English
English version I have already been born in the Pure Land. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng attacked Huzhou. The Jiangzhe Provincial Chancellor fought against him and captured forty people, imprisoning them in cages to be executed. At night, they stayed at Niaoke Temple by West Lake. Chan Master Dayoumou walked slowly under the corridor and saw that the prisoners in the cages looked relaxed and refined, chanting scriptures without ceasing. Therefore, (the prisoners) requested the Chan Master to save them. The Chan Master taught them to sincerely recite 'Namo Amitabha Buddha Who Saves from Suffering and Difficulty' (Homage to Amitabha Buddha Who Saves from Suffering and Difficulty). Among them, three people believed and accepted his words, and their chanting of the Buddha's name never stopped. At dawn, the prisoners were escorted away. When changing the shackles, it was found that there were not enough instruments of torture for the three people, so they could only be tied with ropes. Later, after interrogation, it was learned that they were good people who had been captured, so they were released. During the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Shanhe made a living by slaughtering cattle. As he was dying, he saw a group of cattle demanding his life, so he was very frightened. He called out to his wife, saying, 'Quickly invite a monk to recite the Buddha's name for me!' The monk arrived and told him, 'Those who see evil omens at the time of death can be reborn (in the Western Pure Land) simply by sincerely reciting the Buddha's name.' Zhang Shanhe said, 'The visions of hell are very urgent!' (He) took a censer, held the fire with his right hand, and held incense with his left hand, facing west and reciting the Buddha's name with focused sincerity. Before he had recited ten times, (he) said to himself, 'The Buddha is coming to welcome me!' and then passed away. During the Song Dynasty, Guan Gong of Zhengyuan Temple in Huangyan raised a myna (a type of bird), (this bird) often recited the Buddha's name without stopping. One day, (this bird) passed away while standing on its cage. Guan Gong buried it. Soon after, a purple lotus flower grew out of the grave, sprouting from the bird's tongue. Vinaya Master Lingzhi Zhao praised it, with the lines, 'Standing and passing away in the cage is entirely a trivial matter, transforming into a purple lotus flower is too miraculous.' No. 428-B Essential Words of Master Yufeng (Appendix) Writing Sutras with Blood The Teacher of the Saha World (Sakyamuni Buddha), at the Jetavana Assembly, spoke the Amitabha Sutra. The Buddhas of the six directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, praised it in unison, jointly protected and upheld it, and extended their broad and long tongues to cover the great thousand world, universally exhorting sentient beings to believe and accept (this sutra). Why? Because this sutra directly reveals the self-nature that sentient beings have long been deluded about, and fully expresses the fundamental vow of the Buddhas to universally save all beings. Therefore, the sutra says that when the sutras and Dharma are about to become extinct in the future, this sutra will be specially preserved for one hundred years, and sentient beings who encounter this sutra can all be saved. If there are sentient beings who hear this sutra, they will ultimately not regress from the unsurpassed path to enlightenment. