Oct 28, 2018
Master Huijing’s Short Teachings about the Infinite Life Sutra
《佛說無量壽經》
What is the core teaching of the Great (Infinite Life)Sutra? It is the 18th Vow. The 18th Vow is called the Primal Vow, or the Fundamental Vow. Shakyamuni Buddha explained the 18th
Vow in the text on “fulfillment of the 18th Vow”.
What is the 18th Vow about? It’s about “faith, aspiration and practice”; but, its essence is “ to practice even ten times”.
“Even ten times” refers to Amitabha-recitation, which is the conclusive statement made by Master Shandao – “always exclusively recite Amitabha’s Name. For assured rebirth, those practitioners in the present life should recite for their entire life and those near the end-of-life should recite even ten times, or as few as once.”So, “ten times”refers to Amitabha-recitation. It is, of course, a symbolic phrase with an inclusive meaning, not confined to ten times.
《大經》的核心在那裏？在第十八願，第十八願也稱為「本願」或「根本願」，而釋迦牟尼佛解釋第十八願的地方就在「第十八願成就文」。
第十八願講什麼呢？講「信、願、行」，而最後是落實歸結在「行」──「乃至十念」。
「乃至十念」就是念佛，也就是善導大師的總結論：「一向專稱彌陀佛名」──「平生之機，上盡一形；臨終之機，下至十聲一聲」，所以「十念」就是念佛的意思，當然這是一個代表性的含括用辭，不是僅限於十念而已。
Namo Amituofo!
