..续本文上一页n, more intelligent and resourceful, hurries off to fetch a boat and sails to the rescue. Thus, both persons escape drowning.

　　又智度论云。譬如二人。各有亲眷。为水所溺。一人情急。直入水救。为无方便力故。彼此俱没。一人有方便。往取船筏。乘之救接。悉皆得脱水溺之难。

　　“Newly aspiring Bodhisattvas are like the first inpidual who still lacks the power of Tolerance (of Non-Rebirth) and cannot save sentient beings. Only those Bodhisattvas who remain close to the Buddhas and attain that Tolerance can substitute for the Buddhas and ferry countless sentient beings across, just like the person who has the boat.”

　　新发意菩萨。亦复如是如是。未得忍力。不能救众生。为此常须近佛。得无生忍已。方能救众生。如得船者。

　　The Perfection of Wisdom Treatise goes on to state: “This is not unlike a young child who should not leave his mother, lest he fall into a well, drown in the river or die of starvation; or a young bird whose wings are not fully developed. It must bide its time, hopping from branch to branch, until it can fly afar, leisurely and unimpeded.

　　又论云。譬如婴儿。不得离母。若也离母。或堕坑井。渴乳而死。又如鸟子。翅羽未成。秖得依树傅枝。不能远去。翅翮成就。方能飞空。自在无碍。

　　“Ordinary persons who lack the Tolerance of Non-Birth should limit themselves to Buddha Recitation, to achieve one-pointedness of Mind. Once that goal is reached, at the time of death, they will certainly be reborn in the Pure Land. Having seen Amitabha Buddha and reached the Tolerance of Non-Birth, they can steer the boat of that Tolerance into the sea of Birth and Death, to ferry sentient beings across and accomplish countless Buddha deeds at will.”

　　凡夫无力。唯得专念阿弥陀佛。使成三昧。以业成故。临终敛念得生。决定不疑。见弥陀佛。证无生忍已。还来三界。乘无生忍船。救苦众生。广施佛事。任意自在。

　　For these reasons, compassionate practitioners who wish to teach and convert sentient beings in hell, or enter the sea of Birth and Death, should bear in mind the causes and conditions for rebirth in the Pure Land. This is referred to as the “Easy Path of Practice” in the Commentary on the Ten Stages of the Bodhisattvas.

　　故论云。游戏地狱行者。生彼国。得无生忍已。还入生死国。教化地狱受苦众生。以是因缘。求生净土。愿识其教。故十住婆沙论。名易行道也。

　　Question 2 第二疑

　　All phenomena are by nature empty, always unborn (Non-Birth), equal and still. Are we not going against this truth when we abandon this world, seeking rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss

　　 The (Vimalakirti) Sutra teaches that “to be reborn in the Pure Land, you should first purify your own Mind; only when the Mind is pure, will the Buddha lands be pure.” Are not Pure Land followers going against this truth

　　问。诸法体空。本来无生。平等寂灭。今乃舍此求彼。生西方弥陀净土。岂不乖理哉。又经云。若求净土。先净其心。心净故。即佛土净。此云何通。

　　Answer

　　This question involves two principles and can be answered on two levels. (A) On the level of generality, if you think that seeking rebirth in the Pure Land means “leaving here and seeking there”, and is therefore incompatible with the Truth of Equal Thusness, are you not committing the same mistake by grasping at this Saha World and not seeking rebirth in the Pure Land, i.e., “leaving there and grasping here”

　　 If, on the other hand, you say, “I am neither seeking rebirth there, nor do I wish to remain here,” you fall into the error of nihilism.

　　答。释有二义。一者总答。二者别答。总答者。汝若言求生西方弥陀净土。则是舍此求彼。不中理者。汝执住此。不求西方。则是舍彼着此。此还成病。不中理也。又转计云。我亦不求生彼。亦不求生此者。则断灭见。

　　The Diamond Sutra states in this connection: “Subhuti, ... do not have such a thought. Why

　　 Because one who develops the Supreme Enlightened Mind does not advocate the (total) annihilation (of the marks of the dharmas.)” (Bilingual Buddhist Series, Vol. 1. Taipei: Buddhist Cultural Service, 1962, p. 130.)

　　故金刚般若经云。须菩提。汝若作是念。发阿耨菩提者。说诸法断灭相。莫作是念。何以故。发菩提心者。于法不说断灭相。

　　(B) On the level of Specifics, since you have brought up the truth of Non-Birth and the Pure Mind, I would like to give the following explanation. Non-Birth is precisely the truth of No-Birth and No-Death. No-Birth means that all dharmas are false aggregates, born of causes and conditions, with no Self-Nature. Therefore, they have no real “birth nature” o…

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