重治毗尼事義集要

PREFACE TO THE ESSENTIAL COMPENDIUM OF THE MEANINGS OF VINAYA MATTERS, REVISED AND EDITED

The teachings of the Tathagata have resounded throughout the Eastern Land, and from beginning to end this has depended upon the precepts and Vinaya. Through them, the compassionate voice of the Dharma has been proclaimed to sentient beings, spreading, flourishing, and reaching completeness down to the present day.

Whether the precepts and Vinaya flourish or decline depends entirely upon people, yet people today have reached a state of extreme degeneration!

In many places throughout this land, the conferral of precepts has not accorded with the Vinaya and the Dharma. More precisely, even today, both the conferral and reception of precepts in our country are conducted incorrectly. This is truly an error that harms both oneself and others. All these abuses arise because masters and disciples transmit practices to one another that run contrary to the teachings established by the Buddha.

The Venerable Master Chấn Công of Thiên Thọ was thoroughly versed in the practice of the three schools and had penetrated even their most subtle points. Carrying his staff, he traveled and taught throughout the land of Qin, and through favorable circumstances came to reside at Thiên Thọ. Grieving that the Vinaya was not being propagated, he vowed to reform these abuses.

For more than ten years, he placed the Vinaya foremost. Consequently, among his disciples were several who aspired to transmit and preserve the precepts and Vinaya, of whom Bhikkhu Tấn Liêu was the most devoted and capable. Endowed with exceptional natural ability, Tấn Liêu specialized in the Vinaya school, studied the entire teaching of the Vinaya, and exhaustively investigated the guiding principles of the five divisions ⁽¹⁾.

Regrettably, commentators on the Vinaya were not numerous, while the Vinaya Piṭaka itself was complex. Thus, it was difficult for students to penetrate it thoroughly. Only this Revised Treatment of the Vinaya is capable of awakening people to the present abuses and adequately clarifying the proper direction. Therefore, I earnestly wished to have printing blocks carved so that it might circulate in the world, hoping thereby to meet everyone’s needs to some extent.

The aspiration was one thing, but circumstances did not permit its realization. Fortunately, the bhikkhus Cốc Ấp, Triêu Dương, Truyền Giới, and Tự Luật likewise thought: “If printing blocks for the Revised Treatment of the Vinaya could be carved and the work put into circulation, it would benefit the study of the Vinaya and provide later generations with a source from which to learn.”

At that time, Cửu Thánh, Tuệ Thạch, Phật Bích, Thiên Thọ, Trí Đài, and several other elder Vinaya masters unanimously agreed to appoint people to manage the finances and begin the printing. All were united in resolve, never flagging despite hardship and never shrinking from obstacles. Only after two years of carving the blocks was the work completed.

I humbly hope that all who see or hear of this work will joyfully receive and uphold it, so that the sun of the Precepts may be suspended in the open sky and the True Dharma restored in this final age. Furthermore, may we not fail the Patriarch’s compassionate devotion to the Dharma, and may we repay the Buddha’s benevolent grace, even if only as a single drop of water in the vast ocean!

Composed by the Vinaya student Bhikkhu Trí Đài

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The original preface to the Essential Compendium of the Meanings of Vinaya Matters and this table of contents were absent from the first block-printed edition. Subsequent research revealed that the original Japanese edition held at the École française d’Extrême-Orient in Hanoi was complete in every respect, and its printing blocks had been corrected to perfection. That edition contains the entire work from beginning to end. From the “Introductory Remarks...” in the first volume through the “Dedication of Merit” in volume 18, it comprises 595 folios in all, which are now respectfully recorded here.

This edition is preserved at Bửu Khám Temple, Tế Xuyên Commune, Nam Xương District, Lý Nhân Prefecture, Hà Nam Province.

PREFACE TO THE ESSENTIAL COMPENDIUM OF THE REVISED TREATMENT OF THE VINAYA

I was born in the hour of the Boar, on the third day of the fifth month in the year Kỷ Hợi, the twenty-seventh year of the Wanli era of the Ming dynasty (1599).

At the age of twenty-four, I shaved my head and entered monastic life on the seventh day of the fifth month in the year Nhâm Tuất, namely 1622.

The following year, on the eighth day of the twelfth month, I received the Full Ordination1 before an image of Venerable Master Vân Thê. In the year after that, I received the bodhisattva precepts before the stupa of Venerable Master Vân Thê. All the acharyas were venerable Dharma masters of ancient virtue.

At the age of twenty-seven, in the spring, I studied the Vinaya and composed the “Concise Essentials of the Meanings of Vinaya Matters,” which amounted to only slightly more than one hundred folios.

At the age of thirty, during the summer, I studied the Vinaya for a second time and composed four additional fascicles.

At the age of thirty-one, during the winter, I studied the Vinaya for a third time and compiled six fascicles comprising eighteen volumes.

At the age of thirty-two, during the summer, I taught it once in great detail to three friends: Tịch Cốc, Như Thị, and Tuyết Hàng. That year, I added an opening and a concluding fascicle, bringing the total to eight fascicles.

At the age of thirty-three, during the winter, I taught only seven volumes to Dharma Master Kim Đài, a fellow native of my homeland, at Phật Nhật Temple on Mount Cao Đình in Linh Phong.

During the summer of the following year, I continued by teaching the entire work to ten practitioners. Among those ten was Bhikkhu Triết Nhân, who was capable of putting it into practice.

At the age of thirty-five, I held the summer retreat at Tiểu Hồ Temple in western Kim Đình and taught the work once to nine bhikkhus. Among them were three worthy venerable ones—Triết Nhân, Tự Quán, and Duyên Huyễn—who merited particular attention.

At the age of thirty-six, during the winter, I taught it once again at Huyễn Trú Hermitage in Ngô Môn. There were approximately five or six listeners, among whom the two bhikkhus Tự Quán and Tăng Tụ were capable of putting it into practice.

At the age of thirty-eight, I entered Mount Cửu Hoa; at forty, I traveled to the region of Mân Trung; and at forty-four, I arrived at Điều Thành. During the thirteen or fourteen years that followed, I saw that I could accomplish nothing further, for there was no one with whom I could exchange insights, while my own ability was limited. Triết Nhân, Tự Quán, and Tăng Tụ had all passed away. The study of the Vinaya truly failed to flourish.

At the age of fifty-one, during the winter, I returned from Kim Lăng to my dwelling place at Linh Phong. During the following year’s rains retreat, approximately ten practitioners aroused the aspiration to study the Vinaya and asked me to teach this work again. Reflecting upon the materials I had previously compiled, I saw that although the valuable passages had been included, the individual topics had not yet been carefully selected and arranged.

Moreover, the two sections titled “Questions and Deliberations” and “Pronunciations and Meanings” had not yet been printed. It therefore seemed best to incorporate them into this Essential Compendium and revise the whole. I then edited and finalized the text, removing prolix passages and retaining the essential and concise portions, so that those of dull faculties would not have to lament the oceanic vastness of Vinaya studies.

On the twenty-first day of the sixth month in the year Canh Dần (1650), the śramaṇa Trí Húc, also known as Ngẫu Ích, of ancient Ngô, personally wrote this preface.

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INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The Vinaya Piṭaka is the governing principle of the Buddhadharma, the lifeblood of the Sangha, a wholesome harbor upon the sea of suffering, and the true path leading to nirvana. Beginning at Kê Viên (*), the Blessed One established the study of the Vinaya. When he called, “Come, bhikkhu,” the one thus summoned immediately accomplished the essence of the precepts. Later, as the Blessed One was about to pass away between the twin sal trees, he himself instructed: “The precepts and Vinaya are of foremost importance.”

Although precepts were established only when violations occurred, the essence of the precepts accords directly with the unmanifest; therefore, provisions were opened according to conditions and prohibitions imposed according to circumstances. This precisely reveals the subtle vitality and comprehensive scope of Vinaya studies.

The precepts and Vinaya form the common path of both the Mahayana and the Hinayana; how could they be merely a separate path for the śrāvakas?

Alas! At the end of the Semblance Dharma age, people are benighted and fail to realize the true doctrine. The ignorant are narrow in learning and experience, while those of unbridled intellect fall into arrogance.

Some rely on the devices of Chan to evade discipline, while others use the Vaipulya teachings⁽²⁾ to embellish their manner of speech. All of them remain bound by words and letters; how many truly understand the real meaning? The Venerable Huineng received the mind-seal from the Fifth Patriarch at Huangmei; yet why did he not immediately go forth to propagate the teaching at Caoxi, but instead had to ascend the ordination platform and receive full ordination?

National Preceptor Chengguan propagated the doctrine of the Avatamsaka at Mount Wutai and served as a model for everyone from the imperial court to the common people, yet he still established ten vows by which to govern himself. While the Great Hero was still in the world, the Treasure of the Dharma and the Treasure of the Sangha were both brought forth by the Perfectly Awakened One. But after the World-Honored One entered parinirvana, both the Treasure of the Buddha and the Treasure of the Dharma were established through the Sangha.

If the Sangha observed only the ten major precepts and forty-eight minor precepts, how would its members differ from householders? And without the Five Divisions and Seven Categories⁽³⁾, how could one recognize the nobility of leaving the secular life behind?

Therefore, it should be understood that the Brahma Net Sutra encompasses all five destinies except the hells; because it extends throughout them, its scope is vast. The Vinaya Pitaka applies only to human beings and guards against calamities. Precisely because it was established in this way, it is exalted. There are surely those who, admiring the Mahayana, refuse to be bound by minor details: they grow their hair, do not wear Dharma robes, and wish to become lotus blossoms in a sea of fire. If they cherish compassion for beings in the Final Dharma age and aspire to become pillars of the teaching, why do they instead indulge themselves and act recklessly according to their own desires, willingly becoming worms within the lion’s body?

I, Zhixu, reflected that my karmic obstructions were too heavy for me to practice according to the wondrous principle. I also lamented that I had grown older without having drawn near to sages and worthies. Most painful of all was that time could not be held back. I therefore bade farewell to my loving mother and left the household life, thinking that rebirth in the Pure Land might be attainable. I revered Great Master Lianchi, but could study with him only through the writings he left behind.

Whenever I considered the discipline of the School and recalled the bearing of Master Zibo, who protected the Dharma without regard for his own life, I vowed to carry on the lineage of Kuangshan. Yet on seeing the conduct of contemporary followers, I could only sigh; and when I read the Sutra of the Bequeathed Teaching, my sorrow deepened still further.

At last, toward the end of winter in the jiazi year, I paid homage at the Stupa of Infinite Light. My admiration grew ever deeper, and I aroused the supreme resolve, beseeching the ancient virtuous acaryas to bear witness as I undertook the study of the bodhisattva precepts. Thereafter, I consulted the Vinaya texts of both the Mahayana and the Hinayana, taking the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya as the standard and referring also to the Vinayas of the other schools, and compiled the Concise Essentials of the Meaning of Vinaya Matters.

I undertook this work with my dull and unsophisticated powers of understanding, and therefore could not fully present the loftiness and breadth of Vinaya learning. Nevertheless, I did it to prepare provisions for my own path, with an impartial mind seeking no personal gain.

In the spring of the wuchen year, I met Jie Gong of Xuehang and was greatly delighted by his rigorous purity in the Vinaya. This prompted me to hasten into the mountains to reexamine the many errors and omissions that still remained in my excerpts and notes. I went to the Chan grotto of Longju and reviewed the texts in the Canon.

Without regard to whether they belonged to my own school or another, I excerpted every essential matter. I thoroughly investigated the relative gravity of Vinaya offenses so as to establish clear standards for permissions and prohibitions. At the same time, I examined the Great Vinaya to trace the origins of agreements and differences.

I did my utmost to avoid private opinions and thus did not fall into the error of disparaging the Hinayana. Consequently, those who favor strict adherence to the rule would have little occasion to invoke Mahayana principles in criticism. Having critically collated the work into one collection, I entitled it The Collected Essentials of the Meaning of Vinaya Matters.

I sought the opinions of the venerable Zhenji, Elder Bu, and Chan Master Boshan Wuyi, and they all encouraged me to have it carved and circulated.

Thereafter, together with my two Dharma friends Biru and Guiyi, I once again carefully reviewed and discussed it, supplementing the text and bringing it to completion.

The Dharma Master of Jintai at Fori Monastery was greatly pleased and arranged for the woodblocks to be carved. Surely the conditions for the flourishing of the Buddhadharma depend upon this very time.

Yet alas! These collected essentials are like a tiny mote of dust compared with the wondrous mountain-like substance of the Vinaya. This work is the result of my meager abilities, but I may say that I have exerted myself to the utmost.

I regret that my understanding is exceedingly crude and superficial and that my practice is deficient. Looking upward, I am deeply ashamed before the sages and worthies of the past; looking downward, I feel still more embarrassed before those who come after me. I earnestly hope that good friends who study alongside me will consider the sincerity of my heart, take pity on my dullness and backwardness, and with one heart and one resolve uphold the destiny of the Buddhadharma, thereby repaying in some measure the Buddha’s benevolence.

At the beginning of spring in the xinwei year, Zhixu wrote this at ancient Yongqing Monastery on Gaoting.

ORIGINAL POSTSCRIPT

The Mahasanghika Vinaya states:

“Any good man who wishes to establish the Buddhadharma must resolutely receive and uphold this Vinaya. Anyone who wishes the Buddhadharma to abide long in the world must resolutely receive and uphold this Vinaya. Anyone whose heart is fearful because of transgressions and who wishes to find a refuge must resolutely receive and uphold this Vinaya. Anyone who wishes to be free of doubts and regrets, so that he need not question others, must resolutely receive and uphold this Vinaya. Anyone who wishes to travel everywhere teaching and transforming others without obstruction must receive and uphold this Vinaya.”

The Sarvastivada Treatise states:

“The Vinaya possesses four meanings not found in other scriptures:

– First, it is the level ground of the Buddhadharma, from which all wholesome dharmas grow.

– Second, all disciples of the Buddha rely upon the Vinaya in their daily lives, and all communities arise through the precepts.

– Third, it is the first gateway leading to nirvana.

– Fourth, it is the jeweled necklace adorning the Buddhadharma.

Because it possesses these four meanings, nothing is more precious than the Vinaya.”

Alas! The benefits of the precepts are by no means slight. Why, then, now that we are so far removed from the Buddha, are errors so numerous, and why do beings in the Final Dharma age so seldom encounter exemplars of the true tradition?

Since the precepts and Vinaya were transmitted to China, beginning with Master Sengkai during the Cao Wei dynasty and continuing through Vinaya Masters Zihui and Huaisu down to the present, those thoroughly versed in the Vinaya have been exceedingly rare. At times, one or two great beings have fully comprehended and propagated it, yet their efforts have not resembled a lion emerging from its den, but have instead been like the king of geese selecting only the milk to drink while leaving the water behind.

Closer to our own time, they have abandoned the guiding principles revered by the Five Schools and adopted instead secondary outlines composed of questions and answers. They urgently emphasize what may be deferred and defer what is urgent, contradicting one another and straying ever farther in their search for the lost sheep. Consequently, outstanding persons have never cared to inquire into the Vinaya.

On what, then, can we depend for the moon of the precepts to shine brightly in the deep night and for the ancient guiding principles to be maintained without interruption?

I, Shouchou, carefully read the writings handed down to us and was deeply moved. I saw that my elder Dharma brother Zhixu cherished the Right Dharma profoundly and possessed exceedingly deep compassionate vows. He investigated all the most recondite passages of the Vinaya Pitaka, personally selecting the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya as the guiding framework and using the other Vinayas to illuminate it.

Tracing the stream to its very source, he obtained the ambrosia and gathered his findings into many fascicles. All accord with the teachings of the ancient worthies and are not empty or exaggerated words. May anyone who drinks even a single drop thereby cure all long-standing illnesses; and may those who drink their fill prevent illness from ever arising anew.

That the ocean of the precepts will become clear and pure depends precisely upon this undertaking.

I do not know what wholesome causes I cultivated in previous lives that I am now able to take part in this Vinaya assembly. Overcome with joy, I hastened to taste it first and offer a few words at the end of this work.

One who understands the True Dharma certainly does not act out of calculation; one who is unworthy does not presume to associate himself with the excellence of others.

In the spring of the Gengwu year, the junior fellow student of the Vinaya, the later student Shouchou of Wuxi, respectfully inscribed this.

(This colophon appears at the end of the eighteenth fascicle of the Essentials of the Meaning of Vinaya Matters. It is placed here in accordance with the arrangement of the former revised edition.)

GENERAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

QUESTION: The study of the Vinaya emphasizes firm faith and diligent practice. Whoever observes the Five Divisions will surely be born among humans or devas; but when that person's merit is exhausted, what will happen thereafter? Those who practice according to the Chan School or the doctrinal teachings must first know how to open their eyes; only afterward can the morality arising together with the Path(a) come forth. This is the urgent matter. The ancients said, “What is valued is seeing the nature, not observance.” Is this not correct?

ANSWER: The study of the Vinaya is the true cause of transcending the world. Only by perfecting the paramita of morality can one attain the stage of Buddhahood. How, then, could the study of the Vinaya be merely a source of blessings leading to birth among humans and devas? Although the Chan School and the doctrinal teachings are alike in seeing the nature, if one wishes to set aside the precepts and speak separately of the teachings and Chan, this is merely abandoning phenomena in pursuit of principle and falling into wrong views.

Master Guishan said, “If one has not drawn near to and studied the precepts, how can one penetrate the true meaning of the Supreme Vehicle?”

The Venerable Jingxi said, “The first four precepts serve as objects of contemplation; the latter six are contemplated together; phenomena and principle mutually include one another.”(b)

One should therefore understand that none of the Divisions or Categories may be lacking. People of the world slight phenomena yet wish to attain profound principle. Upon examination, this notion is utterly illusory and has no foundation whatsoever. If the objects of contemplation are lacking, what is there to contemplate? Yet both the Chan School and the doctrinal teachings contain clear admonitions concerning this. Why do people not reflect upon them?

