梵網經菩薩戒略疏

Precept 28

SEPARATELY INVITING MEMBERS OF THE SANGHA

If disciples of the Buddha—whether ordained bodhisattvas, lay bodhisattvas, or any donors—wish to invite members of the Sangha to receive offerings and prayers, they should enter the Sangha residence and address the officer in charge. The officer should then say: “By inviting according to the established order, one invites the worthy and holy Sangha of the ten directions. Yet if a worldly person separately invites even five hundred bodhisattvas or arhats from among the Sangha, this is still not equal to receiving even one ordinary Sangha member appointed by the Sangha.

Separately inviting members of the Sangha is the practice of non-Buddhist traditions. In the teachings of the seven Buddhas, there is no practice of separately inviting members of the Sangha, for it is not in accord with the path of filial reverence.” If a disciple of the Buddha deliberately issues separate invitations, that disciple commits a minor defiling offense.

Explanation:

This runs counter to the mind free from characteristics, forfeits the merit of impartiality, and leaves the three spheres not yet empty; it is not the Dharma assembly of paramita practiced by a great being. Worthies and sages may be either provisional or actual. The actual are those who have realized the Four Fruits, the Three Stages of Worthiness, or the Ten Stages of Sainthood.

The provisional, though still ordinary beings, have received the great precepts of the original ground of the mind and cultivate and study the true path of worthies and sages; therefore, they too are called worthies and sages. Thus, the Sangha encompasses both ordinary beings and sages. When offerings are given universally to the ten directions and the mind acts impartially, the resulting merit is like empty space.

If the mind still gives rise to selection and discrimination, the resulting merit and fruit are limited. Moreover, it is difficult to discern sages from ordinary beings and difficult to measure who is superior or inferior. This is why Venerable Pindola was struck.

A novice was not permitted to accept the offering of a robe. One should therefore understand that, by making no distinctions, one invites worthies and sages. How much more so since the Tathagata instructed sixteen great arhats, each leading hundreds of thousands of disciples who had all realized the Four Fruits, to appear like ordinary beings—how could common people recognize them?—so that they might serve as fields of merit for donors.

According to the Sarvastivada Vinaya in Ten Recitations and the Sutra on the Causes and Conditions of the Precepts, the mother of the bhiksu Visakha separately invited five hundred arhats. The Buddha told Visakha’s mother that she was ignorant and unskillful and would not obtain great merit. If, from within the Sangha, she invited even one member according to the established order, she would gain exceedingly great merit and exceptionally excellent blessings.

Question: Does this mean that five hundred holy members of the Sangha are not equal to one ordinary Sangha member?

Answer: One should understand that, in terms of a field of merit, they surpass the ordinary member by hundreds of thousands of myriads of times; the ordinary member is still not equal to the sages.

Therefore, Venerable Aniruddha once offered a meal to a pratyekabuddha, and throughout the ninety-one kalpas since then, whether in the heavens or among human beings, he has continually enjoyed the blessings arising from that field of merit.

As recorded in the Sutra in Forty-Two Sections: “From giving to an evil person up to making offerings to the Tathagata, the differences in merit are very clear.” As for the mind, if it is impartial, the merit is great. Therefore, the Tathagata instructed Sariputra to give food to a dog. Yet in terms of principle, one should select recipients for offerings as appropriate to the circumstances and not cling rigidly to a single rule; then one will attain unobstructed freedom.

Here, the discussion concerns impartiality in the mind of giving, not the seeking of the Dharma. In seeking the Dharma, one must possess the eye capable of discerning the Dharma. One cannot fail to distinguish the deviant from the true, nor be unable to differentiate the worthy from the foolish, thereby becoming deluded and losing the great path.

This is no small matter.

This sutra states: “When the Tathagata had only just taken his seat beneath the Bodhi tree, the mother of the bhiksu Visakha had not yet been born. How, then, could it speak of her separately inviting five hundred members of the Sangha?” Here, the Tathagata was speaking of a past event that occurred before the time of the Buddha; or perhaps it was a prediction made beforehand, after which the mother of the bhiksu Visakha indeed acted in this way.

Following the teachings of non-Buddhist traditions means failing to comply with the Buddha’s instructions and acting contrary to the Buddha’s Dharma and to the causal ground shared by ordinary beings and sages. Therefore, it is said to be contrary to the path of filial reverence.

All seven Buddhas appeared through transformation in this Saha world. Their traces extended across one hundred kalpas and were witnessed even by beings in the Heaven of Long Life. Therefore, the seven Buddhas are cited everywhere as testimony, enabling everyone to understand readily.

Ninety-one kalpas ago, a Buddha named Vipasyin, also called Vipaśyin, appeared in the world. No Buddha appeared during the intervening kalpas. In the thirty-first kalpa, two Buddhas appeared:

1. Buddha Sikhin

2. Buddha Visvabhu

The ninety-first kalpa is called the Worthy Kalpa. During this kalpa, one thousand Buddhas appear in the world, including Buddha Krakucchanda, Buddha Kanakamuni, Buddha Kasyapa, Buddha Sakyamuni, and so forth, until the last of these one thousand Buddhas, named Buddha Rucika, appears in the world.

The preceding precept concerned personally accepting offerings and benefits without assigning a visiting Sangha member to attend an invitation, which constitutes an offense. The subsequent precept on accepting a separate invitation concerns personally accepting another’s individual invitation and therefore incurring an offense. The present precept concerns personally selecting particular Sangha members to invite and therefore establishes an offense. If the offering of a meal to members of the Sangha is not made for the purpose of seeking merit, or if the recipients are known relatives and close associates, there is no offense.

Precept 29

SUSTAINING ONE’S LIFE THROUGH WRONG LIVELIHOOD

If a disciple of the Buddha, with an evil mind and for the sake of offerings and gain, traffics in male or female persons; personally prepares food; personally grinds or pounds grain; practices physiognomy upon men and women; interprets auspicious and inauspicious omens; employs talismans, incantations, occult arts, or crafts; raises birds or hunting dogs; or compounds any of the hundreds or thousands of kinds of poison, snake poison, gold-and-silver poison, or gu poison—acting entirely without a mind of loving-kindness and compassion or a mind of filial reverence—then, if that disciple deliberately engages in such acts, the disciple commits a minor defiling offense.

Explanation:

Relying upon deviant practices to obtain offerings and gain in order to sustain one’s life, harming living beings for one’s own benefit—none of this accords with the pure, compassionate mind of a great being.

An evil mind means a mind that is not wholesome, acting for offerings and gain rather than for the benefit of others.

Trafficking in male or female persons means buying and selling young boys and girls and delivering them to others to satisfy lustful desires.

Personally preparing food means cooking it oneself.

Personally grinding or pounding means grinding or pounding the five grains.

Practicing physiognomy upon men and women means divining from their physical form and complexion, then telling them whether they will die young or live long, or whether they will be rich or poor.

Interpreting auspicious and inauspicious omens means using dreams and signs to predict good or ill fortune, calamity or blessings, or whether a pregnant woman carries a boy or a girl.

Incantations and occult arts means the deviant talismans and spells of non-Buddhist traditions.

Crafts refers to the hundred kinds of technical arts. Raising birds and dogs means training birds and dogs for hunting.

The hundreds and thousands of kinds of poison means all the poisons found in the world, compounded and prepared as pastes, pills, or powders to harm living beings.

Snake poison means taking venom from a snake’s head or tail, or substances from its brain or reproductive fluids, in order to harm others. Gold-and-silver poison is a poison that causes immediate death when swallowed. Gu poison is a compound poison that causes the body to swell and become distended when ingested.

Entirely without a mind of loving-kindness and compassion means that a great being should lovingly regard all sentient beings as their own children and should constantly contemplate accepting harm themselves in order to benefit others. Yet, on the contrary, to sustain oneself by harming others is no different from eating the flesh of one’s own children. This is what is meant by lacking a mind of loving-kindness and compassion. A bodhisattva regards sentient beings as their own parents; yet, for the sake of personal gain and support, such a person instead harms their own kin. No disobedience could be greater. This is what is meant by lacking a mind of filial reverence.

