四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 3.319

3.319

三安置處所。《僧祇》：若大德病，應在露現處，上好房中，擬道俗問訊生善；燒香塗地，供待人客。《十誦》：病人與中房舍臥具，令得容受看病者。若依中國本傳云：祇桓西北角，日光沒處，為無常院；若有病者，安置在中。以凡生貪染，見本房內衣鉢眾具，多生戀著，無心厭背，故制令至別處。堂號無常，來者極多，還反一二；即事而求，專心念法。其堂中置一立像，金薄塗之，面向西方；其像右手舉，左手中繫一五綵幡，脚垂曳地；當安病者在像之後，左手執幡脚，作從佛往淨剎之意。瞻病者，燒香散華，莊嚴病者，乃至若有屎尿吐唾，隨有除之，亦無有罪。傳云：原佛垂忍土，為接群生，意在拔除煩惱，不唯糞除為惡；如諸天見人間臭穢，猶人之見屏廁，臭氣難言，尚不以為惡，恒來衛護；何況佛德，而有愛憎？但有歸投者，無不拔濟。乃至為病者隨機說法，命終恒在佛所，不得移之。

Third, the place of arrangement. The *Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya* states: If a venerable one is ill, he should be in a clearly visible place, in a superior chamber, intended to engender wholesome [roots] when monastics and laity come to inquire after his health. One should burn incense, plaster the ground, and attend to guests. The *Daśādhyāya-vinaya* states: One should provide the sick person with a middle-grade chamber and bedding, so that it may accommodate the caregiver. According to the original records from India: At the northwest corner of the Jetavana, where the sunlight fades, is the Hall of Impermanence; if someone is ill, they place him inside it. Because ordinary beings generate craving and defilement, and seeing the robes, bowls, and various utensils in their original room, they mostly generate lingering attachment and have no mind to turn away from them with revulsion; hence it was instituted that they be moved to a separate place. The hall is named Impermanence. Those who enter it are extremely numerous; those who return [alive] are only one or two. Facing the imminent reality, they focus their minds exclusively on recollecting the Dharma. In that hall, a standing image is placed, coated with gold leaf and facing west. The right hand of the image is raised, and to its left hand is tied a five-colored streamer, the tail of which hangs down and trails along the ground. One should place the sick person behind the image, with his left hand holding the streamer’s tail, conceiving the intention of following the Buddha to the pure realm. The caregiver burns incense and scatters flowers, adorning the sick person; furthermore, if there are feces, urine, vomit, or saliva, they are removed as soon as they appear, and there is no offense. The record says: The Buddha descended to the Saha realm fundamentally to gather sentient beings; his intent was to uproot afflictions, not merely to take excrement and dirt as repulsive. Just as the devas behold the foulness of the human realm like people behold a latrine—the stench being beyond words, yet they still do not deem it repulsive and constantly come to guard and protect—how much less could the Buddha’s virtue harbor love and hate? Whoever takes refuge, there is none he does not deliver. Furthermore, one preaches the Dharma to the sick person according to his capacity; when life ends, he remains constantly by the Buddha and must not be moved.