The ancients said, “What is valued is seeing the nature, not observance,” precisely because seeing the nature necessarily includes observance, whereas observance does not necessarily include seeing the nature. If we now regard the Buddha’s unsurpassed Dharma of the precepts as belonging merely to the human and deva realms, discard all disciplinary rules, and speak idly only of the morality arising together with the Path, then right view has already been destroyed, and erroneous practice naturally follows. Such a person will certainly fall into the three evil destinies; even if that person wishes to be born among humans or devas, it will be impossible.

QUESTION: In the Dharma-ending age, people have dull faculties, so teachings should be presented only in brief. Because everyone fears the intricate complexity of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, they merely place it on a high shelf and venerate it. Yet this Essentials cites additional Vinayas, making matters still more troublesome. Why not simply use the Dharmaguptaka Pratimoksha to explain the points of uncertainty briefly? Would that not be better?

ANSWER: In the Dharma-ending age, people have dull faculties. Their preference for brevity and aversion to breadth is an illness—the obstinate preservation of ignorance and lack of understanding. The more they follow this tendency, the further they decline, and in the end their doubts can never be resolved.

To remedy this affliction, one must study broadly and cast off narrow-mindedness; only then can one have a reliable basis. If one merely gives a cursory explanation using the Dharmaguptaka Pratimoksha, how can one clearly analyze the issues of permission, prohibition, observance, and violation? Even those who esteem the Buddha-Dharma will find it difficult to understand, much less those who follow habits of indolence and refuse to pay attention, erring at every turn.

What benefit could there be?

QUESTION: The Dharma gate of mindfulness of the Buddha is vast and easy; one need only have faith in it and practice it. When practitioners strive to recite the Buddha’s name single-mindedly, they naturally prevent misconduct and bring evil deeds to an end. Why must they labor throughout the year to study this Vinaya Dharma, with its vast and troublesome array of terminology and characteristics, which is not at all simple? The highest fruit attained through observing the precepts is merely that of a sravaka; what vastness is there in that? Thus, I fear it cannot compare with concentrating exclusively on developing the wondrous Dharma gate of the Pure Land.

ANSWER: Observing the precepts and being mindful of the Buddha are fundamentally one Dharma gate, not two paths; pure morality is the cause, and the Pure Land is the result. If we call mindfulness of the Buddha a direct path while calling the study of the Vinaya a detour, we have gone against the Buddha’s earnest final instruction. How, then, could we attain the samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha?

Moreover, the precepts are like a boundless ocean and like jewels for which one never tires of seeking; how could they not be vast? To act is to violate; to refrain is to observe. They guarantee liberation; how could they not be simple?

Therefore, although one who single-mindedly recites the Buddha’s name can prevent wrongdoing and halt evil, one who devotes himself wholly to studying the Vinaya truly upholds the Buddha’s luminous teaching. In the present life, that person causes the Three Jewels to flourish; at life’s end, that person is born in the highest grade of the highest rank. What Dharma gate could surpass this in wondrousness?

QUESTION: The Tathagata descended into birth in India. Those precepts concerning offenses established by prohibition were instituted because of criticism from the laypeople of that time; yet the precepts also vary according to locality. Here in our land today, even if they are not observed, laypeople may not necessarily criticize us.

If we were to dispense with the subtle precepts, how would that contravene the Vinaya taught by the Buddha? Moreover, now in the Dharma-ending age, supportive external conditions are few, while the proper internal causes are weak and scarce. If one seeks to preserve all the precepts without violation, how can one expound the teachings widely?

To preserve every minor detail while forfeiting great benefit—surely this is not the original intention of a bodhisattva, one who genuinely studies the One Vehicle?

ANSWER: Possessing profound and far-reaching knowledge and vision, the Tathagata established the precepts for sentient beings throughout the great trichiliocosm. The Group of Six bhiksus were all great provisional bodhisattvas appearing by skillful means. They deliberately assumed the characteristics of sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age and thereby created the causes and conditions for violations of the precepts.

It is precisely because people are indolent and fail to observe both the grave and the minor precepts that the Buddha’s Dharma declines. Today, anyone who wishes to propagate Chan or expound the doctrinal teachings must take observance of the precepts as the foundation. For one whose discipline is pure and rigorous, the proper internal causes become strong and substantial, while supportive external conditions naturally become complete; a portion of the radiance from the white urna mark(c) shines brilliantly.

This is assuredly no false or deluded statement. If we regard the precepts as minor details, we thereby slander the True Dharma. For such a person, discussing Chan or expounding the teachings is merely empty and useless talk.

Even if some influence arising from external conditions is gained, it is all the activity of Mara. What benefit could it bring to the True Dharma?

QUESTION:—The Patriarchs in India were all thoroughly versed in the threefold training. In this crude land, however, we are far removed in time from the Buddha, and people’s knowledge and views are narrow. From the Tang and Song dynasties onward, there were several venerable masters whose spiritual style shone clearly beneath forest trees and beside flowing streams.

Sheltering behind a few woven screens and supporting themselves with a single hoe, they lived lives of complete purity. When they later came forth to lead assemblies, they established the rule: “A day without work is a day without food.” When guiding others, they employed shouts and blows of the staff as skillful means to direct them upward. None of these methods accord with the Vinaya.

Yet well-intentioned people who leave the household life all follow the practice of wandering on foot⁽⁴⁾ into the mountains, and afterward ascend the Dharma seat wearing the robe; later generations have all imitated this manner. Of the many people today who follow the Patriarchs in this way, are they truly bhiksus? If they are not bhiksus, how can they inherit the position of the Patriarchs?

If they are bhiksus, why do they not comply with the regulations of the Vinaya? Furthermore, those who inherit the position of the Patriarchs make light of Vinaya studies. Did the earlier Patriarchs also make light of Vinaya studies in this way?

Moreover, although those who inherit the position of the Patriarchs today do not observe the precepts and Vinaya, they nevertheless transmit the precepts to others. Is it known whether the earlier Patriarchs transmitted the precepts to people in this manner?

ANSWER:—The earlier Patriarchs were of three classes:

-The first class strictly upheld the precepts and Vinaya in purity and served as exemplars for the three realms, such as Masters Huiyuan, Zhiyi, Zuoxi, Yongjia, Jingxi, Damei, Yongming, Juefan, Gaofeng, Zhongfeng, Chushi, and others. Master Juefan did not eat outside the prescribed time; Master Zhongfeng, in both winter and summer, wore only one

. These shining examples are recorded fully and clearly in the historical accounts. From ancient times until the present, there have also been many such spiritual teachers, worthy of our reverence and emulation.

-The second class lived in the age of the declining Dharma and found themselves in unavoidable circumstances. They followed the Buddha’s final injunction, yet dispensed with the subtle precepts. While residing at monasteries, they plowed and cultivated the land; while leading assemblies, they opened up wasteland for farming. Nevertheless, they still fully observed the precepts against eating outside the prescribed time and so forth. In the Baizhang Monastic Rules, the evening meal is called medicine for treating illness and is not called eating gruel; it is regarded merely as taking medicine outside the prescribed time, seven-day medicine, or lifelong medicine.

Furthermore, Master Deshan put away his alms bowl when he saw that the sun had already declined. From such details, one should understand that the matter of not eating outside the prescribed time was clearly established. Yet how would those spiritual teachers have dared to transmit the precepts to others?

Therefore, from the Tang and Song dynasties onward, Chan masters had monasteries for Chan masters, Dharma lecturers had monasteries for Dharma lecturers, and Vinaya masters had monasteries for Vinaya masters. When people first left the household life, most began by studying the Vinaya. Those who attained mastery of the Vinaya took the Vinaya as their school.

Those who did not attain mastery of it studied the teachings or investigated Chan, but they abandoned only minor precepts, never the grave precepts or the precepts intrinsic to moral nature. Those who did not study the Vinaya sought instruction in Chan or doctrine. This was called being urgent regarding the Vehicle but lax regarding the precepts.

Yet they still observed the five fundamental precepts and avoided disparaging or violating the grave precepts. They did not dare call themselves bhiksus and certainly did not dare look down upon students of the Vinaya. Ashamed that they were unable to practice in accordance with the Vinaya, they regarded this as the virtue of moral shame and dread of wrongdoing.

When such persons entered the world to receive and guide others, they received the precepts anew so that both the precepts intrinsic to moral nature and the prohibitive precepts⁽⁵⁾ would be pure, as did the Sixth Patriarch, Huineng, and others. Some cultivated and realized the Way by themselves and, when conditions arose, guided others only once, as did Master Shouchang. Someone asked Master Shouchang:

“The Buddha prescribed that bhiksus must not dig the earth or damage plants and grasses. Why do you now personally plow, sow seeds, weed, and harvest?”

He replied:

“We have merely awakened to the Buddha-mind and inherited the intent of the Patriarchs, showing those with affinity how to perceive mind-nature. If judged according to the True Dharma, we can only be called shaven-headed laymen; how could we be worthy of the name bhiksu?”

He was further asked:

“Suppose today there were someone who could uphold the bhiksu precepts in accordance with the Dharma. How would you regard him?”

He replied:

“If such a person truly existed, we should revere him as we would the Buddha and attend upon him in accordance with the Dharma for serving a teacher. It is not that we are unwilling to do so; in truth, we have not yet been able to do so.”

Likewise, throughout his life, Great Master Zibo ate only gruel in the morning and rice at noon, taking no miscellaneous food besides these. For more than forty years he never lay down. Although he practiced in this way, he still considered himself unable to uphold the subtle precepts; therefore, throughout his life he never dared transmit the novice or bhiksu precepts to others. When circumstances made it unavoidable, he transmitted only the five precepts.

Alas! Since the Patriarchs above revered the precepts and Vinaya in this way, how could they have dared make light of them? Anyone who makes light of the precepts and Vinaya certainly belongs to those holding wrong views and is not truly an exemplary teacher.

-The third class made great use of skillful means. They examined the conditions under which beings might benefit and broke through people’s doubts and attachments; thus, they were not constrained by ordinarily applicable rules. Examples include Bodhisattva Manjusri wielding a sword and threatening the Buddha⁽⁶⁾, and breaking the summer retreat in three places; and Bhiksu Zhongsheng sitting together with a maiden, thereby enabling her to realize the fruit of non-arising.

There were also Hanshan and Shide, who even berated the Vinaya master, and Guizong and Nanquan, who cut a snake in two and killed a cat.... When provisionally manifested, such actions could not be left undone. They were like a skilled physician using arsenic⁽⁷⁾ to cure an illness, or a great general devising battle formations to suppress bandits.

They were employed only for a particular occasion and cannot be incorporated into the essential rules for daily life.

Likewise, shouting at the Buddha, reviling the Patriarchs, striking with great force, and bellowing loudly were all methods that had to be used because circumstances left no alternative. The common saying, “Weapons are instruments of ill omen,” expresses precisely this meaning. They cannot be compared to the use of rice, beans, millet, and maize. Such methods appear contrary to the Vinaya, but those who truly uphold the Vinaya have grasped its intent. Consider, for example, Lady Mallika, who drank alcohol to save someone from death; the Buddha praised her as one who truly observed the fasting precepts.

The Bodhisattva Precepts states: When bodhisattvas perceive an essential deed that must be done, they are permitted to kill, steal, and so forth. When such actions are undertaken for the purpose of benefiting beings, bodhisattvas do not violate the precepts but instead generate and increase abundant merit. If such methods are employed inappropriately, however, they will cause later generations to form erroneous views, and the harm will be considerable, like You Meng imitating Shuao⁽⁸⁾.

Those whose School is no true School and whose Vinaya is no true Vinaya slander the Great Prajnaparamita and engender doubts and errors in later generations. How can they escape retribution in the three evil destinies? Even if they perform meritorious deeds through wrong livelihood in order to entice foolish people to turn toward the Three Jewels, and even if the power of that merit preserves them from immediately falling into the lower realms, in the end they will still be members of the retinue of Mara and adherents of non-Buddhist paths, not disciples of the Buddha.

In the Dharma-ending age, evil beings of this kind are very numerous. They deceive the world and, moreover, through the supporting power of Mara, receive abundant offerings. They often gather hundreds of thousands of their followers and descendants, spreading them throughout the world and destroying the Tathagata’s Vinaya.

Ignorant people, coveting their fame, vie with one another in imitating them, causing well-intentioned people who leave the household life to fall into their factions. They seek to escape, yet fall back into them again—how grievous this is! Nevertheless, because these people take the Three Jewels as the objects of their contemplation, when the retribution for their offenses is exhausted, they will again rely upon the power of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha to attain liberation.

It is like a person who falls upon the ground and, by relying upon the ground, rises again. Such people are still one degree better than those who have never heard the names of the Three Jewels. Therefore Mara said to the Buddha:

“In your Dharma-ending age, we shall send our followers to eat your food, wear your robes, and dwell in your houses in order to destroy your teaching.”

The Buddha told Mara:

“You will only destroy yourselves; my Dharma cannot be destroyed.”

Now, whoever wishes not to fall into the three evil destinies but to proceed directly toward the fruition of the sages must make observance of the precepts the foremost practice. If one is unable to keep the precepts, one should praise them and personally maintain a sense of shame and moral dread.

Having personally assumed the name of one who has received the precepts, how can one disparage the teaching? One does not oneself observe the precepts with purity and rigor, yet acts as a preceptor who transmits them to others. After transmitting the precepts to others, one still does not teach them to study the precepts in accordance with the Dharma. Yet such people even say, “The Vinaya belongs to the Lesser Vehicle; there is no need to study it.” Such people will certainly fall into the three evil destinies, become followers of Mara, and personally undergo the suffering they have created; no one will be able to save them. Even so, ultimately everyone can attain Buddhahood. How would I dare despise them!

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1) The translated texts in the Vinaya Pitaka are extremely complex. Now, wishing to make them easier for students to grasp, I have focused upon their essential meaning and abridged the wording. Although the text has been condensed, its principal meaning remains intact. If anyone does not believe this, please compare it with the Vinaya Pitaka.

2) After the Tathagata entered nirvana, the Vinaya Pitaka was compiled, and at first there were no separate doctrines belonging to individual schools. Later, because of differences in interpretation, it divided

into many schools. Once divided into schools, each naturally followed its own doctrines. Thus Master Yijing propagated only the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya, while Master Huaisu extolled the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya; consequently, it became difficult to reconcile them.

There is cause for concern: a training rule rejected by one school may be adopted by another, or a prohibitive rule may be set aside in favor of a permissive rule, leading to a situation in which minor precepts are emphasized while major precepts are slighted. I have followed the intent of the Nanshan Vinaya Master in comprehensively reconciling all the agreements and differences among the schools. The essential point is to employ the most reasonable views, without relying upon any particular basis of avoidance, adoption, or rejection. The principal aim is to synthesize the correct views of the various schools, so that they may accord with the Tathagata’s original intent.

QUESTION: Vinaya Master Daoxuan’s use of the various schools was still criticized by Vinaya Master Huaisu. On what basis, then, are adoption and rejection, right and wrong, to be determined here? If this is based upon the reasoning of ordinary beings, can it truly accord with the Buddha’s regulations?

ANSWER: The emergence of many schools through disputes was a sign of the decline of the Way and the Dharma. Employing the strengths of the various schools is precisely intended to form a comprehensive synthesis. Although Huaisu offered criticism, and some of his points had a basis, could Vinaya Master Daoxuan’s Vinaya learning have been entirely wrong?

Moreover, the Buddha clearly taught: “A person of great wisdom may reject or adopt, but a foolish person cannot distinguish between them.” Therefore, the clear discernment employed here to form a great synthesis was undertaken with later generations in mind. Thus, this Essential Compilation employs the strengths of the various schools to provide sufficient material for reference. Furthermore, because it traces the current upstream to its very source, how could it be based upon private conjecture and arbitrary adoption or rejection?

3) The Samantapasadika alone distinguishes between offenses that are wrong because they are prohibited and offenses that are inherently wrong,(d) but beneath each precept this distinction is sometimes made and sometimes omitted. I now follow the original text and dare not add anything. Anyone wishing to compare it with the original can see this clearly. Furthermore, what the Samantapasadika calls a “prescribed offense” is called here an “offense that is wrong because it is prohibited.” Although the terms differ, their meaning is the same.

4) Following each precept are the sections: circumstances of origin; explanation of meaning; presentation of the relative gravity or lightness of the characteristics of the offense; questions and answers elucidating what is right and wrong; and, finally, citations from the other Vinayas concerning deportment, with matters analogous to that precept appended as supplementary material. These six sections are sometimes all presented and sometimes abridged. Since detailed enumeration was deemed unnecessary, only the six terms “origin, explanation, characteristics, discernment, evidence, and supplement” are used to indicate the respective sections under discussion.

5) Upon examining the translations of the various Vinayas, one finds cases in which different terminology is used with the same meaning, or in which the wording is difficult to understand. Wherever such cases can be annotated, annotations are provided; where they cannot be annotated, they are placed at the end of each fascicle for convenient reference.

6) Offenses that are wrong because they are prohibited are studied alike by shravakas and followers of the Mahayana. Even those matters provisionally permitted for the sake of sentient beings have clear scriptural evidence and cannot be confused with one another. Here, on the basis of the Brahma’s Net Sutra and Maitreya’s Text of the Precepts, only the principal aspect of each precept is explained. This follows the intent of the Tiantai Commentary.

OUTLINE

1) All five divisions of the Dharma-body are founded upon the precepts, and among the three trainings of the unconditioned path, the precepts come first. There is no Tathagata who does not possess the essence of the precepts, no bodhisattva who does not cultivate the perfection of moral discipline, no scripture that does not extol the Dharma of the precepts, and no sage or worthy who is not adorned with the practice of keeping the precepts.

