龍舒增廣淨土文

I consider that within the Tripiṭaka there are these texts:

The Sūtra of Immeasurable Pure Equal Enlightenment (Vô Lượng Thanh Tịnh Bình Đẳng Giác Kinh).

The Sūtra of Amitābha's Deliverance into the Human Realm (A Di Đà Quá Độ Nhân Đạo Kinh).

The Sūtra of Immeasurable Life (Vô Lượng Thọ Kinh).

The Sūtra of the Adornment of Immeasurable Life (Vô Lượng Thọ Trang Nghiêm Kinh).

Among these four texts, the original is likewise but one text; yet because the translators differed, they thereupon set forth the various names of the four texts, and therein the phrasing and the writing contain a great many errors and discrepancies. But I have collated and corrected them, and have also long since carved the blocks and published them.

Today I draw from the four texts named above and from other sūtras and accounts, making a comprehensive essential summary, so that those who wish to cultivate the Pure Land may easily understand it, and put it into practice accordingly.

ESSENTIALS OF THE PURE LAND

THE FIRST

To speak in brief: within the Tripiṭaka there are not merely a dozen or so sūtras that speak of the matter of the Western Pure Land. The general purport spoken of in those texts is this: that land is entirely adorned with the seven jewels; there is no hell, no hungry ghosts, no beasts, nor even creatures that crawl, fly, or wriggle. It is ever pure and natural, with not a single evil habit remaining; therefore it is called the Pure Land.

The beings in this land are born from within lotus flowers, live forever and never grow old; clothing, food, and dwellings appear according to their wishes; that scene is ever in eternal spring, with no more heat or cold, wholly blissful with not the slightest suffering; therefore it is called the World of Ultimate Bliss.

The name of the Buddha in that world is Amitābha. "Amitābha" is a word of the Sanskrit tongue (A-mi-ta Bu-đa).

In the language of China it is translated as "Immeasurable." For the radiant light of that Buddha shines throughout the worlds of the ten directions without limit or measure.

Whenever sentient beings give rise to the mind to be mindful of the Buddha, there is not one being whom He does not illumine and penetrate; therefore He also has the name: the Buddha of Immeasurable Light.

The lifespan of that Buddha, together with the people of that land, is likewise without limit or measure. Though the number of kalpas as many as the sands may yet come to an end, the measure of that lifespan shall never be exhausted. Therefore He has the name: the Buddha of Immeasurable Life.

That Buddha has a great vow, vowing to deliver beings; His majestic spiritual power is truly inconceivable! Therefore whoever with utmost sincerity of mind believes, turns toward, and is mindful of His name, in this present life obtains the dispelling of calamities and the removal of disasters, the routing of demonic and baleful entities of grievance and injustice, and the peace and stillness of body and mind. Increasing in blessings and longevity, he reaches as far as that Western quarter; within the pond of the seven jewels a single lotus flower naturally arises, and on a certain day he takes birth lodged within it, swiftly escaping the realm of saṃsāra.

Matters such as these all have their accounts and traditions; they are not fabricated, fanciful words contrived to deceive.

The teaching of mindfulness of the Buddha is very easy to practice. Within the whole Tripiṭaka there are eighty-four thousand Dharma-gates; but in summary, among the Dharma-gates that are easy to cultivate, there is no Dharma-gate equal to the Dharma-gate of the Pure Land. And yet there are people who do not know of it—how pitiable, how regrettable! But to know of it and not practice it—this is the more lamentable still!

ESSENTIALS OF THE PURE LAND

THE SECOND

In the Greater Amitābha Sūtra it is said: "The Buddha Śākyamuni, one day, had a countenance unlike His usual. His attendant, the venerable Ānanda, finding it strange, inquired. The Buddha said: How excellent is your question! Its merit is greater than taking all the wealth of the seven jewels to make offerings to all the worlds (the realms below heaven)—to the Śrāvakas and to the Pratyekabuddhas—and to bestow alms upon however many devas, people, and even down to the flying and crawling, the wriggling and stirring creatures, passing through many kalpas, and more than a hundred thousand myriad kalpas: however great that merit may be, it still cannot match a single part of the merit of your question here!

Why is this so? Because the devas, Śakra, the people, and even down to the flying and crawling, the wriggling and stirring creatures, all by reason of your question attain the Way and are delivered and liberated."

