Important Knowledge in the Pure Land Teaching
淨土小常識
161. The Meaning of “ The Only Ones Excluded Are Those Who Commit the Five Gravest Offenses or Slander the Right Dharma” (1 /5)
At the end of the Eighteenth Vow it states: “ The Only Ones excluded are those who commit the five gravest offenses or slander the right Dharma.” Those who commit these two severe offenses are seemingly excluded from salvation. If that’s the case, then can people like us, who may have committed the five gravest offenses or slandered the right Dharma, still be saved through reciting Amitabha Buddha’s Name?
According to the Contemplation Sutra’s description of the lowest grade of rebirth, even those who commit the ten evils or the five gravest offenses can be saved through the merit of verbally reciting Amitabha Buddha’s Name. From this point of view, if someone who committed the five offenses recites Amitabha Buddha’s Name, they too can be embraced by the light of the Tathagata’s salvific power.
However, this raises a question: The Larger Sutra says that those who commit both the five offenses and slander the Dharma are not saved but are restrained; whereas The Contemplation Sutra says that if one recites the Buddha’s Name, one can still be saved and embraced. Are these two scriptures contradicting each other?
Both Master Tanluan and Master Shandao have given interpretations that reconcile this seeming contradiction. Their key points are as follows:
(to be continued tomorrow)
161 「唯除逆謗」之義 ( 1/ 5)
第十八願結文說「唯除五逆，誹謗正法」，此二類重罪抑止不救，如果這樣 ，那我們這些或時行五逆，或時有誹謗正法之人，即使念佛亦能得救嗎？
若依《觀經》下品下生說，行十惡五逆等不善人，也能依口稱念佛的利益 而得救。從這點而言，五逆的人，若能念佛，亦能蒙如來救度之光所攝取。
同樣是五逆，《大經》說五逆謗法不救而抑止；《觀經》則說若念佛就能得救 而攝取，此二經是否彼此矛盾？關於這一點，曇鸞大師與善導大師，都各有 立說，詳加會通，要點如下：
Namo Amituofo!
