淨土旨訣

PREFACE

The Buddha and the patriarchs taught a great many skillful Dharma gates, but if one seeks a path that is direct, simple, vast, and profound, none surpasses the Pure Land Dharma gate. The ancients said, “In the ocean of birth and death, mindfulness of the Buddha is foremost.” These are truly no false words!

In the Amitabha Sutra, the Tathagata himself expounded this teaching, and the Buddhas of the six directions praised it with one voice. The Mahayana sutras and treatises also repeatedly exhort practitioners to follow it. As for such patriarchal masters as Tiantai, Nanyue, Changlu, Yongming, Cishou, and Zhongfeng, they all praised the Dharma gate of mindfulness of the Buddha with the utmost vigor.

This is because, with respect to benefiting oneself, this Dharma gate enables attainment within a single lifetime; with respect to benefiting others, it can embrace beings of all three capacities; and when its ultimate destination is considered, it accords with the essential purport of the Chan school. It is entirely apt to say, “Chan is the Chan of the Pure Land, and the Pure Land is the Pure Land of Chan.”

In the present age, the Buddhadharma is gradually declining, and genuine practitioners are rarely seen. Those who practice Chan gain a little understanding and immediately hasten to discourse upon lofty matters beyond, while looking down upon Pure Land practice. They even take the patriarchs’ words intended to break attachment as literal Dharma. This is so everywhere, and they refuse to take refuge in the Pure Land.

Those of understanding are deeply concerned and say, “Not only have people deprived themselves of benefit, but they have also incurred the fault of slandering the true Dharma. How dreadful!”

Master Daobei of Baofu personally received the Dharma seal from Master Yuanxian. For more than twenty years at the place of practice, the tradition of his school spread widely, and the rain of Dharma saturated places near and far. He was truly an ocean of Chan in his time!

Apart from the occasions when he expounded Chan teachings, the Master vigorously praised the Pure Land. He once said, “This old monk’s aspiration lies in the Chan school, while his practice lies in the Pure Land.” These words are truly profound!

He, together with Masters Tiantai and Yongming, personally cultivated the practice of mindfulness of the Buddha and also used that Dharma to teach and transform others. All these masters followed the same path.

I had long been immersed in worldly life and came late to admire the Buddha’s gate. In the spring of the Xinyou year, I presented eight questions concerning the Pure Land and asked the Master to elucidate them. In the autumn of that year, the Master again sent me from afar a copy of Essential Instructions on the Pure Land. It consists largely of instructions on mindfulness of the Buddha, including letters, questions and answers, verses of praise, and extensive citations of the words of the Buddhas and patriarchs as evidence, establishing firm faith in everyone. Its language is simple, yet its meaning is profound.

I reverently read it again and again and praised the work as truly indispensable. If practitioners of Chan and Pure Land can, right here, turn back and recognize their own “ancient homeland and familiar landscape,” then calling it Chan or calling it Pure Land is equally superfluous speech. If they have not yet attained this, then this book is precisely a stairway to the Pure Land and also a precious mirror of the special transmission.

The fifth month of the Jiazi year (1684),

in the Kangxi era,

disciple Gong Jiyuan

reverently inscribed

OPENING WORDS

INSTRUCTIONS ON CULTIVATING PURE LAND KARMA FOR LAYMAN GONG JIYUAN

All the sutras praise the Dharma gate of mindfulness of the Buddha. In the Amitabha Sutra, the Buddhas of the six directions each manifested a broad and long tongue that covered the three-thousandfold world and spoke words of truth. This was precisely because they feared that sentient beings would be unable to believe. They therefore acted as guarantors that these words were not false, enabling sentient beings to give rise to firm faith, for this is a profound and vast Dharma that is difficult to believe.

The Amitabha Sutra says, “One cannot attain rebirth in the Pure Land with only scant roots of virtue, merit, and causal conditions.”

If one can believe this Dharma that is difficult to believe, it may be known that one possesses abundant causal conditions, abundant merit, and abundant roots of virtue.

The single Dharma gate of mindfulness of the Buddha fully encompasses immeasurable Dharma gates. This is because the Buddha has three bodies, and there are four kinds of lands. Those who cultivate Pure Land karma practice according to their own capacities:

 Some are mindful of the Buddha’s Dharmakaya and aspire to be reborn in the Land of Eternally Quiescent Light.

 Some are mindful of the Buddha’s Sambhogakaya and aspire to be reborn in the Land of the Adorned True Reward.

 Some are mindful of the Buddha’s Nirmanakaya and aspire to be reborn in the two lands of Expedient Liberation with Residue and the Common Abode of Ordinary Beings and Sages.

Although it is said that the Buddha has three bodies, in truth they are but one body. Although it is said that there are four lands, fundamentally they are but one land, for all take the Dharma realm as their essence. Therefore, those of perfect and sudden capacity penetrate all things from the one. An example is the Youth Sudhana, who, on Mount Wonderful Peak, visited his first spiritual guide, Bhiksu Meghashri, and attained from him Samantabhadra’s Samadhi of Mindfulness of the Buddha. Such are people of this capacity.

 Regarding mindfulness of the Buddha’s Nirmanakaya, the Venerable Daxing of Northern Qi greatly revered and exclusively cultivated this Dharma gate of mindfulness of the Buddha. He spoke of the “four-character teaching of faith, recollection, invocation, and reverence.” This means that the mind constantly “believes and recollects,” while the mouth constantly “invokes and reveres.”

It is said that rebirth in the Pure Land requires faith: of a thousand people who believe, a thousand attain rebirth; of ten thousand who believe, ten thousand return to the Pure Land.

When the mind always has faith and the mouth constantly recites the Buddha’s name, the Buddhas immediately rescue and deliver one. When the mind constantly recollects the Buddha, the mouth constantly recites the Buddha’s name, and the body constantly reveres the Buddha, this is called profound faith. Whether sooner or later, ultimately there is no reason to remain in the Saha world. This is mindfulness of the Buddha’s Nirmanakaya and rebirth in the Lands of Expedient Liberation and the Common Abode. Therefore, beginners who have newly aroused the resolve are exhorted to value this practice and cultivate it diligently.

 Regarding mindfulness of the Buddha’s Sambhogakaya, six hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Ganges sands of yojanas constitute the Buddha’s body. Immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable asamkhyeya kalpas constitute the Buddha’s lifespan. The waters of the four seas form his limpid blue eyes; five Mount Sumerus form his gracefully curling white urna. His light has no boundary, and his retinue is beyond number. His attendant on the left is Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, and his attendant on the right is Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta. Merely invoking his name extinguishes the grave offenses of birth and death accumulated over eight billion kalpas; merely glimpsing his sacred image reveals eighty-four thousand excellent marks.

Ah! Since it is said that the Buddha’s body is as vast as six hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Ganges sands of yojanas, while the Saha world is only a hundred thousand kotis of lands away from the Land of Ultimate Bliss, then all sentient beings within the Saha world—whether in the three dark paths or revolving through the six realms—are contained within Amitabha Buddha’s mind. He constantly nurtures us and brings us to maturity, constantly gathers us in, and constantly radiates light to illuminate us. Why, then, do sentient beings remain unaware, unbelieving, and unable to see?

If a good man possessing merit and roots of virtue sees and understands in this way, faithfully turns toward that land, and makes the great vow to be reborn there, his entire being will interpenetrate without obstruction, and the instant the thought arises, he arrives there at once. How could it be far away? If one can be mindful of the Buddha’s Sambhogakaya in this way, one will certainly be reborn in the Land of the Adorned True Reward.

 Regarding mindfulness of the Buddha’s Dharmakaya, the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana says:

“As stated in the sutra, if a person single-mindedly recollects Amitabha Buddha of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, cultivates all roots of virtue, and dedicates them with the aspiration to be reborn in that world, that person will certainly attain rebirth there. Because that person will constantly see the Buddha, ultimately there will be no retrogression. If that person contemplates the Buddha’s Dharmakaya of True Suchness and constantly practices diligently, that person will certainly attain rebirth and abide in right concentration.”

The Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life says:

“Amitabha Buddha is the Dharma-realm Body that enters throughout the minds and thoughts of all sentient beings. Therefore, when your minds contemplate the Buddha, that very mind is the thirty-two excellent marks and the eighty noble characteristics. This mind makes the Buddha; this mind is the Buddha.”

Heaven and earth share the same root; the myriad things are of one essence. The Dharma-body of all Buddhas is the true mind of intrinsic awakening within sentient beings. The Buddhas have realized nothing else; they have realized only the true mind of sentient beings.

Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—these three are not different. To say, “This mind makes the Buddha,” clarifies that manifestation occurs through the mind and that cultivation proceeds from the intrinsic nature. To say, “This mind is the Buddha,” means that outside the mind there is no Buddha, and outside the Buddha there is no mind.

This contemplation not only examines the intrinsic nature, but relies precisely upon the fruit of Buddhahood to reveal that intrinsic nature. Because they are of the same essence, the passage first makes clear that the manifested Buddha is within our contemplative thought, and then explains that the Tathagata’s Dharma-body is precisely the practitioner’s mind-essence of intrinsic awakening, neither dual nor different.

The Large Prajnaparamita Sutra also says:

“The suchness-nature of all dharmas is itself the Buddha.”

The Diamond Sutra says:

“‘Tathagata’ means the suchness-nature of all dharmas.”

Once it is known that “SUCHNESS” is the Buddha, and that all dharmas are “SUCH,” what dharma could fail to be the Buddha? Therefore, the ignorance, deluded thoughts, inverted views, and grasping at conditions of sentient beings—even mountains, rivers, the great earth, plants, dense forests, oxen, horses, pigs, goats, and minute insects—are all the true and pure Dharma-body of Amitabha Buddha. If practitioners can recollect the Dharma-body Buddha in this way, they abide in right samadhi and will certainly be born in the Land of Eternally Quiescent Light.

The Vimalakirti Sutra says:

“If one wishes to obtain a pure land, one should purify one’s own mind. When one’s mind is pure, the Buddha-land is pure.”

Yet there is no other method for purifying the mind; gathering in the six faculties and single-mindedly recollecting the Buddha is the most essential practice.

Therefore, an eminent master of old said:

“When the purifying pearl is cast into turbid water, the turbid water cannot but become clear. When the Buddha’s name is cast into a distracted mind, the distracted mind will certainly become settled.”

The Former Master said:

“When the mind is pure, the Buddha-land is pure;

This principle never changes.

If a lotus filament has not yet broken,

It can pull a great elephant along.”

(When the mind is pure, the Buddha-land is pure; this principle cannot change even in ten thousand ages. If doubt still remains, it will obstruct progress in cultivation, just as a slender lotus filament, though tiny, can pull a great elephant along.)

These are all truthful words.

The body is born of one’s parents, while the mind arises from the reflections of conditions among the six sense objects. Both must undergo arising, abiding, alteration, and cessation, changing with every thought and decaying in every ksana; neither can be relied upon for long. Therefore, one must personally see clearly through one’s present body and mind.

The Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra says:

“Contemplating and seeing that the five skandhas are all empty, one transcends all suffering.”

A verse of Krakucchanda Buddha says:

“Seeing the body as unreal is seeing the true body;

Knowing the mind to be like an illusion is knowing the true mind.

One who realizes that body and mind are originally empty in nature—

How is that person different from the Buddha?”

Practitioners cultivating Pure Land karma should contemplate in this way, understand in this way, examine the true mark of body and mind in this way, and contemplate the Buddha in the same way. This is because sentient beings and the Buddha are of the same essence, neither dual nor different.

The entire Avatamsaka Sutra constitutes the Tathagata’s first teaching among the five periods. It is the ultimate discourse fully accordant with the vast, all-embracing, expansive, and perfect intrinsic nature. In the end, it is gathered into Samantabhadra’s Ten Great Kings of Vows, which guide beings toward the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Thus, it should be known that the Land of Ultimate Bliss is the direct path for journeying through the ocean of worlds in the magnificent Flower Treasury, and the secure abode where those of the Three Worthy Stages and Ten Noble Stages, together with the great bodhisattvas, may rest. True disciples of the Buddha should diligently cultivate and must not continually postpone their practice.

In his Combined Treatise, Elder Li frequently compares the provisional and the real aspects of the Pure Land. This is because he wished to rely upon principle in his exposition in order to reveal the Three Vehicles, explaining that Pure Lands in other directions are provisional expedients, whereas the Mind-Only Pure Land of the One Vehicle teaching in the Avatamsaka Sutra is real.

Yet without the real, the provisional could not be established; without the provisional, the real could not be revealed. Both the provisional and the real serve to disclose the Avatamsaka Pure Land, while east, west, south, and north; defiled and pure; great and small—each phenomenon and each thing is the inexhaustible Dharma-realm, perpetually containing and interpenetrating all others. Only through the interpenetration of the Ten Mysteries and Six Characteristics can one enter the ultimate depth of this principle. Readers should skillfully grasp the meaning and not become attached to the words.

ANSWERS TO EIGHT QUESTIONS ON THE PURE LAND

FROM LAYMAN CUNG TÍCH VIỆN

Question: There are many gates for entering the Way. Although the paths of the Chan school and the Pure Land school differ, their ultimate destination is still one, and fundamentally there is no distinction of superior or inferior.

Nevertheless, investigating Chan takes awakening as its essential aim; once one’s practice reaches maturity, one may attain complete awakening in this very lifetime. Cultivating the Pure Land takes rebirth there as its criterion; although one’s recitation may be single-minded, only at the approach of death does one attain rebirth. In this respect, is there not a difference of earlier and later, faster and slower?

As for investigating the question, “Who is recollecting the Buddha?” and contemplating the critical phrase, “What is the intrinsic nature of Amitabha?” these remain practices of meditative inquiry. Those of inferior faculties are not yet capable of undertaking them.

If one simply recites the Buddha’s name and yet wishes to obtain the benefit of awakening to the Way while alive and the joy of rebirth at death, may the Master please explain clearly how such good fortune can be attained?

Answer: Investigating Chan and recollecting the Buddha are fundamentally not two dharmas. One should therefore accord with one’s own faculties and deeply practice a single method. These dharmas are merely skillful means by which the Buddhas and Patriarchs guide sentient beings, direct paths for entering the Way. As for speaking of faster or slower, earlier or later, this depends solely upon each person’s original faculties; in truth, there is no fixed dharma.

In the practice of investigating Chan, some people suddenly awaken through a single blow of the staff, a single shout, a single word, or a single skillful action. Others do not awaken throughout an entire lifetime and attain awakening only after two or three lives. Therefore, when the eminent masters of old instructed people, they said: “Even if one’s investigation has not yet penetrated, and one’s training has not yet been completed, once the teaching has entered one’s ears, it forever becomes a seed of the Way. When one returns in a future life, upon hearing it once, one will immediately penetrate it and attain the Great Dharma-retention.”

Although attaining rebirth through recollection of the Buddha concerns the life to come, those who attained awakening in their present lives were by no means few. This can be clearly seen in historical records.

The Chapter on Mahasthamaprapta’s Perfect Penetration through Recollection of the Buddha in the Surangama Sutra says: “Remembering the Buddha and recollecting the Buddha, one will certainly see the Buddha in the present or the future.” Now, regardless of whether one awakens in this life, throughout the twenty-four hours of the day one should single-mindedly recollect the Buddha and not allow oneself to forget even for a moment. If one forgets, one must immediately recollect again, and then arouse the power of great vows; one will certainly attain rebirth. Chan Master Yongming said: “If only one beholds Amitabha, why worry about not attaining awakening?” These words were spoken precisely to admonish those who constantly worry that recollecting the Buddha will not bring them awakening.

