No. 1546-A新修淨土往生傳序
Preface to the Newly Revised Pure Land Rebirth Biographies
眾生心淨。則佛土淨。法性無生。而無不生。有佛世尊。今現說法。在極樂國。號阿彌陀。緣勝劫長。悲深願大。無邊際光明攝受。不思議淨妙莊嚴。珠網麗空。瑤林矗地。池涵八德。蓮發四光。韻天樂於六時。散裓花於億剎。諸佛共讚。十方來歸。彌陀心內眾生。新新攝化。眾生心中淨土。念念往生。質託寶蓮。不離當處。神超多剎。豈出自心。如鏡含萬像。而無有去來。如月印千江。而本非升降。被圓頓機。則背一生補處。開方便門。則有九品階差。念本性之無量光。本來無念。生唯心之安養國。真實無生。解脫苦輪。十念示超於寶地。會歸實際。二乘終證於菩提。如大舟載石。而遂免沉淪。若順風揚帆。而終無留難。悟之則甚近而不遠。迷之則易往而無人。差夫。學寡障多。疑深觀淺。行為權小。聞若存已。則是以馬鳴龍樹為未然。天台智覺為不達。不信當授菩提記。不肯頓生如來家。籠鳥曰衍魚翻為淤戱。隙駒風燭。妄計久長。虛受一報身。枉投諸苦趣。豈知。大雄讚勸。金口丁寧。侶聖賢於剎那。具相好於俄頃。樂受則永拋五濁。悲增則四(〔考〕四恐回)救三塗。於此不知。是為可憫。自魏晉大經初出。有遠顯諸賢繼修。事列簡編。驗彰耳目。福唐釋戒珠。接十二家傳記。得七十五人。今復蒐補闕遺。芟夷繁長。䛷(〔考〕䛷。恐該)羅別錄。增續新聞。共得一百一十五人。隱顯畢牧(〔考〕牧。恐收)緇素脩列。會江河淮濟於一海。融[全*并]盤釵釧無。元豐七年八月十五日。清源王古序(二金。標為險道之津梁。永作後來之龜鏡)(〔考〕二金以下至終十六字當入前行釧無下)。No. 1546
When the minds of sentient beings are pure, their Buddha-land is pure. The nature of reality is neither born nor unborn. There is a Buddha, the World-Honored One, who now teaches the Dharma in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, known as Amitabha. His conditions are supreme, his eons long, his compassion deep, and his vows vast. His boundless light embraces all. His inconceivably pure and wonderful adornments include bejeweled nets filling the sky, jade forests standing upon the earth, ponds with eight excellent qualities, and lotuses emitting fourfold radiance. Heavenly music plays throughout the six periods of the day; scattered flowers fill billions of worlds. All Buddhas praise him; beings from the ten directions return to him.
Within Amitabha's mind, sentient beings are continually transformed and guided. Within sentient beings' minds, the Pure Land is realized in every thought. When their essence rests upon a jeweled lotus, they do not leave their present place. When their spirit transcends countless realms, how is this apart from their own mind? It is like a mirror containing myriad images yet having no coming or going; like the moon reflected in a thousand rivers yet fundamentally neither rising nor falling.
For those with perfect and sudden faculties, it leads directly to the stage of becoming a Buddha in one lifetime. For those needing expedient means, it opens nine grades of distinction. Contemplating the infinite light of our true nature is fundamentally without thought; being born in the Pure Land of mind-only is truly without birth. Liberated from the wheel of suffering, ten recitations can guide one to the jeweled ground. Ultimately returning to reality, even practitioners of the Two Vehicles will finally attain enlightenment. Like a great boat carrying stones—it avoids sinking; like sailing with the wind—there is no obstruction.
Awakening to this, it is extremely near and not far. Deluded about this, it is easy to reach yet no one goes. Alas! People have little learning and many obstacles, deep doubts and shallow insight. Their practices are expedient and small; they hear the teaching but cling to the self. They consider Ashvaghosha and Nagarjuna as incorrect, and Tiantai and Zhijue as not understanding. They do not believe they will receive the prophecy of Buddhahood, nor are they willing to be immediately born into the family of the Thus-Come One. Like caged birds or trapped fish, they turn to futile games; like a gap glimpsed through a crack or a candle in the wind, they falsely calculate longevity. In vain do they receive a single reward body, and wrongly do they cast themselves into various miserable states.
How could they know that the Great Hero earnestly encourages, and the Golden Mouth earnestly instructs? In an instant, one can be a companion of sages and saints; in a moment, one can possess marks and excellences. Joyfully receiving, one forever abandons the five turbidities; compassionately increasing, one strives to rescue the three evil realms. Not knowing this is truly pitiable.
Since the Great Sutra first appeared during the Wei and Jin dynasties, many worthies like Yuan and Xian have successively cultivated it. Their deeds are recorded in texts, their proofs are evident to ears and eyes. In Fuzhou, the monk Shizhu collected twelve biographical records, obtaining seventy-five names. Now, I have gathered missing parts, cut away lengthy passages, collected separate records, added new accounts, and have obtained one hundred and fifteen names in total. Both the hidden and the apparent are gathered, both monks and laity are listed. The rivers, lakes, Huai, and Ji are merged into one sea; the melted pan, hairpins, and bracelets become one.
Written on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the seventh year of the Yuanfeng era [1084 CE], with the preface by Wang Gu from Qingyuan.
新修淨土往生傳卷上
Revised Pure Land Rebirth Biographies, Volume One