From this, looking upon it, truly when the Buddha Śākyamuni was about to speak of the practices and vows of the Buddha Amitābha, it was already within His mind yet revealed outwardly upon His countenance, differing from ordinary times; then one knows in full that the Buddha Amitābha is, for this reason, one who moves even the Buddhas in an extraordinary way.

How much more does He move all sentient beings? Sentient beings not yet delivered and liberated, by reason of Ānanda's question and the Buddha's answer, are delivered and liberated.

Thus, from the devas and Śakra above, down to the flying and crawling, the wriggling and stirring creatures below—of one same class still within the wheel of saṃsāra, not yet delivered and liberated—now by reason of hearing the great vow and great power of the Buddha Amitābha, they attain deliverance and liberation.

In His first vow, the Buddha Amitābha said: When I attain Buddhahood, my renown shall resound throughout the ten directions. Humans and devas who, rejoicing, are able to hear it shall all attain birth in my land. He also said: "Not only humans, but all beings of the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animals shall likewise attain birth in my land."

Thus all sentient beings of the six paths revolving in saṃsāra throughout the three realms—there is not one being who is not, by the compassion of the Buddha Amitābha, ferried across and delivered; this then one knows in full.

Therefore this Amitābha Sūtra says: The Buddha Amitābha is presently in the Western World of Ultimate Bliss, and is also within the other worlds of the ten directions teaching and transforming countless devas and people, and even down to the flying and crawling, the wriggling and stirring creatures; everywhere all attain transcendent deliverance and liberation.

"The flying and crawling, the wriggling and stirring": creatures that crawl, fly, and wriggle. Even creatures that crawl, fly, and wriggle the Buddha still ferries across and delivers. How much more so humans! Truly the practices and vows of the Buddha Amitābha to deliver sentient beings far and wide cannot be exhausted.

Whenever a person with a single thought takes refuge, he is straightway born into His land—of this there is no more doubt.

ESSENTIALS OF THE PURE LAND

THE THIRD

In the Amitābha Sūtra it is further said: Immeasurable kalpas in the past, there appeared a Buddha named the King of Sovereign Mastery over the World (Lokeśvararāja / Thế Tự Tại Vương), who transformed and delivered sentient beings. At that time a king of a great country came to hear the Dharma; awakening to it, he straightway renounced the royal throne, went forth from the household life, and cultivated, taking the name Dharmākara Bhikṣu (Pháp Tạng Tỳ Kheo)—that is, the Buddha Amitābha.

Before the Buddha King of Sovereign Mastery over the World, he set forth forty-eight great vows. Each and every vow had the one same aim: to rescue and deliver sentient beings.

Having made the vows, He cultivated with vigor, escaped birth-and-death, and entered the fruition-stage of a Bodhisattva. To escape birth-and-death is to be, with respect to birth-and-death, thus of itself. To enter the fruition-stage of a Bodhisattva is: inwardly cultivating wisdom, outwardly cultivating blessings.

To cultivate wisdom is to refine the nature of wisdom, which grows day by day more radiant, until upon attaining Buddhahood the nature of wisdom enwraps the entire empty-space worlds, so that there is no place it does not know, no place it does not see.

To cultivate blessings is to take birth lodged among all the various kinds of beings, sharing their bodily forms, sharing their speech, establishing methods to teach and transform them; therefore from Śakra above, down to the minute insects and ants below, He takes birth lodged within all of them.

In this manner, for immeasurable, countless kalpas up to here, He has established the Dharma to teach and transform sentient beings. Moreover, establishing methods in such a way—how should this not gain blessings?

But gaining blessings while not consuming them, the blessings are therefore the more accumulated; the more accumulated, the greater they grow; the greater they grow, the longer they last; the longer they last, the more they brim over throughout the entire empty-space worlds.

Where the blessings are great, there the majestic spiritual power is great. It is like a person of the world who holds a great office: then his might and power are great.

By reason of that majestic spiritual power, there is no place it does not reach; therefore He attained the fulfillment of the great vows; and because the great vows were fulfilled, He attained verification into the station of Buddhahood.

From the first vow to the very last vow, there is not one vow that does not rescue and deliver sentient beings.

