Master Yuanyin Serialized in Dharma Voice, Issues 3–4 (1993) | 1993-02-07 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 近来在净土同仁间，酝酿着一场“往生西方，是否需—心不乱”的争论。试把他们争论的焦点归纳起来，有以下三种不同的意见： | Recently, among fellow practitioners of the Pure Land school, a debate has been brewing over whether rebirth in the Western Pure Land requires one-pointedness of mind without distraction. The points at issue may be summarized in the following three differing views: |
|---|---|
| 一、但具信愿，散心念佛，亦能往生。 | 1. So long as one possesses faith and vows, one may attain rebirth even while practicing Buddha-recitation with a scattered mind. |
| 二、散心念佛，只能培植善根，要得确保生西，除信愿之外，尚须恳切行持，一心不乱。 | 2. Buddha-recitation with a scattered mind can only cultivate wholesome roots. To ensure rebirth in the Western Pure Land, one must, in addition to faith and vows, practice earnestly and attain one-pointedness of mind without distraction. |
| 三、只要依靠弥陀愿力，带业亦能往生，何须一心不乱。 | 3. So long as one relies on Amitābha’s vow-power, one can attain rebirth while carrying karma; why, then, is one-pointedness of mind without distraction necessary? |
| 这三种互异的意见，第三种说得最容易，简直不用修，单靠弥陀愿力就能往生。第二种较难，需一心不乱，始能往生。第一种较易，只要有信愿，散心念佛亦能生西。各说各有理，相持不下，竟使后进者莫衷一是，无所适从，不知究竟应如何修习，方合道妙。 | Of these three divergent views, the third is the easiest to state: one need hardly practice at all, for by relying solely on Amitābha’s vow-power one can attain rebirth. The second is more difficult: one must attain one-pointedness of mind without distraction before rebirth is possible. The first is comparatively easy: so long as one has faith and vows, Buddha-recitation with a scattered mind can also bring rebirth in the West. Each side has its reasons and neither yields to the other. As a result, later students are left unable to decide what to believe or how to proceed, not knowing how they should practice in order to accord with the subtlety of the Way. |
| “如何才真能往生净土？”是净土宗的一个重大而关键的问题，不把它搞清楚、弄正确，对净土宗的修行来说，确实有害。因净土法门是号称异方便，横超三界，往生净土，超生脱死，圆证菩提的。 | “How can one truly attain rebirth in the Pure Land?” This is a major and crucial question in the Pure Land school. If it is not clearly and correctly understood, it will indeed harm the practice of the Pure Land school. For the Pure Land Dharma gate is acclaimed as an exceptional expedient means: it enables horizontal transcendence of the three realms, rebirth in the Pure Land, transcendence of birth and death, and complete realization of bodhi. |
| 若对修法尚未搞清楚，如何能不走错路而迷失方向？更何能稳稳当当，顺顺利利地达到往生西方的目的？但如果是嘴里说说往生西方，而实际却做不到，则宗旨全失，便毫无意义了！ | If one has not yet clearly understood the practice, how can one avoid taking a wrong road and losing one’s direction? Still less can one safely and smoothly attain the goal of rebirth in the Western Pure Land. But if one merely speaks of rebirth in the West while being unable actually to attain it, then the entire purpose is lost and it has no meaning at all. |
| 然则，如何才能确实往生净土，是否必须一心不乱呢？这确是一个值得探究的重大问题。所以不容缄默，听任自然，伤害后进，因而不揣鄙陋，亦来参加这个大是大非的问题的讨论。今略抒管见，尚希海内豪贤有以指正。 | Then how can one certainly attain rebirth in the Pure Land? Must one attain one-pointedness of mind without distraction? This is indeed a major question worthy of investigation. Therefore, one cannot remain silent and let matters take their course, thereby harming later students. Though I am not equal to the task, I too shall join the discussion of this momentous question of right and wrong. I will now briefly set forth my own limited view and hope that worthy and learned people throughout the country will correct me. |
| 兹为易于得出明确的答案，将上述三种意见，分作三个问题来一一详加讨论，以资弄清如何才能往生净土与要不要一心不乱的问题。 | To arrive more readily at a clear answer, I shall divide the three views mentioned above into three questions and discuss them one by one in detail, so as to clarify how rebirth in the Pure Land may be attained and whether one-pointedness of mind without distraction is required. |
| 一、“但具信愿，散心念佛，亦能往生”的探讨 | 1. An Inquiry into “So Long as One Possesses Faith and Vows, Buddha-Recitation with a Scattered Mind Can Also Bring Rebirth” |
| 首先，我觉得这种见解的提法，含义似乎不清。 | First, I feel that the meaning of this formulation is somewhat unclear. |
| 所谓“散心”不知果何所指？是指初心学人，一时心不能净，不要妄冀速效，须假持名之功，扫荡妄念，而渐臻一心呢？（如莲池大师、印光大师等所说，多生妄动积习，非暂时念佛所能扫净。 | What exactly is meant by “a scattered mind”? Does it refer to beginning students whose minds cannot immediately become pure, who should not vainly hope for quick results, but must rely on the practice of holding the Buddha’s name to sweep away deluded thoughts and gradually attain one-pointedness? (As Master Lianchi, Master Yinguang, and others have said, the accumulated habitual tendency toward ceaseless deluded stirring over many lives cannot be swept clean by a short period of Buddha-recitation. |
| 犹如久病之人，非一、二剂药能以治疗。故念佛须具一片长远之心，密密稳稳，不懈念去，久久功深，定能见效，而臻一心之境。）还是说我们现在发心念佛，求生西方，亦不妨与无明业习牵合纠缠，将娑婆境缘，粘著于心，似胶如漆，等到老死，自然会往生西方的呢？ | It is like a person long afflicted with illness, who cannot be cured by one or two doses of medicine. Therefore, those who recite the Buddha’s name must possess a long-range resolve, reciting steadily and continuously without slackening. When practice has deepened over a long time, it will certainly prove effective, and one will attain one-pointedness of mind.) Or does it mean that, having now aroused the resolve to recite the Buddha’s name and seek rebirth in the West, we may nevertheless remain entangled with the habitual tendencies of ignorance and karma, fastening the conditions of the Sahā world to our minds as though with glue and lacquer, and then naturally attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land when we grow old and die? |
| 假使他们的用意属于前者，这是鼓励后学，莫畏艰难，不要怕散心作祟，只要树雄心，立壮志，努力上进，定获一心，决定往生。 | If their intention is the former, then this encourages later students not to fear difficulty or be troubled by the mischief of a scattered mind. So long as they establish heroic resolve, set great aspirations, and diligently advance, they will certainly attain one-pointedness and assuredly gain rebirth. |
| 那么我们应举双手赞成！反是，如果用意属于后者，我们就觉得非常遗憾！因这是毒害后进的砒鸩，万万要不得！我们要生净土，而这心里总是恋着娑婆的妻财子禄，古人谓之抱桩摇橹，行动尚且不能，又如何能与弥陀感应道交，打成一片，往生西方净土呢？ | Then we should applaud it with both hands. But if their intention is the latter, we find it deeply regrettable. For this is arsenic and poison that harms later students, and it must never be accepted. We seek rebirth in the Pure Land, yet our minds continually cling to the wives, wealth, children, and status of the Sahā world. The ancients called this “holding fast to a post while shaking the oars.” One cannot even set out; how, then, can one enter into responsive communion with Amitābha, become continuous and undivided, and attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land? |
| 玉琳国师云：“大凡修持，须量己量法，直心直行，诚若能厌恶三界，坚志往生，则专依阿弥陀经，靠定圣号，都摄六根，净念相继，所谓执持名号，一心不乱，决定往生。此先自利而后利人之所为也。 | National Teacher Yulin said: “In all cultivation, one must assess oneself and the Dharma, and practice with a straightforward mind and straightforward conduct. If one can truly detest the three realms and firmly resolve to attain rebirth, then one should rely exclusively on the Amitābha Sūtra, hold firmly to the sacred name, gather in the six sense faculties, and maintain uninterrupted pure mindfulness. This is what is called holding to the name and attaining one-pointedness of mind without distraction, whereby rebirth is certain. This is the practice of first benefiting oneself and then benefiting others. |
| 若于现前富贵功名，未能忘情，男女饮食之欲，未知深厌，则与往生法门未易深信。既信矣，身修净土，而心恋娑婆，果何益乎？”憨山祖师云：“口念弥陀心散乱，喉咙喊破亦徒然。 | “But if one cannot let go emotionally of present wealth, rank, and fame, and does not yet deeply loathe desires for sex and food, then one will not easily develop deep faith in the Dharma gate of rebirth. Even if one has faith, what benefit is there in practicing for the Pure Land with one’s body while one’s mind clings to the Sahā world?” Patriarch Hanshan said: “Though the mouth recites Amitābha, if the mind is scattered, even shouting until one’s throat breaks is futile.” |
| ”这不是明明说散心念佛徒劳无功吗？难道这些大祖师，教理不及你们透彻，说的话不真实吗？或者有人说这是禅宗祖师的话，与净士宗稍有不同。那么不妨再举莲池大师的《普劝念佛之三》的一段文章来作佐证。 | Does this not plainly say that Buddha-recitation with a scattered mind is fruitless? Could it be that these great patriarchs did not understand doctrine as thoroughly as you do, or that what they said was untrue? Some may say that these are words of Chan patriarchs and differ somewhat from the Pure Land school. Then let us cite, as further evidence, a passage from Master Lianchi’s “Third General Exhortation to Buddha-Recitation.” |
| 大师说：“或问，今见世人，念佛者多，生西者少，何也？（足见生西者不是多数。）此有三故：一者，口虽念佛，心中不善，以此不得往生。 | The Master said: “Someone may ask: ‘Nowadays, many people recite the Buddha’s name, yet few attain rebirth in the West. Why is this?’ (This sufficiently shows that those reborn in the West are not the majority.) There are three reasons. First, although they recite the Buddha’s name with their mouths, their minds are not wholesome; for this reason they cannot attain rebirth. |
| 奉劝世人，既是念佛，便须依佛所说，要积德修福，要孝顺父母，要忠事君王，要弟兄相爱，夫妻相敬，要至诚信实，要柔和忍耐，要公平正直，要阴骘方便，要慈悲一切。 | “I urge people everywhere: since you recite the Buddha’s name, you must act in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings. You must accumulate virtue and cultivate blessings; be filial to your parents; loyally serve your ruler; let brothers love one another and husbands and wives respect one another; be utterly sincere and trustworthy; gentle and patient; fair and upright; secretly cultivate virtue and employ skillful means; and be compassionate toward all. |
| 不杀害生命，不凌辱下人，不欺压小民，但有不好心起，着力念佛，定要念退这不好心，如是才是念佛的人，定得往生成佛。二者，口虽念佛，心中胡思乱想，以此不得往生。（注意，注意。）奉劝世人，念佛之时，按定心猿意马，字字分明，心心观照。如亲在西方，面对弥陀，不敢散乱，如此才是念佛的人，才能往生西方。（下略）” | “Do not kill living beings, humiliate those beneath you, or oppress common people. Whenever an unwholesome thought arises, apply yourself to Buddha-recitation and be sure to recite until that unwholesome thought retreats. Only then are you a person who recites the Buddha’s name, and you will certainly attain rebirth and Buddhahood. Second, although they recite the Buddha’s name with their mouths, their minds wander in confused thoughts; for this reason they cannot attain rebirth. (Take heed, take heed.) I urge people everywhere: when reciting the Buddha’s name, restrain the mind-monkey and intention-horse, articulate every word clearly, and observe with every moment of mind. It should be as though you yourself were in the West, face to face with Amitābha, not daring to become scattered. Only then are you a person who recites the Buddha’s name, and only then can you attain rebirth in the West. [The remainder is omitted.]” |
| 这段文字，如此明确。我想大家看了，再不会犹疑莫决，更不至再有争论，说散心念佛亦能生西的了。 | This passage is so clear. I think that after reading it, no one will remain uncertain and irresolute, much less continue to argue that Buddha-recitation with a scattered mind can also bring rebirth in the West. |
| 还有《净土十要》中的彻悟禅师语录，有“真为生死，发菩提心，以深信愿，持佛名号，以摄心专注，为下手方便，以一心不乱为归宿，以往生瑞相为验证”的净土修持旨要，这不亦是净宗祖师不提倡散心念佛吗？ | Moreover, in the recorded sayings of Chan Master Chewu in The Ten Essentials of the Pure Land, there is this essential principle of Pure Land cultivation: “Truly take birth and death as your concern; arouse bodhicitta; with deep faith and vows, uphold the Buddha’s name; use gathering the mind in focused attention as the initial expedient; take one-pointedness of mind without distraction as the ultimate destination; and take auspicious signs of rebirth as verification.” Does this not likewise show that the patriarchs of the Pure Land school did not advocate Buddha-recitation with a scattered mind? |
| 但是，散心念佛不能往生，其故何在？我们要进一步把它搞清楚。否则，人云亦云，囫囵吞枣，莫明其所以然，终成迷障。用起功来，亦必疲软无力，不能克敌致果，安望生西成道！今不厌其详，再行研讨如下： | But why can Buddha-recitation with a scattered mind not bring rebirth? We must investigate this further and understand it clearly. Otherwise, merely echoing others and swallowing dates whole, without understanding why, will ultimately become an obstruction of delusion. When we put effort into practice, it will also surely be weak and ineffective, unable to overcome the enemy and attain the result. How then could we hope to attain rebirth in the West and realize the Way? Without wearying of detail, I shall now examine the matter further as follows: |
| 如众所周知，一切众生，皆本具如来智慧德相。本来是佛，本不生灭。只因无始无明妄动，认假作真，起惑造业，随业受报，才于无生死中枉受生死轮回之苦。 | As everyone knows, all sentient beings inherently possess the Tathāgata’s wisdom and virtuous characteristics. Originally they are Buddhas, originally neither arising nor ceasing. It is only because beginningless ignorance stirs deludedly, causing them to mistake the false for the true, give rise to delusion and create karma, and undergo retribution according to karma, that they vainly suffer the cycle of birth and death within that which is originally without birth and death. |
