Clarifying Doubts About the Pure Land (I)
淨土釋疑(一)
Answer to Question 32 (continued)
Amitabha Buddha says, “Even up to ten recitations—if one is not born there, I will not attain Perfect Enlightenment.” Master Shandao also said, “With each thought of reciting Namo Amitabha Buddha, one constantly repents.” Thus, in the very act of reciting Namo Amitabha Buddha moment after moment, we are invisibly
repenting the various types of uneasiness and wrongdoing within our hearts. When we understand this principle, we will no longer feel anxious or burdened. Now we know that exclusively reciting Namo Amitabha Buddha is itself repentance. Therefore, we should single-mindedly and exclusively recite Namo Amitabha Buddha.
Good actions bring good results; evil actions bring evil results. Eating meat carries its karmic consequences. If not for Amitabha’s deliverance, those consequences would inevitably have to be repaid—this must be understood.
Reflecting on the kind of beings we are—helplessly having killed countless beings and eaten countless lives just to survive—we realize that without Amitabha’s salvation, we would have to repay those debts. When we contemplate our helplessness and the depth of our karmic obstacles, we see all the more that we must entrust ourselves to Amitabha’s deliverance. Amitabha’s deliverance is precisely meant to penetrate into the hearts of such beings and grant them peace of mind.
“Netherworld” refers to the realm of the departed. The “Precepts for the Netherworld” means that we receive the Five Precepts on behalf of someone who has died. Since the deceased can no longer come to receive the precepts personally, we receive them in their stead; this is called receiving the Precepts for the Netherworld.
32問：
續答：
阿彌陀佛說「乃至十念，若不生者，不取正覺」，善導大師也說「念念稱名常 懺悔」，所以，念念稱名之間，無形中就是懺悔我們心中種種的不安。理解這 個道理的時候，我們就不會有掛礙，現在我們曉得，原來念念稱名，就是在懺 悔，因此應一向專念彌陀佛名。
善有善報，惡有惡報，我們吃肉就有吃肉的果報，如果不是阿彌陀佛來救 度的話，果報非償受不可，這一點要瞭解。
所以，想到我們這一種眾生，無可奈何，原來是殺了無數眾生、吃了無數 肉才使我們生存的啊！非彌陀的救度不可，不然的話，還要還債給牠們。想 到自己的無可奈何，想到自己的業障深重，才更非信受彌陀的救度不可；而彌陀的救度原來就是要徹入這一種眾生的心中，使他得到安心。 幽冥是指陰間，我們代替死去的人受五戒，因為他已經死了，不能來受戒了， 那我們代替他受，這個叫做受幽冥戒。
Namo Amituofo!
