly vast, while the Pure Land practice is extremely simple. These two features seem so far apart that those who hear of them can scarcely suppress their doubts.

To say that it is vast means that this teaching embraces beings of every capacity: above, even bodhisattvas at the stage of Equal Enlightenment and those who are One Life Away from Buddhahood seek rebirth in the Pure Land; below, even foolish men and women and those who have committed the five heinous offenses and ten evil deeds will attain rebirth if they resolutely direct their faith toward it. To say that it is simple means that practitioners need not undergo excessive hardship or toil, nor pass through confusing and divergent states.

They need only uphold and recite the six-character great name to escape the Saha world, be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, attain non-retrogression, and continue until they become Buddhas. Because it is at once so vast and so simple, even the wise give rise to doubts. If you clearly understand this point, you will certainly recognize the profound intent in Master Yongming’s praise and see that it was not excessive.

2. He asked:—I have heard your instruction concerning its vastness and simplicity. But those who attain awakening in the Chan school are said to see their nature and become Buddhas. How could they be willing to seek rebirth in the Western Land?

Answer:—In truth, you simply do not yet understand. It is precisely those who have attained awakening who seek rebirth all the more urgently. An ancient worthy said: “If one does not seek rebirth in the Pure Land, in what other land would one wish to be born?” You have not yet awakened to the Way. If one day you attain awakening, I fear that even ten thousand oxen could not drag you back from your resolve to seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss!

3. He asked:—The Buddhas and patriarchs appear in the world in order to liberate sentient beings. Practitioners need only be concerned that the great matter remains unfinished. Once they have illuminated the great matter—that is, awakened to the Way—they should follow the example of the Greatly Awakened One, manifesting themselves amid suffering, not shrinking from the paths of birth and death, and universally liberating all sentient beings. If those who have attained awakening still seek rebirth in the Pure Land, is this not merely the desire to shun suffering and seek happiness, without regard for those still sinking in the cycle of existence? Although I am foolish and lowly, I still would not wish to act in this way!

Answer:—On seeing an egg, you wish it to hatch at once. Why is your mind so hasty? Do you suppose that after a single awakening all karmic habits have been completely extinguished and that one immediately attains the stage of non-retrogression?

Do you suppose there is no longer any need to study the Buddha-Dharma comprehensively, or to cultivate further in order to realize the stages from lower to higher? Or do you imagine that after a single awakening one necessarily ranks alongside the Buddhas and can enter birth and death without being disturbed by obstructing conditions? If that were so, then the great bodhisattvas who cultivate the six paramitas and myriad practices throughout kalpas numerous as the sands of the Ganges would all have cause to be ashamed before you!

The ancient teachings admonish: “Even a shravaka becomes confused upon emerging from the womb; even a bodhisattva is deluded when separated by one lifetime.” If this is so even for these two classes, how much more so for those of shallow awakening and understanding who, in this present age, have not yet completed their own deliverance? Even if one’s awakening is profound, one’s wisdom and understanding lofty and luminous, one’s practice corresponding with one’s insight, and one’s resolve to liberate others firm, one has not yet reached non-retrogression and one’s powers and capacities are not yet complete.

If one nevertheless wishes to remain in this evil world to transform stubborn beings, the ancient sages themselves would not have sanctioned it. It is like taking a boat whose seams have not yet been securely caulked to rescue people from a storm-tossed sea: the disaster of the whole company sinking and drowning would be unavoidable. Therefore, the Treatise on Rebirth says: “If one wishes to travel within the hells and rescue sentient beings who are deluded and suffering, one must first seek rebirth in that land.

After attaining the patience of non-arising, one may return to the paths of birth and death and fulfill one’s original vows. It is for this reason that practitioners seek rebirth in the Pure Land.” The ancient sages also said: “Until one has attained the stage of non-retrogression and realized the patience of non-arising, one must constantly remain with a Buddha. It is like an infant who should not leave its mother, or a fledgling that can only flutter from branch to branch.”

Now, in this Saha world, Buddha Shakyamuni has entered nirvana, while Buddha Maitreya has not yet appeared. Moreover, the four miserable destinies and the entanglements of cause and effect abound; hundreds of heterodox doctrines create confusion over right and wrong; seductive sights and lustful sounds constantly entice us, while deceptive circumstances and harmful conditions continually surround us. In such a situation, there is no Buddha upon whom to rely, while external circumstances and conditions continually agitate the mind.

Among beginners who have awakened to the Way, how many can avoid falling back? It is for this reason that the World-Honored One earnestly directed us toward the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Moreover, in that land Buddha Amitabha is presently teaching the Dharma, and its wondrous environment provides myriad favorable conditions.

Relying upon the ocean-like assembly, one swiftly perfects the power of patience; dwelling near the Dharma King, one readily attains the Buddha Vehicle. Then, when one wishes to manifest transformation bodies and liberate sentient beings, what obstacle could remain? For this reason, even those of superior faculties and keen wisdom aspire to be reborn there.

How much more should you, who belong to the middle or lower capacities and have attained only a little understanding and awakening, do so?

Have you not seen in the Sutra on the Samadhi of Contemplating the Buddha that Manjusri himself disclosed the causes from his past lives, saying that he had realized the Buddha-Recitation Samadhi and was constantly reborn in the Pure Land? Because of this, the Blessed One bestowed a prediction upon him, saying: “You shall be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.”

Have you also not seen in the Avatamsaka Sutra that Bodhisattva Samantabhadra used the Ten Great Kings of Vows to exhort Sudhana and the great assembly of the ocean-wide congregation to dedicate those merits toward rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss? There is a passage therein that says: “I vow that when the time of my death arrives, all obstacles shall be removed. I shall behold Amitabha Buddha face to face and immediately attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.”

Have you also not seen in the Lankavatara Sutra the Blessed One’s prophetic prediction: “In the future, in Southern India, there shall be a renowned and virtuous bhiksu honored by the name Nagarjuna. He will ably refute the doctrines of existence and nonexistence and reveal within the world the unsurpassed Dharma of the Mahayana. He will realize the First Ground, the Ground of Joy, and be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss”?

And have you not seen in the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith that Bodhisattva Asvaghosa praised rebirth in that land; in the Maharatnakuta Sutra that the Buddha gave his assurance that King Suddhodana and seventy thousand members of the Sakya clan would together be reborn in the Land of Peace and Bliss; and in the Sutra of the Sixteen Contemplations that the Blessed One taught Queen Vaidehi and her five hundred maidservants the method by which they were able reverently to behold Amitabha Buddha?

Among those mentioned above, King Suddhodana and Queen Vaidehi had already, in their present lives, realized the Patience of the Non-Arising of Dharmas. In India, very many people of this kind sought rebirth in the Pure Land. In the Eastern Land, there were Master Huiyuan of Mount Lu and the eminent worthies of the White Lotus Society, as well as the venerable masters of the Tiantai and Huayan schools; all practiced the Buddha-recitation method themselves, guided others through it, and exhorted both monastics and laypeople to seek rebirth in the Pure Land.

Generally speaking, the number of eminent and virtuous masters who cultivated pure karma is beyond reckoning! As for Manjusri and Samantabhadra, they are great bodhisattvas; Sudhana and the ocean-wide assembly of the Avatamsaka realm are all great beings among the forty-one stages. Asvaghosa and Nagarjuna were bodhisattvas and also great patriarchs.

The awakening and realization of those holy beings surpassed those of people considered awakened today as greatly as heaven differs from the abyss, yet they still vowed to be reborn in the Western Land. You claim that once awakened, one need not seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and you even reject the aspiration for rebirth there. Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Asvaghosa, and Nagarjuna must therefore be inferior to you!

Consider for yourself: Do your cultivation and realization equal those of the two Great Beings and the two patriarchs? Does your meditative inquiry and awakening equal that of Sudhana and the ocean-wide assembly? Do the state you have attained and the assurance you have received from the Buddha equal those of King Suddhodana and Queen Vaidehi?

Moreover, King Suddhodana was the Buddha’s own father, and the seventy thousand Sakyas were his kinsmen. If rebirth in the Pure Land offered no benefit, how could the Blessed One have borne to direct his royal father and relatives to seek rebirth there? It was previously said that one who realizes the Patience of the Non-Arising of Dharmas can enter defiled lands and take birth there.

Yet although King Suddhodana and the Buddha’s relatives had attained that fruit, the Tathagata still exhorted them and bestowed predictions of their rebirth in the Pure Land. Was not his wish to protect and nurture them most intimate and profound?

I observe that most Chan practitioners today neither examine the Tathagata’s definitive meaning nor understand Bodhidharma’s profound intent. Empty within yet haughty at heart, they have grown so accustomed to this that it has become a sickness of deluded arrogance. When they see people practicing the Pure Land path, they disparage them and laugh, saying: “That is the lowly practice of foolish men and ignorant women!” I have always maintained that this is not merely contempt for foolish men and ignorant women; it is in fact contempt for Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Asvaghosa, and Nagarjuna.

Such people not only lose themselves on the true path and destroy their own roots of goodness, but also abandon their own wisdom-body and extinguish the seed of Buddhahood within themselves. They thereby commit the offense of slandering the True Dharma and create the karma of despising the noble Sangha. The Buddhas and patriarchs regard such people as truly pitiable!

For this reason, Master Yongming was moved by great compassion to reveal his innermost heart in advocating the Pure Land teaching: he practiced it himself and also urged others to do so. Thus, when his life was about to end, the Great Master knew the day and hour beforehand, auspicious signs appeared, and during his cremation countless relics poured forth. Later, a monk from Fuzhou would constantly and reverently circumambulate the Master’s stupa.

When many people asked him why, the monk replied: “Once, when I was gravely ill, my consciousness entered the netherworld. King Yama determined that my allotted lifespan was not yet exhausted and ordered that I be sent back. At that time, I saw an altar on the left side of the great hall bearing the sacred portrait of a great virtuous master, before which King Yama bowed with utmost reverence.

When I asked about it, the official in charge told me that it was a true likeness of Chan Master Yongming Yanshou. Because he had cultivated diligently and had attained rebirth in the highest grade of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, King Yama had his portrait painted for veneration.” Great Master Yongming had thoroughly awakened to the Chan gateway of direct pointing transmitted by Patriarch Bodhidharma, yet he entrusted his being to the highest lotus grade in the Land of Peace and Bliss.

These events are sufficient to resolve the attachments of Chan practitioners and also serve as a condition for encouraging beings in the Dharma-ending age. Therefore, I say that his great contribution to both the Chan school and the doctrinal teachings lies precisely here.

Yet Great Master Yongming was not the only one to act in this way. There was also Chan Master Sixin Xin, who awakened through Chan and then encouraged the practice of the Pure Land path. He said: “Amitabha is very easy to recite, and the Pure Land is very easy to reach through rebirth.

It is excellent for Chan practitioners to recite the Buddha’s name. If those of somewhat lesser capacity fear that they may not attain great awakening in this life and may easily lose themselves in the ford of delusion in their next life, they should rely upon Amitabha Buddha’s compassionate vows and swiftly attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. If anyone recites the Buddha’s name with utmost sincerity yet fails to attain rebirth in the Pure Land, this old monk is willing to fall into the Tongue-Pulling Hell.” Likewise, Chan Master Zhenxie Qingliao said in his exhortation to cultivate the Pure Land: “Why do those within the Caodong school secretly cultivate the Pure Land path in addition to practicing Chan?

This is because the Buddha-recitation Dharma gate is the direct path among all methods of cultivation. An examination of the Great Canon shows that this gateway not only guides those of the highest capacity but also embraces people of middle and lower capacities.... Great exemplars within the Chan school, having awakened to the Dharma that is neither empty nor existent, nevertheless devoted themselves earnestly to cultivating pure karma.

Could it be that beholding the Buddha through the Pure Land gateway is even more direct and simple than through the Chan school? Therefore, whether Buddha or patriarch, whether Doctrine or Chan, all return through the Pure Land gateway to the same true source. Once one enters this gateway, one can enter the immeasurable other Dharma gates....”

As for such masters as Chan Master Tianyi Huai, Chan Master Yuanzhao Ben, Chan Master Cishou Shen, Chan Master Nanyue Si, Chan Master Fazhao, Chan Master Jingjie, Chan Master Datong of Jingci, Chan Master Huaiyu of Tiantai, Chan Master Daozhen of Liang, Chan Master Daochuo of the Tang dynasty, Chan Master Fazhen of Piling, Chan Master Shouna of Gusu, Chan Master Jian of Beixian, and Chan Master Li of Tianmu—these venerable elders were exemplary patriarchs within the Chan tradition.

Yet, upon examination, both their private practice and their public teaching promoted the essential purport of the Pure Land. Although they had made no prior agreement, they happened to follow the same path. Nor was this true only of those venerable elders.

