Important Knowledge in the Pure Land Teaching
淨土小常識
176. “Same Place, Different Nature” and “Same Place, Different Perception” (1 /3)
When Master Shandao, in his commentary on the Contemplation Sutra, classified the Land of Ultimate Bliss, he determined that it “is a reward land, not a
transformation land”. There is only a reward land and no transformation land. It is neither the Land Where Ordinary and Sages Abide Together, nor the Land of Expedient Means with Residual Afflictions, nor even the Land of Real Reward and Adornment. Rather, it is a supremely transcendent reward land, distinct from all other Pure Lands in the ten directions.
Although Master Shandao placed its status extremely high—as the realm of unsurpassed Nirvana, the domain of the reward Buddha. Yet, because rebirth relies entirely upon Amitabha Buddha’s Fundamental Vow Power, even ordinary beings can easily attain rebirth there, as long as they exclusively recite Namo Amitabha Buddha.
Those reborn in Amitabha’s reward land may be broadly divided into two types: (1) those who clearly and explicitly trust the Buddha’s wisdom, and (2) those who harbor doubts about the Buddha’s wisdom.
Although both are reborn in the same reward land, those who clearly trust the Buddha’s wisdom, at the very moment of rebirth, experience the lotus opening, see the Buddha, and hear the Dharma. Those who doubt the Buddha’s wisdom, after rebirth, temporarily remain within the womb-palace and are unable, for the time being, to see the Buddha or hear the Dharma.
Therefore, Nagarjuna Bodhisattva, in the Chapter on the Easy Path, explains:
“If a person plants wholesome roots but harbors doubt, the lotus does not open;
those with pure faith, when the lotus opens, immediately see
Amitabha Buddha.”
For the sake of clarity, those whose lotus opens and who see Amitabha Buddha are said to be in the reward land; while those who temporarily remain in the womb-palace and have not yet seen Amitabha Buddha are provisionally described as being in a transformation land. In reality, however, all are within the same reward land.
(to be continued tomorrow)
176. 同處異質、同處異見 (1 /3)
善導大師疏釋《觀經》時，判定極樂世界「是報非化」，唯有報土，沒有化土 ；非「凡聖同居土」、「方便有餘土」，也非「實報莊嚴土」，而是高超的報土，有 別於十方淨土。善導大師雖然判位很高，是無上涅槃、報佛境界，但由於依靠 阿彌陀佛的本願力，即使凡夫，只要專稱彌陀佛名，也能容易往生。
往生彌陀報土者，略分為二：一是明信佛智，二是疑惑佛智。
雖同在報土，明信佛智者，往生報土之當下，花開見佛聞法；疑惑佛智者， 往生之後暫時在胎宮之內，還不能見佛聞法。故龍樹菩薩《易行品》解釋說： 「若人種善根，疑則華不開；信心清淨者，華開則見佛。」為區別而言，以花開 見佛者謂之在報土，以暫時在胎宮尚未見佛者，擬之為在化土，其實都同在 一個報土之中。
Namo Amituofo!
