Apr 24, 2024
Wonderful Metaphors used in the Pure Land School
淨土宗妙喻
5F. The Blind and the Crippled
A man without legs cannot be expected to walk. He needs to travel by car or use a wheelchair. A blind person cannot see. He must rely on a guide when he needs to go out.
As Buddhist practitioners, we are all like those without legs or eyesight. Why are we compared to the blind? Because we do not have the ability to understand the profound teachings of Mahayana Buddhism and can only see darkness. Why are we also said to be like a legless person? Because our self-power is too weak to sufficiently keep any precepts, to practice meditative concentration, or to develop wisdom. Not being able to cultivate the three-fold training of precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom is like having no legs to walk with.
Therefore, we do not rely on our own practice to attain rebirth in the Pure Land. All that will work is Amitabha’s deliverance.
5F. 不論凡夫,只論彌陀妙喻之 - 無眼無腿喻
沒有腿的人就不能論他走路,他要出門,就要坐車;沒有眼睛的人,就不能論他自己看,他要出門,就要人家牽著。我們在佛法修行當中,如同沒有眼、沒有腿的人。為什麼說沒有眼呢?因為我們不能明瞭大乘佛法的甚深義理,兩眼漆黑。為什麼說沒有腿呢?因為靠我們自己修行,禪定無力,持戒無力,沒有開發智慧,戒定慧三學不能成就,就好像沒有腿一樣,不能走路。因此,就不能論我們自己修行,只論阿彌陀佛的接引。
Namo Amituofo!
