Pure Land Patriarch - Master Daochuo
道綽大師
Theory of Rebirth in the Reward Land by Ordinary Beings - With the aid of his understanding of trustworthy words, Master Daochuo revealed the doctrine of Rebirth in the Reward Land by Ordinary Beings in the Pure Land School.
First, he defined Amitabha Buddha and his Pure Land as the Reward Buddha and the Reward Land respectively. In Chapter 7 of the First Great Gate in his book (“the Collection on Peace and Joy”) refers to the Sutra on Common Nature in Mahayana, and says, “ All those who become Buddhas in the pure lands exist in their Reward Bodies, and all those who become Buddhas in the defiled lands exist in their Transformed Bodies.
This is because “a pure land is formed as the reward of a Buddha who makes vows and practices in the causal ground; so, it is commonly called a reward land.” Thus, those who attain perfect Enlightenment and become Buddhas also receive a Reward Body.
Moreover, in determining that ordinary beings can be reborn in Amitabha’s land of rewards through reliance on the power of Amitabha’s vow, he says in Chapter 8, “In Amitabha’s Pure Land, the superior, inferior, ordinary, and sacred live together because of the Buddha’s vow. It is applicable to all of these types of beings because it enables them to attain rebirth.
凡夫入報論:道綽大師引用聖言量顯明凡夫入報土之宗義。
首先判定阿彌陀佛及其淨土是報身、報土,本書(《安樂集》)第一大門第七章引用《大乘同性經》言:「淨土中成佛者悉是報身,穢土中成佛者悉是化身。」
因為「淨土乃酬佛之因位願行而現成者,故說皆是報土。」而於淨土中得道成佛者,亦當然為報身。
其次判定凡夫依靠彌陀願力能夠往生彌陀報土,其第八章說:「彌陀淨國,位該上下,凡聖同往,......由佛願故,乃該通上下,致令凡夫之善,並得往生。」
Namo Amituofo!
