四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 3.321

3.321

If he was a forest dweller (āraṇyaka), after soft words and general conversation, one should say to him: “Venerable One, now that your illness is so grave, you should only hold wholesome thoughts and have no fear of the evil destinies. Why? Prior to your illness, you engaged in the great practice of dhūta. Among the Buddha’s disciples, there was only Kāśyapa whom the Bhagavat constantly praised in the assembly, even personally offering him half his seat and his robe! Because he undertook superior practices, the sages jointly revered him. Venerable One, your practice has succeeded to the sages’ traces; you will surely be born in a good place. Why worry about death arriving? The only concern is that you might lose mindfulness and delusionally grasp at worldly things. These are illusory phenomena; do not think of them any further.” If he was a sūtra reciter, one should say to him: “Venerable One, you constantly recited such-and-such sūtra as your primary vocation; this is truly a superior practice, revered by both ordinary beings and sages! Even a parrot that heard the four truths was reborn in heaven seven times and later attained the fruit of the path. In the *Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā* there is the ‘Chapter on Passing Through the Ears’; even hearing the two characters ‘eternally abiding’ in the *Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra* ensures that one will not be born in the evil destinies. How much more so when you have recited widely in accordance with the teaching, free from error or corruption; how could you fall? You will surely be born in a good place, and so on.” If he was a Vinaya keeper, one should say: “Venerable One, you have protected and maintained the prohibitive precepts, complying with the Buddha’s correct words. In the semblance and final [eras of the Dharma], you were able to uphold and elevate the Three Jewels; that the true Dharma abides for long is due to you alone, Venerable One. Now your illness has dragged on for long, and it is feared that the next life is near. Who does not die? One only fears lacking goodness. Venerable One, you have maintained yourself with wholesome Dharma and also gathered others; the Buddhas themselves praise this, so why only speak of human praise? You should simply focus your aspiration on the Buddha-Dharma and hold no delusional grasping to other things.” If he was a Dharma master, one should say: “Because you, Venerable One, preached the Dharma and transformed beings, you caused sentient beings to recognize the Three Jewels and the four truths, opened their blind eyes, destroyed their mental sickness, illuminated the Buddha-Dharma, and caused monastics and laity to give rise to faith, enabling them to attain Buddhahood and allowing the true Dharma to flow for long; this is truly the power of the Venerable One.” If he was a meditation master, one should say: “The Buddha-Dharma values practicing as spoken; it does not value speaking or reciting much.” And again: “One does not attain purity through what the mouth speaks; practicing as spoken is the true Buddha-Dharma. Venerable One, you complied with the Buddha’s correct teaching and cultivated according to the teaching, internally destroying the inversion of self and externally casting off grasping; this is the correct cause for attaining sageliness, and no vocation surpasses this.” In this manner, according to their areas of study, one praises them subsequently. If he was one who assisted in the affairs of the community, one should say to him: “Venerable One, you managed the affairs of the saṃgha, standing in companionship with the sages. Thus Dabba Mallaputta, discarding his arhat body, became a saṃgha administrator to seek the solid Dharma; Kāśyapa even trod mud to build five vihāras; Geya split firewood to provide for the saṃgha’s use; Śāriputra swept the ground; Mahāmaudgalyāyana lit lamps. All were great arhats; how could they have had bad karma? They merely demonstrated that the saṃgha is an accumulation of merit. The ordinary and foolish do not know this, but you set aside your own vocation to assist in the affairs of the community. Indeed, the field of the saṃgha yields great merit, distinct from the Buddha and Dharma, as stated in the *Satyasiddhi-śāstra*: When people offered robes to the Buddha, the Buddha bade them give them to the saṃgha, saying, ‘I am within the saṃgha.’ Because the saṃgha complies with my words, it is called making an offering to the Buddha; because it is for the sake of liberation, it is called making an offering to the Dharma; and because the assembly of monks makes use of it, it is called making an offering to the saṃgha. One who makes an offering to the saṃgha is fully endowed with the three refuges. Hence we know the virtue of the saṃgha is great! Since you, Venerable One, complied with the Buddha’s correct instructions and managed the saṃgha’s followers, which is praised by the Buddha as the foremost practice, who could surpass you?” A sūtra says: “Remember the merit you have cultivated, and be mindful of pure livelihood,” and so forth.