The Two Practices, and Chen Guan's Postscript

Doubt 10

Question: "Now I wish to seek, with firm resolve, rebirth in the west — but I do not yet know what practice to undertake, or what should serve as the seed that leads to birth in that land. And ordinary lay people all have wives and children — I do not know whether, without cutting off sexual desire entirely, one can still be born there or not."

Answer: "For one who wishes to seek rebirth in the west with firm resolve, there are two practices in full, by which rebirth there is certain: the first is the practice of renunciation; the second is the practice of aspiration.

"As for the practice of renunciation: sentient beings, since beginningless time, have been bound and entangled by the five desires, turning through the five destinies, undergoing every kind of suffering in full — and if they never give rise to a mind that renounces and turns away from the five desires, there will never come a day of release. For this reason, one should constantly contemplate this body as pus and blood, excrement and urine, every kind of foul discharge, impure and stinking. This is why the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'Such a city of a body — a foolish rākṣasa dwells within it. What wise person could take delight in such a body?' And another sūtra says: 'This body is a gathering-place of every suffering, entirely impure throughout. Fettered and bound, an oozing sore — at its root it holds no benefit or value at all. Up to the very bodies of the heavenly beings, all are exactly the same.' A practitioner, whether walking, sitting, sleeping, or waking, should constantly contemplate this body as nothing but suffering, without any pleasure at all, and give rise to a deep sense of renunciation. Even if one cannot cut off relations with one's spouse all at once, one should gradually cultivate a sense of aversion, through seven contemplations of impurity: first, contemplating that this body of sexual desire arises from the affliction of craving and attachment — this is the impurity of the seed itself; second, that at the moment of the parents' union, red and white fluids combine — this is the impurity of the very taking of life; third, that within the mother's womb one lies below the raw digestive organs and above the ripe ones — this is the impurity of one's dwelling-place; fourth, that while in the womb one feeds on nothing but the mother's blood — this is the impurity of what one eats; fifth, that when the months are full and the head turns toward the birth canal, pus and blood come forth together, foul and disordered — this is the impurity of birth itself; sixth, that a thin layer of skin covers the body, with pus and blood filling every part beneath it — this is the impurity of the whole body; and seventh, that after death the body swells, decays, and rots, bones and flesh scattered apart, devoured by foxes and wolves — this is the impurity of the final end. As one's own body is exactly so, so too is the body of any other. Toward whatever object one loves, whether a man's body or a woman's, one should give rise to deep renunciation, and constantly contemplate its impurity. If one can contemplate the body's impurity in this way, the affliction of sexual desire will gradually lessen. One should also cultivate the ten contemplations and the like, as set out at length in the sūtras.

"One should also make this vow: 'May I forever leave behind the mixed and impure food of the three realms, the foul and impure pus and blood, and the bodies of men and women given over to the indulgence of the five desires — and may I attain, instead, the Dharma-nature body born in the pure land.' This is what is meant by the practice of renunciation.

"Second, as for the practice of aspiration: this too has two aspects. The first sets out the meaning of seeking rebirth itself; the second contemplates the adornments and the like of that pure land, with a mind of joyful aspiration and longing. As for the meaning of seeking rebirth: the reason one seeks rebirth in the pure land is precisely in order to save and rescue all sentient beings from suffering. One should reflect: 'I have, at present, no power of my own. Were I to remain in this evil world, the power of affliction is strong, and I would be bound of myself by karma, sinking into the three evil destinies, passing through kalpa after kalpa in this way — turning on and on, since beginningless time, without ever once coming to rest. When, then, could I ever manage to save suffering beings? It is for this reason that I seek rebirth in the pure land, to draw near to the buddhas there — and only once I have realized the acceptance of non-arising will I truly be able to save suffering beings amid an evil world.' This is why the Rebirth Treatise says: 'To speak of giving rise to the aspiration for enlightenment is precisely to speak of the mind that vows to become a buddha; the mind that vows to become a buddha is precisely the mind that vows to liberate sentient beings; and the mind that vows to liberate sentient beings is precisely the mind that gathers sentient beings in, bringing them to birth in the buddha's land.'

"One who vows to be born in the pure land must also be equipped with two further practices: first, one must keep entirely apart from three things that obstruct the gate of bodhi; second, one must attain three things that accord with the gate of bodhi. What are the three things that obstruct the gate of bodhi? First, relying on the gate of wisdom, not to seek one's own pleasure — keeping apart from the mind of self, which clings to and is attached to one's own body; second, relying on the gate of compassion, to draw out the suffering of all sentient beings — keeping apart from a mind that would leave sentient beings unsettled; and third, relying on the gate of skillful means, to hold every sentient being in pity and compassion, wishing to give them ease — keeping apart from a mind that seeks reverence and offerings for oneself. If one can keep apart from these three obstructions to bodhi, one thereby attains the three things that accord with the gate of bodhi: first, a mind of undefiled purity, because one does not seek every kind of pleasure for oneself — bodhi is itself the place of undefiled purity, and if one seeks pleasure for oneself, one defiles one's own body and mind and obstructs the gate of bodhi; this is why a mind of undefiled purity accords with the gate of bodhi. Second, a mind of settled purity, for the sake of drawing out the suffering of sentient beings — the aspiration for enlightenment is itself the place of settling and stilling every sentient being in purity, and if one does not set one's mind on drawing every sentient being out of the suffering of birth and death, one thereby goes against the gate of bodhi; this is why a mind of settled purity accords with the gate of bodhi. Third, a mind of joyful purity, wishing every sentient being to attain great bodhi and nirvāṇa — bodhi and nirvāṇa are themselves the place of ultimate, constant joy, and if one does not set one's mind on bringing every sentient being to that ultimate, constant joy, one thereby obstructs the gate of bodhi. And by what cause is this very bodhi attained? It must come about through being born in the pure land, forever unseparated from the Buddha there, and, having attained the acceptance of non-arising, saving suffering beings amid the land of birth and death — compassion and wisdom thoroughly fused within, settled and yet constantly active, at ease and without obstruction: this is itself the mind of bodhi. This is the meaning of the vow to be reborn.

