四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 3.259

3.259

Second, the method for building monasteries. There was a Dharma master of eminent virtue who composed ten chapters of *Monastery Ordinances*, which fully explain the methods for building monasteries and the plan of Jetavana; whatever was constructed strictly conformed to the correct teachings; along with protecting and guiding the saṃgha, the guidelines and essentials of the monastic order, and so forth. The matters are manifold and cannot be given in full, so the cardinal section on the single method for building monasteries is briefly cited: Namely, the location must avoid suspicion and gossip, and should be kept away from nunneries, as well as the vicinity of markets and government offices, and the like. The Buddha halls and scripture repositories should be kept exceedingly pure and simple; the monks' quarters, kitchens, and storehouses should merely suffice for operational affairs. In this way, there will be no subsequent decay. Nowadays, in the Final Dharma age, when building monasteries, they merely acquire a location so that affairs may be put to use; some also employ the karman methods, yet outside the boundary there are no ceremonial representations to make people aware. Therefore, in the *Plan of Jetavana*, whenever wood, stone, earth, and eaves were erected, all had symbolic significance, enabling devas and humans to recognize the signs and understand that the Śākya gate has manifold teachings; thus it could overshadow heterodox arts, beasts would stand in awe of its majesty, and its dignified forms were splendidly arrayed, revered by the world. However, over successive generations through long ages, the upholding of the teachings has deteriorated; the physical matters remain while the Dharma is obscured, and the underlying intentions are misapplied. Since laypeople do not comprehend the Dharma, the monks also fail to understand how to guide them. They merely imitate one another, wasting material wealth in vain; competing in hearts for exquisite elegance, striving to surpass others; making chambers, corridors, platforms, and pavilions as tall and conspicuous as possible; once surpassing others they simply stop, paying no heed to the Dharma at all. Moreover, laypeople trample upon it as if it were their own estate; the rooms and halls of the monks are used by worldly folk; damaging, ruining, and defiling them without any shame in their hearts; the monks bend the Way to accommodate the worldly, like slaves serving masters. This is called the destruction of the monastery Dharma (in extreme cases, beating and reviling the monks, and various kinds of illegality. To state the essentials: forcibly extorting and seizing from the monks, borrowing and begging; even keeping corpses in monks' courtyards, wailing in mourning inside monasteries, setting up burial mounds, bathing, and so forth—all are non-Dharmic). If one reforms the past and cultivates the future, renews in accord with the Dharma, and acts with prudence and reverence without transgression, this is protecting and upholding the monastery Dharma (when laypeople build monasteries, it is originally to seek merit, create causes for going forth, and conditions for attaining the Way; they should only pay homage and make offerings, consult and request regarding the Dharma, inquire after them from time to time, and come and go in accordance with the Dharma; mutually benefiting each other, with neither self nor other troubled—this is called protecting and upholding)! Therefore, the *Ekottarika-āgama* says: After King Ajātaśatru attained faith, he issued an order throughout the realm that no household serving the Buddha should be subjected to financial levies or greeting-and-sending burdens. Is this not because the monks transmitted the true Dharma and won the faith of the people!