AN EXHORTATION TO RESOLVE UPON
BODHI
By Shramana Shr Syan of
the Brahma Heaven Monastery in Ancient Hangzhou
Provisional English
Translation by the Buddhist Text Translation Society Burlingame,CA
1999
Brief Biography of Great Master Sying An
An Exhortation To Resolve Upon Bodhi
Eight aspects of a resolve: deviant, proper, true, false, great, small, partial, and complete.
The first is mindfulness of the Buddhas' deep kindness.
The second is mindfulness of our parents' kindness.
The third is mindfulness of our teachers' and elders' kindness.
The fourth is mindfulness of donors' kindness.
The fifth is mindfulness of living beings' kindness.
The sixth is mindfulness of the suffering in birth and death.
The seventh is reverence for our own spiritual nature.
The eighth is repenting ofkarmic obstacles and reforming.
The ninth is the wish for rebirth in the Pure Land.
The tenth is the wish to cause the Proper Dharma to remain in the world for a long time.
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF GREAT MASTER SYING
AN
The
Master's name was Shr Syan "Real Sage." His formal name was Sz Chi "Wanting to
Equal", and his style name was Sying An "Reflection and Sanctuary". He was the
son of the Shr family from the Chang Shou District. His parents raised him in
the Confucian tradition. He left home at an early age and practiced the Vinaya
(moral precepts) very strictly. He always enjoyed listening to the Dharma. His
knowledge of the teachings was profound, and included both the nature and the
marks' schools. He investigated the topic "who is mindful of the Buddha" when he
meditated. He concentrated without cease for over four months and suddenly
achieved enlightenment. He said "I have awakened from a dream!"
Ever
after, his skillful instructions in the style of the Chan School were both quick
and sharp. His eloquence was compelling and invincible.
The Master
studied the Tripitaka by day and recited the Buddha's name by night. He burned
his finger as a sacrifice before the Buddhas at Ashoka (Mountain) Monastery and
made forty-eight great vows. His sincerity elicited a response from the Buddha'
ssharira, and they put forth splendorous light.
An essay he wrote called
"An Exhortation to Bring Forth the Bodhi Resolve" encouraged the Four-fold
Assembly in their cultivation. Many of the people who read this essay were moved
to tears.
On the fourteenth day of the fourth lunar month during the
twelfth year of the Yung Jeng reign period (A.D. 1734 of the Ching Dynasty), he
faced West and quietly passed away.
Myriads of people attended the
funeral of Great Master Sying An. Suddenly he opened his eyes and said, "I am
going now and will come back soon. Birth and death are the important matter.
Everyone should purify his mind and recite the Buddha's name to end birth and
death."
He put his palms together and recited the Buddha's name
continuously, then passed away once again. A verse of praise
goes:
His compassionate mind was so vast that he wrote an essay
called "An Exhortation to Bring Forth The Bodhi-Resolve".
His vow power was so profound that he made forty-eight vows in all.
His practice and understanding of Buddhism were so real and true that his auspicious responses were beyond compare.
Therefore, the lineage of the Pure Land School survives due to his strenuous efforts.
I, the unworthy Shr Syan,
a lowly, ordinary Sanghan, weeping blood and bowing to the ground, exhort the
great assembly and present-day men and women of pure faith: please listen and
consider what I am about to say.
We have heard that resolving the mind is
foremost among the essential doors for entering the Path, and that making vows
is first among the crucial matters in cultivation. By making vows, we can save
living beings. By resolving our minds, we can realize the Buddhas' Path. If we
do not make a great resolve and firm vows, we will remain on the turning wheel
throughout as many kalpas as there are particles of dust. Any cultivation will
be only bitter toil that is in vain.
As the Flower Adornment
Sutra says, "If you forget your resolve upon Bodhi, your cultivation of
even wholesome dharmas becomes the karma of demons." That refers to forgetting
your resolve upon Bodhi; it is even worse to never make the resolve.
Thus
we know that anyone wishing to study the Vehicle of the Thus Come Ones must
first make the vows of a Bodhisattva without delay.