*

Question: For one who upholds and recites the Buddha’s name while also reading and reciting Mahayana scriptures, this Dharma is indeed very sound and secure. Yet if someone living amid the toil and dust of worldly life only comes to know the study of the Way in old age, and is also occupied with household affairs, receiving guests, and all manner of duties, there will not be much time. If, during the course of a day, one only reads and recites scriptures, it would be like “entering the sea to count the grains of sand,” and one would be unable to concentrate on invoking the Buddha’s name.

But if one concentrates solely on recitation, one may fear that one’s understanding will not be correct and that it will be difficult to attain thorough comprehension. Should one therefore cultivate recitation of the name and recitation of scriptures together, or should one only uphold the Buddha’s name so as not to neglect this simple yet essential Dharma? I humbly ask you to explain this clearly.

Answer: Practitioners of Pure Land karma read and recite Mahayana scriptures precisely in order to comprehend the principle of intrinsic nature and firmly establish right faith. How could this be called “entering the sea to count the grains of sand”? To say so shows that one is still entangled in words, has not understood the Buddha-mind, and does not know how to read the scriptures skillfully.

One should not cling to one side, but should practice according to one’s own circumstances. If one enjoys reading and reciting scriptures, one may set aside a little time for it and dedicate the merit to the Western Pure Land. If one prefers to concentrate on reciting the Buddha’s name, then one should concentrate on reciting the Buddha’s name.

The sole aim is to keep right mindfulness continuous; there is no need to hesitate.

*

Question: The virtuous masters of old taught those who recite the Buddha’s name that they must: “Recite while being free from recitation; be free from recitation while reciting. When recitation and non-recitation are forged into a single whole, this is the highest level of practice.” At present, beginners can continue reciting without forgetting when they are at leisure, but as soon as they encounter affairs and engage with conditions, they suddenly forget.

When they recite, it is present; when they do not recite, it is absent. Thus it has already been divided in two; how can it be forged into a single whole? Now, if one wishes that, while at leisure, the mind remain lucidly aware, clear, and unobscured, and that, while encountering affairs and engaging with conditions, one always retain the phrase of Buddha-recitation, what method would be appropriate?

Answer: Buddha-recitation has two aspects: recitation according to Principle and recitation according to Phenomena.

In reciting the Buddha according to Phenomena, one simply recites single-mindedly. The essential point is to make every word distinct and every phrase continuous. If each word is not distinct, one has fallen into torpor; if the phrases are not continuous, one has fallen into distraction. Free from torpor and distraction, the Buddha’s name in a single phrase appears distinctly before one. With sustained practice, one will naturally attain the Samadhi of Buddha-Recitation.

Recitation according to Principle means thoroughly realizing that the mind which recites and the Buddha who is recited are presently formed through the convergence of causes and conditions, and are fundamentally without anything substantial; in their very essence, they are empty by nature. This is reciting while being free from recitation.

Although they are empty by nature, the mind which recites and the Buddha who is recited are always distinctly present before one. This is precisely being free from recitation while reciting.

However, reciting while being free from recitation is the contemplation of emptiness. Being free from recitation while reciting is the contemplation of provisional existence. When emptiness and provisional existence are nondual, the Dharma-body presently revealed is precisely the contemplation of the Middle Way. If one can practice in accord with this contemplation, one will clearly know that the Saha world and the Pure Land are in a single place, and that Amitabha and oneself are fundamentally not two different persons.

By reciting the Buddha in this way, one will certainly be reborn in the highest grade of the Pure Land. This is called:

“Birth is decisively birth,

Yet in going, there is truly no going.”

If one has not yet understood the principle of intrinsic nature, one remains firmly attached to the aspect of “having recitation” and does not understand the principle of “reciting while being free from recitation, and being free from recitation while reciting.” When the principle is not yet clear, seeking to attain accord with it is truly difficult.

Now, regardless of whether one practices according to Phenomena or Principle, one need only concentrate on upholding and reciting the single phrase of the Buddha’s name.

Bai Xiangshan said:

“While walking, Amitabha; while sitting, Amitabha. No matter how busy one may be, one never departs from the phrase ‘Amitabha Buddha.’ As this gradually becomes pure and熟 practiced, one attains right concentration. Naturally, in open clarity, awareness will be bright and unobscured; thus, when engaging with conditions and encountering objects, one will not forget right mindfulness.”

*

Question: Upholding the precepts is the foundation of cultivation; refraining from killing is the basis of the great precepts. Moreover, “Through the precepts, concentration arises; through concentration, wisdom develops.” Thus, the precepts come first. Yet laypeople are deeply defiled and burdened by heavy karma, and habits accumulated over many lifetimes are difficult to change. Furthermore, from middle age onward, their bodies grow weak and are afflicted by many illnesses, and regrettably they have not been able to stop eating meat. Can they still be reborn in the Pure Land while carrying karma?

Out of compassion, all Buddhas do not hesitate to open a path to the Pure Land, yet such people still harbor minds of coming and going, grasping and rejecting. They therefore find it difficult to escape the three evil paths, and amid the repayment of causes and effects, debts and recompenses, how could they attain the highest grade? How, then, can they find liberation?

Answer: Being unable to observe a vegetarian diet and uphold the precepts is a common failing among the wealthy and honored. In former times, the Surveillance Commissioner of Hongzhou asked Master Mazu about eating meat. The Master replied:

“Eating meat is your worldly fortune;

Not eating meat is your blessing.”

If not eating meat is a blessing, then eating meat necessarily incurs an offense. This is exceedingly clear.

Su Dongpo possessed intelligence surpassing his age and thoroughly understood the teachings of Buddhism, yet he still could not refrain from eating the flesh of sentient beings. Huang Shangu maintained pure vegetarian precepts throughout his life. He composed a written vow to exhort himself with utmost earnestness and once wrote a verse admonishing Su Dongpo:

“My flesh and the flesh of sentient beings—

Their forms differ, but their substance does not.

Fundamentally sharing the same intrinsic nature,

They differ only in outward appearance.

The suffering they must endure

Is because I crave rich and savory flavors.

Do not say that King Yama passes judgment;

Examine for yourself what this entails.”

This verse instructs people most precisely. Therefore, practitioners cultivating Pure Land karma must reflect carefully: “For every morsel of meat I eat, sentient beings endure immeasurable suffering. Mindful of their suffering, I therefore do not eat meat.”

Even so, the teaching clearly states that one may “be reborn while carrying karma”; it is only that one’s grade of lotus birth will not be high. A person of great resolve should aim directly for the highest grade. Why confine oneself to rebirth while carrying karma?

*

Question: Since beginning to cultivate the Pure Land path, I have understood that the world is false and the body illusory, and thus I have gained some measure of awareness. Yet I still worry that I may suddenly follow what is false and give rise to deluded thoughts. Or, while living in poverty and hardship, although I understand these conditions to be illusory, deluded thoughts still frequently arise. I can understand but cannot realize; I can speak of it but cannot put it into practice.

In this way, not only is it difficult to accomplish this virtue of purity, but it is also easy to increase that defiled mind. If I now wish to prevent the defiled mind from increasing while fully accomplishing what is difficult to accomplish, what Dharma should I practice to attain this aim?

Answer: Obstructions may be thick or thin, and realization may be shallow or deep. Where one is not yet in accord, it is because one’s insight is not yet penetrating and one’s practice is not yet熟. When encountering objects and conditions, one is still disturbed. This is a common failing of beginners in cultivation. A wise person, however, right at the point of nonaccord, constantly strives and trains with arduous discipline, genuinely seeing through it clearly. With a single thought that turns the illumination back upon itself, one is immediately subdued and at ease. Over time, this naturally becomes habitual, without any need for effort.

*

Question: When reciting the Buddha’s name, although this mind has not yet reached the state of being undisturbed, neither does it completely forget. Yet at night, while asleep and dreaming, I still perceive all kinds of former habitual tendencies appearing; what has become deeply ingrained is difficult to forget. Karmic forces accumulated over many lifetimes cannot be overcome in a single morning or evening. If it is difficult to remain master of oneself even in dreams, how can one avoid sinking and drifting in the matter of birth and death?