“Deliberately engages” makes clear that the act is not accidental. Because one seeks to sustain one’s life through wrong occupations, one commits a minor defiling offense. If the act causes a sentient being to die, one commits a major offense. If a lay bodhisattva properly uses incantations, crafts, or medicine to sustain their life without harming living beings, there is no offense. An ordained bodhisattva is permitted to use incantations or crafts to rescue sentient beings from danger and relieve their suffering, provided there is no intention of seeking profit.

Question: How can laypeople avoid grinding grain, pounding grain, and cooking food?

Answer: This has two meanings. First, sustaining oneself in this way is not the conduct of a great person. Second, grains often contain living creatures; if one does not harm sentient beings, then this is not making a living through a wrong occupation. The Buddha also permitted the two junior groups of monastics to do so. According to the sutras and treatises, there are five—or sometimes four—kinds of wrong livelihood employed to sustain one's life. They are now presented here together with the relevant precepts:

1. For the sake of offerings and gain, one deceptively displays extraordinary things.

2. For the sake of offerings and gain, one speaks of one's own virtues and merits.

3. For the sake of offerings and gain, one practices physiognomy to divine good and bad fortune.

4. For the sake of offerings and gain, one raises one's voice and displays authority to make others afraid.

5. For the sake of offerings and gain, one speaks of the benefits of making offerings in order to stir others' minds.

Monastics have four kinds of wrong livelihood by which they sustain themselves:

1. Livelihood by downward-facing speech: speaking about medicines and the treatment of illness, examining geomancy, and planting various fruit trees, crops, fields, and gardens.

2. Livelihood by upward-facing speech: observing astronomy, the moon, the sun, the five kinds of celestial bodies, and so forth.

3. Livelihood by speech directed toward the four quarters: flattering wealthy and influential households, serving as an envoy to the four directions, and speaking artfully in pursuit of abundant gain.

4. Livelihood by intermediate speech: studying various spells, occult arts, and methods of divination to determine good and bad fortune. Conduct contrary to the foregoing is called food obtained through pure livelihood.

There are also four kinds of pure livelihood:

1. Dwelling deep in the mountains and eating vegetables and fruit.

2. Regularly going on almsround.

3. Receiving and using offerings made by donors.

4. Eating pure food within the Sangha.

When one uses these means to sustain one's life, one does not defile the ground of the mind; therefore, it is called pure livelihood.

Precept 30

FAILING TO HONOR THE FAST-DAYS OF THE PRECEPTS

(Auspicious Days)

If a disciple of the Buddha, with an evil mind, personally slanders the Three Jewels, outwardly pretending reverence and affection; if with his mouth he speaks of nonexistence while inwardly his conduct clings to existence; if he manages affairs for the laity, acts as a matchmaker for laymen and laywomen so that they may meet for sexual relations, thereby creating karmic bonds and fetters; or if, during the six fast-days of each month or the three months of prolonged fasting each year, he kills, steals, breaks the fast, or violates the precepts, this person commits a minor defiling offense.

These ten precepts should be wholeheartedly honored and upheld.

Explanation:

To have no reverence on auspicious days is to lack a mind of faith and filial devotion. When one's words and deeds contradict each other, one's mind is neither upright nor true. The six fast-days of each month and the three months of prolonged fasting each year are days on which the Buddha manifests great spiritual powers. Even the Buddha's Birthday, the day of his attainment of the Way, the day of his entry into nirvana, the day of the Invitation Ceremony, and so forth are all auspicious days and times.

“Evil mind” means that one does not give rise to a mind of reverence and service toward the Three Jewels or skillfully guide others, but instead deceives them by falsely displaying the appearance of being close to the Three Jewels, causing others to have faith and reverence. One's mouth utters teachings on prajna, while in reality one's mind clings to existence. Since one's words and deeds contradict each other and run counter to truth and rectitude, this is said to be slandering the Three Jewels.

“Managing affairs” means conducting and arranging business for the laity, even to the point of acting as a matchmaker for men and women so that they may engage secretly in lustful relations, serving as an intermediary, or performing other filthy and shameful deeds.

“Creating karmic bonds and fetters” means that by performing the impure and shameful deeds described above, both oneself and others become bound within the three evil paths—hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals—revolving through the six realms of birth and death, suffering without attaining liberation.

Regarding the six fast-days, the Sutra of the Heavenly Kings records: “On these fast-days, the devas investigate whether human beings are doing good or evil. Each of the Four Heavenly Kings guards one direction and regularly selects three days of the month—the first, eighth, and twentieth—to dispatch envoys to the human realm to examine whether the deeds of sentient beings are good or evil. On the fourteenth and twenty-ninth, they dispatch their crown princes.

On the fifteenth, the full-moon day, and the thirtieth, the Four Heavenly Kings descend in person and command the sun, moon, celestial bodies, and the lords of the twenty-eight constellations to carefully observe whether sentient beings are doing good or evil. Having observed them, they return to the celestial court and report to Lord Sakra, so that auspicious or calamitous consequences may be administered.”

The three months of prolonged fasting are the first, fifth, and ninth lunar months. Lord Sakra uses the Great Precious Mirror to illuminate Jambudvipa in the south and observe the offenses and merits of the sentient beings in this realm. Each of the Four Heavenly Kings is assigned in turn to guard one of the four great continents for half a month.

During these three months, Vaisravana, the Heavenly King of the North, guards the southern continent and observes whether the month is marked by good or evil. On these days and during these months, all ghosts and spirits often seize favorable opportunities, and this is also an auspicious time when the Heavenly Kings make their rounds of inspection together. Therefore, one should refrain from evil and cultivate good. If bodhisattvas and disciples of the Buddha do not recognize such auspicious times but instead act with arrogance and defiance, transgress the precepts, and fail to give rise to shame, remorse, apprehension, and fear, this is called an evil mind.

Killing and stealing: these two precepts were already briefly set forth among the ten major precepts. By stating these two here, all ten major precepts are included. According to the particular transgression, a parajika offense is incurred. Moreover, in addition to the offense under the ten major precepts, a minor defiling offense is incurred—like a person sentenced to death who is also flogged. If the offense is one of the forty-eight minor precepts, an additional offense of failing to show reverence on the fast-days of the precepts is incurred.

“Breaking the fast” means that on the six fast-days observed by lay disciples of the Buddha, or during a month of prolonged fasting in which they undertake and uphold the Eight Precepts, they eat after noon. Abstaining from food after noon is called fasting. To violate this is to eat at an improper time and is therefore called breaking the fast. Monastics undertake for life not to eat at improper times, just as on the fast-days; if they transgress by eating at an improper time, their offense becomes even more serious.

The Garland Sutra records: “If bodhisattva mahasattvas cultivate the pure Dharma of the six paramitas and also practice the Eight Fast-Day Precepts of all Buddhas, these good men and good women, in practicing these six Dharmas, will perfect the conduct of purity.” Since the sutra records this precisely, how could one slight and abandon the fast-day precepts, fail to undertake and uphold the Eight Fast-Day Precepts, and willingly become a person who breaks the precepts?

These ten precepts should be wholeheartedly honored and upheld. The remainder is clearly recorded in the Chapter on the Establishment of the Precepts.

Precept 31

FAILING TO RANSOM AND REDEEM

As a disciple of the Buddha, after the Buddha's parinirvana, in an evil age, if one sees followers of non-Buddhist paths, evil people, thieves, bandits, or any other wicked persons selling images of Buddhas or bodhisattvas, selling one's father or mother, selling sutras and Vinaya texts, or selling bhiksus, bhiksunis, practitioners of the bodhisattva path, or those who have aroused the mind of bodhi, to serve as underlings to officials or as servants to others, and so forth, one should give rise to compassion, protect and rescue them, and devise means to deliver them.

If one lacks sufficient strength, the disciple of the Buddha must go to various places to solicit funds to ransom images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas and all sutras and Vinaya texts, and to redeem bhiksus, bhiksunis, practitioners of the bodhisattva path, and those who have aroused the mind of bodhi. If one fails to redeem them, this disciple of the Buddha commits a minor defiling offense.

Explanation:

To see people suffering and fail to rescue them is to lack compassion. To know that someone is being sold by another and fail to redeem that person is contrary to the way of filial obedience.

“After the Buddha's parinirvana” clearly refers to the age of the Final Dharma. While the Buddha was in the world, most people practiced good and avoided evil; therefore, abuses such as those described above did not occur.

