A Discussion on Excerpts from the Scriptures of the Pure Land School
淨土宗精要法語討論
27. The Contemplation Sutra - Becoming a Good Person by Reciting Amitabha Buddha’s Name to Eradicate Offenses
Question 27.3 : Some people say, “To be reborn in the Pure Land, at the very least one must perfectly uphold the Five Precepts and practice the Ten Good Deeds, because the Amitabha Sutra refers to ‘good men and good women.’” Is this correct?
A: Relying on one’s own practice of precepts and good deeds to seek rebirth in the Reward Land of Ultimate Bliss is far from sufficient in terms of merit.
By exclusively reciting Amitabha’s six-character Name and receiving all the causes, vows, and merits embodied in Amitabha Buddha’s Name, one is naturally able to be reborn in the Reward Land of Ultimate Bliss. That is why, when the transformed Buddhas and bodhisattvas come to welcome these practitioners, they praise them as “good men” or “good women.”
27. 《觀經》稱名除罪成善男子
27.3 問：有人說，「要想往生，至少要圓滿五戒十善，因為《阿彌陀經》說『善男 子、善女人』」，是這樣嗎？
答：憑自身所修戒善求生極樂報土，功德遠遠不夠。執持六字名號，領納六字 名號所具阿彌陀佛一切因願果德，自然與極樂報土相應，因此化佛菩薩來迎 時讚為「善男子、善女人」。
Namo Amituofo!