Now I wish to follow the ancients in sitting continuously without lying down, but my strength is weak. Though I aspire to emulate them, I have not yet been able to do so. Ordinary people sleep at night and eat during the day, dividing their lives into periods of delusion and wakefulness; it is exceedingly difficult to maintain an unbroken state at all times. What method should now be used to make waking and sleeping one, so that the master of awakened awareness is always present?

Answer: Practitioners cultivating the Pure Land karma, even during the day, amid the mingled circumstances of right and wrong, love and hatred, frequently lose right mindfulness and drift along with conditions—how much more so in dreams!

Generally speaking, this is because their attachment to the Saha world is strong, while their mindfulness of the Pure Land is weak. If that mind were placed upon a scale, one side would be high and the other low. One need only genuinely see through all affairs of the Saha world as suffering and falsehood, with nothing real that is worthy of attachment; relinquish the myriad conditions and wholeheartedly recite the Buddha’s name.

If, during the day while the eyes are open, right mindfulness is not lost, then at night, while dreaming, right mindfulness will naturally not be lost either. Once right mindfulness is not lost in dreams, then at the time of death it will be directly present. Great Master Zhizhe of Tiantai said: “If, at the time of death, the mind abides in samadhi, that is precisely the moment of rebirth in the Pure Land.”

The state in which waking and sleeping are one is akin to this.

*

Question: Before the ancients had clarified the great matter, they greatly valued drawing near to an enlightened teacher, seeking instruction morning and evening in the hope of attaining complete penetration.

Thus there was the occasion when Master Deng Yinfeng “ascended three times and came nine times” to inquire into the Way with Chan Master Shitou. It has also been handed down from ancient times that even one who had seen the nature, such as Master Zhaozhou, still had to travel everywhere on foot at the age of eighty to seek instruction from wise spiritual friends.

Those who now cultivate the Pure Land, though they merely uphold and recite the name of one Buddha, also hope to penetrate and understand their own mind-nature; in this respect, it is all the same. The time and circumstances of laypeople are always restricted; unlike monastics, they cannot travel a thousand miles to study the Way. Even if they can temporarily draw near to a teacher of the Way, they cannot be as free from worldly ties as monastics.

Morning and evening, they must face wives, children, and relatives; everything seen by the eyes and heard by the ears consists of matters that obstruct the Way and karmic entanglements. If they are determined to sever these completely so as to draw near to a wise spiritual friend, they must leave the household life and depart from worldly affairs. Yet if they remain at home, they must devise skillful means for themselves.

I earnestly wish to hear your instruction concerning this matter!

Answer: Whether cultivating Chan or the Pure Land, and whether lay or monastic, practitioners should examine whether the cause of their initial aspiration is genuine.

If their aspiration is genuine, then although they live at home together with wives, children, and relatives, their wisdom will remain luminous and unobstructed. From ancient times to the present, many laypeople have been seen and heard of who attained the Way; the evidence is clear and may be examined. Why must everyone necessarily leave the household life and travel in search of instruction before being able to study the Way?

Therefore, the Pure Conduct Chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra says: “Practitioners should skillfully employ the mind and, whenever encountering circumstances and conditions, constantly bring forth one hundred and forty vows.” The first vow says:

“When bodhisattvas dwell at home,

They should vow that sentient beings

May know the empty nature of the household

And be free from its oppression.”

If one truly understands that the nature of the household is fundamentally empty, then one accords with all conditions without giving rise to craving, attachment, or entanglement. Cradling one’s children, playing with one’s grandchildren, laughing joyfully, scolding, and becoming angry can all serve to reveal the fundamental nature and support right view. If so, why is there any need to distinguish between lay and monastic life?

But if one’s aspiration is not genuine, then not only will one fail to attain the Way as a layperson; even after leaving the household life, one will merely be “a monk concerned with food and clothing.”

*

Question: Among the ancients who investigated Chan, some held to a single huatou for twenty or thirty years without yet attaining penetration. Even Master Zhaozhou had to keep his mind free from admixture for forty years. Chan Master Xianglin practiced for forty years, yet the ox still roamed about—how much more so for others!

Now, reciting a single Buddha-name and investigating a single huatou are one and the same. But I am already over fifty years old, and this physical body grows weaker each day from age and illness, leaving me increasingly stooped and unsteady. I earnestly wish to bring the matter to completion in this lifetime, yet I fear that from now onward I may not have another twenty or thirty years in which to cultivate until reaching the Land of Peace and Nurture.

Reaching the Land of Peace and Nurture is no easy matter; how could it be attained through casual recitation alone? How, then, should I practice so that my wish may be fulfilled? I humbly beg the Master to explain clearly and urge me onward!

Answer: Investigating a huatou is precisely the entry practice for beginners. As for Master Zhaozhou keeping his mind free from admixture for forty years, and Chan Master Xianglin practicing for forty years while the ox still roamed about, these refer to the wondrous and profound path of practice after awakening.

To speak of studying the Buddha and studying the Dharma is to employ the mind in a mixed and distracted way; to fall into ordinary feelings or views of sagehood is for the ox to roam about. How could these be judged in the same way as investigating a huatou?

Apart from the Dharma gates of the Three Vehicles, the World-Honored One separately opened the Pure Land gate, calling it “the supreme skillful means,” “the shortcut of cultivation,” and also “transcending the Three Realms horizontally.” Chan Master Yongming called it: “Of ten thousand who practice, ten thousand attain rebirth.”

This is because one relies upon the power of one’s own faith, practice, and aspiration, while also receiving the compassionate empowering blessings of Amitabha Buddha, Bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta, and the entire assembly of great sages. It is like sailing with the current and a favorable wind, proceeding directly to the other shore—what hardship or danger could there be? Thus, even a person who has committed the ten evil deeds may attain rebirth through only ten recitations. A parrot that followed a monk in reciting the Buddha’s name was able to escape its life as a caged bird, and a lotus flower grew from its tongue. How much more, then, could a man endowed with right faith, merit, and wisdom, who single-mindedly recites the Buddha’s name, fail to attain rebirth?

Why worry that one must cultivate for twenty or thirty years before attaining accomplishment? One need only fear that one’s faith is not firm, that one’s thoughts of the Saha world are deep and heavy, while one’s mind of the Pure Land is shallow and weak, and thus one fails to attain correspondence. In this matter, everything depends solely upon exerting oneself wholeheartedly.

In ancient times, there was an official named Wu Zicai who devoted himself at home to cultivating the Pure Land. He had a coffin placed in his house and often lay inside it. Every morning, he ordered a young attendant to knock on the coffin and call him awake, chanting:

Wu Zicai!

Go home!

The Three Realms are not peaceful; do not remain.

In the Western Pure Land, there is a Lotus Dais!

Because he feared being bound by evil habits, he counteracted them himself in this way. Only thus could he hope readily to attain the Buddha-Recitation Samadhi.

INSTRUCTION TO CHAN PRACTITIONER DEZHANG

Senior Monk Dezhang returned to Weiyang and stayed in the Garden of Ultimate Bliss, relinquishing all affairs in order to advance his cultivation of Pure Land karma. Undeterred by the distance of several thousand miles, he also sent a letter inquiring about the Pure Land practice.

I told him: “Those who cultivate Pure Land karma must first see through all the evils and corruptions of the Saha world as suffering and give rise to no craving or attachment toward them.

Afterward, they should single-mindedly turn toward the Pure Land, daily read and recite Mahayana scriptures, wholeheartedly recite the Buddha’s name, make vows, and dedicate the merit. As months and years accumulate over a long period, they will naturally attain the Buddha-Recitation Samadhi. This is what is meant by: ‘Of ten thousand who practice, ten thousand attain rebirth.’”

Although mindfulness of the Buddha encompasses innumerable Dharma gates, only the practice of Buddha-remembrance through upholding the Name is the most direct and expedient. The Amitabha Sutra says: “Uphold the Name for one day, two days, and up to seven days, with one-pointed mind free from confusion. When that person is approaching the end of life, Amitabha Buddha and the assembly of sages will appear before them.