| 今欲往生西方，了脱生死，如不将这当下起惑造业的一念妄心，用念佛的功夫将它念退，把妄心转换成佛心——即全佛是心、全心是佛，而一任妄心颠倒攀缘，执著妄动，如何不为业境所牵缠而沉沦于六道？又如何能于临命终时，打退这业识幻影而往生西方？经云：“欲净其土，先净其心，随其心净，即佛土净。 | Now, if we wish to attain rebirth in the West and be liberated from birth and death, yet do not use the practice of Buddha-recitation to recite away this deluded mind of a single thought that here and now gives rise to delusion and creates karma, transforming the deluded mind into the Buddha-mind—so that the whole Buddha is mind and the whole mind is Buddha—but instead let the deluded mind freely invert itself, cling and pursue conditions, and obstinately stir, how can we avoid being bound by karmic circumstances and sinking into the six realms? And how can we, at the moment of death, repel these illusory images of karmic consciousness and attain rebirth in the West? A sūtra says: “If one wishes to purify one’s land, one must first purify one’s mind. As one’s mind becomes pure, the Buddha-land becomes pure.” |
| ”故欲生西方净土，必须先放下一切，一心念佛，净其心地而后可。经云：“一切唯心造。”心若散乱秽染，与净域绝不相应，到头来只能生在秽土，此无可奈何之事也。 | Therefore, if one wishes to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, one must first let go of everything, recite the Buddha’s name single-mindedly, and purify one’s mind-ground. A sūtra says: “Everything is created by the mind.” If the mind is scattered and defiled, it is utterly incompatible with the pure realm. In the end, one can only be reborn in an impure land; there is no way around this. |
| 或曰：往生西方，全凭他力——阿弥陀佛的慈悲接引力，不是修其它法门，靠自力成道。 | Someone may say: “Rebirth in the West depends entirely on other-power—the compassionate power of Amitābha Buddha’s guidance and reception. It is not like practicing other Dharma gates, in which one relies on self-power to realize the Way.” |
| 答曰：他力不离自力，离开自力，绝无他力！此理在世间法上，如国与国之间、人与人之间，乃至无情草木丛林之间，自己无生存能力，完全靠他人他物得生存者绝无是处，此种例证多不胜举。 | I reply: other-power does not exist apart from self-power; apart from self-power, there is absolutely no other-power. This principle applies even to worldly dharmas. Between nations, between people, and even among insentient grasses, trees, and forests, there is no instance of something that lacks the capacity to survive on its own and survives entirely by relying on others or other things. Examples of this kind are too numerous to enumerate. |
| 出世间法更不例外，如阿难与佛同时发心，因修持不力，于佛圆寂后方始证道，离成佛还不知多远！罗睺罗因父是佛，自不修持，为佛所呵等，在在说明自不努力，完全依靠他力，任何事都不能成办的。 | The supramundane Dharma is no exception. Ānanda aroused the resolve at the same time as the Buddha, but because his cultivation was inadequate, he did not realize the Way until after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa; how far he still was from Buddhahood, none can say. Rāhula, because his father was the Buddha, did not cultivate himself and was rebuked by the Buddha. Such cases everywhere demonstrate that without making one’s own effort, and by relying entirely on other-power, no undertaking can be accomplished. |
| 至于说阿弥陀佛的宏愿接引，乃感应道交，于行人心净，净业成熟时，现于其前，不是跑到行人面前来拉到西方去！这点请诸位净业行人千万别错会！只看经文上都是“佛与圣众‘现’在其前”，而非佛“来”其前，即是明证。 | As for Amitābha Buddha’s reception through the guidance of his great vows, it is responsive communion: when a practitioner’s mind is pure and pure karma has matured, Amitābha appears before that person. It does not mean that he runs up to the practitioner and pulls that person off to the West! Pure karma practitioners, please do not misunderstand this point. The sūtras all say that “the Buddha and the assembly of sages appear before one,” not that the Buddha “comes” before one. This is clear proof. |
| “来”与“现”一字之差，含义大相径庭，岂可混为一谈！关于此点永明禅师与印光大师皆有确切说明：“念佛一心不乱，感应道交，彼佛现前犹如水净月现。如水混浊，月虽在天而影不彰。 | The difference between the single characters “come” and “appear” is slight, but their meanings are vastly different; how can they be confused? Chan Master Yongming and Master Yinguang both gave a precise explanation: “When one recites the Buddha’s name with one-pointedness of mind without distraction, responsive communion occurs, and that Buddha appears before one just as the moon appears when water is clear. If the water is muddy, although the moon is in the sky, its reflection does not appear. |
| 念佛人心犹水也，佛犹月也，心水混浊，佛月不能现前。”可见他力之外，还须自力，没有自力，他力也无着处！所以净土法门，是自他二力合修的，单靠他力，没有自力，结果莫不惨遭败绩！不然者，为什么印光大师教我们念佛要“以深信愿，持佛名号”，要“如救头燃”呢？ | “The mind of one who recites the Buddha’s name is like water, and the Buddha is like the moon. If the mind-water is muddy, the Buddha-moon cannot appear before one.” Thus, beyond other-power, self-power is also required. Without self-power, other-power has nowhere to take hold. Therefore, the Pure Land Dharma gate is cultivated through the combined practice of self-power and other-power. Relying solely on other-power without self-power invariably ends in miserable defeat. Otherwise, why did Master Yinguang teach us to “uphold the Buddha’s name with deep faith and vows” and to do so “as though rescuing one’s head from flames”? |
| 现时有些净土行人因不明此理，用功不力，临命终时，不见佛现，慌了手脚，以为佛法不灵而误解佛是虚愿，殊不知自己心水不净，佛亲现其前，亦不自见。 | At present, some Pure Land practitioners fail to understand this principle and do not apply themselves vigorously. When the moment of death comes and they do not see the Buddha appear, they panic and suppose that the Buddhadharma is ineffective, mistakenly believing that the Buddha’s vows are empty. They do not realize that their own mind-water is impure; even if the Buddha personally appeared before them, they would not see him. |
| 犹如生盲，以未见日，而诟日不临其前，不也冤乎？！这都是因地不正，贪图便宜，上了一班盲师的当，以为散心念佛，只要依靠弥陀愿力，即可往生。哪知结果非但不能往生，还落个谤佛毁法大罪，来生还得受重苦报，岂不是太冤枉了吗？ | They are like people blind from birth who, having never seen the sun, curse it for not appearing before them. Is that not unjust? All this comes from an improper foundation: greedy for an easy bargain, they have been deceived by a group of blind teachers. They think that, by reciting the Buddha’s name with a scattered mind and relying solely on Amitābha’s vows, they can attain rebirth. Little do they know that not only will they fail to attain rebirth, but they will also incur the grave offense of slandering the Buddha and destroying the Dharma, and in future lives will have to undergo severe karmic retribution. Is this not terribly unjust? |
| 或曰：你只知其一，不知其二。为什么蕅益大师在《持名念佛历九品四土说》的一文中说“欲决定得生极乐世界，又莫如以信为先导，愿为后鞭。 | Someone may say: “You know only one side, not the other. Why did Master Ouyi write in “On Buddha-Recitation by Name and the Nine Grades and Four Lands” that, if one wishes to be certain of rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, nothing is better than taking faith as the guide and vows as the driving force?” |
| 信得真，愿得切，虽散心念佛，亦必得生！信不真，愿不猛，虽一心不乱，亦不得生”呢？为什么又在后面说“深信切愿念佛，而念佛时心多散乱者，即是下品下生……”呢？这不是明白无误地告诉我们散心念佛亦能往生西方吗？ | “If one’s faith is true and one’s vows are earnest, then even if one recites the Buddha’s name with a scattered mind, one will certainly attain rebirth. If one’s faith is not true and one’s vows are not fervent, then even if one attains one-pointedness of mind without distraction, one will not attain rebirth.” Why did he later say, “Those who recite the Buddha’s name with deep faith and earnest vows, yet whose minds are often scattered while doing so, are reborn in the lowest grade of the lowest rank”? Does this not clearly and unmistakably tell us that one can attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land even by reciting the Buddha’s name with a scattered mind? |
| 我们现在只要求能下品下生，甚或生在边地疑城，于愿已足，因为得生净土，即获不退，正不必要求中上品生，徒招艰辛！所以现在只须散心念佛，悠悠散散，逍遥放荡，乐得快活，临终又能下品往生极乐，最后同样成佛，又何乐而不为呢？为什么定要销尽妄情，灭却贪染，孜孜兀兀执持一句佛号，枯寂无味，而自讨苦吃呢？ | At present, we seek only rebirth in the lowest grade of the lowest rank, or even birth in the borderland or the city of doubt. That is enough for our vows, for once reborn in the Pure Land, one attains non-retrogression. There is no need to seek rebirth in the middle or higher grades and invite needless hardship. Thus, we need only recite the Buddha’s name with a scattered mind—idling about, carefree and dissipated, enjoying ourselves. At death, we can still attain rebirth in the lowest grade in the Land of Ultimate Bliss and ultimately become Buddhas just the same. Why would one not do this? Why must we exhaust deluded emotions, eradicate greedy attachments, and diligently uphold a single Buddha-name in a dry and flavorless way, thereby making trouble for ourselves? |
| 答曰：蕅益大师的话，大须仔细，请勿滑口读过，不注意全文，而只在“散心念佛”四字上着眼。以为大师提倡散心念佛，有懒可偷，有便宜可得，正中下怀，而乐得在娑婆鬼混一下，等临命终还有西方可生，大乐可享，多少舒服。哪知如意算盘打错，等到临命终时，只见生前黑业牵缠，哪见佛来授手！虽悔恨交加，已是噬脐莫及了！ | Answer: Master Ouyi’s words require the greatest care. Do not glide over them casually, failing to attend to the whole passage and focusing only on the four words “reciting the Buddha’s name with a scattered mind.” Do not suppose that the Master advocated scattered-minded Buddha-recitation, so that there is idleness to indulge in and easy advantages to gain. This may suit your wishes perfectly: you can muddle along in the Sahā world and, when death comes, still be reborn in the Western Pure Land and enjoy great bliss. How comfortable! Yet you do not realize that your calculations are mistaken. At the moment of death, you will see only the entanglement of the dark karma created during life; how will you see the Buddha extending his hand? Though remorse and regret then arise together, it will already be too late. |
| 现在把这段文字和大家详细分析研究一下： | Let us now analyze and examine this passage in detail: |
| 第一，深信切愿念佛，虽散心亦必往生，而信愿不真切，虽一心不乱，亦不得往生者，为料简一般以持弥陀圣号为入定的助力，而不思往生极乐者——即无信愿者说。因明朝末年，很多禅宗学者，常借持名以入定，故蕅益大师有“任你念佛功深到风吹不入、雨打不湿地步，但无信愿，决不能往生”之说。 | First, the statement that those who recite the Buddha’s name with deep faith and earnest vows will certainly attain rebirth even if their minds are scattered, whereas those whose faith and vows are not true or earnest will not attain rebirth even if they have one-pointedness of mind without distraction, was intended to distinguish those who uphold Amitābha’s holy name merely as an aid to entering samādhi and do not think of rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss—that is, those without faith and vows. At the end of the Ming dynasty, many Chan students often used name-recitation to enter samādhi. Therefore, Master Ouyi said: “Even if your Buddha-recitation is so profound that wind cannot penetrate it and rain cannot soak it, without faith and vows you can never attain rebirth.” |
| 第二，在散心念佛上冠以“信得真，愿得切”六字，才能往生，而非单说散心念佛，即能往生。这里面大有文章，请勿轻易滑过。请问，如何方为信得真？又如何方为愿得切？为了增强说服力故，请看诸位大祖师对于“信真、愿切”的解释与描绘吧。 | Second, the six words “faith is true and vows are earnest” must precede “reciting the Buddha’s name with a scattered mind” before one can attain rebirth. It does not mean that scattered-minded Buddha-recitation alone enables one to attain rebirth. There is much significance here; do not lightly pass it over. What does it mean for faith to be true? And what does it mean for vows to be earnest? To make the matter more persuasive, let us look at how the great patriarchs explained and described “true faith” and “earnest vows.” |
| 一、关于信的解说：第一要信得心、佛、众生三无差别，我们是未成之佛，弥陀是已成之佛，觉性无二。次要信得我们是理性佛、名字佛，弥陀是究竟佛。 | I. An explanation of faith: First, one must believe that mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are without difference. We are Buddhas not yet accomplished; Amitābha is a Buddha already accomplished. Their awakened nature is not two. Next, one must believe that we are Buddhas in principle and Buddhas in name, whereas Amitābha is the ultimate Buddha. |
| 性虽无二，位乃天渊，若不专念彼佛，求生彼国，必至随业流转，受无量苦。次要信得我们虽业障深重，久居苦域，是弥陀心内之众生；弥陀虽万德庄严，在十万亿佛刹之外，是我们心内之佛。 | Although their nature is not two, their respective stages are as far apart as heaven and abyss. If we do not single-mindedly recite that Buddha’s name and seek rebirth in that land, we will inevitably follow our karma in the round of rebirth and undergo immeasurable suffering. Next, one must believe that although our karmic obstacles are deep and grave and we have long dwelt in the realm of suffering, we are sentient beings within Amitābha’s mind; and although Amitābha is adorned with the myriad virtues and lies beyond ten billion Buddha-lands, he is the Buddha within our own minds. |
| 既然心性无二，自然感应道交，我们之苦切必能感，佛之慈悲必能应，如磁石吸铁，无可疑者。所谓“十方如来，怜念众生，如母忆子，……子若忆母，如母忆时，母子历生，不相违远。 | Since mind and intrinsic nature are not two, response and communion naturally occur. Our intense suffering can certainly evoke a response, and the Buddha’s compassion can certainly answer it, just as a magnet attracts iron—there can be no doubt. As it is said: “The Tathāgatas of the ten directions pity and remember sentient beings as a mother remembers her child. … If the child remembers the mother as the mother remembers the child, then throughout life after life mother and child will not be separated by distance.” |