Now He has already become a Buddha for more than ten great kalpas; surely He will not go against His vow to deliver beings. Therefore whoever single-mindedly believes and turns toward Him, being mindful of His name, in this present life shall certainly rely upon the aid of blessings, and in the body to come shall swiftly be born into the World of Ultimate Bliss. One who can with concentrated mind contemplate His form and image shall in this present life also be able to behold His true countenance. For the majestic spiritual power of the Buddha is in no place absent, and when a person's mind is ever mindful of the Buddha until it is ripened and matured, then there is naturally a sympathetic response; therefore the Buddha manifests His body (this account is told in the fifth scroll).

ESSENTIALS OF THE PURE LAND

THE FOURTH

In the Amitābha Sūtra it is said: The Buddha Amitābha, passing through immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas, cultivated the practices of a Bodhisattva; His power of forbearance was already accomplished. He did not mind the various sufferings; He ever showed a fresh and harmonious countenance and words gentle and tender, working for the benefit of sentient beings. He skillfully guarded the karma of speech, never disparaging or speaking of others' faults; He skillfully guarded the karma of body, never erring from the rules and norms; He skillfully guarded the karma of mind, pure and undefiled.

From within His hands He ever sent forth all manner of garments, all manner of food and drink, all manner of banners, pennants, and jeweled canopies, all manner of music, and all the most supreme articles of use.

These He bestowed upon all sentient beings, causing sentient beings to obtain a mind of joy and to hear His teaching and transformation.

Therefore immeasurable, countless multitudes gave rise to the mind of Supreme Bodhi. He carried out such practices of loving-kindness for immeasurable, countless, hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of kalpas, His merit complete and full, His majestic spiritual power blazing and resplendent, and only then attained the fulfillment of what He had vowed and entered the station of Right Enlightenment. By reason of this, throughout the countless worlds of the ten directions, the devas and people, and even down to the flying and crawling, the wriggling and stirring creatures—there is not one kind that does not rely upon His compassionate heart to be ferried across and delivered.

For this reason, I, using a single thought to take refuge, am thereupon born into that land. All are within lotus flowers; in the pond of the seven jewels they are born and naturally grow up; nor do they need to wait for someone to nurse and feed them—food is naturally there when thought of; their forms and complexions are upright, fresh, and beautiful, such as people of this realm cannot be compared with, nor can the people of the heavens come up to! Their bodies are naturally luminous and clear, light and buoyant, with a lifespan boundless and without end.

Throughout the whole land, all are people of the highest goodness; there are surely none of the womenfolk. All possess a lifespan countless in measure; they have the divine eye that sees through all, the divine ear that hears however far and however small—however distant they still see, however faint they still hear—being all of one class of people who seek the "Wholesome" Way, with no other class of people. Though myriad kalpas pass, of all the matters from long ago up to now, there is not one matter that they do not clearly know.

They also know, throughout the worlds of the ten directions, the matters of the past age, the future age, and the present age. They also know of the countless beings—above the heavens and below the heavens, the people, and even down to the flying and crawling, the wriggling and stirring creatures—what their minds wish to think, what their mouths wish to say; and they further know of those sentient beings, in which kalpa, which year, which month, which day they shall each be delivered and liberated from the kalpa, ascend to become humans, and attain birth in the World of Ultimate Bliss. It is by reason of obtaining the nature of wisdom of the Buddha that they are able to see and know in this way.

ESSENTIALS OF THE PURE LAND

THE FIFTH

In the Account of the Pure Land it is said: The Buddha Amitābha, together with the two Bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara (Quan Âm) and Mahāsthāmaprāpta (Thế Chí), seated upon the ship of the Great Vow, crosses the sea of birth-and-death to come to this Sahā world, calling and welcoming those sentient beings aboard the ship of the Great Vow to bear them off to the Western quarter; of those persons willing to go, there is not one who is not born there.

Looking at this, then the Buddha together with the two Bodhisattvas, pitying sentient beings sunk and drowning in the sea of suffering with no way to come forth, therefore uses the strength of majestic spiritual power and vowed resolve to lead and guide the people of the world back to the Pure Land.

It is just as a ferryman calls out and hails the passengers aboard the ferry to bear them across to the far shore. The only fear is that people will not believe, that is all; but for a person of faithful mind who believes and accepts, then however grave his sins and evils, he too can altogether attain rebirth in the Pure Land. Why? First, by reason of the Buddha's vowed resolve; and second, by reason of one's own sincerity and faith; therefore it is said that the majestic spiritual power of the Buddha may not be compared with that of ordinary worldlings.