But resolves
and vows are various and they have many aspects. If they are not pointed out,
how can we know what direction to take? I will now explain them in general for
the great assembly. There are eight aspects of a resolve: deviant, proper, true,
false, great, small, partial, and complete.
What is meant by deviant,
proper, true, false, great, small, partial, and complete? A cultivator's resolve
is deviant if in his practice he does not investigate his own mind but knows
only about external matters. Perhaps he seeks benefit and offerings, likes fame
and a good reputation, is greedy for objects of pleasure in the present, or he
may hope for reward in the future. A resolve such as this is
deviant.
When a cultivator seeks neither gain nor fame and has no greed
either for pleasure or for rewards, but wishes only to settle the matter of
birth and death, and to attain Bodhi, then his resolve is
proper.
If, in moment after moment,
he seeks the path of the Buddhas above, In thought after
thought, he transforms living beings below. If he hears that
the road to Buddhahood is long and far, yet does not retreat in fear. If he
observes that beings are hard to transform, yet does not become weary.
If he proceeds as though climbing a ten-thousand-foot mountain,
determined to reach the summit or proceeds as though ascending
a nine-storied stupa, fixed upon advancing to the top,
then bis resolve is true. If he commits offenses but does not
repent of them; If he has faults but does not change
them; If he is turbid inside but makes a show of
purity; If he is diligent at the start but lax later
on; If he has good intentions but mixes them with a quest for
name and gain; If he practices wholesome dharmas,
but defiles them with the karma created by committing offenses,
then his resolve is false.
"When the realm of
living beings has come to an end, then my vows will end. When
the Bodhi Way is realized, then my vows will be
fulfilled;" Such a resolve is great. If he
views the Triple Realm as a prison; if he treats birth and
death as an enemy; If he intends to save only himself and has
no wish to save others, then his resolve is small.
If he sees living beings as
existing outside of his mind; if he does wish to save others and to realize
Buddhahood, but does not forget his own accumulation of merit and does not get
rid of his worldly knowledge and views, then his resolve is partial. If he knows
that his own nature is the same as living beings and, therefore, vows to save
them; if he knows that his own nature is the same as the Buddha path and,
therefore, vows to realize it; if he does not see even one dharma as existing
apart from the mind; if his mind is like empty space; if he makes vows that are
like empty space; if he cultivates practices that are like empty space; if he
attains a fruition like empty space, and yet does not grasp at the
characteristic of empty space, then his resolve is complete.
Having
understood these eight different aspects of a resolve, we should know bow to
investigate and contemplate them. Knowing how to investigate and contemplate
them, we know which to keep and which to discard. Knowing which to keep and
which to discard, we can then resolve our minds.
What does it mean to
"investigate and contemplate them?" We must ask ourselves, "Which of these eight
aspects does my resolve have? Is my resolve deviant or proper, true or false,
great or small, partial or complete?" What does it mean to "keep or discard?" It
means that we discard the deviant, the false, the small, and the partial, and
that we keep the proper, the true, the great, and the complete. To resolve our
minds in this way is truly and properly to resolve upon
Bodhi.
The resolve upon Bodhi is the king among all good things. It can arise only due to certain causes and conditions. In general, there are ten causes and conditions, which will now be discussed. What are the ten?
The first is mindfulness of the Buddhas' deep kindness.
The second is mindfulness of our parents' kindness.
The third is mindfulness of our teachers' and elders' kindness.
The fourth is mindfulness of donors' kindness.
The fifth is mindfulness of living beings' kindness.
The sixth is mindfulness of the suffering in birth and death.
The seventh is reverence for our own spiritual nature.
The eighth is repenting ofkarmic obstacles and reforming.
The ninth is the wish for rebirth in the Pure Land.
The tenth is the wish to cause the Proper Dharma to remain in the world for a long time.
