四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 3.316

3.316

As for the intention behind the enactment: The physical body that depends [on conditions] suffers many afflictions and encumbrances. When the four elements conflict with one another, the six viscera contract diseases. If one does not rely on mutual assistance and support, this fragile life would have nowhere to depend. However, worldly sentiment shifts and alters, being difficult to remain constant from beginning to end: when someone is robust and strong, people are intimate with them, but when one is sick and frail, they abandon and discard them. This is the common, vulgar sentiment, which people have not yet been able to forget. Therefore, the Tathāgata, profoundly examining humanity and knowing that good had not yet been honored while evil was inevitably followed, personally tended to the sick. Thus in the Vinaya the Buddha said: "If you people do not look after one another, who will do it?" The Bhagavat even washed away the patient's feces and urine, swept and cleaned the sleeping place to make it exceedingly pure, spread out robes, and laid him down. He then established the regulation, saying: "From this day forward, one should look after sick bhikṣus and serve as a caregiver to the sick. If there is anyone who wishes to make offerings to me, they should make offerings to the sick." The Buddha, though a person at the ultimate stage, still urged the bhikṣus by personally stooping to assist; how much more should those bound by the weight of sharing the Dharma not abandon each other? Even regarding the sending off of the deceased, the intent is the same as described here. Question: Why is making offerings to the sick equal to [making offerings to] the Buddha? Answer: Because caring for the sick with a mind of compassion alleviates suffering and bestows joy, so that one's compassionate conduct is identical to that of the Buddha! Furthermore, a treatise states: "Following my words is called making offerings to the Buddha." The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya states: Two people went as companions to see the Buddha. One companion fell ill, whereupon [the other] abandoned him, went to the Buddha's place, and related the circumstances in full. The Buddha reproached him in various ways and sent him back to care for the sick, and so forth. It also states: There was a patient who, if he obtained medicine and food suited to the illness and was tended to, would recover, but if not, would die; therefore, one should care for them well, making every effort to ensure they are at ease and secure in accordance with the Dharma. This is granting life, which yields great merit and is praised by all Buddhas.