Observing the precepts is like the earth: all wholesome dharmas arise and grow from it. Observing the precepts is like a fortified city: by relying upon it, one can remain far removed from demonic obstacles. As for the supreme and transcendent quality of the precepts, when an ordinary person receives them, that person is immediately called a field of merit for the world; yet only the Buddha, who has reached the ultimate perfection of the precepts, is called one fully endowed with moral discipline.

The four lofty stories are each a realm of perfect and sudden realization. The eighty thousand refined practices each accord with the Dharma-realm. If one does not observe the precepts, then even though one studies the teachings, practices seated meditation, and performs meritorious deeds, all these constitute the way of life of Mara and cause one to fall into his factions. Therefore, well-intentioned people who leave the household life must begin with observance of the precepts. Only thereafter can the dharmas of benefiting oneself and others be accomplished. If one abandons this open and direct road, there is no shorter path remaining.

QUESTION: The Vinaya Pitaka for bhikshus originally belongs to the Shravaka Vehicle, while the Brahma’s Net Precept Sutra is the great teaching. Yet it is now said that all four levels are realms of perfect and sudden realization. How, then, can the Mahayana and Lesser Vehicle be clearly distinguished? Furthermore, if it is called perfect and sudden, a single level should suffice; why must there be four levels?

ANSWER: — For one whose understanding is perfect, when receiving a Dharma, there is no Dharma that is not perfect. Whoever has truly realized the purport revealed by the Lotus Sutra sees that every color and every fragrance is the Middle Way. Thus, what teaching could fail to be perfect and sudden?

The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra states: When the provisional is opened up and the real revealed, the study of Vinaya is the Great Vehicle. Śikṣamāṇā—Śikṣamāṇā itself is the supreme meaning of the Great Vehicle. Light is neither blue, yellow, red, white, nor black. The Three Refuges, Five Precepts, Ten Wholesome Courses of Action, and 250 precepts are all the Great Vehicle.

If so, how could there be coarse precepts distinct from wondrous precepts? Since the precepts are wondrous, the person receiving them is also wondrous; hence, the statement, “You are truly my child,” expresses precisely this meaning. This is called the wondrous precepts, beyond all dualistic opposition.

Alas! Therefore, when each successive level is contemplated, all are perfect and sudden; the one and the many do not obstruct one another, and only then is the inconceivable realized. If one maintains that a single instance is sufficient, then the Avataṃsaka Sutra has seven locations and nine assemblies (e). Could we therefore claim that one location and one assembly would have been sufficient?

QUESTION: — The Five Precepts, the Ten Precepts, the bhikshu precepts, and the bodhisattva precepts may be compared to the four levels by which one enters an upper-story building. Therefore, it is said: To receive the Ten Precepts without having received the Five Precepts, or even to receive the bodhisattva precepts without having received the bhikshu precepts, is improper. The meaning of the sequential order is already so clear; how much more, then, is the present practice of allowing novices to receive the bodhisattva precepts not a self-contradictory act that oversteps the Buddha’s true teaching?

ANSWER: — The analogy of the upper-story building merely explains the process of ascending on a particular occasion. If it were applied so rigidly, however, an upasaka would likewise be unable to receive the bodhisattva precepts. In fact, an upasaka may receive them; why, then, should a novice not be permitted to do so? Could a novice possibly be considered inferior to an upasaka? According to the Commentary on the Meaning, the bodhisattva precepts are shared by all seven assemblies. Yet in India the monasteries of the Great and Lesser Vehicles were separately established. Could the monasteries of the Great Vehicle possibly have had no novices?

QUESTION: — The three schools of Chan, Doctrine, and Vinaya are like orchids in spring and chrysanthemums in autumn, each displaying its own beauty. If the precepts alone are now taken as the common path, why were three schools established in former times?

ANSWER: — The twenty-eight patriarchs of the Western Regions all upheld the Three Baskets. Only after the Buddhadharma was transmitted to the Eastern Land was it divided into separate schools. Yet there has never been a Chan master or a master of doctrinal exposition who did not use the Vinaya precepts to restrain body and mind so as to avoid creating evil karma.

2) Most who have not studied the precepts fear that observing them will be difficult. The principal reason is that they do not understand the Dharma of the precepts and therefore become discouraged. Whoever studies these precepts will then see that the Tathagata possesses boundless wisdom and fully understands the human heart. His prohibitions and permissions are established exactly where appropriate; therefore, observing the precepts is not difficult at all.

I remember that when I first left the household life, I presumptuously considered myself fundamentally pure. I greatly feared being constrained by a practice containing so many details; thus, I was unwilling even to receive the novice’s Ten Precepts, much less the bhikshu precepts. Later, because I followed the community in a great monastery, I reluctantly received the Ten Precepts. Afterward, upon reading the Pratimoksha and eventually studying the Vinaya Basket, I came to believe that if one wishes to be free and no longer fearful, one must thoroughly comprehend the Vinaya.

Those who have not studied the Vinaya encounter obstructions in everything they do. The Confucians say, “A person who has not studied propriety cannot establish himself.” How true these words are!

3) The climate of India is hot and humid, and vegetables and plants do not grow well; therefore, the Buddha permitted bhikshus to eat the five kinds of pure meat. In this land, vegetables and fruits are plentiful, so meat definitely must not be eaten. Furthermore, in the countries of the Western Regions, only those practicing according to the Lesser Vehicle Dharma ate the five kinds of pure meat; all practitioners of the Great Vehicle were forbidden to eat it.

Now that the Great Vehicle teaching has spread throughout this land, if bhikshus eat meat, they will certainly increase people’s slander. To prevent the reproach of the world, this matter must be emphasized: even those who have not received the bodhisattva precepts must not eat meat. If they eat meat, their conduct is not that of a śramaṇa.

4) The two baskets of Sutra and Treatise are valued for their wide circulation. The Vinaya Basket alone is especially precious and kept secret, because the Vinaya is the Dharma of the Great Sangha and is not intended for outsiders.

The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya states: “Laypeople are permitted to hear only the two baskets of Sutra and Treatise. The Vinaya Basket contains the regulations for those who have left the household life and must not be viewed by them.”

The preface to the Sutra on the Causes and Conditions of the Precepts states: “In India, the Vinaya is kept secret. Only dhūta practitioners and those of steadfast wisdom are permitted to open and read it and to transmit it among themselves.”

Venerable Yaśas repeatedly and earnestly cautioned concerning this matter: “People should be instructed what to do, but should not be allowed to know the details.” These words are truly most reasonable and essential. They must be heeded and treated with care. I hope that fellow precept-holders will be cautious regarding their transmission. Those who have not completed five rains retreats and are not upholders of the Vinaya should not be allowed to know them. Both Vinayas clearly state this; hence, one should understand that this matter must be handled carefully. If novices are allowed to understand the Five Divisions of offenses clearly, this will become a disqualifying impediment when they receive full ordination.

This Essential Collection is specifically intended for those who prefer a concise work convenient for practice. Do not allow those who have not received the precepts to read it beforehand. If novices pass it among themselves to read, they must be reprimanded and immediately prevented from doing so. If we fail to act in this way, both they and we incur an offense.

QUESTION: — The Blessed One taught the Dharma like a rainstorm that moistens everything everywhere, and all who are touched by it receive benefit. In former times, a person who heard half a verse from a sutra was freed from the offense that caused rebirth as a dog, while an ox that carried Great Vehicle scriptures was reborn in its next life as a śramaṇa. Why, then, is the Vinaya Basket regarded as precious and kept secret?

Does the Vinaya provide no benefit to people, or do you not wish to use it to benefit everyone? Moreover, suppose someone who has not yet received full ordination resolves to read through the Vinaya Basket. We do not know where the Buddha prohibited such a person from reading it.

Furthermore, copyists, block carvers, printers, and others must look through it. Suppose that later they resolve to receive ordination: if they are allowed to receive it, do they incur a grave disqualifying impediment? If this constitutes such an impediment, then would the Buddhadharma itself not impose restrictions that produce the opposite effect, so that “ambrosia is transformed into poison”?

ANSWER: — The scriptures are valued for being widely circulated, thereby planting the seed of learning acquired through hearing. The Vinaya is valued for being kept secret, thereby preventing the calamity of fraudulent residence in the Sangha. The one is kept secret and the other disclosed, yet both fall within the Tathagata’s Four Siddhāntas.

As for those who know nothing and happen to read it by mistake, or glance through it while copying, carving blocks, printing, and so forth, how could they possess the intention to steal the Dharma? Naturally, they are not classified among those with a grave disqualifying impediment. Copyists and block carvers who do not clearly understand it may still be excused, but those who read and clearly understand it must be prevented.

Therefore, those who know the Dharma must skillfully guide them.

QUESTION: — Since laypeople and novices are not permitted to know the divisions and categories of offenses in the Vinaya, why did the Blessed One, at the Nirvana Assembly, speak to the great assembly of devas and humans about the Five Divisions and Seven Categories of offenses and entrust them to future generations, instructing that they must not be violated? Could it be that the Nirvana Sutra was taught exclusively for bhikshus and cannot be circulated throughout the world?

ANSWER: The Nirvana assembly consisted entirely of great bodhisattvas; certainly there were no evil persons who would steal the Dharma. Therefore, when speaking the names of the divisions and categories, the Buddha had no need for restraint. Nevertheless, the Buddha merely stated their names without explaining their meanings. Anyone wishing to expound the Nirvana Sutra should likewise refrain from explaining them in detail.

QUESTION: If a novice understands the five divisions, this becomes a disqualifying obstruction when he seeks full ordination. Now, suppose someone wishes to receive full ordination but previously happened to read the five divisions. Would this constitute a disqualifying obstruction?

ANSWER: The precepts of a bhikshu may be practiced only after they have been received. Before ordination, one must not read the Pratimoksha. If someone did not know this and read it by mistake, he may be pardoned; but if he knew and deliberately violated the rule, it would be difficult to excuse him.

5) The substance of the bhikshu precepts is exceedingly venerable, while the way of life of worldly people is exceedingly defiled. Chanting sutras and performing repentance rites may still be called offerings of Dharma, but how are playing flutes and striking cymbals different from the performances of singers? The Lotus Sutra permits such acts as offerings to the Buddha, but this originally meant having others perform them. Having assumed the dignified appearance of a member of the Sangha, how could one personally engage in such unseemly displays? If any hermitage or monastery wishes to reform its way of life in accordance with the Chan school, it must likewise refrain from using musical instruments. Anyone who refuses to relinquish them violates the Buddha’s regulations.

QUESTION: If playing flutes and striking cymbals are regarded as equivalent to singing and performing, the Record of the Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea states: “At the great Pavarana assembly, music was played, drums were beaten, flower banners were hung, and pilgrimages were made to various shrines.” In substance, how is this different from playing flutes and striking cymbals? Why, then, is it forbidden? If one has others perform these acts, how is that different from doing them oneself, and why is no offense committed?

ANSWER: The five heinous offenses and the ten evil deeds are intrinsically evil acts in the world. Therefore, whether one instructs others to commit them or commits them oneself, the karmic retribution is the same. Singing, performing, and dancing, however, are prohibited offenses specifically for monastics, whereas having others play music as an offering is a meritorious deed. This cannot be regarded as an intrinsically evil act.

6) The precept against eating at an improper time is clearly and comprehensively prohibited throughout all sutras and Vinaya texts. No Vinaya permits an exception to this precept. The saying, “Food taken after noon is medicine,” is not a teaching of the Buddha; it was an expedient devised by people of ancient times.

If the body is weak and afflicted by many illnesses, one is permitted to take beverages allowed outside the proper time, medicines allowed for seven days, and medicines allowed for life, which can compensate for the body’s debility. Why would one willingly break this precept? Except when one faces a life-threatening condition and there is no other way to preserve one’s life, one may either relinquish the bhikshu or novice precepts and remain merely a bodhisattva observing the upavasa precepts, or sincerely repent every fortnight and vow not to serve as a precept master.

Either course may be acceptable.

QUESTION: The precept against eating at an improper time is also called the fasting precept, so it certainly must not be violated. Yet throughout the ages, many spiritual teachers have been unable to observe it.

If someone’s fundamental precepts are pure, could that person truly fall into the lower realms merely because the other precepts are impure?

ANSWER: Breaking the precepts and breaking the fast are both called evil practices. If one observes only the fundamental precepts, it would be better not to accept offerings from the faithful. From ancient times until now, genuine spiritual teachers inclined toward “urgency in the Vehicle and leniency in the precepts” nevertheless understood shame and moral dread and refrained from serving as precept masters, as did Masters Zibo and Shouchang.

Spiritual teachers of recent times have failed to observe the subtle precepts yet have mistakenly become teachers of others. If they have not yet fallen, perhaps they have been sustained by some exceptional meritorious karma. Master Huiyuan resolutely refused to drink honey-water; Master Gaofeng ate only one meal a day; and Master Daguan tasted nothing whatsoever after noon.

Among the eminent masters of Chan and doctrinal teachings in earlier times, many maintained the fasting precept in purity; this itself was the preservation of the Teaching. We must not imitate the spiritual teachers of later generations who sordidly seek personal gain.

7) The Vinaya stipulates that a bhikshu who has not completed ten rains retreats may not serve as an ordaining preceptor or a dependent acarya. Anyone who hastily assumes the role of teacher is one who knows the Dharma yet abuses it.

QUESTION: Now, in the age of the decline of the Dharma, human life is impermanent and the body is like morning dew. How can one wait until the prescribed time? Might an exception be allowed so that the Jewel of the Sangha does not become extinct?

ANSWER: It is precisely because people in the age of the decline of the Dharma do not follow the regulations of the Vinaya that the order of the Sangha has deteriorated and declined to this extent. If we now wish to revive it, we must comply with the Buddha’s regulations. Anyone who wishes to ordain others must have completed at least ten rains retreats and must thoroughly understand both divisions of the Vinaya, for monks and for nuns.

8) According to the Vinaya, each day is divided into three periods. Two periods may be devoted to studying the inner canon, while the remaining period may be devoted to other writings, which belong to external learning. Those of sharp faculties may rely upon such learning to subdue non-Buddhists, because in the countries of the Western Regions many non-Buddhists opposed the Buddhadharma.

In this land, however, there are no such opponents. Therefore, if monastics devote themselves exclusively to their proper duties, lay Buddhists will respect them all the more. Those who become infatuated with poetry and literature—if talented—are lamented by worldly people as having squandered their gifts, while those without talent are ridiculed.

I have seen only that they themselves are subdued by outsiders; I have never seen them subdue anyone. Those of limited capacity have little time and must quickly study the essential matters until they understand them clearly and thoroughly; even then, they should fear that time will be insufficient. Anyone attached to poetry and literature is certainly not a genuine disciple of the precepts.

9) This Vinaya is the foundation of concentration and wisdom and the root of liberation. Once the foundation has been laid, the house can be constructed according to its design. Once the roots of a tree are firmly established, it will naturally flower and bear abundant fruit. If one does not discipline the inner mind but merely adorns the external appearance, one acts contrary to the true cause for receiving the precepts and forever cuts oneself off from the wondrous fruit of nirvana.

QUESTION: The precepts are the foundation of concentration and wisdom and the root of liberation. Without laying a foundation, one naturally cannot build a house. Yet a foundation alone does not complete the entire structure. Therefore, one must study the doctrinal teachings and investigate Chan in order to attain the ultimate. Could the Vinaya alone truly lead to the ultimate?

ANSWER: Receiving the Vinaya discipline is precisely the foundation upon which the precepts concomitant with concentration2 and the precepts concomitant with the Path are brought to completion. Therefore, it was said that one must discipline the inner mind. As explained in the major and minor Khandhakas, the practitioner initially cultivates the noble precepts in order to attain the five superknowledges and the three higher knowledges; all of these belong to the true meaning of the precepts. If so, what ultimate attainment could one seek outside the Vinaya?

10) The moral discipline is not limited to sravakas. If one arouses the resolve, one will surely equal the Great Beings. Moreover, the full perfection of precept practice is the true cause of the highest grade of rebirth.

Liberation through mindfulness of the Buddha is the teaching in which this present age should place its trust, as recorded in the scriptures. If one cannot reach the Land of Peace and Bliss, one has not yet completely followed the Buddha’s teaching. May all fellow practitioners clearly understand the destination toward which they should aspire.

QUESTION: If one fully possesses the practices of the precepts, one naturally possesses the conditions for birth in the highest grade of the highest rank and for birth among one of the three kinds of beings. Upholding the precepts is like the earth, from which all wholesome dharmas arise. If the precepts concomitant with concentration and the precepts concomitant with the Path are both fully encompassed, why is it still necessary to be mindful of the Buddha?

Furthermore, mindfulness of the Buddha is the shortest Dharma gateway for escaping the three realms. At the time of death, one needs only ten recollections to attain rebirth there; why is it necessary to undertake the troublesome observance of the characteristics of the precepts? Both Dharma gateways are direct paths.

One need only follow one path to reach the destination; why must one tread both paths before it can be called complete obedience to the Buddha’s teaching?

ANSWER: The precepts concomitant with concentration and the precepts concomitant with the Path can certainly enable one to escape birth and death. Yet if one does not aspire to be born in the Pure Land, one will naturally be born only in the defiled Land of Expedient Means. If one upholds the precepts while also being mindful of the Buddha, one may eliminate the general delusions—delusions of views and thought—and the particular delusions—those as numerous as dust and sand, and fundamental ignorance—and naturally be born in the three Pure Lands: the Pure Land of Expedient Means, the Pure Land of True Reward, and the Pure Land of Tranquil Light.

Even if one has not yet eliminated delusion, one may still be born in the Pure Land of Common Residence. Furthermore, to be mindful of the Buddha so that the mind becomes pure is the unsurpassed wondrous precept. If one does not follow the teaching that “through mindfulness of the Buddha one attains liberation,” that itself is to go against the Buddha’s teaching, and the Vinaya also censures this.

