四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 3.319

3.319

Third, the place of arrangement. The *Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya* states: If a venerable one is ill, he should be in a clearly visible place, in a superior chamber, intended to engender wholesome [roots] when monastics and laity come to inquire after his health. One should burn incense, plaster the ground, and attend to guests. The *Daśādhyāya-vinaya* states: One should provide the sick person with a middle-grade chamber and bedding, so that it may accommodate the caregiver. According to the original records from India: At the northwest corner of the Jetavana, where the sunlight fades, is the Hall of Impermanence; if someone is ill, they place him inside it. Because ordinary beings generate craving and defilement, and seeing the robes, bowls, and various utensils in their original room, they mostly generate lingering attachment and have no mind to turn away from them with revulsion; hence it was instituted that they be moved to a separate place. The hall is named Impermanence. Those who enter it are extremely numerous; those who return [alive] are only one or two. Facing the imminent reality, they focus their minds exclusively on recollecting the Dharma. In that hall, a standing image is placed, coated with gold leaf and facing west. The right hand of the image is raised, and to its left hand is tied a five-colored streamer, the tail of which hangs down and trails along the ground. One should place the sick person behind the image, with his left hand holding the streamer’s tail, conceiving the intention of following the Buddha to the pure realm. The caregiver burns incense and scatters flowers, adorning the sick person; furthermore, if there are feces, urine, vomit, or saliva, they are removed as soon as they appear, and there is no offense. The record says: The Buddha descended to the Saha realm fundamentally to gather sentient beings; his intent was to uproot afflictions, not merely to take excrement and dirt as repulsive. Just as the devas behold the foulness of the human realm like people behold a latrine—the stench being beyond words, yet they still do not deem it repulsive and constantly come to guard and protect—how much less could the Buddha’s virtue harbor love and hate? Whoever takes refuge, there is none he does not deliver. Furthermore, one preaches the Dharma to the sick person according to his capacity; when life ends, he remains constantly by the Buddha and must not be moved.