Upasaka Huang Nien Tsu on the Urgency of Cultivating Merits and Seeking Pure Land Rebirth
Note: Upasaka Huang Nien Tsu (1913–1992) was one of Ven. Master Chin Kung’s benefactors and teachers, and a major figure in Pure Land Buddhism. He studied under both the Great Zen Master Hsu Yun and the Eminent Upasaka Xia Lian Ju.
Translation of Excerpts from His Commentary on Passages from Chapter 33 of The Mahayana, Infinite Life, Adornment, Purity, Impartially, and Enlightenment Sutra:
【世人共爭不急之務】
People of this world all vie over matters of little importance.
The first passage begins by saying:「People of this world all vie over matters of little importance」, in essence, summarizing this whole chapter. So what do the people of this world vie for？They vie over「matters of little importance」！Issues that are not pressing at all！And over such petty and unimportant matters, everyone fights, and as they compete so ardently, few could avoid being entangled in this mutual struggle.
Conversely, no one pays any attention to the truly urgent, and this is why the people of this world are so pitiable. They strive for shortsighted things, but neglect what they ought to be doing. They are totally ignorant, not raising the issue at all. Unaware that all they vie over are no more real than a dream, an illusion, a bubble and a shadow. It is for such illusions that they grit their teeth, exhaust both body and mind, and risk their lives.
《The Compiled Commentaries》explain that….”All things have roots and branches, and matters are ranked by urgency.” Thus, we must be able to discern whether each of the myriad issues we are confronted with are truly important or actually trivial, urgent or inconsequential, and prioritize the matters of true consequence. If we focus on the trivial and ignore the urgent, only failure will result in the end. Thus, discernment is very important.”
The same text also provides a parable: Suppose you have just entered into a mighty metropolis，what is the first thing you ought to do？The answer is naturally to secure a staffed and furnished dwelling. After you have an official place to stay in, you can go about your business, and attend to audiences. Officials and merchants who often hit the circuit all know this. Obviously, you cannot drag your belongings to the various halls and offices where your appointments are. To not have a suite or room would encumber you with great anxiety, and so you must find one as your first priority. A place to stay was historically referred to as the ”place of retirement.” And so when night falls, as you already have a place to retire to, you are not worried.
Therefore, what is the meaning of this parable of the place of retirement ? It means you must cultivate Pure Land Buddhism. The most urgent matter of human life is fully illustrated by this parable, with nightfall being the time of death, the inevitable end of all persons. To have a place to retire to after the sun of life sets is of utmost importance, and for cultivators of Pure Land Buddhism, they will be seated within their own Lotus in the Lotus Pond of The Land of Ultimate Bliss, forever free from the clutches of the Three Evil Realms of the Samsara.
Thus, isn’t this the most urgent matter？However, most people do not care about this at all, and instead expend all their efforts on trivial pursuits. Thus, when death suddenly dawns upon them, they panic as they have always treated it with neglect. In sum, they lived for the trivial and ignored the urgent.
《The Compiled Commentaries》further describes impending death as a “predicament as pressing as fire,” and unfortunately, people ignore the fire burning on their heads and instead “pursue unimportant projects, business and commerce.” They are like the one who leisurely selects new outfits and polishes their shoes even while threatened by a raging inferno — the fact that all persons will die eventually…. Some persons do not even manage to live beyond graduation…….Yet the people of this world ignore their own mortality and focus only on the accumulation of wealth or influence, unwisely believing that what they have acquired can be kept in the face of impermanence.
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