念佛即是服用阿伽陀药
Mindfulness [Of The] Buddha Is The Same As Taking Āgada Medicine
[盂兰盆节可专念佛]
[(The) Ullambana Festival Can (Be With) Focused Mindfulness (Of) Buddha]
予昔在练磨场中。时方丈谓众云:「中元日当作盂兰盆斋。」
I, [was in the] past, within [a] place [for] practice. Then, [the] abbot said [to the] assembly, ‘[On] Zhōngyuán Day [i.e. the 15th day of the 7th lunar month], [we] should make Ullambana offerings.’
予以为设供也。俄而无设,唯念佛三日而已。
I assumed [there would be] laying [of] offerings. Very soon, without laying [them, there was] mindfulness [of the] Buddha[‘s name (阿弥陀佛: Āmítuófó) for] three days only.
[Note: There can also be offering of some physical food, as a skilful means to entice receiving of spiritual food, as offered by giving guidance (开示) and support-chanting (助念): https://purelanders.com/wake.]
[救苦救难]
[Saving (From) Suffering (And) Difficulties]
又闻昔有院主为官司所勾摄,堂中第一座集众救护,众以为持诵也,亦高声念佛而已。
Also hearing [that in the] past, [there] was [a] superintendent by [a] government office that arrested. Within [the] hall, [when the one in the] Foremost Seat [i.e. Rector] gathered [the] assembly [to] save [and] protect [him, the] assembly [was] with upholding [of] recitation, likewise [with] aloud mindfulness [of the] Buddha[‘s name] only.
[专修念佛]
[Focused Cultivation (Of) Mindfulness (Of) Buddha]
此二事,迥出常情,有大人作略,真可师法。
These two matters, [are] different from common sentiments. Having great persons serving [this] strategy, [they] truly can [be] imitated.
彼今之念佛者,名为专修。
Of those now [with] mindfulness [of the] Buddha[‘s name, they are] named as [having] focused cultivation.
[阿弥陀佛即是阿伽陀药]
[Āmítuófó Is The Same As Āgada Medicine]
至于祷寿命则《药师经》;解罪愆,则《梁皇忏》;济厄难,则《消灾咒》;求智慧,则《观音文》。
As for [some] praying [for] lifespan, then [reciting the] Medicine Master Sūtra; [for] eliminating transgressions [and] faults, then [reciting the] Emperor Liáng’s Repentance; [for] aiding adversities [and] difficulties, then [reciting the] Elimination [Of] Calamities’ Mantra; [for] seeking wisdom, then [reciting the] Contemplator [Of] Sounds’ Text.
向所念佛,束之高阁,若无补于事者。
[With] that former mindfulness [of the] Buddha[‘s name], tying [and] bundling it [on a] high shelf [i.e. put far away], seemingly for those matters not helping in the least.
不思彼佛寿命无量,况百年寿命乎?
Not considering that Buddha’s lifespan [is] immeasurable, moreover [for a] hundred [years’] lifespan?
不思念彼佛能灭八十亿劫生死重罪,况目前罪垢厄难乎?
Not considering mindfulness [of] that Buddha [is] able [to] eliminate eighty koṭis’ kalpas [of] births [and] deaths’ transgressions, moreover present transgressions, defilements, adversities [and] difficulties?
不思彼佛言:「我以智慧光,广照无央界。」况时人所称智慧乎?
Not considering that Buddha said, ‘I, with wisdom light, widely illuminates inexhaustible worlds.’ Moreover, then [with] that people call wisdom?
阿伽陀药,万病总持。
[As] Āgada medicine, [with] ten thousand sicknesses altogether curing.
二三其心,莫肯信服。神圣工巧,独且奈之何哉?
[If with] two [or] three [of] those minds [i.e. not wholehearted], not willing [to] believe [and be] convinced, [even with the] holy [and] skilful, moreover, what can be done?
净土宗八祖莲池大师
Pure Land Tradition’s 8th Patriarch Great Master Liánchí
《竹窗随笔》
Essays [By The] Bamboo Window
Namo Amituofo : Translation and note by Shen Shi’an