維摩義記 2.9

2.9

From here below is the second [section], Vimalakīrti's teaching and rebuke. Why was this necessary? To cause Kāśyapa to abandon the Lesser [Vehicle] and learn the Greater; for this reason he taught and rebuked him. In the text, "Vimalakīrti came and said to me" is a general statement. Below, it is shown in detail, and within the detail he first rebukes him. From "abiding in the dharma of equality, one should beg food in succession" onward is the phrasing of the instruction. Within the rebuke, first saying "having a mind of loving-kindness and compassion yet unable to make it universal" is the rebuke proper. Leaving the rich and following the poor points out the matter of not being universal. Furthermore, the previous phrase having kindness that is not universal violates a bodhisattva's impartial kindness, hence he is rebuked; leaving the rich and following the poor violates successive begging among the dhūtas, hence he is rebuked. Within the instruction there are three parts: first, properly instructing on begging for food, which is also called begging with the mind; second, from "with the thought of an empty village" onward, instructing on the deportment of guarding against faults at the time of begging for food; third, from "if one can, without abandoning the eight heterodoxies" onward, instructing on generating the dharmas of the path after begging for food. In the first part there are four phrases, which based on the actual course of events are not in sequence. If discussed in proper sequence: going begging is first; begging in succession is second; taking is third; receiving is fourth. But now in the text, because he wishes to use successive begging to instruct on benefiting others, it is discussed first. Going begging and the subsequent taking and receiving alike instruct on self-benefit, so they are deferred to later discussion. Furthermore, through successive begging he instructs on abandoning the faults of the two vehicles' afflictive residues, so it is discussed first; the two matters of going begging and the subsequent taking and receiving alike instruct on abandoning the ordinary person's faults of saṃsāra, so they are deferred to later discussion. In the first part on successive begging, "abiding in the dharma of equality" instructs on cultivating an impartial mind, overturning the previous "having kindness yet unable to make it universal"; "one should beg in succession" instructs on cultivating impartial practice, overturning the previous leaving the rich to beg in the village of the poor. In the latter three phrases, these instructions are for oneself, and their words have implicit and explicit senses. The first phrase is that to leave the conditions of saṃsāra, one must practice begging for food; the second is that to sever the causes of saṃsāra, one must take morsel food; the third is that to relinquish the fruits of saṃsāra, one must receive that food. In the first phrase, "for the sake of not eating, one should go begging": food is a condition for the body; only by attaining the pure dharmakāya can one relinquish and distance oneself from it. That pure dharmakāya must be attained through cultivating the practice of renouncing worldly livelihood, relying on begging food to sustain the body to practice the path; therefore, for the sake of not eating, one must go begging. In the second phrase, "for the sake of destroying cohesion, one should take food": causes being able to gather fruits is called "cohesion"; only by internally realizing the true path can one forever be apart from it. That path must be attained by renouncing worldly livelihood and taking food from others to sustain the body and generate practice; therefore, for the sake of destroying the characteristic of cohesion, one should take morsel food. When one seeks it from another on one's own, at that moment it is called "taking". "For the sake of not receiving, one should receive food": not receiving the conditioned fruits of saṃsāra is called "not receiving"; non-reception belongs only to the Buddha. The Buddha-fruit is also attained by renouncing worldly flourishing and livelihood, receiving and taking from others to sustain the body and generate the path, so that one can accomplish realization; therefore, for the sake of non-reception, one must receive that food. Only when the other person gives and one accepts it is it called "receiving".