No. 311-A引 〔龍其〕
No. 311-A, Introduction: Longqi
念東高先生千里東余自謂年來一味淨土，娑婆境風浩浩，真如喆、草堂清皆不免蹉跌，勉余留心此件。余偶舉示百亭法師，而法師先有勢至念佛章疏鈔在余案頭，兩人取卷重閱，盡然興嘆，謂高先生以身踐為救時之藥語也，遂命兒子募資刻之。刻既竣，法師復謂余弁其首。余惟華嚴大經，德雲首宣念佛法門，馬鳴菩薩立論之祖，念佛與止觀並重，而楞嚴為譚性之書。然勢至念佛一章，列在圓通禪宗下，不能抑蓮宗為非歸源見性之途也明矣。今彌陀疏鈔、龍舒淨土等文，布在禪林，惟勢至章僅附本經，而未有耑行之疏。法師詮文釋義，勒成一書，為震旦人添一重往生舟筏，不可謂非淨土之功臣也又明矣。遂以此意復高先生，而繼之以臆說云：蓮師云：念一佛名，換彼百千萬億之雜念也。即念即空，居然本體，非於念外別得菩提。又云：執持名號，至於一心，則復還空寂之體。又云：當知淨土唯心，更無外境，自性還歸本體，是願生彼國義。如是則蓮師雖極力主張西方淨土，而不遺宗門見性之旨，彰彰如是矣。則謂見性為淨土指歸，而淨土為見性入路，未相違也。見性則掉臂皆淨土，而蓮臺自不消說；不見性則淨土非了手，而種因要自不退。然則見性與不見性，而念佛修淨土，皆不可忽也。此義似本章所未及言，既以復於高，遂筆之此，以質諸真能念佛人為何如也。
Mr. Nian Donggao wrote to me from a thousand li away, saying that in recent years he had devoted himself single-mindedly to Pure Land practice. The winds of circumstance in this Saha world blow fiercely, and even Zhenru Zhe and Caotang Qing could not avoid stumbling. He urged me to keep this matter close to heart. I happened to show this to Dharma Master Baiting, and it turned out the Master already had a commentary on the chapter on Dashizhi's Buddha Recitation sitting on my desk. The two of us took up the scroll and read it again, and sighed with admiration throughout, saying that Mr. Gao's putting it into practice himself was the very medicine needed to save the times. So we had my son raise funds to print it. When the printing was finished, the Master again asked me to write a preface for it.
I reflect that in the great Avatamsaka Sutra, it was Dewa who first proclaimed the Dharma-gate of Buddha Recitation. Ashvaghosha, the patriarch who established the treatise tradition, gave equal weight to Buddha Recitation and to calm abiding and insight. The Shurangama Sutra is a book that discusses the nature. Yet the single chapter on Dashizhi's Buddha Recitation is listed under the Perfect Penetration section, beneath the Chan school — which makes it clear that one cannot dismiss the Lotus school as not being a path back to the source and to seeing one's nature.
Now such works as the Amitabha Sutra Commentary and Longshu's texts on the Pure Land are distributed throughout the Chan groves, but the Dashizhi chapter has only been attached to its own sutra, with no separate commentary devoted to it. The Master has explained its words and interpreted its meaning, compiling it into a single book, adding one more boat and raft for rebirth to the people of this land. One cannot but call him a faithful minister of the Pure Land — that too is clear.
So I replied to Mr. Gao with this understanding, and followed it with my own humble views, saying:
Master Lianchi said: "Reciting the name of one Buddha replaces those hundreds of thousands of millions of scattered thoughts. In the very act of reciting, one is empty; one is inherently the original essence. One does not attain Enlightenment apart from recitation." He also said: "Holding fast to the name until one reaches single-mindedness, one then returns to the essence of emptiness and stillness." He also said: "You should know that the Pure Land is mind-only; there is no external realm. When one's own nature returns to its original essence, this is the meaning of vowing to be born in that land."
If this is so, then although Master Lianchi strongly advocated the Western Pure Land, he did not neglect the Chan school's principle of seeing one's nature — this is abundantly clear. Thus to say that seeing one's nature is the destination pointed to by the Pure Land, and that the Pure Land is the path of entry for seeing one's nature, is not contradictory at all. When one has seen one's nature, every swing of the arm is the Pure Land, and the lotus platform need hardly be mentioned. When one has not seen one's nature, the Pure Land is not the final step, yet planting the cause must still not be abandoned.
This being so, whether one has seen one's nature or not, Buddha Recitation and Pure Land cultivation must not be neglected. This meaning seems to be something this chapter has not yet addressed. Since I have already replied to Mr. Gao with it, I have written it down here to ask all those who truly recite the Buddha's name what they think of it.
康熙庚申長至錢唐戴京曾書
Written by Dai Jingzeng of Qiantang on the winter solstice of the gengshen year of the Kangxi reign.