| 若众生心（注意“心”字），忆佛念佛，现前当来，必定见佛”（《楞严经》）。又曰：须历始终而不改，遇利害而不变，方为真信。真信有三：一信弥陀摄受念佛众生，往生西方，绝对不虚。 | “If the minds of sentient beings” (note the word “minds”) “remember the Buddha and recite the Buddha’s name, then now and in the future they will certainly see the Buddha” (Śūraṅgama Sūtra). It is also said: one must remain unchanged from beginning to end and remain unaltered when encountering gain or loss; only then is faith true. True faith has three aspects: first, faith that Amitābha receives sentient beings who recite the Buddha’s name and enables their rebirth in the Western Pure Land—this is absolutely not false. |
| 二信执持弥陀名号，由一日乃至七日，一心不乱（请注意），即得往生。我当依教奉行。三信大势至菩萨及莲宗诸祖所传念佛法门，绝无虚假之语。我当依之勇猛精进，修成三昧。 | Second, faith that by upholding Amitābha’s name from one day up to seven days, with one-pointedness of mind without distraction—please note this—one attains rebirth. I shall practice in accordance with this teaching. Third, faith that the Dharma gate of Buddha-recitation transmitted by Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva and the patriarchs of the Pure Land school contains not a single false word. I shall rely on it, practice courageously and diligently, and accomplish samādhi. |
| 又吾人念佛之心，由慧入定，照而常寂，是信本有之佛；因定发慧，寂而常照，是信本有之法；定慧双融，寂照不二，是信本有之僧。 | Furthermore, when the mind that recites the Buddha’s name enters samādhi through wisdom, illuminating yet ever quiescent, this is faith in the Buddha inherently present within oneself. When wisdom arises through samādhi, quiescent yet ever illuminating, this is faith in the Dharma inherently present within oneself. When samādhi and wisdom merge completely, and quiescence and illumination are nondual, this is faith in the saṅgha inherently present within oneself. |
| 又云：信者，非单信西方之庄严佛土，即算发信心也，必同时深信自性即是弥陀，本可一样成佛。人皆可以为尧舜，一切众生皆可成佛，只是迷悟之别。西方依正庄严之佛土是事净土，我之自性清净是理净土。心遍一切处，皆是西方，十方与西方不异。非徒信娑婆苦而西方乐，与夫极乐确有也。 | It is also said: Faith does not mean merely believing in the magnificently adorned Buddha-land of the West and thereby considering oneself to have aroused faith. One must also deeply believe that one’s own intrinsic nature is Amitābha and that one can inherently become a Buddha in the same way. Everyone can become Yao or Shun; all sentient beings can become Buddhas. The only difference is between delusion and awakening. The magnificently adorned land of dependent and principal recompense in the West is the Pure Land of phenomena; the purity of my own intrinsic nature is the Pure Land of principle. Mind pervades all places; all are the West. The ten directions are no different from the West. It is not enough merely to believe that the Sahā world is suffering, that the West is blissful, and that the Land of Ultimate Bliss truly exists. |
| 二、释愿：第一要于一切时中（注意，要于一切时中，不是不如意事时如此，欢乐之时又如彼。）厌恶娑婆生死烦恼之苦，欣慕极乐菩提之乐，力求往生。 | II. Explaining vows: First, at all times—note, at all times, not merely when circumstances are unfavorable, while behaving otherwise when one is happy—one must loathe the suffering of birth and death and afflictions in the Sahā world, yearn for the bliss of bodhi in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and strive with all one’s strength for rebirth there. |
| 次要发愿遵照佛祖所传净土法门，勇猛精修，净除习染，使身心清泰，现生极乐。次要立志成无上觉，圆满菩提，供养诸佛。次发广大心普度众生，众生界不空，誓不成佛。 | Next, one must vow to follow the Pure Land Dharma gate transmitted by the Buddhas and patriarchs, cultivate it courageously and diligently, cleanse habitual defilements, make body and mind pure and serene, and realize the bliss of the Pure Land in this very life. Next, one must resolve to attain unsurpassed awakening, perfect bodhi, and make offerings to all Buddhas. Then one must arouse the vast mind to liberate all sentient beings, vowing not to become a Buddha until the realm of sentient beings is empty. |
| 次要随有所作，若善若恶，善则回向求生；恶则忏愿求生，更无二志。又云：念佛之心，欲得一心不乱（但不可作意求，求则反远矣）是谓净愿；不生西方誓不休息，是谓常愿；成无上觉，广度众生，是谓大愿。……如是发心，方名真信切愿。 | Further, in whatever one does, whether good or evil, one should dedicate good deeds toward seeking rebirth; for evil deeds, one should repent and vow to seek rebirth, with no other aspiration. It is also said: The mind that recites the Buddha’s name should seek one-pointedness of mind without distraction—yet one must not deliberately strive for it, for striving makes it more remote. This is called a pure vow. Vowing never to rest until one is reborn in the West is called a constant vow. Attaining unsurpassed awakening and widely liberating sentient beings is called a great vow. … Only when one arouses the mind in this way can one be said to possess true faith and earnest vows. |
| 诸位同仁，请问我们果具如上信愿，娑婆世界的饮食男女、妻财子禄、以及名誉地位等等，还会摆在心上盘算不休而放不下吗？这一切空花水月般的境缘，既放得下，又有什么妄想萦怀惑乱我们呢？既无妄想惑乱，则念佛时，就 | Fellow practitioners, I ask you: if we truly possess the faith and vows described above, could we still endlessly calculate over and cling to the food, sex, wives, wealth, children, emoluments, reputation, status, and other concerns of the Sahā world? Once we can let go of all these circumstances, like flowers in empty space and the moon reflected in water, what deluded thoughts could remain to trouble and confuse us? If no deluded thoughts disturb us, then when we recite the Buddha’s name, our state will be as follows: |
| 会如上文莲池大师所说，如亲对弥陀，恭敬至诚恳切之不暇，还会有什么妄念在乱动呢？这不是不期一心而得一心了吗？！所以蕅益大师说：“信得真，愿得切，虽散心念佛，亦必往生也。” | As Master Lianchi said above, it will be as though we were personally before Amitābha, unable even to spare time from reverence, sincerity, and earnestness. What deluded thoughts could still stir in disorder? Is this not attaining one-pointedness without seeking it? Thus Master Ouyi said: “If faith is true and vows are earnest, then even if one recites the Buddha’s name with a scattered mind, one will certainly attain rebirth.” |
| 诸位要注意这“虽”字，就是说：果真信愿切，如救头燃时，不怕你不一心，当此时也，要你颠倒妄想亦不可得，所以下个“虽”字。同时，这亦是针对下文无信愿念佛者的功夫虽好，不能往生的相对说法。 | You should note the word “even.” It means that if faith and vows are truly earnest, as when one’s head is on fire, there is no fear that one will not be single-minded. At such a time, one cannot obtain even inverted deluded thoughts; hence the word “even.” At the same time, this is a contrasting statement directed at those mentioned below, whose Buddha-recitation may be excellent but who cannot attain rebirth because they lack faith and vows. |
| 所以说了句“有信愿的人，虽散心念佛亦能生西”，诸位千万莫错会，以为我们只要懒懒散散地、马马虎虎地口里念念西方弥陀，心里想想娑婆财色，就可以轻而易举、随心所欲地往生西方去了。 | Therefore, having said that “those with faith and vows can attain rebirth in the West even if they recite the Buddha’s name with a scattered mind,” do not misunderstand this to mean that, by lazily and carelessly reciting Amitābha of the West with our mouths while thinking of the Sahā world’s wealth and sensual pleasures in our minds, we can easily and freely attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. |
| 复次，所谓有“深信切愿念佛，心多散乱者，即是下品下生”者，乃行人习障深重，今虽具深心切愿，而妄想习气一时不能净除。即贪恋世间的粗妄想虽已断除，而微细的习气妄想，仍时来侵犯。 | Furthermore, the statement that “those who recite the Buddha’s name with deep faith and earnest vows, yet whose minds are often scattered, are reborn in the lowest grade of the lowest rank” refers to practitioners with deep and grave habitual karmic obstacles. Though they now possess deep faith and earnest vows, their deluded thoughts and habitual tendencies cannot be cleansed away at once. Although the coarse deluded thoughts of craving for the world have been cut off, subtle habitual deluded thoughts still intrude from time to time. |
| 古德所谓：“风停浪犹涌，理现念犹侵。”此种妄念虽属微细，但由于佛外有念，不得不谓之“散心”。虽属散心，以微细故，念来即觉，而不颠倒攀缘，故只要将佛念一提，妄念即当下销殒，复归清净。 | As the ancients said: “Though the wind has ceased, the waves still surge; though principle has appeared, thoughts still intrude.” Although such deluded thoughts are subtle, because thoughts other than the Buddha still arise, they must be called a “scattered mind.” Yet because they are subtle, one recognizes them as soon as they arise and does not invert oneself or cling to conditions. Therefore, as soon as one raises the Buddha-recitation, the deluded thoughts immediately vanish and one returns to purity. |
| 此种随来随照、随照随消的功夫，圭峰禅师谓之“妄念若起，都不随之，纵有中阴，业不能系。”因业不能系故，所以能发愿往生。反之，若是贪恋娑婆、妄念颠倒、攀缘不息的人亦想援例往生，那真是白日做梦了。 | This practice of illuminating thoughts as they arise and dissolving them through illumination was described by Chan Master Guifeng as follows: “If deluded thoughts arise, do not follow them at all. Even if there is an intermediate state, karma cannot bind one.” Since karma cannot bind one, one can make the vow to attain rebirth. Conversely, if people who crave the Sahā world, are confused by deluded thoughts, and never cease clinging to conditions also hope to cite this precedent and attain rebirth, they are truly daydreaming. |
| 但是，话须说回来，倘使生性豪放，于世缘不甚恋着或平时虽不信佛，亦不谤佛，未能一心念佛的人，如到临命终时听善知识开示，顿时悔悟，彻底放下，一心称名，求生西方，也能十念甚或一念而往生。 | However, to return to the matter: if someone is naturally open and unrestrained, not greatly attached to worldly circumstances, or ordinarily does not believe in the Buddha but does not slander the Buddha either, and has been unable to recite the Buddha’s name with one-pointedness, then, upon hearing the instruction of a good spiritual friend at the moment of death, that person may suddenly repent and awaken, let go completely, single-mindedly recite the name, and seek rebirth in the West. Such a person can also attain rebirth through ten recitations, or even one recitation. |
| 但此等顿根人，千万人中难得一二，以临终一念，端赖平时锻炼。如平时不善用功，而能于临终一念转机作主者，真比航空奖券中头彩还难，诚不可以为训也。 | Yet people of such sudden capacity are scarcely found even one or two among tens of millions. A single thought at the moment of death depends entirely on one’s usual training. If one has not practiced diligently in ordinary times, then being able at the moment of death to reverse the situation in a single thought and take mastery is truly more difficult than winning the grand prize in an airline lottery. It certainly cannot be taken as a model. |
| 对于散心念佛能否往生西方的问题，已讲了许多，现为易于明了起见，简作小结如下： | We have said much concerning whether one can attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land through scattered-minded Buddha-recitation. For ease of understanding, let us now briefly summarize: |
| 一、若贪恋娑婆之心未泯，爱根未断，情见未除，仅以颠倒妄想的攀缘之心来念佛，虽具些微信愿，但以不深切故，只种善根远因，不能往生，有待来生努力，方能如愿。 | 1. If the mind that craves the Sahā world has not been extinguished, the root of attachment has not been severed, and emotional views have not been removed, and one merely recites the Buddha’s name with the condition-seeking mind of inverted deluded thoughts, then even though one has some slight faith and vows, because these are not deep or earnest, one only plants distant causal roots of goodness and cannot attain rebirth. One must wait and strive in a future life before one’s wish can be fulfilled. |
| 二、临终一念幡然改途，虽亦有往生之望，但以太险，机会极微，千万人中，难得一人，故亦不敢引以为训。 | 2. Although suddenly changing course in a single thought at death also offers hope of rebirth, it is too perilous and the opportunity is exceedingly rare. Among tens of millions, scarcely one person is found. Therefore, it also cannot be cited as a model. |
| （要知临终十念往生的人，着重在于生前未闻佛法，直至死相现前，听善知识开示，彻底悔悟，通身放下，故能十念相应。此等利根人，若早闻佛法十年，则早十年成就；早闻二十年，则早二十年成就。若我等早闻佛法，却生偷心，不能放下世情，妄冀十念往生，即此已是二心，何能相应？） | (One should understand that those who attain rebirth through ten recitations at the end of life had not heard the Buddhadharma during their lifetime. Only when the signs of death appear do they hear the instruction of a good spiritual friend, thoroughly repent and awaken, and let go completely; therefore, they are able to bring the ten recitations into accord. If such people of sharp faculties had heard the Buddhadharma ten years earlier, they would have attained realization ten years earlier; if they had heard it twenty years earlier, they would have attained realization twenty years earlier. If people like us hear the Buddhadharma early on yet harbor a calculating mind, unable to let go of worldly attachments while vainly hoping for rebirth through ten recitations, this itself is already a divided mind. How could there be accord?) |
| 二、“要不要一心不乱”的探讨 | II. A Discussion of Whether One-Pointedness of Mind Without Distraction Is Necessary |
| 第一个问题搞清楚后，第二个问题也就不难迎刃而解了。因为一心不乱是散心的相对词，散心既然要不得，那末一定要一心不乱也就不言而喻了。但真理愈辩愈明，而且事关重大，我们还是不厌其详地来讨论一下吧！ | Once the first question has been clarified, the second is not difficult to resolve. One-pointedness of mind without distraction is the opposite of a scattered mind. Since a scattered mind is unacceptable, it goes without saying that one must attain one-pointedness of mind without distraction. Yet truth becomes clearer through discussion, and this matter is of great importance, so let us discuss it in some detail. |
| 所谓“一心不乱”，不是哪一位祖师创造或规定的，乃是释迦文佛金口亲宣，煌煌载于小本《弥陀经》上的明文。 | What is called “one-pointedness of mind without distraction” was not created or prescribed by any patriarch. It was personally proclaimed from the golden mouth of Śākyamuni Buddha and is clearly recorded in the shorter Amitābha Sūtra. |
