龍舒增廣淨土文

Mr. Wang Rihui cites the words of Mencius, who said that every person is capable of practicing the wholesome conduct of King Shun and King Yao. Xunzi said that even a person walking along the road can become King Yu.

The Bodhisattva Sadāparibhūta (Never Disparaging) said: "Toward all people I dare not hold any of them in contempt, for every person, if they cultivate, can likewise become a Buddha." Thus, since every person may become a Sage or a Worthy, and anyone whatsoever may become a Buddha, it follows that the Dharma-gate of reciting the Buddha's name to seek rebirth in the Pure Land is one that surely there is no single person who cannot practice. Therefore today I (Wang Rihui) have composed this book, the Universal Exhortation to Practice (universally urging everyone to strive in cultivation and in doing good).

UNIVERSAL EXHORTATION TO PRACTICE

THE FIRST

Someone once asked Confucius: "Is there a man who, on moving to a grand new house, forgets even his own wife?" Confucius replied: "There are indeed many such men. King Jie and King Zhou forgot even their own selves." If one looks with the Dharma-eye, then most people of the present age forget even their own lives. Why so? From the moment they rise in the early morning, opening their eyes and leaving the place where they lay, until at nightfall they return to that place to lie down and close their eyes again, there is nowhere that they do not set their minds upon worrying over the toils of worldly affairs. They have never once paused to examine their own selves—this is to forget one's very self.

Moreover, regarding the human body, if we speak of what lies right before our eyes: nothing is greater than hunger and thirst, so one must surely provide things to eat and drink. If we speak of the whole year round: nothing is greater than cold and heat, so one must surely provide fur garments and felt garments. If we speak of the whole of life: nothing is greater than the matter of birth-and-death; yet not to worry about providing the provisions for the journey to the Pure Land—how can this be?

Furthermore, suppose a person possesses a hundred pounds of gold, and a great calamity befalls him such that he cannot carry it along—he must surely abandon the gold and depart empty-handed. If, out of greed and attachment, he clings to the gold and carries it, then he must surely die. The world calls such a one a great fool. Yet this body is far more precious than a hundred pounds of gold.

But in ordinary daily life, people grasp anxiously after fame and contend for profit; even over a trifling thing worth a hundred coins they will not bring themselves to let go—and yet they do not treasure their own body. How can this be?

Or suppose someone reviles you as a thief, or rails at you as a beast—then you become indignant and angry, and there are those who harbor resentment to the end of their lives and can never set it to rest, and those who come to blows and even to lawsuits over it. Yet the names "thief" or "beast" that another speaks do no harm whatsoever to our body, and we hate and rage so. This is vainly to begrudge the false name attached to oneself, while not knowing one's own true reality. How can this be?

And what is one's own true reality? We forcibly call it "death," yet in truth one has never been able to die. People always see another casting off this false body and departing, and precisely this they call death. But they do not know that, having cast off this body, one then goes on to be reborn, taking up another body. Yet for that place to which one goes, how can we fail to prepare provisions beforehand?

Therefore the teaching of the Western Pure Land truly must not be abandoned.

UNIVERSAL EXHORTATION TO PRACTICE

THE SECOND

When a person is born, there are father, mother, wife, children, house and home, fields and gardens, oxen, buffalo, carriages and horses, down to chairs and stools, bowls and basins, clothing and belts—every kind of possession, without distinction of great things or small. Whether handed down by one's forefathers, or made by one's own hands, or gathered together for one by children and grandchildren or by others—is there any single item that is not one's own possession?

Take even the paper pasted over the windows: though a most trifling thing, if another pokes a hole through it, we still harbor anger in our hearts; a single needle, though small, if another takes it away, we still harbor regret in our hearts. The granaries are already full, yet the greedy heart is not yet satisfied. The gold and silver are already abundant, yet we go on acquiring without cease.

We open our eyes and lift our feet, and there is nowhere we are not caught in attachment. One night spent sleeping away from home, and already we worry about the household; one servant not yet returned, and already we worry that he has run off. A hundred matters we calculate and scheme over, and there is not a single one that we do not lay upon our hearts to plot and plan.

