四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 1.6

1.6

In the leisure between listening and gathering teachings, I cast my eyes over the various chapters. None of them wholly met my intent, and all possessed both merits and defects; thus I boldly took up the task, deploying my brush with directness. I have encompassed the authentic texts of different schools, synthesized the occasional teachings across various sūtras, and gathered what was bequeathed by the sages and worthies of the Western Lands as well as the written records of former virtuous ones in this land; searching out and refuting commonalities and differences, I scrutinized them all to the utmost; whatever was of superior insight was sure to be recorded to assist extensive knowledge, and whatever was an undisciplined account was excised to achieve a coherent meaning. Sometimes I used detailed phrasing to elucidate practical application; sometimes I pointed briefly so that like categories would follow one another; sometimes the text broke off while the meaning remained linked; sometimes words were questioned by positing hypothetical inquiries. In this way, beginning and end reflect one another, the concealed and the revealed appear alternately. Furthermore, active karmans, the right and wrong of various duties, correct rites for guiding the laity, and miscellaneous rules for the renunciant—all are subsumed into the single perspective of this school, so as to spare new students wasted effort!