| 佛说要一心不乱，哪位祖师敢说不要！更何况我们这辈下愚，胆敢说个不要吗？佛是正遍知，我们要修行成道，不听佛语，更听何言？但为什么要一心不乱，其理何在？我们在讨论第一个问题时已略有说明，现在让我们再来详细讨论一下。 | Since the Buddha says that one must attain one-pointedness of mind without distraction, which patriarch would dare say that it is unnecessary? Still less would we, people of inferior capacities in this later age, dare say so. The Buddha possesses perfect and universal knowledge. If we wish to practice and realize the Way, whose words could we heed if not the Buddha’s? But why is one-pointedness of mind without distraction necessary? What is its rationale? We touched on this when discussing the first question; now let us examine it in detail. |
| 释迦文佛说欲生净土，不可以少善根、福德、因缘，而最能体现这三者多少的莫过于念佛功行的深浅。故念佛须一心不乱，方能具足善根、福德、因缘而生净土。 | Śākyamuni Buddha said that those who wish to be reborn in the Pure Land cannot do so with scant roots of goodness, merit and virtue, and causes and conditions. Nothing better reveals the extent of these three than the depth of one’s Buddha-recitation practice. Therefore, Buddha-recitation must attain one-pointedness of mind without distraction; only then can one possess sufficient roots of goodness, merit and virtue, and causes and conditions to be reborn in the Pure Land. |
| 据说小本《弥陀经》是罗什大师意译的，他根据梵文原意，参合了中国语文的表达法，用了“一心不乱”四个字。 | It is said that the shorter Amitābha Sūtra was translated by Master Kumārajīva in a free rendering. On the basis of the original Sanskrit meaning, and in accordance with Chinese modes of expression, he used the four characters “one-pointedness of mind without distraction.” |
| 而玄奘法师根据法相“唯心所现，唯识所变”的原理，说念佛要“系念不乱”，转变妄识，净业成熟，方能生西（大意如此，经文已难具记）。两师译本，文字虽略有不同，而含义一致，都是教念佛行人一切放下，虔心念佛，斩断爱根，心佛道交打成一片，方能往生西方。 | Master Xuanzang, however, based on the Consciousness-Only principle that “all is manifested by mind and transformed by consciousness,” said that Buddha-recitation requires “binding one’s mindfulness without distraction.” Only by transforming deluded consciousness and bringing pure karma to maturity can one be reborn in the West. This is roughly its meaning; the exact scriptural wording is difficult to recall. Although the wording of the two masters’ translations differs slightly, their meaning is the same: both teach practitioners of Buddha-recitation to let go of everything, recite the Buddha with reverence, cut off the root of attachment, and bring mind and Buddha into communion as an unbroken whole. Only then can they be reborn in the Western Pure Land. |
| 关于“一心不乱”的见解，诸大祖师有各种不同的说法，把他们归纳起来，不外以下几个方面： | The great patriarchs have offered various views concerning “one-pointedness of mind without distraction.” These may be summarized under the following headings: |
| （一）一心不乱，就是无心可乱，到了心意识完全消殒，真妄不立、能所双亡的境界。换句话说，就是到了宗下“囫”地一声，桶底脱落”的开悟时节。此时心即是土，土即是心；心外无土，土外无心；心、佛、众生完全打成一片了。 | (I) One-pointedness of mind without distraction means that there is no mind that can be disturbed: one has reached the state in which mind and consciousness have completely vanished, neither true nor deluded remains, and both subject and object are gone. In other words, it is the moment of awakening described in the Chan school as “with a sudden ‘hū’ sound, the bottom drops out of the bucket.” At that time, mind is the land, and the land is mind; outside mind there is no land, and outside the land there is no mind. Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings have become completely one. |
| （二）一心不乱，有深有浅，有理一心与事一心之别。事一心者：密密持名，使心中佛号历历分明，穿衣吃饭、行住坐卧，一句洪名绵密不断，就如呼吸相似，既不散乱，亦不沉没，如是持名，谓之事一心（即摄心归一）。 | (II) One-pointedness of mind without distraction has degrees of depth and shallowness, and may be divided into noumenal one-pointedness and phenomenal one-pointedness. Phenomenal one-pointedness means diligently maintaining the name, so that the Buddha’s name is distinctly clear in the mind. Whether dressing, eating, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, the great name continues uninterruptedly and seamlessly, like one’s breathing: neither scattered nor sunk in dullness. Maintaining the name in this way is called phenomenal one-pointedness—that is, gathering the mind into oneness. |
| 若理一心，直能体究万法皆如，无有二相。所谓生佛不二，自他不二，因果不二，依正不二，净秽不二，苦乐不二，欣厌不二，取舍不二，菩提烦恼不二，生死涅槃不二。是诸二法，皆同一相，一道清平，不用勉强差排。 | Noumenal one-pointedness is to investigate directly and realize that all phenomena are thus, without duality. Thus, Buddhas and sentient beings are nondual; self and others are nondual; cause and effect are nondual; dependent and direct retribution are nondual; purity and defilement are nondual; suffering and happiness are nondual; attraction and aversion are nondual; grasping and relinquishing are nondual; bodhi and afflictions are nondual; birth and death and nirvāṇa are nondual. All these dual dharmas share a single characteristic, one clear and level path, requiring no forced arrangement. |
| 但自如实体究，体究至极，与自本心，忽然契合，方知著衣吃饭，总是三昧，嬉笑怒骂，无非佛事，一心乱心总成戏论，二六时中，毫发许异相不可得。西方即在当下，十方不异西方，无生即生，生即无生。是名理一心。 | But if one investigates in accordance with reality, and carries that investigation to its utmost, one suddenly accords with one’s own original mind. Then one knows that dressing and eating are entirely samādhi, and that laughing, joking, anger, and scolding are all Buddha-activities. A one-pointed mind and a scattered mind alike become empty talk; throughout the twenty-four hours, not the slightest different characteristic can be found. The Western Pure Land is present here and now; the ten directions do not differ from the West. The unborn is birth, and birth is the unborn. This is called noumenal one-pointedness. |
| （三）无论理一心或事一心，皆是薄地凡夫边事，凡有心者，皆可修学，不可高推圣境，甘处下劣，认为这不是自己分内事！须知一切唯心造，欲生净土，必先净心，心若不净，净土难生。心若清净，自得一心不乱，决定往生净土！ | (III) Whether noumenal or phenomenal one-pointedness, both concern ordinary, unenlightened beings. Anyone who has a mind can cultivate and learn them. Do not place them too high as states reserved for sages, contenting yourselves with inferiority and thinking that they are not matters within your own capacity. You must know that everything is created by mind. If you wish to be reborn in the Pure Land, you must first purify your mind. If the mind is impure, rebirth in the Pure Land is difficult; if the mind is pure, one naturally attains one-pointedness of mind without distraction and will certainly be reborn in the Pure Land. |
| 由此看来“一心不乱”原是为了心明水净，俾佛现前，接引往生的，并不是好高骛远。其中尤以事一心，是念佛人必须具备的功行，不是什么高不可攀的事，不用怕它，只要我们懂得诀窍，精勤做去，决定可以成功。 | From this it can be seen that one-pointedness of mind without distraction is originally intended to make the mind clear and the water still, so that the Buddha may appear before one and guide one to rebirth. It is not a matter of aspiring to something impossibly lofty. Phenomenal one-pointedness in particular is a practice that Buddha-recitation practitioners must possess. It is not something beyond reach. Do not fear it: if we understand the key and apply ourselves diligently, we will certainly succeed. |
| 就是诸仁认为至高无上的理一心、见性境界，也不是绝对做不到的。因一切众生本具这不生不灭、清净无染的佛性，既非从外求来，亦非因修而得。 | Even noumenal one-pointedness and the state of seeing one’s true nature, which you may regard as supremely lofty, are not absolutely unattainable. All sentient beings inherently possess this pure, unstained Buddha-nature, which neither arises nor ceases. It is neither sought from without nor obtained through practice. |
| 举凡山河大地，草木丛林，男女老少，饮食起居，乃至一切声、一切色、一切心、一切法，无一不是性的显现，无一不是性的作用。 | Mountains, rivers, the great earth, grasses, trees, forests, men and women, young and old, eating and daily life—even every sound, every form, every thought, and every dharma—are all manifestations and functions of intrinsic nature. |
| 只要我们识得它，认清了性就是相体，相就是性用，于见色闻声时，不为声色所转，即能透过色相见性。 | As long as we recognize it and clearly understand that intrinsic nature is the substance of appearances and appearances are the function of intrinsic nature, then, when seeing forms and hearing sounds, we will not be turned by sounds and forms, but can see intrinsic nature through their appearances. |
| 换句话说，只要我们在日常动用中，随缘应用，不为事物的假相所迷惑，粘著于心，动摇于中，所谓寂寂惺惺，惺惺寂寂，转一切物，不为物转，使一切时，不为时转，即是见性。 | In other words, as long as in our daily activities we respond to conditions and apply ourselves without being deluded by the false appearances of things, clinging to them in the mind, or being inwardly shaken by them—remaining tranquil yet alert, alert yet tranquil—we turn all things rather than being turned by things, and employ all times rather than being employed by time. This is seeing one’s true nature. |
| 这样看来，理一心的高超境界，是我们的本能，决不是不能做到的。我们如能证到理一心，心中清净无染，自与西方净土相应，而且佛佛本同一体，故能与弥陀打成一片，因之，就能上品往生净土了。 | Viewed in this way, the lofty state of noumenal one-pointedness is our innate capacity and is certainly not unattainable. If we can realize noumenal one-pointedness, the mind will be pure and unstained, naturally corresponding with the Western Pure Land. Moreover, all Buddhas are originally of one body, so we can become completely one with Amitābha and thereby attain rebirth in the highest grade of the Pure Land. |
| 或曰：说来容易，做起来就难了。答曰：只要我们认清宗旨后，下定决心，与妄习作斗争，靠定一句佛号作武器，妄习才动，方粘物境，即便高举洪名把它打退。如斯举之又举，打之又打，日复一日，年复一年，还怕不能成办吗？况且就根器好的人来说，不须频频提撕，才闻举着，即便归家稳坐了。 | Someone may say: “It is easy to say, but difficult to put into practice.” The answer is: once we clearly understand the essential principle, we need only make a firm resolve and struggle against our deluded habits. Rely on the single Buddha-name as a weapon. Whenever a deluded habit stirs and begins to cling to an object or circumstance, immediately raise the great name and drive it back. Raise it again and again, drive it back again and again, day after day and year after year—need we fear that we will not succeed? Moreover, for those of good capacity, there is no need for repeated vigilant effort: as soon as they hear it raised, they return home and sit securely. |
| 或曰：那是禅宗境界，与净土行人无关。曰：不要低看净土，净土本来就是禅，禅就是净土，净土是至圆至广、至高至上的，不是个低下法门。所谓禅是净土之禅，净土是禅之净土，禅净是不分家的。 | Someone may say: “That is a Chan state and has nothing to do with Pure Land practitioners.” The answer is: do not underestimate the Pure Land. The Pure Land is originally Chan, and Chan is the Pure Land. The Pure Land is utterly complete, vast, lofty, and supreme; it is not an inferior dharma gate. Chan is the Chan of the Pure Land, and the Pure Land is the Pure Land of Chan. Chan and Pure Land are not separate households. |
| 可惜晚近的净土行人自甘劣小，认为得生边地于愿已足，不精修持名念佛，只敷敷衍衍地上上早晚殿就算完事，将个大好净土法门，弄得不像样子。 | Regrettably, recent Pure Land practitioners are content with the lesser and inferior. They consider rebirth in a borderland sufficient to fulfill their vows. They do not diligently cultivate Buddha-recitation by maintaining the name, but merely perform the morning and evening services perfunctorily and consider the matter finished. Thus they have made this excellent Pure Land dharma gate into something quite unworthy. |
| 他们不知近代净宗大德印光大师亦曾几次闭关专修念佛，证得念佛三昧，其描绘该三昧的文章，完全与禅宗一致，并有“无不从此法界流，无不还归此法界”的法语。请想，这法门是不是高，要不要一心念佛精修不懈？ | They do not know that Master Yinguang, a great modern master of the Pure Land school, also entered retreat several times to specialize in Buddha-recitation and realized the Buddha-recitation samādhi. His writings describing that samādhi are entirely in accord with Chan, and include the Dharma saying: “Nothing does not flow forth from this dharma realm, and nothing does not return to this dharma realm.” Consider it: is this dharma gate lofty or not? Is it necessary or not to cultivate one-pointed Buddha-recitation diligently and without cease? |
| 为了免却纷争起见，暂且避开这些高深的理论不谈，留待以后在专论净土时，再和大家研究。现在且来谈谈事一心。 | To avoid controversy, let us set aside these profound theories for the moment and discuss them with everyone later, when we take up a special discussion of the Pure Land. For now, let us speak of phenomenal one-pointedness. |
| 我们在讨论第一个问题时已经说过：往生西方要心水明净，佛与圣众才能现前；心水不净，佛虽在前，犹如生盲，不能见日。所以要生西方，心非清净不可。 | When discussing the first question, we already said that rebirth in the Western Pure Land requires a mind as clear and still as water, so that the Buddha and the noble assembly can appear before one. If the mind-water is impure, then even though the Buddha stands before one, one is like a person blind from birth who cannot see the sun. Therefore, if one wishes to be reborn in the West, the mind must be pure. |
| 又说，真信切愿，就自然放得下娑婆——这秽丑苦恼的世界，斩得断爱根情见，在猛利的执持名号下，自能不期然而然地到达一心不乱的境界。又说，纵或根器稍差、妄习较重的同仁，即使在粗妄已断、细妄仍来侵犯的情况下，只要高提佛念，照破妄念，不随伊流浪去，往生西方还是有望。 | We also said that true faith and earnest vows naturally enable one to let go of Sahā—the defiled, ugly, and suffering world—cut off the root of attachment and emotional views, and, through fiercely holding to the name, naturally and without contrivance attain the state of one-pointedness of mind without distraction. We also said that even for fellow practitioners of somewhat lesser capacity and heavier deluded habits, if coarse delusions have been cut off but subtle delusions still intrude, there remains hope of rebirth in the Western Pure Land so long as they raise the Buddha-thought high, illuminate and dispel deluded thoughts, and do not follow them in their wandering. |
