分別功德論 1.24

1.24

"Morality like a diamond" refers to the morality of the Great Vehicle. "Morality like an unbaked pot" refers to the morality of the Lesser Vehicle. Why is this? A diamond cannot be destroyed. In the past, there was a bodhisattva-monk who was incomparably handsome. When he went out begging for food, he met a beautiful woman on the road. Seeing the bodhisattva, the woman was seized with lustful desire and wished to become his wife. She then reflected further: "This is impossible to obtain. But if he would merely sit with me, I will generate the unsurpassed intention [for awakening]." Knowing the woman's thought, the bodhisattva went forward and sat with her. After a while she came forward and pulled at him, but the monk remained silent and did not respond. She drew near to him again, but as before he remained tranquil. The monk then explained the teaching of emptiness to her: "From where did the eye originally come, and where will it go? If you want to say it came from your parents, before their union this eye did not exist. When it is later destroyed, where will it go again? For this reason, the eye is completely non-existent. The five sense organs are also like this." She suddenly understood emptiness and attained stream-entry (srotāpanna). He should have spoken to her of existence, yet instead spoke of emptiness; the bodhisattva method is to enter existence and speak of emptiness, and so her original intention was not completely realized. Ānanda at that time saw this monk sitting with the woman, which violated the decorum of a monk. He immediately returned and reported to the Buddha: "Just now I saw a monk sitting with a woman." Since the Buddha already knew, he remained silent. The monk knew that Ānanda had informed the World-Honoured One, and said: "I reflect that if I do not go, I fear those who slandered me will fall into guilt." He wanted to display miraculous transformations, but the Buddha did not permit it; he simply flew straight to the Buddha's place. The Buddha said to Ānanda: "The monk whom you just saw violating the Vinaya is this monk who has now flown here. Have you ever seen someone who has committed lustful transgression able to fly? Just now when this monk sat with the woman, the woman thought: 'If this monk sits with me, I shall generate the unsurpassed intention.' Knowing the woman's thought, this monk sat with her. He then explained the teaching of emptiness to her, analyzing the emptiness of the eye, and the five sense organs are also like this. The woman then became terrified, and thereby attained the path-trace (srotāpanna). Because fearful thoughts arose in her and she feared birth and death, she attained the Lesser Vehicle. If this monk had previously spoken to her of practices concerning existence, she would have fulfilled her original intention." From this matter it is known that this bodhisattva had not yet reached non-retrogression and was not yet fully skilled in observing the minds of others; this is what is called diamond-like morality.