No. 1158-A答四十八問序
Reply to Forty-Eight Questions Preface
淨土之教。因地於法藏。肇端於韋提。開陳於靈鷲教主之金言。流衍於匡廬大士之蓮社。專一心而向往。歷三界以橫超。誠哉末法之要津矣。然上根即事契理。固諦信不回。下士有聞斯從。亦無因起惑。惟不上不下。位屆中流。乃欲從欲違。志無定向。繇是十疑通於智者。或問啟於則公。天鼓諄諄。婆心戀戀。豈曰多言。言所不容己也。而復晷沈膏繼。病劇藥增。後是二書。能無再述。有德園居士者。乘宿願力。起大悲心。代為百千眾生。曲申六八難問。山僧不免據款結案。隨繩解紛。使彼越煩惱之河者。直決其狐疑。出死生之穴者。頓離於鼠怯。叨陪往哲。共翊先宗云爾。若夫悟心外之無土。則一真湛而萬法泯。誰是西方。了土外之無心。則七寶飾而九蓮開。何妨本寂。是則居士於廓爾無疑之鄉。而幻出問端。似風來水面。山僧於默然無問之地。而夢酬答語。若谷和泉聲。雖雲興瓶瀉。未敢儔古聖之宏規。而燭照冥消。聊以抉時人之瞖目。其或闡提根心。倔強猶昔。斷斷乎薄淨土而不修。守偏空而自足。亦未如之何也已矣。悲夫。
The teaching of the Pure Land has its origins in Dharmākara, its beginning with Vaidehī, its exposition in the golden words of the teacher at Vulture Peak, and its spread through the Lotus Society of the Great Master of Kuang-lu. With single-minded focus they faced toward it, transcending the three realms horizontally. Truly, it is the essential ford in this age of Dharma decline. Those of superior capacity penetrate principle through phenomena, and firmly believe without turning back. Those of lesser capacity hear of it and follow, and likewise have no cause for doubt. But those who are neither above nor below, who find themselves midstream, wanting to follow yet wanting to resist, with no fixed direction of will—for them, the Ten Doubts were addressed to Master Zhiyi, and the Questions were posed to Master Zegong. The heavenly drum beats earnestly, the compassionate heart lingers fondly. How could this be called excessive speech? It is speech that cannot be helped. Moreover, piling on rich ointment and continuing, when illness is severe the medicine increases—how could these two texts not be told again? There is a layman, Deyuan, who, riding the power of past vows, has aroused the great compassionate mind, and on behalf of hundreds of thousands of beings, has intricately raised the sixty-eight difficult questions. This mountain monk cannot but rule on each charge and resolve each tangle according to the rope. Thus those who would cross the river of afflictions may directly resolve their fox-like doubts, and those who would escape the pit of birth and death may suddenly be freed from mouse-like timidity. Humbly accompanying the sages of old, together we uphold the ancestral teaching. As for realizing that outside the mind there is no land, then the one true is serene and all dharmas are extinguished—who then is the West? Understanding that outside the land there is no mind, then the seven treasures adorn and the nine lotuses bloom—what hinders original quiescence? In this way, the layman, in the vast land beyond doubt, conjures up the questions, like wind coming to the water's surface. This mountain monk, in the silent place beyond questioning, dreamingly responds with answers, like a valley echoing the sound of a spring. Though clouds rise and the bottle pours, I dare not compare myself to the great standards of the ancient sages. Yet as candlelight shines and darkness fades, I may at least clear the cataracted eyes of people today. Should there be those of icchantika nature, stubborn as ever, who decidedly slight the Pure Land and do not cultivate it, or cling to biased emptiness and consider themselves sufficient, there is simply nothing to be done. How sad!
萬歷十二年冬日杭沙門袾宏 識No. 1158
In the winter of the twelfth year of the Wanli era, the monk Zhuhong of Hangzhou composed this. No. 1158
答淨土四十八問
Answering Forty-Eight Questions on the Pure Land