Yet one morning, when the great calamity arrives, all of it is left utterly behind. Even this body of ours is a thing to be discarded—how much more the things outside the body? When the heart turns to ponder this, it is no different from a single long dream.

Therefore Master Zhuangzi said: "Only after there is a Great Awakening does one then realize that this body is a vast, long dream."

The ancients had a saying: "Nhất nhật vô thường đáo, phương tri mộng lý nhân, vạn ban tương bất khứ, duy hữu nghiệp tùy thân," which means: "One morning impermanence arrives, and only then does one know one has been a person within a dream; at the moment of death the myriad things cannot be carried along—only karma follows the self." How utterly true these words are.

Today I (Wang Rihui), following the latter two lines of the verse above, have added two lines to form a complete gāthā as below: "Vạn ban tương bất khứ, duy hữu nghiệp tùy thân, đản niệm A Di Đà, định sinh An lạc quốc," which means: "The myriad things cannot be carried along, only karma follows the self; if one recites Amitābha, one will surely be born in the Land of Peace and Nurture."

But of karma there are two kinds: the first is wholesome karma, the second is unwholesome karma. Considering these two kinds of karma, both can be carried along. How then can one fail to set the mind upon reciting the Buddha's name and seeking rebirth in the Pure Land as one's karma?

There was an Elder, Mingliao, who, for the sake of the whole assembly, pointed to this body and said: "This body is a thing that dies; yet within this dying body there is that which does not die, and that which does not die is called the Consciousness-Mind. This mind lives on forever, for immeasurable kalpas. So do not be deluded, do not seek to make a plan for living upon a dying thing. You must, precisely upon the living thing, seek out the living thing—only then will it do."

I (Wang Rihui) deeply esteem the words of this Elder, and so I often say to people: "To covet the various things outside oneself in order to nourish the body is, even though right upon a dying thing, to err in making a plan for living. People of the world, though they cannot yet be free of worldly life and must dwell within the work of earning a living, ought, in their spare moments, to turn the mind back and reflect, setting the mind upon this Dharma-gate of the Pure Land—this is to make a plan for living upon the living thing.

For as to grasping anxiously after mere living: though one be as rich as Shi Chong and as exalted as the highest rank, in the end there comes a day when one's allotted span is exhausted. How can this compare to reciting the Buddha's name and seeking rebirth in the Pure Land, to enjoy bliss that is utterly without end?"

UNIVERSAL EXHORTATION TO PRACTICE

THE THIRD

A person has never truly died, yet the name "death" already exists ready-made upon this body. Why so? Because the spirit-consciousness goes to be reborn and lodges in the realm of the body of the four great elements; and this body, owing to the presence of the spirit-consciousness, grows and gains strength, and so this is called "birth." When the spirit-consciousness departs from the body of the four great elements, then this body, on this account, decays and disintegrates, and so this is called "death."

What is the spirit-consciousness? It is like, for instance, our very self.

What is the body of the four great elements? It is like, for instance, the house in which we dwell.

We have our goings and comings, and so our house has its forming and its decaying.

Thus, while alive here, it is not a true living—it is because the spirit-consciousness has come that this body seems as if it has life, that is all. At death, it is likewise not an utter dying—it is only because the spirit-consciousness departs that this body must dissolve, that is all. Yet of those born into the world, few are able to recognize this; they merely cling to this body of the four great elements. Because they cling to these four great elements as truly existent and as enduring, they therefore hope for living and seek to hate dying. To be deluded to such a degree—how can one not feel pity?

When the spirit-consciousness departs, from where does it depart?

The answer is: It departs following its karmic conditions.

Question: What are karmic conditions?

In accordance with the wholesome or unwholesome karma a person has created, the spirit-consciousness follows that karmic condition and is reborn to undergo that retribution. Thus a person who creates the karma of the human realm (receiving the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts)—the spirit-consciousness likewise follows this and is reborn among humankind. One who creates the karma of the heavens above (cultivating the Ten Wholesome Deeds)—the spirit-consciousness likewise follows that and is reborn ascending to the heavenly realms.