But if one relies upon the direct path of rebirth through ten recollections, looks down upon the characteristics of the precepts, and regards them as troublesome, one is likewise not a genuine practitioner of mindfulness of the Buddha, and the ten recollections at the time of death will be difficult to accomplish. Therefore, practitioners must take the pure precepts as the cause and the Pure Land as the fruit, thereby making liberation their essential concern.

This is precisely one pure path; how could it be called two paths?

11) This Compendium of Essentials serves only the purpose of benefiting oneself. Those who wish to propagate the Vinaya must consult the entire Vinaya Pitaka; only then can they thoroughly understand its origins and explain them to later generations. Since they are teachers and exemplars, how could they be permitted to select only abridged accounts and discard complete and lucid explanations?

Now, if anyone takes the precepts and Vinaya as a foundation while separately cultivating the teachings and contemplations, the Chan school, and so forth, that person must first memorize the original text of the Pratimoksha and then, on the basis of the Pratimoksha, thoroughly investigate its subtle points. Such persons will not be censured as mute goats. If anyone is firmly resolved to propagate the precepts and Vinaya and guide those who come after, that person should first study this Compendium of Essentials until it is clearly understood and thoroughly mastered, and must then consult the entire Vinaya Pitaka.

Only then may that person bear the title of Vinaya Master without shame.

GENERAL CATALOGUE OF THE VINAYA PITAKA

1) DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA: 60 fascicles — Yao Qin dynasty — translated jointly by the Tripitaka Master Buddhayasas of Kashmir and Zhu Fonian.

2) DHARMAGUPTAKA PRATIMOKSHA: 1 fascicle — translated by the Tripitaka Master Buddhayasas.

3) DHARMAGUPTAKA PRATIMOKSHA: 1 fascicle.

BHIKSUNI PRATIMOKSHA: 1 fascicle — Tang dynasty, Western Taiyuan Monastery; compiled from the Vinaya by the sramana Huaisu.

4) DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA MISCELLANEOUS KARMAVACANA: 1 fascicle — Former Wei dynasty; translated by the Tripitaka Master Kang Senghui of India.

5) KARMAVACANA — Cao Wei dynasty — compiled by the sramana Tandi.

6) DHARMAGUPTAKA BHIKSUNI KARMAVACANA PROCEDURES: 1 fascicle — Liu Song dynasty; translated by the Tripitaka Master Gunavarman of Kashmir.

7) DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA, ABRIDGED AND SUPPLEMENTED KARMAVACANA ACCORDING TO OCCASION: 2 fascicles — Chongyi Monastery, Jingzhao; composed by the sramana Daoxuan.

8) DHARMAGUPTAKA SANGHA KARMAVACANA: 3 fascicles.

DHARMAGUPTAKA BHIKSUNI KARMAVACANA: 3 fascicles — Tang dynasty, Western Taiyuan Monastery; compiled from the Vinaya by the sramana Huaisu.

9) MAHASANGHIKA VINAYA: 40 fascicles — Eastern Jin dynasty — translated jointly by the Tripitaka Dharma Master Buddhabhadra and the sramana Faxian.

10) MAHASANGHIKA PRATIMOKSHA: 1 fascicle — translated by Buddhabhadra.

11) BHIKSUNI MAHASANGHIKA VINAYA PRATIMOKSHA SUTRA^[1]: 1 fascicle — Eastern Jin dynasty; translated jointly by the sramana Faxian of Pingyang and Juexian.

12) MAHISASAKA VINAYA IN FIVE PARTS: 30 fascicles — Song dynasty; translated by the Tripitaka Master Buddhajiva of Kashmir and Zhu Daosheng.

13) PRATIMOKSHA OF THE FIVE-PART VINAYA: 1 fascicle.

BHIKSUNI PRATIMOKSHA: 1 fascicle — Liang dynasty, Jianshu Monastery; edited by the sramana Minghui.

14) KARMAVACANA TEXT OF THE FIVE-PART VINAYA: 1 fascicle — Great Tang dynasty, Kaiye Monastery; recorded by the sramana Aitong.

15) SARVASTIVADA VINAYA IN TEN RECITATIONS: 58 fascicles — Yao Qin dynasty; translated jointly by the Tripitaka Masters Punyatara and Kumarajiva.

16) PREFACE TO THE SARVASTIVADA VINAYA IN TEN RECITATIONS: 3 fascicles — Eastern Jin dynasty; translation continued by the Tripitaka Master Vimalaksa.

17) BHIKSU PRATIMOKSHA OF THE SARVASTIVADA VINAYA IN TEN RECITATIONS: 1 fascicle — translated by Kumarajiva.

18) BHIKSUNI PRATIMOKSHA OF THE SARVASTIVADA VINAYA IN TEN RECITATIONS: 1 fascicle — Song dynasty, Changgan Monastery; compiled by the sramana Faying.

19) SARVASTIVADA VINAYA VIBHASA: 6 fascicles, with one additional fascicle appended.

The translator’s name is lost. Recorded as appended during the Three Qin period. 20) SARVASTIVADA VINAYA MATRKA: 10 fascicles — Song dynasty; translated by the Tripitaka Dharma Master Sanghavarman.

21) KARMAVACANA PROCEDURES FOR GREAT SRAMANAS, IN ONE HUNDRED AND ONE ACTS: 1 fascicle — The translator’s name is

lost. Recorded as appended during the Song dynasty. 22) ESSENTIAL BHIKSU KARMAVACANA OF THE SARVASTIVADA VINAYA IN TEN RECITATIONS: 1 fascicle — Liu Song dynasty; composed according to the Vinaya by Shi Sengqu.

23) MULASARVASTIVADA VINAYA: 50 fascicles. 24) (As above^[2]) BHIKSUNI VINAYA: 20 fascicles. 25) (As above) VINAYA MISCELLANEA: 40 fascicles. 26) (As above) VINAYA ACCOUNT OF THE SCHISM IN THE SANGHA: 20 fascicles. 27) (As above) NIDANA: 5 fascicles. MUKTAKA: 5 fascicles. 28) (As above) ONE HUNDRED AND ONE KARMAVACANAS: 10 fascicles. 29) (As above) PRATIMOKSHA SUTRA: 1 fascicle.

BHIKSUNI PRATIMOKSHA SUTRA: 1 fascicle. 30) COMPENDIUM OF VERSES ON THE NIDANA AND MUKTAKA^[3], COMPENDIUM OF VERSES ON MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS^[4]: 1 fascicle — Tang dynasty; translated by imperial command by the Tripitaka Dharma Master Yijing.

31) COMPENDIUM OF THE VINAYA OF THE MULASARVASTIVADA SCHOOL: 14 fascicles — composed by the Venerable Visesamitra. Translated by Yijing. 32) VERSES ON THE MULASARVASTIVADA VINAYA: 3 fascicles — composed by the Venerable Visakha. Translated by Dharma Master Yijing.

33) (As above) KARMAVACANA RITUAL FOR GOING FORTH AND RECEIVING FULL ORDINATION: 1 fascicle.

34) ABRIDGED COLLECTION OF RULES FOR BHIKSUS: 1 fascicle — Yuan dynasty; compiled by the Imperial Preceptor^[5], Bhiksu Bagshipa.

35) SUTRA ON THE CAUSES AND CONDITIONS OF THE PRECEPTS^[6]: 10 fascicles — Yao Qin dynasty; translated by the Tripitaka Master Zhu Fonian.

36) SUTRA OF THE PRATIMOKSHA TEXT: 1 fascicle — belonging to the Kasyapiya school — Northern Wei dynasty; translated by the brahmin Gautama Prajnaruci.

37) SAMANTAPASADIKA VINAYA: 18 fascicles — Southern Qi dynasty; translated by the foreign sramana Sanghabhadra^[7].

38) VINAYA MATRKA SUTRA: 8 fascicles — Translator’s name lost. Recorded as appended during the Qin dynasty.

39) BUDDHA ABHIDHARMA SUTRA: 2 fascicles — Chen dynasty; translated by the Tripitaka Dharma Master Paramartha.

40) SUTRA OF SARIPUTRA’S QUESTIONS: 1 fascicle — Eastern Jin dynasty; translator’s name lost.

41) SUTRA OF UPALI’S QUESTIONS: 1 fascicle — Liu Song dynasty, Yuanjia era; translated by Gunavarman.

42) KASYAPA’S SUTRA ON PROHIBITIONS AND PRECEPTS: 1 fascicle — Song dynasty; translated by the layman Juqu Jingsheng.

43) SUTRA SPOKEN BY THE BUDDHA ON THE GRAVITY OF OFFENSES AGAINST THE PRECEPTS: 1 fascicle — Later Han dynasty; translated by the Tripitaka Master An Shigao of Parthia.

44) SUTRA SPOKEN BY THE BUDDHA ON MAUDGALYAYANA’S QUESTIONS: 1 fascicle — Same as the preceding sutra; translated by imperial command by Fatian of Western India, Tripitaka Translator of Sutras, Grand Master for Court Audiences, acting Junior Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, and Great Master Who Transmits the Teaching^[8].

Upon examination, translations 43 and 44 are both the first chapter of the extant Sutra of Five Hundred Questions.

According to the purport of the Scripture of Five Hundred Questions, later persons made additions on that basis. I, the author, have examined it carefully and found that it not only runs counter to the Four-Part Vinaya but also conflicts with nearly all the Vinaya treatises of the five schools. Although it is said, “The intent of the sages cannot be judged recklessly, and scriptures should not be discussed rashly,” to practice according to it would clearly contradict the Vinaya texts now extant.

How could one abandon all universally accepted principles in order to uphold a Dharma teaching that remains doubtful? It is unclear whether the Vinaya masters of recent times who circulate this scripture have ever consulted the entire Vinaya-pitaka. Having now carefully investigated the origins of the five Vinaya traditions, I cannot refrain from raising these doubts.

45) TREATISE ON THE TWENTY-TWO CLARIFICATIONS OF THE VINAYA: 1 fascicle — of the Sammitiya school; composed by Dharma Master Buddhatrata. Translated during the Chen dynasty by Tripitaka Master Paramartha.

46) THREE THOUSAND RULES OF DEPORTMENT FOR GREAT BHIKSHUS: 2 fascicles — Translated during the Later Han dynasty by An Shigao. Master Sengyou states that the translator’s name has been lost.

47) THE TEN PRECEPTS AND RULES OF DEPORTMENT FOR SRAMANERAS: 1 fascicle — Translator’s name lost. Recorded as copied during the Eastern Jin dynasty.

48) RULES OF DEPORTMENT FOR SRAMANERAS: 1 fascicle — Translated during the Song dynasty by the Indian Tripitaka Master Gunavarman.

49) SCRIPTURE OF PRECEPTS FOR SRAMANERIS: 1 fascicle — Translator’s name lost; copied during the Han dynasty.

50) TEXT ON DEPARTING FROM THE PRECEPTS FOR SRAMANERIS: 1 fascicle — Translator’s name lost.

51) SCRIPTURE ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIVE PRECEPTS FOR UPASAKAS: 1 fascicle — Translated during the Song dynasty by the Indian Tripitaka Master Gunavarman.

52) SCRIPTURE OF PRECEPTS FOR THE AVERTING OF CALAMITIES: 1 fascicle — Translated during the Wu dynasty by the Yuezhi upasaka Zhi Qian.

53) RECORD OF THE INNER DHARMA SENT HOME FROM THE SOUTHERN SEAS: 4 fascicles.

. Essential Practice for the Proper Use of the Three Kinds of Water.

. Ritual Method for Protecting Life and Releasing Living Beings.

. Essential Practice for Expiating Offenses. The above three teachings are combined into one fascicle.

Translated during the Tang dynasty by the Tripitaka Sramana Yijing.

CONTENTS OF THE FOUR-PART VINAYA-PITAKA

1) First Part: 21 fascicles. Bhikshu precepts. 2) Second Part: 15 fascicles.

Bhikshuni precepts. Ordination Skandhaka. Uposatha Skandhaka. 3) Third Part: 13 fascicles. Rains Retreat — Pavarana — Leather — Robes and Medicines — Robes of Merit — Kausambi — Campa —

Censure — Matters Concerning Concealment — Preventing the Disruption of the Sangha — Settlement of Disputes — Bhikshuni Skandhaka — Dharma Skandhaka.

4) Fourth Part: 11 fascicles. Dwellings — Miscellaneous Matters — Council of the Five Hundred — Council of the Seven Hundred — Vinaya — Regulating the Schools of the Vinaya — Ekottara of the Vinaya.

CATALOGUE OF CITED SUTRAS AND TREATISES

– Mahaparinirvana Sutra — revised by Xie Lingyun.

– Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra — translated by Dharma Master Xuanzang.

– Sutra of the Bodhisattva’s Wholesome Precepts — translated by Gunavarman.

– Sutra of the Upasaka Precepts — translated by Dharmaksema.

– The Preliminary Approach to the Sequential Gates of the Dharma Realm — composed by Great Master Zhizhe. – Commentary on the Treatise on Contemplating the Mind, composed by Venerable Zhang’an.

– Mirror Admonitions for Understanding the Gate — Compiler unknown.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ The five divisions consist of:

a) The parajika offense 波羅夷 Ä (Skt. and Pali: pārājika), translated as “decapitation.” This offense is extremely grave, like a person whose head has been severed and who cannot return to life. The same applies to a bhikshu:

once he commits it, he cannot become a bhikshu again. (Bhikshus have 4 such precepts; bhikshunis have 8.)

b) The sanghavasesa offense 僧伽婆尸沙 Å (Skt. Saṃghāvẳeṣa, Pali. Saṃghādisesa), translated into Chinese as “remnant requiring the Sangha.” Committing this offense is like having one’s neck cut, with only the throat remaining; emergency aid is required before one can live again. Likewise, if a bhikshu wishes to return to the state of a pure bhikshu, he requires

the remedial aid of the Sangha by confessing this offense before the Sangha. (Bhikshus have 13 such precepts; bhikshunis have 17.)

c) Payattika 波逸提 Ý (Skt. Pāyattika, Pali. pācittika), translated into Chinese as “downfall,” meaning that any bhikshu who commits this offense will fall into hell. There are 2

types: simple downfall and forfeiture-downfall. (Together, these two classes comprise 120 precepts for bhikshus and 208 for bhikshunis.)

d) Desaniya, in full pratidesaniya 波羅提提舍尼 (Skt. Pratideśanỵya, Pali. pātidesanỵya), is translated as “confession before another.” This means

that a bhikshu who commits this offense must confess it before another bhikshu; only then is the offense extinguished. (Bhikshus have 4 such precepts; bhikshunis have 8.)

e) Duskrta 突吉羅 (Skt. duṣkṛta, Pali. dukkaṭa), translated as “wrongdoing,” refers to actions that produce evil. This is a minor class of offense.

(*) Kukkutarama: In India there was a Kukkutapada Monastery not far from Mrgadava, the Deer Park. Therefore, the Great Buddha-Crown Sutra says, “I was at the Deer Park and also at Kukkutarama.” (See The Tathagata’s First Attainment of the Way.)

⁽²⁾ Vaipulya: a general designation for Mahayana scriptures. Among the twelve divisions of scripture, the Vaipulya division is the tenth in sequence.

⁽³⁾ The seven groups: The Seven Groups were established on the basis of the distinctions among the five divisions according to the resulting offenses, together with their relative gravity and urgency. In cases where the consequence of an offense closely approaches parajika or sanghavasesa but the offense has not yet been fully constituted, it is called sthulatyaya. The duskrta offenses arising from the two kinds of karma—bodily and verbal—are further distinguished: bodily offenses are called “wrongdoing,” while verbal offenses are called “wrong speech.” Thus, the seven groups comprise parajika, sanghavasesa, sthulatyaya, payattika, desaniya, wrongdoing, and wrong speech.

(a) Precepts Concomitant with the Path: one of the three kinds of moral discipline of the sages of the Three Vehicles. When a practitioner enters the realm of form, undefiled concentration arises. Together with undefiled wisdom, the substance of the precepts that guards against wrongdoing and halts evil—the undefiled moral discipline—spontaneously arises within the person. This is called undefiled moral discipline, also known as the Precepts Concomitant with the Path. Because undefiled moral discipline arises and ceases together with the undefiled Path, it is called the Precepts Concomitant with the Path.

(b) The ten precepts: According to the Great Sutra, there are 10 kinds: 1. Prohibitory precepts; 2. Precepts of purity; 3. Wholesome precepts; 4. Unimpaired precepts; 5. Unbroken precepts; 6. Mahayana precepts; 7. Non-retrogressing precepts; 8. Conforming precepts; 9. Ultimate precepts; 10. Perfectly endowed paramita precepts. The first 4 pertain to phenomena and serve as objects of contemplation. The remaining 6 employ contemplation of the mutual identity of principle and phenomena. Among these 6, the fifth precept corresponds to the contemplation of emptiness; the sixth, seventh, and eighth correspond to the contemplation of provisional existence; and the ninth and tenth correspond to the contemplation of the Middle.

(c) The urna mark: one of the thirty-two marks of the Tathagata. It is a white hair between the Blessed One’s eyebrows, curling to the right and emitting light like the midday sun. At his birth, its radiance extended about one foot; when he attained the Way, it extended about one zhang and five feet. It is therefore called the mark of the white hair.

⁽⁴⁾ Traveling on foot: a technical expression used for Chan monks. Before attaining awakening, they must make it their vocation to travel and study under Chan masters; thus, traveling in search of instruction is their principal undertaking. The Ancestral Court Miscellany says: “Those who travel on foot are persons who leave their villages and journey throughout the realm, sever emotional bonds, and seek out teachers and spiritual friends in pursuit of the Dharma and realization. Because they study under the unsurpassed teacher, they must travel everywhere.”

