---
title: "淨土十要 · 九堅忍力者"
description: "淨土十要由明代高僧成時大師評點節要，匯集了淨土宗歷代祖師的核心著述。該書輯錄了智者大師、善導大師等十種淨土教典精要，系統闡述了念佛往生西方極樂世界的理論與方法。其編撰於明末佛教復興期，旨在匡正禪淨流弊、彰顯淨土他力易行道。作為淨土宗根本教典之一，該書被譽為修學淨土法門的權威指南，在漢傳佛教中具有崇高地位，是深入理解淨土思想不可或缺的重要文獻。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmcxvu7610qmpky04dhzdkgcc"
---

### 九堅忍力者

> Nine Powers of Perseverance

龍樹曰。菩薩學般若波羅蜜。常欲不離諸佛。何故。未入菩薩位。未得阿󳺎䟦致受記莂。若離佛便壞諸善根。沒在煩惱。自不能度。安能度人。如人乘船中流壞敗。欲度他人反自沒水。如少湯投大氷池。雖消少處反更成氷。以少功德。無方便力。欲化眾生。雖少利益反更墜落。聲聞．辟支雖有涅槃利益。無一切智。故不能教導。菩薩如象沒泥。非象不能出。菩薩若入非道。唯佛能救。同大道故。復次。菩薩作是念。我未得佛眼。如盲無異。若不為佛所導。則無所趣。錯入餘道。設聞佛法。異處行者未知教化時節。行法多少。復次。菩薩見佛或眼見心清淨。若聞所說心則樂法。得大智慧。隨法修行而得解脫。如是等值佛無量益利。豈不一心常欲見佛。如嬰兒不應離母。行道不離糧食。大熱不離凉風冷水。大寒不離火。度深水不離船。病人不離良醫。菩薩不離諸佛過於上事。父母親屬知識人天王等皆不能如佛益利。佛益利諸菩薩離諸苦處。住世尊之地。問云。何得不離諸佛。答。眾生有無量劫罪因緣。雖行福德。智慧薄少。雖行智慧。福德薄少。菩薩求佛道要行生忍．法忍。行生忍故一切眾生中發慈悲心。滅無量劫罪。得無量福德。行法忍故。破諸法無。明得無量智慧。二行和合。須世世不離諸佛。復次。菩薩常愛樂念佛。故捨身受身恒得值佛。如眾生習欲重。受婬鳥身。瞋恚多。生毒蟲中。菩薩不貴轉輪聖王人天福樂。但念諸佛。故隨心所重而受身形。復次。菩薩常善修念佛三昧因緣。故所生常值諸佛。所以天如禪師或問謂。悟達之士政願求生。汝但未悟。悟則淨土之趨萬牛莫挽者。此也。又云。汝將謂一悟之後習漏永除便不退轉耶。更無徧學佛法修行證果等事耶。便上齊諸佛入生入死不受障緣所撓耶。審如是諸大菩薩。修六度萬行。經恒沙劫者。是皆媿汝。教有聲聞出胎之昧。菩薩隔陰之昏。況近時薄解淺悟。自救不了者乎。縱悟處深遠。行解相應。奈何未登不退。力用未充。居濁惡。化剛強。先聖未許。如未完不固之舟。濟多人於惡海。自他俱溺。其理必然。故往生論。欲遊戲地獄門者。必生彼土。得無生忍已。還入生死救苦眾生。以此因緣求生淨土。先聖云。未得不退轉位。不可混俗度生。未得無生法忍。要須常不離佛。譬如弱羽只可傅枝。今釋迦已滅彌勒未去。四惡趣苦因果牽纏。外道邪魔是非扇亂。女色淫聲之相惑。惡緣薉觸之交侵。無現佛可依。又境緣所撓。初心悟達之人尠不遭其敗者。所以世尊殷勤指歸極樂。良有以也。蓋彼彌陀現在說法。樂土境緣種種清淨。儻依彼佛。忍力易成。高證佛階。親蒙授記。然後出化眾生。去來無礙。多見今之禪者不究如來之了義。不知達磨之玄機。空腹高心習為狂妄。見修淨土則笑曰彼學愚夫愚婦之為。余嘗論其非鄙愚夫婦。乃鄙文殊．普賢．龍樹．馬鳴等也。非特自迷正道。失善根。喪慧身。亡佛種。且成謗法之業。鄙聖之殃。佛祖視為可哀憐者。於是永明和上深憐痛哀。剖出心肝。主張淨土。既自修又化世。臨終種種殊勝相現。徑生極樂上品。夫永明悟達磨直指之禪。又致身極樂上品。以此解禪者之執情。為末法勸信。余謂其深有功於宗教者此也。真歇了禪師云。洞下一宗。皆務密修。其故何哉。良以念佛法門徑路修行。正按大藏。接上上器。傍引中下之機。又云。宗門大匠已悟不空不有之法。秉志孜孜於淨業者。非淨業見佛尤簡易於宗門乎。又云。乃佛乃祖在教在禪。皆修淨業。同歸一源。入得此門。無量法門悉皆能入。至如天衣懷．圓照本．北磵簡．天目禮等諸大老。皆禪門宗匠。究其密修顯化。發揚淨土之旨。不約而同。廣如彼文。不能盡錄。是故當知。禪宗密修不離淨土。初心頓悟未出童真。入此者方為堅固不退之門。

> Nāgārjuna said: A bodhisattva studying Prajñāpāramitā always wants to remain close to the Buddhas. Why? Because before they have entered the stage of a bodhisattva or attained irreversible acceptance and a prophecy of enlightenment, if they separate from the Buddha, they will ruin their roots of virtue and become submerged in afflictions. Unable to save themselves, how could they save others? It is like someone whose boat breaks apart midstream—trying to rescue others, they end up drowning themselves. Or like pouring a little hot water into a huge ice pool—it melts a small area, only to freeze over again. With little merit and lacking skillful means, trying to guide sentient beings brings only small benefits, and one falls back instead. Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, though they attain the benefit of nirvāṇa, lack omniscience and thus cannot guide others. A bodhisattva stuck in mud, like an elephant, can only be pulled out by another elephant. If a bodhisattva strays from the path, only the Buddha can rescue them, because they tread the same great path. Furthermore, a bodhisattva thinks: "Without the Buddha-eye, I am like a blind person. If not guided by the Buddha, I have no direction and will wander onto wrong paths. Even if I hear the Dharma, practicing in other ways leads to ignorance of the right time for teaching and the appropriate amount of practice." Moreover, when a bodhisattva sees the Buddha, their mind becomes pure. Hearing the teachings delights them, bringing great wisdom. Following the Dharma in practice, they attain liberation. There are countless such benefits from meeting a Buddha—so how could they not wholeheartedly wish to always see the Buddha? It is like an infant who should not