[138] 念佛之人平常能逢凶化吉吗？
[138] [Are] Those People [Who] Recite [Āmítuó]fó[’s Name In] Ordinary Times, Able [To, When] Encountering [The] Inauspicious, Transform [It To Be The] Auspicious?
令正，既知求僧念佛延生，又当自己常念佛，以求往生。
Your wife, since [already] knowing [to] seek monastics’ [assistance to] recite [Āmítuó]fó[‘s name (阿弥陀佛) to] extend life, also should personally constantly recite [Āmítuó]fó[‘s name], with [it for] seeking rebirth [in his Pure Land].
◎ 倘肯志诚念佛，求生西方，生前死后，均有不可思议之利益。大难临头宜能逢凶化吉。
◎ [Summary]: If willing [to be] sincere [and] single-minded [when] reciting [Āmítuó]fó[’s name (阿弥陀佛), to] seek birth [in his] Western [Pure Land Of Ultimate Bliss (极乐世界)], during life [and when] dying after, all have benefits that [are] inconceivable. [When] great difficulties befall, [there] should [be the] ability [to, when] encountering [the] inauspicious, transform [it to be the] auspicious.
若止靠人求延生，不知求阿弥陀佛，于自己寿终时，接引往生，则是见小而失大。
If [only] depending on others [to] seek extending [of] life, not knowing [to] seek Āmítuófó, when at one’s [own] life’s end, [to be] received [and] guided [for] rebirth [in his Pure Land, this] then is [to] see [the] small, yet lose [the] great.
倘肯志诚念佛，求生西方，生前殁后，均有不可思议之利益。
If willing [to be] sincere [and] single-minded [when] reciting [Āmítuó]fó[’s name, to] seek birth [in his] Western [Pure Land Of Ultimate Bliss (极乐世界)], during life [and when] dying after, all have benefits that [are] inconceivable.
[Note 1: While others’ practice of mindfulness of Buddha (念佛) can create meritorious virtues (功德) for dedicating (回向) in part to us, we still have to practise it personally with the Three Provisions (三资粮) to be born in Pure Land. This is so as even with some limited extending of life here, death is still eventual.]
昨一女弟子来，为一姓汪女弟子带些食物。言，汪氏前两月，一日初黑，忽来二十余强盗，各持手枪来抢。
Yesterday, a female disciple came, for a[nother] female disciple [with the] surname [of] Wāng, bringing [some] food. [She] said [that] one day, two months ago, [when it was] beginning [to get] dark, [the] Wāng family suddenly came [to encounter] more than twenty robbers, [with] each holding [a] handgun, coming [to] rob.
其屋楼上下住七家，彼在楼中间。因将电灯息却，其夫妻跪佛前求。而佛前之灯，若有一人吹灭。
[In] that storied building above [and] below, lived seven families, [and] they [were] in [the] storey [in the] middle. Because [they were] with [their] electrical lights turned off, that husband [and] wife knelt before [their] Buddha [image to] seek [protection]. Then, that lamp before [the] Buddha, [was as] if with a person blowing [to] extinguish [it].
强盗打门不开，遂不打。余六家通抢了，唯彼未失一物。
[As the] robbers beating [on their] door [could] not open [it, they] thereupon [did] not beat [on it. The] other six families all [got] robbed, only [with] that [family] not losing one thing.
[Note 2: The supernormal extinguishing of the lamp as a result of being sincerely mindful of the Buddha (by a Dharma Protector God, Bodhisattva or even the Buddha himself) was to prevent them from being seen by the robbers. There was also additional protection by ensuring their door could not be opened. It is not that Dharma Protector Gods, Bodhisattvas and Buddhas do not protect those who do not practise accordingly, but that those who do so are naturally and karmically easier to protect, more directly and fully.]
可知念佛之人，平常尚能逢凶化吉。
[It] can [be] known that people [who] recite [Āmítuó]fó[’s name, in] ordinary [times, are] also able [to, when] encountering [the] inauspicious, transform [it to be the] auspicious.
况临命终时，往生西方之利益，比此大得不可说其形相倍数乎，当劝彼常念为幸。
Moreover, when approaching [life’s] end, [the] benefits of rebirth [in the] Western [Land], compared [with] this, [are] so [much] greater [that they] cannot [be] spoken [of, with] their shapes [and] forms, [by] multiple [times. You] should encourage that constant recitation [to] be fortunate.
[Note 3: Mindfulness of Buddha is thus beneficial in everyday life for auspicious protection and blessings, not just at the end of life. Even after the end of this life, with mindfulness of Buddha to reach his Pure Land, the benefits continue, as magnified immeasurably there, for more directly and fully benefiting us, until Buddhahood is attained.]
《复刘德护居士书》
Reply Letter [To] Layperson Liú Déhù
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 and notes by Shen Shi’an