I once heard a distinguished elder of the Chan school say, “Nearly all the five houses and lineages, and all the Chan monks throughout the world, whether awakened or not yet awakened, turn toward the Pure Land.”

When asked the reason, he replied, “Chan Master Baizhang Huaihai was a direct Dharma heir of Mazu of Jiangxi. Monasteries throughout the world have all been established according to his model, and the pure regulations observed everywhere in the Chan tradition are carried out according to the rules he instituted. From ancient times to the present, no one has dared to criticize or contravene those regulations.

According to his pure regulations, the rite of supplication for monks who are gravely ill contains the following words: ‘The assembly must be gathered, and all together recite the verse praising Amitabha Buddha; then they should loudly chant Namo Amitabha Buddha one hundred or one thousand times. When the chanting is finished, they should dedicate the merit and make this prayer: If his conditions are not yet exhausted, may he swiftly regain peace and health.

If his allotted lifespan has reached its end, may he be born in the Land of Peace and Bliss.’ Is this not evidence that the Pure Land is the ultimate refuge?

“Again, the rite for escorting a monk who has passed away contains this passage: ‘The great assembly together chants Amitabha Buddha’s name, dedicates the merit, and makes this prayer: May his spirit transcend to the Pure Realm, and may his karma on the dusty path come to an end. May the lotus of the highest grade blossom and reveal his golden body, and may the Buddha bestow upon him the prediction of attaining the fruit in a single lifetime.’ Is this not evidence that the Pure Land is the ultimate refuge?

Furthermore, at the time of cremation, the pure regulations instruct the precentor to sound the chime and lead the chanting of ‘Namo Amitabha Buddha, Greatly Kind and Greatly Compassionate One of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss’ ten times, with the entire assembly responding in unison.

“After the chanting, they again dedicate the merit, saying: ‘The ten invocations proclaimed above are offered in aid of rebirth in the Pure Land....’ Is this not evidence that the Pure Land is the ultimate refuge? Therefore, this old monk says that all Chan practitioners throughout the world turn toward the Pure Land for precisely this reason.”

I found all the evidence cited by that distinguished elder to be well founded and could offer no refutation. From this, I suddenly understood that Chan Master Baizhang must have had a profound and wondrous intent in establishing those regulations.

Now you dwell in a monastery and have personally escorted an unknown number of monks who passed away. Your own ears have heard, and your own mouth has chanted, the ten invocations an unknown number of times. Your mind has likewise been focused on dedicating the merit toward the Pure Land an unknown number of times! Yet you have neither understood the Patriarch’s intent nor awakened the resolve to examine yourself. Instead, you mistakenly claim that those who have attained realization do not aspire to rebirth there. Truly, among all those in the world afflicted by attachment to Chan, none surpasses you.

4. Question: The Pure Land teaching truly embraces beings of every capacity, and this ignorant person no longer dares to debate the matter. Yet I have often heard it said, “Amitabha is our inherent nature; the Pure Land is mind-only,” and inwardly I was secretly delighted. But when I examined the sutras and treatises of this school, I found that the Pure Land is the Land of Ultimate Bliss, hundreds of billions of worlds away, and that Amitabha is the teaching master of the Lotus Land. Thus, that land and this realm are separated by a vast distance, apparently lying outside the principle of mind-only and inherent nature! What is the purport of this?

Answer: Such an understanding is still shallow and narrow. Do you not know that your true mind is infinitely vast and luminous? The Surangama Sutra says, “The mountains, rivers, and great earth, and even the empty space outside my physical body, are all objects appearing within the wondrously luminous true mind.” It also says, “All phenomena that arise and transform are manifestations of mind-only.” How, then, could any Buddha-land exist outside our minds?

Therefore, the meaning of “the Pure Land is mind-only” is that the Pure Land lies within our true mind, just as innumerable bubbles arise upon the vast ocean, yet not a single bubble exists outside the ocean. It is also like the particles of dust upon the earth: not a single particle is anything other than earth. Likewise, there is no Buddha-land that is not mind.

Thus, a former sage said, “This single mind fully contains the four lands: the Land Where Ordinary Beings and Sages Dwell Together, the Land of Expedient Liberation with Residuality, the Land of Unobstructed True Reward, and the Land of Eternally Quiescent Light.”

The Land Where Ordinary Beings and Sages Dwell Together is of two kinds: the Pure Land of Shared Dwelling and the Defiled Land of Shared Dwelling. A Defiled Land of Shared Dwelling is like the Saha world of this realm, where ordinary beings and sages live intermingled. Both ordinary beings and sages are divided into two classes.

The two classes of ordinary beings are evil sentient beings, namely those in the four unfortunate destinies, and virtuous sentient beings, namely gods and humans. The two classes of sages are true sages and provisional sages. True sages are those who have attained the four fruits of the path, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas at the seventh bhumi in the Shared Teaching, those at the ten abodes in the Distinct Teaching, and those whose minds have passed beyond the ten stages of faith in the Perfect Teaching.

Although these beings have eliminated the delusions shared by the three vehicles, their karmically produced physical bodies still remain; hence they are all called true sages. Provisional sages are bodhisattvas dwelling in the Lands of Expedient Liberation, True Reward, or Quiescent Light, as well as those at the stage of Wondrous Awakening (Buddhahood), who, in order to benefit beings with the proper affinities, responsively take birth in a Land of Shared Dwelling.

Because they manifest in accordance with beings’ capacities, they are called provisional sages. Since all the beings described above dwell together with ordinary beings, it is called the Land Where Ordinary Beings and Sages Dwell Together. As for the environment of this world, there are pits and hollows, thorns and brambles, mud and soil, and all manner of impurities; and within the realm of sentient beings there are the four unfortunate destinies.

It is therefore called a Defiled Land.

A Pure Land of Shared Dwelling is like the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Although its circumstantial and direct recompenses are wondrously adorned and it contains none of the four unfortunate destinies, it is nevertheless called a Land Where Ordinary Beings and Sages Dwell Together, because not all beings born there have attained the path. As a sutra says, “Those who have committed grave offenses, if at the time of death they sincerely repent and recollect the Buddha, can all attain rebirth there.” From this, one should understand that even sentient beings who still possess delusions and defilements may dwell in that land.

The Land of Ultimate Bliss also contains two classes of resident sages. Because both its circumstantial and direct recompenses are pure and adorned, it is called a Pure Land. To elaborate further, although it is called a Pure Land, in reality it contains many different grades, higher and lower, that are not equal.

For example, although the World of Wondrous Joy is a Pure Land, it still contains men and women and Mount Sumeru. Just as Pure Lands differ in this way, so too do defiled lands.

The Land of Expedient Liberation with Residuality is the dwelling place of those of the Two Vehicles and the three classes of bodhisattvas who have realized the path of expedient liberation. Through cultivating the two gates of contemplation, these practitioners have eliminated the delusions shared by the three vehicles, completely overcome delusions as numerous as dust and sand, abandoned bodies subject to fragmentary birth and death, and received bodies of Dharma-nature.

They dwell freely beyond the three realms; yet because they have not eliminated the distinct delusion of ignorance, they still undergo the transformational birth and death. It is called “expedient” because it is the realm attained through the cultivation and realization of the path of expedient liberation. It is called “with residuality” because they have not yet eliminated ignorance.

Thus, the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says, “Beyond the three realms there is a Pure Land. This is the dwelling place of sravakas and pratyekabuddhas, who receive bodies of Dharma-nature and are no longer subject to fragmentary birth and death.”

The Land of True Recompense Without Obstruction is a realm in which there are no followers of the Two Vehicles; it is inhabited solely by bodhisattvas of the Dharma-body. These beings destroy ignorance portion by portion, realize the Dharma-nature portion by portion, and attain true recompense. Yet because they have not completely severed ignorance, they still nurture undefiled karma, receive the recompense-body of the Dharma-nature, and therefore this realm is also called the Land of Recompense.

The Sutra of Benevolent Kings says, “The three ranks of worthies and the ten stages of sages dwell in recompense,” referring precisely to this. It is called True Recompense because these Great Beings contemplate the true nature of reality, bring forth genuine undefiled wisdom, and enjoy true recompense. It is called Without Obstruction because the bodhisattvas there cultivate the samadhi of true emptiness, so form and mind do not obstruct one another.

The realm of Indra’s Net elucidated in the Avatamsaka Sutra is precisely this realm.

The Land of Eternally Quiescent Light is the suchness of the Dharma-realm, the ultimate luminous wisdom of those who have attained Wondrous Enlightenment. It is the Buddha-nature of True Suchness: the land itself is the body, and the body itself is the land; body and land are nondual. It is the dwelling place of Vairocana Buddha and is also called the Land of Dharma-nature. “Eternal” is the virtue of the Dharma-body. “Quiescent” is the virtue of liberation. “Light” is the virtue of prajna. Like the character Yi (() with its three dots, they cannot be separated: one is three, while the three remain originally one. This is also called the Secret Treasury, the realm in which the Tathagata freely journeys and transforms beings—ultimately true and eternal, supremely pure.

The first two lands are the dwelling places of the Buddha’s Response-body. The third land pertains both to the Response-body and to the Recompense-body, but is principally the dwelling place of the Recompense-body Buddha. The fourth land is neither merely Response nor Recompense, yet encompasses both Response and Recompense; it is the dwelling place of the Dharma-body Buddha.

These four lands are distinguished according to one’s cultivation and realization, but in truth they remain one. Thus, the true mind encompasses the myriad phenomena; the boundless lands, numerous as dust motes throughout the ten directions, are precisely realms within our own mind; and the Buddhas of the three times, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, are likewise the Buddhas within our own mind. Nothing exists outside the original mind. Understanding this principle, one knows that no land is established without relying upon our mind, and no Buddha is born without relying upon our nature. How, then, could the Land of Ultimate Bliss, ten trillion Buddha-lands away, not be the Pure Land of mind-only?

Since the World of Ultimate Bliss is thus, the teaching master of that realm is likewise Amitabha Buddha of our inherent nature. One should know that this single mind fully encompasses the ten Dharma-realms; body and land interpenetrate, layer upon layer, without obstruction. One should further know that mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are precisely one, identical in essence and without difference.

Sentient beings and Buddhas mutually appear within one another, intermingling in every thought. Therefore, an ancient worthy said: “Sentient beings within the minds of the Buddhas—every mote of dust is Ultimate Bliss. The Buddhas within the minds of sentient beings—every thought is truly Amitabha.

The pure and defiled realms of the ten directions are gathered within a single instant. A single thought of form and mind spreads throughout and encompasses the Dharma-realm.” From this, one knows that everything is inherently complete within the natural and true essence; it is not newly established through dependent arising. If a single thought is thus, how could a single mote of dust be otherwise?

Therefore it is possible that:

“In each and every mote of dust are all lands.
In each and every mind are all minds.
Each mind and each mote pervades all the others;
Layer upon layer, inexhaustible and unobstructed.
All appear clearly at once, without concealment or disclosure;
All are perfectly fulfilled, with none inferior to another.”

The realm of the true mind encompassing boundless lands is like Indra’s celestial net of precious jewels: the reflections and light of all the jewels are gathered and manifested within a single jewel, while the reflections and light of that single jewel are in turn manifested throughout all the other jewels. Although every jewel mutually manifests every other jewel, this jewel cannot be that jewel, nor can that jewel be this jewel.

They interpenetrate without confusion, are distinct without separation, and each is displayed everywhere while abiding nowhere! The World of Ultimate Bliss and even each of the ten trillion intervening lands are like individual jewels in that net. More precisely, throughout every land, from the sages of the Three Vehicles down to devas, humans, asuras, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell beings, each is likewise like one of those jewels.

Amitabha Buddha, too, is one of those jewels. Therefore, to see one Buddha is to see the Buddhas of the ten directions, and it is also to see the sentient beings of the nine realms throughout the ten directions. The Buddha-lands are boundless; throughout the ten directions and across past and present, the whole is a single ocean-seal of sudden and perfect realization, beyond which there is no other Dharma whatsoever!

Thus, when the consciousness traverses ten trillion lands, it is in fact born through transformation within our own original mind; when one’s being is entrusted to a lotus among the nine grades, how could one be separated from the Buddha of True Suchness? All the explanations cited above are clear teachings proclaimed by the Buddhas, patriarchs, sages, and worthies. Understanding this principle, one will certainly see that the World of Ultimate Bliss is mind-only, and that every Buddha-land and every mote of dust is likewise mind-only; Amitabha Buddha is our inherent nature, and every Buddha and every sentient being is likewise our inherent nature. What doubt could then remain?

Supplementary Note:

The true mind of the Dharma-realm is a single, vast, boundless essence encompassing worlds numerous as dust motes, together with all Buddhas and sentient beings. Within this one true essence, the aspect of the worlds and sentient beings is constantly changing and belongs to the gate of arising and ceasing; the aspect of quiescent light—serene, wondrous, luminous, and eternal—is called the gate of True Suchness. The true mind is the one common reality comprising these two gates, the conditioned and the unconditioned.