| 以上这些说话，就是事一心不乱的定义和要不要它的注脚。 | These statements define phenomenal one-pointedness of mind without distraction and explain why it is necessary. |
| 因为我们对娑婆世界的事事物物，斩得断，放得下，不为一切情爱粘缚纷扰，在内心深处才能绵绵密密，蕴育着一句圣号不散而不沉，微细妄习来侵扰时，也不至为它所动摇，因而才能圣号历历分明，相续不断。 | Because we can cut off and let go of all things in the Sahā world, without being bound and disturbed by emotional attachment, we can inwardly and continuously nurture the sacred name so that it neither scatters nor sinks into dullness. When subtle deluded habits intrude, we will not be shaken by them, and thus the sacred name can remain distinctly clear and continue without interruption. |
| 同时因为用功得力之故，心更澄净，更能放下世缘，念佛愈加虔诚，定力亦愈益深邃。如是相因相成地一心专念，才能心澄水明，圣境现前而往生西方啊！ | At the same time, because our practice becomes effective, the mind grows clearer and purer, enabling us to let go of worldly conditions still more fully. Our Buddha-recitation becomes ever more reverent, and our meditative stability grows ever deeper. Only by such mutually reinforcing, one-pointed recitation can the mind become clear and the water still, so that the sacred realm appears before us and we are reborn in the Western Pure Land. |
| 真想生西方的人，我想恐怕没有一个敢说，也没有一个肯说这样的一心不乱是不需要的吧！翻遍了列祖语录，也没有一个人说不要一心不乱。相反的，他们都颂扬一心不乱，鼓励学人证到一心不乱，告诫后进不可漠视一心不乱（莲池大师《竹窗随笔》中有专文）。以下再列举数例： | I think that no one who truly wishes to be reborn in the Western Pure Land would dare to say, or be willing to say, that such one-pointedness of mind without distraction is unnecessary. Search through the recorded sayings of all the patriarchs, and not one says that one-pointedness of mind without distraction is unnecessary. On the contrary, they all praise it, encourage students to realize it, and admonish beginners not to neglect it. Master Lianchi has a special essay on this subject in Notes from the Bamboo Window. Let us cite several further examples below: |
| 截流大师在《起精进七期示众》里说：“未到一心不乱田地，正所谓少善根福德因缘，安望往生彼国？！” | Master Jiliu said in Instructions to the Assembly at the Opening of a Seven-Day Intensive Retreat: “If one has not reached the ground of one-pointedness of mind without distraction, this is precisely what is meant by scant roots of goodness, merit and virtue, and causes and conditions. How could one hope to be reborn in that land?!” |
| 印光大师在《与陈锡周居士书》中说：“散心念佛，难得往生，‘一心念佛’，决定往生。”又在书一十三中说：“念佛一法乃至简至易，至广至大之法。必须恳切至诚之极，方能感应道交，即生亲获实益。 | Master Yinguang said in “Letter to Lay Practitioner Chen Xizhou”: “With scattered-minded Buddha-recitation, rebirth is difficult to attain; with ‘one-pointed Buddha-recitation,’ rebirth is assured.” He also said in Letter Thirteen: “The practice of Buddha-recitation is the simplest and easiest, the broadest and greatest of methods. Only with the utmost earnestness and sincerity can one bring about a response and communion with the Way, and personally obtain real benefit in this very life.” |
| 若懒惰懈怠，毫无敬畏，只种远因。而亵慢之罪，有不堪设想者，纵令得生人天，断难高预海会……”懒惰懈怠是散心还是一心？这就等于说，散心念佛是不能生西的了。 | “If one is lazy and indolent, with no reverence or awe, one merely plants distant causes. The offense of irreverence and contempt may have consequences too dreadful to contemplate; even if one attains rebirth among humans or devas, it will be utterly impossible to join the great assembly...” Is laziness and indolence scattered-mindedness or one-pointedness? This is equivalent to saying that scattered-minded Buddha-recitation cannot bring rebirth in the West. |
| 莲池大师《答孙广谅居士书》中说：“用功莫若一心念佛，念极而悟，悟而无论。纵不大悟，而离此娑婆生彼净土，即是出世。消灭杂念，纯一正念，即是真谛。今亦不管出不出，真不真，但功夫做到‘一心’，自然了当矣。 | Master Lianchi said in “Letter in Reply to Lay Practitioner Sun Guangliang”: “For applying oneself, nothing surpasses one-pointed Buddha-recitation. Recite to the utmost and awaken; once awakened, there is nothing further to discuss. Even if one does not awaken greatly, leaving this Sahā world and being reborn in that Pure Land is itself liberation from the world. Eliminating scattered thoughts and making right mindfulness wholly unified is the ultimate truth. Now, without concerning oneself with whether one has left the world or not, or whether it is true or not, if one’s practice reaches ‘one-pointedness,’ all will naturally be settled.” |
| ”又《答苏州袁心远居士书》中说：“今唯当专诚念佛，久久念至‘一心不乱’，必得开悟。就令不开悟，而一生念力，临终自知，死去必生净土。” | He also said in “Letter in Reply to Lay Practitioner Yuan Xinyuan of Suzhou”: “Now one should only recite the Buddha with exclusive sincerity. After reciting for a long time until one attains ‘one-pointedness of mind without distraction,’ one will certainly awaken. Even if one does not awaken, the power of a lifetime of Buddha-recitation will ensure that, at the time of death, one knows for oneself and, upon dying, will certainly be reborn in the Pure Land.” |
| 这些例子，多不胜举。可见一心不乱，对于往生西方的重要，实无可非议。 | Such examples are too numerous to enumerate. Thus, the importance of one-pointedness of mind without distraction for rebirth in the Western Pure Land is truly beyond dispute. |
| 恐怕只有那些心里亦有些想往生西方，但同时又恋着娑婆，放不下娇妻爱子，舍不得荣华富贵的庸俗念佛人和一些怕吃苦的懒汉，才自出心裁而自圆其说地编造出一套背经离教的谬论，来愚弄妇孺，说什么“不须一心不乱，散心念佛亦能往生西方的”。哪知你图一时说得口快，害了自家不要紧，害了别人，你就下地狱如箭射在！！！ | Perhaps only those mediocre Buddha-recitation practitioners who inwardly wish for rebirth in the Western Pure Land but at the same time remain attached to the Sahā world—unable to let go of their lovely wives and beloved children, reluctant to part with glory, wealth, and rank—and certain lazy fellows afraid of hardship, would concoct, through self-styled reasoning and self-justification, a set of erroneous doctrines that depart from the sūtras and teachings, thereby deceiving women and children. They say, “There is no need for one-pointedness of mind without distraction; scattered-minded Buddha-recitation can also bring rebirth in the West.” They do not realize that, in seeking merely to speak glibly for the moment, harming themselves may not matter much, but harming others will send them to hell as swiftly as an arrow flies! |
| 或曰：要一心不乱，才能往生，则生西的人太少了。答曰：按上述事一心的标准来说，要求并不高，不是做不到的。 | Someone may say: “If one must attain one-pointedness of mind without distraction in order to be reborn, then those reborn in the West will be very few.” I reply: Judging by the standard of one-pointedness in practice described above, the requirement is not high and is not impossible to fulfill. |
| 只要行者肯牺牲眼下的享受，放却身边的粘缠，再加用点苦功，密密持名于心，人人皆可以证成，往生西方，有何难处？至于单就生西的人数多寡来说，自古以来，生西的人数似不很多，原因就在这些错误谬论——“一心不乱太难，不需要；散心念佛就能生西了”——在害人，使行者贪念世福，不肯用功，以致生西者少。 | So long as practitioners are willing to sacrifice immediate pleasures, release the entanglements at hand, exert themselves with some diligent effort, and continuously uphold the Buddha’s name inwardly, everyone can realize this and be reborn in the Western Pure Land. What difficulty is there? As for the number of those reborn in the West, it seems that since ancient times their number has not been great. The reason lies in these mistaken and fallacious claims—“One-pointedness of mind without distraction is too difficult and unnecessary; scattered-minded Buddha-recitation is enough for rebirth in the West”—which harm people by causing practitioners to crave worldly blessings and refuse to apply themselves. Consequently, few attain rebirth in the West. |
| 请看上面所举莲池大师《普劝念佛之三》，开始就不胜叹息地说：“今见世人念佛者多，生西者少，何也？”接下来又深为惋惜地归咎其原因说：“口虽念佛，心里胡思乱想，以是不得生西！”这是多深的遗憾！多硬的铁证啊！ | Consider the “Third Universal Exhortation to Buddha-Recitation” by Master Lianchi cited above. At its beginning, he sighs deeply: “Nowadays I see that many people recite the Buddha’s name, yet few are reborn in the West. Why is this?” He then sorrowfully attributes the reason to this: “Though their mouths recite the Buddha’s name, their minds indulge in wild and confused thoughts; for this reason they cannot be reborn in the West!” What a profound regret! What irrefutable evidence! |
| 诸位同仁，须知求生西方是一件了生脱死的大事，不是逞人我、争是非、闹意气的。 | Friends and colleagues, you must know that seeking rebirth in the Western Pure Land is the great matter of transcending birth and death. It is not a matter of asserting oneself, disputing right and wrong, or venting one’s emotions. |
| 需要平心静气地想一想：我这样散心念佛，在日常动用中，尤其在得失、顺逆、悲喜关头，做得主吗？能不为境界所牵移而佛念当前吗？更进一步自问，夜眠睡梦中，做得了主吗？在欢笑惊怖时，能不为梦境所动而佛念现前吗？ | You need to reflect calmly: When I recite the Buddha’s name with such a scattered mind, can I remain in command amid the activities of daily life, especially at critical moments of gain and loss, favorable and adverse circumstances, sorrow and joy? Can I remain unmoved by circumstances, with the Buddha’s name before me? Going a step further, ask yourself: Can I remain in command while asleep and dreaming? Amid laughter or terror, can I remain unmoved by dream-images, with the Buddha’s name appearing before me? |
| 假如这些都做不得主，那末，等腊月卅日到来，妻子绕榻，疾病昏迷，风刀解体，痛苦迫切，再加上生前经过的事件，与死后未了的牵缠，一一都涌上心来，又怎能做得主而念佛求生西方呢？须知白天能做得主了，于梦中则一半 | If you cannot remain in command in any of these circumstances, then when the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month arrives, with your wife gathered around your bed, illness leaving you dazed, the wind-blade dismembering your body, and intense pain pressing upon you—while all the events of your life and all unresolved posthumous entanglements surge into your mind one by one—how can you remain in command, recite the Buddha’s name, and seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land? You must know that even if you can remain in command during the day, in dreams you cannot remain in command even halfway; |
| 主也做不得；梦中能做得主了，死时一半主也做不得！因为梦中是半昏迷而死时是大昏迷呀！假如因为用功不力而临终不能往生，那末“不须一心不乱，散心念佛即能往生”之谈，岂不成为空头支票而自贻伊戚吗？这不是我故作惊人之笔来吓唬你们，也不是我好高骛远来苛求你们，要你们这样那样，不然就不能生西。 | and even if you can remain in command in dreams, at death you cannot remain in command even halfway! For dreams are a state of half-delirium, whereas death is a state of great delirium. If, because one has not applied oneself diligently, one cannot attain rebirth at the end of life, then will not the claim that “there is no need for one-pointedness of mind without distraction; scattered-minded Buddha-recitation itself can bring rebirth” become an empty check, bringing grief upon oneself? I do not say this merely to startle you or frighten you, nor do I make lofty and unrealistic demands that you must do this or that, lest you be unable to attain rebirth in the West. |
| 实在因为要真能往生西方，决不是专门依赖弥陀愿力接引而自己不加努力，就能够轻而易举地往生去的啊！眼见时下一般修净土者，都贪著便宜，不肯用功。 | The truth is that to be genuinely reborn in the Western Pure Land, one certainly cannot attain rebirth easily merely by relying exclusively on Amitābha’s vow-power to guide one there while making no effort oneself. Yet we see that most present-day Pure Land practitioners merely seek what is easy and cheap, unwilling to apply themselves. |
| 结果，不是怀念世缘，便是留恋家财；不是落得个病苦难当，便是昏迷不醒。所谓往生西方者，不知到什么地方流浪生死去了。所以才甘冒不韪，敢向诸仁进贡逆耳之言，这实在为良心所驱使，不得不大胆呈辞，力挽时弊啊！ | As a result, they either yearn for worldly ties or remain attached to family wealth; they either suffer unbearable illness or lapse into unconsciousness. As for those said to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, one does not know to what place they have wandered amid birth and death. Therefore, I am willing to risk censure and dare to offer you these unpleasant words. They are truly compelled by conscience: I cannot but speak boldly in an effort to remedy the ills of our time. |
| 三、“单靠弥陀愿力带业往生”的探讨 | III. An Examination of “Relying Solely on Amitābha’s Vow-Power for Rebirth While Carrying Karma” |
| 关于“带业往生”一语，佛经内并无明文，这是祖师们融摄经论的含义发挥出来的。它的实际用意是：薄地凡夫，业障积习深重，非一生一世修行所能除尽。 | The phrase “rebirth while carrying karma” does not appear explicitly in the Buddhist sūtras. It was developed by the patriarchs through integrating the meanings of the sūtras and treatises. Its actual intent is this: ordinary beings on the ordinary ground have karmic obstacles and deeply ingrained habitual tendencies that cannot be entirely removed through cultivation in a single lifetime. |
| 即使已大彻大悟，最后一分无明仍未破灭，因为到了等觉菩萨位，还有一分无明未尽。谁又能一生修证到等觉位呢？这未尽的无明就是惑业。所谓“带业往生”，即是带这“业”往生。 | Even if one has attained great and thorough awakening, the final portion of ignorance has still not been destroyed, for even at the stage of an equal enlightenment bodhisattva, one portion of ignorance remains. Who can attain realization to the stage of equal enlightenment within one lifetime? This remaining ignorance is deluded karma. What is called “rebirth while carrying karma” means being reborn while carrying this karma. |
