‹ Essence of the Annotation of the Infinite Life Sutra

0:00 / 0:00

Episode 237 of 284

The origin of the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

極樂世界的來源

From the full lecture

Lecture 40 · 1 h 55 min

Chinese only
Watch the full lecture
Transcript·文稿

(This text is free for sharing and distribution, BUT no alterations should be made to it for further circulation. Thank you for your kind co-operation).

極樂世界的來源 - 第237集

The origin of the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

阿彌陀佛在因地,沒有成佛之前叫因地,發無上菩提心,願意幫助苦難眾生,拯救這些人,建立西方極樂世界,確實是為這樁事情。這是說明極樂世界的來源,彌陀為什麼發心、為什麼建立,真的慈悲到極處,幫助這些凡愚,不是這個法門,這些苦難眾生永遠不能夠離苦。成佛之道是多,八萬四千法門,無量法門,門門都難。

Amitabha Buddha brought forth the supreme bodhi at the causal stage (i.e., prior to his attainment of Buddhahood) to help and rescue the suffering beings, so he established the Land of Ultimate Bliss. This illustrates the origin of the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Amitabha Buddha is really compassionate in helping these ignorant sentient beings because without this Buddha-name chanting method, they can never end their sufferings. There are many paths to Buddhahood, but all these 84,000 (immeasurable) Dharma methods are difficult for one to succeed.

所以要講究竟方便,究竟方便就是一點都不難,只要你能信,你願意往生極樂世界,你肯念這一句阿彌陀佛,這條件就具足,一切方便法門當中沒有比這個更方便的了。你看四個字,「信願持名」,蕅益大師在《要解》上說的,大師講得非常好,跟《無量壽經》上講的完全相應。《無量壽經》佛說,「發菩提心,一向專念阿彌陀佛」,這是往生的條件。

That’s why Amitabha Buddha had to introduce an ultimate expedient method, which is not at all difficult to succeed, as long as you meet the conditions of believing in this method, vowing to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss and willing to chant this Amitabha Buddha’s name. Among all the expedient methods, there is no method more expedient than this. You see, Great Master Ou Yi had put these three conditions of rebirth in the Pure Land very aptly in the Commentary of the Amitabha Sutra and they fully correspond with the teachings in the Infinite Life Sutra, i.e., developing the bodhi mind and single-mindedly concentrating on chanting Amitabha Buddha’s name.

蕅益大師告訴我們,真信、真願,這就是無上菩提心,菩提心就有了,持名就是一向專念,四個字。印光大師看到佩服得五體投地,真正是簡明扼要,簡單明瞭,非常扼要。男女老少、賢愚不肖,人人有分,真正是究竟方便法門。

Truly believe and vow, which Great Master Ou Yi told us, is the supreme bodhi mind, while practising Buddha Mindfulness is single-mindedly concentrating on chanting Amitabha Buddha’s name. Great Master Yin Guang expressed his profound admiration when he saw this because Great Master Ou Yi had made the verse really simple and concise. It is really an ultimate expedient method because people of all genders, ages and different intelligence and capacity can succeed in their practice.