“Images” may be carved or painted. They may be forcibly seized and appropriated by others, plundered by bandits, or stolen and then put up for sale. Although only the two groups of bhiksus and bhiksunis are mentioned here, all seven assemblies are thereby included.

One who has brought forth the bodhi-mind is one who has newly awakened the mind of the Way. A person of the Way is one who practices the bodhisattva path. The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom states: “One who has attained the Way is called a person of the Way. Moreover, although one who has gone forth may not yet have attained the Way, because that person cultivates the supramundane Way, that person is also called a person of the Way.” Government servants are those dispatched to perform official duties. All people refers to scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants, and so forth.

Images of the Buddha are the Jewel of the Buddha. Sutras and Vinaya texts are the Jewel of the Dharma. Those who have brought forth the mind of the Way are the Jewel of the Sangha. Images of bodhisattvas represent the Mahayana Sangha Jewel. Bhiksus and bhiksunis represent the Hinayana Sangha Jewel. Parents are fields of gratitude.

A disciple of the Buddha is also a great being between heaven and earth. Living in this evil age of the final kalpa, one safeguards the Buddhadharma, perpetuates the lineage of the Three Jewels, extensively performs wholesome deeds, and teaches and transforms sentient beings. How, then, could one see people suffering and merely sit by while they are humiliated and abused? Therefore, one must rescue them from their suffering. If one personally lacks the financial means to redeem them, one must employ various skillful means to encourage others to redeem them. If one is negligent or deliberately refuses to redeem them, one commits an offense in either case.

Precept 32

HARMING SENTIENT BEINGS

A disciple of the Buddha must not keep or trade in knives, clubs, bows, arrows, or other instruments of killing; must not use underweight scales or deficient measures; must not rely upon the power of government authorities to seize others’ property; must not maliciously bind others or sabotage their accomplishments; and must not raise cats, weasels, pigs, or dogs. If one deliberately does any of the foregoing, this disciple of the Buddha commits a minor defiling offense.

Explanation:

One must prevent even the remote causes of harm and abandon the karmic bonds of killing, stealing, and so forth; only then does one not betray the great being’s mind of loving-kindness and wish to benefit others.

Knives, clubs, bows, arrows, binding, and cats, weasels, pigs, and dogs harm the direct retribution—the bodies and lives of sentient beings. Other implements, such as deficient measures, harm the circumstantial retribution—the possessions used and enjoyed by sentient beings. One who sells using underweight scales will necessarily buy using oversized measures; the same applies to measures of length that are made longer or shorter.

Reliance upon power means either personally exercising the power of government authorities or relying upon another person’s power. Binding means using cruel, self-serving power to bind others and injure the bodies of sentient beings; it does not refer to binding someone with an impartial mind. Even toward a criminal, one should give rise to compassion, reflecting that the person acted out of ignorance. One should therefore use skillful means to exhort and guide that person, causing the person to awaken a wholesome mind and correct former wrongs.

Sabotaging another person’s accomplishment means that when another person wishes to bring an undertaking to completion, one maliciously seeks instead to cause that person to abandon it and let it be ruined.

“To raise” means to keep and nurture. Cats and weasels are animals that catch mice. Pigs and dogs are raised out of greed for profit at the cost of their lives; if one buys or sells them, one commits a minor defiling offense.

Killing violates the first major precept. A measure is an implement used for measurement. Relying upon power to take another person’s property and sabotaging another person’s undertaking both violate the second major precept, being forms of deception and forcible seizure; therefore, they constitute offenses.

The Sutra on the Upasaka Precepts states: “One must also not raise dogs, pigs, goats, and so forth.” The Vinaya states: “For the purpose of guarding and protecting monastery property, keeping dogs is permitted as an expedient.”

The Sutra of the Miscellaneous Treasury records: “A ghost said to Venerable Maudgalyayana: ‘My testicles are as large as jars. When walking, I must carry them upon my shoulders, and when standing, I must sit upon them. Moving about is extremely painful. I do not know what causes and conditions brought this about.’ Venerable Maudgalyayana replied: ‘When you were in the world, you used underweight scales when selling and overweight scales when buying, seeking only to gain greater profit. Because you cheated others, you now undergo this punishment. This is the calamitous retribution and painful result that you must later endure in hell.’”

Precept 33

WRONG LIVELIHOOD AND DISCURSIVE THOUGHT

A disciple of the Buddha must not, with malicious intent, go to watch men and women fighting, or armies, soldiers, generals, bandits, and so forth engaged in combat. One must also not go to watch theatrical performances, listen to music, play board games, gamble, play shuttlecock, play ball games, and so forth, or even practice divination. One must not serve as an accomplice to thieves or bandits. If one deliberately does any of the foregoing, this disciple of the Buddha commits a minor defiling offense.

Explanation:

“To be driven by malicious intent” means taking the gain or loss, victory or defeat of others as one’s own entertainment. At times, one unknowingly delights in the suffering of others. When people fight, quarrel, and so forth, unwholesome acts occur.

If one is unable to use skillful means to remonstrate with and dissuade them, but instead personally watches and takes pleasure in it, one truly betrays the great being’s compassionate mind. This is indeed a malicious mind, wrong reflection, and wrong thought. Five kinds of activity are included: watching opposing sides fight, watching people amuse themselves, watching board games, gambling, divination, and so forth.

All these activities disturb the mind and intellect and easily give rise to malicious thoughts; disciples who uphold the bodhisattva precepts must avoid them. All places of entertainment cause people to become heedless and unrestrained and to lose right mindfulness. Likewise, the various games of the present day delude the mind and confuse the intellect.

They are all wrong occupations and are not conducive to increasing the great being’s mind of great compassion.

Being employed by thieves or bandits pertains both to acts that are intrinsically wrong and to acts prohibited by regulation. As for the offense of violating a prohibition, a minor offense is established according to the particular transgression committed.

The Sutra of the Precept Text states: “If a bodhisattva is indolent and heedless, indulges in amusement, or delights in sleep and rest, all of these are untimely and are not practices of liberation. This constitutes an offense that defiles the ground of the mind. There is no offense when one is ill or when it is necessary to preserve life. This precept encompasses all such cases, for when one wishes to arouse a mind of skillful means to gather in beings and apply antidotes, afflictions by nature continually arise.”

Precept 34

TEMPORARILY ABANDONING THE BODHI-MIND

If one is a disciple of the Buddha, one should recite these bodhisattva precepts during the six periods of day and night and uphold and safeguard the precepts. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, one should remain as steadfast as vajra, like a person wearing a flotation device to cross the ocean of suffering, and like the bhiksus who allowed themselves to be bound with grass ropes. One should always possess faith in the Mahayana.

With respect to the Mahayana, one should understand that one is a Buddha not yet perfected, whereas all Buddhas are Buddhas already perfected; one should then bring forth the bodhi-mind and firmly maintain it without retreating. If even a single thought inclines toward the Two Vehicles or non-Buddhist paths, this disciple of the Buddha commits a minor defiling offense.

Explanation:

If one’s mind wishes to turn away from and abandon the Mahayana teachings and incline toward the Hinayana, but one’s intention remains hesitant and has not yet been firmly decided, one immediately commits an offense, as under the preceding eighth precept. If one’s mind has become resolute, one immediately loses the precepts and commits a major offense.

This precept now concerns one whose mind has not yet wished to turn away from and abandon the Mahayana, but who merely says that the Mahayana teaching is easy to cultivate and easy to study. Moreover, one thinks: “First I should cut off views, thoughts, and delusions in order to realize nirvana; afterward it will not be too late to transform sentient beings.” Yet the mere temporary arising of this thought already amounts to abandoning the Great Vow, and one will ultimately fall into the Dharma of the sravakas.

How could one know that a great being may even vow to bear deluded karma and still be able to benefit all beings? Therefore, the Treatise on Calming and Contemplation records: “Those who retreat from the Mahayana mind and grasp the Hinayana are reproached by the sages.” Bodhisattvas are not like this. Seeing the suffering of sentient beings, they regard it as their own suffering; they arouse the mind of great compassion and cherish sentient beings as an only child.