All such terms as True Mind, Inherent Nature, Original Essence, Buddha-nature, Tathagata-garbha, Dharma-realm, Dharma-nature, True Nature of Reality, nirvana, Dharma-body, Stainless Pure Consciousness, the Tathagata’s Alaya Consciousness, Original Face, prajna, and True Emptiness refer to this same reality. To return to this reality, the Buddha’s teachings are divided into two approaches. Schools such as the Satyasiddhi, Three Treatises, Tiantai, Chan, and the Womb Realm division of Esoteric Buddhism enter through the gate of emptiness.

Schools such as the Abhidharma-kosa, Dharma-characteristics, Vinaya, Avatamsaka, Pure Land, and the Vajra Realm division of Esoteric Buddhism enter through the gate of existence. Therefore, those who deeply understand the prajna principle of Chan or the profound gateway of Avatamsaka clearly recognize that form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form, form itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is form.

Conversely, those whose studies are not yet thorough will inevitably cling either to existence or to emptiness. Yet those who cling to existence still know to fear karmic cause and effect, avoid evil, and practice goodness; in their next life they may enjoy the blessings of devas and humans, or, if they single-mindedly recite the Buddha’s name, they may even be reborn in the Pure Land. Those who cling to emptiness, however, will eventually deny karmic cause and effect and reject the Buddhas and sages, and in the future they will fall into the three evil paths.

Therefore, a worthy of old admonished: “Better to cling to existence as vast as Mount Sumeru than to cling to emptiness as tiny as a mustard seed!”

The Chan practitioner mentioned above, because he had not yet clearly recognized the true mind, heard the teaching “the Pure Land is mind-only, and Amitabha is one’s own nature,” and hastily misunderstood it to mean that his own purified mind was already the Pure Land and Amitabha, and that no other Land of Ultimate Bliss or Buddha Amitabha existed. In the Buddhadharma, whether in China or Vietnam, there have always been people of such erroneous views who cling to emptiness.

Generally, they deny the existence of Amitabha and the Land of Ultimate Bliss, as well as the hells and heavenly palaces; or they say that Ksitigarbha merely means the ground of mind and the treasury of nature, and that there is no actual Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Just as someone wearing black spectacles sees darkness everywhere, such people, no matter how many teachings they expound or how many sutras and treatises they translate, ultimately fall into the malady of attachment to emptiness.

Those who cling to emptiness are often arrogant and complacent, considering themselves lofty and profound while accusing others of attachment to appearances. When translating sutras, they may indeed intend to propagate the Buddhadharma, but unexpectedly achieve the opposite result and end up slandering the Three Jewels. Not only are they mistaken themselves, but they also lead many others astray.

They are like an incompetent physician who wishes to save the world but, because his knowledge of medicine is inadequate, instead causes many people to become even more ill.

Therefore, translating sutras and expounding the Dharma do not necessarily bring merit or propagate Buddhism if practitioners fall into erroneous views and fail to understand the meaning of the sutras.

5. Question: Since purity and impurity are said to interpenetrate without obstruction, and every mote of dust is the Land of Ultimate Bliss, why has the Saha world become an impure land?

Answer: Because of the karmic responses of ordinary beings, impurity arises precisely within purity. Yet when viewed with the Buddha-eye, all impurity becomes purity. Could the recompense realm of Buddha Shakyamuni truly be impure?

6. Question: The principle of mind-only encompasses everything and is perfectly interfused and unobstructed. I already believe it to be vast and wondrous. But how can those still mired in deluded emotions and not yet free from defiled karma become pure?

Answer: When the mind is defiled, the land is defiled; when the mind is pure, the land is pure. The Vimalakirti Sutra says: “If one wishes to attain a Pure Land, one must first purify one’s mind; according as the mind is pure, the Buddha-land is pure.” The practice of the Pure Land is a profound and wondrous Dharma gate leading to purification of the mind; there is no more exceptional skillful means than this!

7. Question: May I hear a general account of the Pure Land Dharma gate?

Answer: Originally, there is nothing to cultivate in the Pure Land; cultivation arises only because of delusion. Dharma gates themselves are neither high nor low; distinctions of high and low arise according to one’s wholesome roots. Because the capacities of sentient beings differ, there are also many methods of practice. Nevertheless, in summary, they may be divided into three approaches: visualization, recollection, and the myriad practices.

The first approach is visualization, as taught in the Contemplation Sutra: “The Buddha-Tathagatas possess the body of the Dharma realm, which enters into the thoughts of all sentient beings. Therefore, when your minds contemplate the Buddha, that very mind is the thirty-two excellent marks and the eighty subsidiary characteristics; that mind creates the Buddha, and that mind is the Buddha. The ocean of the Buddha’s right and universal knowledge arises from contemplative thought. Therefore, you should carefully recollect and visualize the body of that Buddha.”

The Tiantai Commentary says: The passage beginning with the words “the Buddha-Tathagatas” elucidates all Buddhas, while the passage beginning with “you should recollect” refers specifically to the visualization of Buddha Amitabha. “The body of the Dharma realm” is the Dharma-body of the Buddha’s recompense body. When the minds of sentient beings are pure, the Dharma-body naturally manifests; hence it is said to “enter,” just as when the crimson sun rises, its reflection appears in a hundred rivers.

This indicates that the Buddha-body is sovereign and free, able to manifest forms in accordance with beings. Furthermore, “the body of the Dharma realm” refers to the Buddha-body pervading all places and taking the Dharma realm as its essence. When practitioners attain this Samadhi of Buddha-visualization, their understanding and realization enter into accord with it; hence it is said to enter into their contemplative thoughts.

“That mind creates the Buddha” means that the Buddha originally does not exist as a separate entity but manifests when the minds of sentient beings become pure. “That mind is the Buddha”: having first said that the Buddha originally does not exist separately but manifests when the minds of sentient beings become pure, lest people mistakenly suppose that the Buddha suddenly comes into existence, the sutra therefore says that the mind “is the Buddha.” At the beginning of visualization practice, it is said to “create”; when cultivation is accomplished, it is called “is.”

The Miaozong Commentary says: “If one wishes to contemplate the Buddha-body, one must clearly understand the essence of contemplation. That essence is intrinsic awakening, from which the practice of contemplation arises and is established. Intrinsic awakening is the Dharma-realm body of all Buddhas, for the Buddhas realize nothing other than the entire intrinsic nature of sentient beings.

Only when initial awakening has accomplished its work does intrinsic awakening become manifest; hence it is said, ‘The Dharma-body arises from contemplative thought.’ Moreover, Amitabha and all Buddhas share the same Dharma-body and the same wisdom, and their functioning is likewise the same. To reveal the body of Amitabha is to reveal the bodies of all Buddhas; to illuminate the bodies of all Buddhas is to disclose the essence of Amitabha.

Therefore, the sutra passage speaks broadly of all Buddhas before concluding with the visualization of Buddha Amitabha. The passage beginning with the words ‘the body of the Dharma realm’ describes the communion inherent in the way of stimulus and response and, in terms of principle, the correspondence attained through understanding and realization.”

Commenting on the two explanations above, Master Rongxin said: “Without the first explanation, this method of visualization would not be a visualization of the Buddha; without the second, I fear that students might mistakenly suppose the essences of sentient beings and Buddhas to be different. These two interpretations complement one another in elucidating the method of contemplation.”

The second approach is recollection. Whether practitioners focus upon the Buddha’s excellent marks or uphold his name, both are called recollection. This approach encompasses both principle and practice.

In the Avatamsaka Sutra, the elder Liberation says: “If I wish to see the Tathagata Amitayus and the Land of Peace and Bliss, I can see them immediately, as I wish. I can clearly know all Buddhas, their respective lands, and their deeds of spiritual power. All the scenes and appearances described above come from nowhere, go nowhere, have no location, and abide nowhere; likewise, my own body does not truly go, remain, approach, or depart.

Those Tathagatas do not come to where I am, nor do I go to where they are. This is because I clearly understand that all Buddhas, together with my own mind, are like dreams. I also understand my own mind to be like water in a vessel, and all dharmas to be like reflections appearing in that water.

I have awakened to my own mind as being like an illusionist and all Buddhas as being like conjured phenomena. I further know that the Buddhas and bodhisattvas within my own mind are all like echoes, just as an empty valley produces a responding echo according to the sound. Because I have awakened to and understood my own mind in this way, I can see the Buddhas whenever I recollect them.”

Regarding the passage above, Master Zhenyuan explained: “From the opening sentence through the words ‘where they are’ elucidates the principle of mind-only. If one awakens to mind as being no-mind, one immediately enters the Samadhi of true suchness. When practitioners clearly understand that all scenes and appearances are illusory and manifested by mind alone, and have awakened to mind-only and to the principle that this very mind is Buddha, then wherever their recollection rests, there is nowhere that is not Buddha.

The latter passage presents four analogies: the dream-state illustrates the principle of neither coming nor going; reflections in water illustrate the principle of neither emerging nor entering; conjured appearances illustrate the principle of neither existence nor nonexistence; and echoes illustrate the principle of neither dispersing nor combining. The first analogy teaches that everything in its entirety is mind-only; the second teaches that, because all is mind-only, it is empty; the third teaches that, because all is mind-only, it is provisionally existent; and the fourth teaches that, because all is mind-only, it is the Middle.

Each of the four analogies contains all four contemplations, both common and distinct, thereby revealing the principle of mind-only, in which everything is perfectly interfused and unobstructed. This is the meaning of the Avatamsaka Sutra.”

If practitioners clearly understand the principles set forth above, and then uphold the four words “Amitabha Buddha,” without employing a mind of existence, a mind of nonexistence, a mind of both existence and nonexistence, or a mind of neither existence nor nonexistence, and recite while severing past, present, and future alike, this is called recollection according to principle. If, throughout the six periods of day and night, they thus gather the mind and maintain the recitation without interruption, so that not a single thought arises, they need not pass through successive stages but may proceed directly into the Buddha-realm. This is also called one-pointedness according to principle.

Regarding recollection in practice, the Surangama Sutra says: “Those who remember the Buddha and recite the Buddha’s name will certainly see the Buddha, either in this present life or in the future. They will not be far from the Buddha, and without resorting to any other expedient means, their minds will naturally awaken.” Or, as taught in other sutras and texts, one may concentrate upon the Buddha throughout an entire lifetime; maintain the recitation for three months, forty-nine days, one day and night, or as long as seven days and nights; or preserve ten recitations every morning.

If practitioners, with profound faith and earnest vows, uphold the phrase of Buddha-recitation as a dragon encountering water or a tiger relying upon the mountains, then, aided and sustained by the Buddha’s power, they will all attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. According to the sutras, even ordinary beings who have committed the five rebellious offenses and the ten evil deeds, if at the time of death they sincerely invoke the Buddha’s name for ten recitations, will also attain rebirth there.

This is called one-pointedness in practice.

In brief, one-pointedness according to principle means that practitioners comprehend the four contemplative principles above and employ such a mind in reciting the Buddha’s name, corresponding with the wisdom of emptiness until they reach perfect purity and truth. One-pointedness in practice means that practitioners still retain the act of recollection, allowing no gap between one thought and the next, until they reach the state in which no miscellaneous thoughts remain. One-pointedness according to principle is a practice for those of superior faculties, while one-pointedness in practice extends to those of middling and lesser faculties.

The third approach, called the manifold practices, means that practitioners employ many practices to attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. In the Avatamsaka Sutra, Bodhisattva Samantabhadra exhorts the Youth Sudhana and the assembly of the ocean-wide gathering to seek rebirth in the Pure Land through the ten great kings of vows. These ten great vows are: to pay homage to all Buddhas; to praise the Tathagatas; to extensively cultivate offerings; to repent karmic obstructions; to rejoice in all merits and virtues; to request the Buddhas to turn the Dharma wheel; to request the Buddhas to remain in the world; always to follow the Buddhas in study and practice; constantly to accord with sentient beings; and universally to dedicate all merit.

Each of these vows states: only when the realm of space, the realm of sentient beings, the karma of sentient beings, and the afflictions of sentient beings come to an end will my vow come to an end. Practitioners must fulfill these vows through the three karmic activities of body, speech, and mind, without interruption, weariness, or fatigue. When death approaches, everything that has accompanied them must be left behind, and even their faculties will disintegrate; yet these great vows alone will constantly remain with them, and within a single instant, practitioners will attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

This describes attaining rebirth through the power of vows.

Again, in the Maharatnakuta Sutra, the Blessed One told Maitreya: “These ten kinds of mind cannot be generated by foolish ordinary beings, by the unwholesome, or by those burdened with many afflictions. What are these ten kinds of mind?

1- To arouse great loving-kindness toward sentient beings and never harm them.

2- To arouse great compassion toward sentient beings and never torment them.

