第九疑
Question 9
問：「西方去此十萬億佛剎，凡夫劣弱，云何可到？又《往生論》云：『女人及根缺，二乘種不生。』既有此教，當知女人及以根缺者，定必不得往生？」
Question: "The Western Pure Land is a hundred thousand billion Buddha-lands away from here. How can ordinary beings, who are weak and inferior, ever reach it? Furthermore, the *Rebirth Treatise* says: 'Women, those with impaired faculties, and practitioners of the Two Vehicles (Hinayana) are not reborn there.' Since these teachings exist, does this mean that women and those with physical impairments are definitely unable to achieve rebirth?"
答：「為對凡夫肉眼、生死心量說耳，西方去此，十萬億佛剎。但使眾生淨土業成者，臨終在定之心，即是淨土受生之心；動念即是生淨土時。為此，《觀經》云：『彌陀佛國去此不遠。』又業力不可思議，一念即得生彼，不須愁遠。又如人夢，身雖在床，而心意識，遍至他方一切世界，如平生不異也。生淨土亦爾，動念即至，不須疑也。『女人及根缺，二乘種不生』者，但論生彼國，無女人及無盲、聾、瘖、瘂人，不道此間女人、根缺人不得生。彼若如此，說者愚癡，全不識經意。即如韋提夫人，是請生淨土主，及五百侍女，佛授記悉得往生彼國。但此處女人，及盲、聾、瘖、瘂人，心念彌陀佛，悉生彼國已，更不受女身，亦不受根缺身。二乘人但迴心，願生淨土，至彼更無二乘執心。為此，故云『女人及根缺，二乘種不生』，非謂此處女人及根缺人不得生也。故《無量壽經》四十八願云：『設我得佛，十方世界一切女人，稱我名號，厭惡女身，捨命之後，更受女身者，不取正覺。』況生彼國，更受女身，根缺者亦爾。」
Answer: "This explanation is given because ordinary people can only see with their physical eyes and think with their limited, worldly minds. The Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is said to be a hundred thousand trillion Buddha-lands away from here. However, for sentient beings whose karmic conditions for rebirth in that land are mature, the mind that is settled at the moment of death is itself the mind that is reborn in the Pure Land; the arising of that thought is precisely the moment of birth there. For this reason, the *Contemplation Sutra* states: 'The land of Amitābha Buddha is not far from here.' Moreover, the power of karma is inconceivable; with a single thought one can be born there, so there is no need to worry about distance. It is like dreaming: although the body lies on the bed, the mind and consciousness can travel to all kinds of other worlds without any difference from waking life. Birth in the Pure Land is the same; the moment the thought arises, one arrives—there is no need to doubt.
As for the saying, 'women, those with impaired faculties, and followers of the Two Vehicles are not born there,' this only means that in that land there are no women and no blind, deaf, mute, or otherwise disabled people. It does *not* mean that women or people with impairments *here* cannot be reborn there. Anyone who says otherwise is foolish and completely fails to understand the scripture's intent. For example, Queen Vaidehī, who requested the teaching on birth in the Pure Land, and her five hundred maidservants were all assured by the Buddha that they would be reborn in that land. So here, women, the blind, deaf, and mute who sincerely recite Amitābha Buddha's name with their minds will all be reborn there; and once reborn, they will no longer receive a female body or a body with impairments. As for followers of the Two Vehicles, if they simply turn their minds and aspire to be reborn in the Pure Land, once there they will no longer cling to the views of the Two Vehicles. Therefore, the saying 'women, those with impaired faculties, and followers of the Two Vehicles are not born there' does *not* mean that women or impaired people *here* cannot be reborn. Hence, the 48th vow of the *Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra* states: 'If, when I attain buddhahood, women in the ten directions who call my name, detest their female bodies, and, after death, are again reborn as women, may I not attain perfect enlightenment.' How much less, then, when they are born in that land, would they ever receive a female body or an impaired body?"