No. 1214-A蓮修必讀自序
No. 1214-A: Preface to Essential Readings for Lotus Practice
佛法粗言及細語。皆歸第一義。凡詩歌偈頌。皆洞明本宗。從大悲心中流出。依經立說。發揚念佛三昧無餘蘊矣。茲引導初機。借語明心。因言見道。道見。則言亡。此所謂即文字。而非文字。(觀如)屢見初修。未能閱淨宗諸典。又難於記誦。故將淨土中歌頌。已經目覽者。隨見隨錄。刻行以便讀誦。倘有尚於行持好略者。雖一言半偈。足可依從。以了生死也。我朝世宗憲皇帝。敘寒山大士詩云。讀者或以為俗語。或以為韻語。或以為教語。或以為禪語。如摩尼珠。體非一色。處處皆圓。隨人目之所見。朕以為非俗非韻。非教非禪。真乃古佛直心直語也。佛法如海。此書之選。如海中一滴。自愧法眼未明。不無有遺珠之憾。切不可以此為究竟。亦不可因人微而藐此書不觀。曾見蕅益大師西齋詩讚。其略曰。以茲微妙勝伽陀。令我讀誦當參學。一讀二讀塵念消。三讀四讀染情薄。讀至十百千萬遍。此身已向蓮花托。亦愿後來讀誦者。同予畢竟生極樂。是為序。
The Buddha's Dharma—whether in rough words or refined phrases—always returns to the ultimate truth. All poems, songs, and verses clearly illuminate our own tradition. They flow from the heart of great compassion, establishing their teachings in accord with the sutras, and they fully reveal the samādhi of Buddha Recitation without anything left hidden. Here I guide beginners, using words to illuminate the mind, so that through language they may see the Path. When the Path is seen, words fall away. This is what is meant by "relying on words yet not being words." (Guanru)
I have often seen beginners unable to read through the various Pure Land texts, and finding it hard to memorize them. So I have gathered verses and hymns from the Pure Land tradition—whatever I have come across with my own eyes, I have recorded as I found it—and printed them for easy reading and recitation. If there are those who prefer a simple daily practice, even a single line or half a verse is enough to follow, enough to put an end to birth and death.
His Majesty Emperor Shizong of our dynasty, in his preface to the poems of the great master Hanshan, wrote: "Readers may take them as folk sayings, or as rhymed verse, or as teachings, or as Chan sayings. Like a maṇi jewel—its substance is not any one color, yet it is perfectly round everywhere, according to what each person's eye sees. I hold that they are neither folk sayings nor rhyme, neither teaching nor Chan—they are truly the straightforward words of a straightforward heart, spoken by an ancient Buddha."
The Buddha's Dharma is like the ocean; the selections in this book are but a single drop from that ocean. I am ashamed that my Dharma-eye is not clear, and I do not doubt there is the regret of a pearl left behind. By no means take this as the final word; nor should you, because the person who compiled it is humble, look down on this book and fail to read it. I once saw Great Master Ouyi's "Verses of Praise for the Western Grove," which says in brief:
"By this wondrous and surpassing gāthā, let me read and recite it, and take it as my practice. One reading, two readings—dusty thoughts dissolve. Three readings, four readings—stained emotions grow thin. Read it ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times, and this body will already be cradled in the lotus flower. I also vow that those who later read and recite will, like me, ultimately be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss."
This is the preface.
光緒丙戌年七月佛歡喜日觀如書於揚州藏經院No. 1214
Written by Guanru at the Yangzhou Scripture Repository on the Buddha's Joyful Day, the seventh month of the Bingxu year of the Guangxu reign.
No. 1214
蓮修必讀
Essential Readings for Lotus Practice