What is mindfulness of the Buddha's deep kindness? After our
Thus Come One Shakyamuni had first resolved his mind, he walked the Bodhisattva
Path for our sakes and passed through an infinite number ofkalpas, enduring all
manners of suffering. When I create bad karma, the Buddha pities me and with
expedient means teaches and transforms me. I, however, remain ignorant and do
not know how to accept the teaching with faith. When I fall into the hells, the
Buddha again compassionately feels the pain and wishes to undergo suffering on
my behalf. But my karma is heavy, and I cannot be pulled out. When I am reborn
as a human, the Buddha uses expedient means to cause me to plant roots of
goodness. In life after life, he follows me and does not forsake me in his
thoughts for an instant.
When the Buddha first appeared in the world, I
was still sunk in the lower realms. Now that I have a human body, the Buddha has
already passed into still quietude. What are my offenses that have caused me to
be born in the Dharma Ending Age? What are my blessings that have made it
possible for me to leave the home and family life? What are my obstacles that
have prevented me from seeing his golden body? What good fortune has made it
possible for me to encounter his sharira? I contemplate in that way. If I did
not plant good roots in the past, how else could I be able to hear the
Buddhadharma? And if I had never heard the Buddhadharma, how could I know that
the Buddha is always kind to me?
His kindness and his virtue are greater
than the highest mountain. If I fail to make a vast and great resolve to
cultivate the Bodhisattva Path and to establish the Buddhadharma in order to
save living beings, even to the point that in making this effort my bones wear
away and my body is wrecked, then how can I possibly hope to repay his kindness?
This is the first cause and condition for resolving the mind upon
Bodhi.
What is mindfulness of our parents' kindness? Alas for my
parents! I was born through much toil. I was nurtured nine months in the womb
and was suckled three years at the breast. My bottom was dried and my diapers
were changed. I was fed delicacies while they foiled bitterly. Only then was I
able to grow up. They hoped only that I might glorify and carry on the family
name and continue the ritual offerings to our ancestors. But now I have left the
home and family, and am gratuitously called a disciple of Shakyamuni and have
dared to assume the title of Shramana. I neither offer delicacies to my parents
nor sweep the ancestral graves. While they live, I cannot take care of their
physical needs; after they depart, I cannot guide their souls. In this world, I
have thereby hurt them greatly, and as they leave this world, I am of no real
help. To cause them such a double loss is a serious offense. How can I possibly
avoid the consequences!
I contemplate in this way: I must always
cultivate the Buddhas' Way through hundreds of kalpas and in thousands of lives
and save living beings everywhere throughout the ten directions and three
periods of time. I will rescue my parents in not only this life but my parents
of every life. I will take across not only one person's parents but everyone's
parents.
This is the second cause and condition for resolving the mind
upon Bodhi.
What is
mindfulness of our teachers' and elders' kindness? My parents bore me and raised
me, but if not for my secular teachers and elders, I would know nothing of
propriety or righteousness. If not for my world-transcending teachers and
elders) I would understand nothing of the Buddhadharma. Qne who knows nothing of
propriety or righteousness is the same as an animal. One who understands nothing
of the Buddhadharma is no different than an ordinary person. Now we know the
rudiments of propriety and righteousness and have a rough understanding of the
Buddhadharma.
The kashaya sash covers our bodies; the various precepts
permeate our being. We have obtained these through the deep kindness of our
teachers and elders. If we seek a small accomplishment, we can benefit only
ourselves. Within the Great Vehicle our wish is to benefit all people. In that
way, we can benefit both secular and world-transcending teachers and
elders.
This is the third cause and condition for resolving the mind upon
Bodhi.
What is
mindfulness of donors' kindness? None of the materials we use in our daily lives
belongs to us. Porridge and rice for our two meals, clothing for the four
seasons, medicines for our illnessesỞall the expenses for our physical
needsỞcome through the strength of others. In order to provide for us, they work
hard to plow the fields, yet can barely provide for themselves, while we sit
comfortably to receive our food and still feel dissatisfied. Our donors spin and
weave without cease and still suffer hardship, while we are comfortable, with
more clothes than we can wear. We are even unaware that we should cherish what
we have.