At the moment of death, their mind will not be inverted, and they will immediately attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.” This is precisely what it means. “One-pointed mind free from confusion” means that the practice of Buddha-remembrance should be neither too fast nor too slow. What matters is to recite each and every word distinctly, with each phrase following the next without interruption.

If the recitation is not continuous, thoughts will follow external conditions, and this is not one-pointedness. If it is not distinct, the mind will become dim and confused. To be free from these two faults is to know skillfully how to be mindful of the Buddha.

Now, regardless of whether one approaches it through practice or principle, one need only wholeheartedly uphold and recite the single phrase “Amitabha Buddha.” With true and earnest faith, one will naturally attain accord.

The Buddhas throughout the six directions all manifest their vast and long tongues, covering the entire three-thousandfold world-system, and speak words of truth precisely because they fear that sentient beings will be unable to believe. The Avatamsaka Sutra culminates in the Ten Great Kings of Vows of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, which guide beings toward the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Therefore, you should constantly ponder this carefully to nurture right faith. You must not take it lightly!

VENERABLE VIEN HANH

REQUESTS INSTRUCTION ON THE PURE LAND AT ON LANG

The Master said:

Today, Venerable Vien Hanh of Bach Nguyen Hermitage has led the Dharma friends of the Lotus Society in establishing a vegetarian Dharma assembly and has invited this mountain monk to ascend the Dharma seat and give instruction on the Pure Land Dharma gate. Although this mountain monk presides over the Chan school, in truth he practices the Pure Land path in its entirety.

Confucius said:

“My aspiration lies in the Spring and Autumn Annals, but my practice lies in the Classic of Filial Piety.”

This mountain monk would also venture to say:

“My aspiration lies in the Chan school, but my practice lies in the Pure Land.”

Therefore, today, heedless of hardship, before the great assembly I shall submit to a thorough defeat and leave myself open to examination by those with discerning eyes. Does the great assembly understand?

The Buddhas throughout the ten directions all praise the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. The patriarchs of every generation, though speaking with different mouths, have said with one voice: “This is the direct and secure road home.”

Whether monastic or lay, noble or lowly, male or female, if one simply devotes all one’s heart and strength to mindfulness of the Buddha, one will certainly attain rebirth there. Upon seeing Amitabha Buddha, one immediately and forever enters the stage of non-retrogression, continually hears the Dharma, and advances with every thought toward Buddhahood. Such merit and benefit are truly inconceivable!

Yet those who practice Chan in recent times do not understand its purport. They commonly insist that Amitabha is merely one’s own nature and that the Pure Land is only within the mind. They do not believe in the Pure Land Dharma gate and even widely spread this false doctrine, destroying the faith of others. Such people not only lead themselves astray but also cause others to follow them into error.

Therefore, in his time, Chan Master Yanshou of Yongming Monastery earnestly admonished those who had not attained realization never to disparage the Pure Land. He also composed the Four Selections, saying:

1. With Chan but without the Pure Land,

Nine out of ten will lose the way;

When the skandha realms appear,

They will follow them away.

This means those who understand only the principle of intrinsic nature but do not vow to attain rebirth. If they remain long in the Saha world, they face the danger of the skandha realms, such as the fifty kinds of skandha demons described in the Surangama Sutra. This is precisely what is meant.

2. Without Chan but with the Pure Land,

Ten thousand practice, ten thousand are reborn;

Once they behold Amitabha,

Why fear they will not awaken?

This means that although people have not yet understood the principle of intrinsic nature, if they single-mindedly practice Buddha-remembrance and vow to attain rebirth, they will naturally awaken once they meet Amitabha Buddha.

3. With Chan and with the Pure Land,

Like a tiger furnished with horns;

In this life, a teacher of beings,

In the next, a Buddha and patriarch.

This means understanding the principle of intrinsic nature while also cultivating the Pure Land path. This is indeed a supremely subtle and excellent cause and effect, benefiting oneself and others throughout life after life and kalpa after kalpa.

4. Without Chan and without the Pure Land,

Iron beds and copper pillars;

Through myriad kalpas and a thousand lives,

There will be no one to rely upon.

This means that if people neither understand the principle of intrinsic nature nor vow to attain rebirth, they will remain submerged in the sea of suffering, with no knowing when they will escape.

Chan Master Yanshou repeatedly exhausted his words in admonishing and instructing people in this way. From this, it can be seen that: “One cannot fail to be mindful of the Buddha, and one cannot fail to seek rebirth in the Pure Land.” This is exceedingly clear. How could one cling idly to wild and deluded understanding and thereby leave oneself cause for future regret?

Among the great assembly there are also some who believe and aspire toward the Pure Land, yet they merely drift through their days. Although their mouths speak of the Pure Land, their minds remain bound to the Saha world. Thus, those who practice Buddha-remembrance are as numerous as the hairs of an ox, while those who attain rebirth are as rare as a unicorn’s horn. It is not that there are none at all, but they are exceedingly rare. Therefore, this mountain monk often advises disciples cultivating the Pure Land path that they must possess the three kinds of provisions:

First, arouse firm faith.

Second, cultivate genuine practice.

Third, make vast vows.

❖ What is called firm faith?

It means that one must believe that the Saha world is plainly full of suffering and that the Western Land is certainly peaceful and blissful. Amitabha Buddha and the bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta are presently in this Saha world, gathering sentient beings who practice Buddha-remembrance and enabling them to attain rebirth in the Pure Land. This is truly not false.

One must also believe that Amitabha Buddha is the Dharma-realm body pervading the contemplative minds of all sentient beings. When sentient beings are mindful of the Buddha: “This very mind is the thirty-two excellent marks and the eighty beautiful characteristics. This mind becomes Buddha; this mind is Buddha.” As Elder Liberation says in the Avatamsaka Sutra:

“If I wish to see Amitabha Buddha in the World of Peace and Bliss, I see him immediately, just as I wish.”

Only faith such as this can be called firm faith.

❖ What is called genuine practice?

It means that those who cultivate the Pure Land path must first see through the true nature of the world and relinquish the myriad conditions. Throughout all twenty-four hours and within the four deportments, they should wholeheartedly uphold and recite the single phrase “Amitabha Buddha.”

What matters is to recite so that each and every word is distinct and every phrase follows the next without interruption. Recite until there is no longer any need to remember to recite, for the recitation arises of itself within one’s own mind. This is reciting without reciting. Although one may encounter all manner of differing circumstances and conditions, this phrase of Buddha-remembrance remains distinctly present. To practice Buddha-remembrance in this way amid daily life is genuine practice.

❖ What is called making vast vows?

At the Avatamsaka Assembly, after the bodhisattva Samantabhadra had made the Ten Great Vows, he further vowed:

“May I, when the time of death draws near,

Eliminate all obstructions,

Behold Amitabha Buddha face to face,

And immediately attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Once I have been reborn in that land,

May I directly accomplish these great vows;

May all be perfectly fulfilled, without omission,

Bringing benefit and bliss to all sentient beings.

In that Buddha’s utterly pure assembly,

May I be born from a blossoming lotus,

Behold with my own eyes the Buddha of Infinite Light,

And directly receive a prediction of bodhi.

Having received the Tathagata’s prediction,

May I manifest countless hundreds of billions of emanation bodies;

With vast wisdom and power throughout the ten directions,

May I benefit all sentient beings.”

Only vows such as these can be called vast.

For if one’s vows are not vast, they are narrow and limited; if one’s practice is not genuine, it is false; and if one’s faith is not firm, it is shallow. It is truly very difficult for such a person to attain rebirth.

If faith is already firm, practice genuine, and vows vast, it is like sailing before a favorable wind straight toward the other shore—what hardship or danger could there be?

Moreover, one must understand that in the Saha world, beings undergo every kind of suffering in the six realms of samsara solely because of the single word “attachment.” In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, beings enjoy every kind of happiness and are certain to advance toward Buddhahood because of the single word “purity.” Therefore, an eminent master of old said:

“If attachment is not heavy, one is not born in the Saha world;

If mindfulness is not pure, one is not born in the Pure Land.”