⁽⁵⁾ Precepts intrinsic to the nature of actions and precepts established by prohibition: Precepts intrinsic to the nature of actions are precepts grounded in the nature of the acts themselves. For example, killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct are intrinsically subject to precepts; they did not become offenses only after the Buddha established prohibitions, and therefore they are called precepts intrinsic to the nature of actions. Precepts established by prohibition are the opposite: these are precepts that the Buddha formulated on the basis of circumstances in which offenses occurred, admonishing practitioners and prohibiting them from committing such acts.

⁽⁶⁾ Bodhisattva Manjusri wielding a sword and threatening the Buddha: According to the account in fascicle 105 of the Maharatnakuta Sutra: “When five hundred bodhisattvas attained the knowledge of former lives and learned that they had committed many grave offenses during numerous past kalpas, they became distressed and remorseful in their cultivation, and consequently were unable to attain the patience of the non-arising of dharmas.

At that time, Manjusri knew their thoughts. In the midst of the great assembly, he bared his right shoulder, took a sharp sword in his hand, and advanced directly toward the Blessed One, intending to harm him. The Buddha told Manjusri, ‘Do not harm me.

Yet if you wish to do so, you should do it skillfully. Why? Because all dharmas are like dreams and illusions, without self and without person.

Who is slain, and who undergoes calamity?’ At that moment, the bodhisattvas understood that the offenses of their former lives were all like illusions and transformations, and thus attained the patience of the non-arising of dharmas. With one voice, they uttered this verse:

Manjusri, the greatly wise one,

Has deeply realized the source of dharmas.

With his own hand he holds the precious sword,

Resolved to threaten the Tathagata’s body.

The sword and the Buddha are no different;

Of one characteristic, there is no duality.

Without characteristics and without a place of arising,

How can this be called killing?”

⁽⁷⁾ Arsenic 砒霜: Also called arsenic stone, it is a type of poison that causes death when ingested.

⁽⁸⁾ You Meng was a musician at the court of King Zhuang of Chu before the Qin dynasty, skilled in using humor to offer remonstrance. Prime Minister Sunshu Ao held his character in high esteem and, as he approached death, instructed his son that if he should encounter difficulties in the future, he ought to seek You Meng’s help. Later, Sunshu Ao’s son indeed became so poor that he had to cut firewood to sustain himself from day to day, and so he sought You Meng’s assistance.

You Meng put on Sunshu Ao’s clothing and imitated Sunshu Ao’s movements and speech.... After practicing this imitation for more than a year, he disguised himself as Sunshu Ao. On one occasion, King Zhuang held a banquet.

You Meng stepped forward and offered wine, causing King Zhuang to think that Sunshu Ao had been reborn, and the king wished to invite him to serve once again as prime minister.... You Meng replied: “My wife and children say that serving as prime minister of the state of Chu is not worthwhile. Sunshu Ao governed the country with loyalty and integrity, enabling Chu to become the dominant state under heaven, yet after his death his children were so poor that they had no food to eat....” You Meng then sang a song whose general meaning was....

An incorruptible official suffers poverty.... Hearing the song, King Zhuang awakened to the truth. He summoned Sunshu Ao’s son and bestowed land and servants upon him. (Encyclopedia of Classical Chinese Culture – Culture and Information Publishing House).

(d) Offenses by nature and offenses by prohibition: An offense by nature is an evil deed that constitutes an offense when committed even without the Buddha having established a precept against it, such as the evils of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. Anyone who commits these deeds incurs an offense. An offense by prohibition, on the other hand, is incurred by violating a rule that the Buddha established for monastics. Wishing to guard against every possible cause of worldly suspicion, the Buddha instituted precepts to prevent such conduct. Anyone who violates these prohibitions incurs an offense, as in such matters as keeping surplus robes, eating food kept overnight, digging the earth, damaging vegetation, and so forth.

(e) Seven places and nine assemblies: According to the eighty-fascicle Avatamsaka Sutra, the work comprises thirty-nine chapters and was taught in seven places over nine assemblies.

The seven places: - Three places in the human realm: 1. The Bodhi Seat, 2. The Hall of Universal Radiant Light, 3. The Pavilion Lecture Hall.

-Four places in the heavenly realms: 1. The Trayastrimsa Heaven, 2. The Yama Heaven, 3. The Tusita Heaven, 4. The Paranirmitavasavartin Heaven.

These are the seven places where the Avatamsaka Sutra was taught. There were also nine assemblies:

1. The chapter “The Wondrous Adornments of the Rulers of the Worlds,” 2. The chapter “The Names of the Tathagata,” 3. The chapter “Ascending to the Palace of the Trayastrimsa Heaven,” 4. The chapter “Ascending to the Palace of the Yama Heaven,” 5. The chapter “Ascending to the Palace of the Tusita Heaven,” 6. The chapter “The Ten Grounds,” 7. The chapter “The Ten Samadhis,” 8. The chapter “Transcending the World,” 9. The chapter “Entering the Dharma Realm.” These are the nine assemblies in which the Buddha taught the Avatamsaka Sutra.

2. The precepts conjoined with concentration: Also called the moral discipline born of meditative absorption. Upon entering the first dhyana, the second dhyana, and other meditative concentrations, the substance of the precepts—which guards against wrongdoing and puts an end to evil—naturally arises together with concentration, and all bodily and verbal actions accord with moral discipline. Fascicle 14 of the Abhidharmakosa states: “That which is born of meditative absorption means the moral discipline that arises from meditative absorption or depends upon meditative absorption. If one attains meditative absorption, one necessarily accomplishes this moral discipline.”

^[1] The Bhiksuni Sanghika Vinaya Pratimoksa Precept Sutra: This is the Mahasanghika Bhiksuni Pratimoksa, p. 556, Taisho 22, no. 1427.

^[2] Mulasarvastivada.

^[3] The Mulasarvastivada Vinaya Nidana-Muktaka Summary Verses.

^[4] The Abridged Summary Verses of the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya Miscellaneous Matters.

^[5] Imperial preceptor: the teacher of the king.

^[6] The Sutra on the Causes and Conditions of the Precepts: Also known as the Vinaya, the Vinaya Sutra, and the Sutra on the Causes and Conditions of the Fruits of the Precepts—p. 851, Taisho 24, no. 1464.

^[7] Sengqi-batuoluo 僧祇跋陀 I羅: The original edition mistakenly printed these characters (Essential Compendium of the Meanings of Matters in the Revised Vinaya, first fascicle, p. 347c22, Manji Supplementary Canon 40, no. 719). The corrected

form is Sengjia-batuoluo 僧伽跋陀 I羅 (Skt. Saṃghabhadra—translated as Sangha Sage or Sage of the Assembly), a native of the Western Regions. He arrived in Guangzhou during the Yongming era (483–493) of the Southern Qi dynasty. In the seventh year of the Yongming era ⁽⁴⁸⁹⁾—according to another account, the sixth year—he translated the Samantapasadika Vinaya Vibhasa at Zhulin Monastery in Guangzhou.

^[8] Grand Master of Court Audiences, Acting Junior Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, and Great Master Who Transmits the Teaching: These were titles bestowed upon Master Fatian by the emperor.

FASCICLE ONE

The complete text of this Vinaya is divided into two parts: the title and the explanation of the text.

THE FIRST PART IS THE TITLE

THE FOUR-PART PRATIMOKSA - The explanation of the title of this Vinaya follows the Commentary on the Meaning of the Brahma Net Precepts, presenting an abbreviated account through three levels of profound meaning:

– Explanation of the title.

– Presentation of the essential nature.

– Determination and clarification of simple issues.

A. EXPLANATION OF THE TITLE:

This is divided into three:

-Clarifying the Four-Part Pratimoksa.

-Identifying the Vinaya from which it was extracted.

-Explaining the Essential Compendium of the Meanings of Matters.

I. WHAT IS THE FOUR-PART PRATIMOKSA?

-The Bhiksu Four-Part Vinaya Precept Sutra.

This text was extracted from the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya. In Sanskrit, it is called Dharmaguptaka, which is translated into Chinese as “Dharma Treasury.”

This Vinaya has four parts:

– The first part explains matters concerning bhiksus.

– The second part explains matters concerning bhiksunis, the procedure for receiving ordination, and the procedure for reciting the precepts.

– The third part explains the procedures for the rains retreat and

the invitation ceremony....

– The fourth part explains procedures concerning dwellings

and miscellaneous matters....

This Pratimoksa belongs to the first part. The Tathagata established the Precept Sutra in response to particular incidents.

II. From which Vinaya was it extracted?

It was extracted from many Vinaya collections, among which there are general and specific designations.

The general designation means that all are called Vinaya. The specific designations refer to the Mahasanghika Vinaya, the Five-Part Vinaya, and so forth. Their names are derived from their relationships to the classifications and enumerations of the scriptural texts. Tỳ-ni or Tỳ-nại-da are phonetic transcriptions of the Sanskrit term Vinaya. In Chinese, it is translated as “skillful governance,” “discipline,” or “cessation,” and it is generally called “law,” for law is a standard of conduct.

The Sutra on the Causes and Conditions of the Precepts states:

The word “Tỳ,” in the language of Qin, is called “removal,” while “Nại-da” is called “truth.” It means removing all that is erroneous so that only the truth remains; therefore, it is called truth. Subduing this mind, bringing this mind to cessation, and patiently preventing this mind from arising are called truth. Subduing is precepts, cessation is concentration, and patience is wisdom. The mention of this one Dharma encompasses all three disciplines of the undefiled path. Without wholesome precepts, concentration and wisdom cannot arise. These precepts are of three kinds:

– The precepts of moral discipline, also called the Pratimoksa precepts.

– The precepts conjoined with concentration, also called the dhyana precepts.

– The morality associated with the Path, also called uncontaminated morality.

1) Morality of disciplinary restraint: “Discipline” means prevention and cessation; “restraint” refers to proper deportment. Because it is capable of stopping evil deeds and is manifested through the body, it is called morality; it is also called dignified conduct. “Dignity” means purity, adornment, and worthiness of respect.

“Conduct” means rules that are worthy of serving as a model. It is also called training and taming, that is, guiding the mind to perform wholesome deeds. Pratimoksha is translated into Chinese as “that which safeguards liberation,” and also as “individual liberation,” because it is capable of ensuring that practitioners escape the ocean of birth and death.

Furthermore, insofar as one guards and does not violate any particular precept, liberation is attained in that respect. This refers to the 250 training rules and the accompanying regulations governing dignified conduct.

2) Morality associated with concentration: Concentration is tranquility. Upon entering concentration, one naturally subdues the mind in wholesomeness and brings evil to a halt.

3) Morality associated with the Path: The Path is capable of penetrating without obstruction. Once the true mind has arisen, one naturally commits no violations. For example, when one who has attained the first fruit plows the earth, living creatures move four inches away. This is the power of the morality associated with the Path.

These latter two forms of morality refer to the supremely wondrous functioning of the original mind. They are capable of generating morality. Moreover, because the Path, concentration, and disciplinary restraint arise together, they are said to be “associated.” This Vinaya Piṭaka primarily elucidates disciplinary restraint, yet it also encompasses concentration and the Path.

Through the merit of maintaining pure morality, meditative concentration and wisdom arise. Thus, disciplinary restraint is the cause, while concentration and the Path are the fruits. Alternatively, through the power of meditative concentration and the uncontaminated state, both deeds evil by nature and deeds prohibited by regulation are purified. Therefore, the Pratimoksha is the fruit, while concentration and the Path are the conditions.

The Sarvastivada Treatise states: This Pratimoksha morality exists when a Buddha appears in the world and does not exist when no Buddha appears in the world; but meditative morality and uncontaminated morality always exist. Pratimoksha morality is acquired through instruction, whereas meditative morality and uncontaminated morality are not acquired through instruction. Therefore, that treatise says: Only disciples of the Buddha possess Pratimoksha morality, whereas practitioners of non-Buddhist paths may also possess meditative morality.

The treatise states: The capacity to sustain the Buddhadharma, to encompass all seven assemblies in the world, and to ensure that the fruits of the Paths of the Three Vehicles continue in unbroken succession—all have the Pratimoksha as their foundation. Meditative morality and uncontaminated morality are not so. Therefore, among the three forms of morality, it is supreme.

The Treatise on the Good View also states:

The Vinaya Piṭaka is the life of the Buddhadharma. When the Vinaya Piṭaka is present, the Buddhadharma is also present. This concludes the brief explanation of the meaning of the general designation.

Next, the particular designations refer to the Mahasanghika Vinaya, the Five-Part Vinaya, the Sarvastivada Vinaya, the Ten Recitations Vinaya, the Treatise on the Good View, the Sutra on the Causes and Conditions of the Precepts, the Vinaya Matrika Treatise, and so forth. Why are these various Vinayas employed? According to the Sutra of Sariputra’s Questions to the Buddha, the Buddha himself made this prophecy: After the Dharma had declined, Pushyamitra, a descendant of King Shau-kha (Ashoka), would be a virtuous and benevolent king who revived the Buddhadharma.^[2] At that time, the bhikshus, attached to fame and praise and extremely fond of disputation, copied and altered the Tathagata’s Vinaya, making additions and omissions.

They divided what Mahakasyapa had compiled into separate factions and disputed among themselves over right and wrong. They asked the king to render judgment. The king assembled the two groups and had them draw lots.

The more numerous conservatives were called the Mahasanghika; those who followed the new doctrine were fewer in number and were elders, so they were called the Sthavira, that is, the School of the Elders. Later, further disputes caused them to divide into many schools. During the three or four hundred years after the Buddha’s nirvana, they successively divided into numerous sects.

Thus, as the transmission continued into later generations, both right and wrong were present. Apart from these, there were only five schools, each distinguished according to its own particular strength by the color of its robes.

a) The Mahasanghika school diligently studied the scriptures and transmitted and expounded their true meaning. In accordance with its place of residence, its members wore yellow robes.

b) The Dharmaguptaka school (that is, the Dharmagupta school) thoroughly comprehended the meaning of the teachings, revealed and guided beneficial practices, and set forth their distinctive excellence; therefore, its members wore red robes.

c) The Sarvastivada school was open and keenly perceptive and employed the Dharma’s methods of guidance to teach and transform beings; therefore, its members wore black robes.

d) The Kasyapiya school was diligent and vigorous and gathered in and protected sentient beings; therefore, its members wore indigo robes.

e) The Mahisasaka school contemplated through meditation to the subtlest point and investigated the deepest mysteries to their ultimate extent; therefore, its members wore blue-green robes.

The meaning of the Mahasanghika is pure and correct, while the other schools are like ambrosia mixed with an admixture. When devas drink, they drink only the ambrosia and discard the ordinary water; when people of the world drink, however, they consume both the ambrosia and the water. Sometimes all their illnesses are cured, and sometimes illness arises anew. Those who read and recite these teachings are likewise: persons of great wisdom are capable of accepting what is right and rejecting what is wrong, while the foolish cannot distinguish between them.

Furthermore, according to the Collection of Translated Names:

In the thirty-eighth year after the Blessed One attained the Path, he once went to Rajagriha to receive a meal. When the meal was finished, he instructed Rahula to wash his bowl. (Rahula is translated as “obscuring hindrance.” He remained in the womb for six years and was the son of Siddhartha.)^[3] His hand accidentally slipped, and the bowl broke into five pieces. The Buddha said: This is an omen that, after my nirvana, during the first five hundred years, the bhikshus will divide the Vinaya Piṭaka into five schools. Subsequently, this indeed came to pass. The five schools were:

1) The Dharmagupta school.

2) The Sarvastivada school, translated into Chinese as “the school that teaches that everything exists.” Its Vinaya is called the Ten Recitations.

3) The Kasyapiya school, translated into Chinese as “the school of repeated contemplation of emptiness.”

Only a single fascicle of the Sutra of the Liberating Fundamental Precepts was transmitted to China.

4) The Mahisasaka school, translated into Chinese as “the school of contemplation unattached to either existence or nonexistence.” Its Vinaya is called the Five-Part Vinaya.

5) The Vatsiputriya school, translated into Chinese as “the school of the Calf’s Son.” This school was not transmitted to China.

The five schools are the particular divisions, while the Mahasanghika is the general division. Together, they constitute six schools.

Furthermore, according to the Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago:^[4]

The transmission of the various schools arose in dissimilar ways. Broadly speaking, the lineages transmitted in the Western Regions numbered only four:

1) The noble Mahasanghika school, which divided into seven schools.

2) The noble Sthavira school, which divided into three schools.

3) The noble Mulasarvastivada school,

which divided into four schools.

4) The noble Sammitiya school, which divided into four schools.

During that period, some divisions appeared openly while others remained obscure, and the individual names of the schools were not uniform. There is no need to recount them here.

The Sarvastivada school divided into three distinct schools:

1) The Dharmaguptaka school.

2) The Mahisasaka school.

3) The Kasyapiya school.

The Ten Recitations Vinaya and the Four-Part Vinaya are for the most part closely related to the sutras and take their headings from them; however, the Ten Recitations Vinaya properly belongs to the Mulasarvastivada school.

King Bimbisara dreamed that a bolt of silk was torn into eighteen pieces and that a golden staff was cut into eighteen sections. The king became afraid and went to ask the Buddha about it. The Buddha said: “More than one hundred years after my nirvana, there will be a king named Ashoka whose majestic power will extend throughout Jambudvipa.

At that time, the bhikshus will divide my teachings into eighteen schools. Yet the Dharma gate of liberation is only one. This dream is merely a premonition, and the king should not be troubled by it.” The accounts presented above differ from one another because they were transmitted so long after the Buddha, and therefore errors may have entered their lineages of transmission.

If we now rigidly adhere to the traces of their similarities and differences, no small number of contradictions will arise. But if we grasp their meaning, we will find what is sound and useful. Although the intent of the noble ones is difficult to fathom, comparison may still provide a basis.