One who creates the karma of the realm of the asuras (also cultivating the Ten Wholesome Deeds, but with much anger and hatred)—the spirit-consciousness likewise follows that and is reborn again in the realm of the asuras. One who creates karma within the three evil paths (with much greed, anger, and delusion)—the spirit-consciousness likewise follows that and is reborn into the three evil paths (the hells, the hungry ghosts, the animals). Thus the spirit-consciousness, following the karmic conditions it creates, transmigrates ceaselessly within the six destinies, with no appointed time for emerging from them.

But this spirit-consciousness, from beginningless time down to the present day, is reborn and changes its shell, unable to remain long in any one place—for what reason? Because the karma we create does not endure for long, the spirit-consciousness dwells within each of these bodies for only a brief span and then, following its karma, passes on into another shell, maintaining another body; and when that karma is exhausted and the spirit-consciousness departs, then the bodily form must decay, and when the form decays, the spirit-consciousness has nothing to rely on; and because it has nothing to rely on, it follows the karma created in this present life, and following that karma the spirit-consciousness goes on to be reborn, taking up another shell (the body of a future life).

It is like a person who constructs a house and then dwells within the house; a person who provides food and drink will surely partake of that food and drink. Therefore whatever karma one creates, one must surely undergo a retribution corresponding to it. This is the natural principle.

If so, then as to the karma we create in this present life—how can we not be most careful?

For those who wish swiftly to escape transmigration and forever depart from suffering and affliction, nothing is so essential as to set the mind upon the Dharma-gate of reciting the Buddha's name and seeking rebirth in the Western Pure Land. Therefore I (Wang Rihui) beg all you good people not to dawdle and delay, but to cultivate without delay.

UNIVERSAL EXHORTATION TO PRACTICE

THE FOURTH

A person living in this world is no different from a bubble floating upon the surface of the water—now here, now gone, arising and ceasing in impermanence. Some live one year, some live two years, some live ten or twenty years. To be blessed with the fortune of forty or fifty years is already good; even seventy years (what is called "since ancient times, seventy is rare") is exceedingly rare.

People of the world see only those not yet old before their eyes, and do not consider that those who, though not yet old, have already died and perished, are likewise many. How much more so, in this world, where there is nothing that is not suffering—only because people do not set their minds to reflect upon it, they fail to understand clearly, that is all. Consider: in times when we are not content, we are already suffering. And when we meet with matters that content us, it is not for long before father, mother, wife, children, in-laws, and kinfolk fall ill and die, or are slain and cut down, or scattered apart; or we ourselves reach the limit of our allotted span all of a sudden, unexpectedly.

Looking back over one's life: in a whole lifetime, how can one have been wholly good, without the least sin or evil?

Let us, then, speak of what is easily seen right before our eyes: when our mind gives rise to a single improper thought, speaks a single improper word, gazes upon an improper object, hears a single improper sound, does a single improper deed—how can there be no transgression? How much more so when the things we eat are the flesh of sentient beings, and the clothes we wear come from slaying silkworms and their silk.

Beyond this, the transgressions are not merely from eating flesh and wearing silk; so long as one does not bring it to mind, it is one thing—but when one does bring it to mind, it is truly fearsome.

From youth to old age, from birth to death, in a single lifetime one has accumulated much, bound by layer upon layer, with no means of deliverance. After one closes one's eyes, one cannot but follow one's karmic conditions and depart—dim and obscure, murky and hazy—who knows in what place one will dwell? One may fall into the hells and undergo every kind of extreme torment; or be born among the hungry ghosts, with the fire of hunger scorching the body; or enter among the asuras, the belly full of anger and hatred.

Even if, with some slight wholesome karma, one is born up in the heavenly realms or in the human realm, once the merit and its retribution are exhausted, one still cannot escape transmigration, returning again as before, rising and sinking, bobbing and floating, beyond all reckoning.

