Pure Land Patriarch - Master Daochuo
道綽大師
(continued)
The Sutra of the Great Collection of the Moon Store says, “ Sentient beings now live in an era that is approximately the fourth five-hundred-year period since Shakyamuni Buddha passed away. They should practice blessings, repentance, and recite Amitabha Buddha’s name.”
When selecting a teaching with respect to the aptitude and the era, it is clearly indicated by the trustworthy words in the Sutra that sentient beings nowadays should recite Amitabha Buddha’s name. It also says, “If a practitioner wishes to enter the sacred paths, it is difficult to attain a high ranking even when they experience splendid outcomes. Only through the Pure Land teaching, can a practitioner easily enter if he wishes.”
It also concisely points out: In the world with five kinds of turbidity, in the Dharma-Ending age, and in the absence of the Buddha, the Three Learnings and the Six Paramitas are difficult for people to practice and gradually realize. It is only the teaching of Amitabha’s deliverance to be reborn in the Pure Land of Peace and Joy, that can allow us to enter the Bodhi Way. This means that Pure Land teaching is the path to Buddhahood for even a person who commits offenses throughout his entire life, in the world of five kinds of turbidity, in the Dharma-Ending era. This is because the teaching is suitable for the aptitudes of people in that era.
其根據《大集月藏經》之意而言:「計今時眾生,即當佛去世後第四五百年,正是懺悔修福,應稱佛名號時者。」
就「時」就「機」而選擇「教法」,依聖言量明確地指出「今時眾生,應稱名念佛」。又說:「若欲於斯進趣,勝果難階;唯有淨土一門,可以情悕趣入。」
扼要地指出在五濁之世,末法無佛之時,三學六度之教法漸次難行難證;唯有仰蒙彌陀之救度而往生安樂之淨土教法,方能趣入菩提。亦即淨土法門才是五濁惡世之時,一生造惡之機的成佛之道,故是「時」與「機」相應之「法」。
Namo Amituofo!