Provided that the meaning is understood, resolving the matter need not be arduous. This concludes the account of the origins of the various schools.

III. Explanation of the Essential Collection of Matters and Meanings

“Matters” refers to the causal occasions that gave rise to the establishment of the precepts.

“Meaning” refers to determining the offense and its repentance according to whether the transgression is grave or light.

“Essentials” means that the texts of the Vinaya discipline are for the most part extensive and intricate, so only their essential points are taken here.

“Collection” means that although the Four-Part Vinaya alone is specially honored, the meanings of the various schools are nevertheless consulted and adopted. Why is the Four-Part Vinaya alone specially honored? Because the characteristics of the 250 precepts cannot be increased or diminished, and because it has circulated for many generations. Why must the meanings of the other schools be consulted and used? Because “matters” are sometimes explained in detail and sometimes in brief, while in “meaning” each tradition has its strengths and shortcomings; therefore, there is no impediment to their illuminating one another.

The explanation of the title is complete.

B. PRESENTATION OF THE ESSENCE

1) First, clarification of the term “non-action”:

The Great Master Tiantai said: “If the essence of the precepts does not arise, that is the end of the matter; once it arises, it belongs to the nature.” In the same vein, Master Qing explained “form consisting of non-action” as follows: “If this essence of the precepts does not arise, that is the end of the matter; if it arises, it belongs entirely to the nature.” When nature and cultivation combine to form the essence of the precepts, there is assuredly form consisting of non-action. Once non-action has arisen, it naturally prevents evil and performs good. Thus, after it has arisen, it need not be produced anew; hence it is called non-action.

“Form consisting of non-action” refers to the eleven form-dharmas. Since among them there are both provisional and real forms, the dharma-ayatana is that which contains all forms. There, only form produced by meditative concentration is called real form, while manifest form and unmanifest form are both called provisional form. Both wholesome and unwholesome precepts possess the manifest and the unmanifest; the manifest refers to action, while the unmanifest refers to non-action.

We shall now explain wholesome precepts. Kneeling with utmost sincerity is called bodily manifestation. Voicing the request for the precepts three times is called verbal manifestation. The Sangha’s assembling harmoniously together within the ordination boundary is also called bodily manifestation. The motion followed by three proclamations of the karman is also called verbal manifestation. Through these, when the rite is performed and the pure essence of the bhikshu precepts is received, it becomes an object apprehended by the mind, and one continually possesses the two wholesome dharmas of “restraint and practice.” Therefore, it is said that after it has arisen, it need not be produced anew; this is called form consisting of non-action.

This non-active essence of the precepts is obtained immediately upon completion of the third proclamation of the karman. At that time, in relation to all men and women, one acquires the form-characteristic of abstaining from sexual misconduct. In relation to all sentient and insentient things, one acquires the form-characteristic of abstaining from stealing.

In relation to all sentient beings, one acquires the form-characteristic of abstaining from killing. In relation to all sentient beings, one acquires the form-characteristic of abstaining from deception. Even in relation to all soil, one acquires the form-characteristic of abstaining from digging.

In relation to all grasses and trees, one acquires the form-characteristic of abstaining from damaging them. In relation to all intoxicants, one acquires the form-characteristic of abstaining from drinking them. Thus, each of the 250 precept-dharmas is present throughout the entire dharma-realm.

Therefore, the Sutra on the Merit of Going Forth clearly states that the merit of observing the precepts for one day and one night is inexhaustible. This is precisely because the subtle wholesomeness of these precepts pervades everywhere and takes the dharma-realm as its object.

Thus, the non-active essence of the precepts is form included in the dharma-ayatana and is unconditioned form. The Satyasiddhi Shastra calls it an “aggregate that is neither form nor mind,” because this prevents the difficulties that the mind cannot undergo acquisition or loss and that the fruit cannot contain anything unwholesome.

(The Commentary on the Meaning says: Question: Regarding form consisting of non-action, sutras and treatises explain it differently, some saying that it exists and others that it does not. One doctrine maintains that merely vowing not to commit evil is called receiving the precepts, and that there is absolutely no non-active form. If within the cause there separately existed something unwholesome that joined in forming the cause of Buddhahood, then at the stage of Buddhahood this wholesome factor should also exist separately and join in forming the fruit of Buddhahood.

Here, because there is nothing unwholesome in the fruit, the difficulty concerning the precepts is precisely that they are a form-dharma, for the Lesser Vehicle mistakenly regards non-action as real form existing outside the mind. Another doctrine maintains that both Mahayana and Lesser Vehicle sutras and treatises discuss non-action. If the superior mind itself can serve as the precepts, then one would obtain the precepts as soon as one aroused the mind.

If so, why are there seven kinds of impediments that prevent one from obtaining the precepts? Furthermore, if non-action were entirely nonexistent, why would committing a grave offense immediately be called losing the precepts? Since the mind itself undergoes neither acquisition nor loss, the difficulty concerning the precepts is precisely that they are a mind-dharma.

The Satyasiddhi Shastra establishes an “aggregate that is neither form nor mind” in order to avert both of the foregoing difficulties. Vinaya masters past and present have all relied upon this and adopted its meaning. When the Mahayana explains that the precepts are provisional form, it means that, relying upon the Original Teacher, once one receives the precept-dharmas, one continues until the realization of bodhi, vowing, in accordance with the precepts arising together with concentration and the precepts arising together with the Path, to cultivate every good and to liberate all sentient beings.

This also employs the mind’s powerful capacity. Wholesome precepts are separately produced to serve as an object for the practitioner and to bring all evils to an end.)

In truth, they are obtained through the response of the mind; form is borrowed merely to represent them. Therefore, the Mahayana says: When the first proclamation of the karman is completed, through the karmic power of the mind, the subtle and wholesome precept-dharmas throughout the worlds of the ten directions all tremble. When the second proclamation of the karman is completed, the subtle and wholesome precept-dharmas throughout the worlds of the ten directions gather in midair like clouds and like jeweled canopies covering the crown of the recipient’s head.

When the third proclamation of the karman is completed, the subtle and wholesome precept-dharmas throughout the worlds of the ten directions flow through the crown of the recipient’s head into body and mind, filling the retributive body, encompassing the whole of future life, and perpetually becoming the seed of Buddhahood. Although the Vinaya Pitaka does not describe this matter, it nevertheless says: “When the karman is completed, this is called obtaining the locus.” One should therefore understand that the contaminated five skandhas, the physical body, are the basis of dependence, while the uncontaminated five skandhas, the body of precepts, are the basis of dependence.

The contaminated physical body, formed through the union of the father’s semen and the mother’s blood, is provisional form belonging to the form-ayatana. The uncontaminated body of precepts, obtained through the karman performed by the Three Masters and Seven Witnesses, is provisional form belonging to the dharma-ayatana. The upadhyaya is therefore called “the power that gives birth,” because it is precisely through his capacity that the body of precepts is born; thus he is named according to this meaning.

Upon obtaining this body of precepts, one immediately becomes equal in status to the Jewel of the Sangha, always causing devas and dragons to honor and uphold one, and ghosts and spirits to revere and obey one. If one’s mind no longer delights in living according to the Path, this is called impairment of the precepts. If one declares before someone the relinquishment of the precepts, this is called returning the precepts. If this non-active essence of the precepts did not exist, what would wholesome spirits rely upon in showing honor and reverence? How could the precepts be called impaired, and how could they be called relinquished?

Question: Since the precepts can be impaired, relinquished, and also broken, why is it said that restraint and practice operate spontaneously?

Answer: It is like a bridge or ferryboat that has the capacity to carry people across a river, or a pond or well that has the capacity to provide usable water. If the bridge or ferryboat is destroyed, or the pond or well filled in, that capacity is immediately lost. If this does not occur, they can be used at any time without waiting for them to be made anew; therefore, it is called non-action.

2) Explanation of restraint and practice:

These are two dharmas of conduct.

As the Shata Shastra says:

Ceasing evil and not committing it is called restraint;
Faithfully accepting and cultivating is called practice.

Although the Buddha’s teaching is vast, the two words “restraint and practice” encompass it all.

Now, regarding the wholesomeness of the precepts: if it does not arise, that is the end of the matter; once it arises, it immediately arrests all evils—this is the meaning of “restraint.” From there, one advances to perform good—this is the meaning of “practice.” What is arrested as evil are the roots and secondary afflictions, which give rise through the body and speech to the seven branches of misconduct as evil causes, and result in the cruel sufferings endured in the three evil destinies as evil fruits.

The meanings of the ten phrases will be fully explained below.

Whenever the bhikshus establish a boundary, this can enable those who uphold the precepts, once the causes of evil have been eliminated, to exhaust the fruits of evil; this is “punishing evil.” They further advance by guarding and restraining the sense faculties, not allowing thoughts to become scattered, and constantly practicing wholesome dharmas with one-pointed mind. They thereby naturally experience the provisional fruits of the human and heavenly realms, until they attain the true supramundane fruit of liberation; this is the meaning of “advancing toward the goal.” The exposition of the essential nature is now complete.

C. A SIMPLE DETERMINATION OF THE ISSUE:

This is divided into two parts:

– In relation to the Mahayana, discerning how the precepts are acquired and relinquished.

– From the standpoint of the characteristics of the teachings, discerning their shallowness and depth.

1) Discerning how the precepts are acquired and relinquished:

The Mahayana emphasizes the internal cause, while the Hinayana emphasizes external conditions. Because the internal cause is emphasized, one must generate bodhicitta before one can receive the precepts. If no unmanifest karma arises while the mind is in an unwholesome or indeterminate state, and no teacher can be found even after traveling a thousand miles, one is permitted to receive the precepts oneself before an image of the Buddha.

Because external conditions are emphasized, there must be a preceptor, the Sangha, the precepts, and the prescribed Dharma procedure, with every requisite assembled for the rite. If even one condition is lacking, the precepts are not acquired; if all conditions are complete, the precepts are acquired in all three states of mind—the wholesome, unwholesome, and indeterminate states all give rise to them.

Furthermore, after the Mahayana precepts have been acquired, they endure directly until Buddhahood is attained, whereas the Hinayana precepts are acquired for only one lifetime.

In the Mahayana, committing one of the ten grave offenses under the influence of the highest degree of defilement, or losing the great resolve for bodhicitta, is called losing the precepts. In the Hinayana, committing one of the four grave prohibitions is called losing the precepts. If one no longer delights in living according to the Way and relinquishes the precepts before one person, this is called returning the precepts.

After losing the Mahayana precepts, one is permitted to receive them again if one beholds an auspicious sign. After losing the Hinayana precepts, one is categorically forbidden to receive them again. Even in a case where the offense was not concealed at all, one can only be granted the karman of continued training. (This matter is explained in the section on the Dharma procedures for dealing with offenses.) Only when the precepts have been relinquished is one permitted to receive them again; but after returning to lay life three times, one is no longer permitted to receive them again.

Question: In explaining the essence of the precepts, the Mahayana is relied upon to

set forth how they are acquired and relinquished; yet a distinction is then made between Mahayana and Hinayana. How can their doctrinal principles and meanings be kept from contradicting one another?

Answer: Because the Mahayana is relied upon to explain unmanifest karma, this does not contradict the essential nature of the Dharma. Setting forth how the precepts are acquired and relinquished in relation to Mahayana and Hinayana does not destroy the characteristics of the Dharma. If the essential nature of the Dharma were contradicted, its characteristics would have no basis upon which to depend; if the characteristics of the Dharma were destroyed, its essential nature would have no means of becoming manifest.

Therefore, after the revelation and disclosure in the Lotus Sutra, the task of supporting and preserving the Vinaya belonged to the Nirvana Sutra. The standards of the Vinaya did not change in the slightest. Only by truly understanding the meaning of “permanence” here can it be called wondrous and beyond all relative distinctions.

Thus, its doctrinal principles and meanings are all established; reflection will make this understandable.

Another question: Since the Mahayana emphasizes the internal cause, when Vinaya masters today confer the bodhisattva precepts upon others, can they know whether those persons’ internal causes are genuine? If they are not genuine, can those persons be said to have acquired the precepts? If they have not acquired the precepts, then even if they commit one of the ten grave offenses, can the ten grave offenses be used to determine their guilt?

Answer: The text of the Bodhisattva Maitreya Karman clearly explains how to examine the capacity of the person concerned. If one does not know that person’s internal cause but improperly transmits the precepts to them, one cannot avoid the offense of becoming a teacher without clear understanding. Although the recipient, being in an unwholesome or indeterminate state of mind, has not given rise to the precepts, that person has nevertheless falsely assumed the name of a bodhisattva. One must therefore examine their offense according to the Vinaya; this is not the same as merely failing to acquire the precepts. Ultimately, such a person is classified among those who dwell in the Sangha like thieves.

2) Discerning shallowness and depth:

This belongs to the teaching represented by the stage of “curd,” which first guides ordinary beings into the realm of the noble ones. It may be comprehensively understood through the five flavors and may also be explained through the Four Teachings.

Firmly observing all prohibitive precepts and forever remaining apart from bondage is the teaching of the “Tripitaka Teaching.” Realizing that offenses are like illusory illnesses and the precepts like illusory medicines, that observance and violation are originally empty, and that body and mind are pure—this is the teaching of the “Shared Teaching.” If one has faith in the Middle Way, uses these very precepts to eliminate the delusions of views and thoughts, then enters the world to benefit sentient beings, and afterward awakens to and enters the Middle Way, this is the teaching of the “Distinct Teaching.” If the precepts are called the Dharma Realm, then all dharmas tend toward the precepts, and this tending is abiding in the secret treasury of the precepts.

Clearly seeing Buddha-nature within each and every precept is the teaching of the “Perfect Teaching.”

Furthermore, the Tathagata established this Dharma of precepts by means of the Four Siddhantas. Conforming to the world, protecting sentient beings, and causing them to rejoice is the “Worldly Siddhanta.” Giving rise to goodness is the “Siddhanta for Each Person.” Eliminating evil is the “Counteractive Siddhanta.” Enabling the Right Dharma to abide for a long time is the “Siddhanta of the Ultimate Truth.”

Furthermore, after receiving the teaching of revelation and disclosure, these precepts are solely the One Vehicle and do not belong to the preceding three teachings. Therefore, the Lotus Sutra says: “After the Buddhas have entered extinction, those whose wholesome minds are fully developed—all such people shall attain the Buddha Way.” It also says: “What you practice is the bodhisattva path.”

Furthermore, even before the revelation and disclosure, Mahayana bhikshus were required to study them in common. Therefore, the Sutra of the Bodhisattva Precepts says: “If a bodhisattva observes the Vinaya established by the Tathagata within the treasury of the Pratimoksha, offenses will be prevented. A bodhisattva should protect sentient beings, causing those without faith to develop faith and those who already have faith to increase it, and should study in common with the shravakas. Why is this? Although shravakas liberate themselves, they nevertheless do not forsake liberating others; how much more so should bodhisattvas, for whom liberating sentient beings is foremost.”

It also says: If a bodhisattva holds such a view, makes such a statement, and says: “A bodhisattva does not listen to, receive, or study the sutras and Dharma of the shravakas; why, then, should a bodhisattva practice according to the Dharma of the shravakas?” This is called an offense, indeed a multitude of offenses; it is an offense arising from defilement. Alas!

The complete text of this Vinaya is divided into two parts. The first part, explaining the title, has now been completed.

PART TWO: THE MAIN TEXT

This is divided into three parts:

– First, the preface to the precepts.

– Second, the enumeration of the characteristics of the precepts.

– Third, the exhortation, conclusion, and dedication of merit.

The first part is divided into four:

– Verses of praise.

– Questions and answers forming the opening declaration.

– The preface to the Precept Sutra.

– The concluding question.

The first section is further divided into six:

– Taking refuge in the Three Jewels.

– Instructing the assembly to gather and listen.

– Transmission and reception between teacher and disciples.

– Using an analogy to exhort them not to violate the precepts.

– Setting forth the precepts being taught.

– Concluding by praising the precepts as supreme.

A. VERSES OF PRAISE

I. The section on reverent homage will now be explained

I bow my head to all Buddhas,

To the revered Dharma and the Bhikshu Sangha.

Before performing the Dharma procedure, one must pay homage to the Three Jewels in order to seek their blessing and protection. Bowing one’s head is the reverence of bodily action. When the “body” is reverent, the “mouth” invokes the names and virtues of the Three Jewels, while the “mind” is devoted solely to contemplation; these are offerings made through the three kinds of karma.

The Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are called the Three Jewels and are worthy of reverence.

– Buddha means “Awakened One.” Because he is self-awakened, awakens others, and has perfected the practice of awakening, he is called the Buddha.

– Dharma means that which maintains its own defining pattern: it preserves its own nature, and when we encounter it, the conception arising from it is not confused with anything else. (It maintains its own nature and serves as a standard by which understanding arises in beings.) Therefore, it is called Dharma.

– Bhikshu has three meanings:

1) Mendicant: One remains far removed from wrong means of livelihood, sustains the body with a single alms bowl, casts away the defilement of ignorance, and causes the three kinds of wisdom to shine brightly from within.

2) Frightening Mara: As soon as one receives full ordination and the karma procedure is successfully completed, the deities immediately proclaim loudly: “Here and now, a good son (or good daughter) has received full ordination. This will increase the strength of the devas and diminish that of the asuras.” The celestial spirits traveling through the sky hear this and, one after another, loudly proclaim and rejoice. In but a moment, the news reaches the Brahma heaven, causing Mara Papiyan to become frightened. Therefore, this is called “frightening Mara.”

3) Destroying evil: This refers to one who cultivates the factors of awakening and severs the delusions of views and thought.

During cultivation, one fully possesses these three meanings. Therefore, upon attaining the fruit, one accordingly receives the titles Worthy of Offerings, Unborn, and Slayer of Thieves, and is also called an arhat.

