Wonderful Metaphors in the Pure Land School
淨土宗妙喻
Metaphor 28: Amitabha’s Deliverance is Like the Earth, it Accommodates Everyone
Amitabha’s deliverance is like Mother Earth, accommodating and accepting all things without discrimination. Mountains and oceans, animals and plants, copper and diamonds, good and evil, pure and vile, the earth embraces them all equally, never rejecting anything.
Therefore, as the Yijing (also known as the Book of Changes) says, “An unrestricted outpouring of benevolent energy from the heavens, makes possible profound progress, for those who are conscientiously following the proper principles. Accept things as the earth accepts us - through yielding and nourishing.”
Amitabha has a myriad of boundless and inconceivable merits. The Buddha accepts us and nourishes us just like the earth, and delivers us all to the Pure Land. Hopefully, we can also learn to do good, and accept each other with broad and tolerant minds.
We must realize that it is not random that two people meet. There is a karmic connection at work. Treasure the connection and give each other comfort and joy. How we say something, or what expression we wear, can bring either joy or misery to the person. Let’s keep that in mind.
28. 如地普載喻
彌陀救度如同大地，大地沒有分別心。大地普載萬物，高山也好，大海也好，都承載在大地之上，動物、植物、礦物，善人、惡人、清淨的、不清淨的，大地都毫無簡別，也毫不嫌棄。
所以，《易經》說：「天行健，君子以自強不息；地勢坤，君子以厚德載物。」
阿彌陀佛的德，可以說是萬德，功德無量無邊不可思議，愛心無窮無盡一切接納，他接納所有眾生、包容所有眾生、救度所有眾生（希望我們也能學習)厚德載物，彼此接納，互相包容。
有緣相處，儘量給對方溫暖、給對方歡喜。自己一句話，或一個神情，是不是給對方帶來了溫暖、帶來了歡喜呢？我們在這方面，應該多注意）。
Namo Amituofo!