be separated from its mother, a traveler never without food, intense heat without cool wind and water, severe cold without fire, crossing deep water without a boat, or a sick person without a good doctor. A bodhisattva's need to never leave the Buddhas surpasses all these. Parents, relatives, friends, humans, and heavenly kings—none can benefit them like the Buddha. The Buddha's benefit for bodhisattvas removes them from all painful states and establishes them in the ground of the World-Honored One. Question: How can one never be separated from the Buddhas? Answer: Sentient beings with karmic causes for countless eons, even when practicing merit, have little wisdom; or when practicing wisdom, have little merit. A bodhisattva seeking Buddhahood must practice patience toward sentient beings and patience toward dharmas. Through patience toward sentient beings, they develop compassion for all beings, extinguishing countless eons of wrongdoing and gaining boundless merit. Through patience toward dharmas, they break ignorance of all phenomena, attaining boundless wisdom. Uniting these two practices, they need to never leave the Buddhas, life after life. Additionally, because a bodhisattva always loves and recollects the Buddha, in abandoning one body and receiving another, they constantly encounter the Buddha. Just as those with heavy desire are reborn as lustful birds, and those with much anger become poisonous creatures, bodhisattvas do not value the pleasures of wheel-turning kings or celestial beings. Recollecting only the Buddhas, they take on a body according to their mind's focus. Furthermore, a bodhisattva always cultivates the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha. Due to this cause, in their rebirths they constantly encounter the Buddhas. So Master Tiantu of Chan says: "Those who have awakened and attained insight genuinely wish to be reborn. But you have not yet awakened. If you awaken, the momentum toward the Pure Land cannot be stopped by ten thousand oxen." He also says: "Do you think that after one awakening, habitual outflows are forever eliminated and you will never regress? Is there no need to thoroughly study the Dharma, cultivate practice, and realize the fruit? Can you instantly match the Buddhas, entering birth and death without being hindered by obstructive conditions? If so, then great bodhisattvas cultivating the six perfections for countless eons should be ashamed of you. The scriptures speak of the dullness of śrāvakas emerging from the womb and the confusion of bodhisattvas between lives. How much more so for those in recent times with shallow understanding and superficial awakening, unable to save themselves? Even with profound awakening, if practice and understanding correspond, yet they have not attained non-regression and their powers are not fully developed, dwelling in the impure world to transform stubborn beings—the ancient sages did not permit this. Like an unfinished, unsteady boat trying to ferry many across a treacherous sea—both self and others will surely drown." Thus, the Treatise on Rebirth says: "Those who wish to play in the gates of hell must first be born in that land. Having attained acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, then they can re-enter birth and death to rescue suffering beings." For this reason, they seek rebirth in the Pure Land. Ancient sages say: "Not having attained the stage of non-regression, one cannot mingle with the mundane to save beings without attaining patience