Just as when a mother obtains food, she always thinks of her child. If a bodhisattva seeks to abide in the nirvana of biased emptiness, he commits the fault of abandoning sentient beings; how then could he purify Buddha lands? To teach and transform sentient beings, one must be fully endowed with the Buddhadharma.

Although all this cannot yet be completed, and although one enters the afflictions of birth and death in the world, if one possesses sufficient strength of the Way, one’s own wisdom will not be impaired. Though the Buddha Way is long and distant, one does not regard it as far away. Though sentient beings are numerous, one possesses courageous resolve, with a firm mind that neither retreats nor yields, diligently arousing the aspiration and advancing toward awakening, above all without weariness or indolence.

Therefore, it is said that a bodhisattva dwells in birth and death with a courageous mind, yet does not become attached to the state of nirvana. Courageous amid birth and death, unborn yet taking birth, the bodhisattva is not defiled by birth and death, just as a lotus in the mud is not stained by the mud.

The Supplementary Practices Commentary records: “Lotuses do not grow on high plateaus; only in wet and muddy ground do lotuses grow.” Therefore, one should know that the high plateau of nirvana cannot produce the bodhisattva’s flower of Great Compassion. Its birthplace is the mud of birth and death, and therein lies the bodhisattva’s supreme power and function. Although dwelling in birth and death, the bodhisattva is not defiled by birth and death because of the courageous resolve and steadfast vows of a great being.

How much more so, since the Hinayana precepts are not separate from the bodhisattva precepts. The power of the bodhisattva precepts can bring the aspiration to liberate sentient beings to fulfillment. This is the Great encompassing the Small.

The Hinayana lacks the Great Function; how could it transform sentient beings?

These fifty-eight precepts were all established by Vairocana; hence they are called prohibitory precepts, like the prohibitory decrees of a king, which no one dares deliberately violate. Therefore, in the four deportments—walking, standing, lying down, and sitting—a great being safeguards the prohibitory precepts and does not allow them to be violated. Day and night one must diligently study them and recite them until thoroughly fluent, so that they will not be forgotten.

Vajra is an analogy for the precepts, which can destroy the enemies of the fetters and afflictions. It is also an analogy for the steadfast mind with which a great being safeguards the prohibitory precepts, firm as a vajra.

A float was an object used by people in India to cross the sea. It might be made from sheep’s wool and birds’ wings, or from goatskin; some carried an inflatable float, keeping it constantly at their side. If their boat was damaged while crossing the sea, they would immediately inflate the float and use it to cross the great ocean of birth and death.

If one does not rely upon the Buddha’s prohibitory precepts, one cannot reach the other shore. Therefore, the Nirvana Sutra records: “A rakshasa demon followed a man crossing the sea and earnestly begged him for his float. The man crossing the sea answered the demon: ‘I would rather you take my life; I cannot give you the float.’ The rakshasa demon said: ‘If you are unwilling to give me all of it, then please give me only half.’ The man again refused.” This illustrates how, when a bodhisattva safeguards the prohibitory precepts, the rakshasa demon of affliction urges the bodhisattva to violate the ten major precepts while safeguarding the minor precepts.

The bodhisattva does not comply. In this way, little by little, the rakshasa demon—ignorance and affliction—urges the bodhisattva to give rise to thoughts that create various evil offenses and defilements, but the bodhisattva resolutely refuses to comply. Why is this?

Because the bodhisattva observes the Buddha’s ten major precepts and all the minor offenses of defilement and wrongdoing, reverently safeguarding them with utmost firmness, making no distinction between major and minor precepts.

The bhikshus were bound with grass because the Buddha established a precept that bhikshus must not harm grass or trees. Long ago, some bhikshus were traveling through a wilderness when bandits robbed them of all their clothing. Fearing that the bhikshus would enter a village and inform the people, the bandits wanted to kill them all.

Among the bandits was one who knew that bhikshus would not injure grass or trees, so he bound them with grass and then departed. That day, from morning until evening, the bhikshus were stung and bitten by mosquitoes, gnats, and fleas, while savage beasts continually roamed about, creating great cause for fear. The bhikshus reminded one another to concern themselves only with safeguarding the prohibitory precepts, preferring death to violation.

Each kept his body still and did not allow it to move. The following day, the king went hunting and saw that the bhikshus upheld the prohibitory precepts, vowing that they would rather die than violate them. The king was greatly delighted and immediately ordered his men to untie the bhikshus.” This account is clearly presented in the Sutra of Causes and Conditions and the Treatise on the Great Adornment.

Question: According to this Precept Sutra, at that time the Tathagata had only just sat beneath the bodhi tree and taught this Precept Sutra. There was not yet a community of bhikshus. How, then, could they have been bound with grass?

Answer: This may have been a prophecy by the Tathagata, or it may recount events concerning bhikshus from the time of a past Buddha, cited as evidence. For example, during the time of Kasyapa Buddha, a meditating bhikshu broke a branch and leaves from an yila tree. He fell into the realm of dragons, and a foul-smelling tree grew upon his head. When the wind stirred it, pus overflowed everywhere and polluted the great ocean. For hundreds of thousands of myriads of years, he underwent many agonies, and only when Maitreya Buddha appeared in the world would he escape the body of a dragon. Therefore, throughout the Tripitaka scriptures, this account is repeatedly cited as evidence.

Nowadays, deranged Chan practitioners claim that the teaching of the Chan school is liberation and that observing the precepts is attachment to characteristics. They say: “What harm could there be in cutting down trees or digging the earth?” Yet they do not possess the power of Guizong, who struck a venomous snake with his hand, nor do they possess the virtue of the practitioner who had attained the First Fruit and who, while plowing a field, cut a worm into four pieces. Looking at the karmic retribution suffered by this dragon, do they dare call themselves liberated? Do they call this attachment? If harming a single leaf brings such retribution, should these matters not make us shudder until our gallbladders burst?

Although one may first be able to safeguard the prohibitory precepts firmly, if one lacks right faith in the Mahayana, there remains the fear of falling into the Dharma of the Two Vehicles, ultimately losing the supreme fruition of Buddhahood, while the great vow to liberate sentient beings is also lost. One must arouse the mind that gives rise to right faith, believing that we and all sentient beings are Buddhas yet to be, while all Buddhas are Buddhas already perfected.

Although one may possess faith, if one does not arouse the bodhi mind, that faith has nowhere to rely. Therefore, one must arouse the great mind in order to establish steadfast faith. One should know that one’s own mind is precisely the Buddha-mind; therefore, one seeks the Buddha Way above.

One should also know that one’s own mind is precisely the mind of sentient beings; therefore, one transforms sentient beings below. One must not depart from this mind for even a second or a moment. Thus it is said that thought after thought never departs from the mind.

If one departs from it for even a moment, one immediately falls into the self-liberating Dharma of the Two Vehicles.

“Transforming below” means not merely transforming sentient beings in a single world, but transforming sentient beings throughout hundreds of thousands of worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

Seeking above means not merely serving the Buddhas of a single world, but attending upon the Buddhas throughout hundreds of thousands of worlds numerous as the sands of the Ganges, in order to seek the unsurpassed Way. Therefore, the Avatamsaka Sutra states: “A bodhisattva does not arouse the bodhi-mind merely to teach and transform the sentient beings of a single world, nor even to teach and transform all sentient beings in worlds numerous as the motes of dust in the trichiliocosm.

Nor does a bodhisattva arouse the bodhi-mind merely to make offerings to the Tathagatas of a single world, but to make offerings to all the Tathagatas who successively appear in all worlds. Nor does a bodhisattva do so merely to make offerings to ineffable, ineffably many Buddhas in worlds numerous as motes of dust, but arouses the bodhi-mind in order to teach, transform, and subdue all sentient beings without omitting a single one, and in order to attend upon and make offerings to all Buddhas without omitting a single one.”

Question: From where does the great bodhi-mind flow forth?

Answer: It arises from the mind of great compassion. The Aksayamati Sutra records: “Wishing to rescue and liberate all sentient beings, one gives rise to the power of compassionate mindfulness and so forth, and proceeds toward the quest for unsurpassed bodhi. If it were not for the sake of transforming and liberating sentient beings, I would not arouse the bodhi-mind.”

