Rebirth in the Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī) Is Harder Than Eliminating Self-View (ātma-dṛṣṭi)

If the mind is not subdued in daily life, with greedy thoughts unceasing and angry thoughts unending, is it possible that at the moment of death one can let go of everything—untouched by the slightest stain, taking nothing away, departing cleanly and without attachments to be reborn in the land of bliss (Sukhāvatī)?

To tell you the truth: being reborn in the land of bliss is even harder than eliminating self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi). If at the moment of death there is one thought of the Sahā world, one thought of attachment, one thought of reluctance to part, one thought of unwillingness to let go, one thought of anger, then everything cultivated in this lifetime is merely planting a good root. Do not even think of the land of bliss; one will continue to transmigrate through birth and death in the Sahā world—and even continuing to transmigrate in a human body is difficult. Is the mind of a deva in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception pure? When evil karma ripens at the moment of death, such a deva still falls into hell. How much more so for humans in the desire realm, where evil conditions are so many—at the moment of death, it is rarely the case that karmic conditions and karmic force do not have the final say; it is not decided by one's subjective wishes during life. Even those who foreknow the time of their death still remain in the Sahā world, and that is because of a single thought for sentient beings, for the sake of demonstrating the Dharma, not for themselves. How much more so in other situations: karmic creditors entangle one after another in all sorts of ways, ties that cannot be severed and matters that only grow more tangled—wholesome and unwholesome conditions all appear. Who can extricate themselves?

When told that rebirth in the land of bliss is not easy, some people refuse to accept it. Just look at how people today recollect the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), with what mind they recollect the Buddha, what vows they hold in their hearts, and with what purpose they seek the land of bliss, and you will understand whether today's practitioners of buddha-recollection can reach the land of bliss when their lives end. Open the Records of the Sages and Worthies of the Pure Land and see how the ancients recollected the Buddha; make a comparison, and you will know whether today's practitioners of buddha-recollection can be reborn in the land of bliss. Not to mention those who seek rebirth in the land of bliss having poor spiritual faculties—even those who practice Chan in hopes of seeing their true mind and attaining enlightenment, what kind of spiritual faculties do they have? Even keeping the five precepts is that difficult, and even wanting to eat vegetarian food, they lack the conditions—let alone anything else.

If everything depended solely on Amitābha Buddha's receiving and guiding, wouldn't things be much simpler? One Buddha alone could then deliver all sentient beings in the world, and the Buddhas of the ten directions would be unnecessary. Is there such a bargain? Chanting the Buddha's name to reach the land of bliss, then just waiting to become a Buddha—at death, one hand holding Amitābha Buddha of the land of bliss and the other hand dragging along the karmic creditors of the Sahā world—and that is how one becomes a Buddha?