A Discussion on Excerpts from the Scriptures of the Pure Land School
淨土宗精要法語討論
30. The Contemplation Sutra - Appearing Immediately in Response to One’s Mind (continued)
Question 30.2: Some people say, “If the mind is pure, the land is pure. As long as we purify our minds, this very place becomes the Pure Land. If this is so, why
should we seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, which lies ten billion worlds away?”
Answer: The Vimalakirti Sutra says, “If a bodhisattva wishes to attain a pure land, he should purify his mind. As the mind becomes pure, so too does the Buddha-land.” This represents the realization of the great bodhisattva Vimalakīrti, and it is also the foundational cause/practice and resultant virtue of Dharmākara Bhikṣu in establishing the Pure Land. If one is presently a bodhisattva of the higher stages, such words may be appropriately spoken. However, if one is an ordinary being in the initial stages of the path, then it is unwise to speak such lofty words and deceive oneself.
As to whether this world is pure or defiled, the World-Honored One has already clearly established it. As to whether we should be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, the various sutras all point directly to that goal. If we reflect honestly on our own capacities, it is safer and more reliable to exclusively recite Amitabha’s Name and seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land.
Master Shandao also says in his Praise of the Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra: “Do not believe and accept others’ words that say, ‘If the mind is pure, everything is pure.’ If this world were truly the same as the Buddhas’ lands, why then do beings still revolve within the six realms of birth and death?”
30. 《觀經》應心即現 (續)
30.2 問：有人說，「心淨則國土淨，但能淨心，此處當下即是淨土，何必求生十 萬億國土之外的極樂世界？」
答：《維摩詰經》言，「若菩薩欲得淨土，當淨其心；隨其心淨，則佛土淨」， 這是維摩詰大士的境界，也是法藏比丘建立淨土的因行果德。如果自身現是 上地菩薩，可出此言；如果身為博地凡夫，則不宜大言自欺。此處是淨是穢，
世尊已有明示；極樂是否當生，諸經處處指歸。自審根機，還是老實念佛往生 西方穩當。
善導大師《般舟讚》：「不得信受他人語，『但令心淨此皆淨』，若道此同諸佛 國，何因六道同生死？」
Namo Amituofo!