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese
转。是故应当专心信受。持诵说行。古昆为此。述礼想仪。奉为日课。再欲将斯经典。广为人说。以报佛恩。舌钝心昏。不能满愿。岂不恨极。障深福薄。乃至如此。想在俗不遇此经。决不能发意出家。出家不仗此经。决不能死心念佛。此恩此德。难报难酬。是故每想刺血。书写此经。以自供奉。愧无忍力。不敢下手。直至同治癸酉。忽得舌病。经久不除。定是累生妄语之报。若不忏悔。必堕三途。因此发决定心。对释迦像前。敬刺舌血。书写阿弥陀经。又然臂香九炷。供养娑婆教主。本师释迦牟尼佛。极乐世界阿弥陀佛。六方世界。恒河沙数诸佛。发愿云。弟子古昆。见经中说。已发愿若已生。今发愿若今生。当发愿若当生。是故我今。至心发愿。 我得舌病难除灭 定是累生多妄说 发心书写弥陀经 为表至诚刺舌血 以此刺血之善因 忏除舌根诸恶业 愿我临欲命终时 下品莲华定得入 唯愿莲华速速开 早得如来广长舌 誓入娑婆恶世中 将此妙经细解说 随声出现妙庄严 普令见闻生欢悦 人人皆念阿弥陀 个个同生极乐国 仰愿彼佛及本师 并此经中六方佛 大慈大悲同证明 我愿如是无休歇 直显者。圆中钞云。琼林玉沼。直显于心源。寿量光明。 现代汉语译本： 因此，应当专心信受，受持、读诵、演说、奉行。《古昆》为此，讲述礼仪、观想仪轨，奉为每日功课。再次想要将这部经典，广泛地为人宣说，以报答佛恩。无奈舌头迟钝，心识昏昧，不能满此愿望，岂不遗憾至极！业障深重，福德浅薄，以至于此。想来如果不是在俗世遇到这部经，决然不能发心出家；出家若不是凭借这部经，决然不能一心念佛。此恩此德，难以报答，难以酬谢。因此每每想刺血书写此经，以自供奉，惭愧自己没有忍力，不敢下手。直到同治癸酉年，忽然得了舌病，经久不除，必定是累生妄语的报应。若不忏悔，必定堕入三途。因此发起决定的心，对着释迦牟尼佛像前，恭敬地刺舌血书写《阿弥陀经》，又燃臂香九炷，供养娑婆世界的教主、本师释迦牟尼佛（Sakyamuni Buddha），极乐世界的阿弥陀佛（Amitabha Buddha），以及六方世界，恒河沙数诸佛。发愿说：‘弟子古昆，见经中说，已发愿、若已生，今发愿、若今生，当发愿、若当生。是故我今，至心发愿：’ ‘我得舌病难除灭，必定是累生多妄说，发心书写弥陀经，为表至诚刺舌血，以此刺血之善因，忏除舌根诸恶业，愿我临欲命终时，下品莲华定得入，唯愿莲华速速开，早得如来广长舌，誓入娑婆恶世中，将此妙经细解说，随声出现妙庄严，普令见闻生欢悦，人人皆念阿弥陀，个个同生极乐国，仰愿彼佛及本师，并此经中六方佛，大慈大悲同证明，我愿如是无休歇。’ 直显者。《圆中钞》云：‘琼林玉沼，直显于心源。寿量光明，’
English
English version: Therefore, one should wholeheartedly believe and accept, uphold, recite, expound, and practice it. Gu Kun, for this reason, narrates the rituals and contemplates the practices, regarding them as daily routines. Furthermore, he desires to widely proclaim this scripture to others, in order to repay the Buddha's kindness. However, his tongue is dull, and his mind is confused, unable to fulfill this wish, how extremely regrettable! Karmic obstacles are deep, and blessings are shallow, to such an extent. Thinking back, if he had not encountered this scripture in secular life, he would never have resolved to renounce the world; if he had not relied on this scripture after renouncing the world, he would never have single-mindedly recited the Buddha's name. This kindness and virtue are difficult to repay, difficult to requite. Therefore, he often thought of piercing his tongue to write this scripture, to offer it to himself, but he was ashamed of his lack of endurance and dared not proceed. Until the year Guiyou in the Tongzhi reign, he suddenly contracted a tongue disease that persisted for a long time, undoubtedly a retribution for countless lifetimes of false speech. If he did not repent, he would surely fall into the three lower realms. Therefore, he resolved to respectfully pierce his tongue to write the Amitabha Sutra before the image of Sakyamuni Buddha (释迦牟尼佛), and also burned nine incense sticks on his arm, offering them to the Lord of the