正示净土正行
[42] Main Guidance For Pure Land’s Main Practice
乙三、正示行者执持名号以立行
B3: Main Guidance [For] Practitioners [To] Uphold [The] Name, With [It] For Establishing Practice
分二：初、正示无上因果，二、重劝。
Divided [In] Two [Parts]: First, Main Guidance [On] Unsurpassable Cause [And] Effect, Second, Repeated Exhortation.
丙初、正示无上因果
C1: Main Guidance [On] Unsurpassable Cause [And] Effect
【经】: 舍利弗，不可以少善根福德因缘，得生彼国。舍利弗，若有善男子、善女人，闻说阿弥陀佛，执持名号，若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日、若五日、 若六日、若七日，一心不乱，其人临命终时，阿弥陀佛，与诸圣众，现在其前。是人终时，心不颠倒，即得往生阿弥陀佛极乐国土。
[Sūtra]: Śāriputra, [one] cannot, with few good roots [and] blessed virtues [as] cause [and] condition, attain birth [in] that land. Śāriputra, if [there] are good men [and] good women, [who] hear [this] spoken [about] Amitā Buddha, firmly [i.e. faithfully] upholding [his] name [i.e. Āmítuófó], if [for] one day, if [for] two days, if [for] three days, if [for] four days, if [for] five days, if [for] six days, if [for] seven days, wholeheartedly without [being] scattered, when these persons approach life’s end, Amitā Buddha, with many [in his] noble assembly, [will] appear before them. When these persons’ [lives are] end[ing, their] minds [will] not [be] inverted, [and they will] immediately attain rebirth [in] Amitā Buddha’s Land [Of] Ultimate Bliss.
【解】: 菩提正道名「善根」，即亲因。
[Explanation]: [Practising] Bodhi’s right path [is] named [as having] ‘good roots’, [that are] thus [the] close cause.
种种助道施、 戒、禅等名「福德」，即助缘。
[Having] all kinds path-supporting [practices, such as] generosity, [upholding] precepts, meditative [concentration and] others [are] named [as] ‘blessed virtues’, [that are] thus [the] supportive conditions.
声闻独觉菩提善根少，人天有漏福业福德少，皆不可生净土。
Voice-Hearers [i.e. Śrāvakas] [and] Lone Awakeners [i.e. Pratyekabuddhas] [who have] Bodhi’s good roots few, [with] human [and] heavenly [beings who have] blessed karmas with outflows’ blessed virtues few, all cannot [be] born [in the] Pure Land.
唯以信愿「执持名号」，则一一声悉具多「善根福德」。
Only with Faith [and] Aspiration firmly upholding [Āmítuófó’s] name, [is] then [with] each [and every] one recitation all complete [with] many good roots [and] blessed virtues.
散心称名，福善亦不可量，况「一心不乱」哉！
[With a] scattered mind reciting [the] name, bless[ed virtues and] good [roots] also cannot [be] measured, moreover [if] wholeheartedly without [being] scattered!
故使感应道交，文成印坏。
Therefore, enabling connection [and] response [for] mutual interaction, [when the] text [is] formed, [the] seal [is] damaged.
弥陀圣众，不来而来，亲垂接引；
[Ā]mítuó[fó and his] noble assembly [will], without coming yet come, personally approach [to] receive [and] guide.
行人心识，不往而往，托质宝莲也。
Practitioners’ minds’ consciousnesses [will], without going then go, entrust [their] essence [to] treasure lotuses.
善男女者，不论出家在家，贵贱老少，六趣四生，但闻佛名，即多劫善根成熟，五逆十恶皆名「善」也。
[Of] those good men [and] women, regardless [of having] left [the] household [life or] in [the] household [life], noble [or] lowly, old [or] young, [in the] Six Realms [with] Four Births, only [by] hearing [the] Buddha’s name, [are] immediately [with] many kalpas’ good roots maturing. [Even those with the] Five Heinous [Transgressions [and] Ten Evil [Karmas, are] all named [as] ‘good’.
[Note 1:
Six Realms (六趣) /
Six Paths (六道):
(1) Hell-beings’ path (地狱道)
(2) Hungry ghosts’ path (饿鬼道)
(3) Animals’ path (畜生道)
(4) Human beings’ path (人道)
(5) Asuras’ path (阿修罗道)
(6) Heavenly beings’ path (天人道)
Four Births (四生):
(1) Egg birth (卵生)
(2) Womb birth (胎生)
(3) Moisture birth (湿生)
(4) Manifestation birth (化生)]
阿弥陀佛是万德洪名，以名召德，罄无不尽，故即以「执持名号」为正行，不必更涉观想、参究等行，至简易、至直捷也。
[As] ‘Amitā Buddha‘ [i.e. Āmítuófó] is Ten Thousand Virtues’ Great Name, with [his] name summoning virtues, totally without [that] not complete, therefore thus with ‘firmly uphold[ing his] name’ as [the] Main Practice. Not needing [to] also involve visualisation, contemplative investigation [and] other practices, [it is] utmost easy, [and] utmost straightforward.
