Clarifying Doubts About the Pure Land (I)
淨土釋疑(一)
Question 12 : Master, could you explain the verse by Master Fazhao: “That Buddha, in his causal stage, made great vows”?
Answer : Certainly! The full verse goes:
That Buddha, in his causal stage, made great vows;
All who hear his Name and recite it, he will welcome.
He does not reject the poor or favor the rich;
Nor slight the dull or prefer the wise.
He does not select only those who are learned or purely uphold the precepts;
Nor abandon those deeply burdened by transgressions.
As long as one opens his/her heart and recites Amitabha Buddha’s Name often,
He can transform bits of rubble into gold.
This verse is an explanation of Amitabha Buddha’s 18th Vow. In that vow, Amitabha vowed to save all beings in the ten directions. The scope of “beings in the ten directions” is vast —there is not a single being outside of this scope. To express the all-inclusiveness of this vow, Master Fazhao composed this verse.
(to be continued tomorrow)
12問：師父能否解釋一下法照大師「彼佛因中立弘誓」的偈子？(15/25)
答：好！整偈是這樣的：
彼佛因中立弘誓，聞名念我總迎來，
不簡貧窮將富貴，不簡下智與高才，
不簡多聞持淨戒，不簡破戒罪根深，
但使迴心多念佛，能令瓦礫變成金。
這一首偈就是在解釋第十八願的。因為第十八願阿彌陀佛要救度的對象 就是十方眾生，那十方眾生就包括得很廣了，沒有一個眾生不在十方眾生之 內，為了表達這個意義，法照大師用這一首偈來解釋。
Namo Amituofo!
