Utilising all kinds of Dharma and all meaningful lessons given throughout his lifetime, the Buddha was born to unveil the true nature, making sentient beings freed from the cycle of suffering and enlightened about the carefree and bright nature alone. However, to find a straightforward way to escape from the cycle of life and death, a reasonable, rational method over this period, the only one is Pure Land Dharma. Why? During the period of spiritual degeneration (Sanskrit: Pashchimadharma, Japanese: Mappō), Buddhist practitioners are often discouraged by many fateful obstacles. Looking into the individual, the body usually gets sick with a short life; the mind gains heavy karma with dim wisdom. In terms of context, life often suffers from a wide variety of disasters from natural to man-made ones. As for the religion, there are few intellectuals to guide it, but many false practitioners with full of superstitions and deviants! Therefore, in the Buddhist scriptures (Tripitaka), the Tathagata prophesied that during the Pashchimadharma, billions of people would be practising; it, nevertheless, would be difficult to find an enlightened one; only by relying on reciting the Amitabha Buddha's name can one be liberated from samsara.

Recently, in China, there has appeared Ấn Quang Pháp Sư, a highly revered Buddhist monk. He, known as being well-versed in both schools and doctrine, specialised in employing the means of reciting the Amitabha Buddha's name to benefit oneself and others. Before that, he had been ordained on Nam Chung Mount, then having dedicated many years to learning in various places, he returned to live in seclusion on Phổ Đà Mount in Pháp Võ pagoda, where the sutras have been well stored.

Despite decades of asceticism and minimal interaction with outsiders, his reputation has become widely known. Recognizing his virtues, both those within and outside the religious community hold him in awe. Some made arduous journeys to meet him in person, while others sent letters seeking his precious guidance. His written responses have been compiled into four books, published under the title ‘Ấn Quang Pháp Sư Văn Sao'.

During his life, he gave away five million copies of Buddhist books and a million Buddha statues. His disciples reached over twenty thousand, many of whom, obeying his teachings, were reborn in Pure Land, leaving this life with testaments. In the 29th year of the Qing dynasty, having known about the date of coming to Pure Land, he peacefully sat to death at Linh Nham Tịnh Tông Buddhist monastery, enjoying the age of eighty and sixty years of monastic life. During the cremation ceremony, thirty-two teeth remained intact, and many five-coloured relics appeared. After his serene death, his monk disciples and laymen were moved by his great virtues, gathering to hold a funeral ceremony and agreeing to worship him as the thirteen ancestor in Pure Land school.

In the first days of my ordaining, I was honoured to look through these invaluable books. Furthermore, in a recent period of seclusion, it was fateful that I gained an opportunity to read up on them again to make progress in my monastic journey. Acknowledging there are many useful lessons for those reciting the Amitabha Buddha's name, I extracted the most necessary passages to be translated into Vietnamese and titled Lá Thư Tịnh Độ (The letters to Sukhavati's residents). In this book, I should have noted key points and further explained confusing ones to newbies; however, weak health prevented me from doing so. Also, the fact that I was ashamed of my deeply rooted karma, and non-progressive path in Buddhism made me more focused on the contemplation of Amitabha Buddha and his Pure Land. Therefore, my translations might be unsophisticated, failing to transmit the monk's profound concepts. Although the content will unavoidably have some faults, it is fate that I would make a minor contribution, as the translation to encourage lotus-based mutuals on the Pure Land path.

Provided that this work can somehow enable the readership to insight cultivation and contemplation, I would like to direct the merits and virtuous deeds possibly accumulated towards the Pure Land for the four graces of the three realms and all sentient beings in the Dharma realm.

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