| 念佛行人，即使证到理一心，似也不能超过等觉菩萨，所以还不免有无明在，故欲往生，还须“带业往生”。决不是说念佛修行人，修行时也可以干点坏事，损人利己，将来可以带业往生的。 | Even Buddha-recitation practitioners who realize one-pointedness at the level of principle seem unable to surpass an equal enlightenment bodhisattva. Thus, they still inevitably retain ignorance, and if they wish to attain rebirth, they must still attain rebirth while carrying karma. It certainly does not mean that Buddha-recitation practitioners may commit harmful acts during their practice—injuring others to benefit themselves—and later be reborn while carrying karma. |
| 或曰：印光大师说，五逆十恶人，平时不知修行，但也未曾谤佛，临终得善知识为之开导，发愿念佛，求生西方，也得带业往生。 | Someone may say: Master Yinguang said that people who have committed the five heinous offenses and ten evil acts may ordinarily know nothing of cultivation, though they have never slandered the Buddha; yet if, at the time of death, they encounter a good spiritual friend who instructs them, arouse the vow to recite the Buddha’s name, and seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land, they too may attain rebirth while carrying karma. |
| 这不是明明告诉我们现在干点坏事，将来也可以带业往生吗？答曰：请注意，此等大恶人，临终得遇善知识，又能正念分明，放舍身心，不顾病苦，一心念佛，求生西方，是何等力量？！又是何等善根、福德、因缘呵！是不是一 | Does this not plainly tell us that we may commit some harmful acts now and later attain rebirth while carrying karma? I reply: Please note that when such great evildoers encounter a good spiritual friend at death, can maintain clear right mindfulness, relinquish body and mind, disregard the suffering of illness, and single-mindedly recite the Buddha’s name while seeking rebirth in the Western Pure Land—what tremendous power this requires! And what great wholesome roots, merit and virtue, and causes and conditions this entails! Is this something |
| 般常人所能企及？我亲见很多念佛多年的人，临终为病苦所恼，不能念佛，甚至不愿聆闻佛声；或想念亲人，不愿忆佛念佛；或昏迷不醒，不能念佛闻佛。 | that ordinary people can hope to attain? I have personally seen many people who had recited the Buddha’s name for years but, at the time of death, were tormented by the suffering of illness and unable to recite the Buddha’s name. Some even did not wish to hear the Buddha’s name; some thought of their relatives and did not wish to remember or recite the Buddha; others were unconscious and unable either to recite or hear the Buddha’s name. |
| 而此等大恶人反能临终承教，彻底放下，正念分明，一心念佛，打退阴境，往生西方，是何等力量所使然？岂佛亲于彼而疏于此，厚于前而薄于后？这其间实大有因缘在！盖有一般修行人前生不明心要，只务得定，竭力克制妄心，不许伊动，如搬石压草，石去而草复生，不成究竟。 | Yet these great evildoers can, at the time of death, accept the teaching, let go completely, maintain clear right mindfulness, single-mindedly recite the Buddha’s name, repel the realm of darkness, and attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. What power enables this? Could it be that the Buddha is close to them but distant from others, generous to the former but stingy toward the latter? There are indeed profound causes and conditions involved. Some practitioners in former lives did not understand the essential point of mind, but merely sought to attain meditative stability. They exerted themselves to suppress deluded thoughts, refusing to let them move, like placing a stone on grass: when the stone is removed, the grass grows again. This is not ultimate. |
| 故当命终后转身再来时，习气妄动，尤甚于前，而成恶逆，迨一闻开示，触动前因，故又能立刻放下，专心一意念佛，求生净土，非偶然也；或逆行菩萨，示迹现生，为度生故，污其外形，以掩行藏，非一般常人所可投机取巧，依模学样，援例往生的。 | Therefore, when they die and return again in another life, their habitual tendencies and deluded impulses arise with even greater force than before, and they become evil and perverse. But when they hear instruction, it activates their former causes; thus, they can immediately let go, wholeheartedly recite the Buddha’s name, and seek rebirth in the Pure Land. This is not accidental. Or they may be bodhisattvas practicing in adverse circumstances, manifesting such traces in the present life. In order to liberate beings, they defile their outward appearance to conceal their conduct. Ordinary people cannot opportunistically imitate them, invoke such precedents, and expect rebirth. |
| 或曰：禅宗大德直证佛地，所谓等妙二觉，犹是他提草鞋汉，总该没有最后一分无明了。 | Someone may say: Great Chan masters directly realize the Buddha ground. As it is said, “The two awakenings of equal enlightenment and wondrous enlightenment are still merely men carrying straw sandals for him,” they should surely have no final portion of ignorance remaining. |
| 那么，此等人生西，不须带业往生了吗？曰：禅宗所证是理即佛，所证理性与佛无二无别，但就事说来，尚未证到果佛地位，因此并不能与释迦、弥陀等量齐观。 | Then, when such persons are reborn in the West, do they not need rebirth while carrying karma? I reply: What Chan realizes is Buddhahood in principle. The principle-nature it realizes is neither two nor different from that of a Buddha, but in terms of phenomena, it has not yet realized the fruition of Buddhahood. Thus, it cannot be regarded as equal to Śākyamuni Buddha, Amitābha Buddha, and the like. |
| 不见帝问玄沙：“宗下见性成佛，是否已到果佛地位？”沙曰：“只是因地佛，并非果地佛。”所以开悟见性，一般只登初地，相当于见道位，尚待向上修证，分破无明，圆证法身。所以说宗下见性后，即直登无修、无得、无证位，实大错误，因尚有一个如丧考妣在也，如何不须带业往生？！ | Did not an emperor ask Xuansha, “When those in your school see their nature and become Buddhas, have they already reached the fruition of Buddhahood?” Xuansha replied, “They are only Buddhas at the causal stage, not Buddhas at the fruition stage.” Therefore, awakening and seeing one’s true nature generally means only ascending to the first bhūmi, corresponding to the stage of seeing the Way. One must still continue cultivating and realizing upward, gradually destroy ignorance, and fully realize the dharmakāya. Thus, to say that after seeing one’s nature in the Chan school one directly ascends to the stage of no cultivation, no attainment, and no realization is a grave error. For one still has something like the grief of losing one’s parents; how then could one not need rebirth while carrying karma? |
| 复次，所谓无修、无得、无证位者，是理边事，同时也是到家人语。 | Furthermore, the so-called stage of no cultivation, no attainment, and no realization refers to the side of principle and is also the language of one who has arrived home. |
| 因一切众生本来是佛，何待修证？但当无明业习未了，贪著犹在，尚于恶道中头出头没的时候，又非不众生！既有业习，就有幻受，既有幻受，也就不无幻修、幻得、幻证了。所以这句无修、无得、无证的话，也是真实到家人语。因在凡不减，在圣不增，在染无失，在净无得故也。今若尚在路途上，就说无修、无得、无证，岂不言之过早！ | Since all sentient beings are originally Buddhas, what need is there for cultivation and realization? Yet when ignorance, karma, and habitual tendencies have not been exhausted, attachment still remains, and one is still surfacing and sinking in the evil realms, how can one not still be a sentient being? Where there are karmic habits, there are illusory experiences; where there are illusory experiences, there are necessarily illusory cultivation, illusory attainment, and illusory realization. Thus, this statement of no cultivation, no attainment, and no realization is indeed the true language of one who has arrived home. For among ordinary beings nothing is diminished, among sages nothing is increased, in defilement nothing is lost, and in purity nothing is gained. If one is still on the road yet speaks of no cultivation, no attainment, and no realization, is that not speaking too soon? |
| 或曰：末等于初，生死就是涅槃，路途就是家舍，虽然了生死，就在六道中。答曰：一切不二是真理，但须证到这种地步始得。 | Someone may say: “The end is identical with the beginning; birth and death are precisely nirvāṇa; the road itself is home. Although one has transcended birth and death, one remains within the six realms.” I reply: The nonduality of all things is the truth, but one must realize it to this extent before this can be said. |
| 假如现在还有苦乐在、怖畏在，还有气恼、患得患失在等等，那么路途不是家舍，生死也不等于涅槃。因为诸蕴未破，幻受犹在。在人道中，还有苦乐之见，何况余道！试看调达在地狱，如享三禅之乐，相去奚啻天壤！所以修心人大须仔细，切莫空说大话，莽莽荡荡招殃祸！ | If there are still pleasure and pain, fear, vexation, anxiety over gain and loss, and so forth, then the road is not home, and birth and death are not identical with nirvāṇa. For the aggregates have not yet been penetrated, and illusory experiences still remain. Even in the human realm, there remains the view of pleasure and pain; how much more so in the other realms! Consider Devadatta: in hell he experiences the bliss of the third dhyāna. The difference is as vast as heaven and earth! Therefore, those who cultivate the mind must be exceedingly careful. Do not idly utter grand words and recklessly invite calamity! |
| 复次，真正证到无修、无得、无证的人，也不说个无修、无得、无证。一说无修、无得、无证，岂不正坐在有修、有得、有证里吗？ | Furthermore, one who has truly realized no cultivation, no attainment, and no realization does not speak of no cultivation, no attainment, or no realization. Once one speaks of no cultivation, no attainment, and no realization, is one not squarely situated within cultivation, attainment, and realization? |
| 但是禅宗行人，开悟大有深浅，不可一概而论。有的直下到底，积习无明，一时齐破，即《楞严经》所谓“理属顿悟，乘悟并销”也。这种人即无修、无得、无证者，但此种大根人，究属少数，不可多得。 | Yet among practitioners of the Chan school, awakening varies greatly in depth and cannot be generalized. Some penetrate directly to the end: their accumulated habitual tendencies and ignorance are all shattered at once. This is what the Śūraṅgama Sūtra calls, “At the level of principle, awakening is sudden; through awakening, they are simultaneously dissolved.” Such people are those of no cultivation, no attainment, and no realization. But such people of great capacity are, after all, few and hard to find. |
| 有的虽已见性，积习尚存，须用绵密保任功夫，渐除习气，分破无明，而圆证法身。此种保任功夫，即无修之修。 | Others, though they have already seen their true nature, still retain accumulated habitual tendencies. They must employ continuous and meticulous safeguarding realization, gradually eliminating habitual tendencies and progressively breaking through ignorance, until they fully realize the dharmakāya. This work of safeguarding realization is cultivation within non-cultivation. |
| 因为他们既不用什么法门来修习，也不冀有所得与所成，平时只用个凛觉功夫，随有念起，一觉即空，空亦不住，任运腾腾，自在受用。到后亦无觉不觉、空不空、自在不自在，整日如痴如呆，无得无失，才是到家了手时节。此等功夫，即《楞严经》所谓“事则渐修，因次第尽”者是。现在修行人中，大都属于这种“顿悟渐修”者。 | Because they no longer use any dharma gate for cultivation, nor do they hope for any attainment or accomplishment, they ordinarily employ only alert awareness: whenever a thought arises, awareness immediately empties it; nor do they abide in emptiness, but let things function naturally, freely enjoying themselves. Eventually there is neither awareness nor non-awareness, neither emptiness nor non-emptiness, neither freedom nor non-freedom. One passes the whole day as if foolish and dull, with neither gain nor loss; only then has one arrived home and completed the task. This kind of work is what the Śūraṅgama Sūtra calls, “In phenomena, cultivation is gradual; through the successive stages, they are exhausted.” Most practitioners today belong to this kind of sudden awakening followed by gradual cultivation. |
| 好了，这里不是谈禅，离题太远，尚待以后再说吧。现在还是把话题拉转来，谈谈带业往生吧！说到“带业往生”，遗憾的是，时下各宗同仁往往把这句话的含义扩大而搞错了。 | Enough—this is not a discussion of Chan, and we have strayed too far from the subject. Let us leave it for another time. Now let us return to the topic and discuss rebirth while carrying karma. Regrettably, people in the various traditions today often broaden the meaning of this phrase and thereby misunderstand it. |
| 有些人以为这是佛、菩萨的慈悲宽大，只要每日供佛、念佛或参禅、持咒，虽然犯点罪，做点坏事，无关紧要，佛、菩萨照样会原谅宽恕他们的。净宗有阿弥陀佛接引他们生西；他宗则有相关的佛、菩萨佑护他们超脱轮回。 | Some people think that this reflects the vast compassion of Buddhas and bodhisattvas: so long as they make offerings to the Buddha, recite the Buddha’s name, investigate Chan, or uphold mantras every day, it does not matter if they commit a few offenses or do a few bad deeds. Buddhas and bodhisattvas will still forgive and pardon them. In the Pure Land school, Amitābha Buddha will guide them to rebirth in the Western Pure Land; in other schools, the corresponding Buddhas and bodhisattvas will protect them and enable them to transcend saṃsāra. |
| 以是，他们竟无顾忌地一面修行、念佛，一面又干些坏事，把整个佛教涂污得不像样子，以致世俗毁谤说：“要看黑心人，吃素道里寻！”“口念弥陀、释迦，心里贪盗欺诈！”听之能不令人痛心？！ | Consequently, without any scruples, they cultivate and recite the Buddha’s name on the one hand while doing bad things on the other, thus defiling Buddhism beyond recognition. This gives worldly people cause to slander it, saying: “If you want to find the black-hearted, look among vegetarian religionists!” “Their mouths recite Amitābha and Śākyamuni, while their hearts harbor greed, theft, and deceit!” How can one hear this without anguish? |
| 试问怀这种心念的净土行人，心里净不净，能不能与净土相应？又能不能与弥陀感应道交、打成一片呢？但是有些瞎汉，还要嘴硬，说不要紧，有阿弥陀佛做依怙，虽然做了些坏事，但到临终，佛还是会怜悯我们，宽恕我们，来 | Let us ask: are Pure Land practitioners who entertain such thoughts inwardly pure? Can they accord with the Pure Land? Can they enter into responsive communion with Amitābha and become one with him? Yet some blind fools still stubbornly insist that it does not matter: “We have Amitābha Buddha as our refuge. Although we may have done some bad things, at the end of life the Buddha will still pity and forgive us, and come |
