[168] 念佛人为什么不可以自杀求往生？
[168] Why People [Who] Recite [Āmítuó]fó[’s Name] Must Not With Suicide Seek Rebirth [In His] Pure Land?
◎ 若厌世心切者，不如竭诚尽敬，专志念佛，求佛垂慈，早来接引。以自杀求往生不仅不能往生，反而成枉死鬼矣。
◎ [Summary]: If [there are] those [with] revulsion [of the] world’s mind sincere, it would be better to [be with] wholehearted sincerity [and] utmost reverence, [with] focused Aspiration reciting [Āmítuó]fó[’s name (阿弥陀佛)], seeking [the] Buddha [with] extended compassion, [to] come earlier [to] receive [and] guide. With suicide seeking rebirth [is] not only not able [to be] reborn [in Pure Land, one] instead then becomes [the] ghost [of one who] died in tragic circumstances.
念佛之人，不复作生死业，然宿业未尽，何能即得往生？
Those people [who] recite [Āmítuó[fó[’s name (阿弥陀佛), should] not again create birth [and] death’s karmas. Thus, [with] past karmas yet [to] exhaust, how [are they] able [to] immediately attain rebirth [in his Pure Land]?
若厌世心切，竭诚尽敬，专志念佛，求佛垂慈，早来接引，则亦有之。
If [with] revulsion [of the] world’s mind sincere, [with] wholehearted sincerity [and] utmost reverence, [with] focused Aspiration reciting [Āmítuó]fó[’s name], seeking [the] Buddha [with] extended compassion, [to] come earlier [to] receive [and] guide, then is [there] also this.
若自戕其生，以期往生，则便成枉死鬼矣。
If self-killing this life, with hope [of] rebirth [in Pure Land, one] then becomes [the] ghost [of one who] died in tragic circumstances.
以彼工夫未到而自戕，当其正戕时，已经心失正念。
With that skill yet [to be] reached, then self-killing, right when one [is being] killed, [one’s] mind [has] already lost Right Mindfulness.
况其戕之之苦，苦不可喻。
Moreover, that suffering of killing oneself, [is] suffering [that] cannot [be] explained [by analogy].
心失正念，何能与佛相应，蒙佛接引也？
[With the] mind losing Right Mindfulness, how [is one] able [to], with [the] Buddha correspond, [to] receive [the] Buddha’s reception [and] guidance?
此种邪见，自误误人，害岂有极？切勿说此话，免得无知受害。
[With] this kind [of] evil view, [because of this] personal mistake harming others, how can [there] be harm [this] extreme? [You] absolutely [must] not speak these words, so as to avoid [the] ignorant receiving harm.
《复吴沧洲居士书三》
Third Reply Letter [To] Layperson Wú Cāngzhōu
净土宗十三祖印光大师著
Written [By] Pure Land Tradition’s 13th Patriarch Great Master Yìnguāng
《印光法师答念佛600问》
Dharma Master Yìnguāng’s Answers [For] Mindfulness [Of] Buddha’s 600 Questions
传印法师鉴定
Evaluated [By] Dharma Master Chuányìn
Námó Āmítuófó : Translation by Shen Shi’an
