Conditions for Rebirth in the Lowest Grade (mṛdu-mṛdu)

Original text of the Contemplation Sutra (Amitāyus Contemplation Sūtra): 下品下生者。或有众生。作不善业。五逆十恶。具诸不善。如此愚人。以恶业故。应堕恶道。经历多劫。受苦无穷。如此愚人。临命终时。遇善知识。种种安慰。为说妙法。教令念佛。彼人苦逼。不遑念佛。善友告言。汝若不能念彼佛者。应称无量寿佛。如是至心。令声不绝。具足十念。称南无阿弥陀佛。称佛名故。所念念中。除八十亿劫生死之罪。命终之时。见金莲华。犹如日轮。住其人前。如一念顷。即得往生极乐世界。于莲华中。满十二大劫。莲华方开。观世音。大势至。以大悲音声。为其广说诸法实相。除灭罪法。闻已欢喜。应时即发菩提之心。

Explanation: The situation of rebirth in the lowest grade of the lowest tier is as follows: some sentient beings have committed unwholesome karmic actions, even the five rebellious acts and the ten evil deeds, being complete in all unwholesome karma. Such foolish people, because of these evil karmas, should fall into the three evil destinies, passing through many kalpas and suffering endless torment. When such a foolish person is on the verge of death, he meets a good teacher, who gives him various kinds of instruction, comfort, and encouragement, expounds wonderful Dharma for him, and teaches him to practice recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti). But that foolish person, overwhelmed by suffering, is unable to recite the Buddha's name.

The good teacher tells him, "If you cannot be mindful of that Buddha, then you should call out the name of Amitāyus Buddha." Thereupon, with utmost sincerity, this person calls out the Buddha's name, his voice unbroken, fully reciting ten times, "Homage to Amitābha Buddha." Because he calls the Buddha's name with a sincere heart, in each moment of recitation he eliminates the karmic offenses of birth-and-death of eighty billion kalpas. At the moment of death, he sees a golden lotus flower, as large as a sun disc, suspended before him, and in the space of a single thought he is reborn in the land of bliss (Sukhāvatī). He remains within the lotus flower for a full twelve great kalpas before the lotus opens. After emerging from the lotus, he hears Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva and Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva, with voices of great compassion, extensively expound to him the true reality of all dharmas and the Dharma for eliminating karmic offenses. Having heard this, he is filled with joy and immediately brings forth the mind of bodhi.

Those who can recite the Buddha's name with a sincere heart are all those who recite with genuine sincerity, reciting from the depths of their hearts, not reciting with the mouth while the mind does not recite. Only when not only the mind consciousness has faith and recites, but the manas also has faith and recites, can one eliminate in each thought the karmic offenses of birth-and-death of eighty billion kalpas. Once these offenses are eliminated, there is no obstruction, and one is reborn in the land of bliss. Because karmic offenses all correspond to the manas, only when the manas also recites the Buddha's name can the offenses of eighty billion kalpas be eliminated moment by moment. If only the mind consciousness has faith in the Buddha and recites, without sincerity, then karmic obstructions cannot be dissolved, let alone rebirth attained. For a person who has committed great evil karma, it is extremely difficult to happen upon the acceptance and guidance of a good teacher at the moment of death; and those who can recite the Buddha's name with a sincere heart are even rarer to find in the Sahā world. Those who have recited the Buddha's name for a whole lifetime without ever imprinting it upon the manas are everywhere. Therefore, for a person who has committed great evil karma to be reborn in the land of bliss at the moment of death is rare and hard to come by.

The lowest grade of the lowest tier accepts only those who have committed great evil karma and moreover have not yet had the opportunity to have faith in the Buddha. When such a person is on the verge of death and about to fall into hell—even the evil signs of hell have already appeared—at this time this evil person's mind gives rise to fear. A good teacher expounds to him the Pure Land Dharma gate of recollection of the Buddha in the land of bliss. Because this person still has some good roots, and because of his inner fear and helplessness, he immediately has great faith and acceptance; having recited only ten utterances of the Buddha's name, he can be reborn in the land of bliss right then. Only a person who meets these conditions can attain rebirth in the lowest grade of the lowest tier. Those who had already had faith in the Buddha beforehand, and then commit evil deeds, cannot attain rebirth, because having already believed in and studied Buddhism, they have long been lax and insincere in reciting the Buddha's name; having committed such great offenses, even when the evil signs appear at the moment of death, a sincere heart still cannot be aroused, and therefore they cannot attain rebirth.