with non-arising-and-cessation, one must always remain close to the Buddha." For example, weak birds can only perch on branches. Now, Śākyamuni has passed away and Maitreya has not yet arrived. The four evil realms of suffering entangle with causes and conditions. Externalists and demons stir up confusion. Desires for women and seductive sounds mislead. Evil conditions and impure contacts invade repeatedly. With no living Buddha to rely on and disturbed by circumstances, beginners in awakening rarely escape ruin. This is why the World-Honored One repeatedly directs us to the Western Pure Land—there is a good reason. For Amitābha is there teaching now, and the environment of that blissful land is pure in every way. Relying on that Buddha, patience and powers are easily achieved. One can realize high stages of Buddhahood and personally receive prophecies, then go out to teach and transform sentient beings, moving freely without obstruction. Often, I see Chan practitioners today who do not investigate the complete meaning of the Tathāgata nor understand the mysterious principle of Bodhidharma. Empty-stomached and high-minded, they cultivate arrogance. Seeing others practice Pure Land, they mock it as "the practice of foolish men and women." But I say, they are not mocking fools—they are mocking Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Nāgārjuna, and Aśvaghoṣa! Not only do they themselves lose the right path and forfeit good roots, they destroy the wisdom body and extinguish the Buddha-seed, committing the karma of slandering the Dharma and the calamity of blaspheming the sages. The Buddhas and patriarchs view them with pity and compassion. Thus, Master Yongming, deeply grieved and compassionate, opened his heart and advocated Pure Land. He cultivated it himself and taught others. At his death, various auspicious signs appeared, and he was directly reborn in the highest grade of Sukhāvatī. The Patriarch Yongming had awakened to Bodhidharma's direct pointing of Chan, yet still attained the highest grade in the Pure Land. This dissolves the attachments of Chan practitioners and encourages faith for the Dharma-Ending Age. I consider his contributions to both Chan and scriptural teachings as deeply meritorious. Chan Master Zhenzhu Le said, "The Dongshan tradition all practices in secret cultivation. Why so? The Buddha-name recitation method is a direct path practice, exactly according to the Great Canon, receiving the highest vessels and also guiding those of middle and lower capacities." He also said, "Great masters of the Chan school, having awakened to the principle of neither emptiness nor existence, dedicate themselves to pure karma—is it not that pure karma and seeing the Buddha are even simpler than the Chan school?" Furthermore, "All Buddhas and patriarchs, in both teaching and Chan, cultivate Pure Land practices and return to the same source. Entering this one door, all limitless Dharma doors can be entered." So too, masters like Tianyi Huai, Yuanzhao Ben, Beijian Jian, Tianmu Li, and other great teachers of the Chan school—if we look at their secret cultivation and manifest teaching, their expression of the Pure Land principle was spontaneously unanimous. The passages are too many to quote fully. Therefore, know this! The secret cultivation of the Chan school does not leave the Pure Land. Beginners with sudden awakening have not yet left the stage of spiritual childishness. Those who enter this door gain the gate of firmness and non-regression.