They live to the ends of their days in poor and humble dwellings
amid nerve-wracking clamor, while we dwell among vast courtyards and in vacant
halls amid refinement and ease throughout the year. They offer the fruits of
their labors to supply our idleness; how can our hearts be at peace? Is it
reasonable to use others' goods to nourish our own bodies? If we fail to be both
compassionate and wise and to adorn ourselves with both blessings and wisdom, so
that the faithful donors are blessed with kindness and living beings receive
bounty, then even one grain of rice or one inch of thread will incur a debt. It
will be hard to escape an evil retribution.
This is the fourth cause and
condition for resolving the mind upon Bodhi.
What is
mindfulness of living beings' kindness? In life after life since distant kalpas
past, every living being and I have been each other's father and mother. We have
been kind to one another. Now although the passage of time has separated us, and
in our confusion we do not recognize each other, it is only logical that we
repay them for their toil. How do we know that we were not sons in lives past of
those who now wear fur and are capped with horns? How do we know that those who
now crawl on the ground and fly in the air were not our fathers in lives
past?
Our parents constantly looked after us, but we left them when we
were young; we have grown up and have forgotten their faces. Even less do we
remember our family and friends of lives past, and now it is difficult to
remember if we were once named Smith or Jones. Now as they wail and cry out in
the hells, or are born over and over again as hungry ghosts, who can know of
their suffering and pain? They are starving; to whom can they appeal? I cannot
see or hear them, but they must be seeking rescue and release. Only the Sutras
could reveal this situation. Only the Buddhas could have spoken these words. How
could people with deviant views know of this?
For these reasons,
Bodhisattvas observe that even grubs and ants were their parents in lives past
and are Buddhas of the future. They always think of benefiting them and remember
to return their kindness.
This is the fifth cause and condition for
resolving the mind upon Bodhi.
What is
mindfulness of the suffering of birth and death? Since distant kalpas past,
living beings and I have always been involved in birth and death and have not
attained liberation. Whether among people or in the heavens, in this world or in
another, we have risen and sunk myriads of times. .We ascend or fall in an
instantỞsuddenly a god, suddenly a human, suddenly an animal, a hungry ghost, or
a denizen of the hells.
We leave the black gate at dawn but return at
night. We climb out of the pit of iron briefly but then fall back in again. As
we ascend the mountain of knives, our bodies are slashed until not a bit of
flesh remains. As we climb the tree of swords, our hearts are slit open. The hot
iron does not cure hunger; swallowing it roasts the liver and intestines. The
broth of boiling copper does not quench thirst; drinking it dissolves the flesh
and bones. Sharp saws dismember the body; once cut, it comes back together
again. Clever breezes fan the body; it dies but quickly returns to life. In the
city of raging fire, we endure the sounds of bloodcurdling screams and wails. In
the pot of boiling oil, we hear only cries of excruciating pain. The body begins
to freeze and harden and resembles a blue lotus forming a bud. Then the flesh
and veins crack open and the body looks like a red lotus in bloom.
In a
single night, the denizens of the hells pass through ten thousand births and
deaths. In a single morning, the sufferings in the hells are what humans would
go through in a hundred years. The harried wardens of the hells become weary.
Who believes that King Yama is not teaching us with this warning? Yet only while
actually experiencing suffering do we know its bitterness, but our regrets come
too late. Once free, we forget again, and then we create the same karma as
before. We whip the mule until it bleeds; who could know that it is our mother
in anguish? We lead the pig to slaughter; who could know that it is our father
in agony? We eat our own sons without being aware, just like King Wen. And we
gulp down our own relatives without recognizing them. This is the way of all
ordinary people.
The loved ones of yesteryear are now sworn enemies.
Rivals of days past are now our blood relatives. Our mothers of past lives are
our wives of the present. Our fathers-in-law of old are now our husbands. Those
with knowledge of past lives recognize these changes; they feel shame and
embarrassment. Those with the Heavenly Eye see these situations; they find them
laughable and pathetic.