3- To wholeheartedly protect and uphold the Buddha’s true Dharma, without begrudging one’s body or life.

4- To give rise to supreme patient acceptance regarding the true Dharma, without attachment.

5- To maintain a serene and joyful mind, without craving offerings, reverence, or honor.

6- At all times, never to neglect the mind that seeks the Buddha’s wisdom of all modes.

7- To arouse respect and reverence toward sentient beings and never regard them as inferior.

8- To remain unattached to worldly doctrines and give rise to resolute conviction regarding the factors of bodhi.

9- To maintain a pure and undefiled mind, diligently planting wholesome roots.

10- In relation to all Buddhas, to relinquish all characteristics and give rise to continuous recollection.

These are the ten kinds of resolve generated by bodhisattvas, through which they attain rebirth. If anyone fulfills even one of these ten kinds of mind and wishes to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, yet fails to attain that wish, such a thing is utterly impossible.” This passage describes attaining rebirth through the power of mind.

Furthermore, in the Great Compassion Heart Dharani Sutra, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara addressed the Buddha: “Blessed One! If sentient beings who recite and uphold the Great Compassion Mantra should still fall into the three evil paths, I vow not to attain perfect enlightenment. If those who recite and uphold the Great Compassion Mantra are not born in the Buddha-lands, I vow not to attain perfect enlightenment.

If those who recite and uphold the Great Compassion Mantra do not attain immeasurable samadhis and eloquence, I vow not to attain perfect enlightenment. If those who recite and uphold the Great Compassion Mantra do not obtain whatever they seek in this present life according to their wishes, then this mantra shall not be called the Great Compassion Heart Dharani, except when they seek unwholesome things or when their minds lack utmost sincerity.” In addition, those who sincerely recite and uphold mantras such as the White Parasol, Cundi, and Rebirth mantras can all be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss or in other Pure Lands.

This describes attaining rebirth through spiritual power.

Moreover, the Contemplation Sutra of the Buddha of Infinite Life says: “Those who wish to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss must cultivate three kinds of merit: 1. Filially care for their parents, serve and respect their teachers and elders, maintain a compassionate mind, refrain from killing, and cultivate the ten wholesome deeds. 2. Receive and uphold the Three Refuges, carefully observe the precepts, and refrain from violating the rules of conduct. 3. Generate the bodhi-mind, believe in the principle of cause and effect, read and recite the Mahayana scriptures, and encourage practitioners in their cultivation. These three kinds of merit are the true causes of the pure karma of all Buddhas of the past, present, and future.” This describes attaining rebirth through the power of merit.

In addition, those who establish monasteries, build stupas, create images, bow in homage, offer praises and recitations, observe fasting and the precepts, burn incense, scatter flowers, offer banners, streamers, and jeweled canopies, provide meals for the Sangha, and practice generosity can all attain rebirth if their wholesome practices mature and they dedicate them with faith and vows. The practices cited above are called the manifold practices. However, because vows and practices differ in greatness and smallness, and because principle and practice are distinct, there must also be superior and inferior degrees in seeing the Buddha, hearing the Dharma, and experiencing the dependent and primary recompenses. What has been said here is only a general outline.

Supplementary Note:

Those who wish to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss may dedicate any one of the following practices toward that goal: the power of vows, the power of mind, spiritual power, or the power of merit. The methods are not limited exclusively to visualization or upholding the Buddha’s name. Nevertheless, in these four methods, practitioners must cultivate until their merit and virtue become pure and their wholesome practices are accomplished before they may have hope of success.

For ordinary people, however, karmic obstructions are heavy and not easily severed, while difficult wholesome practices are not easily accomplished. Only the practice of upholding the Buddha’s name, which relies upon and seeks the aid of other-power, is the most certain. Therefore, Dharma Master Yinguang said: “When frail and inferior ordinary beings attain rebirth, it is entirely through the compassionate power of the Tathagata.” Thus, if present-day practitioners of Buddha-recitation wish to ensure their rebirth, they should take upholding the Buddha’s name as their primary practice, while treating such merits as sutra recitation, mantra recitation, generosity, and other wholesome practices as auxiliary practices.

This is the secure path.

Of the three approaches presented by Master Tianru, the first generally concerns the Buddha-recitation of the True Characteristic, which is difficult for those of middling and lesser faculties to practice. As for the third approach, ordinary people entangled in many karmic conditions likewise have little hope of success and should employ it only as an auxiliary practice. Only the practical method of upholding the Buddha’s name, belonging to the second approach, can be practiced by everyone and offers hope of accomplishment.

Nevertheless, because the capacities of sentient beings differ, the Master had to explain all the approaches fully so that each person might choose according to their inclination. The translator’s discussion of their advantages and disadvantages is based only upon the circumstances of the majority of ordinary people today.

8. Question:—I have heard that the Youth Sudhana possessed keen faculties suited to the perfect and sudden teaching and attained realization in a single lifetime. Why did Samantabhadra not exhort him to be born in the Flower Treasury Realm, but instead exhort him to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss? What is the meaning of this?

Answer:—This question is raised in the Commentary on the Avatamsaka Sutra. The commentary answers: “This matter implicitly contains many reasons: because of causes and conditions; so that the mind’s recollection may become single and unified; because the Land of Ultimate Bliss is not apart from the Flower Treasury Realm; and because Amitabha is none other than his original teacher.” The first two reasons are easy to understand.

As for the third, within the Flower Treasury World are Buddha lands as numerous as motes of dust. The Land of Ultimate Bliss, situated one hundred thousand kotis of Buddha lands from here, is not outside the number of those world-seeds. As for the fourth, the sutra says: “Or one may behold the Dharma assembly of the Buddha Infinite Life, surrounded by many bodhisattvas such as Avalokitesvara, and thereupon praise him as a distinct transformation-body of Vairocana.” Tathagata Vairocana is the Teaching Lord of the Flower Treasury Realm.

Since Amitabha Buddha is his distinct transformation-body, how could he differ from him? Thus it is said that he “is none other than the original teacher.” It further says: “Bodhisattva Samantabhadra concluded by exhorting Sudhana and the ocean-wide assembly to seek birth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss because Sudhana had attained perfectly penetrating faith and understanding, entered Manjusri’s wisdom, and cultivated Samantabhadra’s practices; his merit and wisdom, as well as principle and phenomena, all accorded with the Dharma-realm.

He was one of great resolve who, although he had awakened to the originally luminous essence and ranked together with the sages, had not yet perfected the power and functioning needed to enter the world and universally benefit all beings as the Tathagatas do. Therefore, Bodhisattva Samantabhadra exhorted him, together with the ocean-wide assembly, to take refuge in the Pure Land and draw near to Amitabha, solely with the intent that all might swiftly attain Buddhahood.”

9. Question:—In the teaching on the many practices, it is said: “Since vows and practices differ in greatness and smallness, and principle and phenomena are distinct, there must likewise be superior and inferior differences in seeing the Buddha, hearing the Dharma, and experiencing the circumstantial and direct recompenses.” If so, since the two methods of contemplation and mindful recollection differ in the causes cultivated, do the characteristics of their resulting responses also differ?

Answer:—Naturally, they must differ. Therefore, Yongming said: “Birth in the Pure Land is divided into nine grades and is not of a single rank. Some take birth in a transformed land and behold the Buddha’s response-body; others are born in a recompense land and behold the Tathagata’s true body.

Some pass through many kalpas before attaining the fruit of the Lesser Vehicle; others, after being born for only one night, immediately transcend to the higher stages. In brief, because the faculties and practices of those reborn there are not alike—some having dull faculties and others keen faculties, some possessing a concentrated mind and others a distracted mind—the lotuses bloom earlier or later, and realization of the fruit is slow or swift; the differences in time are exceedingly great.” Master Ciyun, the author of repentance rites, also said: “Although nine grades are distinguished, this is only a general division.

If analyzed in detail, there should be immeasurable grades.”

10. Question:—The Land of Ultimate Bliss is only a Land Where Ordinary Beings and Sages Dwell Together, not a Land of True Recompense. Why, then, is it said: “Some are born in a recompense land and behold the Tathagata’s true body”?

Answer:—Do you think that a Land of True Recompense exists separately outside the Land Where Ordinary Beings and Sages Dwell Together? You should know that the other three lands do not exist apart from the Land Where Ordinary Beings and Sages Dwell Together; they differ only in body, environment, and the way they are experienced and enjoyed. As the sutra says: “The body of Amitabha Buddha is six hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Ganges sands of yojanas in height.” The ancient virtuous masters explained this as the body of True Recompense.

Not only does the Land of Ultimate Bliss contain four distinct lands, but all other worlds are likewise. Therefore, Jingxi said: “This very Saha world fully contains the four lands. For example, the ocean-wide Avatamsaka assembly of that time was not apart from Jeta Grove, yet the great sravakas neither heard, saw, nor knew of it.”

11. Question:—If the Saha world fully contains the four lands, then we need only remain here and cultivate step by step. Why is it necessary to seek birth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss?

Answer:—Although this world contains all four lands, it belongs to the Defiled Land Where Ordinary Beings and Sages Dwell Together; therefore, practitioners find it difficult to eliminate defiled karma. To escape defiled karma, practitioners must seek birth in the Pure Land Where Ordinary Beings and Sages Dwell Together in the Lotus Realm. Therefore, the Venerable Siming said: “In the Saha world, environmental conditions are heavily turbid and evil; practitioners must attain the stage of the ten faiths before they can escape the wheel of suffering.

In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, environmental conditions are supremely wondrous; therefore, those born in any of the nine grades all immediately enter the stage of non-retrogression. Have you not heard in the Lotus Sutra of those who received instruction from Tathagata Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, yet from that time until now, after kalpas as numerous as the fine dust motes of immeasurable and boundless Buddha lands, still remain at the stage of sravakas?

This is entirely because they repeatedly retrogressed and thus had to pass through such immensely long kalpas. For example, in a former life Sariputra had attained the sixth stage of abiding, yet he still regressed in his resolve; how much more so those who practice carelessly and inattentively! In general, because this world has many obstructing conditions, practitioners easily regress.

Thus, an ancient virtuous master said: ‘Bodhisattvas who first arouse the aspiration are as numerous as mango blossoms and fish roe, but in the end, very few remain.’”

If one knows to turn toward the Land of Ultimate Bliss, then, relying upon the supreme conditions of that realm, even an ordinary being of the lowest rank immediately attains the stage of non-retrogression. This is the essential reason for seeking birth there, and practitioners should reflect upon it carefully.

12. Question:—Throughout the ten directions, there are many Pure Lands Where Ordinary Beings and Sages Dwell Together. Why, then, is the Land of Ultimate Bliss singled out, and why are only the environmental conditions of that realm praised as supreme and wondrous?

Answer:—The Sutra Spoken by the Buddha on Amitabha says: “The beings in that land undergo none of the various sufferings but experience only every kind of bliss; therefore, it is called Ultimate Bliss.” The environmental conditions in the Land of Ultimate Bliss are supremely excellent and offer beings of this world many advantages surpassing those of other Pure Lands, beyond the capacity of the minds of ordinary beings in the three realms to comprehend. For now, let us briefly compare them with the environmental conditions of the Saha world:

In this realm, human beings receive bodies of flesh and blood; where there is birth, there is suffering. In that realm, sentient beings are all born by transformation within lotus flowers, and there is no longer the suffering of birth. In this realm, the seasons change and pass, and people gradually approach old age and infirmity.

That realm is a world of perpetual spring, without night or day, heat or cold, and sentient beings do not undergo the suffering of decline and aging. In this realm, the four great elements of the human body are difficult to harmonize, and many illnesses readily arise. In that realm, sentient beings possess vajra bodies, fragrant and pure, and there is no suffering from weakness or sickness.

In this realm, few people live to the age of seventy, and impermanence comes swiftly. In that realm, the lifespans of sentient beings extend for immeasurable kalpas, and there is no suffering of death. In this realm, people are bound by the cords of familial affection and attachment, enduring the pain of separation in death and parting in life.

In that realm, sentient beings are born by transformation within lotus flowers and have neither parents nor spouses and children; thus, they do not suffer the separation of loved ones. In this realm, who is without those they love and those they hate? Thus, when enemies meet, they inevitably undergo much affliction and hardship.

In that realm, all are virtuous beings who guide and assist one another, and there is no suffering from encountering hated enemies. In this realm, most people are poor and deprived, and even the wealthy and honored have countless wishes that remain unfulfilled. In that realm, food, clothing, dwellings, precious treasures, and whatever one desires all manifest naturally; sentient beings dwell in peace and happiness, without the sorrow of disappointed hopes.

In this realm, people may have ugly forms or incomplete faculties. In that realm, all sentient beings possess the thirty-two excellent marks, beautiful vajra bodies, and radiant light. In this realm, sentient beings revolve through the paths of samsara.