The Avatamsaka Sutra states: “From the First Ground through the Tenth Ground, on every ground the mind of great compassion is taken as foremost.”

The Treatise on the Bodhi-Mind states: “The mind of loving-kindness and compassion gives rise to the great bodhi-mind. All supremely excellent Buddhadharmas are rooted in the mind of compassion.”

The Treatise on the Absence of Difference states: “Cultivation as the cause is the bodhi-mind; the perfection of the virtues of the fruit is Perfect Enlightenment. The Dharma of bodhi is inconceivable, and all Buddha-Tathagatas praise and extol this Dharma.” The Sutra of the Questions of Anuttara, Son of Fearlessness, states: “The merits produced when one arouses the bodhi-mind are equal to the realm of empty space—supreme, all-pervasive, and inexhaustible.

Suppose someone were to offer the precious treasures contained in Buddha-realms numerous as the sands of the Ganges to the Blessed One. If another person, with utmost sincerity, were merely to join palms and, in a single thought, arouse the mind of unsurpassed, complete, and perfect enlightenment, that person’s merit would surpass the merit of offering precious treasures to the Blessed One. The merit of seeking the unsurpassed cannot be calculated.”

The Sutra on Attaining Buddhahood states: “All dharmas are signless, bearing the characteristic of empty space. Once contemplative illumination arises, it is called the bodhi-mind of ultimate truth. One should know that all dharmas are empty, for one has awakened to the truth that dharmas are originally neither born nor extinguished.

Since the essence of mind is originally and naturally thus, one does not perceive body or mind as abiding in quiescent cessation. Ultimately equal, true wisdom is never lost or regressed. When the deluded mind arises, once you recognize it, do not race after it.

When deluded thoughts cease, the source of mind becomes still, and the myriad virtues are complete. At that time, wondrous functioning is inexhaustible, because the Buddhas of the ten directions take the practices and vows of ultimate truth as their precepts. If one fully possesses this mind, one can turn the Dharma wheel, benefiting both oneself and others, as clearly explained in the chapter on Arousing the Bodhi-Mind in fascicle 64 of the Avatamsaka Sutra.

Precept 35

FAILING TO MAKE VOWS

As a disciple of the Buddha, one should make these great vows: vow to dwell in filial obedience toward one’s parents, masters, and Sangha members; vow to encounter good teachers and virtuous spiritual friends who will constantly instruct one in the Mahayana sutras and treatises, and teach one about the Ten Initiations, the Ten Nurturing Stages, the Ten Vajra Stages, and the Ten Grounds, enabling one to understand them clearly and practice in accordance with the true Dharma; and vow to steadfastly uphold the Buddha’s precepts, preferring death to a change of heart. If a disciple of the Buddha fails to make the foregoing vows, that person commits a minor defiling offense.

Explanation:

A vow means aspiration and willing desire. If one has no mind of aspiration and willing desire for all the wondrous, supremely excellent fruits of the causal practices and for immeasurable wholesome dharmas, how could one’s aspirations ever be fulfilled? Therefore, one must make great vows.

All vows are encompassed within the following ten vows:

1. The vow of filial obedience is precisely the vow to uphold the precepts. Filial devotion is taken as the precepts; therefore, filial devotion is the root of the ten vows. If the root is deficient, the following nine precepts have nothing upon which to rely.

2. The wish to encounter a good teacher. A good teacher is one who possesses both conduct and understanding.

If someone has penetrating understanding but lacks virtuous conduct, how could that person guide us in diligent practice? If someone possesses virtuous conduct but lacks penetrating understanding, how could that person open the mind-ground for us? Repaying the kindness of both parents and perpetuating the lineage of the Three Jewels both depend upon the instructive power of masters and elders.

Therefore, among the ten great vows, the kindness of the teacher is foremost. Even if one possesses faith, without the guidance of a good teacher, one cannot become a vessel of the Dharma. Now, in the age of the Dharma’s decline, it is truly rare to encounter someone complete in the virtue of the precepts and in both conduct and understanding.

Only after understanding can one practice. Practicing in accordance with one’s understanding, one must personally apply oneself, strive, and advance diligently. Only then may one ultimately hope to attain the unborn and proceed directly to the Place of Jewels.

If someone possesses conduct but does not understand the scriptures or the methods of practice, that conduct is not right conduct. One must be especially wary of relying upon such a person, for it is no different from being guided by a blind person: one will surely fall upon a perilous path and never escape. Even when we now seek right view and right understanding, it is not easy to encounter an enlightened teacher and virtuous friend—how much less one complete in both conduct and understanding?

The earlier reference to masters and Sangha members means that one must be filially obedient to one’s teacher. The later reference to a good teacher means that one must carefully seek and encounter an enlightened master to provide guidance; only then can one avoid going astray and losing the way.

3. The vow to study together with virtuous spiritual friends: to study together the orthodox Mahayana tradition and encounter good companions who skillfully understand the Dharma-gate of the mind-ground. Even if one encounters an enlightened teacher, without worthy companions one loses an earnest source of benefit along the path of study and practice.

4. The vow to encounter those skilled in guiding and instructing. This means vowing that the good teachers and virtuous friends mentioned in the preceding vow will constantly teach us the principles of the Mahayana sutras and Vinaya, so that we may arouse the mind of right faith and proceed in diligent cultivation toward the stage of the Ten Initiations, without falling into the biased emptiness of the Two Vehicles or into the erroneous and clinging views of non-Buddhist paths.

5. The vow to cultivate the Ten Abodes; hence they are called the Ten Initiations.

6. The vow to cultivate the Ten Practices; hence they are called the Ten Nurturing Stages.

7. The vow to cultivate the Ten Dedications; hence they are called the Ten Vajra Stages.

8. The vow to cultivate and realize the Ten Noble Stages; hence they are called the Ten Grounds.

9. The vow to practice everything in accordance with the Dharma. This means that, regarding the Mahayana Dharma explained above, one must heed one’s teachers and companions, who assist one in advancing in cultivation. One vows to follow the true Dharma one has received, enabling one’s mind to unfold and develop supreme understanding; then, practicing according to that understanding, one enters and realizes the fruitions of the Three Worthies and Ten Noble Ones.

10. The vow to uphold the precepts steadfastly. At the beginning, filial obedience is taken as the precepts; at the end, the tenth vow—upholding the precepts—serves as the concluding summary. One should know that, from ancient times until now, the true precepts of the mind-ground have always been taken as the essential doctrine of the Mahayana. Therefore, immeasurable Dharma-gates, hundreds of thousands of supreme samadhis, and wondrous uncontaminated wisdom all flow forth from the precepts. The Three Worthies, the Ten Noble Ones, and even the ultimate fruition of Wondrous Enlightenment are all accomplished through the precepts. Therefore, this Dharma of precepts must be especially revered.

One would rather relinquish one’s life than depart from these precepts for even a single thought. This means that, after firmly arousing the mind toward the preceding ten vows, one never forgets them from thought to thought. Even when encountering mortal danger, one vows to relinquish this provisional body composed of the four elements; but if one relinquishes this mind, one has truly violated the precepts of the mind.

All bodhisattvas must make these vows. This means that from the time they first receive the precepts until they reach the Tenth Ground, if they do not make these Ten Great Vows, their resolve and aspiration will not be firm; their preparatory practices and diligent cultivation may also be obstructed by demons and halted midway, while they will not know what to rely upon to realize the ocean-like fruition of Wondrous Enlightenment.

Thus it is said: “Adorning the Buddha-land is a great undertaking.” If one performs meritorious deeds by one’s own efforts alone, one cannot accomplish this; therefore, the power of vows is needed to sustain one’s practice. It is like the strength of an ox: although it can pull a cart, a driver is still needed before it can reach its destination. One should know that if a person’s resolve is not firm, their vows will be difficult to fulfill.

Therefore, the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment states: “One must make the pure great vows of a bodhisattva.” One should contemplate as follows: “May I, in this very life, abide in the fruition of the Buddha’s Perfect Enlightenment, seek good spiritual friends, and not encounter followers of non-Buddhist paths or the Two Vehicles. Relying upon my vows, may I cultivate and gradually eradicate all obstructions. When the obstructions are exhausted and my vows fulfilled, may I immediately ascend the jeweled hall of the pure Dharma of liberation and realize the wondrously adorned realm of Great Perfect Enlightenment.”

