四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 1.474

1.474

Miscellaneous aspects herein: If someone arrives from outside the boundary and proceeds directly to the place of recitation, if the purification through the preface has not yet been recited, he sits in proper order without declaring his purity. If he arrives after purity has already been declared, the precept master must stop immediately upon seeing him arrive; if he is unwilling to halt, he should be rebuked to make him halt. Waiting until he is seated, kneeling with one knee on the ground, one person announces, saying: "May the venerable Saṃgha listen! Bhikṣu so-and-so and such a number of persons are all pure." If there is any transgression committed, it is declared according to the fault; because he is pressed by the upoṣadha recitation, he will repent properly afterwards. Then one continues reciting for them in proper sequence. If the bhikṣus from outside the boundary are more in number or equal, even if the upoṣadha recitation has finished, they must all be made to recite it again; if they do not, they are to be dealt with according to the Dharma. The Vinayamātṛkā states: Before a person who is impure due to transgressing the seven categories [of offenses], one should stop and not recite the precepts. That is, the Vinaya text says: A transgressor must not hear the precepts, one must not recite them to a transgressor, and so forth. If the bhikṣuṇīs of three or five monasteries request instruction, one accepts it according to convenience; one first lists the name of each monastery and the name of each bhikṣuṇī in general, and afterwards summarizes the intention of the request in general. If one fears making an error during the recitation, one should tell the person nearby to indicate it; the entire assembly must not correct together, causing increased confusion. The Dharmaguptaka states: If on the upoṣadha recitation day no one is able to recite, one should, according to the upoṣadha procedure, distribute the salākās and make the announcement, appointing one person to expound the Dharma, recite the sūtras, or other instructions; reciting the Bequeathed Teachings is also permissible. If one does not understand at all, the Vinaya says, down to a single gāthā: "Commit no evil, / Cultivate all good, / Purify one's own mind: / This is the teaching of all Buddhas (an explanation of this gāthā text is fully stated in the Āgama)." Having done this, it cannot be that [the upoṣadha] is not performed. If one does not even understand this, one says: "Be prudent and do not be negligent!" and then disperses. These are all the Buddha's entrusted instructions, having profound reasons, causing the true Dharma to abide long. Yet in the world there are residents of monasteries who slight this disciplinary net, deliberately violating it by not performing the recitation. Tainting their pure consciousness, they gradually lose all relish for the great Dharma; thus their going forth from the household bears no benefit. With their mouths they say, "The Buddha is my teacher," but because they resist and violate the teacher's instructions, they are disciples of non-Buddhists. If someone has committed a grave offense, he may not participate in hearing the precepts; even if he remains inside the monastery, it does not constitute a separate saṃgha; if he undergoes repentance, whether he may come is not at his discretion. For saṃghāvaśeṣa and below, once repented according to the instructions, he may hear them, as clarified in the Vinaya. If he remembers it while seated, without questioning whether he is doubtful or cognizant, he confesses it before the assembly; if he fears causing disruption in the great assembly, he simply forms the thought in mind and speaks with his mouth, declaring of his own accord: "I, so-and-so, committed such-and-such an offense; pressed by the upoṣadha recitation, I shall repent once it is finished." Then he may hear the precepts. If he has doubts regarding an offense, he also declares and reveals it in accordance with this.