Voice of Master Jingzong - Q and A about the Purpose of Life
淨宗之聲 - 人生目的問答
(continuation of the answer to Q13 - 3/3)
4. Whether you think you have true faith and an earnest aspiration or not, you should aspire to be reborn in the Western Land of Bliss , in order to establish the aim of your life.
Having an aspiration is better than having none. Don’t wait until you have a better understanding. It’s better to aspire now, rather than later. Once your aspiration has been established, it will lead you towards that fixed goal.
You will have a focus for all matters in your life, and you gain strength by focusing on that one aim. Otherwise, if you wait until you’ve done “sufficient” investigation , your mind will be dispersed like water. You must provide a waterway in order to channel the water towards the desired destination.
Our minds are always distracted; so, we need to choose our destination - rebirth in the Land of Bliss. This will form a passageway for the exclusive recitation of the six character name (Namo Amituofo), naturally leading our minds to the Pure Land of Bliss.
So, no matter what, we should aspire for rebirth and recite the Buddha’s Name. This is not contradictory to studying the Buddhist teachings, life experiences, etc.
◎ 第四,不論你現在有沒有真信切願,假的也做上,就是先發願往生西方極樂世界,先建立人生的目標。
有勝於無,有這個願望總比沒有好。不要等待什麼都瞭解之後再發這樣的願,先把這個願望確定下來。
這個願望一旦確定,它就會引導我們的人生向著固定的目標,我們人生當中所有的一切也就有了聚焦點,有了力量綜合的一個方向。
否則,如果等都研究好了再來發這個願,就像水一樣,心自然是散漫的。如果想讓水有方向,你不給它挖個溝渠,讓它自己形成渠道,怎麼可能?挖一條溝渠引到一個目標,它自然就去了。
我們凡夫的心都是散漫的,願往生極樂淨土這個目標定下來,然後稱念南無阿彌陀佛給它形成引導的溝渠,我們的心就會順著六字名號流向極樂淨土,很自然的。
所以,不管怎麼樣,先建立願生心,先念佛,這和前面講的聞熏、閲歷都不矛盾。
Namo Amituofo!
