四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 1.421

1.421

Next is explaining the characteristics [of the precepts]. According to principle, one follows the master to study everything completely; why only these four? Because transgressions arose due to conditions, the four fundamentals were provisionally instituted; if violated, one is no longer usable, while the branch-like offenses of the other classes may be confessed to restore one's place in the saṃgha count. The intention lies here. One should address him, saying: 'Good son! Having received the precepts, you must strictly uphold them. If one merely receives them without the intention to uphold them, one does not obtain the precepts. An empty wish is of no benefit; it is better to arouse active practice and not require wishful seeking—thus it is in the sūtras and treatises. But an era with a Buddha is hard to encounter, the true Dharma is hard to hear, a human body is hard to obtain, and those who uphold the precepts are rare. Therefore, the superior and highly eminent are able to receive and able to uphold, cultivating the Path and realizing sagehood. Inferior and petty persons are able to receive and able to break, their minds lacking shame; in the present life they incur an evil reputation and cannot digest offerings, and at death they enter the evil destinies. As for middling sorts, goodness does not arise on its own. Looking up to the superior, they learn from them; how could they take the base flow as their standard! If one follows base inclinations and destroys the Buddha's precepts, it is better not to receive them. One must rely on the Buddha's true teaching, conforming to what one has received and studying accordingly; for the first five rainy seasons, concentrate exclusively on the Vinaya division. If one masters observance and transgression and accomplishes the affairs of a bhikṣu, then cultivating concentration and training in wisdom, one can expect to realize the truth. Aside from this, regarding miscellaneous study and discourses that defile the pure precepts, through which concentration and wisdom have no way to arise, the Buddha does not permit them. Therefore, the Vinaya says: "If the master lacks instruction, one should study elsewhere in order to increase the fruit of a śramaṇa."' Thereafter, one explains the characteristics according to the text.