Q and A about Practicing Amitabha-Recitation
Part Two - Rebirth through Amitabha-Recitation
第二部分 有關念佛往生
Answer to Question 28: (continued)
If one is able to recite Amitabha Buddha’s Name in his last moments, he will be reborn. However, when most people are going through the process of dying, their bodies degenerate and their minds often scatter. In addition, their relatives and friends cry and their karmic enemies from the past come to take their revenge.
Hence, it is impossible for them to master the situation. If a person doesn’t recite Amitabha Buddha’s Name throughout his present life, it will be very difficult to remember it as death approaches.
The circumstances of one’s death vary, such as: plane crash, shipwreck, car accident, mine collapse, fire, wind, water, earthquake, tsunami, building or bridge collapse, catastrophes of war, being shot by a gun, poisonous gas, and a variety of terminal illnesses. They often come suddenly without notice. How can we recite during these life threatening calamities? It is very difficult for us to recite the Buddha’s name during any of the circumstances mentioned above.
28問:那麼平時不念佛、等到臨終再念佛,可以嗎?(續)
答:臨終果然能念佛,當然一樣往生。但是人到將死,身體四大分離,心則萬般憂惱,再加上眷屬哭爹喊娘,怨家前來索命,一點也不能自己做主;平時有佛不念,這個時候「佛」之一字早就不知拋向哪裏了,哪裏還能念佛呢?
再說死緣不定,有空難、海難、車難、礦難種種難死,火災、風災、水災、地震、海嘯、樓塌、橋斷等死,又有刀劍加身、槍彈穿腦、毒藥毒氣等死,又有中風失語、昏迷不清、喉啞舌縮等死,無量無邊,猝不及防,隨便沾上一種,都不能念佛了。
Namo Amituofo!
