English
Every person, therefore, desirous of thus in- voking Buddha, should be anxious first of all to excite in him- self a believing heart. If a man has no faith, he is utterly without protection. Thei^efore the words of the Sutra, in speaking of the marks of Faith are these, " Faith is the first necessity for the man who enters on the practice of Religion. Wisdom is the mysterious result of such practice." The first requisite here spoken of is Faith. The result of such practice is Wisdom. And therefore the Amitabha Sutra says : ''Every faithful person ought naturally to pray for birth in that happy country (Paradise)." This is an illustration of the way in which our own Master Sakya Muni exhorts us to Faith. Again, that same Sutra says, " You, then, who believe these words of praise and commendation, shall obtain unbounded merit." In this place we have an example of the way in which all the Buddhas belonging to the six quarters exhort to Faith. Again there is this passage, "Whoever would obey the words of this Scripture must adopt Faith as his guide." This is what the Avatamsaka Sutra says, exhorting to Faith. Again there is a passage which says, " If a man is. well- rooted, yet if he doubts, the flower will not open; but if he believes, then his heart (inner self) pure and calm, opening out like the flower opens from the bud, he forth- with beholds Buddha, and comprehends (hears) the law." This extract is one which exhorts us to faith, as a means to birth in that land. Again, it is said, "A man with- out faith cannot stand, any more than a chariot without a cross-bar can travel." This is an extract from a secular work^ exhorting to faith. There is another place Avhich ^ Viz., from the twenty-second cap. of the second book of the " Ana- lects." Dr. Legge transhites the word "sin" by "truthfulness," but our author is evidently discoursing on " Faith." 376 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST says : " If a man have faith^ then all his words are agree- able with right reason, and when this is the case he will gradually advance to perfection." This is what the Priest Chau says in exhorting to faith. Again the Hoshang Tai-hing, when speaking about in- voking Buddha, says : " This mode of salvation concerns it- self neither about conformity nor non-conformity (with any particular system) ; it considers not male or female, rich or poor, mean or honourable — all it requires is Faith.'-' But a man may reply : " What you have said about Faith may be true enough, but you have not yet declared what form of doctrine it is we ought to believe." To this we say : " Believe what is said in the Scriptures — believe that if you fix your mind upon Buddha, you shall certainly be born in Paradise (pure-land) ; believe that if you fix your mind upon Buddha, you shall certainly destroy the effects of sin ; believe that if you fix your mind on Buddha, you shall certainly secure his protection ; behove if you thus fix your mind on Buddha that at the moment of your death he will himself come and lead you (to heaven) ; believe that if you thus fix your mind on Buddha, without any questions asked — you shall be born in the pure abode, and certainly possess the thirty-three distinctive signs of eminence, never more to be subject to change, but to enjoy the most perfect bliss, beyond the reach of birth or death, an associate of the Bodhisatwas, never more to depart from the presence of Buddha, born by a transforming power on the flower-cup of the Lotus. Believe in Amitabha, and during the present time repeat the Law ; believe that you may be born in Paradise, for ever free from the three evil modes of birth in Hell. " Thus it is with one voice we are exhorted to fix the mind upon Buddha.'^ The treatise continues in this strain to exhort its readers to faith in the efiicacy of this particular form of religious life. It points out by quotations from the Sutras, and by very striking comparisons that no religious exercise can be of use except it be accompanied by a lirui faitli in its eflfi- SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 377 cacy ; " like a tree whose root is deeply bedded iu the eai'tli, the winds and storms vainly rage against it", so is the man whose faith is deeply rooted in the heart ; so again it says, quoting from the Yimalakirrti Sutra, " the man in whose heart this faith is deeply implanted is like the dia- mond, incapable of destruction", &c. It then shows that there are five ways in which this worship may be practised. 1, Bodily reverence in the presence of Amitabha ; 2, by chanting his praises, i. e., by ever repeating the name of this Buddha ; 3, by intense aspiration, i. e. by ever praying when in the act of worship to be born in the Paradise of 'Suk- havati ; 4, by constant meditation, as when walking, or standing, or sitting, or lying down to sleep, ever to be thinking and pondering on the perfections of Amitabha, and longing to be born in his Paradise ; 5, by the method known as "hwui-hiang-,^' which is explained as consisting iu a "constant recollection of the ceremonies of worship, and the vast merit of Buddha, with a view to cultivate the aspiration after birth in Paradise and the accomplishment of supreme wisdom." The treatise then proceeds to shew that there are four modes of preparation or discipline necessary for entering on this religious service: "1. To bind oneself down for a long time to this single consideration, viz., the way to obtain birth in that Paradise. 2. By reverencing the particular locality, i. e., by standing upright and facing the west, and with fixed mind to consider the subject of that Paradise. 3. By uninterrupted application, allowing no thoup-ht either s-ood or bad to intrude into the mind for a moment. 4. By incessant invocation through a fixed period, whether it be for one whole day, or for seven days continu- ously, of this name of Amitabha Buddha." There is also a quotation from the Amitabha Sutra introduced, to this effect : " Sariputra ! if there be a virtuous man or a virtu- ous woman, who has heard the name of Amitabha men- tioned, and who with firm purpose retains the name, and recites it for one day or two days, or for seven days with 378 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST undivided lieart, and without any confused tlioug-hts, this man when about to die shall behold Amitabha with all his holy attendants (saints) appearing before him, and if at his last moments his heart be not turned aside from its sted- fastness, he shall pass away to be born in that most blissful Paradise of Sukhavati.'" But then comes the question, '^ if the invocation of the name of this Buddha for one entire day be sufficient, why extend the period to two days or seven?" to which the answer is given : " This question of one day or seven con- cerns the period of time just before death ; if the sickness be a sudden and fatal one, then the recitation of the name for one entire day will secure a birth in Heaven (Paradise) ; if the illness be a lingering one, then the name recited for seven days shall produce the same result. '^ From the whole subject, it seems that this mystical form of faith, v/as developed from the idea of the possibility of an entirely subjective mode of salvation — in other words, that salvation was purely the result of a particular condition of thought, rather than the consequence of a confirmed alteration of life. 2. THE WESTERN PARADISE. [Translated from the Chinese version of Kumdrajiva, as it is found in the Shan-mun-yih-tung .'] " Thus have I heard. On a certain occasion Buddha was residing at Sravasti, in the garden of Jeta, with the great Bhikslms, 1,250 in all, being great Rahats, possessed of per- fect knowledge, to wit, the venerable Sariputra, the great Maudgalyayana, the great Kasyapa, the great Katyayana, the great Gochira,Revata, Srutavimsatikoti, Nanda, Ananda, Eahula, Gavampati, Pindola, ]3baradvaja, Kfiladitya, the great Kapphina, Yakula, Aniruddha, and so forth, all great disciples. And in addition to these were all the great Bod- hisatwas: to wit, Manjusri, king of the law, Ajita, Maitreya, SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 379 and so fortli, all great Bodhisatwas ; and, moreover, there were present Sakra raja and others, with innumerable Devas. At this time Buddha addi-essed the venerable Sariputra as follows : — " lu the western regions more than one hundred thousand myriads of systems of worlds beyond this, there is a Sakwala named Sukhavati. Why is this region so named ?