Only the Dharma-gate of reciting the Buddha's name and seeking rebirth in the Western Pure Land is the one straight and direct road for swiftly escaping transmigration.

How much more so, since this human body is hard to obtain—therefore, while one is not yet old and not ill, one must attend to completing this great matter (of birth-and-death), and must constantly reflect thus: "From immeasurable kalpas down to now, I have passed again and again through the round of transmigration in the six paths, and never once have I been able to know this Dharma-gate; and so I have not escaped the round of transmigration in the six paths.

"Today I have come to know it—how can I not at once set about practicing? Those who are advanced in years ought indeed to make every effort, and those who are young likewise must not dawdle and delay."

When life comes to its end, one will be born into the world of Ultimate Bliss, and then, looking back, one will see those who have died descend into the netherworld, come before King Yama, and undergo every kind of dreadful extreme torment. The distance between the two is as that between heaven and the abyss—they cannot be spoken of in the same breath.

UNIVERSAL EXHORTATION TO PRACTICE

THE FIFTH

It is like a person entering a great walled city: he must of course first seek out a settled place to lodge, and only then go back out to attend to his affairs; so that when dusk falls he has a place to return to and rest.

To first seek out a settled place to lodge—this is the meaning of cultivating the Dharma-gate of reciting the Buddha's name. When dusk falls—this is the meaning that the great calamity (death) has arrived. To have a place to rest—this is the meaning of being born within a lotus flower, escaping a fall into the evil destinies.

Again, it is like setting out on a far journey: one must first provide oneself with rain-gear, so that should one chance to meet with rain, one is spared the worry of being soaked and wandering astray.

To first provide rain-gear—what is this? It is the person who cultivates the Pure Land. To chance upon rain—what is this? It is that one's great allotted span is about to be exhausted.

To be spared the worry of being soaked and wandering astray—what is this? It means that one does not come to be drowned in the evil destinies, undergoing every kind of bitter and harrowing suffering.

Moreover, to first seek out a settled place to lodge does no harm at all to going out to attend to one's affairs. To provide rain-gear beforehand does no hindrance at all to setting out on the far journey. Likewise, the person who cultivates the Pure Land is in no way hindered in any of the affairs of worldly life. Why then do people of the world not cultivate and recite?

I myself (Wang Rihui) came to know a certain man who, throughout his ordinary life, mostly created the sin of slaughtering fish; and when he grew old and contracted illness, it was like a stroke of palsy. I felt pity for this man who, having created evil karma, was now bearing the suffering of illness, and so I went to visit him. I urged him to recite the name of the Buddha Amitābha. The fellow grumbled and would not consent to recite; he only stared at me and then spoke improper (foolish, irreverent) words.

How could this be other than that he was obstructed (hindered) by evil karma, sick and delirious? If a person cannot turn the mind back to recite wholesome thoughts (to keep in mind wholesome deeds), then after closing his eyes and departing, what will he have to rely upon?

Therefore the person who cultivates the Dharma-gate of reciting the Buddha's name must turn his head back quickly, without delay.

In the world, where there is day there must surely be night; where there is cold there is heat. Every person knows this, and it is concealed nowhere. But to say "where there is life there must surely be death"—at this every person is afraid and shrinks away, to the point of not daring to utter it; and when a child lets the words slip from his lips ("I am going to die"), the parents scold him, "Stop talking nonsense"—how wretched is this!

Alas! How can they fail to know that what is there called "death" has in truth never died. It is merely that, when the karmic conditions are exhausted, the spirit-consciousness departs from the body of flesh and goes—that is all.

Therefore we must cultivate the Pure Land and seek rebirth within a lotus flower, so as to receive a body like that of a Buddha, with a lifespan endless, and to be delivered from all the grief, sorrow, suffering, and affliction within the round of birth-and-death!

UNIVERSAL EXHORTATION TO PRACTICE

THE SIXTH

A person born in the lowest grade—at the very moment of death, when the marks of the hells appear before his eyes—if that person, with wholehearted resolve, recites ten phrases of "Namo Amitābha Buddha," then the marks of the hells are transformed into a lotus flower, and that person too gains rebirth in the Pure Land. This is due to the compassion of the Buddha, whose resolve is profound and whose majestic virtue is exceedingly great, and therefore he has such power as this.

