A Discussion on Excerpts from the Scriptures of the Pure Land School
淨土宗精要法語討論
35. Pundarika (white lotuses) in the Contemplation Sutra
You should know that those who exclusively recite Namo Amitabha Buddha are like pundarika (white lotuses) among humans. Bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta become their sacred friends.
They will be seated in the Bodhimandala (site of enlightenment) and be reborn into the Buddhas’ family.
Question 35.1 : Someone says, “Although I recite the Buddha’s Name, my afflictions are very heavy. I am far more inferior than those who keep precepts, are mindful in meditation, and realize awakening. Can I still be called a pundarika (white lotus flower)?”
Answer: The Buddha’s praise of the “white lotus flower” is not based on one’s cultivated merits or states of realization; but on whether one sincerely and exclusively recites Namo Amitabha Buddha. Those who recite this way receive and accept the Buddha’s virtues and unsurpassed merit.
35. 《觀經》芬陀利花
若念佛者，當知此人，則是人中芬陀利華；觀世音菩薩、大勢至菩薩為其勝 友；當坐道場，生諸佛家。
35.1 問：有人說，「我雖念佛，可是煩惱這麼重，遠不如持戒、得定、開悟的修 行人，我這樣就能稱為芬陀利花( pundarika)嗎？」
答：佛讚「芬陀利華」，並非看修功、悟境，而是看是否老實稱名，稱名領納佛德，是為大利無上功德。
Namo Amituofo!