In that realm, all supremely virtuous beings attain the Patient Acceptance of the Non-Arising of Dharmas. In this realm, there are all four miserable destinies with their suffering and torment. In that realm, even the names of the three evil paths do not exist.

In this realm, there are many hills, ravines, dense forests, and thorns, and it is filled with impure and evil appearances. In that realm, the ground is made of pure gold, jeweled trees tower into the sky, mansions glitter with pearls, and flowers vie in four colors. In this realm, the Twin Sala Grove has already receded into the past, while the Dragon Flower Assembly remains far in the future.

In that realm, Amitabha, the World-Honored One, is presently teaching the Dharma. In this realm, Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta are merely admired by their noble names. In that realm, the bodhisattvas and superior beings are ever one’s excellent companions.

In this realm, maras and adherents of non-Buddhist paths disturb those who cultivate the true path. In that realm, the Buddha’s transforming influence is pure and unadulterated, and external maras have utterly vanished. In this realm, sights, sounds, fame, and gain delude practitioners.

In that realm, both the environment and its inhabitants are pure and majestic, and no defiling conditions remain. In this realm, vicious creatures, mosquitoes, and gnats prevent practitioners from dwelling in peace. In that realm, music, trees, birds, and water continually proclaim the sounds of Dharma.

From this brief comparison of the two realms, it is already clear how vastly superior the conditions and circumstances of one are to those of the other. If discussed in detail, how could their excellence and inferiority ever be fully recounted? Nevertheless, the essential points may be summarized in two considerations.

First, because the realm of Ultimate Bliss is supremely excellent, it can inspire sentient beings to yearn for it and turn toward it. Second, because the extraordinary conditions of that land are wondrous, they can assist those reborn there to advance easily and swiftly along the path of cultivation and realization. Therefore, although there are many Pure Lands of Common Residence throughout the ten directions, only the Land of Ultimate Bliss possesses all these superior conditions.

This is also why the sutras and treatises universally direct beings toward it.

13. Question:—In the ten directions there are innumerable Buddhas, and all sentient beings endowed with aspiration may draw near to them. Why, then, is Amitabha Buddha alone especially commended?

Answer:—There are three reasons: Amitabha Buddha’s vows are profound and vast; sentient beings of this realm have great karmic affinities with him; and the teachings of the two World-Honored Ones in the Western Land and the Eastern Land are interconnected.

Regarding the first reason, as stated in the Sutra of Infinite Life: During his period of causal cultivation, Amitabha Buddha made many vast vows. The essential import of those vows is: “When I attain Buddhahood, if any sentient being wishes to be born in my land, diligently cultivates roots of virtue, and with utmost sincerity invokes my name even for as few as ten recollections, yet fails to attain rebirth there, I vow not to attain perfect enlightenment. If anyone born in my land should still be subject to retrogression and not be assured of attaining Buddhahood, I vow not to attain perfect enlightenment.” Thus, the Commentary on the Avatamsaka Sutra says: “Amitabha Buddha made a profound and solemn vow to welcome and guide sentient beings of the Saha world.”

Regarding the second reason, while Shakyamuni Buddha was still in the world, very many sentient beings who heard his compassionate instructions turned toward Amitabha Buddha. Since the World-Honored One entered nirvana, monastics and laypeople, men and women, the rich and the poor, the noble and the lowly—whether they have heard the true Dharma or know nothing of Buddhism—have still frequently invoked the name of Amitabha Buddha.

Even violent people and those without faith, when encountering danger, hardship, or disaster, or in moments of joy, lamentation, or resentment, spontaneously cry out, “Amitabha Buddha!” Even young children at play often mold figures or draw images of Amitabha Buddha. Singers, and even infants of three or five years who can barely speak, also know how to recite “Amitabha Buddha.” If no one urges them and yet they still know to recite his name, what could this be but karmic affinity?

Furthermore, in the Sutra of Infinite Life, the World-Honored One said: “I now teach this sutra so that sentient beings may behold the Buddha of Infinite Life and his land. Those who wish to enter the path of liberation should seek rebirth there. Everyone can cultivate this Dharma gate; do not give rise to doubt after I have entered parinirvana.

In the future age, when the teachings of the Tripitaka have entirely disappeared, through the power of my compassionate vows I shall cause this sutra alone to remain in the world for one hundred years. Any sentient beings with the affinity to encounter it shall, according to their aspirations, all attain deliverance.” He further said: “After this sutra disappears, the Buddha-Dharma will vanish entirely from the world. Only the four words ‘Amitabha Buddha’ will remain in circulation to save sentient beings.

Those who disbelieve and slander them will fall into hell and undergo every kind of suffering.” For this reason, the Tiantai Master said: “One should know that this Buddha has exceedingly great karmic affinities with this defiled world.”

Regarding the third reason, the enlightened masters of old all said: “Shakyamuni Buddha manifested birth in a defiled realm and employed conditions of impurity and evil, suffering and affliction, impermanence, obstacles, and adversity to subdue sentient beings, causing them to develop revulsion and cultivate the true path. Amitabha Buddha manifests in a pure realm and employs conditions of purity, peace and joy, longevity, and non-retrogression to gather in and transform sentient beings, causing them to give rise to joyful aspiration and return to the true source.

These two Sages employ the two approaches of subduing and gathering in to propagate the true teaching; therefore, their work of transformation is interconnected. Moreover, in addition to teaching the Three Vehicles to transform sentient beings, the Fundamental Teacher especially taught the Dharma gate of Buddha-recitation so that Amitabha Buddha might welcome and guide those who have not yet attained deliverance. Therefore, throughout the Mahayana sutras, the World-Honored One earnestly enjoined beings, repeatedly praising and encouraging rebirth in that land.”

The three reasons above clearly explain why Amitabha Buddha alone is especially commended among all the Buddhas of the ten directions.

14. Question:—Regarding why only the Land of Ultimate Bliss and Amitabha Buddha are especially commended, as well as the meanings of subduing, gathering in, revulsion, and joyful aspiration, I have now heard the wondrous purport. Yet I consider that the true mind is ever impartial and pure. If thoughts of revulsion and joyful aspiration remain, then aversion and affection, grasping and rejecting, still remain. Would this not be a fault?

Answer: You have not yet deeply understood the matter discussed above, and therefore you ask such a question. This aversion and aspiration are not the worldly feelings of hatred and attachment; rather, they constitute the common path by which the Buddhas of the ten directions transform ordinary beings into sages. Without renunciation born of aversion, how could one transcend the ordinary state? Without aspiration, how could one attain sagehood?

Therefore, from the state of an ordinary being to the stages of sagehood, and from the stages of sagehood to Equal Enlightenment, the entire course of progressive advancement remains within the sphere of accepting and rejecting, aversion and aspiration. Only when a practitioner has realized the ultimate fruition of Wondrous Enlightenment do accepting and rejecting, aversion and aspiration, cease, and one enters the thusness of equality.

Thus, a virtuous master of old said: “At first, practitioners must accept and reject in order to reach the state beyond accepting and rejecting. When accepting and rejecting have been carried to their utmost point, they are identical with non-acceptance and non-rejection.” All the more so because the Pure Land Dharma door was established by Shakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha: one exhorts beings to seek rebirth, while the other undertakes to receive and guide them.

If practitioners of pure karma have no thought of renouncing this world, how can they leave the Saha world? If they have no aspiring mind, how can they be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss? Rebirth in the Pure Land is simply a means of relying upon the superior conditions of that land to swiftly attain the fruit of bodhi.

If accepting and rejecting, aversion and aspiration, did not confer such great benefit, that would be one thing; but why regard them as faults?

15. Question: The teaching concerning accepting and rejecting is correct, and I no longer dare dispute it. Yet I do not know whether rebirth contradicts the principle of non-arising.

Answer: The Tiantai Master said: “The wise earnestly seek rebirth in the Pure Land, yet clearly understand that the essence of birth is fundamentally empty. This is precisely the principle of birth that is non-arising, and of the Buddha-land becoming pure when the mind is pure. Fools are bound by birth: when they hear of birth, they understand it as truly existent birth; when they hear of non-arising, they mistakenly take it to mean that there is no rebirth anywhere at all.

How could they know that birth itself is non-arising, and that non-arising in no way impedes birth?” Chan Master Changlu said: “To regard birth as truly existent birth is to fall into the error of eternalism; to regard non-arising as the complete absence of birth is to fall into the error of annihilationism. Birth that is non-arising, and non-arising that is birth—this alone is truly the ultimate truth.” Chan Master Tianyi likewise said: “Rebirth is assuredly attained, yet in truth there is no going anywhere.” The principles taught by these three great masters are very clear.

I shall now use the two terms nature and characteristics to explain them more fully. In terms of nature, the true mind is wondrous and quiescent; its essence is intrinsically unborn. In terms of characteristics, when causes and conditions converge, the various illusory characteristics of arising and ceasing still appear within the true mind.

Because nature can manifest characteristics, it is said that non-arising itself is birth. Because characteristics are manifested through nature, it is said that birth itself is non-arising. Once this meaning is understood, rebirth in the Pure Land is birth within the essence of mind-only—birth that is non-arising.

How could this contradict the principle?

16. Question: The meaning of the teaching on rebirth is now clear. Yet among the scholars of the present age, how many out of thousands or tens of thousands understand this matter? They therefore all doubt, saying that the Land of Ultimate Bliss lies a hundred thousand kotis of lands away. Since the journey is so exceedingly distant, how can one reach it at the end of one’s life? I do not know whether the Great Master has some means of elucidating this matter.

Answer: Such doubt is truly groundless! I have said many times that there is no land outside the mind and no mind outside the land. Do you still not understand?

This misunderstanding arises solely because many people mistakenly believe that their minds are confined within the narrow bounds of the physical body. They do not realize that this is merely deluded consciousness, whereas in truth each person’s true mind is vast and boundless, encompassing worlds as numerous as grains of sand and pervading the whole expanse of space. Thus, the endless and inexhaustible space of the ten directions and the boundless, innumerable worlds, countless as the sands of the Ganges, are all encompassed and completely pervaded by the capacity of our minds.

From this, one knows that a hundred thousand kotis of lands exist only within our own minds. In truth, they are very near; how could they be far away? Likewise, when one attains rebirth at the end of one’s life, one is born only within one’s own mind.

In truth, this is very easy; how could it be difficult? The Treatise on Ten Doubts says: “The distance of a hundred thousand kotis of lands is spoken of only in relation to the mental capacity of ordinary beings with fleshly eyes who remain within the paths of samsara. For beings whose pure karma has been perfected, however, the mind abiding in samadhi at the moment of death is precisely the mind that takes birth in the Pure Land.

As soon as a thought arises, they attain rebirth. Therefore, the Contemplation Sutra says: ‘The land of Amitabha Buddha is not far from here.’ Moreover, the power of karma is inconceivable: within a single thought, one can be born in the 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 upon the bed, the mind travels throughout distant and unfamiliar places just as it does while awake.

Rebirth in the Pure Land is essentially the same.”

Some sutras state that one attains rebirth within the snap of a finger. Others say it occurs in the time required to bend or extend one’s arm, or in a single instant. Thus, the Record of Self-Confidence says: “In a single instant, one traverses a hundred thousand kotis of lands, because one’s own mind is inherently wondrous.” The general meaning of these analogies is simply this: because one is born within one’s own vast true mind, rebirth is exceedingly easy and exceedingly near.

Setting aside the vastness of the true mind, I shall now establish an analogy based solely upon the narrow mental capacity of an ordinary being such as yourself, so that the matter may be easily understood. Suppose one were to travel from here as an envoy to the Western Land of India. The route would pass through many countries and extend for more than a hundred thousand miles.

A person may never have journeyed to the Western Land, yet may hear someone who has gone there and returned describe the route in detail, and may attentively retain it in mind. Later, while sitting or lying down, that person may suddenly recall what was previously heard and reflect: after traveling a thousand miles, one reaches such-and-such a country; after ten thousand miles, one reaches another country; and finally, this is how one arrives in India.

The scenes of each stage then immediately appear. Wherever the person’s thoughts reach, it is as though that person had physically arrived in that very country. Rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss is not beyond this same principle: within the snap of a finger or a single thought, one arrives there.

What difficulty could there be? If you do not cultivate the Pure Land path yet wish to reach the Land of Ultimate Bliss, it will naturally be difficult. But if your pure karma has been perfected, reaching it will be very easy.

You need only resolve your mind, and your aspiration will be fulfilled. The Buddhas and sages never utter falsehoods!

17. Question: It is certainly true that without cultivating pure karma, rebirth will be difficult. But why can even evil ordinary beings who have committed the gravest offenses attain rebirth at the end of their lives? I still do not understand this point and harbor doubts about it. I respectfully ask the Great Master to explain it clearly.