Therefore, practitioners of pure karma must resolutely sever the conditions of attachment and diligently cultivate pure mindfulness. When pure mindfulness is accomplished, that is precisely when the lotus blossoms and one beholds the Buddha. Only after beholding the Buddha does one understand that, although one recites the Buddha’s name throughout the day, this does not contradict non-mindfulness; and that rebirth, clearly, has never contradicted non-arising.

Ordinary beings and sages each remain in their respective stations, yet the way of stimulus and response operates between them. East and West neither come nor go, yet the consciousness transcends birth and is reborn in the Pure Land. The painful bonds of karma cannot fetter it, and the fire that consumes the world at the end of the kalpa cannot burn it.

The five signs of decline in the heavenly realms are cast off, and the eight sufferings of the human world are no more. Breezes murmur as they stir the jeweled branches, and rippling waters shimmer with golden light. Celestial music expounds the Dharma of suffering and emptiness, while wondrous birds proclaim the sublime Dharma.

This depends upon no other magical art; it is precisely one’s own “ancient homeland and familiar landscape.” Do you clearly understand?

If you yourself wish to return, you may return at once;
Who could contend for the lovely scenery of the Five Lakes?

The assembly has been standing for a long time. Take good care!

INSTRUCTION FOR

VENERABLE DUY TƯỜNG

In ancient times, within the distinct teachings of the Three Vehicles, the Blessed One specially opened the Pure Land gate, calling it “the shortcut of cultivation” and also “horizontal transcendence beyond the Three Realms.” He originally taught that “mindfulness of the Buddha and rebirth in the Pure Land are very easy.”

Nowadays, many people recite the Buddha’s name, yet few attain rebirth. Why is this so? Because they have not seen through the Saha world and do not believe in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. The Saha world is corrupt and evil, filled with every kind of oppression—what is there that cannot be seen through? As for the Land of Ultimate Bliss, its dependent and direct recompenses are supremely excellent beyond measure.

The Buddhas of the ten directions and the patriarchs of every age have repeatedly and exhaustively urged beings to seek rebirth there—what is there that cannot be believed? Those who truly do not believe and cannot see through it are ignorant beings without wisdom, blind and benighted, concerned only with what lies before their eyes and unaware of what they should fear afterward. Thus, there is no knowing when their future suffering will end.

Only the wise can clearly see through all matters in the Saha world and possess deep, firm faith in what pertains to the Land of Ultimate Bliss. They then relinquish the myriad conditions and, throughout the four deportments, single-mindedly uphold and recite the phrase “Amitabha Buddha.”

The essential point is to recite so that every word is distinct and clear, and every phrase even and continuous. Continue until only the pure, undisturbed mind remains. When the lotus blossoms and one beholds the Buddha, one then knows that mindfulness itself is Buddha and Buddha itself is mindfulness; mindfulness is not mindfulness, and Buddha is not Buddha; Amitabha and oneself are entirely one, and the Land of Ultimate Bliss and the Saha world become identical.

Thereafter, use such a Dharma to liberate beings in the same manner. Vow to attain the highest of the nine grades, fulfill the three asamkhyeya kalpas within a single lifetime, repay the four kinds of kindness above, and rescue beings of the Three Realms below. Only such a person is a true disciple of the Buddha.

Time waits for no one. Each person should strive diligently.

Take good care!

INSTRUCTION FOR VƯƠNG LIÊN THẬT

The Master said: “You venerate the Buddha, observe a vegetarian diet, and devote yourself to cultivating pure karma. You have also asked this mountain monk to explain clearly the essential purport of the Pure Land as testimony for your practice—but can you comprehend it?”

Wholesome karma and unwholesome karma are both created by the mind; defiled lands and Pure Lands are both born from the mind.

Therefore, the Blessed One said:

❖ An upright mind is the bodhisattva’s Pure Land. When the bodhisattva attains Buddhahood, beings free from deceit and flattery will come to be born in that world.

❖ A profound mind is the bodhisattva’s Pure Land. When the bodhisattva attains Buddhahood, beings fully endowed with merit will come to be born in that world.

❖ A Mahayana mind is the bodhisattva’s Pure Land. When the bodhisattva attains Buddhahood, Mahayana beings will come to be born in that world.

Likewise, generosity, moral discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom are all the bodhisattva’s Pure Land. When the bodhisattva attains Buddhahood, beings fully endowed with the Six Paramitas will be born in that world.

Therefore, it is said: “If one wishes to attain a Pure Land, one should purify one’s own mind. When one’s mind is pure, the Buddha-land is pure.”

May I ask: “Ultimately, how does one attain a pure mind? Do you clearly understand?”

Take good care!

AN EXHORTATION TO MINDFULNESS OF THE BUDDHA

Speaking of human nature, no one fails to weary of suffering and delight in happiness, abandoning suffering and choosing happiness. Yet now, despite undergoing the most extreme suffering, many still do not know to grow weary of it and leave it behind. Moreover, although they know of the most supreme happiness, they do not know to cherish and accept it. Is this not profound delusion?

The most extreme suffering is precisely here in the Saha world, where beings are oppressed by birth, aging, illness, death, and every other affliction.

The most supreme happiness is precisely in Amitabha Buddha’s Land of Ultimate Bliss in the West, where the dependent and direct recompenses are pure, adorned, and complete.

An eminent master of old, seeing that beings remained deluded and failed to understand the causes of suffering and happiness, compared the Saha world with the Pure Land, saying:

❖ In this land, human beings receive bodies of flesh and blood; wherever there is birth, there is suffering. In that land, all sentient beings are born by transformation within lotus flowers, and there is no longer the suffering of birth.

❖ In this land, the seasons change, and people gradually proceed toward old age and frailty. In that land, there are no changes of heat and cold, and beings do not undergo the suffering of aging and decline.

❖ In this land, people bear outflow-tainted bodies that readily give rise to many illnesses. In that land, beings possess pure bodies born of meritorious recompense and do not undergo the suffering of sickness.

❖ In this land, few people live to seventy, and impermanence arrives swiftly. In that land, beings’ lives endure for immeasurable and boundless kalpas, and there is no suffering of death.

❖ In this land, people are bound by the cords of familial affection and attachment and undergo the pain of separation. In that land, all beings are companions in bodhi and therefore do not suffer separation from those they cherish.

❖ In this land, there is much jealousy, resentment, and enmity; thus, when enemies meet, they inevitably undergo much affliction and suffering. In that land, all are virtuous people, and therefore there is no suffering of encountering hated foes.

❖ In this land, people are generally poor and deprived, craving and seeking without ever being satisfied. In that land, food, clothing, dwellings, and all kinds of treasures for their use and enjoyment naturally appear by transformation.

❖ In this land, people are ugly in appearance and their faculties are incomplete. In that land, beings are adorned with excellent marks, and their bodies are radiant and beautiful.

❖ In this land, beings revolve continuously through birth and death. In that land, all those supremely virtuous beings realize the patience of the non-arising of dharmas” (the true-suchness and reality that is the essential principle, free from arising and cessation).

❖ In this land, it is difficult to attain the fruition of the path through cultivation. In that land, everyone advances easily to the stage of non-retrogression.”

 In this realm there are many mounds, ravines, forests, and thorns, and it is filled with defiled and evil appearances; in that realm, pure gold forms the ground, jeweled trees tower into the sky, pavilions gleam with pearls, and flowers display four colors.

 In this realm, the Buddha has already passed from sight beneath the twin sala trees, while the Dragon-Flower Assembly of Bodhisattva Maitreya remains far in the distant future; in that realm, the World-Honored Amitabha is presently teaching the Dharma.

 In this realm, we can only cherish the auspicious names of Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta; in that realm, sentient beings are constantly their companions.

 In this realm, demons and followers of non-Buddhist paths disturb those who practice the true path; in that realm, there is solely the Buddha’s teaching and transformation, without any trace of false demons.”

