Important Knowledge in the Pure Land Teaching
淨土小常識
165 Sentient Beings of the Ten Directions (continued 2 /4))
That is, all beings who have committed evil—as long as they are willing, open their hearts to reciting “Namo Amituofo,” and aspire to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. If they adhere to this without ever ceasing throughout their lives—then at the time of death, Amitabha Buddha and the holy assembly of the Pure Land will naturally and joyfully come to welcome them. At that very moment, they will be reborn in the Pure Land.
Therefore, in terms of the scope of beings, as long as they exclusively recite Namo Amitabha Buddha—whether they are sages or ordinary beings, good people or evil people, from the East or the West, believers in Buddhism, or followers of other religions. Even those without any religious faith at all, it does not matter! As long as they recite according to their own capacity, they already belong to those “sentient beings of the ten directions” who receive Amitabha’s deliverance.
Thus Master Shandao said: Regardless of karmic good or evil, or the length of practice, exclusively recite Amitabha Buddha’s Name to the best of your capacity.
He also said: If one continues to exclusively recite Namo Amitabha Buddha, then ten out of ten or a hundred out of a hundred will be reborn.
That is to say, no matter whether one is good or evil, whether one’s period of recitation is long or short, none of this matters. As long as one exclusively recites Namo Amitabha Buddha until the end of life, this is what is meant by “reciting thought after thought until the end of life.”
165 十方眾生 (續 2/ 4)
一切造罪的眾生，只要願意迴心念南無阿彌陀佛，願意往生極樂淨土，一 生永不改變。能這樣做，當他臨命終的時候，阿彌陀佛和極樂世界的聖眾自 自然然會歡歡喜喜地來迎接他，他當下就能往生極樂世界。
所以，就對象來說，只要他念佛，不論是聖人還是凡夫，不論是善人還是 惡人，不論是東方人或西方人，不論是信仰佛教還是信仰其他宗教，或是根 本都無信仰，這一切都不問；而且，也不問他是如何念、怎麼念，只要以他的 根機去念佛，這樣就已經是獲得阿彌陀佛救度的「十方眾生」之一了。
所以善導大師就說：
無問罪福時多少，
心心念佛莫生疑。
又說：
念念相續，畢命為期者，
十即十生，百即百生。
不管他是善是惡，念佛的時間是長是短，這一切都不用問，只要他一心念 佛，直到臨終也不改變，這就是「念念相續，畢命為期」。
Namo Amituofo!