Furthermore, bhiksu means “one who removes scarcity.” Because he serves as a field of merit for the world and opens the great gift of Dharma, he is called one who removes scarcity.

Sangha, in full Sanghagha, is translated in China as “the harmonious assembly.” It is the designation for an assembly of four or more bhiksus.

Harmony has two meanings:

1) Harmony in principle: jointly realizing the fruit of cessation through discernment.

2) Harmony in matters, which has six meanings:

– Harmony in observing the precepts through common cultivation.

– Harmony in views through common understanding.

– Bodily harmony through dwelling together.

– Harmony in benefits through equal distribution.

– Verbal harmony through freedom from dispute.

– Mental harmony through mutual joy.

Furthermore, the Ten Recitations Vinaya speaks of five kinds of Sangha:

– The Sangha without shame or remorse, namely, bhiksus who break the precepts.

– The Sangha of mute sheep^[5], namely, bhiksus who gather in one place but do not understand the Uposatha, do not understand the karma procedure for the Uposatha, do not understand the recitation of the precepts, and do not understand the Dharma assembly.

– The divided Sangha, namely, bhiksus within a single boundary who separately perform karma procedures.

– The pure Sangha, namely, ordinary bhiksus who uphold the precepts and superior ordinary persons—the seven sages.

– The true Sangha, namely, bhiksus who are learners and those beyond learning.

The homage spoken of here is homage to the latter two kinds of Sangha. The true Sangha is capable of causing the ultimate meaning of the True Dharma to abide for a long time. The pure Sangha is capable of causing the conventional True Dharma to abide for a long time.

The first three kinds of Sangha are capable of performing unlawful karma procedures, thereby causing the True Dharma to be destroyed. Therefore, they are not persons to whom we should bow in homage.

Furthermore, there are the Abiding Three Jewels and the Universal Three Jewels. As for the Abiding Three Jewels: when the Buddha was in the world, his attainment of the Way beneath the King of Trees was the Buddha Jewel; the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths was the Dharma Jewel; and the five bhiksus were the Sangha Jewel. After the Buddha entered nirvana, images fashioned from metal, wood, clay, or painted paper are the Buddha Jewel; the scriptures and books of the sacred teachings in the Tripitaka are the Dharma Jewel; and those who shave their heads, don dyed robes, and perpetuate the Way and Dharma are the Sangha Jewel. Because these three do not cease to exist in the world, they are called the Abiding Three Jewels.

Moreover, all images are identical in significance to the true body; the scriptures presently existing are relics of the Dharma-body; and the ordinary Sangha presently existing can also shoulder the True Dharma and serve as a field of merit for the world. Therefore, all should likewise be reverently honored.

Furthermore, “the Buddhas” refers to all the Great Teachers presently seated in places of enlightenment throughout the ten directions. Because their essence of awakening pervades everywhere, although they dwell in other directions, they can serve as good spiritual friends who aid beings in this realm. It also refers collectively to all the Blessed Ones who successively appear throughout the three periods of time. Because the nature of awakening is ever-present, although they abide in the past or future, they can still compassionately respond to beings in the present. The Dharma and Sangha are likewise so.

The One Essence means using the wisdom of true reality to clearly know that all dharmas are neither nonexistent nor existent; both existent and nonexistent; with both relinquished and both illumined. The three wisdoms of perfect awakening are called the Buddha Jewel. The harmony of awakened wisdom with principle and phenomena is called the Sangha Jewel.

Furthermore, the present single thought inherently possesses the Three Truths, yet because of delusion they are not known; these are themselves the Dharma Jewel. The wisdom that knows the Three Truths is the Buddha Jewel. The union of the Three Truths and the three wisdoms is the Sangha Jewel. Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha elucidate the meaning of the Three Jewels as one essence.

Furthermore, to speak of homage means that the abiding aspect does not exist outside the one essence, nor does the one essence exist apart from the abiding forms. If one does not understand the principle of the one essence but performs acts of reverence, one gains only merit on the phenomenal level; this is not called true homage. This is because homage carries the meaning of embodying. If one has not realized that the substance of the three wheels^[6] is quiescent, it does not bear the meaning of embodying.

If one abandons the abiding forms and discusses the one essence, one falls into evil destinies; this cannot be called understanding the principle. To place principle outside phenomena is not yet to understand that phenomena in their entirety are themselves principle; it does not bear the meaning of “one.”

To speak of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha is precisely to reveal what is neither one nor three, yet is three and is one. This is the essential purport of principle and phenomena, in which sequential distinctions and perfect interfusion coexist.

II. Announcing That the Assembly Should Gather to Listen

I now expound the Vinaya Dharma

So that the True Dharma may long endure.

The precepts are like a boundless sea,

Like a jewel one never tires of seeking.

Those wishing to safeguard the noble treasure,

Let the assembly gather and hear me recite.

Those wishing to eliminate the Four Defeats,

And extinguish the Sanghavasesa offenses,

And prevent the Thirty Forfeiture-and-Expiation offenses,

Let the assembly gather and hear me recite.

“Expound” means to proclaim and teach everywhere.

The “Vinaya Dharma” has the meaning explained in the section interpreting the name.

The True Dharma is the supramundane noble path. When the True Dharma abides in the world, teaching, practice, and realization are all fully present. Through this Vinaya, the body of precepts is perfected, and concentration and wisdom arise. The fruit of the Great Sramana is thereby attained, causing the True Dharma to abide for a long time.

This half-stanza elucidates the meaning of gathering sentient beings.

“Like a boundless sea”: The Chapter on Reciting the Precepts says that the ocean possesses eight extraordinary qualities, and therefore the asuras delight in dwelling there.

– All rivers flow into it.

– Its tides rise without exceeding their bounds.

– When large and small rivers enter the sea, they lose their former names.

– Rivers and heavy rains all flow into the sea, yet it neither increases nor decreases.

– It has a single taste, that of salt.

– It does not retain corpses.

– It produces many precious treasures.

– Beings with enormous bodies dwell there.

The teaching of the Tathagata likewise possesses eight extraordinary qualities, causing disciples, once they encounter it, to delight in dwelling within it:

– My disciples progressively train in the precepts and all take refuge in my Dharma, wherein they study wholesome dharmas.

– My disciples abide in the precepts and do not transgress them even unto death.

– When members of the four castes leave home and come to dwell together, they are all called sramanas.

– Within my Dharma, with firm faith, they leave home to study the Way and enter the domain of nirvana, yet the realm of nirvana neither increases nor decreases.

– It has a single taste, that of liberation.

– One who violates the precepts and practices evil dharmas, though seated within the assembly, is always separated from the Sangha. The Sangha also separates itself from that person.

– It contains many Dharma treasures, such as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, up to the Noble Eightfold Path.

– Those possessing great spiritual stature, such as the Four Approaches and the Four Fruits, dwell therein.

Furthermore, upon first receiving the precepts, throughout the entire dharma-realm one acquires the unmanifest form of refraining from sexual misconduct, stealing, killing, and so forth. Thus, up to the 250 precepts, the 3,000 deportments, and the 80,000 subtle practices—all are the pure form of the precepts, pervading the entire dharma-realm.

Furthermore, from that time onward, in every thought-moment, the wholesome form of the Dharma of precepts is spontaneously perfected, pervading the entire dharma-realm without exhaustion. Therefore, it is said to be like a boundless sea.

“Like a jewel one never tires of seeking”: The jewel is the king of wish-fulfilling gems. In every thought-moment, this jewel can rain down throughout Jambudvipa, completely providing every happiness, yet its substance is never diminished. The precepts are likewise so: in every thought-moment they give rise to all the dharmas—the Foundations of Mindfulness, Right Efforts, Bases of Spiritual Power, Faculties and Powers, Factors of Awakening, and the Path—up to the Three Vehicles and all noble fruits, yet the essence of the precepts does not change.

Moreover, the more one studies these precepts, the more one perceives their essence; the more one practices them, the more wholesome benefit one obtains. Therefore, it is said that they are like a jewel one never tires of seeking.

The noble treasures are briefly of seven kinds: faith, moral discipline, learning, generosity, wisdom, moral shame, and moral dread.

Explained broadly, they include the six paramitas, the myriad practices, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the hundred and eight samadhis, the eighteen distinctive qualities, and so forth. These Dharma treasures are safeguarded by the precepts. The precepts are like skilled soldiers and powerful generals; like strong walls and deep moats; like statutes and regulations; and like a wheel-turning king who has a minister overseeing the treasury, guarding the frontiers against invasion, taking precautions against treacherous bandits so that nothing is plundered, and administering everything securely so that it is not destroyed. Through disbursement, receipt, custody, and preservation, he causes the treasury to increase. Such is the meaning of the word “safeguard.”

This verse elucidates the meaning of embracing wholesome dharmas. Casting away vessels, destroying remnants, and preventing abandonment and downfall elucidate the meaning of embracing disciplinary restraints. “Vessels” and the other matters are explained in the text below.

Question: The designation “three collections” is not shared with the lesser teaching. How, then, can it be judged and explained according to this passage?

Answer: Before the teaching was opened and revealed, the reality existed but the name did not; after it was opened and revealed, both the name and the reality existed. The three meanings are perfectly clear, so how could it be said that they are merely judged and explained according to this passage?

III. Transmission from Teacher to Disciple

Vipasyin and Sikhin,

Visvabhu and Krakucchanda,

Kanakamuni,

Kasyapa and Sakyamuni^[7],

All the Greatly Virtuous Blessed Ones,

Taught me this matter.

I now wish to recite it clearly;

May you all listen together.

Vipasyin is also called Weiwei; translated into Chinese, his name means Supreme Vision. Sikhin is also called Shiqi; translated into Chinese, his name means Fire. Visvabhu is also called Suiye or Suiyela; translated into Chinese, his name means Universally Sovereign. These three Blessed Ones appeared at the end of the Adornment Kalpa. Krakucchanda is also called Julouqin; translated into Chinese, his name means Golden Stillness, or Golden Immortal. Kasyapa is also called Kasyapah; translated into Chinese, his name means Light-Drinker. Sakyamuni is also called Sakya Muni; translated into Chinese, his name means Capable Benevolent One, or Capable Benevolent Silent Sage. These four Tathagatas appeared successively during the initial period of the Auspicious Kalpa.

These seven Buddhas are mentioned everywhere for the following reasons:

– First, during the one hundred minor kalpas, humans and devas of the Pure Abodes saw them in the past.

– Second, our Original Teacher began cultivating the karma of the auspicious marks during the time of the Buddha Vipasyin.

A Blessed One is fully endowed with the ten epithets and is revered throughout the nine realms. “Greatly Virtuous” means that the causes have been perfected and the fruit fulfilled, so that no worldly person can equal him.

Bhiksus may also be generally addressed as “Greatly Virtuous” because they possess vast and great virtuous conduct.

“This matter” refers to the four parajika offenses, the thirteen sanghavasesa offenses, and all the training rules established throughout the Vinaya.

“Well proclaimed” means proclaimed clearly, proclaimed correctly in accordance with the Dharma, and in harmony.

“May you all listen together” means that everyone, from the newly ordained to those of one hundred rains, assembles to listen, from the preface to the precepts through the verses of the scripture.

IV. Using Analogies to Exhort Against Breaking the Precepts

Just as a person whose legs are crippled

Cannot travel anywhere,

So too is one who breaks the precepts:

One cannot be born among devas or humans.

If one wishes to be born in the heavens,

Or to be born in the human realm,

One must always safeguard the feet of the precepts

And never allow them to be injured.

As when a cart enters a perilous road,

One fears its linchpin will fail and its axle break,

So too is it with breaking the precepts:

At death, one’s heart is filled with fear.

The first two verses offer admonition concerning the impediment to birth in wholesome realms. The final verse offers admonition concerning falling into an evil destination after death. Birth and death are likened to a perilous road.

The Dharma of the precepts is likened to the linchpin and axle of a cart. When one violates the precepts, at death the signs of the evil destinations appear, just as a linchpin fails and an axle breaks upon a perilous road. Unable to distinguish front from rear, one is terrified and stricken with dread.

The Chapter on Practices and Vows states:

Firmly close all the gates to the evil destinations and throw wide the main gates to the human and heavenly realms and to nirvana. Such indeed is the power of the precepts.

However, the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya states:

Whether one seeks worldly peace and happiness or aspires to the heavens, one must cultivate the holy life. Having been born among humans or devas, one temporarily experiences pleasure; yet after one’s life ends, one falls into hell. Therefore, one who seeks nirvana must cultivate the holy life. Do not delight in the pleasures of humans and devas, only to suffer afterward.

The Compendium Treatise states:

There are two kinds of perilous roads:

– Birth in the heavenly realm.

– Birth in an evil destination.

Although one may be born in the heavens and experience all kinds of exquisite pleasures, when that karmic recompense is exhausted, one falls again into an evil destination. Therefore, the human and heavenly realms are not places to which one should aspire.

Thus speaks the second verse, which briefly has two meanings:

a) The feet of the precepts must be safeguarded and should not be damaged. If they are damaged, one has no share even in human or heavenly birth, much less in nirvana.

b) It embraces those of inferior capacity. When nirvana is spoken of, they are afraid, but when the human and heavenly realms are spoken of, they rejoice. Therefore, they must first be encouraged by expedient enticement and only afterward be led into the wisdom of the Buddha.

Furthermore, speaking in terms of actual circumstances, if one upholds the precepts without violating them, then even if one lacks concentration and wisdom, one will certainly not fail to receive a body in the human or heavenly realms.

Moreover, one should understand that when the feet are used as an analogy for the precepts, there is nowhere one cannot reach. Whether one wishes to transcend to the highest grade upon the lotus dais, attend upon the Buddhas of the ten directions, adorn and purify boundless Buddha-lands, or enter the profound gate of the Dharma realm, how could one fail to take these precepts as the initial means?

V. Presenting the Training Rules That Will Be Proclaimed

As when a person looks into a mirror,

Beauty or ugliness gives rise to joy or sorrow,

So too is the proclamation of the precepts:

Wholeness or damage gives rise to gladness or concern.

As when two armies meet in battle,

The brave advance and the cowardly retreat,

So too is the proclamation of the precepts:

Purity or defilement gives rise to joy or fear.

Joy and sorrow belong to the mind, while concern and fear manifest in bodily conduct. When the precepts are entirely pure, inwardly one is not ashamed before oneself and outwardly one is not abashed before others; therefore, the mind is joyful and the body at ease. When the precepts have been violated and defiled, inwardly one bears a blemish before oneself and outwardly one is stained before the Sangha; therefore, one harbors concern and fears the assembly.

VI. Praising the Precepts as Supreme in Conclusion

In the world, a king is greatest;

Among waterways, the sea is vastest.

Among the stars, the moon is brightest;

Among the noble ones, the Buddha is supreme.

Among all codes of discipline,

The Pratimoksa Sutra is highest.

The Tathagata established the prohibitory precepts

To be recited once every half-month.

One who receives these precepts is called a Great Sramana. The word “great” is maha in Sanskrit and has three meanings:

1) Great: greatest among devas and humans.

2) Abundant: possessing abundant merit and wisdom.

3) Superior: surpassing all adherents of non-Buddhist paths.

The first line praises by reference to greatness of position. The second line praises by reference to abundance. The third line praises by reference to superiority. The fourth line praises through a general analogy.

The latter half of the verse directly correlates the analogies with the Dharma. Because this Pratimoksa Sutra alone is supreme, receiving these precepts also makes one supreme.

“All codes of discipline” means that both worldly traditions and non-Buddhist paths also have codes of discipline.

Furthermore, the five precepts, eight precepts, and ten precepts do not equal the bhiksu precepts. The bhiksu precepts are supreme.

Moreover, the meditative precepts and the inexhaustible precepts do not equal the pratimoksa precepts. The pratimoksa is the guiding framework of the Buddhadharma.

Furthermore, among the Tripitaka and the twelve divisions of scripture, the Pratimoksa Sutra alone is supreme. If one does not steadfastly uphold the prohibitory precepts, then even if one presently possesses meditative concentration and great wisdom, these will become the work of Mara. Therefore, the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya states: “Among the three baskets of teachings proclaimed by the Buddha, the Vinaya Dharma stands foremost.”

Furthermore, the first sentence uses a simile to praise the “teaching” of the sutra, which only the Tathagata himself could proclaim. The second sentence uses a simile to praise the “practice” of the sutra: all dharmas tend toward the precepts. The third sentence uses a simile to praise the “principle” of the sutra: the unproduced substance of the precepts is cool and refreshing like the moon. Depending on observance or transgression, there may be fullness or waning, yet in truth there is neither increase nor decrease. The fourth sentence uses a simile to praise the “fruit” of the sutra: it accomplishes not only the fruit of the sravakas, but also the fruition of the Tathagata’s path.

Question: The unproduced substance of the precepts is received from one’s Master. If

one commits the initial grave offense, even though one has no intention whatsoever to conceal it, one is merely assigned “further training” and may not participate in the affairs of the Sangha. If the substance of the moon is used as a simile for the unproduced substance, how does it differ from the original nature? If it is received from one’s Master and called unproduced, does it then undergo increase or decrease?

Answer: The unproduced is the substance of the present entity itself. The originally pure nature is that upon which it depends. The unproduced belongs to cultivation, while the original nature belongs to purity.

The unproduced is the phenomenal; the original nature is the principle. The substance of the unproduced is the tenet, while the substance of the original nature is the essence. Yet the tenet and the essence are neither one nor two.

By penetrating the tenet, one awakens to the essence. By remaining ignorant of the essence, one also becomes confused about the tenet. Here, in using the moon as a simile to praise the principle of the sutra, what is indicated is precisely the substance upon which the unproduced precepts depend.

Therefore, one should understand that attainment or loss is a matter of fullness or waning; one cannot say that the nature itself increases or decreases.

