Wonderful Metaphors in Pure Land School
淨土宗妙喻
Metaphor 4B: A Car’s Brakes
The preventive aspect of Amitabha’s deliverance is like applying the brakes in a car. When driving, you must move forward but also know when to brake. You should not brake just for braking’s sake. You apply the brakes because you realize you’re headed in the wrong direction and need to change course. You need to slow down first, or even stop the car completely, before turning the car in the right direction. So, it is not about slamming on the brakes permanently. It is only a temporary measure. It is about braking so that the car can move in the right direction and eventually reach your destination.
Similarly, when Amitabha Buddha warns that “I will not deliver you if you commit the five gravest transgressions or slander the correct Dharma”, he does not really intend to exclude us from his deliverance permanently. It is only a warning needed to prevent such transgressions.
4B. 攝抑二門,悲智雙運妙喻之 - 煞車喻
又像開車一樣,有前進就有煞車,但是煞車並不是為了煞車而煞車,是因為發現方向錯誤了,必須改變方向,改變方向之前,就要先稍微 煞車,甚至要完全停下來,才能夠轉往正確的方向前進。所以,不是為了煞車而煞車,不是為了永久煞車,煞車只是一時的權宜之計。煞車是為了 正確前進,為了正確
到達目的地。
所以,阿彌陀佛說:「你如果犯了五逆謗法罪,就不救你。」這個,不是永遠的不救,也不是真正的不救,是權宜的不救。
Namo Amituofo!
