四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 2.114

2.114

The twelfth rule: defiling families, slandering [the saṃgha] upon banishment, and violating the saṃgha's admonition. Incurred through six conditions: first, committing evil deeds that defile families; second, lacking remorse or repentance in mind; third, being banished through formal procedure; fourth, slandering the saṃgha without cause; fifth, the saṃgha's admonition being given in accordance with the Dharma; and sixth, completion of the three motions. Defiling families is not the basis of the prātimokṣa rule; slandering the saṃgha is. The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya speaks of four kinds of defiling families. First, defiling families based on families: taking goods from one family and giving them to another; those from whom they were obtained are displeased upon hearing of it, while those to whom they were given think to repay the favor. Second, defiling families based on material gain: if a bhikṣu obtains gains in accordance with the Dharma, even down to leftovers in his bowl, and gives them to one kulapati but not to another; the one who receives them thinks to repay his favor and says, 'I will make offerings to whichever [monk] gives me things; why should I make offerings to one who gives me nothing?' Third, defiling families based on relatives and friends: if a bhikṣu relies on the power of a king or great minister and favors one kulapati over another; the favored one thinks to repay his favor, and thereupon withholds offerings from other bhikṣus. Fourth, defiling families based on the saṃghārāma: if a bhikṣu takes the saṃgha's flowers, fruits, branches, or leaves and gives them to one kulapati but not to another; the one who receives them thinks, 'I will make offerings to whichever [monk] gives me things; I will not make offerings to one who does not.' Practicing evil deeds means: personally planting flower and fruit trees and watering them; personally picking flowers, making garlands, giving them to others, or instructing others to perform these actions; or in a village, sitting or standing on the same couch with a woman, eating from the same vessel, chatting and laughing; singing, dancing, theatrical entertainment, comedic banter; mimicking bird calls, whistling, or laughing for hire. The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya states: 'Relying on a village to obtain the four requisites, or to avoid various hardships, are all named reliance in this sense. If one relies on a village and engages in unchaste conduct, drinks alcohol, or eats at improper times, this is not called defiling families; but if laypeople previously had faith, made offerings to the saṃgha, and built monasteries, and one causes them to backslide and decrease [in faith], this is called defiling families.' The Sarvāstivāda-vinaya-vibhāṣā states: 'Committing various evil deeds and destroying others' faithful, respectful, and wholesome minds is called defiling families.' Performing impure, polluted, and turbid actions and thereby reaping evil retribution is called evil conduct. Furthermore, whenever a bhikṣu seeks anything, if he takes various articles donated in faith—whether for the three jewels, for himself, or for anyone else—and gives them to ministers, monastics, or laity, this is all called defiling families. Why? Because home-leavers are unconditioned and desireless, keeping themselves pure and setting their minds on cultivating the path. If they act as messengers of correspondence for laypeople, they neglect and disrupt their proper practice, which is not the way of transcendence. Because one gives things donated in faith to laypeople, one ruins the other person's impartial good mind. Those who obtain the goods are delighted and fond of him; while those who do not obtain them, even if virtuous, have no love or respect, and the donor loses a deep, rich merit field. Furthermore, it inverts and confuses the Buddhadharma. For householders continually seek pure merit from the three jewels, expending their flesh and blood to plant wholesome roots; now if a home-leaver instead takes items of faith and bestows them on laypeople, the laypeople will instead generate expectations toward home-leavers. Furthermore, even if by bestowing a small item upon a layperson one causes him to erect a stupa of seven treasures, construct a vihāra, or even provide the four requisites to all the holy saṃgha filling Jambudvīpa, it still does not compare to sitting quietly and keeping the precepts purely, which constitutes true offering to the dharmakāya. If there are powerful persons capable of destroying stupas, smashing images, or inflicting loss upon the saṃgha, one may use stupa property or saṃgha property to pacify them according to circumstances. Among non-offenses in the Vinaya: if one gives to parents, sick persons, small children, pregnant women, prisoners bound in jail, and hired laborers in the monastery, there is no offense. If one plants flower and fruit trees, takes flowers personally, or instructs others to string flowers to make offerings to the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha, none of this constitutes an offense. If someone tries to strike him, if he is beset by robbers, or in places of dread with tigers and wolves, or if someone carrying thorns approaches, and he runs away to avoid them, there is no offense. If he leaps across a river, ditch, or pit, there is no offense. If a companion is behind him and cannot be seen upon looking back, and he whistles to call him, there is no offense. If he reads and carries a letter for parents, sick persons, prisoners, or devout upāsakas who are ill or in jail; or if on affairs concerning the stupa, the saṃgha, or a sick bhikṣu, he is permitted to carry letters back and forth, none of this constitutes an offense.