Precept 36

FAILURE TO MAKE SOLEMN PLEDGES

A disciple of the Buddha, after making the Ten Great Vows above, must uphold the Buddha’s prohibitory precepts and solemnly pledge: “I would rather leap into a blazing pyre, a deep pit, or a mountain of knives than ever engage in impure conduct with anyone of the opposite sex and thereby violate the prohibitions contained in the sutras and Vinaya of the Buddhas of the Three Times.

One should further pledge: “I would rather have my body wrapped in a thousand layers of red-hot iron netting than allow this body, having broken the precepts, to accept clothing from faithful donors. I would rather swallow red-hot iron pellets and drink boiling molten copper for hundreds of thousands of kalpas than allow this mouth, having broken the precepts, to consume the food of faithful donors. I would rather lie upon a great blazing pyre or a red-hot iron sheet than allow this body, having broken the precepts, to accept beds or seats from faithful donors.

I would rather endure hundreds of swords and spears piercing my body for one or two kalpas than allow this body, having broken the precepts, to accept medicines from faithful donors. I would rather leap into a cauldron of boiling oil for hundreds of thousands of kalpas than allow this body, having broken the precepts, to accept rooms, houses, fields, gardens, or lands from faithful donors.”

One should further make this pledge: “I would rather have this body pounded from head to foot with an iron pestle until it is reduced to ashes and dust than allow this mind, having broken the precepts, to accept the reverence and prostrations of faithful donors.”

One should further make this pledge: “I would rather have my eyes gouged out by hundreds of thousands of sword blades than allow this mind, having broken the precepts, to gaze upon another person’s physical beauty. I would rather have my ears pierced by hundreds of thousands of iron awls for one or two kalpas than allow this mind, having broken the precepts, to listen to pleasing sounds and melodious voices. I would rather have my nostrils cut away by hundreds of thousands of knives than allow this mind, having broken the precepts, to smell fragrant scents.

I would rather have my tongue severed by hundreds of thousands of knives than allow this mind, having broken the precepts, to partake of another person’s pure food. I would rather have my body hacked apart with a sharp axe than allow this mind, having broken the precepts, to wear fine clothing.”

One should further make this vow: “May all sentient beings attain Buddhahood.”

If a disciple of the Buddha fails to make the vows above, they commit a minor defiling offense.

Explanation:

A solemn pledge means firmly resolving in one’s mind to uphold the ten vows. With courageous and vigorous determination, one uses these pledges to support the vows so that not even a single thought of timidity or retreat arises. Only then can a Great Being accomplish the aspirations they uphold and seek, fulfilling their vows as desired.

A Great Being who upholds the Buddha’s prohibitory precepts first takes the ten vows as a guide, then uses the five solemn pledges to make those vows firm, so that not even a single thought of timidity arises and diligent cultivation continues throughout their life. These five pledges are:

1. To abandon defiling desire

2. To accept offerings

3. To accept reverence

4. To purify the six sense faculties

5. To liberate sentient beings.

“I would rather have this body...” expresses the firmness of the pledge, meaning that one would sooner have one’s body destroyed than violate the precepts. Among the causes that keep sentient beings revolving through birth and death, sensual desire is foremost. Among the things that defile the originally pure ground of the mind, impure conduct ranks first.

Therefore, one must first make this great pledge: “I would rather leap bodily into a fiery pit and endure the suffering of being burned until reduced to ashes and dust; endure the torment of falling into hell, amid mountains of knives and forests of swords; and undergo hundreds of thousands of myriads of agonies—the slicing away of my skin and flesh, limbs, intestines, liver, and so forth—than ever dare violate the Buddha’s sutras and Vinaya by engaging in impure conduct with someone of the opposite sex.” Why is this?

A raging fire or mountain of knives destroys only the physical body of a single lifetime, whereas engaging in impure conduct brings the destruction of body and life throughout myriad kalpas. Therefore, all sentient beings, from beginningless time until now, have sunk in the ocean of suffering and been unable to escape, entirely because they are bound by attraction to the female form and by sensual desire. Like blind people lacking the eye of wisdom, they cannot see the deep abyss of birth and death, which has engulfed countless lives.

The Nirvana Sutra states: “Although a bodhisattva does not physically unite with a woman, if he speaks and jests with her, laughing and playing, or hears from beyond a wall the sound of her bracelets, or even sees men and women chasing one another, that bodhisattva has already destroyed the pure precepts and defiled the practice of celibacy, causing his precepts to become adulterated and impure. They cannot be called the fully endowed pure precepts. If merely hearing sounds and seeing forms can render them adulterated and impure, how much less could a bodhisattva who gives rise to an impure thought be said to possess the fully endowed precepts?”

The preceding passage states, “One should make this pledge,” whereas this passage says, “One should further make this vow.” Thus one should understand that a solemn pledge is the resolute determination within a vow. All clothing, food and drink, medicines, beds, mats, bedding, houses, fields, and gardens are offered to us by faithful donors seeking merit. For our precepts to remain complete, we must also examine our minds, give rise to shame and remorse, and use the field of compassion and the field of reverence in turn to generate merit and virtue. If our precepts are deficient, even a single grain of rice will be difficult to digest, much less will we be able to repay what the donors hope to attain. Therefore, one first establishes this pledge as a warning and safeguard for oneself.

Although acts of prostration entail no expenditure of wealth, they are performed with the utmost sincerity by faithful donors. Thus, when someone respectfully directs their mind toward the Three Jewels, with a single reverent gaze and a single prostration, immeasurable offenses are extinguished and boundless merit arises.

The Yingluo Sutra states: “When a bodhisattva is newly born, he takes seven steps and then raises his left foot, yet immeasurable beings throughout the trichiliocosm neither perceive nor know this. If any beings behold the wheel-mark upon the sole of his foot, they all arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed, right enlightenment. This blessed reward results from having formerly reverently paid homage to the Tathagata.

One should know that although the merit thereby gained is great, the offense incurred through transgression is likewise not slight. Now, if one has broken the precepts and yet accepts the reverence and prostrations of others, one diminishes one’s own merit considerably; how, then, could one enable them to increase their merit and goodness? Those who possess a sense of shame should carefully reflect upon this.

Previously, one vowed that the body and speech would not accept the four kinds of offerings from others. Now one makes vows concerning the six faculties: one must not indulge in or become defiled by and attached to the five sensory objects. The mental faculty is not separately discussed because, with regard to each of the five faculties, the text says, ‘the mind that has broken the precepts’; this mind is precisely the mental faculty.

Moreover, the mental faculty is formless, and the object of mind has no substantial form, so it cannot be illustrated in the same way as the five faculties. Yet when the mental faculty engages the objects of the five senses and discriminates them as good or bad, these are themselves objects of mind; therefore, another separate object of mind cannot be established. Thus, when the six faculties become defiled by the six objects, it is like a fly stuck in phlegm and spittle.

Now that the body of precepts has been ruined, the life of wisdom is forever lost; one must therefore make solemn vows and establish severe ordeals as safeguards. Thus, one would rather endure the agony of hundreds of thousands of sharp knives and keen swords piercing one’s heart than ever gaze upon beautiful forms; likewise, one would rather not crave to wear fine, soft garments, lie upon comfortable bedding, and so forth.

Only by employing this mind of solemn resolve to sever the source of evil can wholesome roots arise. Therefore, the Sutra of the Bequeathed Teaching states: ‘The calamities caused by the five faculties bring affliction through many lifetimes and inflict immeasurable harm; one cannot fail to be vigilant. Therefore, the wise restrain them and do not follow them, guarding them as they would guard against thieves.

Even if they are allowed to run free, it should be only for an instant, and they must immediately be brought under control.’

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom states: “As the Buddha taught, one should rather press red-hot iron against one’s own eyes than cast a defiled glance upon a woman’s beauty. A wise person should not gaze upon beautiful forms. If one wishes to contemplate them, one should regard that person as one’s mother, elder sister, and so forth. Look closely and contemplate how the body is filled with impurity. If the fire of lust is not extinguished, one will be consumed by it. Such is the danger of visible forms; the dangers of sounds, scents, flavors, and tangible objects may be understood accordingly.”