Answer: In the Contemplation Sutra, it is taught: “Regarding the lowest grade of the lowest birth, suppose there is a person who has committed the five heinous offenses and the ten evil acts and has performed every kind of unwholesome deed. Because of such evil karma, that person should fall into the evil realms and undergo boundless suffering for many kalpas. Yet, when death approaches, that person meets a good spiritual friend who offers consolation, expounds the Dharma, and urges the person to recollect the Buddha.

However, being tormented by suffering, that person is unable to recollect him. The good friend then says, ‘If you cannot recollect the Buddha, you should, with utmost sincerity, continuously recite “Namo Amitabha Buddha” for ten successive thoughts.’ That foolish and evil person follows this instruction and wholeheartedly recites the Buddha’s name. With each thought, grave offenses accumulated during eight billion kalpas of birth and death are extinguished.

While reciting the Buddha’s name, that person suddenly sees a radiant golden lotus, brilliant as the sun, appear before them. Within a single thought, that person is immediately born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss and thereafter remains within the lotus for twelve great kalpas. When the lotus opens, that person beholds Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta, who, in voices of great compassion, expound for them the true nature of all dharmas and the means of eliminating karmic obstructions.

Having heard the Dharma, that person naturally rejoices and gives rise to the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi.”

The passage above clearly describes the circumstances of one who attains the lowest grade of the lowest birth. Although remaining within the lotus for twelve great kalpas is a very long time, the person born there perceives themselves as dwelling in a distinct world and enjoys bliss like that of the devas in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Therefore, an ancient master said: “Within the lotus, their joy is like that of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, utterly unlike the ordinary womb of the human world.”

According to the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra, an evil person who has committed heinous offenses can attain rebirth because, at the approach of death, that person recites the Buddha’s name with utmost sincerity, thereby eliminating karmic obstructions. Thus, the commentary regards Buddha-recitation as the supreme condition for rebirth. For my part, after consulting the sutras, treatises, and commentaries concerning the Pure Land, I have further summarized the matter in three principles:

First, a practitioner who recites the Buddha’s name for only a brief period can overcome the evil karma of an entire lifetime because the power of the mind is exceptionally strong and the resolve utterly decisive. This is called the great mind. The situation resembles a person surrounded and hard-pressed by enemy troops. At the moment of greatest peril, being willing to die without concern for life or limb, that person summons supreme courage and violently breaks through the encircling ranks.

Second, although that person has committed evil, they may have practiced samadhi in the present life. Thus, when someone reminds and instructs them at the approach of death, meditative concentration is readily attained. Such a person also belongs to the class described in Buddhism as “swift in the vehicle but lax in the precepts.” If that person has not practiced samadhi in the present life, they must have cultivated it in a previous life. Those wholesome seeds have now reached maturity; therefore, when a good spiritual friend exhorts them at the approach of death, they rely upon wholesome karma from former lives and succeed within ten thoughts.

Third, if it is due neither to cultivation in the present life nor to wholesome karma from a former life, then, at the approach of death, that person must have recited the Buddha’s name with the utmost earnestness and repentance. Therefore, Master Yongming said: “Because the nature of causes and conditions is originally empty, wholesome and evil karma are not fixed. To understand the paths of transcendence and descent, one must examine which mental impulse is weaker. Thus, one ounce of pure gold outweighs one hundred ounces of cotton, and a tiny flickering flame can consume boundless heaps of straw and grass.”

Through one of these three causes and conditions, together with the merit of the Buddha’s name and the power of Amitabha’s vows, an evil person who has committed heinous offenses can overcome their transgressions at the approach of death and be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

18. Question: Living in the evil age of the five turbidities, everyone has offenses. Even if one has not committed the grave five heinous offenses, one is still entangled in other faults. If someone has not repented, or has repented but has not yet completely eliminated their offenses, yet both in ordinary times and at the approach of death recites the Buddha’s name with utmost sincerity, can that person attain rebirth?

Answer: All who practice in this way can attain rebirth through the inconceivable power of Amitabha Buddha’s great vows. The Sutra of Nagasena says: “If a very large rock is placed aboard a boat, the boat’s power prevents it from sinking and carries it to the other shore. Without a boat, even a grain of sand placed in the water will sink.” The large rock represents a person with heavy karma; the grain of sand represents a person with light karma; and the boat represents the power of the Buddha’s vows.

No matter how heavy a person’s karma may be, if that person knows remorse and recites the Buddha’s name with utmost sincerity, the Buddha will receive and guide them, just as a large rock is carried by a boat to the other shore. Although another person’s karma may be light, if they do not recite the Buddha’s name, then at death they will follow their karma and suffer in samsara, just as a grain of sand sinks because there is no boat to carry it.

Thus, Buddhism teaches rebirth while carrying one’s karma—that is, being born in the Western Land while still bearing karma. This is precisely its meaning. In the Pure Land writings, the passage concerning the four lands also states: “Those who still possess all delusions and defilements can nevertheless be born in the Pure Land of Sages and Ordinary Beings Dwelling Together.” Xiong Jun, Zhang Zhongkui, and a certain man from Fenzhou all made their living by slaughtering animals.

As death approached, one of the three saw a herd of cattle charging toward him, intending to gore him; another saw a divine being driving a flock of chickens to peck his entire body and both eyes, causing blood to soak the bed. Yet, because they recited the Buddha’s name with utmost sincerity, all three escaped the karma leading to the narakas—that is, the hells—and were born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. These accounts are clearly recorded in the Record of the Sages and Worthies of the Pure Land.

What could these events be, if not evidence of the Buddha’s power?

Allow me to offer another analogy to clarify this matter. Suppose a person violates the law and, according to the officials, deserves imprisonment. Yet that person knows to appeal to the king, asking for protection until an opportunity arises to perform meritorious service.

Because the king has summoned the person, the officials cannot impose punishment. The person can therefore proceed directly to the imperial capital, and no one can arrest them. Thus, the Record of Reflections on the Western Land says: “Sentient beings attain rebirth in the Pure Land because Shakyamuni Buddha points out the way, Amitabha Buddha receives and guides them, and all the Buddhas of the ten directions protect and remain mindful of them.

It is like a person crossing the great sea who has obtained a large ship, is guided by the hand of a skilled navigator, and is further aided by a favorable wind; that person can therefore quickly reach the other shore. If one still refuses to board the ship and instead lingers in that evil region, whose fault is it?”

19. Question: It was said earlier, “Even ordinary beings can attain the stage of non-retrogression.” In my shallow understanding, the stage of non-retrogression is reserved for those without evil karma. Can those who attain rebirth while carrying karma also attain non-retrogression?

Answer:—Once one attains rebirth there, one immediately enters the stage of non-retrogression. A sutra says: “Those who are born there all abide among those established in right concentration.” It also says: “In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, all beings born there are avaivartikas.” The Treatise on the Ten Doubts says: “There are five causes and conditions by which those reborn there do not retrogress: 1. They are embraced and sustained by the power of the Buddha’s great compassionate vows. 2.

The Buddha’s light constantly shines upon their bodies, so the bodhi-mind of these virtuous beings continually advances. 3. The birds, water, forests, wind, and music constantly proclaim the Dharma of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self; having heard it, practitioners become mindful of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. 4. Once beings are born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, all their good companions are supremely virtuous bodhisattvas; every obstruction, adversity, and evil condition is utterly absent, and there are no non-Buddhist teachers or malicious demons, so their minds remain peaceful and pure. 5.

Once born in that land, their lifespans are immeasurable, equal to those of the Buddha and bodhisattvas, and they peacefully cultivate for boundless asamkhya kalpas.” An ancient worthy also said: “If one does not aspire to be born in the Pure Land, nothing need be said; but if one truly aspires, one will certainly attain rebirth there. If one is not born in the Pure Land, nothing need be said; but once reborn there, one will certainly attain non-retrogression.”

20. Question:—A person who has committed evil throughout his life may, at the time of death, attain rebirth while still carrying karma merely by being mindful of the Buddha, and will moreover never retrogress. The profound and wondrous power of Amitabha Buddha’s vows is truly inconceivable! If so, may I now occupy myself according to worldly conditions and wait until I am about to die before becoming mindful of the Buddha?

Answer:—Alas! These words are extremely foolish and mistaken, more dangerous than poisoned wine. They harm not only you but also monks, nuns, laypeople, and devout believers throughout the world!

When ordinary beings guilty of rebellious and evil deeds know to be mindful of the Buddha at the time of death, it is because they have previously planted roots of goodness and accumulated merit, virtue, causes, and conditions. Only thereby do they encounter a good spiritual friend, give rise to faith, and practice accordingly. This is a fortunate occurrence scarcely found in ten thousand cases; how could everyone attain it?

The Treatise Resolving a Multitude of Doubts says: “There are ten kinds of people in this world who are unable to be mindful of the Buddha at the time of death: 1. Those who do not encounter a good friend and therefore have no one to exhort them to recite the Buddha’s name. 2. Those so urgently oppressed by painful karma that they have neither peace nor leisure to be mindful of the Buddha. 3.

Those stricken by a stroke that constricts their throat, leaving them unable to utter the Buddha’s name. 4. Those who become delirious and lose their faculties, leaving them unable to focus their minds in contemplation. 5. Those suddenly overtaken by disasters of flood or fire, causing them to lose their composure and sincerity. 6.

Those suddenly attacked by tigers, leopards, or other ferocious beasts. 7. Those whose faith is destroyed at the time of death by evil companions. 8. Those who fall unconscious from a violent illness and die without regaining awareness. 9.

Those who are struck by weapons and die suddenly amid battle. 10. Those who fall from a height and lose their lives.”

These ten occurrences are commonly heard of and witnessed. Monastic or lay, male or female—anyone may become entangled in them. They are brought about by past or present karma, so events arise suddenly, leaving no time to escape.

You are neither a sage who has realized the knowledge of past lives and therefore knows whether karmic obstacles will arise at death, nor one endowed with knowledge of others’ minds and the divine eye, able to know whether your own death will be favorable or unfavorable. If you do not practice mindfulness of the Buddha in ordinary times and, at death, happen to encounter one of these ten adverse conditions, what will you do?

At that point, even if a living Buddha and countless good spiritual friends stood all around you, they would have no means to save you. Your consciousness would follow your karma into the three evil paths and the eight difficulties, where you would undergo suffering for many kalpas. Who knows whether you would ever again hear the Buddha’s name as you do today?

Even supposing you encounter none of those adverse conditions but merely suffer a minor illness and then reach the end of your life, as death approaches and the four great elements separate, your sinews and bones will contract and contort, and your body and mind will be overwhelmed by pain and terror—as though a tortoise were being stripped of its shell or a crab dropped into boiling water. How could you then be mindful of the Buddha?

Even if you die peacefully without illness, at the time of death your worldly ties may not yet have been severed, mundane thoughts may still linger, and attachment to life and fear of death may throw your mind into turmoil and indecision, leaving you unable to be mindful of the Buddha. If you are a layperson, there will also be unfinished family affairs and arrangements for the future yet to be made; with your wife calling out, your children weeping, and a hundred concerns pressing upon you, you will have no leisure to be mindful of the Buddha.

There is no need to wait until death. Suppose that before dying you suffer even a slight bodily illness: you must endure pain, groan without rest, seek medicine and physicians, and ask others to perform rites for your peace and repentance. With confused miscellaneous thoughts arising one after another, it will not be easy to gather your mind in mindfulness of the Buddha.

Even while you are free of illness, advancing age and declining strength may bring every kind of infirmity, grief, and lamentation. Concerned only with the unresolved troubles of your aging body, how can you be certain you will be mindful of the Buddha? Or suppose you are not yet old and your body is still strong and robust, yet you remain burdened by worldly affairs, unable to sever worldly thoughts, hurrying east and west and worrying about every kind of matter.

With the sea of consciousness vast and turbulent, how can you be mindful of the Buddha? Even if you are free from the myriad entangling conditions and aspire to cultivate the Path, unless you thoroughly see through worldly appearances, hold firm, and bring attachments to an end, you will be unable to remain self-possessed when confronted by external conditions. Your mind will follow circumstances and become confused and inverted; how then can you settle your resolve and be mindful of the Buddha?

Consider this carefully: in old age, in illness, and even when strong, healthy, peaceful, and at leisure, if a single matter still weighs upon your mind, you cannot maintain a right mind and be mindful of the Buddha. How much less can you wait until the time of death? Moreover, you speak of occupying yourself according to worldly conditions.

Are these not deluded words, revealing a profoundly mistaken intention? Worldly undertakings are like dreams and illusions, like shadows, bubbles, and echoes; they vanish in an instant. What real benefit can they bring you on the path to liberation?

Even if you build monasteries on a vast scale, attain great prestige and an exalted position, and form close ties with many powerful officials and wealthy people, inwardly taking pride and regarding this as success in cultivation, little do you realize that you have in fact transgressed the admonitions of the ancient sages! An ancient worthy once cautioned: “Those who have left the household life must devote themselves to liberation.