For an ordinary worldling, if it be not for advantage of power, if you do not befriend him, if there be no benefit to himself, then he will not befriend you; and so he is merely an ordinary worldling.

Even the worthies and noble gentlemen are not like this—how much more the Buddha! Why? Because without a compassionate heart, one is not fit to be a Buddha; without ferrying across and delivering sentient beings, one is not fit to be a Buddha; without great majestic power, one is not fit to be a Buddha.

By reason of the Buddha's extending His compassionate heart, seeing sentient beings sunk and drowning in the sea of suffering, He wishes to ferry them across and deliver them. By reason of the Buddha's having great majestic power, He is therefore able to bring forth the mind to ferry across and deliver, and thereupon succeeds in ferrying across and delivering; this is the reason He is a Buddha.

In the Greater Amitābha Sūtra it is said: The Great King of Physicians can treat all illnesses, but he cannot heal the illness of a person whose number is exhausted; just so the Buddha can deliver all sentient beings, but He cannot deliver those sentient beings who do not believe, who may be called destitute persons indeed; hence there is the saying: "The king must lose to the destitute man"—this is its meaning.

Is it not so that a person of faithful mind gathers the myriad matters back into a single thought, as a person while alive here: when in a single thought the mind wishes to go, then the body rises and goes straightway; when the mind wishes to stay, then the body thereupon stays behind—thus the body must follow the mind's thought.

Yet there are times when the mind's thought wishes to go, but the body is held in confinement and so cannot go. But the body being held in confinement is a confinement during life; whereas when the body perishes and the life-span expires, there still remains a single mind-thought, and that is all.

Where the mind-thought inclines and turns, there it decidedly goes; therefore, while I am still alive here, daily keeping a vegetarian diet and being mindful of the Buddha, with the mind-thought seeking birth in the Pure Land—however bound and fettered the body may be, when I die I shall in any case attain birth in the Pure Land.

How much more so when the Pure Land already has the Buddha Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, and Mahāsthāmaprāpta, who moreover lead, guide, and welcome us back to that land!

ESSENTIALS OF THE PURE LAND

THE SIXTH

The Buddha Amitābha has set forth a vow, saying: "Whatever sentient beings have already been born into My land—should they then wish to be born into another land, they shall obtain it according to their wish, and shall surely no longer fall into the three evil paths." Why? Because a person born into the Pure Land is one who has already attained verification to the stage of the Forbearance of the Non-arising of Dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti / vô sinh pháp nhẫn).

Moreover, a person who has attained verification to the stage of the Forbearance of the Non-arising of Dharmas is precisely a person who has no more birth-and-death. A person who has already cut off the path of birth-and-death—then though he enter the realm of birth-and-death, that one numinous nature remains luminous and clear, never deluded or benighted; so by what means would he drift and revolve within the three evil paths?

Argued according to principle, since it is decidedly settled that he will not fall into the three evil paths, how much more so, relying upon the strength of protective support, the falling is of course assuredly without question. Therefore, to argue thus, a person born into the Pure Land not only enjoys long life without aging, but moreover lives long, kalpa upon kalpa, age upon age, while the path of birth-and-death is also thus-as-such and unmoving.

Therefore, wishing to establish methods to teach and transform all sentient beings, he enters into all the realms of birth-and-death of sentient beings, yet his one true nature remains ever still and tranquil, ever luminous and clear, no longer deluded by external things, no longer dragged along by the karmic conditions; though he dwells within the world of saṃsāra, he is no longer in saṃsāra as others are; hence it is called: "Transcending the world while in the world." That is to say: though dwelling within the world, he has already come forth beyond the world.

Therefore one who has attained rebirth into that Pure Land is wholly a person who has already attained the path of birth-and-death as thus-as-such and unmoving; at that time, if he wishes to be born into the heavenly realms he obtains it; if he wishes to be born again into the human realm he obtains it; if he wishes to be born into a household of great wealth and nobility he obtains it; if he wishes to be born into a pure and clean realm he obtains it; and even if he wishes to live on forever and never die he obtains it; or if he wishes, having died, to come to life again he obtains it.

According to whatever his own mind wishes, this and that, there is no matter that is not in accord with his wish (sovereign in his wishes and desires, in nothing not sovereign). Thus, the reason I wish for one most precious thing is that I wish to be born into the Pure Land!

