A Verse sharing Compassionate Advice and Cautions - quoted from ‘In Praise of Pratyutpanna’ by Master Shandao
善導大師《般舟讚》慈悲勸誡
Ordinary beings at the upper level of the low tier
Commit the ten Unwholesome Deeds and have no virtue.
Their ignorance swiftly and naturally increases,
And they slander those who practice virtuous conduct.
Such a fool is difficult to awaken,
Because they have strong karmic connections with their wicked friends.
They only know the liquor and meat in front of them,
And are not aware that their names are already included in the list of hell beings.
After a person has suffered in hell for a very long time,
He starts to remember his good advisors in the human realm.
The sinner has a serious illness near the end-of-life,
He acts as if he’s crazy and loses consciousness.
Scenes of hell appear in his mind.
Possessed by fear, his sweating hands grasp nothing but air.
Who can help him with this dilemma?
Through the grace of Amitabha he encounters a good advisor,
Who teaches him to repent while lighting incense,
And to recite Namo Amitabha with joined palms.
All kinds of suffering are relieved by even one recitation of the Buddha’s Name.
All of his karmic offenses accumulated in the past 5 million eons are eradicated.
The manifested Buddhas and Bodhisattvas arrive upon hearing his recitations,
And welcome him to Amitabha’s Pure Land while holding a lotus flower.
下品上生凡夫等,具造十惡無餘善,
增長無明但快意,見他修福生非毀,
如此愚人難覺悟,良由知識惡強緣。
唯知目前貪酒肉,不覺地獄盡抄名,
一入泥犁受長苦,始憶人中善知識。
罪人臨終得重病,神識昏狂心倒亂,
地獄芬芬眼前現,白汗流出手把空。
如此困苦誰能救,會是知識彌陀恩。
手執香爐教懺悔,教令合掌念彌陀,
一聲稱佛除眾苦,五百萬劫罪消除,
化佛菩薩尋聲到,我故持華迎汝來。
Namo Amituofo!