 In this realm, wealth, sensual beauty, sounds, fame, and gain delude practitioners; in that realm, the circumstantial and direct rewards are pure, and there is not even the appearance of a woman.

 In this realm, evil beasts, demons, and monsters howl terrifyingly. In that realm, birds, water, and forest trees constantly proclaim the wondrous Dharma.

Comparing the two realms, their environments and conditions differ vastly in excellence and inferiority. The supreme excellence of the Land of Ultimate Bliss truly cannot be fully recounted!

Though this has now been explained so clearly, people of the world remain confused. They do not know to delight in the joy of Ultimate Bliss, grow weary of the suffering of the Saha world, leave this place, and return to that land. This is entirely because deluded habitual tendencies accumulated over many lifetimes conceal their own minds, preventing wisdom from arising and leaving them unable to discern the principle clearly.

Alas! Those who do not make provision for the distant future will surely encounter sorrow close at hand. Everyone in the world knows that the day of death will come, yet they do not therefore choose a good destination for their next life. This is truly a profoundly mistaken course. Therefore, the World-Honored One appeared in the world and, through many kinds of skillful means, urged people to be mindful of the Buddha and seek rebirth in the Pure Land, thereby showing everyone a path to follow.

The Amitabha Sutra says:

“If there is a good man or good woman who hears of Amitabha Buddha and then holds fast to his name for one day, two days, or as many as seven days, with one-pointed mind free from confusion, then, as that person approaches the end of life, Amitabha Buddha and the assembly of sages will appear before them.

When that person’s life ends, their mind will not be inverted, and they will immediately attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss of Amitabha Buddha.”

Those who devote themselves wholeheartedly to mindfulness of the Buddha for one day, two days, or as many as seven days can attain rebirth. How much more so those who devote all their minds and strength to mindfulness of the Buddha for a month, a year, or even their entire lives—how could they fail to attain rebirth?

The Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life also says:

“If there are sentient beings who have committed unwholesome karma, the five rebellious offenses, and the ten evil deeds, they must fall into the evil realms because of their evil karma. Yet if they can wholeheartedly remain mindful of the Buddha without interruption and complete ten recitations of ‘Namo Amitabha Buddha,’ then, by reciting the Buddha’s name, with each thought they eliminate the grave offenses of birth and death accumulated throughout eight billion kalpas. At the end of life, they see a golden lotus flower like the sun before them and, in but a moment, attain rebirth in Ultimate Bliss.”

Those who have committed the ten evil deeds, merely by reciting the Buddha’s name ten times in a single moment and relying upon the power of the Buddha’s vows, can still eradicate their offenses and attain rebirth. How much more so those with true faith who recite a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand times, or remain mindful of the Buddha countless times—how could they fail to eradicate their offenses and attain rebirth?

Therefore, I urge everyone in the world to seize a little spare time amid their busy affairs and recite the Buddha’s name one hundred, one thousand, or ten thousand times each day. Having finished reciting, fill in the circles and dedicate the merit toward rebirth in the Pure Land. At the end of the year, calculate the total number of tens of thousands of recitations completed and record it in a register. Maintain this practice throughout life and gradually accumulate the pure karma of rebirth. In the present life, such a person will be illuminated by the Buddha’s light, their offenses will be extinguished, and their merit will increase. Thereafter, the Three Sages of the Western Land will receive and guide them to rebirth in the Pure Land.

True practice, true vows, true causes, and true results: one who is willing to believe and follow this teaching is indeed a true friend in the Dharma.

AN EXHORTATION TO BE MINDFUL OF THE BUDDHA AND RELEASE LIVING BEINGS

How long can a human life of one hundred years in this world truly last? If a single breath does not return, one immediately passes into another life. Of the myriad things, nothing can be taken along; only karma follows. At that moment, even if one wishes to recite the Buddha’s name once, will one be able to do so? If one wishes to release a single living being, will one be able to do so?

Therefore, today I universally urge everyone—regardless of whether noble or lowly, rich or poor, male or female, old or young—to turn their gaze inward and understand this clearly. Seize the free time in each day to practice mindfulness of the Buddha in three sessions, and reduce frivolous activities that waste your energy. Furthermore, rescue living beings when their lives are in peril, thereby establishing the true cause of rebirth in the Pure Land and planting the seeds of compassion.

When mindfulness of the Buddha is spoken of, it does not mean mindfulness of some other Buddha; it means mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Long ago, that Buddha made great vows to receive sentient beings who are mindful of the Buddha and enable them to attain rebirth in the Pure Land.

To release living beings does not mean releasing unrelated lives; it means releasing beings who have been one’s own parents and relatives throughout many lifetimes. From the distant past until now, they have been our parents, children, and relatives. It is only because they have changed their forms and appearances and received different karmic retributions that we no longer recognize one another.

How do we know this?

The Amitabha Sutra says:

“West of here, beyond ten trillion Buddha lands, there is a world called Ultimate Bliss. In that land is a Buddha named Amitabha, who is presently teaching the Dharma.... If there is a good man or good woman who hears of Amitabha Buddha and then holds fast to his name for one day, two days, three days, four days, five days, six days, or as many as seven days, with one-pointed mind free from confusion, then, as that person approaches the end of life, their mind will not be inverted, and they will immediately attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss of Amitabha Buddha.”

The Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life says:

“If there are sentient beings who can wholeheartedly remain mindful of the Buddha without interruption and complete ten recitations of ‘Namo Amitabha Buddha,’ then, through reciting the Buddha’s name, with each thought they eliminate the grave offenses of birth and death accumulated throughout eight billion kalpas. At the end of life, they see a golden lotus flower like the sun before them and, in but a moment, attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.”

The Shurangama Sutra says:

“If one remembers the Buddha and is mindful of the Buddha in the present, one will certainly behold the Buddha in the future.”

Are not the words of these three sutras clear testimony that mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha leads to rebirth in the Pure Land?

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“Toward all sentient beings possessing life, one should constantly give rise to compassion and seek to benefit them, without any malicious intent to harm them. How much less should one deliberately conceive the thought of killing sentient beings!”

The Lankavatara Sutra says:

“There are innumerable reasons why one should not eat meat. From time immemorial, all sentient beings, through causes and conditions, have often been our relatives. Because they are our kin, we should not eat their flesh.”

The Brahma Net Sutra says:

“Out of compassion, one should practice the release of living beings. One should reflect thus: ‘Every man has been my father; every woman has been my mother. Throughout lifetime after lifetime, I have been born from them. Therefore, all sentient beings throughout the six realms have been my parents. If I kill and eat them, I am thereby killing my own parents.’”

Are not the words of these three sutras clear testimony that releasing living beings is indeed releasing one’s own relatives from many lifetimes?

A virtuous master of old said: “If one does not believe the Buddha’s words, then whose words are worthy of belief? If one does not cultivate the path of humanity, what path can one cultivate?”

Now that we have been born among humankind and have heard the Buddha’s words, if we neither believe nor practice them, I truly do not know what more can be done.

The inferiority and excellence of the Saha world and the Pure Land, as well as the offenses, merits, causes, and effects of killing and releasing living beings, have all been extensively recorded in the sutras; therefore, there is no need to say much about them here.

May those of profound understanding read widely for themselves and thereby transform those who have not yet come to faith. If they can do so, their merit will be immeasurable!

VERSES

VERSE EXHORTING THE RECITATION OF THE BUDDHA’S NAME

BY VENERABLE MASTER SHANDAO

Wrinkled skin and whitening hair come gradually;

How soon one stoops and walks with trembling steps.

Though honored, with a house full of gold and jade,

One still suffers decline, old age, and illness.

Though enjoying pleasures by the countless thousands,

How can one escape impermanence and death?

There is only one swift path of cultivation:

Simply recite Amitabha Buddha’s name!

EXPANDED VERSES EXHORTING THE RECITATION OF THE BUDDHA’S NAME

BY VENERABLE MASTER SHANDAO

(Each line forms a poem)

Wrinkled skin and whitening hair come gradually;

Time silently presses onward.