Although the four vows above are said to concern liberating oneself, they also encompass liberating others. Why is this so? A bodhisattva practices fundamentally for the sake of sentient beings.

If one cannot liberate oneself, how can one liberate others? This is unlike the Two Vehicles, which seek only self-liberation. Therefore, the vow now made—that sentient beings attain Buddhahood—is precisely the bodhisattva’s original intent.

It is the great vow through which benefiting oneself and benefiting others are together brought to the fruition of Buddhahood. Those who do not make this vow do so because they have not established the preceding five solemn vows. If one does not establish the ten vows and the five solemn vows, then even though one may cultivate and observe the practices, at most one will avoid falling into the Two Vehicles and merely enjoy blessed rewards in the heavenly and human realms.

Precept 37

ONE MUST NOT TRAVEL IN DANGEROUS PLACES WHERE CALAMITIES MAY OCCUR

As a disciple of the Buddha, during the two seasons one should regularly practice the dhutanga disciplines, while in winter and summer one should practice seated meditation and undertake the rains retreat. One should always carry a willow twig, ash-water, the three robes, an alms bowl, a sitting mat, a staff, an incense-burner case, a water-straining bag, a hand towel, a knife, a firestone, tweezers, a rope bed, the sutras and Vinaya, an image of the Buddha, and an image of a bodhisattva.

When a bodhisattva practices the dhutanga disciplines and travels back and forth over hundreds or thousands of miles, these eighteen articles should always be carried along. During the two periods of dhutanga practice—from the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to the fifteenth day of the third lunar month, and from the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month to the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month—one should always carry these eighteen articles, just as a bird has two wings.

When the day of the uposatha arrives, a newly ordained bodhisattva must regularly conduct the uposatha every half-month and recite the ten major precepts and the forty-eight minor precepts.

When the precepts are recited, they should be recited before images of the Buddha and bodhisattvas. If only one person conducts the uposatha, that person recites them. If there are two or three people, or even hundreds or thousands, only one person recites. The reciter sits upon the Dharma seat, while the listeners sit below it. All must wear the nine-panel, seven-panel, or five-panel robe dyed in subdued colors. When undertaking the rains retreat, every matter must be carried out in accordance with the Dharma.

When practicing the dhutanga disciplines, do not go to places where calamities may occur, such as perilous and lawless countries, realms ruled by cruel kings, rugged terrain, dense forests, places inhabited by lions, tigers, and wolves, or places subject to floods, storms, fires, bandits, or roads infested with venomous snakes. One must not go to any such dangerous place. Not only during the practice of dhutanga, but also when undertaking the rains retreat, one must not enter such perilous places. If one deliberately enters them, this disciple of the Buddha commits a minor defiling offense.

Explanation:

Karma has accumulated over many lifetimes. The reason its results have not yet been experienced is that the requisite conditions have not yet been encountered. When conditions are met, karmic results follow as an echo follows a sound and as a shadow follows a form; if the conditions have not yet been encountered, the results must await another time.

Traveling in dangerous places is like a moth hurling itself into a flame. How much more precious is a human body, which is as difficult to obtain as it is for a blind turtle to encounter the hole in a floating log. Suppose one encounters adverse conditions, momentarily loses the eye of wisdom, and undergoes great suffering. Because of this, one may fall into the three evil destinies, presently lose the meritorious conditions conducive to the path, and forever drift in the harbor of delusion. Moreover, who can foresee the many disasters, great and small? To bring upon oneself the calamity of an untimely death is truly lamentable.

The two seasons are spring and autumn, when the climate is mild and one is hindered by neither heat nor cold, making it convenient for a bodhisattva to travel and teach.

Dhutanga is also called dhuta (translated into Chinese as “shaking off”), meaning to shake off the afflictions of greed, anger, and delusion in the three realms and escape the bonds of love and hatred within samsara. There are twelve dhutanga practices, as clearly set forth in the Great Prajnaparamita Sutra:

1. Dwelling in an aranya (translated into Chinese as “a quiet place”), approximately six miles from a village or settlement.

2. Always going on almsround.

3. Wearing a patched robe, namely a rag robe.

4. Eating only one meal a day.

5. Moderating one’s consumption of food and drink.

6. Not eating after noon, but drinking only fruit juice.

7. Sitting in a cemetery.

8. Dwelling beneath a tree.

9. Sitting in an open place.

10. Always sitting and never lying down.

11. Going on almsround in consecutive order, without choosing wealthy households.

12. Wearing only the three robes, without keeping surplus robes.

To remain free from defilement and attachment regarding food and drink, clothing, lodging, and rest is to abandon hindrances and swiftly attain liberation.

The Great Treatise states: “The precepts established by the Buddha must be received and upheld by his disciples.” The twelve dhutanga practices are not called precepts. If one is able to practice them, the precepts are adorned; if one does not practice them, one does not thereby violate the precepts. This is like giving: if one practices generosity, one gains merit, but if one does not give, one does not thereby incur an offense.

In winter and summer, one practices seated meditation. Winter brings snow and cold, while summer brings oppressive heat, as well as many kinds of insects, earthworms, crickets, mosquitoes, and gnats. If one travels at such times, the cold or heat may injure the body, and one may also harm the lives of sentient beings. Therefore, one remains in retreat and practices seated meditation.

The eighteen articles are carried along just as a bird has two wings and may freely fly wherever it wishes. Thus equipped, one may travel hundreds or thousands of miles without lacking anything necessary for use. This is so in terms of practical matters, but in terms of principle there are superior and inferior interpretations.

A willow twig is used to cleanse the karma of speech. Ash-water is used to cleanse bodily karma. Water from the purification vase is used to cleanse mental karma.

A single alms bowl signifies contentment and the abandonment of wrong livelihood. The three robes eliminate the three poisons; wearing them is to don the armor of the great vows. The sitting cloth provides a secure seat for the Dharma-body of the fivefold virtues.

The khakkhara staff signifies the raising of the banner of sages and worthies. Incense signifies the fragrance of the virtue of the precepts. The incense burner signifies steadfast observance of the precepts.

The incense box, a vessel with a level bottom for holding incense, signifies the impartial mind-ground of a bodhisattva. The water-straining bag represents the compassionate practice of saving sentient beings. The hand towel is for wiping away the sweat of shamelessness and lack of moral dread.

The knife subdues the four maras. The flint signifies the light of wisdom, which dispels the darkness of ignorance, delusion, and folly. The tweezers are used to extract the roots of afflictions.

The corded bed signifies the seat of the Dharma of emptiness.

The sutras and Vinaya proclaim the source of the Great Vehicle’s mind tradition. The image of the Buddha signifies the supreme fruition of the Tathagata.

The image of a bodhisattva signifies the wondrous cause cultivated by a bodhisattva. To realize the supreme fruition, one must possess the wondrous cause; to establish the successive stages of that wondrous cause, one must first understand the mind-ground. In these eighteen requisites, both principle and practice are complete. One must not allow them to be separated from one’s person even for an instant; if one abandons them, one is not practicing the great path of the bodhisattva.

The summer retreat begins on the sixteenth day of the fourth lunar month and ends on the full-moon day of the seventh lunar month. These are three months of remaining within the prescribed boundaries, a necessary period of three months devoted to diligent cultivation.

Regular posadha means that throughout the year, at every half-month observance—the waxing and waning moon—the precept scripture is always recited, without omitting any observance. Here only newly studying bodhisattvas are mentioned because those of long study already clearly know the customary rule of all Buddhas that the precepts are recited once every half month. It is feared that newly studying bodhisattvas may not yet understand the prescribed rite of monthly precept recitation.

It does not mean that bodhisattvas of long study do not recite them. Thus the preceding passage clearly states: “Vairocana Buddha recites them; I also recite them in the same way; the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times also recite them in the same way.” From this it is evident that the recitation is not performed solely by newly studying bodhisattvas.

They are instructed to recite before images of the Buddha and bodhisattvas, clearly showing that the recitation of newly studying bodhisattvas is no different from that of the Buddha and bodhisattvas. When one person performs posadha, that one person recites; even when there are hundreds or thousands of people, only one person recites. This prevents the assembly from becoming noisy and confused, enabling each person to attain single-minded concentration. The reciter sits upon a high seat and recites clearly, thereby showing that the Dharma of the precepts must be revered. The listeners sit upon lower seats so that they may hear everything and also demonstrate humility by honoring the precepts in their hearts.