The people of the world do not understand a wish such as this; vainly dwelling within the path of birth-and-death, they wish to be born into a wealthy and noble household, yet are instead born into a poor and lowly household; they wish to be born into a realm of bliss and joy, yet are instead born into circumstances of sorrow and grief; they wish to be born so as to attain long life, yet keep being born only to die young, to die prematurely; they wish to be born to practice the wholesome Way, yet are instead born into the evil destinies—in each and every case beguiled by external circumstances, dragged along by causal karma, unable to be sovereign.

From immeasurable kalpas right up to the present day, revolving in saṃsāra throughout the six paths, there has never been a time when they came forth. Constantly, with a single thought, contemplating such matters of grief and suffering as these, turn the mind to be mindful of the Buddha and seek birth in the Pure Land, so as to cut off all matters of grief and calamity. A land where all matters of grief and calamity have been cut off—why should one not call that land the World of Ultimate Bliss?

Let the person of wisdom give heed and, in silence, ponder and examine it; he may be able to see this clearly.

ESSENTIALS OF THE PURE LAND

THE SEVENTH

The lay scholar of Non-action (Vô Vi cư sĩ), named Dương Kiệt, styled Thứ Công, who in his youth passed the higher examination and was clear as to the essential purport of the Chan school, said: Sentient beings are of keen or dull faculties; let one follow what is near and easy to understand, what is concise and easy to practice. There is only the Dharma-gate of the Western Pure Land: once one single-mindedly contemplates and is mindful, relying upon the power of the Buddha's vow, one swiftly is born into the Land of Peaceful Nurture (An dưỡng / Sukhāvatī).

He, on behalf of Vương Mẫn Trọng, wrote a preface to the work A DIRECT POINTING TO THE PURE LAND, RESOLVING DOUBTS (TRỰC CHỈ TỊNH ĐỘ QUYẾT NGHI), saying: The Buddha Amitābha sends forth light like the great, full, bright moon, shining throughout the ten directions; where the water is clear and pure, the moon appears in its entirety.

The moon does not come and go in accordance with the water; should the water be muddy and stirred, the moon has no luster, yet the moon also does not abandon the water and depart.

In the water there is clear and muddy, there is moving and still; in the moon there is no grasping, no relinquishing, no going, no coming. Therefore the Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Kinh Hoa Nghiêm) records: The Elder's son (Trưởng giả tử) said: I know that all the Buddhas are likewise as reflections and shadows.

One's own mind is likened to water. Those Tathāgatas do not come to this realm, yet if I wish to behold the Tathāgata Amitābha of the World of the Land of Peaceful Nurture, then according to my wish I straightway behold Him; therefore sentient beings who are single-mindedly mindful surely behold Amitābha. If born into that Western quarter, then there are none of the various sufferings.

The Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra (Kinh Ban Châu Tam Muội) says: The Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla (Bạc Đà Hòa Bồ Tát) addressed the Buddha Śākyamuni, saying: O Great Awakened World-Honored One! How shall the sentient beings of the future ages to come behold the Buddhas of the ten directions? The Buddha taught: They must be mindful of the Buddha Amitābha, and then they will straightway behold all the Buddhas of the ten directions.

Again the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra (Kinh Đại Bửu Tích) says: Should sentient beings in worlds of other quarters hear the name of the Tathāgata of Immeasurable Life, Amitābha, and even unto a single thought of pure faith equal to that of a Buddha—rejoicing, delighting, and yearning—and dedicate the wholesome roots they have cultivated, vowing to be born in that land, then according to their vow they shall attain rebirth and reach the stage of non-retrogression.

These are the words spoken by the Buddha Śākyamuni. If the words the Buddha speaks are not to be believed, what words are worthy of belief? If one does not seek birth in the Pure Land, then into what land should one seek to be born?

Su Dongpo (Tô Đông Pha) said: Thứ Công, in his old age serving as the official Inspector and Prefect, often painted an image of the Buddha Amitābha sixteen feet tall (1.6 meters), carried it with him wherever he went to make offerings and to contemplate, and on the day of his death, moving the Buddha to come and welcome him, he sat firm and passed away.

NAMO ORIGINAL TEACHER ŚĀKYAMUNI BUDDHA

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