Furthermore, the passage from “Just as a person with crippled legs” through “The Sutra of the Precepts is supreme” fully encompasses the four kinds of siddhanta. Opening the way to the realms of gods and humans and closing the gates to the paths of evil destinies is the “worldly siddhanta.” The two similes involving looking into a mirror are the two siddhantas of “adaptation to the individual” and “counteraction,” through which one respectively obtains the two benefits of generating goodness and eliminating evil. The precepts are compared to that which is supreme; this is the “siddhanta of the ultimate truth.” The substance of these precepts is the pure Dharma-body.

The Tathagata established the prohibitory precepts: Within the great trichiliocosm, the Buddha is the Lord of the Dharma. The Vinaya was instituted by the Buddha, and only the Buddha could establish it; those below him can only receive and follow it. This is because only the Tathagata, whose practice and fruition are perfect, can thoroughly comprehend the nature and relative gravity of the karma of sentient beings. Those from the stage of Equal Enlightenment downward cannot do so.

Question: Sutras may be spoken by five classes of persons.^[8] The Vinaya alone may be authoritatively proclaimed only by the Buddha. This resembles matters of rites and music, military expeditions, and punishments, concerning which only the Son of Heaven issues commands, while the feudal lords fold their hands, bow their heads, and obey. Now the Great Ming Code was enacted by the Son of Heaven, and all civil and military officials were permitted to read it. Why, then, may the Dharma of bhikshus be studied only by bhikshus, while novices and laypeople are forbidden to read it?

Answer: The Vinaya was instituted solely by the Buddha in order to reveal the noble and honored Dharma of the Path. Nevertheless, it is not only the Dharma of the Sangha that is called Vinaya; the Five Precepts, the Ten Precepts, and the bodhisattva precepts are all called Vinaya. These forms of Vinaya are promulgated among all seven assemblies, just as the great code is promulgated throughout the realm. The precepts and regulations of bhikshus, however, are like confidential documents kept within the imperial treasury, which only officials entrusted with weighty responsibilities are permitted to examine. Common people are not allowed to take part in hearing them.

The phrase “recited once every half-month” refers to the two halves of the month—the waxing and the waning moon—symbolizing the two kinds of karma, wholesome and unwholesome. The bright half is intended to make one pure and stainless; the dark half is intended to bring offenses to an end.

Furthermore, the bright half symbolizes the virtue of wisdom, while the dark half symbolizes the virtue of relinquishment. During the recitation of the precepts, each person examines himself.

Therefore, the Ten Recitations Vinaya states:

The Uposatha Dharma is observed every half-month. Every half-month, the bhikshus assemble harmoniously in one place and examine themselves: What offense did I commit by day? What offense did I commit by night? Since the previous recitation of the precepts, have I committed any offense? If one has committed an offense, one must approach a like-minded bhikshu who is pure in the precepts and make repentance in accordance with the Dharma. If one cannot find a bhikshu pure in the precepts, one should resolve: “When I meet one in the future, I shall make repentance in accordance with the Dharma.” In this way, one abides in wholesome dharmas and departs far from unwholesome dharmas.

The Fundamental Miscellaneous Matters states:

I instruct you to recite the Pratimoksha every half-month. You should know that this is your Great Teacher and your place of refuge. It is no different from when I dwell in the world.

APPENDIX:

The fourth section^[9] states that five qualities constitute one who upholds the Vinaya:

1) Knowing what constitutes a transgression.

2) Knowing what does not constitute a transgression.

3) Knowing minor offenses.

4) Knowing grave offenses.

5) Extensively reciting both divisions of the Vinaya.

There are another five qualities, of which the first four are as above, while the

fifth is: abiding firmly in the Vinaya without being shaken.

There are yet another five qualities, of which the first four are as above, while the

fifth is: being able to quell disputes when they arise.

One who upholds the Vinaya possesses five merits:

1) The portion of precepts remains firm.

2) One is able to subdue adversaries.

3) Within the assembly, one renders decisions without fear.

4) If doubts or regrets arise, one is able to explain and resolve them.

5) One causes the True Dharma to endure.

It further states that five things cause the True Dharma to perish swiftly:

1) One does not attentively listen to, receive, and recite the teachings, but is prone to forgetfulness and error. One teaches others while the text one has learned is incomplete. When the text is incomplete, its meaning and principles must necessarily be deficient.

2) One is foremost among others, a senior elder in the Sangha, and honored throughout the country, yet does not observe the precepts, practices only unwholesome dharmas, lives heedlessly, abandons the conduct of the precepts, and is neither diligent nor energetic. This causes young and newly ordained bhikshus of later generations to imitate such conduct.

3) One is learned, upholds the Dharma, upholds the Vinaya, and upholds the Matrika, yet does not use what one knows to teach the assembly, but carries that knowledge with oneself to the grave.

(To uphold the Dharma means to know the Sutra-pitaka, as Ananda did and so forth. To uphold the Vinaya means to know the Vinaya-pitaka, as Upali did and so forth. To uphold the Matrika means to be skillful in matters of instruction and to bear foremost responsibility for conveying the profound essentials, as Mahakasyapa did and so forth.)^[10]

4) There are bhikshus who are difficult to instruct, who do not accept good counsel, and who cannot practice patience; the other virtuous bhikshus consequently abandon them and cease to instruct them.

5) They delight in contention and revile one another. The two sides contend with words, uttering speech like swords and blades, and dispute over victory and defeat.

If the opposite of these five conditions prevails, the True Dharma will endure for a long time.

Furthermore, after the Tathagata’s nirvana, if bhikshus do not revere the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, the precepts, and samadhi, the True Dharma will swiftly disappear. Or, although they have gone forth in the Dharma and Vinaya, they are not wholeheartedly devoted when teaching the Dharma to others, nor are those who hear the Dharma wholehearted in remembering and retaining it. Even if they persevere, they do not properly contemplate its meaning and purport. They do not understand its meaning and cannot practice in accordance with the Dharma. They benefit neither themselves nor others. Through such causes and conditions, the True Dharma swiftly disappears.

If the opposite of these conditions prevails, the True Dharma will endure for a long time.

The Mahasanghika Vinaya states:

If any faithful good man wishes to obtain five benefits, he should wholeheartedly receive and uphold this Vinaya. The five benefits are:

1) Establishing the Buddhadharma.

2) Causing the True Dharma to endure for a long time.

3) When doubts or regrets arise, being able to seek instruction from others.

4) Serving as a refuge and consolation for bhikshus and bhikshunis who have committed offenses and are afraid.

5) Traveling everywhere to teach and transform without ever encountering obstruction.

Everyone should devote themselves completely to receiving and upholding this Vinaya.

Furthermore, Mahakasyapa told the bhikshus: “The division of the Blessed One’s relics is not our task. Kings, elders, brahmins, lay assemblies, and those seeking merit will themselves undertake the division of the relics in order to make offerings. Our task is to compile the Dharma treasury and prevent the Buddha’s Dharma from swiftly disappearing.”

The Ten Recitations Vinaya states:

If any bhikkhu knows the Uposatha, knows the karman procedure for the Uposatha, knows how to recite the Pratimoksha, and knows how to convene the assembly, offerings and support should be provided to him. Why is this? Because when there is no Buddha, such a person serves in his stead.

It is also said that when pure bhikkhus who do not impair the True Dharma recite the precepts, this is called the abiding of the Dharma in the world.

It is also said: Upholding the Vinaya has five benefits:

1) Knowing the Dharma of renunciation.

2) Knowing karman procedures.

3) Knowing the rules of deportment.

4) Knowing the rules of dependence.

5) Knowing what obstructs the Path and what does not.

The Mula-nidana says:

When karman procedures are formally conducted and carried out in accordance with the Dharma, this is called the abiding of the True Dharma in the world. When this is not so, it is called the destruction of the True Dharma.

The Buddha told the bhikkhus: “If, out of faith, you go forth, earnestly seek nirvana, and cultivate the pure conduct, then such bhikkhus may wear robes worth a hundred million gold coins, rest in dwellings worth five hundred gold coins, and partake of meals complete with a hundred exquisite flavors. The Tathagata permits them to make use of all such things, and they are all worthy of receiving and using them.

If a bhikkhu violates a grave precept, he cannot digest even a single morsel of food received in the Sangha’s dwelling place. Within the grounds of the monastery, there is not even enough room for a precept-breaking bhikkhu to set down one foot.

You should know that one who breaks the precepts incurs ten faults and losses:

1) He himself knows that he is an evil person who has broken the precepts.

2) Others also know him to be such.

3) Deities do not approach to assist him.

4) His companions in the pure conduct, as well as good people who know the Dharma, all despise him.

5) The ill repute of his wrongdoing is heard throughout the four directions.

6) He cannot attain what he has not yet realized.

7) Whatever Dharma he has already realized entirely declines and is lost.

8) Whatever he has heard is completely forgotten.

9) At the end of his life, remorse arises in his mind; he is uneasy, bewildered, and afraid.

10) After relinquishing this life, he is born in hell.

Furthermore, bhikkhus, you should know that there are five kinds of use:

1) Use as an owner: this refers to an arhat who has completely eliminated the three poisons.

2) Use as that of a child of the household: this refers to those still in training, who still possess afflictions and karma.

3) Permitted use: this refers to virtuous ordinary beings who keep the precepts purely and diligently practice meditation and recitation without ever being indolent.

4) Use as a debtor: this refers to one who, although observing the prohibitive precepts, does not diligently cultivate the factors of awakening and wholesome Dharma.

5) Use as a thief: this refers to one who commits any one of the four grave offenses.

Therefore, you should train and cultivate yourselves.”

The Samantapasadika says:

For good men who go forth with wholesome intentions, the Vinaya Pitaka is their father and mother. Why is this? Because the Vinaya Pitaka enables those who have gone forth to receive full ordination, teaches them the rules of deportment, and is that upon which they depend.

One who personally upholds the precepts is able to resolve the doubts and uncertainties of others, and when entering the Sangha, he has no fear. If an offense has been committed, he examines it according to the Vinaya, thereby enabling the True Dharma to abide for a long time.

One who upholds the precepts and Vinaya is the very source of merit and virtue. Because of this root, he gathers and sustains all wholesome dharmas.

The Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago says:

The Vinaya of the Mahayana and that of the Hinayana are not different^[11]; both establish the five divisions of offenses and universally cultivate the Four Noble Truths. If one performs the Uposatha rites and reads Mahayana sutras, one is called a Mahayana practitioner. If one does not practice these, one is called a Hinayana practitioner. It is said in some places that the Mahayana does not go beyond two traditions: Madhyamaka and Yogacara.

According to Madhyamaka, the conventional truth exists, while in ultimate truth there is nothing; its nature is like an illusion.

According to Yogacara, external objects do not exist, while the inner consciousness does; all things are Consciousness-Only. Both traditions follow the Buddha’s regulations, and whether affirming or negating, both accord with nirvana. How could one be genuine and the other false? Their essential purpose is to eradicate all afflictions and deliver sentient beings. Why seek such breadth that one becomes confused, while also introducing further complications into the matter of preceptual regulations? If one practices in accordance with them, the conditions for reaching the other shore are complete. If one acts contrary to them, one must remain submerged at the ford of birth and death.

In the Western Regions of India, both are practiced side by side, and their principles do not conflict with one another.... It is also said: Keeping the floating bladder from being punctured is the original resolve of a bodhisattva. Do not make light of a minor fault, lest in the end you must cry out for rescue. Only by cultivating in accordance with principles embracing both the great and the small does one follow the teaching of the Compassionate Honored One.

Guarding against minor faults, contemplating great emptiness, gathering in beings, and calming the mind—what fault could there be in doing so? It is only to be feared that one may delude oneself and then delude others, following a teaching that provisionally presents only one aspect of the Dharma of emptiness, and consequently believing the Vinaya texts to be utterly empty and nonexistent. How then could one perceive one’s own dissipation and indolence!

The Admonitions at the Gate of Knowledge says:

The Vinaya prescribes that during a bhikkhu’s first five rains retreats, he should devote himself exclusively and diligently to the Vinaya collection. Once he has mastered the matters of observing and violating the precepts and can clearly discern the affairs of bhikkhus, only then should he study the sutras and treatises.

People nowadays skip the proper sequence in their studies. Since their conduct has already lost its proper order, how can they enter the Path? The Great Sage reproached them, for they are certainly not disciples of the Buddha.

Furthermore, as soon as they have barely been imbued with the precepts, they are immediately allowed to hear the sacred teachings and investigate Chan, without any understanding whatsoever of the bhikkhu’s way of life. Worse still, they slight the precepts and Vinaya, slander the Vinaya, disparage students of the Vinaya as Hinayana practitioners, and say that those who uphold the precepts cling to appearances. They continually abandon themselves to worldly defilements, indulging in foolish and evil habits, craving fine food and beautiful clothing, yet calling themselves attuned to the times. They engage in sexual misconduct and give vent to anger, yet claim to have attained the Path, without ever understanding the sacred purport or awakening to and entering the True Vehicle.

Furthermore, if you slight the precepts, why did you ascend the ordination platform to receive them? If you must slander the Vinaya, why did you shave your head and dye your robes? Thus, to slight the precepts is to slight yourself, and to revile the Vinaya is to revile yourself. Deluded passions are easily cultivated, whereas the supreme Path is difficult to learn. Among ten thousand, not even one transcends the common crowd and rises above the mundane. Please understand the sacred teachings clearly; why would you not follow them?

It is also said: The two treasures of the Buddha and the Dharma both depend upon the Sangha for their propagation. The continued existence of the Sangha Treasure depends upon the precepts; apart from the precepts, there is nothing by which it can be established. Therefore, the Avatamsaka Sutra says: “Fully uphold the rules of deportment and the teachings, thereby ensuring that the station of the Three Treasures is never severed.”

The Guishan Admonitions says:

You have never set foot in an assembly where the Vinaya is taught; how then could you discern the definitive meaning of the Supreme Vehicle?

CLARIFICATION:

Question: Those who crave meat and alcohol, engage in sexual misconduct, and give vent to anger are not worth discussing. But if one does not violate the grave prohibitions and the foundation remains undamaged, what fault is there in henceforth listening to the teachings, investigating Chan, and devoting oneself exclusively to seeking the Supreme Vehicle? Why must one wait until mastering trivial phenomenal details before one can accord with the Buddha’s teachings? Those who abandon the great and turn toward the small do not study the Buddha’s teachings and all the Buddha’s precepts; in what sense can they be considered comprehensively learned?

Answer: If a person of superior faculties and sharp wisdom is capable of penetrating the meaning of the Dharma, then the disciplinary rules themselves are the teachings and are Chan. How could one regard them as trivial phenomenal details and separately seek the Supreme Vehicle? If one belongs to those of middling or inferior faculties and does not yet understand even phenomenal details, how could one be capable of seeking the Chan teachings from afar? This is precisely what is meant by “failing to see the firewood while hoping to find a fine hair.”^[12]

Those who abandon the great and follow the small aspire only to their own benefit and do not train in accordance with the Buddha; they are called those who have regressed from and lost the bodhicitta. Even among the five virtues of a novice monk, it is said: “Seek only the Mahayana for the sake of delivering others.” How much less could the bhikkhu precepts be Hinayana and therefore be deemed not to constitute training in accordance with the Buddha?

The opening section presenting the verse of praise is now complete.

A COMPENDIUM OF THE ESSENTIAL MEANINGS OF VINAYA MATTERS, REVISED AND EDITED

END OF VOLUME ONE

Notes:

2 In this passage, Master Zhixu abridged the text according to his own understanding (A Compendium of the Essential Meanings of Vinaya Matters, Revised and Edited, vol. 1, p. 351b01, Manji Supplementary Canon 40n719). The original text differs slightly; see the Sutra of Shariputra’s Questions, p. 900a15, Taisho Tripitaka 24n1465.

3 Collection of Translated Buddhist Terms, vol. 1, p. 1064a05, Taisho Tripitaka 54n2131.

4 A Record of the Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea 1, p. 205a25, Taishō 54, no. 2125.

5 Ruyang 羺..羊?: An ordinary person of dull faculties, devoid of wisdom, like a mute sheep.

6 The three spheres: the person paying homage, the object to which homage is paid, and the act of paying homage.

7 Śākya-văn: an abbreviated but incorrect form of the name Śākyamuni.

8 Five classes of speakers: The Buddha-Dharma may be expounded by five classes of speakers: 1. Spoken from the Buddha’s own mouth; 2. Spoken by a disciple of the Buddha; 3. Spoken by a seer; 4. Spoken by devas; 5. Spoken by a manifested person.

9 Dharmaguptaka Vinaya 59, fourth section, Vinaya Numerical Series (section on sets of five dharmas), p. 1004b17, Taishō 22, no. 1428.

10 This passage in parentheses is absent from the original main text of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya; Master Zhixu added it as a supplementary annotation. Dharmaguptaka Vinaya 59, fourth section, Vinaya Numerical Series, p. 1006b26, Taishō 22, no. 1428.

11 Master Zhixu abridged this passage (Essential Compilation of the Meaning of Vinaya Matters, Revised and Re-edited 1, p. 356c28, Manji 40, no. 719). A Record of the Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea 1, p. 205c10, Taishō 54, no. 2125: The original reads, “The practices of the Mahayana and the Lesser Vehicle are intermingled, but when their purport is examined, their Vinaya regulations do not differ 大i小乘雜行,考其致渎也則律撿不殊瞖2 ...” The practices of the Mahayana and the Lesser Vehicle are intermingled, but upon examining the two schools, their Vinaya rules and standards are found not to differ...

12 Chinese: 薪不見而欲婝察秋毫. “Autumn down”: There is a kind of bird whose plumage does not grow until autumn; because the feathers are small and fine, they are called “autumn down.” The figurative meaning of this sentence is: If one cannot yet accomplish an easy task, how could one accomplish a difficult one?