Clarifying Doubts About the Pure Land (I)
淨土釋疑(一)
Question 25:
Answer continued: (2/3)
What kind of spiritual capacities do “beings in the ten directions” have? Do they include those who commit the five gravest offenses and slander the Dharma? The “beings in the ten directions” already includes those who commit the five gravest offenses and slander the Dharma; they may in fact be such people. The Land of
Bliss is precisely a place that enables even those guilty of the five gravest offenses and slander of the Dharma to be reborn there and attain Buddhahood.
Therefore, from the hidden meaning, the “twelve great kalpas” and the phrase “except for those who commit the five gravest offenses and slander the true Dharma” express the same essential point. What does this imply? There are three meanings:
First, because the offenses of the five grave sins and slander of the Dharma are extremely serious, the text warns us with the phrase “except for.” The phrase “twelve great kalpas” sternly tells us: these karmic offenses are extremely heavy—do not commit them!
Yet we still may commit them. So what happens if we do?
Ultimately, it says: even if people have committed the five gravest offenses and slandered the Dharma, if they turn their minds around and exclusively recite Namo Amitabha Buddha , they can still be reborn. Just like beings of the lowest level of the lowest grade, they can still be reborn in the Land of Bliss; and once reborn there, the cycle of the six realms is cut off immediately.
Although the lowest grade speaks of the five gravest offenses; but, does not explicitly mention slander of the Dharma, slander is inherently included within the five grave offenses. Among the five grave offenses are: killing an arhat, causing a schism in the monastic community, and shedding the Buddha’s blood. These actions are slandering the Dharma—if one were not slandering the Dharma, one would not do such things.
Thus, the second implication is that even these kinds of beings are to be saved.
(to be continued tomorrow)
25問
續答: (2/3)
十方眾生是哪一種根機呢？有沒有包括五逆謗法呢？十方眾生本身就包括 五逆謗法，甚至就是五逆謗法，極樂世界就是能夠使五逆謗法的人也到那裏 成佛的，所以，十二大劫與唯除五逆謗法從隱義來講是一樣的，那是什麼含 義呢？有三種含義：
一是因為五逆謗法非常的重，所以給你講說「唯除」。「十二大劫」嚴厲地 告訴我們，這種罪業太重，不要去做！
可是我們仍然會犯，那如果犯了怎麼樣呢？
最後說：即使五逆謗法，迴心念佛也能往生，就像下下品的眾生，也能往 生極樂世界，一旦往生極樂世界，六道輪迴當下就截斷了。
雖然下品下生說到五逆、沒有說到謗法，可是五逆裏面有謗法，因為五逆 當中就有殺阿羅漢、破和合僧、出佛身血，這就是謗法，若不是謗法，則不會 這樣做。所以，另一個含義就是這種眾生也要救度。
Namo Amituofo!