Do not compete excessively in conditioned undertakings, for they contain many faults and errors. I fear that before heaven has even appeared, hell will already be upon you! If the matter of birth and death remains unresolved, all conditioned undertakings become causes of suffering.

One day, when your eyes close and you depart, you will receive retribution according to your karma. Only then will you realize that your deeds have added chains to the cangue and fetters, and firewood and charcoal beneath the boiling cauldron. The Dharma robe will fall away from your body, and along the paths of other species you will change form for ten thousand kalpas!”

Upon reading these words, anyone resolved upon liberation who understands and pities his own condition should be moved to tears! Since the patriarchs admonished us so earnestly, how could they ever have permitted you to occupy yourself with worldly conditions and wait until the time of death before becoming mindful of the Buddha?

Have you not heard Chan Master Zixin say:

“In this world, those whose wealth is piled high as mountains and whose houses are filled with wives and concubines—surely they wish to remain forever young so that they may enjoy worldly blessings day and night. Yet the span of life is limited; as months and years press onward, old age approaches. How could death favor the rich and honored? How could the force of karma show deference to the talented and wise? When the time comes for offenses and actions to bring their karmic consequences, what remains of their elegant and luxurious ways? When they must undergo successive lives repaying their debts, they will regret in vain their former life of dissipation! Nearly everyone in the world has personally seen and heard of such things.

“People commonly procrastinate, intending to wait until they are old and their family affairs have been settled before reciting the Buddha’s name. But death makes no appointment with either the young or the old. And although people speak this way, how many, once advanced in years, truly know enough to devote themselves to Buddha-recitation? An ancient said:

‘Do not wait until old age to recite the Buddha’s name;
The wilderness already abounds with graves of the young!’

“It is also said:

‘From youth onward, people establish families and then raise children, enduring untold hardship and bitterness in the struggle for a livelihood. When their final breath is spent, they must leave behind family and wealth alike, taking only their karma with them. If their children possess a sense of duty, they may shed a few tears, burn several bundles of spirit money, invite monks to recite three or five sutras, and, on the appropriate anniversaries, prepare food and soup as offerings. This is considered remembrance of one’s parents.

‘But should they encounter unfilial children, then as soon as the parents close their eyes, before the bones of their heads have even grown cold, the children begin fighting over houses and land, quarreling and filing lawsuits. Once they obtain their shares, they squander them on feasting and pleasure, even forgetting the death-anniversary offerings. The affairs of this world ultimately amount to no more than this. What is there worth waiting for? Therefore, those of broad understanding and far-reaching vision should begin early to recite the Buddha’s name and cultivate the Way. Children and grandchildren each have their own blessings. Parents need only fulfill their responsibilities to an appropriate extent; they should not spend their entire lives serving as oxen and horses for them!’

“Let me further cite these words of an ancient virtuous master:

Master Zixin admonished people so earnestly. How could he possibly have permitted you to continue creating worldly entanglements and wait until the moment of death before reciting the Buddha’s name?

You should therefore reflect that human life is fragile and brief, like a spark struck from flint or a flash of lightning across the sky: present only a moment ago, it is already gone. What in it is enduring? You must recognize this with certainty. Then, while you are not yet old or ill, set aside worldly affairs and cast off all burdens of body and mind. If you have one day of life, devote that day to Buddha-recitation; if you have one free moment, cultivate for that moment. When the time of death comes, everything will already have been properly arranged, and the western sky will stand ready, opening a broad and radiant road. Otherwise, when karmic conditions overtake you, regret will come too late. Reflect on this carefully!

21. Question:—The foolish words I spoke have become a fault that even a carriage drawn by four horses could not overtake and retrieve! After hearing the Master’s teachings, who would not feel chilled to the heart? Yet regrettably, although the human mind may readily become diligent, it also readily retreats. Upon hearing exhortations, people practice bravely and diligently; but when they encounter some obstacle, they grow indolent, retreat, and turn in another direction. Most say that the fruits of Buddha-recitation will perhaps be obtained only after death, whereas in the present they see only hardship, without any real and immediate benefit. Is this not also a plausible reason why practitioners lose resolve and become negligent?

Answer:—Your view is not yet broad enough. The sutras state that anyone who wholeheartedly receives and upholds the Buddha’s name will obtain ten supreme benefits in this very life:

1- Day and night, all devas, powerful divine generals, and retinues as numerous as the sands of the Ganges will constantly protect that person while remaining unseen.

2- Twenty-five great bodhisattvas, including the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, together with all other bodhisattvas, will constantly remain nearby and guard that person.

3- All Buddhas will constantly protect and keep that person in mind by day and night. Amitabha Buddha will continually emit light to embrace and receive that person.

4- No evil spirits, including yakshas and rakshasas, will be able to cause harm. No poisonous dragons, venomous snakes, or poisons will be able to injure that person.

5- That person will not suffer calamities such as drowning, fire, hostile bandits, blades and arrows, stocks and shackles, imprisonment, or untimely death.

6- Past evil karma will gradually be extinguished. Those whose lives were unjustly taken by that person will, through the merit of Buddha-recitation, all attain liberation and will no longer pursue that person in vengeance.

7- That person will sleep peacefully at night and may dream of auspicious signs or behold the supremely wondrous physical form of Amitabha Buddha.

8- The mind will constantly be peaceful and joyful; the countenance will be radiant and lustrous; vitality and strength will be abundant; and undertakings will produce good results.

9- That person will constantly receive the respect and assistance of others, who will joyfully bow in reverence as though venerating the Buddha.

10- At the time of death, the mind will be free from fear and right mindfulness will manifest. That person will behold Amitabha Buddha and the assembly of sages holding a golden lotus dais in their hands, coming to welcome and guide that person to rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, where, throughout all future kalpas, that person will enjoy sublime happiness.

These ten benefits were spoken directly from the Buddha’s golden mouth and recorded in the sutras. Since Buddha-recitation brings such benefits both now and in the future, it is indeed an essential Dharma among all worldly and supramundane teachings. Practitioners should therefore simply strive diligently and harbor no doubts.

22. Question:—Through the many teachings I have graciously received concerning Buddha-recitation, my doubts have dissolved and right faith has arisen. Yet it was said earlier, “Set aside worldly affairs and cast off all burdens of body and mind.” People’s circumstances differ. Those who have leisure and favorable conditions can follow this instruction, but how should those bound by a hundred obligations cultivate?

Answer:—If practitioners deeply feel the anguish of impermanence and earnestly seek liberation, then whether they encounter favorable or adverse conditions, suffering or happiness, activity or stillness, urgency or leisure—whether receiving guests, attending to public or private matters, responding to myriad circumstances, or fulfilling duties on every side—none of these will obstruct Buddha-recitation. An ancient said:

‘Lofty mountains cannot block the path of white clouds;
Dense bamboo cannot hinder the flowing stream!’

It is also said:

Thus, amid the myriad circumstances, there is still leisure; it is we ourselves who create the commotion. If people sincerely seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss and know how to apply their minds, no condition can obstruct their cultivation of Buddha-recitation.

Nevertheless, those of weaker capacity who are burdened with many worldly affairs should strive to find a little leisure amid their urgency and maintain calm mindfulness amid activity, reciting the Buddha’s name as much or as little as their strength permits. Each day, they should establish a fixed practice of thirty thousand or ten thousand recitations, three thousand or one thousand recitations, and maintain it consistently without interruption. Those whose affairs are exceptionally numerous and who have scarcely a free moment should practice the Ten Recitations and Dedication method every morning. If they maintain it throughout their lives, they too will receive the grace of the Buddha’s welcoming guidance.

Those with time or suitable means may, in addition to Buddha-recitation, uphold mantras, recite sutras, practice repentance, or give alms, cultivating wholesome blessings according to their circumstances and abilities. Even if they accumulate only the slightest merit, they should dedicate it toward rebirth in the Western Land. By practicing in this way, they will not only assuredly attain rebirth there but will also raise the grade of their rebirth.

23. Question:—Until now, this junior student has heard much about Buddha-recitation but has not clearly understood its guiding principles. Nor have I fully understood what the Ten Recitations and Dedication method entails. May I ask the Master to instruct me?

Answer: Mindfulness of the Buddha means contemplating the Buddha according to His thirty-two marks, binding the mind in samadhi so that, whether the eyes are open or closed, one constantly sees the Buddha. Another method is to single-mindedly recite His name, holding fast to it without distraction and steadfastly maintaining this practice; in this very life, one may also behold the Buddha. At present, I see that most practitioners of the Pure Land regard the practice of Name Recitation as supreme.

In reciting the name, one must calm the mind and not allow it to become scattered. Each thought must follow the preceding one, with the mind bound to the Buddha’s name. When the mouth recites “Namo Amitabha Buddha,” the mind must attend clearly and distinctly to every phrase and every word.

When reciting the Buddha’s name, whether the recitations are few or many, one must remain single-minded and single-intentioned, thought following thought without interruption. Only by reciting in this way can each utterance extinguish grave offenses incurred along the paths of birth and death throughout eight billion kalpas. Otherwise, karmic obstructions will be difficult to eliminate.

As for the practice of Ten Recitations, every morning the practitioner should kneel before the Buddha altar, or stand upright with palms joined, facing west, and recite the Buddha’s name continuously for the duration of a single breath. Each breath is counted as one recitation, and ten breaths constitute ten recitations. During each breath, there is no fixed number of phrases, whether few or many; one simply follows the length of the breath, reciting with full concentration until the breath is exhausted.

The sound of the Buddha’s name should be clear and distinct, neither too low nor too loud, neither hurried nor slow. Recite continuously for ten breaths without allowing the mind to become scattered. This method employs the breath to gather the mind; its value lies in single-minded concentration.

It must be maintained throughout one’s life and must not be temporarily abandoned even for a single day.

As for the dedication of merit, after completing the recitation, one should make this vow with utmost sincerity: “I, (Dharma name), bring forth the bodhi-mind and single-mindedly take refuge in Amitabha Buddha, aspiring to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Long ago, the Buddha made this vow: ‘If any sentient being wishes to be born in my land, wholeheartedly recites my name even as few as ten times, yet is not born there, I shall not attain Buddhahood.’ I vow to rely upon the Buddha’s compassionate power, so that my offenses may be extinguished and blessings may arise.

I vow that, when death approaches, I shall know the day and hour beforehand and all obstacles shall be removed; the Buddha and the assembly of sages shall come to welcome and guide me to rebirth there, so that I may swiftly awaken to the Buddha Vehicle and universally deliver all classes of beings.”

The above practice of Ten Recitations and Dedication of Merit is an exceedingly essential method taught by the virtuous masters of old. It has been widely propagated and greatly benefits the world. Those who practice mindfulness of the Buddha should follow it.

24. Question: For those caught in the net of worldly life, the ancient masters, according to their capacities, gave exceedingly thorough and lucid instructions on methods of practice. But for people such as ourselves, who have left the worldly life behind, how should we apply ourselves?

Answer: I previously said that although there are many kinds of practice, they may be comprehensively gathered into three approaches. Among these three, each person may choose according to personal inclination, practicing one exclusively or combining practices. What is essential is that the mind be genuine and earnest and that the practice be sustained over a long period. Results will naturally follow.

25. Question: The method of perfect contemplation and the practice of mindfulness of mind-only seem to be practices for those of superior capacity. The ten vows in the Avatamsaka Sutra and the ten minds in the Ratnakuta Sutra likewise seem to be practices for those of keen faculties. If one’s capacity is not suited to them, I fear that the practice will be difficult to accomplish! Examining my own faculties and inclinations, I believe I should only devote myself to reciting the Buddha’s name and, when time permits, additionally bow to the Buddha and practice repentance. What does the Master think?

Answer: Excellent! You know how to assess your own capacity! On examining your words, I find that they accord very well with Great Master Shandao’s teaching of exclusive and uninterrupted practice. That teaching may be summarized as follows:

Exclusive practice is taught because most sentient beings have heavy obstructions, coarse and superficial thoughts, and confused consciousness, while the objects of contemplation are extremely subtle; therefore, it is difficult for their practice to succeed. Out of compassion, the Great Sage consequently instructed them simply to recite the Buddha’s name exclusively. Since reciting the name is very easy, if one maintains thought after thought without interruption, one will immediately attain rebirth.

Of those who practice in this way throughout their lives, ten out of ten will attain rebirth, and a hundred out of a hundred will attain rebirth. Why is this so? Because, in the absence of mixed conditions, it is easy to maintain right mindfulness.

Because this practice accords with the Buddha’s Fundamental Vow. Because it does not contradict the Dharma teachings. Because it follows the Buddha’s instructions.

If one abandons exclusive practice and instead follows miscellaneous practices in seeking rebirth, among hundreds or thousands of people, perhaps only three or four may hope to succeed. This is because mixed conditions stir up confusion and cause one to lose right mindfulness. Because such practice opposes the Buddha’s Fundamental Vow.