This passage speaks of the ten recitations of the Buddha's name done precisely while one is still alive (while still living), oneself reciting ten phrases of "Namo Amitābha Buddha." It is not a matter of, after death (in the after-body), inviting others to recite in one's stead.

If one recites oneself while alive, then at the moment of death the Buddha together with the Bodhisattvas comes in person to receive and escort one, and therefore rebirth in the Pure Land is assured for certain. But as for inviting others to recite for the after-body, I (Wang Rihui) cannot yet be certain of it!

The Sūtra of Cause and Effect says: "For the after-body, if one invites others to recite and to make merit to deliver the deceased, then of the seven portions of merit, the deceased gains only one portion; whereas if, while alive (before death), one recites oneself, then of a hundred thousand portions, one enjoys the full hundred thousand portions oneself."

What fault is it to people of the world that they do not, precisely while alive, recite ten phrases of the Buddha's name each day—why must they wait until death to invite a master to recite the Buddha's name in their stead?

Furthermore! Iron and stone, though heavy, can yet be carried across a great river by the power of a boat or ship. But a single needle, though small, if it does not rely on a ship or raft, cannot cross even a small river. This means that a person, though he have grave sins, can yet, by the power of the Buddhas' protective support, gain rebirth in the Pure Land; whereas a person whose evil sins are even few (light), if he does not rely on the Buddhas' protective support, can scarcely be born in the Pure Land.

Furthermore! Just as a person who has done evil his whole life, on the one day he ceases doing it, likewise becomes a good person—so the person who turns the mind back toward the good and recites the Buddha's name, by the Buddhas' protective support, has his evil sins dissolved away; it is likewise just so.

Furthermore! An ant or a louse, through ten thousand lifetimes and ten thousand kalpas, can never of itself travel a thousand leagues. But if it clings within the clothing on a person's body, then even a thousand leagues it can reach. To gain rebirth in the Pure Land by the power of the Buddhas' protective support is exactly like this. Pray, do not doubt it!

A person with evil sins who turns the mind back and recites the Buddha's name, yet does not wish to be reborn there alone by himself—whose mind only wishes to behold the Buddha and, having attained the Way, then to return and deliver all beings, so that both foes and loved ones may alike gain rebirth there—then there will not be a single person who fails to be born there.

Someone (one who doubts) may ask: "A person who throughout his ordinary life did evil, slaughtering sentient beings and cruelly oppressing the good folk, yet at death recites the Buddha's name and likewise gains rebirth—then as for those sentient beings who were slaughtered and made to suffer, they will harbor rancor and resentment; when will it ever be assuaged and fade? What of that?"

The answer is: Provided that I am born into the Pure Land, then after I have attained the Way, I shall return and deliver all—foes and loved ones alike—and they too shall together return to the Land of Peace and Nurture.

How is this not better than those who forge enmities and knot up resentments, wrong answering wrong in mutual retribution, so that in the end both oneself and the other are alike submerged and tossed in the suffering of transmigration, with no knowing in what age they may appoint to emerge?

UNIVERSAL EXHORTATION TO PRACTICE

THE SEVENTH

I (Wang Rihui) set forth this teaching of the Pure Land wishing to exhort all—those who see and those who hear—to give rise to a vast and great mind, taking the mind of the Buddha as one's own mind, causing everyone alike to know it, so that all may together be born in the Pure Land. One must bring the mind to think thus: "As for this Dharma-gate, if another knows it, just as I myself know it—how can one not rejoice? And if another does not know it, just as if I myself did not know it—how can one not grieve?"

It is not for cultivating in solitude for oneself alone. If one cultivates in solitude for oneself alone, then one belongs to the company of the Śrāvakas, whom the Buddha calls those of the Lesser Vehicle (Hīnayāna).

