Clarifying Doubts About the Pure Land (I)
淨土釋疑(一)
Question 21 : Many people still do not clearly understand the issues of dedication of merit and aspiration. Would you please give us some guidance?
Answer:
In the Pure Land Path it is not that we dedicate merits to Amitabha Buddha , it is actually the other way around. Amitabha dedicates his merits to us. He shares his true and perfect merits with us, enabling us to leave the cycle of birth and death in this defiled world and attain rebirth in the Land of Bliss; where we realize the ultimate goal—becoming Buddhas. It is Amitabha who dedicates merit to us, not we to him.
This is because we have no true merits to dedicate. All of our practices are defiled, mixed with afflictions, insincere and unreal. They do not correspond to the true, pure realm of Amitabha’s Nirvana. Therefore, it is impossible for us to perform any real dedication of merit—we neither can nor need to. We cannot, because we cannot generate genuine merit; and we need not, because Amitabha’s perfect merit is already fully accomplished.
This means there is no need for us to engage in separate acts of dedication or make special vows. Our acceptance of Amitabha’s salvation already contains the wish for rebirth. From the perspective of this aspiration for rebirth, it is already an act of vow-making. Thus, we need not make vows every day.
That said, when we perform our morning and evening services, we often conclude by reciting the “Vow of Dedication.” This is the Dedication Verse composed by Master Shandao, printed at the end of our prayer books. Unlike ordinary dedications, this verse expresses Amitabha’s dedication:
“May this merit
Be equally shared with all;
Together awaken the Bodhi-mind,
And be reborn in the Land of Peace and Bliss.”
(to be continued tomorrow)
21問：很多人對迴向、發願這兩個問題還不明了，請法師開示一下。
答：
淨土法門不是講我們迴向給阿彌陀佛，不是的！是顛倒過來，是阿彌 陀佛迴向給我們。阿彌陀佛將他真實的功德迴向給我們，使我們離開娑婆的 輪迴，使我們往生極樂世界，去得到真實——成佛。是阿彌陀佛將功德迴向給 我們，不是我們將功德迴向給阿彌陀佛。
一方面因為我們沒有真實的功德，我們所修的，都是有漏、雜毒之善，虛 假、不實之行，與阿彌陀佛涅槃的真實境界不相應，所以，不可能有功德迴向 ——既不能，也不必：我們不能修出真實的功德，所以不能；同時，阿彌陀佛的 真實功德已經完成了，所以不必。
這是不必單獨迴向，也是不用特別發願的——我們之所以信受彌陀的救度， 就是有一種願生心。從願生心這一點來講，也是屬於一種發願的內涵。本來 已經具有這種內涵了，所以不必每天都再發願。
只是說，如果我們在做早晚課的時候，最後就連貫著念一遍「發願文」，這 個「發願文」就是《迴向偈》。在我們每本書的後面都有這首善導大師所作的 《迴向偈》，這首《迴向偈》與一般的迴向發願不一樣，這首《迴向偈》是：
願以此功德，平等施一切，同發菩提心，往生安樂國。
(明天待續)
Namo Amituofo!