Amid excrement and filth we pass nine difficult
months. We emerge from the path of pus and blood in a pitiable state. When
young, we know nothing and cannot tell east from west. As adults, we become more
aware, but our greed and desire arise. In an instant, old age and illness
overtake us; suddenly death arrives. Amid the blaze of wind and fire, our spirit
becomes disordered; our essence and blood are exhausted. Our flesh and skin
wither and dry up. We feel as if iron needles are piercing our every pore and as
if knives are hacking our every orifice.
When the spirit leaves the body
at death, it feels more pain than does a live turtle having its shell ripped off
before it is thrown in the pot.
The mind has no fixed
purpose. It flits hurriedly from place to place like a traveling peddler. Our
bodies have no fixed shapes. We continually exchange them as if we were moving
from room to room in a house. We have had and lost more bodies than there are
particles of dust in a billion worlds. We have cried more tears at parting than
all the water in the billows of the four seas. The stacks of bones rise higher
than mountain peaks. The heaps of corpses are more vast than the
earth.
If the Buddha had not spoken of this, who would have recognized or
even imagined these things? If we do not read the Buddha's sutras, how can we
know and be aware of these truths? If we continue our hankering for love and
pleasure, we will forever remain stupid and confused.
It is only to be
feared that one mistake has led to another for ten thousand kalpas, through
thousands of lives. A human body is hard to obtain and easy to lose. Good times
soon pass and cannot be brought back. The road is dark and gloomy, and
separations last a long time. I must endure evil retribution in the Three Paths
alone. The pain is unspeakable; who would stand in for me? Even discussing this
subject chills my heart.
We, therefore, must halt the flow of birth and
death, get out of the ocean of love and desire, save ourselves and save others,
and together reach the other shore. Of all things from the beginning of time
past, this is the most extraordinary achievement, yet one only needs to
begin.
This is the sixth cause and condition for resolving the mind upon
Bodhi.
What is
reverence for our own spiritual nature? It is that in the present, single
thought, I can immediately be one with the Thus Come One, Shakyamuni, without
any difference at all. Why is it, then, that the World Honored One realized
proper enlightenment an infinite number of kalpas ago, yet we are still muddled,
confused, and upside down, still only ordinary people?
The Buddha, the
World Honored One, has also perfected infinite spiritual penetrations, wisdom,
and the adornments of merit and virtue, while we only have an infinite number of
karmic ties and afflictions and are bound to birth and death. Our minds and
natures and his are one, but our confusion and his enlightenment are as far
apart as the sky and the abysmal deeps. In stillness, contemplate this matter:
how can we not be ashamed?
It is as if we had dropped a priceless pearl
into a mud puddle, considering it as worthless as a broken tile, neither
cherishing nor esteeming it. We should, therefore, use an infinite number of
wholesome Dharmas as an antidote to our afflictions. By cultivating virtue, we
gain merit, and the virtue of our nature can then appear. Thus we wash the pearl
and set it up high, where it releases a penetrating radiance that outshines
everything. Then we can say that we have not been ungrateful to the Buddha's
teaching and have not failed our own spiritual nature.
This is the
seventh cause and condition for resolving the mind upon
Bodhi.
What is
repenting of karmic obstacles and reforming? The sutras say that to commit one
duskrita causes us to fall into the Nirtaka Hell for a period equal to a
five-hundred-year lifespan in the Heaven of Four Kings. Duskrita are small
offenses, yet we receive such retribution. Serious offenses evoke even more
suffering; the retribution they bring is indescribable.
We constantly
break the precepts by everything we do in our daily lives. With each meal we
take and with each drop we drink, we transgress the sila. A single day's
transgressions are beyond reckoning. How much more numerous are the
transgressions committed during kalpa after kalpa! They are indescribably
many.
Moreover, it is said, "Often people who receive the Five Precepts
nine will transgress them." Few admit their errors; most conceal them. The Five
Precepts are the Vpasaka Precepts; yet we fail to perfectly uphold even these,
not to mention the Shramanera, Bhikshu, and Bodhisattva Precepts.
If you
ask our titles, we will reply, "We are Bhikshus." But in fact, we do not even
come up to being Upasakas. How can we fail to be ashamed?