"Lesser" means small. "Vehicle" means a cart, or "vehicle" means to convey. This means: one who cultivates the Lesser Vehicle is like a very small cart, able to convey oneself alone, that is all. The Buddha says this person is one who severs the seed of Buddhahood—because he cultivates in a self-interested way (benefiting himself alone).

But one who gives rise to the vast and great mind, exhorting all people to cultivate together, is called a Bodhisattva of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna). It is like a very great cart, conveying both oneself and others together to the place of ultimate attainment, the fruition-state of the Buddhas.

Therefore the meritorious blessings of such a person are likewise great, reaching the immeasurable and boundless. The Buddhas of the ten directions, numerous as the sands of the Ganges—every one of them praises the merit and virtue of the Buddha Amitābha as inconceivable. This means: it cannot be fathomed by the thinking mind, nor discussed and debated in words.

Merit and virtue so vast and great cannot be described to the very end. Therefore one merely borrows two words to extol it, saying "the utmost." But if the merit and virtue are vast and great to the very utmost like this, then what undertaking is there that cannot be accomplished?

Therefore, to exhort even a single person to cultivate the Dharma-gate of the Pure Land, by this wholesome affinity, can dissolve away evil sins as well; and not only dissolve away evil sins, but also heighten one's blessings and one's lifespan.

Not only heighten one's blessings and lifespan, but also accomplish the merit and virtue of rebirth in the Pure Land. Not only gain rebirth oneself in the Pure Land, but also pray for the deceased to gain rebirth in the Pure Land—this too can be accomplished.

But one must wholeheartedly and sincerely make the dedicatory prayer, and only then will one gain the merit and virtue and gain rebirth in the Pure Land. Consider the account of Mr. Fang Zhu, and you will understand this (Mr. Fang Zhu was one of grave sin, who by reciting the Buddha's name likewise gained rebirth and ascended to the non-retrogressing fruition-state).

How much more so to exhort one person, and on to five persons, ten persons! I exhort a person, and then bid that person in turn to go on exhorting more widely. If, generation after generation, this is unbroken in this way, then the teaching of the Western Pure Land will be scattered and spread throughout all under heaven, and all sentient beings in the sea of suffering will likewise all gain rebirth in the Pure Land.

To exhort people to practice the wholesome Way is called the Gift of Dharma. And this Dharma-gate of the Pure Land is the foremost among all Gifts of Dharma. And for escaping transmigration, nothing is so good as this Gift of Dharma.

Therefore the meritorious blessings of the giving of the Dharma cannot be told to the very end.

The Bodhisattva Mahā-maitrī (Great Compassion) composed a gāthā exhorting people to cultivate the Pure Land, as follows:

Năng khuyến nhị nhân tu,

Tỷ tự tỷ tinh tấn,

Khuyến chí thập dư nhân,

Phước đức kỷ vô lượng.

Which means:

If one can exhort two people to cultivate,

It compares to oneself being diligent.

If one exhorts more than ten people,

One's own merit and virtue are immeasurable.

And the verse:

Như khuyến bá dư thiên,

Danh vi chân Bồ tát.

Hựu năng quá thử số,

Tức thị A Di Đà.

Which means:

If one exhorts a hundred thousand people,

One is called a true Bodhisattva.

And if one exhorts beyond that number,

One is none other than Amitābha.

Looking at this, one knows: how could the teaching of the Western Pure Land fail to employ the vast and great mind, exhorting and transforming all people so that together they come to know this Dharma-gate, and thereby amass immeasurable meritorious blessings?

UNIVERSAL EXHORTATION TO PRACTICE

THE EIGHTH

Suppose we see a person who is hungry, and we give him a single meal; a person suffering from cold, and we help him with a single garment—this is already a great kindness.

How much more so, when sentient beings are sunk and drowning in the six paths, with no appointed time for emerging. We simply teach them the Dharma-gate of reciting the Buddha's name, causing them swiftly to escape transmigration and to enjoy long-lasting bliss that is utterly endless—how can such a kindness be reckoned in full?