Saha World, the original teacher Sakyamuni Buddha (释迦牟尼佛), Amitabha Buddha (阿弥陀佛) of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and the countless Buddhas in the six directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River. He made a vow, saying: 'Disciple Gu Kun, seeing in the scripture that 'if vows have already been made, if one has already been born; now vows are made, if one is now being born; vows should be made, if one is about to be born.' Therefore, I now, with utmost sincerity, make this vow:' 'My tongue disease is difficult to eradicate, surely it is due to much false speech in past lives. I resolve to write the Amitabha Sutra, to express my utmost sincerity by piercing my tongue to draw blood. With this virtuous cause of piercing my tongue to draw blood, may I repent and eliminate all evil karma of the tongue root. May I, when approaching the end of my life, surely enter the lower grade lotus flower. May the lotus flower quickly bloom, so that I may soon attain the Tathagata's broad and long tongue. I vow to enter the evil world of the Saha, to explain this wonderful scripture in detail. May wonderful adornments appear with my voice, universally bringing joy to those who see and hear. May everyone recite Amitabha, and may each one be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. I beseech that Buddha and the original teacher, and the Buddhas of the six directions in this scripture, with great compassion and great mercy, to jointly bear witness, may my vow be thus without ceasing.' That which is directly revealed. The Yuan Zhong Chao says: 'Jade forests and jeweled ponds are directly revealed in the source of the mind. Immeasurable life and light,' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese
全彰于自性。但举假名。全收实法。故曰一称嘉号。万德齐彰。是则依此经修。但以称佛名号。六字音声。而为所缘之境。无以观佛相好。以滥经宗。要解云。阿弥陀佛。是万德洪名。以名召德。罄无不尽。故即以执持名号为正行。不必更涉观想参究等行。至简易至直捷也。故彻悟云。一句所念之佛。全德立名。德外无名。以名召德。名外无德。本遍一切。本含一切。绝待圆融。不可思议。莲宗行者。当从者里信入。又云。深信切愿。专恳持名。能于念念中。齐澄众染。圆显本空。顿契灵源。直趣果海。径路序所谓。一句弥陀。乃横绝迷源。直投觉海。至简易至直捷之大方便也。如上引证。皆直显之旨。愿持名者。同尽心焉。 有佛土颂 尝见学者。将一卷弥陀经。都说是自心本性。并无彼佛彼土。岂非拨境求心。斩头觅活。昆闻之不忍。遂述有佛土颂。以警童蒙。 大哉一卷小弥陀。佛字算有八十五。只见三心在厥中。敢云无佛宁非忤。 土字觅成二十一。遍寻性字无踪迹。分明有土是圆谈。不比小乘多说寂。 称名自慰 我称佛。不相同。全赖妄心显大功。平世安知兵有力。贼临始见将威风。 空妄想。乱如丝。不念弥陀那得知。心镜初磨诸影现。当知佛号妙难思。 现代汉语译本： 完全彰显于自性（自身的本性）。只是借用假名（虚假的名号），却完全收摄了真实的功德。所以说，一声称念嘉号（美好的名号），万种功德齐齐彰显。因此，依照这部经修行，只要以称念佛的名号，这六个字的音声，作为所缘的境界。不必用观想佛的相好，以免混淆了经的宗旨。《要解》中说：‘阿弥陀佛（Amitābha），是万德洪名（包含无量功德的伟大名号），以名召德，罄无不尽（用名号来召唤功德，没有不完全的）。’所以就以执持名号作为正行，不必再去涉及观想参究等行，是最简易最直接的。所以彻悟（一位法师）说：‘一句所念的佛，全部功德都立于名号之中，功德之外没有名号，用名号来召唤功德，名号之外没有功德，本来周遍一切，本来包含一切，绝对的圆融，不可思议。’莲宗（净土宗）的修行者，应当从这里深信不疑。又说：‘深信切愿，专心恳切地持名，能够在念念之中，完全澄清各种污染，圆满显现本来的空性，立刻契合灵妙的根源，直接趋向果海（证悟的境界）。’《径路序》中说：‘一句弥陀（Amitābha），是横向截断迷惑的根源，直接投入觉悟的海洋，是最简易最直接的大方便法门。’如上面引用的这些，都是直接显明的宗旨，希望持名念佛的人，都能尽心尽力。 有佛土颂 曾经见到一些学佛的人，将一卷《弥陀经》（Amitābha Sutra）都说成是自心本性，并没有彼佛彼土（阿弥陀佛和他的净土）。这岂不是拨开境来求心，砍下头来找活路？昆闻（作者的法号）对此感到不忍，于是写了这首《有佛土颂》，用来警醒初学者。 大哉一卷小弥陀（Amitābha），佛字算有八十五。只见三心（过去心、现在心、未来心）在厥中，敢云无佛宁非忤（冒犯）？ 土字觅成二十一，遍寻性字无踪迹。分明有土是圆谈，不比小乘多说寂（寂灭）。 称名** 我称佛，不相同，全赖妄心显大功。平世安知兵有力，贼临始见将威风。 空妄想，乱如丝，不念弥陀（Amitābha）那得知。心镜初磨诸影现，当知佛号妙难思。