| 接引我们生西的！哈哈！假使这样阿弥陀佛还来接引你们生西的话，倒变成鼓励你们在世间作恶了，有这种道理吗？假使真有其事，那佛还讲什么因果报应？！又为什么要劝人诸恶莫作、众善奉行呢？或曰：五逆十恶人，不是重 | to receive us in the Western Pure Land!” Ha! If Amitābha Buddha were indeed to receive you in the Western Pure Land under such circumstances, would that not amount to encouraging you to commit evil in the world? Is there any such principle? If this were truly the case, why would the Buddha teach cause and effect and karmic retribution? And why would he urge people to refrain from all evil and cultivate every good? |
| 罪犯吗？他们怎能临终十念生西呢？曰：请勿错会，他们不是于信佛后又做五逆十恶的事，以前不明因果，无心误犯，故能一信佛后，幡然悔悟，彻底忏悔，消除心业，往生西方。相反，已信佛的人再犯罪，是明知故犯，罪加一等，外加用功不力，念佛疲软，业不能忏，如何能往生呢？ | Someone may ask: “Are not those who commit the five heinous offenses and ten evil acts serious criminals? How can they be reborn in the Western Pure Land through ten recitations at the end of life?” The answer is: Please do not misunderstand. They did not commit the five heinous offenses and ten evil acts after coming to faith in the Buddha. Previously, because they did not understand cause and effect, they committed such acts unintentionally and mistakenly. Thus, after they came to faith in the Buddha, they could suddenly awaken, repent thoroughly, eliminate the karma in their minds, and be reborn in the Western Pure Land. In contrast, if those who already believe in the Buddha commit further offenses, they knowingly violate the teachings, and their offense is increased. Moreover, their effort is inadequate and their Buddha-recitation slack; they cannot repent of their karma. How could they be reborn there? |
| 我想当这些人在假充嘴硬说不要紧时，心里亦未尝不寒栗。因为人人都有天良，做了坏事，必受良心谴责，而深自痛苦惊怖。 | I think that when such people put on a stubborn front and say that it does not matter, their hearts are not entirely free from trembling. Everyone has an innate moral conscience; having done bad things, they are inevitably reproached by it and suffer deeply in fear. |
| 这些人，纵然一时为利欲薰蔽而隐昧良心不知羞怖，但到了临终最后一刹那，所做恶事就隐藏不住，一一显现眼前，深受良心责备而痛苦万分。那种天良苛责的痛苦，胜过一切严刑酷罚，所谓泰山压顶，大火焚身，风刀解体，苦不堪言！以致痛哭嚎叫，息促神迷，茫茫荡荡地跟着业境流浪恶道去了！到那时还能嘴硬说我有弥陀接引吗？ | Even if such people are for a time blinded by profit and desire, suppressing their conscience and knowing neither shame nor fear, at the final instant of death the evil deeds they have committed can no longer remain hidden. They appear before their eyes one by one, and, severely reproached by conscience, they suffer beyond measure. The pain of that moral condemnation surpasses every cruel punishment: it is as though Mount Tai were pressing upon one’s head, a great fire were burning one’s body, and blades of wind were dismembering one’s limbs—unbearable suffering! They may weep and howl, their breathing hurried and their spirits confused, drifting aimlessly with their karmic circumstances into the evil realms. At that time, can they still stubbornly claim, “Amitābha will receive me”? |
| 诸位道友，“带业往生”这句话千万不要搞错。不能认为一面念佛，一面做点坏事不要紧，这是绝对要不得的。因为六道轮回，全凭善恶业所支配，不以人的意志为转移。 | Fellow Dharma friends, do not misunderstand the phrase “rebirth while carrying karma.” You must not think that it is all right to recite the Buddha’s name while doing a few bad things. This is absolutely unacceptable. For the cycle of rebirth in the six realms is governed entirely by wholesome and unwholesome karma; it does not change according to human wishes. |
| 现在要进一步求生净土，了脱生死，心地不善良，人道的资格还不够，如何能生西天呢？所以益大师描述的“真信”说：真信除信自、信他外，还要信因果与理事！这就是教我们心要清净，要善良，才能得万德庄严的福果——净土！ | Now, if we seek further to be reborn in the Pure Land and be liberated from birth and death, yet our minds are not kind and good—if we do not even qualify for rebirth in the human realm—how can we be reborn in the Western Pure Land? Therefore, Master Yi, in describing “true faith,” says that in addition to faith in oneself and faith in others, one must also have faith in cause and effect and in principle and phenomena. This teaches us that our minds must be pure and kind if we are to attain the blessed fruition of the Pure Land, adorned with myriad virtues. |
| 另外，如上文所引，莲池大师在三种不能往生净土的人里，把心地不善良的人，列为第一种。可见心地善良，是第一先决条件了。我们如有过错，请迅速从今日起在佛前痛切地忏悔，永不再犯，还要力行众善，以救前愆，生西始可有望。如专门依靠佛力接引，干坏事而想带业往生，那真是西行却向东了。 | Moreover, as cited above, Master Lianchi lists those whose minds are not kind and good as the first of the three kinds of people who cannot be reborn in the Pure Land. This shows that a kind and good mind is the first prerequisite. If we have committed wrongs, we should swiftly repent bitterly before the Buddha from this very day onward, never commit them again, and diligently perform every good deed to redress our former transgressions. Only then may we hope for rebirth in the Western Pure Land. If we rely exclusively on the Buddha’s power to receive us while doing evil and hoping for rebirth while carrying karma, we are truly heading east while intending to travel west. |
| 再者，关于他力接引的问题，在第一节里已略有说明，现在因谈到本题，须再详细讨论一下： | Furthermore, the matter of being received through other-power was touched on briefly in the first section. Since it has arisen in connection with the present topic, it must now be discussed in greater detail: |
| 首先，我们从生西的三资粮来看，信愿行三，如鼎三足，既然不可缺一，那末信愿之外，行亦就非常重要了。行既非常重要，足见生西也非专赖他力。单独依靠弥陀愿力的人，假如可以单靠弥陀，那么要“行”做什么？既要“行”，那就他力之外，尤需自力了。 | First, let us consider the three provisions for rebirth in the Western Pure Land: faith, vows, and practice. Like the three legs of a tripod, none can be absent. Since practice is indispensable alongside faith and vows, it is clearly extremely important. Since practice is so important, rebirth in the Western Pure Land cannot depend exclusively on other-power. If those who rely solely on Amitābha’s vows could indeed rely on Amitābha alone, what need would there be for “practice”? Since practice is required, self-power is especially necessary in addition to other-power. |
| 或许有些贪便宜、怕用功的人要说，益大师说：“得生与否，全由信愿之有无；品位高下，全由持名之深浅。”由此看来，行——持名只不过是品位高下之依据，而生西方，全凭信愿，就是专赖佛力。我们现在只要能生西，品位高下在所不顾，甚至生于边地，也于愿已足，因为“但得见弥陀，何愁不开悟？”我们能生到西方就行了。 | Perhaps some who seek an easy way and fear making effort will say, “Master Yi said: ‘Whether one attains rebirth is entirely determined by the presence or absence of faith and vows; the higher or lower rank is entirely determined by the depth or shallowness of name-holding.’ From this it appears that practice—holding the name—is merely the basis for one’s rank, whereas rebirth in the Western Pure Land depends wholly on faith and vows and thus exclusively on the Buddha’s power. At present, so long as we can be reborn in the West, we need not care about our rank. Even rebirth in the borderland would fulfill our wishes, for ‘So long as one sees Amitābha, why fear that one will not awaken?’ It is enough if we can be reborn in the Western Pure Land.” |
| 殊不知大师此语，乃对偶句，不可分割开来，断章取义。他上面说个信愿，接下来就说个行，意思就是以信愿来导行，由行而圆成信愿。 | They do not realize that the Master’s words form a parallel couplet and cannot be separated and interpreted out of context. First he speaks of faith and vows, and then he speaks of practice. His meaning is that faith and vows guide practice, and practice brings faith and vows to fulfillment. |
| 也就是说，要生西方，须以信愿为先导，无信愿不能往生，同时这亦是对只有行而无信愿之人说的（我们在第一节里说过，明朝很多禅宗行人，假借念佛为入定的方便，是只有行而无信愿的）。 | That is to say, for rebirth in the Western Pure Land, faith and vows must serve as the guide. Without faith and vows, one cannot attain rebirth. At the same time, this was also said for those who practice but lack faith and vows. As we noted in the first section, many Chan practitioners in the Ming dynasty borrowed Buddha-recitation as an expedient for entering samādhi; they had practice but lacked faith and vows. |
| 但是生西方，有九品高下之不同，而这高下不同的往生品位，就全须由持名的功夫深浅来决定了。这岂不是明白无误地告诉我们，往生西方，品位高的，固然要较深的念佛功夫，就是品位低下的，也要有较浅的念佛功夫，才能往生。而不是单独依靠佛的力量，由佛来决定的！这样理解，方符益大师的真意，也才和其他佛祖的教示相契。 | Yet rebirth in the Western Pure Land has nine grades, high and low, and the rank of one’s rebirth is entirely determined by the depth or shallowness of one’s work in holding the name. Does this not clearly and unmistakably tell us that, for rebirth in the Western Pure Land, those of high rank certainly require deeper work in Buddha-recitation, while even those of low rank require some, though shallower, work in Buddha-recitation in order to attain rebirth? It is not determined by the Buddha alone through reliance solely on his power. Only this understanding accords with Master Yi’s true intent and is also consistent with the teachings of the other Buddhas and patriarchs. |
| 假如不须行，单靠信愿就能往生，那为什么佛在《阿弥陀经》中嘱咐我们要执持名号？又为什么在《十六观经》里教我们要修种种观行呢？师乃一代教祖，岂能违背佛意，别出心裁地以无稽之谈来迷误后人？又岂可说师之主见高过于佛呢？ | If practice were unnecessary and one could attain rebirth through faith and vows alone, why did the Buddha in the Amitābha Sūtra instruct us to hold fast to the name? Why did he teach us in the Contemplation Sūtra of Amitāyus Buddha to cultivate the various contemplative practices? The Master was a great patriarch of the teachings in his generation. How could he contradict the Buddha’s intention and mislead later generations with baseless notions of his own invention? And how could one say that the Master’s personal views surpassed the Buddha’s? |
| 再看印光大师《与陈锡周居士书》中说：“以信愿为先导，念佛为行证。信愿行三，乃念佛法门宗要。有行无信愿，不能往生，有信愿无行，亦不能往生。信愿行三，具足无缺，决定往生。 | Further, Master Yinguang states in his Letter to Lay Practitioner Chen Xizhou: “Take faith and vows as the guide, and Buddha-recitation as the practice that verifies them. Faith, vows, and practice are the essential principles of the Buddha-recitation Dharma gate. With practice but without faith and vows, one cannot attain rebirth; with faith and vows but without practice, one likewise cannot attain rebirth. When faith, vows, and practice are complete and lacking in nothing, rebirth is certain.” |
| ”可见信愿行为生西三要，如鼎三足，缺一不可。师与印师，皆莲宗法祖，由上而下，血脉相承，绝不会前者误引后者，也不至后者反对前者。由此可见那些说只要有信愿而不须行的，乃是一般瞎汉偷懒之遁词也。 | This shows that faith, vows, and practice are the three essentials for rebirth in the Western Pure Land. Like the three legs of a tripod, none can be absent. Master Yi and Master Yinguang were both Dharma patriarchs of the Pure Land tradition; their lineage was transmitted directly from above to below. The former could never have misquoted the latter, nor could the latter have opposed the former. Thus, those who say that faith and vows alone are sufficient and that practice is unnecessary are merely blind fools seeking an excuse for laziness. |
| 而且，就一般常理来说，既有信愿，为何不行？不行，又怎能表示有信愿在？更何能圆满成就信愿？是以信愿是行之先导，而行则是信愿之归寄！无信愿不足以启行，无行也不足以圆满信愿！彼此相因相成，三者不可缺一，可见信愿行之行，是多么重要呵！ | Moreover, according to ordinary reasoning, if one has faith and vows, why would one not practice? Without practice, how can one demonstrate that one has faith and vows? Still less can one bring faith and vows to complete fulfillment. Thus faith and vows are the guide to practice, while practice is the destination of faith and vows. Without faith and vows, practice cannot be initiated; without practice, faith and vows cannot be perfected. They condition and complete one another, and none of the three can be absent. This shows how important practice is within faith, vows, and practice! |
| 既然行和信愿一样重要，那么行就须像个样子才对！决不可马马虎虎地口中念念佛号，心里念着娑婆，敷衍了事算数。因为那样行，等于不行。 | Since practice is as important as faith and vows, it must look like genuine practice. One must never carelessly recite the Buddha’s name with one’s mouth while thinking of the Sahā world in one’s heart, merely going through the motions. Such practice is equivalent to no practice at all. |
| 口中念佛而心不转，妄念既不能断，妄心亦不能转，妄习更不能除，行来行去，还在老地方，未曾前进一步，徒然自欺欺人而已！有何益处？我们要行，就要遵照佛祖遗训，如救头燃，至诚恳切地把一句佛号蕴育在心中，念念不 | If one recites the Buddha’s name with the mouth but does not turn the mind, one cannot sever deluded thoughts, transform the deluded mind, or eliminate deluded habitual tendencies. One practices and practices, yet remains in the same old place, never advancing a single step—merely deceiving oneself and others. What benefit is there in that? If we are to practice, we must follow the instructions left by the Buddhas and patriarchs. As urgently as if rescuing one’s head from fire, we must sincerely and earnestly nurture a single Buddha-name in the heart, never |
| 忘；要如推重车上山般，极力追顶，一步不可放缓，六字洪名，一字接一字，一句接一句，字字句句，历历分明在心里过；要战战兢兢地把一句万德洪名，当作金刚王宝剑来与我们的妄念、爱根、情见作斗争；更要二六时中，都摄六根，净念相继。 | forgetting it from thought to thought. Like pushing a heavily laden cart uphill, we must exert ourselves to the utmost, pressing forward without allowing a single step to slacken. The six-character great name must follow word by word and phrase by phrase, each word and phrase passing distinctly through the mind. With trembling care, we must take this great name of myriad virtues as a vajra king’s precious sword, using it to struggle against our deluded thoughts, roots of attachment, and emotional views. Still more, throughout the day and night, we must gather in the six sense faculties and maintain uninterrupted pure mindfulness. |