Because it contradicts the Dharma teachings. Because it does not accord with the Buddha’s instructions. Because one’s focused mindfulness does not continue uninterruptedly.

Because one does not persevere continuously in order to repay the Buddha’s kindness. Because, although one performs wholesome deeds, they correspond with the pursuit of fame and gain. Because one delights in following miscellaneous conditions, thereby obstructing rebirth in the Pure Land for oneself and others.

Uninterrupted practice means that the body exclusively bows to Amitabha Buddha and does not bow to any other sage; the mouth exclusively recites the name of Amitabha Buddha and does not recite other sutras or names; and the mind exclusively contemplates Amitabha Buddha without intermingling other thoughts. Furthermore, whenever karmic impulses of greed, anger, or delusion arise and interrupt one’s practice, one must repent immediately after each offense and not allow a day, a night, or even an hour to pass. One must maintain a single pure thought, unmixed and unbroken. Only this is true uninterrupted practice.

The foregoing is Great Master Shandao’s method of exclusive and uninterrupted practice. According to the Records of India, the Great Master was an emanation of Amitabha Buddha. The essential point of his teaching lies in maintaining thought after thought without interruption.

The Venerable Gushan also said, “One should not recite the name with a scattered mind or make vows halfheartedly.” Great Master Yongming likewise taught: “One must single-mindedly take refuge and devote one’s entire life to diligent practice, always facing west whether sitting or lying down. When bowing, reciting the Buddha’s name, and making vows, one must be earnest and utterly sincere, without mingling miscellaneous thoughts.

One should be like a person about to be executed, like one confined in prison, like one pursued by hostile bandits, or like one beset by the calamities of flood and fire—single-mindedly seeking rescue, vowing to escape the cycle of suffering, swiftly realize the unborn, perpetuate the Three Jewels, repay the four great debts of gratitude, and deliver all sentient beings. With such utmost sincerity, one’s efforts will surely not be in vain.

Conversely, if one’s words and conduct do not accord, one’s faith is not firm, and the power of one’s mindfulness is constantly interrupted and does not continue, yet one hopes to attain rebirth through such indolence, then I fear that, when death approaches, it will be difficult to encounter a good spiritual friend. Dragged along by the force of karma and oppressed by suffering, one will be unable to establish right mindfulness.

Why is this? Because one’s present conduct is the cause, and the moment of death is the result. Only when the cause is genuine will the result not be false.

It is like a loud sound whose echo carries far, or an upright form whose shadow is straight.”

26. Question: I truly wish to practice so that each thought follows the preceding one without interruption. Unfortunately, my power of concentration has not yet developed, and I have no mastery over my initial thought.

Either old perceptions are difficult to forget, deluded thoughts arise, encounters with external conditions leave me unable to maintain self-control, or my mind and emotions become confused and I cannot suppress them despite my efforts. As soon as I sit down and count the beads for a while, my thoughts have already raced from east to west. Before I realize it, they have wandered tens of thousands of miles away, and I do not even know when it happened.

At times, when I must attend to some matter, my mind remains entangled in it and cannot forget it for five or ten days, or even an entire month. I cannot even finish dispelling it—how much less speak of avoiding interruption! To confess this is truly shameful, yet on reflection it is also deeply distressing!

I do not know whether there is any method to counteract this. I respectfully ask the Master for instruction.

Answer: This is the common root ailment of nearly all practitioners. At such times, if you do not earnestly reproach and admonish yourself, it will be difficult to accomplish exclusive and uninterrupted practice. I have heard that the ancients had three ways of earnestly reproaching and admonishing themselves. I shall now explain them to you, so remember them carefully:

The first matter is to contemplate repaying kindness. A practitioner has received many profound kindnesses. Setting aside for the moment the kindness of the Buddha and one’s teachers, since you are an ordained person, is not the kindness of your parents in giving birth to and raising you also exceedingly profound?

You left the secular life and entered monastic life; because you went away to study the Way, you had to remain far from your native place for many years. You knew nothing of your parents’ toil and hardship, nor were you present to care for them and provide medicine when they grew old, feeble, and ill. When your parents reached the end of their lives, you did not know; or if news did reach you, it was already too late.

When you were young, your parents, out of love and concern in raising you, may have created much unwholesome karma. After death, they may have fallen into realms of suffering, hoping that you will deliver them, as the thirsty await water and the drought-stricken long for rain. If your practice is lax and careless, your pure karma will certainly not be accomplished.

If it is not accomplished, you will not yet have saved even yourself; how, then, can you save your parents? You have already failed in the duty of materially supporting your parents, and if you are also unable to deliver their spirits, you are betraying righteousness and forgetting kindness; you are a person of the gravest unfilial conduct. The sutra says: ‘Those who commit the offense of unfilial conduct will fall into hell.’ Thus, a thought that interrupts single-minded practice is itself the karma of hell.

Moreover, you do not weave, yet you are clothed; you do not plow, yet you eat. Your room, dwelling, blankets, pillows, food, clothing, and medicines are all offerings made by donors. The patriarchs once admonished: ‘Out of reverence for the Three Jewels, faithful devotees reduce their own families’ share of food and bring it as an offering.

If a practitioner’s conduct in the Way is not complete, then even for an inch of cloth or a grain of rice, repayment will be required in a future life.’ If you wish to repay the kindness of the donors, you must devote yourself to cultivating pure karma so as to deliver yourself and others. If you give rise to even a single thought that interrupts your dedicated practice, you will certainly have a share in the borrowing and repayment of samsaric existence.

That very thought is the karma of a lowly rebirth or of rebirth as an animal.

The second matter is to possess resolute determination. A practitioner must be steadfastly resolved to carry the practice through to fruition. Throughout your life you practiced Chan, yet did not awaken to Chan; when you studied the teachings, you did not master them either.

Even to this day, the ground of your mind has not settled into tranquility, and your thoughts still seethe restlessly. At times you wish to compose poetry; at other times you delight in calligraphy; sometimes you expound the teachings, and at other times you discuss Chan. Your aspirations are scattered along three or four different paths.

The patriarchs taught: ‘When thoughts remain entangled, that is the karma of samsara. As soon as emotional ideation arises, one is bound for ten thousand kalpas.’ The reason you have not attained right mindfulness is that your emotional ideation remains uncertain and divided; and it remains uncertain and divided because your resolve is not firm. Therefore, for a practitioner to lack resolute determination is precisely the beginning of descent into the three evil realms.

Moreover, if a practitioner’s resolve is not firm, the foundations of the precepts cannot be preserved. Because the mind is uncertain and divided, one cannot restrain the body and speech. The sutra says: ‘I would rather have molten copper poured into my mouth; I vow never to let this mouth, having broken the precepts, receive any food or drink from faithful donors.

I would rather have my body wrapped in a net of red-hot iron; I vow never to let this body, having broken the precepts, receive any garments from faithful donors.’ How much more so, when the precepts are not upheld with purity and dignity, does the mind become increasingly agitated by deluded thoughts; and because of this agitation, dedicated practice is interrupted. Thus, is not a single thought of interruption precisely a karmic cause for the net of red-hot iron and the molten copper?

Furthermore, if a practitioner’s resolve is not firm, that person will certainly fail to recognize the illusory and unreal nature of the world and will easily chase after hollow fame and profit. When fame and profit belong to oneself, attachment arises; when they belong to others, jealousy, rivalry, and contention arise. The virtuous masters of old taught: ‘Those attached to fame and profit proceed toward the realms of animals and hungry ghosts; those who freely indulge love and hatred alike enter the pit of fire and the cauldron of boiling oil!’ Thus, a single thought of interruption is itself the hungry ghost realm, the pit of fire.

The third matter is to seek signs of spiritual response. Those who cultivate pure karma should strive to obtain signs of spiritual response. Human life is fragile, and impermanence gives no appointed time.

Your hair is now flecked with white, your skin bears wrinkles, and the signs of decline are clearly manifest. How many days can there be before the time of your death? You must therefore strive to practice single-mindedly, so as to attain definite signs assuring rebirth in the Pure Land.

In former times, Dharma Master Huiyuan of Mount Lu saw the Buddha stroke his head on three occasions. Dharma Master Huaigan sincerely recited the Buddha’s name and immediately saw Amitabha Buddha emit brilliant light and manifest his excellent marks. When Dharma Master Shaokang recited the Buddha’s name once, the assembly saw a Buddha emerge from his mouth; this continued even through hundreds of thousands of recitations, like beads strung together in an unbroken sequence.

There are tens of thousands of such signs of spiritual response. If your mind is uninterrupted, seeing the Buddha is very easy; if it remains interrupted, seeing the Buddha will certainly be difficult. If you do not see the Buddha, you have no affinity with the Buddha.

And without such affinity, it will surely be difficult to be reborn in the Pure Land. If you are not reborn in the Pure Land, sooner or later you will certainly fall into an evil realm. Thus, a single thought of interruption is precisely the karma of the three evil realms.

You must be vigilant and reflect carefully!

Practitioners of pure karma must remember and contemplate the three admonitions above, then reproach and warn themselves with the utmost earnestness, so that the mind never departs from the Buddha and the Buddha never departs from the mind, the Way of stimulus and response interpenetrates, and they see the Buddha in this very life. To see the Buddha of the Land of Ultimate Bliss is to see all Buddhas throughout the ten directions; and to see all Buddhas of the ten directions is to see the innately true Buddha of one’s own nature.

When one sees the Buddha of one’s own nature, its great functioning will manifest before one. Only then can one follow one’s compassionate vows and universally deliver all sentient beings. This is called the Pure Land of Chan, and it is also the Chan of the Pure Land.

Thus, do not the words of Master Yongming—‘With Chan and with Pure Land, one is like a tiger endowed with horns: in this life, a teacher of humankind; in the next, a Buddha and Patriarch’—find their fulfillment at this stage? You must strive diligently!

Having listened, the Chan practitioner was both astonished and delighted. He remained silent for a while, as though he had recovered something long lost. The Elder Tianru further said: ‘Chan and Pure Land have never been two. If one awakens, one awakens to both; if one is deluded, one is deluded about both. Outside the mind there is no Dharma, and outside the Dharma there is no mind. Do not mistakenly apprehend them!’ The Chan venerable immediately bowed reverently and said: ‘I am most fortunate to have received your gracious instruction. Now I know the road home!’ He then took his leave and withdrew.

Supplementary Note:

“Chan and Pure Land are still not two. If one comprehends, one comprehends both; if one is deluded, one is equally deluded about both.” These words of Great Master Tianru are indeed exact and true. The true mind encompasses myriads of dharmas as countless as the sands of the Ganges and contains boundless lands. In Chan it is called the Original Face; in the Pure Land teaching it is called Amitabha of One’s Own Nature. The Surangama Sutra says: “The empty space throughout the ten directions is born within your mind, like a wisp of cloud floating in the midst of the vast blue sky; how much more so the innumerable worlds within empty space?” An ancient worthy also said:

“The dharmas countless as Ganges sands are the path to bodhi;
Yet with one thought of bodhi, one is ten thousand fathoms away!”

Because the true mind encompasses all phenomena, if a practitioner of Chan understands Chan merely through the principle of vacuous emptiness and then denies the existence of the Land of Ultimate Bliss and rejects the practice of seeking rebirth there, that person cannot yet be considered one who understands Chan. Great Master Tianru repeatedly gave such meticulous explanations precisely to break through this attachment to emptiness.

With respect to essence, the true mind shines radiantly and encompasses boundless worlds; this is called the Pure Land within Chan. The immeasurable worlds reflected within the true mind are all quiescent and pure, like illusions; this is called Chan within the Pure Land. With respect to function, after practitioners have awakened to their original nature, they give rise to compassionate vows and cultivate the practices that adorn Buddha lands and bring sentient beings to fulfillment; this is called the Pure Land within Chan.

If they employ the Pure Land method to gather in and transform sentient beings, leading them back to their true nature, this is called Chan within the Pure Land.

In summary, Chan is precisely the Pure Land, and the Pure Land is precisely Chan. To reject the Pure Land is itself to have failed to understand Chan clearly; and to reject Chan is likewise to have failed to comprehend the Pure Land thoroughly. If one comprehends, one comprehends both; if one is deluded, one is equally deluded about both. This is the principle underlying those words.

Postscript

That mind itself is the land—the principle is no false claim;

How could Pure Land differ from Chan? They remain one family.

Merit brings adornment to the realm of form and appearance;

Wisdom pours forth unhindered through lands countless as Ganges sands.

The Western Realm shines wondrously in subtle hues;

The Buddha’s vows are profound, his virtues vast as seas and rivers.

Looking back upon the path of practice, who awakens early?

How grievous that beings forever enter and leave the evil destinies!

The Old Man of the Western Studio.