法海經

Thus have I heard:

At one time the Buddha was journeying and teaching on the bank of the Hán Khư Lợi pond, in the country of Campā, together with a full assembly of great Bhikkhus. At that time it was the fifteenth day of the month, the time for the recitation of the precepts. The Buddha sat for a very long while yet remained silent, and did not recite the precepts. The attendant Ānanda then adjusted his robes, knelt down, and addressed the Buddha, saying:

"The first watch of the night has already passed, and midnight is drawing near. The great assembly has been gathered for a long time. May the World-Honored One not refuse despite his weariness; I beg the World-Honored One to recite the precepts."

The Buddha still sat in silence.

The assembly of monks had been seated for a long time. Then there was a Bhikkhu named Aññā Koṇḍañña, who again adjusted his robes, knelt down, and addressed the Buddha:

"The first watch and midnight have already passed; now the cocks are about to crow. The assembly of monks has been gathered for a long time. May the World-Honored One not refuse despite his weariness, but recite the precepts for the assembly of monks."

The Buddha still remained silent.

Again he addressed him, saying:

"World-Honored One, the morning star has already risen; the time is about to pass."

The Buddha said:

"Bhikkhu, listen well: within the assembly of monks there is one who is impure, and therefore I cannot recite the precepts."

The worthy one Mahāmaudgalyāyana thought within himself: "I should settle my mind and contemplate to see who is the impure one." The Venerable Maudgalyāyana addressed the Buddha:

"I wish to use a concentrated mind to contemplate and see who is the impure person. If he is impure, I will tell him to leave the assembly."

The Buddha said:

"You wish to use a concentrated mind to contemplate and see who is the impure one, and then tell him to leave the assembly. These words are excellent; so go and contemplate."

The Venerable Maudgalyāyana then used a concentrated mind to contemplate, and saw the disciple who had violated a grave precept. He rose from his concentrated mind, went before the precept-breaking Bhikkhu, and said:

"You who are a śramaṇa must revere the precepts. The precepts are the foundation. The precepts are like the head of a human being. The precept-conduct of a śramaṇa must be pure and clear like water, like jade. This is the seat of the Tathāgata, the gathering place of the Sages and Saints, the stronghold for crossing over the sea of suffering, the assembly place of those of pure virtue and conduct. This seat is like a forest of sandalwood, yet you have used the foul stench of the eraṇḍa tree to throw into disorder what is true and right."

The Venerable Maudgalyāyana, with his own hand, pulled that person out and said:

"You are a person to be discarded; you may not take part in the pure assembly of the great congregation of the Tathāgata. You may not, with a foul, defiled privy of a body, take part in the great gathering of the great assembly of monks. The great ocean does not receive a foul corpse. Reflect upon yourself, and do not defile the assembly of the Sages and Saints."

When the defiled person had gone out, the Venerable Maudgalyāyana said:

"The impure person has gone far away. The assembly of monks is now pure. I humbly beg the World-Honored One to recite the precepts."

The World-Honored One still remained silent. The Venerable Maudgalyāyana, finding this strange, contemplated all four directions, and saw that on the upper seat the Bhikkhu from before was still sitting in his seat. The Venerable Maudgalyāyana commanded:

"You who are a person to be discarded, why have you not gone out of your own accord? Your defiling offense is grave; what are you doing sitting in this seat?"

The Venerable Maudgalyāyana rebuked him severely, and only then did that one leave his seat and depart. The Venerable Maudgalyāyana again said:

"World-Honored One, the defiled person has now gone out. The great assembly is pure and no longer defiled. I humbly beg the World-Honored One to recite the precepts, so that the assembly of monks may cultivate pure deeds."

The Buddha said to the Venerable Maudgalyāyana:

"From now on I will no longer recite the precepts. You yourselves may recite the precepts. If I were to recite the precepts, the precept-breaker within the assembly would still remain silent, not confessing his transgressions of his own accord, yet still taking part in the seat of the Tathāgata—this would be silent false speech. If there were silent false speech, that one's head would split into seven pieces. For the Tathāgata to recite the precepts for the great assembly is no easy matter. From now on, you yourselves shall recite the precepts."

The Venerable Maudgalyāyana addressed the Buddha:

"Your disciples have heard the Way, first through the teaching and transformation bestowed by the Tathāgata, and not because the disciples awakened of their own accord and thereby attained the Way. The Tathāgata is one of holy virtue, deep and weighty as heaven and earth. His words are true and essential; the disciples practice and apply them, and thereby attain the fruit of the Way.