Seeing the elderly, one feels pity,

Yet knows not how to contemplate one’s own body.

One must understand that this body is unreal,

Like a bubble drifting down a river.

I urge you to recite the Buddha’s name while there is time;

Do not wait until you are old and feeble.

*

How soon one stoops and walks with trembling steps,

No longer able to travel far.

Recalling the strength and health of former years,

One sees a lifetime wasted in restless wandering.

Never once having trodden the ground of reality,

How could one know to awaken and examine oneself?

I urge you to recite the Buddha’s name while there is time.

Though honored, with a house full of gold and jade,

One worries and calculates day and night.

One day, when the eyes close and the hands fall still,

Everything will pass into the hands of others.

Forgetting the treasure within one’s own house,

One chases after the tiles and bricks of others.

I urge you to recite the Buddha’s name wholeheartedly;

The Western Land is the true land of treasures.

*

One still suffers decline, old age, and illness,

Yet few in this world are willing to believe it.

Relying only on one’s present strength,

One never considers that age and illness follow close behind.

One day, confined endlessly to a sickbed,

The eight sufferings will torment and consume one.

I urge you to strive diligently in reciting the Buddha’s name

And go directly to take birth within a lotus womb.

*

Though enjoying pleasures by the countless thousands,

Who realizes that pleasure is the cause of suffering?

This body is filled entirely with karmic offenses;

For myriad kalpas, how could one escape samsaric sinking?

Good and evil are recorded in the registers of the netherworld;

Every name and identity is written there clearly.

I urge you to recite the Buddha’s name single-mindedly;

The light of wisdom dispels deluded passions.

*

How can one escape impermanence and death?

One day, all the myriad things must be relinquished.

All one receives is a plot amid the green hills,

Where white bones are buried deep.

Not a single thing is truly oneself,

Nor can the slightest thing be taken along.

I urge you first to attend to reciting the Buddha’s name

And firmly cultivate deep roots for the lotus.

*

There is only one swift path of cultivation;

A single day upon it surpasses myriad lifetimes.

What matters is one’s own practice and vows,

Together with the aid of the Buddha’s light.

Right concentration is then constantly accomplished,

And offenses melt away with every thought.

I urge you to recite the Buddha’s name with faithful mind;

Your name will be inscribed upon a lotus dais of the highest grade.

*

Simply recite Amitabha Buddha’s name;

There is no need to seek another Dharma gate.

Right here, the ordinary person is transformed into a sage,

Just as a carp transforms into a dragon.

Phrase after phrase, continue without interruption;

Each word is a mirror whose reflection never dims.

If you wish to see the Buddha, you will see him at once;

Then cease debating the Pure Land and the Saha world.

VERSES EXHORTING THE RECITATION OF THE BUDDHA’S NAME

Cease your steps within the three realms;

Delight to have your name inscribed upon a lotus dais of the nine grades.

When later you relinquish all and return by the swift path,

Only then will you believe in the unborn—where even non-birth is not born.

*

The swift path of cultivation is solely to recite the Buddha’s name;

Gather in all six faculties, and the one mind becomes luminous.

The Saha world is transformed into the Land of Peace and Nurture;

Amid blazing fire, in a clear pool, lovely lotuses bloom.

*

The round of birth and death knows no day of ending;

Wholeheartedly recite the Buddha’s name and turn toward the West.

Your eyes will behold Amitabha, and your ears will hear the wondrous Dharma;

The fruit of bodhi will ripen, fragrant and sweet.

*

The sea of suffering is vast and deep, its myriad waves surging;

After drowning there for many lifetimes, what can one do?

I urge you to recite the Buddha’s name and return to the Land of Peace and Nurture;

Step upon the other shore and sing in ease.

*

The three realms afford no peace; do not remain within them.

A path leads to the West; turn back and return.

Single-minded and undistracted, uphold the sacred name;

With every step through crimson flames, a lotus blossoms.

*

The Land of Ultimate Bliss lies within the mind, though others deem it far away;

With every step, a lotus flower appears.

Pure and undefiled by even the smallest mote of dust—

Do not ask who Amitabha Buddha is.

*

Suffering and sweetness arise in a world that is no true world;

In dim confusion, the dream of body and mind scurries about.

Who will save beings from their extreme suffering?

Only Amitabha, whose power of vows is profound.

*

Birth and death, death and birth—when will they end?

Drifting and wandering—when will they cease?

Why not recite the Buddha’s name and return to your ancient home?

Only on escaping the sea of suffering is there genuine joy.

*

Those who devotedly recite the Buddha’s name have purified minds;

With purified minds they recite the Buddha’s name, and their bodies are free from illness.

All Buddhas rejoice and bestow auspicious blessings;

Their roots in the path are firm, and they constantly advance with diligence.

*

Those who recite the Buddha’s name grow weary of the five turbidities;

Drifting and drowning, they cannot cross beyond them.

Thought after thought, they continually turn toward the Western Land;

Those who follow this path will surely arrive.

*

Those who diligently recite the Buddha’s name will surely become Buddhas;

Escaping the womb of ordinary beings, they assume the substance of sages.

In the jeweled land, they are born through transformation from lotus flowers

And constantly bathe in the pool of eight virtues.

*

Those who frequently recite the Buddha’s name put an end to greed and anger;

They clearly see that the body and the world resemble drifting clouds.

Neither clinging nor longing, what could bind them?

Free and at ease, they accord with celestial truth.

*

Those who constantly recite the Buddha’s name possess steadfast resolve;

The eight winds can scarcely move them; they stand firm as Mount Sumeru.

The burning house of the three realms blazes everywhere,

Yet every step they take is upon the path of the unborn.

*

When the mind recites the Buddha’s name, the Buddha realm appears;

All dharmas are transformed by the mind.

This very mind is Buddha; there is nothing else—

Like looking into a mirror and seeing one’s own face.

*

Those who uphold and recite the Buddha’s name gather in the six faculties;

They do not follow sense objects into deluded agitation.

Pure thoughts follow one another like a strand of jewels,

Continuing day and night without interruption.

*

Those who recite the Buddha’s sacred name are greatly honored;

They dwell together with people of the highest goodness.

No distinction is made between men and women, the wise and the foolish;

They behold Amitabha and attain non-retrogression.

The nature of true suchness is originally present;

Sentient beings and Buddhas share it alike.

When the open and unimpeded mind awakens to itself,

It is like the sun shining in a clear sky.

Great is the power of Amitabha’s vows;

Have profound faith and harbor no doubt.

Rely upon the Buddha in cultivation,

And you will surely realize Buddhahood.

Ashvaghosha and Nagarjuna

Are truly our teachers.

They perfectly cultivated and realized Chan and Pure Land together;

Why toil to seek another path?

Deeply weary of the sufferings of the Saha world

And fearful of going astray in future lives,

Single-mindedly and diligently recite the Buddha’s name,

Entrusting your being to a white lotus flower.

May your faith never retreat;

Life after life, continually make vows.

When the causes and conditions of prajna ripen,

The fruit of bodhi naturally comes to perfection.

Entirely through the power of prajna,

One sees through the worldly mind.

When the mind is pure, the Buddha land is pure;

Amitabha’s practices and vows are profound.

If you fear birth and death,

Rely upon the Buddha’s merit.

Behold Amitabha right here;

Why need you inquire of Maitreya?

IN PRAISE OF THE THREE SAGES OF THE WESTERN LAND

I bow to the Buddha of Infinite Life in the West,

Who extends his golden arm from afar to receive beings from the Saha world.

He will rest only when all sentient beings have been delivered;

Yet how few, knowing gratitude, escape the river of craving.

I bow to Avalokiteshvara in the West,

Whose compassionate vow to deliver beings is truly vast and profound.

Bringing cool drops of amrita,

He soothes the fevered hearts of the world.

I bow to Mahasthamaprapta in the West,

Whose jeweled vase upon his crown radiates brilliant light.

He guides those who recite the Buddha’s name back to the Pure Land,

Where they at once awaken to the unborn, in which even non-birth is not born.