"Second, as to what is meant by the mind of joyful aspiration and longing: one hopes and gives rise to thoughts bound up with Amitābha Buddha — whether his Dharma-body, or his reward-body, and the rest — his golden radiant light and his eighty-four thousand marks, each mark possessing eighty-four thousand excellent features, each feature emitting eighty-four thousand rays of light, constantly illuminating the Dharma-realm and gathering in every being mindful of the Buddha. One should also contemplate that pure land's adornment with the seven treasures and its wondrous bliss and the rest, in full as set out in the Immeasurable Life Sūtra, the Contemplation Sūtra's sixteen contemplations, and so on, constantly practicing the samādhi of buddha-recitation, together with giving, precepts, cultivation, and the rest — dedicating every wholesome practice entirely to all sentient beings, that all may together be reborn in that land with them, so that rebirth there becomes certain. This is what is meant by the gate of aspiration."

Treatise on Ten Doubts About the Pure Land (Complete)

The human mind is impermanent, and the Dharma too has no fixed form; the mind and its dharmas differ in ten thousand ways, and their root lies right here. To have faith in this is to have faith in everything — this is why the Avataṃsaka Sūtra teaches the ten faiths; to doubt this is to doubt everything — this is why Zhiyi expounds these ten doubts. To emerge from doubt and enter faith is, once entered, entered forever; not departing from this, one reaches the ultimate place. The pure land is that ultimate place, and in that place there is a lord who expounds the Dharma, named Immeasurable Life. This buddha's expounding of the Dharma has never once ceased. Let doubt obstruct the ear, and one becomes deaf and does not hear it; let doubt obstruct the mind, and one becomes benighted and does not perceive it — and not hearing, not perceiving, one settles comfortably into evil habits, praising without ever being mindful, taking joy in the coarsest impulses of one's own mind, and dismissing, wrongly, the very lotus womb of rebirth as empty fabrication. Never once does such a person reflect: this fragmentary body of mine — where did it come from? From what did it arise? The womb, the prison, the filth and turbidity — where, in truth, does any of it actually stand? Trusting only in one's own karmic consciousness, one cuts oneself off from ultimate reality of one's own accord, clinging to this one illusory realm and rejecting that one — and life after life, one's spiritual capacity dulls further still, forever cut off from the sagely path.

It is for this very reason that the Tathāgata Śākyamuni, rousing his great compassion and pity, raised his great voice amid this turbid and defiled world, praising the supreme and wondrous bliss of that pure land. Amid birth and death, he became the great captain of a ship, carrying beings aboard the Dharma-boat, bringing them to the farther shore, ferrying beings across day and night without a moment's rest. And yet Amitābha's shore has, at root, no "this" or "that" about it at all, and Śākyamuni's ship, in truth, neither comes nor goes anywhere.

It is like a single lamp casting its light, divided, upon eight mirrors: the mirrors may lie to the east or to the west, but the light and its reflected image are never two different things. Amitābha's teaching pervades every reflected light alike, and Śākyamuni's skillful means simply points, for our sake, to the western mirror alone. And so, one who has already reached the farther shore may indeed forget the distinction of "this" and "that" — but how could one who has not yet entered the Dharma-realm, on his own account, erase the difference between east and west? For one who has not yet reached the ultimate within this teaching, one should not linger over direction, nor divide "this" from "that," but should simply hold right mindfulness and true faith, and nothing more. This is the intent of these two sages — and this is exactly why Zhiyi came to have faith in it himself.

Faith is the mother of every good; doubt is the root of every evil. One who can be obedient to that mother, and can uproot that root, finds that the very beings once said to be obstructed and hindered can hear again, though once deaf, and perceive again, though once benighted; that one not yet freed from birth and death can attain freedom from it; that one not yet born in the pure land can attain birth there — following Śākyamuni's teaching, going to behold Amitābha face to face; and following Amitābha's vow, coming back to assist Śākyamuni in turn — remaining right here while passing entirely through the ten directions, and, by turning toward the west alone, entering universally into every mirror at once. Since these two sages first established this teaching, those who have become such people are as numerous as the sands of the river — how, then, could one fail to have faith? How, then, could one still doubt? To have faith in oneself, and then to devise every skillful means so that no one who lacks faith is left without it — this is exactly why Zhiyi, in setting out these ten doubts, did so out of compassion.

The Great Master Mingzhi, standing squarely within the tradition that studies Zhiyi's own path, followed not merely his written words but the compassion behind them — and it is for this reason that he had this treatise printed once more, placing at its head Yang Jie's preface; and I, in turn, have set out this fuller account, to help in its further transmission.

Written on the eleventh day of the seventh month of the eighth year of Yuanyou [1093], by Chen Guan, at the time an official attached to the military command of Zhendong Army.