We should know
that receiving the Buddhas* precepts is the choice of the individual. If we have
received them, we must not transgress them. If we do not transgress them, we
have no need for concern. Transgress them, and in the end we will certainly
fall.
If we fail to have pity on ourselves and others, if we fail to have
compassion for ourselves and for others, if we fail to be harmonious and sincere
in word and deed, if we fail to sigh and weep, if we fail to painfully seek
repentance and reform together with all living beings everywhere, then our evil
retributions due from thousands of lifetimes throughout tens of thousands of
kalpas will be difficult to escape.
This is the eighth cause and
condition for resolving the mind upon Bodhi.
What is the wish for
rebirth in the Pure Land? Progress on the spiritual Path is difficult when we
cultivate in this world. But once we have been reborn in that world, becoming a
Buddha is easy. Because cultivating is easy there, we can be successful in a
single lifetime. Because it is difficult here, many kalpas have passed and we
still have not accomplished our goal. Therefore, each and every sage and worthy
of the past has taken this road. And passage after passage in all the thousands
of sutras and myriads of Shastras points in this direction. For cultivators in
the Dharma Ending Age, nothing surpasses this method.
The Sutra says,
however, that we cannot be reborn there if our good deeds are few. Only through
many acts deserving of blessings can we be successful. They say that none of the
many acts deserving of blessings equals maintaining the recitation of Amitabha
Buddha's name. They say that none of the many good deeds equals a great
resolution of the mind. Therefore, reciting the Sage's name even briefly is
superior to practicing giving for a hundred years. And by simply making the
great resolve, we transcend kalpa after kalpa of cultivation.
Thus, we
may practice mindfulness of the Buddha with the hope of becoming Buddhas, but if
we fail to make the great resolve, our mindfulness will not be sincere. We may
have resolved our minds on cultivating, but retreat is easy, despite our
resolve, unless we are reborn in the Pure Land.
Therefore, plant a Bodhi
seed. Till with the plow of mindfulness of the Buddha, and the fruits of the
Path will naturally grow. Sail the ship of great vows to enter the ocean of the
Pure Land. Then we will certainly be reborn in the West.
This is the
ninth cause and condition for resolving the mind upon Bodhi.
What is the wish to cause
the Proper Dharma to remain long in the world? Our World Honored One, for our
sakes, cultivated the Bodhi Path for an infinite number of kalpas. He could
practice what was difficult to practice and could endure what was difficult to
endure. His causes were perfect, his results were complete; thus, he became a
Buddha. After becoming a Buddha, he finished teaching those with whom he had
affinities, and then he entered Nirvana.
The Proper Dharma Age and Dharma
Semblance Age have already ended. Now we are in the Dharma Ending Age; there are
teachings but no adherents. No one can distinguish the deviant from the proper;
no one can tell right from wrong. We compete and struggle with each other. We
pursue fame and fortune. Look around: the deluge has spread throughout the
world.
No one knows who the Buddha is, what the Dharma means, or what
constitutes the Sangha. The decay has reached such a perilous point that one can
scarcely bear to speak of it. Every time I consider it, my tears fall without my
realizing it. I am a disciple of the Buddha, yet I am unable to return the
kindness that has been done for me. I do not benefit myself; I cannot benefit
others. While alive, I am of no benefit to my time. After death, I will be of no
benefit to posterity. Although the heavens are high, they cannot cover me.
Although the earth is thick, it cannot bear me. If my own offenses are not
extremely grave, then whose are?
My pain is, therefore, unbearable. I
have no recourse but to immediately forget my baseness and quickly make the
great resolve. Although I cannot reverse the fate of the Dharma's end in the
present, I certainly must plan to protect and uphold the Proper Dharma in the
future.
Therefore good friends, gather together at the Way Place, perform
the Karmavachana, and establish Dharma assemblies. Make the forty-eight vows;
make vow after vow to save living beings. Make a deep resolve that will last for
hundreds of thousands of kalpas; in thought after thought, resolve to be a
Buddha.
