四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 2.59

2.59

Third, explaining precept practice. This means that the two precepts—the received [precept essence] and the subsequent [practice]—ward off and restrain external wrongs; when skillful means are successfully fulfilled, it is therefore called precept practice. Now, reception is the resolution and vow of prior pledge, while subsequent practice is cultivation in conformity with the vow. For example, in constructing a mansion or residence, one first establishes a surrounding courtyard wall, which refers to the received essence at the ordination platform; afterwards, one builds and constructs wherever needed throughout an entire lifetime, which refers to the subsequent practice following reception. If there is only reception without subsequent practice, it is merely a courtyard of empty vows, unable to avoid the defect of blockage and exposure to the elements. If there is only subsequent practice without reception, this practice may follow the course of birth and death, and moreover be narrow and incomplete; like a house without a courtyard, it cannot avoid being broken into by enemy thieves! Reception and subsequent practice must assist each other for one to reach somewhere. Question: When one now receives the full precepts and generates happy karmic fruits, is it due to the received [essence] or the subsequent [practice]? Answer: The received [essence] is an auxiliary condition; it does not yet possess the merit of practice. One must rely on the subsequent [practice] to guard and protect against objects, and by this subsequent practice reach the attainment of the noble fruit; it is not directly due to the received essence. Therefore, we know that after receiving them once and throughout the rest of one's life, through skillful means and correct mindfulness, one guards what was originally received; flowing into the mind of practice, with the three wholesome roots as its essence, this clarifies precept practice, which can be cultivated in accordance with specific characteristics. If one merely receives without subsequent practice, one is conversely deceived by the precepts and flows into the ocean of suffering; it would be better not to receive them, having no precepts to violate. Therefore, practitioners must clearly and skillfully recognize that the nature of karma is starkly evident and not vaguely stated.