The Diamond Sūtra says: "If a person should give in charity bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges—through immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of kalpas, how vast their merit and virtue! Yet this does not equal the case of one person who hears and understands this scripture, with a faithful mind that does not turn away; for then the merit and virtue are still greater."

Why so? Because to give one's body in charity is, at most, to enjoy the meritorious blessings of this worldly realm, which one day must be exhausted.

But one who hears and understands this scripture will, step by step, clearly awaken to the True Nature, gaining blessings without end and without limit. Therefore it is greater.

From this I (Wang Rihui) examine and verify: a person who believes the Diamond Sūtra still gains meritorious blessings such as these. And to exhort a person to cultivate the Pure Land, the meritorious blessings are likewise as above, in no way less or deficient.

Why so? Because by cultivating the Dharma-gate of the Pure Land, there is no more transmigration, and one attains the stage of Non-retrogression, going straight on to Buddhahood, the ultimate and perfectly complete fruition-state.

How much more so, once a person is born into that land—though he has not immediately realized the fruition of Buddhahood, yet he is precisely on the rungs ascending step by step toward the fruition of Buddhahood. Therefore to exhort one person to cultivate the Pure Land is to accomplish the Buddhahood of one sentient being.

Now all those who attain Buddhahood must of course deliver immeasurable sentient beings; and those sentient beings who attain deliverance all have us as their head and origin. It is therefore only natural that those meritorious blessings must be greater than those of one who gives in charity bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges through immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of kalpas. How could it be otherwise?

UNIVERSAL EXHORTATION TO PRACTICE

THE NINTH

For all of us—the kindness we have received of teachers and friends in their instruction, the kindness of father and mother in leading and guiding us, the kindness of friends in courtesy and farewell—we should in every case exhort them to cultivate the Pure Land, so as to repay them in return; and on to all people to whom we are indebted, whether for the kindness of giving us a single bowl of tea to drink, or for the help of a single word, together with servants who have labored in their service.

For all that we have received in our enjoyment is the kindly power of others. We should in every case take this Dharma-gate and exhort them with it, causing them to be delivered from the sea of suffering—not only those who have shown kindness to us, but all people we know and do not know, acquainted and unacquainted; we should plan to teach them all by this one means, hoping that together we may be born in the Pure Land.

Not only this. Consider that in the time when the Buddha Śākyamuni was still in the world, there was a small country hard to teach and transform. The Buddha said: "The people of this realm have a karmic affinity with Maudgalyāyana." He then sent Maudgalyāyana to go and teach and transform them, and the people of that country one and all submitted and followed the words of Maudgalyāyana.

Someone asked the Buddha: "What sort of karmic affinity do the people of that realm have with Maudgalyāyana?" The Buddha taught: "In a former life Maudgalyāyana was a woodcutter, and in cutting firewood he startled a swarm of bees in the mountains. Maudgalyāyana uttered a vow, saying: 'After I attain the Way, I vow to deliver this whole swarm of bees.' The populace within this city now are precisely that swarm of bees of that time. Because Maudgalyāyana uttered that vow, there is therefore now this karmic affinity."

Looking at the matter from this, not only should we exhort all people to cultivate the Pure Land, but also, toward all the beasts that fly and run, down to the kinds of termites, ants, mosquitoes, and gnats—all that have form and shape and can be seen—we should recite "Namo Amitābha Buddha" a few times and utter a wholesome vow, saying: "May all of you sentient beings be born in the world of Ultimate Bliss; after I have attained the Way, I shall deliver all of you."

And not only toward the kinds with form and shape that we can see, but toward the kinds with form and shape that cannot be seen, we must do likewise in every case.

In this way, our wholesome mindfulness will become ripened and matured. With all sentient beings we will have karmic affinity. We will be born into the highest grade; and having been born into the highest grade, we will return into this realm to transform and deliver all people. At that time there will not be a single one who does not delight in and submit to our words.

Therefore there is the saying: "Speak one word, and ten thousand people hear"—it is just so.

NAMO TO THE ROOT TEACHER ŚĀKYAMUNI BUDDHA

END OF BOOK THREE