From this day to the end of future time, vow to return to the
peace of the Pure Land at the end of every life, to ascend to the nine grades of
lotuses, and to then come back to the Saha World. Make the Buddhas' sun
gloriously shine once more. Open the gate of the Dharma again. Let the ocean of
the Sangha be clear and pure in this world. The people of the East will be
taught and the kalpa will be prolonged. The Proper Dharma will long continue.
Such is the meager but genuine resolve I strive to fulfill.
This is the
tenth cause and condition for resolving the mind upon Bodhi.
Thus we know the ten
conditions and are fully aware of the eight dharmas. We consequently have a
gateway to progress and a basis for our development.
We have a human body
and live in a favorable country. Our six sense organs are intact and our bodies
are healthy. We have complete faith, and fortunately we are without demonic
obstacles. Furthermore, we Sanghans have been able to leave the home-life and to
receive the complete precepts. We have found a Way Place and have heard the
Buddhadharma. We have looked reverently upon the Buddha's sharira and we
practice repentance; we have met good friends and are replete with superior
conditions. If we fail to make the great resolve today, what are we waiting
for?
I hope only that the great assembly will sympathize with my
simple-minded sincerity and share my earnest intent. Let us take these vows
together. Let us make this resolve together. Whoever has not yet made the
resolve should do so now. Whoever has already made the resolve should bolster
it. Those who have already bolstered it should continue to advance.
Do
not fear difficulty and make a cowardly retreat. Do not consider this matter
easy and frivolously waste time. Do not wish for quick results and fail to
persevere. Do not become lax and fail in your courage. Do not become dispirited
and fail to rouse yourself. Do not let procrastination cause you to delay. Do
not let stupidity and dullness keep you from making the resolve. Do not assume
that you have shallow roots and are, therefore, unworthy of taking
part.
For example, after a tree is planted, the once-shallow roots deepen
every day. Similarly, as a knife is sharpened, the blade which was once dull
becomes sharp. Because the roots are shallow, would we choose not to plant the
tree and allow it to wither away? That the knife is dull is no reason not to
sharpen it and to set it aside as useless.
Moreover, if we feel that
cultivation makes us suffer, it is because we do not know that laxity will make
us suffer even more. Cultivation entails a brief period of diligent toil, but it
yields peace and joy for kalpas without end. One lifetime of laxity and of
shirking work results in suffering for many lifetimes to
come.
Furthermore, with the Pure Land as our ship, what fear is there
that we will retreat? Once we attain the power of patience with non-production,
what difficulty can trouble us? When we know that in past kalpas there were even
offenders in the hells that were able to resolve themselves upon Bodhi, how can
we human disciples of the Buddha fail to make great vows in this
life?
Since time without beginning, we have been muddled and confused. It
is useless to remonstrate with ourselves about the past, but we can wake up now,
and in the future we can make amends.
Since we are confused and not yet
enlightened, we are certainly to be pitied. But if we know that we should
cultivate yet we fail to practice, we are especially pathetic. If we fear the
suffering in the hells, we will naturally be vigorous. If we remember the
imminence of death, we will not become lazy. Moreover, we must take the
Buddhadharma as our whip and find good friends to urge us on. For this short
time, do not leave them. Rely on them to the end of your life. Then you need not
fear retreat.
Do not say that one thought is a small matter. Do not feel
that vows are empty and useless. If our resolves are true, then we can realize
our goals. When our vows are vast in scope, then our practice will go deep.
Empty space is not big, but the king of resolves is big. Vajra is not durable,
but vow-power is the supremely durable.
Great assembly! If indeed you can
accept my words, then from now on, all pledge fraternity in the retinue of Bodhi
and sign a compact of kinship in a lotus society. We vow to be reborn together
in the Pure Land, to see Amitabha Buddha together, to transform living beings
together, and to attain Right Enlightenment together.
How do we know that
our future perfection of the thirty-two marks and adornments of the hundred
blessings does not begin on this day that we resolve our minds and make our
vows? I hope that the members of the great assembly will urge each other on.
What good fortune! How lucky we are!
End
Copyright ẹ 1999 Buddhist Text Translation Society