The Tathāgata is like the rain falling from the sky: the hundred kinds of grain, the trees and grasses flourish, and there is none among them that does not, through Him, become flourishing. Your disciple is thin in virtue and small in the Way; people do not believe in or submit to me. May the World-Honored One, out of compassion for the blind and deaf of the worldly multitude, cause all to be at peace, to gain faith, to gain what is true and right, so as to rescue their aspiration."

The Venerable Maudgalyāyana earnestly and sincerely entreated him thus, up to three, four, and five times. The World-Honored One said to the Venerable Maudgalyāyana:

"Since for the sake of all you have earnestly entreated the Tathāgata up to four or five times, now I will, for your sake, recite the precepts. My Dharma of the Sangha is like the great ocean and has eight virtues. Listen well, all of you:

1. The water of the great ocean neither fills up nor empties; my Dharma is likewise—it neither fills up nor empties. This is the first virtue.

2. The tidal waters in the great ocean rise at the appointed time, without irregularity; the four assemblies who receive my precepts do not transgress the prohibitory precepts nor violate the constant Dharma. This is the second virtue.

3. The water of the great ocean has but one taste, not many tastes—it is entirely the taste of salt. My Dharma is likewise: it has only the taste of meditative concentration, aspiring to tranquil absorption and attaining the spiritual powers. The taste of the Four Truths aspires to the four paths in order to undo the bonds. The taste of the Mahāyāna aspires to the great vow in order to deliver all people. This is the third virtue.

4. The great ocean is deep and also vast, without limit or measure; the Dharma of the Sangha is likewise—exceedingly profound and subtly wondrous. The eight directions are great, yet they are not as great as the Dharma of the Sangha; the Dharma of the Sangha is truly vast and great. This is the fourth virtue.

5. Within the great ocean there are gold and silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, coral, mother-of-pearl, agate, and maṇi jewels—most exquisite and most abundant. Within my Dharma of the Sangha there are the thirty-seven precious and subtly wondrous factors of the Way, the bases of spiritual power, long life, and flight throughout the ten directions, with no place that is not delightful. In but the blink of an eye one flies throughout the Buddha-lands, reaching the most excellent realms, able by one's own Way to deliver and transform the multitude of beings, and to purify one's own Buddha-land. This is the fifth virtue.

6. Within the great ocean is the dwelling place of the divine dragons (Nāgas), such as: the dragon king Sāgara; Anavatapta; Nanda; Upananda; and the like. Such dragons have wondrous virtue difficult to fathom, able to create heavenly palaces and all kinds of goods and offerings, so that there is none who does not thirst for and revere them. My Dharma of the Sangha is likewise: it has the four pairs and eight grades, the twelve worthy ones, and the great-being Bodhisattvas who exert their effort in teaching and transformation, exceedingly good and exceedingly beautiful. This is the sixth virtue.

7. The great ocean swallows up the hundred rivers and the myriad streams of water; the water of the Ganges River—there is nowhere that does not pour into it—and all day and all night it cannot be called full or empty, increasing or decreasing in the least. Within my Dharma of the Sangha it is likewise: the lineages of Brahmā and Śakra enter into the Dharma of the Sangha.

The four families of noble clans, whether of the Śakra line or the Brahmā line, the lineages of kings and rulers, cast off the nobility and honor of the world and come to enter the transformation of the right Way; artisans and lesser clans likewise enter the transformation of the right Way. Although their clans and lineages differ, once they come to study and practice the great Way they have one and the same taste—how could they not all be sons of Śākya?

This is the seventh virtue.

8. The great ocean is pure; it does not receive corpses, it has no defilements, and it receives only the creatures of the sea. My Dharma of the Sangha is pure; like the great ocean it does not accept one who has no pure conduct of the holy life, who violates the prohibitory precepts and is defiled. Such a person it absolutely does not receive, but must be cast off and must be shunned, just as the great ocean does not receive a corpse. This is the eighth virtue."

The Buddha said to the Venerable Maudgalyāyana:

"The great assembly of the Tathāgata is wholly pure. If one transgresses the karma of the prohibitory precepts, then he is no longer of the lineage of Śākya. For this reason I do not recite the precepts. You should skillfully and together set forth the precepts and disciplinary rules for one another, and do not let the right Dharma be destroyed."

When the Buddha had spoken thus, the Bhikkhus, rejoicing, reverently put it into practice.

THE BUDDHA SPEAKS THE SUTRA OF THE DHARMA-OCEAN