Kasaya, in full in Sanskrit, is said to be jia-sha-zhe (translated into Chinese as “spoiled color”) and is also called a reddish color. The robe is dyed in three inferior hues—blue, black, and magnolia—to produce a spoiled color like that of a yellow mulberry leaf, distinguishing it from the five primary colors. When its functions are explained in detail, however, its names and meanings are not limited to one.

The five-panel robe is called the antarvasa (translated into Chinese as the lower robe). The seven-panel robe is called the uttarasanga (translated into Chinese as the upper robe). The nine-panel robe is called the sanghati, translated into Chinese as the double robe. This robe has nine grades, ranging from nine to twenty-five panels. Here only the first grade is mentioned in brief. It also symbolizes the half-monthly recitation of the precepts, which is the foremost gateway for benefiting the nine realms.

“According to the Dharma every half month” means that not only must the precepts be recited every half month, but during the summer retreat as well, everything must be performed according to the Dharma, and the half-monthly recitation of the precepts must never be omitted.

If, when the time for retreat arrives, one does not enter the retreat but recklessly travels here and there, this is called reckless travel in places where there are dangers and impediments. In the present age we are far removed from the Buddha; the periods of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma have already passed, and we are now in the Final Dharma age. Posadha has been abandoned, and the true teaching is seldom heard.

In the monasteries, nine out of ten people do not practice it. Some ascend the Dharma seat on the first and fifteenth days of the month to instruct the assembly and call this posadha. Some even drink tea and converse at night, calling that a karman.

Alas! The Dharma is about to perish—who then remains upright? We can only rely upon great and powerful beings to perpetuate the lineage of the noble ones, maintain the regulations of the precepts and Vinaya, remedy the abuses of this latter age, and propagate the true teaching for later students.

Although it is said that we are far removed from the sages, it may then be no different from the age of the True Dharma. If the posadha is abolished and replaced with lectures on doctrine, one will consequently be reproached by spirits and deities. Although the arhats considered themselves pure, the Blessed One still personally summoned them to assemble for posadha.

What manner of people are we, then, that we dare make light of the precepts and Vinaya? Here only one or two examples are presented so that we may feel ashamed, admonish ourselves, and remain vigilant.

In former times, the monk Fan of Dajue Monastery in Yedong County in the state of Qi was a man of lofty and pure virtue in the precepts. He observed the precepts with great care and never transgressed them. Once, while staying at another monastery and wishing to hear the precepts, on the night of the fifteenth he heard the assembly discussing the recitation of the precepts and the performance of posadha.

In order to discuss the doctrine by a more direct and expedient method, they had a monk ascend the seat and say: “Let us directly discuss the characteristics of the Dharma so that we may deeply understand the intent of the sages. Why trouble ourselves with the exhausting labor of performing posadha?” The Sangha all agreed. Suddenly, a deity more than ten feet tall sprang forth, terrifying everyone.

He asked the person who had proposed the expedient teaching: “What day is today?” The man replied: “It is the day of posadha.” The deity immediately struck him and pushed him from the seat. The monk fell down and was nearly killed. The deity then questioned two or three senior monks, who gave the same answer.

He reproached and tormented each of them in turn, beating them until they were more dead than alive, and then threw his robe over his shoulder and departed. Monastics and laypeople alike all witnessed this. Having seen it, the monk Fan strove throughout his life to honor the precepts.

Furthermore, the monk Yun of Baoming Monastery in Yexia County in the state of Qi was the leader of the assembly. On the fifteenth day of the fourth month, the assembly gathered intending to recite the precepts. As the foremost monk, Yun addressed the assembly: “The precepts fundamentally prevent wrongdoing and put an end to faults. Everyone can recite them, so why must they be recited repeatedly? We need only appoint one monk to recite an abbreviated version so that people of later generations may gain awakening.” Monk Yun was renowned at the time, so no one dared oppose him, and they were obliged to wait until the end of the summer retreat. Throughout that summer, the Sangha regularly omitted the recitation of the precepts.

On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, the assembly wished to gather and perform the pravarana ceremony, but suddenly Monk Yun was nowhere to be found. The assembly searched for him in all directions. More than three li from the monastery, the Sangha found him inside an ancient tomb, his entire body drenched in blood as though someone had sliced his flesh.

When the assembly questioned him, Monk Yun replied: “A great man wielding a knife more than three feet long loudly demanded to know how I dared alter the appointed dates and times of posadha and introduce an abbreviated recitation. The knife hacked into my body, causing unbearable pain.” The assembly supported Monk Yun and brought him back to the monastery, where he wholeheartedly repented. For the following ten years, Monk Yun always regarded the recitation of the precepts and the performance of posadha as his personal duty.

Therefore, when he approached death, an extraordinary fragrance encircled his body.

A perilous and evil land is one in which both the people and the environment are unwholesome. When the ruler of a country has an unwholesome mind, he has no reverence for the Three Jewels, and there will inevitably be contempt for and denigration of śramaṇas. Where the terrain rises and falls, the hills and mountains are rugged; where the ground is low, it is damp; dwellings are insecure; and in deep forests there are many wild beasts and gatherings of evil spirits.

Lions, wolves, and jackals are fierce beasts that harm people. There are dangers of being drowned by water, burned by fire, or struck down by wind; bandits plunder and pillage, and venomous snakes harm people. All dangers are represented here by merely enumerating these eight kinds; the others are so numerous that they cannot all be recounted, and hence the text says “all.” One must not enter any place where there is danger of losing one’s life or one’s pure conduct.

If one knowingly and deliberately enters, one commits an offense. Some say: “A bodhisattva will even offer his body to a starving tiger; how could one be permitted to avoid remote places?” Such words truly fail to comprehend the correct principle. Offering one’s body as food for a tiger is intended to save the starving tiger from death; giving one’s body in place of a dove is intended to save its life.

But recklessly entering a savage land, casting oneself amid dangers of flood and fire, or going to places infested by bandits and venomous snakes—if this brings them no benefit, what benefit could it bring to the Dharma? This is especially true for one newly practicing the bodhisattva path, whose power of patience is not yet sufficient. To lose one’s life unjustifiably, while self-view has not yet been relinquished, is also to lose right mindfulness.

One should instead wait until the body of the five skandhas attains unhindered supernatural powers; then one may enter a cauldron of boiling oil or a furnace of burning coals to undergo suffering in another’s stead, or transform one’s entire body into a mountain of flesh to relieve the hunger of sentient beings. These are the wondrous functions of a bodhisattva practicing the Dharma of the six paramitas. How could they be compared with someone who, out of a reckless disposition, travels through places fraught with danger?

Question: Apart from the dangers mentioned above, which one must not approach, if one should happen to encounter such a danger unexpectedly, how should one respond?

Answer: The Treatise on the Bodhisattva’s Training states: “If, through causes and conditions, one encounters dangerous circumstances, one should face them with right mindfulness and not give rise to fear.” Therefore, in the Prajnaparamita Sutra, the Buddha taught Śāriputra: “Suppose a bodhisattva finds himself amid the danger of wild beasts. He does not give rise to cowardice, sorrow, or fear. Why is this?

Because he gives rise to this thought: ‘I should benefit sentient beings and relinquish everything. If these fierce beasts wish to eat my flesh, I shall give it to them, thereby swiftly perfecting the paramita of generosity. May it be that, when I attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, my land will be pure and even the names of fierce beasts and venomous creatures will no longer be heard.’ Even when encountering the danger of bandits, he does not give rise to alarm, sorrow, anxiety, or fear.

Why is this? Because this bodhisattva has relinquished everything he possesses and reflects: ‘If bandits come wishing to take something, I shall give it to them. Even if the bandits wish to take my body, my three karmic activities shall remain free from anger, so that I may swiftly perfect the paramita of morality and fully accomplish the paramita of patience.

May it be that, when I am about to attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, my land will be pure and the very name of such bandits will no longer be heard.’” As the sutra records: “Free from all sorrow, fear, and so forth, one does not lose right mindfulness and can moreover accomplish all virtues.”