by Elder Zen Master T'ien Ju
Question 11
If the Saha World contains all four Lands in their entirety, we should just remain here, engaging in step-by-step cultivation. Where is the need to seek rebirth?
Answer
Although this world encompasses all four Lands in their entirety, it belongs to the Common Residence Defiled Land. Therefore, practitioners have difficulty extinguishing defiled karma. To escape such defiled karma, the practitioner should seek rebirth in the Common Residence Pure Land of the West. Thus, an Elder Master has said:
“The environment and conditions of the Saha World are profoundly impure and evil; the practitioner should achieve at east the level of the Ten Faiths to escape revolving in suffering. The environment and conditions of the Land of Ultimate Bliss are utterly wonderful. Therefore, all who are reborn within the nine grades achieve non-retrogression. Did you not read in the Lotus Sutra that some who received instruction from the Buddha Great Pervading Surpassing Wisdom countless eons ago — as numerous as motes of dust in countless Buddha lands — are still at the stage of Arhatship today? This is because they keep retrogressing.
“For example, even the Elder Sariputra, who in one of his previous lifetimes had attained the Sixth Abode (Dwelling), still experienced retrogression, not to mention those whose cultivation is perfunctory! Generally speaking, there are many obstructing conditions in this world, so that cultivators easily retrogress.”
Therefore, the ancients have said,
“Bodhisattvas who have newly developed the Bodhi Mind are as numerous as flowers on a mango tree or fish eggs, but, in the end, those who persevere are few and far between.”
Anyone who sets his Mind on the Western Pure Land, and relies on the auspicious conditions of that Land, can reach the stage of non-retrogression immediately upon rebirth. This includes even common beings of low capacity.(85) Practitioners should carefully ponder this essential reason for seeking rebirth.
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85. This is an important point. See Note 44.
related post: Question 12 （Doubts and Questions about Pure Land）
Source Of Information:
《Pure Land Buddhism (Dialogues with Ancient Masters)》, by Elder Zen Master T'ien Ju, translated with annotations by Master Thich Thien Tam, printed and donated for free distribution by: The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation (11F, 55, Hang Chow South Road Sec 1, Taipei, Taiwan), printed in February 2023.
*** The information provided above does not contain personal opinion of this blog.
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