四分律行事鈔資持記 3.718

3.718

第三安聖位中，初科，先明佛像位。或有別堂，則就本處。然下，次排聖僧座，為三，初引所據。梁武所出，其文已亡。《賓頭盧經》，藏中見有，具明請法；由彼尊者，佛勅在世，為末法四部，作大福田；志誠虔請，多有感應。預宿請者，經云：新床新褥綿敷，以白練覆綿上。（即虛軟也。）初夜如法請之，無不至也；來則褥上現有臥處，浴室亦現用湯水處；大會請時，或在上中下座，現作僧形；人求其異，終不可得；去後見花不萎，乃知之也。（謂以鮮花布座，聖位不萎為驗。）今此束略，但云坐處有相耳。今下，次令教示。請聖事難，故云不易。俗人咨稟，謂之門師；俗家之人，即門徒也。（今反召僧為門徒非。）必下，三明自設。

Under the third [section], 'Arranging the Holy Seats,' the first heading first explains the seat for the Buddha image: if there is a separate hall, one simply remains at the original place. From 'However...' onward, the second heading arranges the seat for the holy monk, containing three parts. First, it cites the source: compiled by Emperor Wu of Liang, its text is now lost. The Piṇḍola Sūtra is currently found in the Canon and fully explains the method of invitation: because that venerable one was ordered by the Buddha to remain in the world to serve as a great field of merit for the fourfold assembly in the final Dharma age, sincere and reverent invitations yield many spiritual responses. Concerning inviting him on the previous night, the sūtra says: 'Spread a new bed with a new mattress of silk-floss, covered with white plain-weave silk' (meaning it is soft and resilient). 'If invited in accord with the Dharma in the first watch of the night, he never fails to arrive. When he comes, a depression from lying down appears on the mattress, and signs of using hot water also appear in the bathhouse. When invited to a great assembly, he may manifest as a monk seated in the upper, middle, or lower seats; though people search for something unusual about him, they can never detect it. After he departs, seeing that the flowers are unfaded, they only then know it' (meaning that fresh flowers are scattered on the seats, and that the flowers on the holy seat do not wilt serves as proof). Here this is summarized, stating merely that the seating place shows signs. From 'Now...' onward, the second instructs one to teach them: because inviting the holy monk is difficult, it says 'not easy.' When laypeople consult and take instructions, the monk is called the family preceptor; the members of the lay household are the disciples. (Nowadays, mistakenly calling monks disciples is wrong.) From 'If must...' onward, the third explains arranging it oneself.