佛說當來變經

Thus have I heard: At one time the Buddha was dwelling in the Garden of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the Jeta Grove in the country of Śrāvastī, together with a great assembly of bhikṣus who had come to attend, comprising five hundred bhikṣus along with the bodhisattvas.

At that time the World-Honored One addressed the bhikṣus: "In a future age there will be bhikṣus who, on account of a single matter, will not follow the Dharma's transforming teaching, causing the Dharma to be destroyed and failing to grow in benefit. What is this one matter? Not upholding the prohibitive precepts, not being able to guard the mind, not cultivating wisdom, giving free rein to thoughts, seeking only a reputation for goodness, not according with the teaching of the Way, and being unwilling to strive diligently to follow the work of saving the world. This is the one matter that causes the Dharma to be destroyed."

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus: "There are, furthermore, two matters that cause the Dharma to be destroyed. What are these two?

"The first: not upholding the prohibitive precepts, not restraining that mind, not cultivating wisdom, nurturing a wife and children, giving free rein to the mind, indulging the thoughts, engaging in trade and altering their way of life so as to make a living together with others.

"The second: forming factions and cliques and together hating those who serve the teaching, wishing to bring about their ruin and downfall. Hence, according to the meaning of the saying, they are flattering and fawning (flattery and obsequiousness). Within, they commit evil conduct; without, they make a show of purity.

"These are the two matters that cause the Dharma to be destroyed."

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus: "There are, furthermore, three matters that cause the Dharma to be destroyed. What are these three?

"The first: already not upholding the prohibitive precepts, not being able to restrain the mind, not cultivating wisdom.

"The second: reciting the texts on their own, not knowing where a phrase pauses, taking what comes above and making it below, taking what comes below and making it above, with beginning and end inverted, unable to comprehend where the ultimate meaning comes to rest (its conclusion), yet regarding themselves as correct.

"The third: when they encounter a discerning person who laments and reproaches them for not following that teaching, they instead harbor anger and resentment, saying that it is mutual jealousy. Those who understand the meaning are few; the greater part are unable to discern the principle, and all regard themselves as correct.

"These are the three matters that cause the Dharma to be destroyed."

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus: "There are, furthermore, four matters that cause the Dharma to be destroyed. What are these four?

"The first: in the future there will be bhikṣus who, having relinquished the affairs of household life and dwelling in places of solitude and ease, nevertheless do not cultivate the work of the Way.

"The second: they delight in roaming through the clamorous festivals and gatherings of the human world, going about and conversing, seeking fine kāṣāya robes and garments of five colors.

"The third: they hear of lofty things and gaze afar, making this their chief support; they regard themselves as possessing virtue so high that none can keep pace with them; and with petty, fragmentary, miscellaneous knowledge they compare themselves to the light of the sun and the moon, each one nurturing and aggrandizing himself.

"The fourth: not restraining the three things, not guarding the sense-gates, going to the dwellings of women, proclaiming embellished and polished words, for the most part speaking in ways that pair off and stir the hearts of others, causing turbidity within the city, their bodily conduct becoming wild and disordered, and casting aside the True Dharma.

"These are the four matters that cause the Dharma to be destroyed."

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus: "There are, furthermore, five matters that cause the Dharma to be destroyed. What are these five?

"The first: there may be bhikṣus who originally, for the sake of the Dharma, went forth from home to cultivate the Way, but who abandon and neglect the profound scriptural teachings—the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, the Thirty-Seven Factors, the Vaipulya, wisdom that is mysterious, empty, profound, and subtle, the prajñā-pāramitā beyond all bounds, the skillful means of expedient methods, emptiness (the Void), signlessness, and wishlessness—down to the essential pivots of the transforming teaching.

"The second: they instead gather up miscellaneous phrases, petty and trivial scriptures, and the practices of the worldly—hence the canonical texts of kings and rulers, the very source of disorder in the Way—delighting to expound this kind of work, interpreting and explaining worldly affairs, aiming to win people's hearts and make them rejoice, in order thereby to attain fame and reputation.

"The third: those who have just heard the Dharma. As for those of shallow learning and understanding, their minds delight in it, taking it to be marvelously useful; but those whose learning has reached the profound do not regard it as good.

"The fourth: the devas, nāgas, and ghostly spirits take no joy in it; their minds harbor unease and anxiety, and from their mouths come forth these words: 'The Great Dharma is about to perish, and so it has been made thus!' They cast aside the wondrous transforming teaching of the Dharma and instead proclaim miscellaneous phrases. The devas shed tears and swiftly seek a direction in which to depart.

"The fifth: because of that True Dharma, little by little they come to see it cast aside, and there is no one who cultivates it with diligence.

"These are the five matters that cause the Dharma to be destroyed."

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus: "After my parinirvāṇa, there will be these fifteen disorders belonging to such heterodox matters that cause the Dharma to be destroyed. How truly grievous it is!

"If there is a bhikṣu who wishes to learn the Way in truth, casting aside fair and pleasing adornment, not seeking fame and reputation, plain and simple yet holding to the truth, propagating the correct scriptures, the refined canon of the Buddha, the profound transforming teaching of the Dharma, not using many words, examining and investigating the source, expounding the scriptures without abandoning the True Dharma, ever hoping to speak in keeping with the Middle, not losing the intent of the Buddha; wearing coarse cloth and partaking of plain food, gaining the fine yet not delighting in it, gaining the coarse yet not loathing it; with clothing and food, good or bad, according to the intent of the giver, neither clinging in anger nor in joy;

restraining body, speech, and mind, guarding the various sense-gates, not going against the instructions taught by the Buddha.

The cushion and the lifespan are very brief; in but a flash they pass, like what is seen in a dream, where, upon waking, one knows not the place. The calamities of the three evil destinies (the three woeful paths: the hells, the hungry ghosts, the animals) cannot be reckoned by count; one cultivates the Buddha-Dharma diligently as though saving one's burning head. The Five Precepts, the Ten Wholesome Deeds, the Six Pāramitās beyond all bounds, the Four Immeasurables, the Four Kindnesses, wisdom, and skillful means—all of these can be practiced with diligence.

Though one may not encounter an age in which a Buddha is present, one leaves home for the sake of the Way; one's learning is not vain and idle; one stills that Original Mind, has compassion for all, and the ten directions receive its grace."

Thus did the Buddha speak. The bhikṣus, with mingled joy and sorrow, took refuge in the Buddha of their own accord, paid homage, and then withdrew.

THE SŪTRA SPOKEN BY THE BUDDHA ON THE OMENS OF CALAMITY IN THE FUTURE The End