No. 1155-A淨土簡要錄序
Preface to A Brief Record of the Pure Land
淨土之教興始于典午之世樓煩大士來廬山集群賢以創蓮社六時三昧清修淨念其往生之蹟如青天白日終古不磨厥後仰而則之及其成功者代亦多矣其赫赫然而名落宇宙者在後周則有南嶽思在陳則有天台顗在唐則有善導法照少康在宋則有永明壽慈雲式長蘆賾昭慶常之輩是矣至於賢士大夫如晉之劉程之雷次宗唐之柳宗元白居易宋之楊傑王古馬玗陳瓘江公望日休之流從之既勤行之既驗各有著述發揮淨土之旨以勉其後進故歷朝以來淨土之作論疏傳記山儲海積然通都鉅郡名山勝剎始能家藏而戶蓄故學之者有師而問焉有書而證焉庶不致騖於邪僻繆妄之塗矣今夫窮鄉絕嶋善友良導之不過片言一字之不違縱有學者無師可問無書可證其不騖於邪僻繆妄之塗者盖幾希矣故雖仁人君子念而恤之無能為也今年夏余客穹隆山中海雲精舍因𨵃淨土諸書以銷長日遂將前賢所述讚頌之文䇿勵之言以事顯理之談以真破妄之說圓妙明著者咸皆采摭或全其章或略其句僅若干篇萃為一卷名之曰淨土簡要錄錄成用鏤于板以廣其傳矣雖然大方之家上達之士豈足收覧焉若窮鄉絕嶋無師可問無書可證者得此觀之抑亦可謂少資云爾。
The revival of the Pure Land teaching began in the Jin dynasty, when the great master from Loufan came to Mount Lu and gathered the worthy ones to found the White Lotus Society. Through the six periods of the day they cultivated samadhi with pure mindfulness, and their rebirth in the Pure Land is as clear as the blue sky and bright sun—never fading through the ages. Later, those who looked up to them as a model and succeeded in their practice were many in every generation. Those whose illustrious names have fallen upon the world include: in the Later Zhou, Nanyue Si; in the Chen dynasty, Tiantai Yi; in the Tang dynasty, Shandao, Fazhao, and Shaokang; in the Song dynasty, Yongming Shou, Ciyun Shi, Changlu Ze, and Zhaoqing Chang—these are the ones. As for worthy scholars and officials, such as Liu Chengzhi and Lei Cizong of the Jin, Liu Zongyuan and Bai Juyi of the Tang, and Yang Jie, Wang Gu, Ma Yu, Chen Guan, Jiang Gongwang, and Rixiu of the Song—these followed it diligently and practiced it with results. Each produced writings that expounded the meaning of the Pure Land to encourage those who came after. Thus through the successive dynasties, Pure Land works—treatises, commentaries, biographies, and records—have accumulated like mountains and seas. Yet only in great cities and major prefectures, famous mountains and renowned monasteries could they be kept in every household and stored in every home. Therefore students had teachers to ask and books to verify, and so were unlikely to stray onto the path of error and delusion. But now in remote villages and distant islands, where one cannot meet a good friend or worthy guide, and cannot uphold even a word or phrase—even if there are students, they have no teacher to ask and no books to verify. Those who do not stray onto the path of error and delusion are very few indeed. Thus even kind and noble people who think of them and pity them can do nothing. This summer I stayed at the Haiyun Hermitage on Mount Qionglong, and there I read through the various Pure Land books to pass the long days. I collected the eulogies and praises written by past worthies—words of encouragement, teachings that reveal the principle through events, and explanations that use truth to break through delusion—those that were perfect, marvelous, clear, and illuminating—gathering some in full chapters and some in abbreviated passages, just a number of pieces, compiled into a single volume and named it the Concise Pure Land Record. When the compilation was complete, it was carved onto woodblocks to spread it widely. Yet for the great masters and those of lofty attainment, it is hardly worth their attention. But for those in remote villages and distant islands with no teacher to ask and no books to verify, obtaining this to read may indeed be called a small aid.
洪武十四年龍集辛酉夏五月蓮華室主沙門道衍序No. 1155
In the fifth month of the summer of the fourteenth year of the Hongwu reign, the year being Xinyou, the master of the Lotus Chamber, the monk Daoyan, wrote this preface. No. 1155
淨土簡要錄
Essential Record of the Pure Land
吳郡沙門 道衍 編
Compiled by Daoyan, monk of Wu Commandery