佛說盂蘭盆經疏 2.55

2.55

In Sanskrit it is called saṅgha; here [in Chinese] it is translated as a harmonious assembly. If there are many people but they are not harmonious, like groups of merchants, clerks, or troops, they are not called the Saṅgha Jewel. If there is harmony but not a multitude, like two people of one mind, they are likewise not the Saṅgha Jewel. A multitude in harmony, serving as a cause of merit, is only then called the Saṅgha Jewel. As for harmony, there are six kinds: physical harmony in sharing the same activities, verbal harmony in maintaining silence together, mental harmony in bearing forbearance together, moral harmony in practicing the same precepts, view-based harmony in understanding alike, and material harmony in sharing benefits equally. The Confucians speak of petty men and noble persons as being either harmonious or uniform; here the Buddha's sons, the monks, are both harmonious and unified. Now, "of the ten directions" indicates that the Dharma has no limits or boundaries; how could it discriminate between close and distant? "The saṅgha" (眾僧) is a redundancy of Chinese and Sanskrit, a clumsiness on the part of the translator. "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month": the previous three months of the summer retreat having ended, pravāraṇā can therefore be held. There are three days for pravāraṇā: either the fourteenth, fifteenth, or sixteenth; here the middle one is cited. Here the character "saṅgha" (僧) is redundant; yet if it were removed, the phrasing would be incomplete, which is also a lapse by the translator—why not say "the time of communal pravāraṇā"? Pravāraṇā (自恣) means to allow others freely to point out one's own faults. That is to say, throughout the ninety days of intensive practice in the single summer retreat, even if one has not attained the four fruits, one has still attained the four dhyānas; such was the Buddha's original intention in establishing this teaching. This holds true for the saṅgha in the True, Semblance, and Final Dharma periods alike, because even in the final five hundred years there are still those who uphold the precepts and cultivate merit. Yet when about to cross the sea of suffering, one carefully protects the floating buoy; still fearing that those directly involved may be blind to their own faults, one must rely on bystanders to judge success and failure. Even if one does not sever delusions to realize the fruits, one still hopes that sins will be extinguished and merit produced. Therefore, baring one's shoulder among the assembly, one addresses the venerable elders: "Whether you have seen my fault, heard of my transgression, or suspect my offense, I invite you freely to point it out. Out of pity speak to me, and I shall repent." In this way, body and mind become pure as lapis lazuli, and meditative concentration and liberation may perhaps be attained. The efficacy of making offerings to such ones can well be known: how could it fail to deliver departed ancestors and nurture and perfume the living? Thus the Tripiṭaka Master says: "On the day when monks receive their monastic year and the great assembly conducts pravāraṇā, the saṅgha mostly realizes the path of the four fruits; hence they can rescue seven generations from distress."