四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 3.222

3.222

Fifth, explaining miscellaneous matters regarding remedial practices according to circumstances: The Avataṃsaka-sūtra states: "When obtaining food, one should vow that sentient beings make offerings of the Dharma, with their minds set on the Buddha's path." The Pañcavargika-vinaya states: "If one does not renounce the world for the sake of liberation, one must not accept personal invitations; if one sits in meditation, recites the sūtras, or oversees the affairs of the Saṃgha, all for the sake of liberation through renunciation, one is permitted to receive offerings in the community's turn." The Daśādhyāya-vinaya states: "When arriving at a place for a meal, one should be silent and single-minded, maintain pure deportment, and give rise to wholesome thoughts in others. One should enter slowly and sit down slowly. One should contemplate that this food is difficult to seek, difficult to obtain, and difficult to prepare. One should contemplate that when it enters the mouth, it resides in the stomach and the bowels; when it exits later, it is purely impure. Dependent on this food, various afflictions and sinful karmas arise, bringing bitter retributions." The Five Hundred Questions states: "In the past, there was a bhikṣu who was fond of robes, attached to them day and night. He fell ill and died, and was reborn as a supernatural snake that returned and coiled around the robes. After the Saṃgha had buried the dead bhikṣu, they took the robes to perform the legal karman; the snake extended its neck and spat venom, and the Saṃgha looked at it together. One who had attained the path entered the four immeasurables contemplation and told the snake to leave; it then entered the grass, where its venom flared up, catching fire and burning its body, and upon death it entered hell." The Vinayamātṛkā states: "Regarding robes, one reflects: 'It is to ward off cold, heat, and shame.' Regarding lodging, one reflects: 'It is to shield against wind and rain.' Regarding food, one reflects: 'It is to relieve hunger and thirst.'" A tradition states: "When eating, do not exceed three spoonfuls: eat the first spoonful to cut off all evil, eat the second spoonful to cultivate all good, and eat the third spoonful to deliver all sentient beings; and dedicate the remaining vegetables and such to the Buddha's path." The rest is as explained below. The Dharmaguptaka-vinaya states: "Eat according to the measure of the stomach, clothe the body according to its size, merely seeking sufficiency." It also states: "By knowing when to stop and be content with food, old suffering is extinguished and new suffering does not arise; having strength and being free of trouble, one keeps the body at peace." The Ekottarika-āgama states: "Excessive eating has five sufferings: first, frequent defecation; second, frequent urination; third, excessive sleep; fourth, heaviness of body rendering it unfit for spiritual practice; fifth, suffering much indigestion." Therefore the Buddha said: "Know moderation and measure in eating." Thereupon he spoke a verse: / "Eating much causes painful illness, / Eating little causes breath and strength to decline; / One who eats in moderation / Is like a scale without high or low." In the Saṃyuktaratnapiṭaka-sūtra: A king tested a tīrthika and a bhikṣu with fine and coarse food to examine their knowledge of the Dharma. The bhikṣu eventually spoke a verse: / "This body is like a cart, / Making no choice between good and bad; / Fragrant oil and foul grease / Equally lubricate it." The Madhyama-āgama states: "The Buddha told the bhikṣus: 'Among livelihoods, the lowest and most marginal is that of begging for food; worldly people abhor it greatly, regarding it as walking around with a shaven head holding an earthenware bowl. That son of good family accepted it for the sake of the ultimate truth, because of revulsion against the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death. If a foolish person renounces the world yet pursues sensual desire and is lax in observing the precepts, it is like washing filth with filth—how could he ever be liberated?'" The proper teachings have been fully listed above, and they must be applied accordingly. Facing food, practice the five contemplations, recollecting them mouthful by mouthful; those who gain and immediately lose them are robbed by the poisons of greed and the like.