45) 梦中持名

Buddha Recitation in Dreams

If you have unshakeable vows and engage in deep, pure cultivation, holding fast to the Buddha’s name in the daytime, holding fast to it at night, then you will naturally recite the Buddha’s name even in your dreams. This presages that you will soon achieve the goal of rebirth in the Pure Land. Therefore, you should continue to recite evenly, redouble your efforts, never scaling them down, never a lowing your m ind to become scattered.

愿力坚，功夫熟，昼既绵密，夜间亦然，则梦中自能念佛，此往生之兆也，当调和精 进，勿退勿狂。

Commentary

To recite the Buddha’s name in the above manner is to have reached a rather high stage. Some persons can recite at night but not in the daytime, or when awake but not when asleep. Their recitation is subject to interruption because it has not yet become second nature. You should strive to keep the Buddha’s name constantly in mind, whether awake or dreaming. To achieve this, train yourself to recite the Buddha’s name in bed until fa ling asleep. Moreover, before climbing into bed, you should awaken the m ind of recitation. Te l yourself that there is no better way to escape Birth and Death than constant recitation of the Buddha’s name, when awake or asleep. If each day you remind yourself of this, you will grow accustomed to recitation and naturally succeed.

As an aside, if you wish to get up in the morning at a specific time, you should adopt the fo lowing method. Before retiring, tell yourself aloud: I should awake at five o’clock (or four o’clock, as you wish). If you repeat this to yourself two or three times, you will awaken in the morning at the desired time. One point to remember, though: the first few days you may not wake up at the right time, because your m ind is not

yet tamed. How-ever, as time goes by, you will be closer and closer to the appointed time until one day you begin to awaken precisely at the desired hour – every day. This is a question of habit and there is nothing strange about it.