| 我们果能如是着力用功，既勿求旦夕速效，亦勿妄冀心外有佛来迎，动诸魔事，则一定能从初心念佛散乱纷扰的情况下，渐渐上路，消除妄念，而臻一心不乱。由此看来，所谓一心不乱者，有什么高不可攀而害怕万分？有什么目的不能达到而纷争一场呢？ | If we can truly apply ourselves in this way, neither seeking immediate results nor vainly hoping that a Buddha outside the mind will come to welcome us, thereby stirring up all kinds of demonic obstacles, then we will certainly proceed gradually from the distracted confusion of a beginner’s Buddha-recitation, eliminate deluded thoughts, and attain one-pointedness of mind without distraction. In this light, what is there about so-called one-pointedness of mind without distraction that is so unattainably lofty as to inspire extreme fear? What goal is there that cannot be reached, such that people must quarrel over it? |
| 心有所畏，一定行之不力，行如不力，任何事都不能成功，所以信心坚固为第一要着。事在人为，只要先把道理弄清楚，窍门找到，然后一往直前，决不退缩，办任何事情都无不成之理！ | When the mind is fearful, one will certainly lack vigor in practice; and if one practices without vigor, nothing can succeed. Therefore, firm faith is the first essential. Success depends on human effort. So long as we first understand the principles clearly and find the key, then press forward without retreating, there is no reason why anything we undertake cannot succeed. |
| 再说他力修行，绝不是一点力气都不要花，完完全全依靠在别人身上可以成功的。古人有蚊蝇附骥尾之喻，但也要蚊蝇先飞到马尾上，还要用力抓住才行，绝不是一点力气也不用的。 | Moreover, practice by other-power certainly does not mean that one need expend no effort at all and can succeed by relying entirely on someone else. The ancients compared it to mosquitoes and flies clinging to a fine horse’s tail. Yet the mosquitoes and flies must first fly to the horse’s tail and must exert themselves to hold on; it does not mean that they need make no effort whatsoever. |
| 是以完全依赖佛力能生西方，绝无是处，只有自他合力，方能成办。再就自他来说，原本不二，因妄心分别故，始有自他。盖从本说来，心佛众生，本系一体，如一室千灯，光光无别，因无明故，妄认前影。 | Thus, it is entirely untenable to suppose that one can be reborn in the Western Pure Land by relying completely on the Buddha’s power. Only through the combined power of self and other can this be accomplished. Furthermore, self and other are originally nondual; it is only because the deluded mind discriminates that self and other arise. Fundamentally, mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are one body, like a thousand lamps in one room: their lights are no different. Yet because of ignorance, we falsely take the reflections before us to be real. |
| 遂执为我，因我而有他，是非遂生。今若一句佛号得力，当下一念妄心销处，自既不立，他从何来？！故自他本系一体，说什么自力他力！说有自力他力者，正是不识自他也，嗟乎！ | We then cling to them as a self, and because of self there arises other; thus right and wrong come into being. Now, if the single name of the Buddha becomes effective and, in that very moment, a deluded thought dissolves, the self itself cannot stand—so whence could other arise? Therefore, self and other are fundamentally one body. Why speak of self-power and other-power? Those who speak of self-power and other-power do not truly know self and other. Alas! |
| 复次，就一般通途所说的“他力”来说，有佛出世，教你们念佛法门，不是他力吗？用功时有一句万德洪名，与你作为依持，同时因持名故，弥陀因心之庄严与果地之智光加被与你，不是他力吗？临命终时，因感应道交故，佛现 | Next, as “other-power” is generally understood, when a Buddha appears in the world and teaches you the method of Buddha-recitation, is that not other-power? When you practice, you have the great name endowed with myriad virtues as that upon which you rely; and because you uphold the name, Amitābha’s adornments of the causal mind and wisdom-light of the fruition ground bless and protect you—is that not other-power? At the moment of death, through the communion of response, the Buddha manifests. |
| 心中（这就是接引），又有西方极乐世界作为依止，不更是他力吗？有这样多他力为增上缘，已占尽了便宜，还觉不够，更想一点力也不花，由佛把你拉上天，有这种道理吗？假如有的，则我们也不是今天才信佛、念佛，应该早 | Within one’s mind—this is what is meant by being guided and received—and there is also the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss as one’s support. Is that not still more other-power? With so much other-power serving as favorable conditions, you have already gained every advantage. Yet you still think it insufficient and wish to expend no effort at all, expecting the Buddha to pull you up to heaven. Is there any such principle? |
| 就往生西方成佛了，为何还流浪到今天，在这里受苦呢？或曰，信佛虽不止一世，可能宿世修习他宗未曾念佛，故未往生，因净土是万修万人去的呀！若果如是，为什么自古以来就有“念佛者多，生西者少”之叹呢？又难道弥陀 | If there were, since we have not only today begun to believe in the Buddha and recite the Buddha’s name, we should long ago have been reborn in the Western Pure Land and attained Buddhahood. Why, then, have we wandered until today, suffering here? Someone may say: “Although we may have believed in the Buddha for more than one lifetime, perhaps in former lives we practiced other schools and never recited the Buddha’s name, and therefore were not reborn. For in the Pure Land, of ten thousand practitioners, ten thousand go.” If that is so, why has there been since ancient times the lament: “Many recite the Buddha’s name, but few are reborn in the West”? And could it be that Amitābha |
| 能拉我们去，释迦不能拉我们去吗？十方诸佛都愿度尽众生的，如果能拉的话，一佛出世，就该把众生度尽了！可见得仗佛力来拉你，没有这回事。古德有云：“把臂牵他行不得，直须自肯始相应。 | If he can pull us there, then can Śākyamuni not pull us there? All the Buddhas of the ten directions vow to liberate all sentient beings. If they could pull them there, then as soon as a single Buddha appeared in the world, all sentient beings should have been liberated! Thus, there is no such thing as relying on the Buddha’s power to pull you there. An ancient master said, “Even if you take him by the arm and lead him, he cannot go; only when he himself is willing will it accord.” |
| ”须知佛力无边，众生业力也是无边的呀！印光大师是最赞叹仗佛慈力接引生西的，但也说念佛要恳切至诚，方能高预海会，这“恳切至诚”，难道不需要下一番苦功夫吗？ | one must be willing oneself before there can be a response. You must understand that the Buddha’s power is boundless, but the karmic power of sentient beings is also boundless. Master Yinguang most highly praised relying on the compassionate power of the Buddha to guide one to rebirth in the West, yet he also said that Buddha-recitation must be earnest and sincere before one can be highly admitted into the ocean-wide assembly. Does such “earnest sincerity” not require a great deal of hard effort? |
| 更进一步说，有自力的人，不求他力，而他力自来。相反，竭力希求他力，毫无自力的人，绝对得不着他力，纵有他力，亦无能为力。 | Going a step further, those who possess self-power do not seek other-power, yet other-power comes of itself. Conversely, those who exhaust themselves in seeking other-power while having no self-power at all can never obtain other-power; even if other-power is present, it can do nothing for them. |
| 因为用功人真能至诚恳切，精进不懈，无形中感诸佛菩萨加被摄护，及至功夫得力，妄念打脱，与佛心心相印，自他一体，生佛不二，更得十方诸佛护念，垂手摩顶授记。 | For when practitioners can truly be sincere and earnest, diligent and unremitting, they invisibly evoke the blessings, protection, and care of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas. When their practice becomes effective and deluded thoughts are cast off, their minds accord with the Buddha’s mind; self and other are one body, and Buddhas and sentient beings are nondual. They further receive the mindful protection of the Buddhas of the ten directions, who extend their hands, touch their crowns, and bestow predictions of Buddhahood. |
| 而懒散不肯用功，或用功不力的人，因自己心里秽垢，与清净佛光不相连接，所见所接，均系黑业一团，故佛虽现前，垂手接引，却犹如生盲不能见日。所以我们在第一节里说：“自力就是他力，他力就是自力，有自力方有他力，无自力即无他力。”请同道深思。 | But those who are lazy and scattered, unwilling to practice, or who practice without vigor, have filth and defilement in their own minds and cannot connect with the pure light of the Buddha. All that they see and encounter is a mass of dark karma. Thus, although the Buddha appears before them and extends a hand to guide them, they are like those born blind who cannot see the sun. Therefore, in the first section we said: “Self-power is other-power, and other-power is self-power. Only with self-power is there other-power; without self-power, there is no other-power.” Fellow practitioners, please reflect deeply. |
| 其实净土宗就是禅宗，禅宗即是净土宗，二宗并无两样，不要妄分自力他力。但禅宗须是大根上智人方能参透玄机，识得即相即性，即心即佛，时时处处不为物转，而自在转物。 | In truth, the Pure Land school is the Chan school, and the Chan school is the Pure Land school; the two schools are not different. Do not vainly distinguish between self-power and other-power. Yet only persons of great capacity and superior wisdom can penetrate Chan’s mysterious principle, recognize that appearance is identical with nature and that mind is identical with Buddha, and remain at all times and in all places unturned by things while freely turning things themselves. |
| 而净土宗则不一定要研讨这些玄理，只要把一句弥陀圣号，安顿在行人心上，密密提持，毋令间断，自然于不知不觉中将散乱妄心，渐渐转换成清净佛心，从而证成佛道。 | The Pure Land school, however, does not necessarily require investigation into these profound principles. One need only settle the sacred name of Amitābha in the practitioner’s mind, uphold it closely and continuously without interruption, and naturally, without conscious awareness, transform the scattered and deluded mind little by little into the pure Buddha-mind, thereby realizing the Buddha Way. |
| 犹如人身上毛发指爪，虽然人眼不见其长，却自然地密密滋长。 | It is like the hair, fingernails, and toenails on a person’s body: although one does not see them growing, they naturally grow continuously and imperceptibly. |
| 念佛的妙处，就是在行人的生死根株上（妄念上）作切近的转换，使人念佛、念法、念僧，自然不去念贪、念嗔、念痴，潜移默化地扭转人的妄心，无形中把行人从生死中拉出来。 | The wonder of Buddha-recitation lies in making an immediate transformation at the root of the practitioner’s birth and death—that is, in deluded thoughts. It causes one to recollect the Buddha, recollect the Dharma, and recollect the Saṅgha, and naturally not to dwell on greed, anger, and ignorance. It imperceptibly turns the deluded mind around and invisibly draws the practitioner out of birth and death. |
| 它不用研讨玄理，而自然暗合道妙，只要一心持名念佛，自然成无上道，所以净土念佛是三根普摄的广大法门。这真是释迦老子从大悲心中流露出来的善巧方便之智用！ | It does not require investigation into profound principles, yet naturally accords in secret with the subtle wonder of the Way. So long as one single-mindedly upholds the name and recites the Buddha, one naturally accomplishes the unsurpassed Way. Therefore, Pure Land Buddha-recitation is a vast dharma gate that universally embraces practitioners of all three capacities. This is truly the skillful functioning of wisdom flowing from the great compassion in old Śākyamuni’s heart! |
| 当你由于拳拳服膺、密密提持而亲见弥陀真性时，方知自力他力由来不二，众生佛陀，本自一体，回顾昔日之纷争辩论，犹如梦中说梦，宁不愧汗！ | When, through wholehearted acceptance and close, continuous upholding, you directly see Amitābha’s true nature, only then will you know that self-power and other-power have always been nondual, and that sentient beings and Buddhas are originally one body. Looking back on the disputes and arguments of former days, they will seem like discussing Buddha-work in a dream. Would one not blush with shame? |
| 拉拉扯扯地说来很长，还要提醒大家一声，修净土不只是念佛名字一法，举凡观心、持咒、诵经、行善等等，皆如念佛一样，可以回向西方求生净土。一心不乱，是净土法门的关键问题，我们只要放下一切，抓紧佛号，密密绵绵念去，自能安安稳稳地到达目的地。 | This long and rambling discussion still requires one further reminder: cultivating the Pure Land is not limited to the single practice of reciting the Buddha’s name. Contemplating the mind, upholding mantras, reciting sūtras, performing good deeds, and so forth may all, just like Buddha-recitation, be dedicated toward rebirth in the Western Pure Land. One-pointedness of mind without distraction is the crucial issue in the Pure Land Dharma gate. We need only let go of everything, hold firmly to the Buddha’s name, and recite it continuously and unceasingly; then we shall naturally and securely arrive at our destination. |
| 讨论至此将告结束，忽有一位慈心菩萨出来说：“你这厮噜噜嗦嗦妄开大口，不怕冒渎诸方引起群忿吗？”曰：“不见祖师道：佛法无人情，依法不依人！”又不见黄面瞿昙云：“说法四十九年，未曾说着一字！”则小子虽以虚空为纸，大海为砚池，须弥为墨，写满宇宙，又何曾写着一字，更何以冒渎诸方！正是： | As this discussion was about to conclude, a compassionate bodhisattva suddenly came forth and said: “You fellow, babbling endlessly and making wild, boastful claims—are you not afraid of offending all quarters and arousing universal indignation?” I replied: “Have you not seen the patriarchs say, ‘The Buddhadharma admits of no personal sentiment; rely on the Dharma, not on persons’? And have you not seen the yellow-faced Gautama say, ‘For forty-nine years I expounded the Dharma, yet I never uttered a single word’? Though this petty fellow were to use empty space as paper, the great ocean as an inkstone, and Mount Sumeru as ink, and fill the entire universe with writing, when would he ever have written a single word? How, then, could he offend all quarters? It is precisely thus:” |
| 写满宇宙利生情，笔划未开字未形。 | I fill the universe with thoughts of benefiting living beings, yet no stroke has begun and no character has taken form. |
| 有法可说事边倒，无法可说万里云。 | Where there is Dharma to speak, affairs topple over; where there is no Dharma to speak, clouds stretch ten thousand miles. |
| 可怜一般探玄客，梦中佛事论不停。 | Poor seekers who probe the mystery keep discussing Buddha-work in their dreams without end. |
| 一心不乱非难事，念念弥陀字字明。 | One-pointedness of mind without distraction is not difficult: in every thought is Amitābha, and every word is clear. |
| 哈哈！你道说了也未？珍重！珍重！ | Ha ha! Tell me, has anything been said or not? Take care! Take care! |
