Anon
10/19/25, 14:46No.215994210 >諸善男子 我本行菩薩道 所成壽命 今猶未盡 復倍上數
Good sirs, the lifespan I originally attained while practicing the Bodhisattva path still now has not run out, and is yet twice this number.
>然今非實滅度 而便唱言 當取滅度
And yet while not really passing on into extinction, I yet make the proclamation that I will soon take my passing on.
>如來以是方便 教化眾生 所以者何 若佛久住於世 薄德之人 不種善根 貧窮下賤 貪著五欲 入於憶想 妄見網中
The Tathagata uses this skillful means to cultivate beings, for if the Buddha abided long in the world, people of scant merit would not plant good seeds, being lowly and impoverished and attached to the senses, entering in their thought into nets of delusion.
>若見如來 常在不滅 便起憍恣 而懷厭怠 不能生 難遭之想 恭敬之心
Should they see the Tathagata living forever, without extinction, they would grow arrogant and lazy, unable to see the difficulty in meeting Him, or to appreciate and worship Him.
>是故如來 以方便說 比丘當知 諸佛出世 難可值遇
For this reason, the Tathagata uses skillful means to teach, "Monks, know that the arising of the Buddha in the world is a rare thing to encounter!"
>所以者何 諸薄德人 過無量百 千萬億劫 或有見佛 或不見者
This is because those people of scant merit, in passing through immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of aeons, might meet the Buddha and might not.
>以此事故 我作是言 諸比丘 如來難可得見
I say for this reason that, "Monks, the arising of the Buddha in the world is a rare thing to see."
>斯眾生等 聞如是語 必當生於 難遭之想 心懷戀慕 渴仰於佛 便種善根
These beings, hearing these words, will surely understand the rarity of the encounter, and in their minds engender longing and appreciation for the Buddha, then planting good roots.
>是故如來 雖不實滅 而言滅度
Therefore does the Tathagata, though not truly passing away, say that he passes away into extinction.