闻而信，信而愿，乃肯「执持」。
[With] hearing then [having] Faith, [and having] Faith then [having] Aspiration, thus [is there] willingness [for] firmly upholding [his name].
不信不愿， 与不闻等，虽为远因，不名闻慧。
Not [having] Faith [and] not [having] Aspiration, [are] with not hearing equal, although are distant causes, [is] not named [as] Wisdom [From] Hearing.
「执持」则念念忆佛名号，故是思慧。
Firmly upholding, then [from] thought [to] thought recollecting [the] Buddha’s name, therefore is Wisdom [From] Contemplation.
[Note 2:
Three Wisdoms (三慧):
(1) Wisdom From Hearing (闻慧)
(2) Wisdom From Contemplation (思慧)
(3) Wisdom From Cultivation (修慧)]
然有事持理持。
However, [there] are [those with] Practice Upheld [and with] Principles Upheld.
事持者，信有西方阿弥陀佛，而未达「是心作佛、是心是佛」，但以决志愿求生故，如子忆母，无时暂忘。
Those [with] Practice Upheld, [have] Faith [that there] is [the] Western Amitā Buddha, and [have] yet [to] reach [the state of] ‘this mind becomes Buddha, this mind is Buddha’. However, [are] with determined Aspiration [to] seek birth thus, like [a] child recollecting [the] mother, with no time temporarily forgetting [this].
理持者，信西方阿弥陀佛，「是我心具，是我心造」，即以自心所具所造洪名为系心之境，令不暂忘也。
Those [with] Principles Upheld, [have] Faith [that the] Western Amitā Buddha, ‘is [in] my mind complete, is [by] my mind created’. Then with one’s own mind’s that complete [and] that created great name, as [the] realm of fastening [the] mind, enabling [it to] not [be] temporarily forgotten.
「一日」至「七日」者，克期办事也。
Those [upholding from] ‘one day’ to ‘seven days’, [are] within [this] time frame doing [their] practice.
利根「一日」即不乱，
[Those with] sharp roots [are with] ‘one day’ then not scattered.
钝根「七日」方不乱，
[Those with] dull roots [are with] ‘seven days’ then not scattered.
中根二、三、四、五、六日不定。
[Those with] medium roots [are with] two, three, four, five [or] six days, not [being] fixed.
又利根能「七日」不乱，
Also, [those with] sharp roots [are] able [to be with] seven days not scattered.
钝根仅「一日」不乱，
[Those of] dull roots, [are] only [with] ‘one day’ not scattered.
中根六、五、四、三、二日不定。
[Those with] medium roots [are with] six, five, four, three [or] two days, not [being] fixed.
「一心」亦二种。
‘Wholeheartedness’ also has two kinds.
不论事持、理持，持至伏除烦恼，乃至见思先尽，皆事一心。
Regardless [of with] Practice Upheld, [or] Principles Upheld, upholding until subduing [and] eliminating afflictions, and even [with mistaken] views [and] thoughts first exhausted, all [are with] Practice’s Wholeheartedness.
不论事持、理持， 持至心开见本性佛，皆理一心。
Regardless [of with] Practice Upheld, [or] Principles Upheld, upholding until [the] mind awakens [to] see Original Nature’s Buddha, all [are with] Principles’ Wholeheartedness.
事一心不为见思所乱，理一心不为二边所乱，即修慧也。
[With] Practice’s Wholeheartedness, not by [mistaken] views [and] thoughts those scattered, [and with] Principles’ Wholeheartedness, not by [the] two [extreme] sides those scattered, [is] thus Wisdom [From] Cultivation.
不为见思乱，故感变化身佛及诸圣众现前，心不复起娑婆界中三有颠倒，往生同居、方便二种极乐世界。
[Those] not by [mistaken] views [and] thoughts scattered, therefore connect [to a] Manifestation Body’s Buddha and many [in his] noble assembly, [who] appear before [them. With their] minds not again giving rise [to the] Three Existences’ inversions within [the] Sahā World, [they will be] reborn [in] Together Dwelling [and] Skilful Means, [these] two kinds [of] Lands [Of] Ultimate Bliss.
