Important Knowledge in the Pure Land Teaching
淨土小常識
174 - The Classification of Cause and Effect (11/11)
The Pure Land Dharma is a path of other-power. Buddha-nature dissolves all oppositions and distinctions. Master Ouyi said that the entire Pure Land teaching can be summed up in four words: “Realizing the other as self.” This means clearly understanding that the other is oneself—that Amitabha Buddha is oneself, and what belongs to Amitabha Buddha belongs to oneself.
The Path of Sages retains the traditional emphasis on self-power. Contemporary Buddhism still often speaks this way, emphasizing “actual practice;” as if reciting Namo Amitabha Buddha does not count as real practice. This reflects a failure to understand this principle—a failure to understand that such a form of cause and effect truly exists.
174 因果的分類 (續 11 /11)
淨土法門就是他力法門。佛性是泯滅一切的，對立、分別都泯滅了。蕅益大師說，淨土法門全部說起來其實就四個字──「了他為自」，就是明瞭他就是我，阿彌陀佛就是我，阿彌陀佛的就是我的。
聖道門還有這種傳統的思想，是自力為主；現在的佛教好像都還是這樣講，講實修，好像念佛就不算實修，只念佛不算是修行。這是不明白這個道理，不明白天下還有這樣一種因果。
Namo Amituofo!