[Note 3:
Three Existences (三有) /
Three Realms (三界)：
(1) Desire Realm (欲界)
(2) Form Realm (色界)
(3) Formless Realm (无色界)]
不为二边乱，故感受用身佛及诸圣众现前， 心不复起生死涅槃二见颠倒，往生实报、寂光二种极乐世界。
[Those] not by [the] two [extreme] sides scattered, therefore connect [to the] Enjoyment Body’s Buddha and many [in his] noble assembly, [who] appear before [them. With their] minds not again giving rise [to the] two views’ inversions [on forms in the cycle of] birth [and] death [and emptiness of] Nirvāṇa, [they will be] reborn [in] True Reward [and] Still Light, [these] two kinds [of] Lands [Of] Ultimate Bliss.
当知「执持名号」，既简易直捷，仍至顿至圆。
[It] should [be] known [that] ’firmly uphold[ing his] name’, [is] both easy [and] straightforward, yet [able to lead to] utmost sudden [and] utmost complete [awakening].
以念念即佛故，不劳观想，不必参究，当下圆明，无余无欠。
With thought [to] thought then [the] Buddha thus, not labouring [with] visualisation, not needing contemplative investigation, at once [with] complete understanding, without remainder [and] without lack.
上上根不能踰其阃，下下根亦能臻其域。
[Those of the] highest high roots [are] not able [to] exceed its threshold, [and those of the] lowest low roots [are] also able [to] reach its region.
其所感佛，所生土，往往胜进，亦不一概。
Their those connected Buddhas, [and] those born lands, [are] often [with the] superior entered, also not [the] same].
[Note 4: This refers to those with Superior Entry Received (胜进接), who are the opposite of those According (To) Position Received (按位接).]
可谓横该八教，竖彻五时。
[This] can [be] called [to be] horizontally complete [with the] Eight Teachings, [which] vertically pervade [the] Five Periods.
[Note 5:
Five Periods (五时):
(1) Flower Adornment (Avataṃsaka) Period (华严时)
(2) Āgama Period (阿含时)
(3) Vaipulya (Right [And] Equal) Period (方等时)
(4) Prajñā Period (般若时)
(5) Dharma Flower [And] Nirvāṇa Period (法华涅槃时)
Eight Teachings (八教):
Transformative Methods’ Four Teachings (化仪四教):
(1) Sudden Teaching (顿教)
(2) Gradual Teaching (渐教)
(3) Secret Teaching (秘密教)
(4) Indefinite Teaching (不定教)
Transformative Dharma’s Four Teachings (化法四教)：
(5) Tripiṭaka Teaching (藏教)
(6) CommonTeaching (通教)
(7) Separate Teaching (别教)
(8) Complete Teaching (圆教)]
所以彻底悲心，无问自说，且深叹其难信也。
Therefore, [with the] completely compassionate heart, without asking self-spoken, moreover profoundly exclaiming it [to be] difficult [to] believe.
– 净土宗九祖蕅益大师
《佛说阿弥陀经要解》
– Pure Land Tradition’s 9th Patriarch Great Master Ǒuyì
(Essential Explanation [Of The] Sūtra [In Which The] Buddha Speaks [Of] Amitā[bha] Buddha)
Namo Amituofo: Translation and notes by Shen Shi’an
相关教理
Related Teachings:
下文: 为何专称佛而不观佛？
Next Section: Why Focus On Buddha Recitation And Not Visualisation?
https://purelanders.com/2019/09/29/why-focus-on-buddha-recitation-not-visualisation
《佛说阿弥陀经要解》全英译
Complete English Translation Of The Essential Explanation Of The Sūtra In Which The Buddha Speaks Of Amitābha Buddha
https://purelanders.com/yaojie
何为得生阿弥陀佛净土的善根与福德？:
What Are Good Roots And Blessed Virtues For Birth In Āmítuófó’s Pure Land? :
《佛说弥陀经要解》对善根福德的解释
Good Roots And Blessed Virtues As Explained In The Essential Explanation On The Amitābha Sūtra As Spoken By The Buddha
https://purelanders.com/2024/04/25/what-are-good-roots-and-blessed-virtues
以上讲解: 《佛说阿弥陀经要解讲记》第 310-335 页
http://www.donglin.org/wenku/4/4-05%E5%BC%A5%E9%99%80%E8%A6%81%E8%A7%A3%E8%AE%B2%E8%AE%B0%E2%80%94%E5%AE%97%E6%9F%B1%E6%B3%95%E5%B8%88%2020160630.pdf
